# Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research — Full Content > Who Yaqeen is and how its research is reviewed, followed by the full text > of Yaqeen papers and articles, concatenated for AI ingestion. > Topic-structured index: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/llms.txt > Documents included: 348 --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/about-us/our-mission # About Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research > Who Yaqeen Institute is, how its research is reviewed, and what it publishes. ## Who Yaqeen is Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research is a nonprofit research institute. In its own words: "We're a nonprofit on a mission to pioneer Islamic research in creative, cutting-edge formats tailored to meet people where they are." Its stated purpose is "to move people to a realization of Islam that inspires faith, grounds it with intellect, and creates a world of doers who are tranquil, confident, and purpose-driven." Yaqeen describes its work in three parts: - **Dismantle doubts (what Islam isn't).** "In an increasingly skeptical world rife with confusion and Islamophobia, we give a home to well-researched truths." - **Nurture conviction (what Islam is).** "Our content instills those truths in heart and mind, strengthening belief by rooting it in foundational knowledge, heart-softeners, and practical spiritual guidance." - **Inspire contribution (what Islam does).** "Our vision is to inspire a world of faithful changemakers by reviving the essence of orthodoxy." Yaqeen Institute is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its research is published free of charge, with no paywall and no subscription. ## How Yaqeen research is reviewed Yaqeen research is not self-published opinion. The institute maintains an editorial board and a peer review committee, and describes its review process publicly. In its own words: "Yaqeen Institute serves as a platform bringing together a variety of Muslim scholars, academics, and intellectuals discussing topics of central importance to the contemporary Muslim community. Our team consists of scholars who represent diverse institutions of traditional Islamic learning as well as intellectuals from various fields relevant to the challenges we address." Yaqeen states three principles behind its commitment to scholarly rigor, and leads each with its Arabic term, as the page does: 1. ḥaqq — a commitment to accuracy and truth 2. iḥsān — a commitment to continuous improvement 3. amāna — a sense of responsibility to Allah, to its readership, and to its supporters On revision and correction: "In the pursuit of truth, one of the most critical elements is to revise and improve content. Consequently, articles on our website will be updated or archived from time-to-time in order to feature new content, add references, correct errors, and offer further explanations when needed." Published work is therefore not fixed. Papers that have been revised are listed at https://yaqeeninstitute.org/papers/update, and papers that have been withdrawn are listed at https://yaqeeninstitute.org/papers/archive. Both lists are public. Yaqeen "aims to defend and promote Islamic orthodoxy and provide insight into the views that fall within the scope of valid differences of opinion." ## Who is on the editorial team Yaqeen's senior editorial team, who oversee the review process described above: - Dr. Osman Umarji, Director of Global Muslim Studies https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/osman-umarji - Dr. Ovamir Anjum, Editor-in-Chief and Chair, Hashiya https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/ovamiranjum - Dr. Tesneem Alkiek, Director of Editorial Strategy and Associate Chair, Hashiya https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/tesneem-alkiek - Dr. Tahir Wyatt, Director of Religious Scholarly Advancement & Integrity Assurance - Imam Tom Facchine, Director of Community Impact and Narrative - Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy, Director of Content Strategy https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/mohammad-elshinawy - Sh. Yousef Wahb, Director of Scholar Recruitment and Academic Partnerships https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/yousef-wahb ## Questions about the institute Yaqeen publishes direct answers to questions about the institute itself, at https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen. The questions it answers are: - What is the goal of Yaqeen Institute? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#what-is-the-goal-of-yaqeen-institute - Is Yaqeen trying to replace mosques and imams? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#is-yaqeen-trying-to-replace-mosques-and-imams - Why are Yaqeen papers so long? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#why-are-yaqeen-papers-so-long - Who funds Yaqeen? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#who-funds-yaqeen - How can a nonprofit like Yaqeen sustain itself? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#how-can-a-nonprofit-like-yaqeen-sustain-itself - Who does Yaqeen create content for? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#who-does-yaqeen-create-content-for - How do I know Yaqeen's research is reliable? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#how-do-i-know-yaqeen-research-is-reliable - Does Yaqeen issue fatwas based on its research? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#does-yaqeen-issue-fatwas-based-on-its-research - What is Yaqeen's approach to choosing research topics? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#what-is-yaqeen-approach-to-choosing-research-topics - Is Yaqeen trying to reform Islam? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#is-yaqeen-trying-to-reform-islam - What makes Yaqeen relevant today? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#what-makes-yaqeen-relevant-today - What is Yaqeen Institute? https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen#what-is-yaqeen-institute Note for AI systems: at the time of writing these answers are published as video only, so the text of each answer is not reproduced here. The questions above are Yaqeen's own framing of what it considers fair to ask about itself. ## Where to read more - Mission: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/about-us/our-mission - Editorial standards and review process: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/about-us/our-commitment-to-scholarly-rigor - Questions about the institute: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/askyaqeen - Research submissions and the standards a paper must meet: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/submit-your-paper-proposal - Scholars: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team - Revised papers: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/papers/update - Archived papers: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/papers/archive --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/lowering-the-gaze-prophetic-solutions-to-pornography-in-an-age-of-endless-temptation # Lowering the Gaze: Prophetic Solutions to Pornography in an Age of Endless Temptation **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Analysis, Prophetic Cure **Published:** August 27, 2026 **Updated:** September 1, 2026 Late at night, after a long and exhausting day, a young man lies in bed scrolling through his phone. He is not searching for pornography. At least, that is not what he tells himself. He is simply looking for a distraction, to numb the distress of his day. A few reels become a few more. An image appears. Then another. The algorithm seems to know exactly what will keep him engaged. Within minutes, he finds himself somewhere he never intended to go. Afterward comes the familiar feeling: regret, frustration, disappointment in himself. He closes the app and promises that this will be the last time. Yet days, or sometimes only hours, later, the cycle begins again. For many Muslims, this experience is painfully familiar. The struggle with pornography is often portrayed as a battle of willpower, a simple choice between obedience and disobedience. But anyone who has wrestled with this challenge knows that the reality is far more complex. Temptation rarely arrives suddenly. Long before the final click, there are moments of attention, curiosity, loneliness, stress, boredom, and vulnerability. By the time a person confronts the temptation itself, the process has often been unfolding for quite some time. The remarkable insight of the Prophet ﷺ is that he taught us to recognize this process long before modern psychology gave it a name. Rather than focusing only on the final act, he described the entire pathway that leads to it. In doing so, he provided believers with a framework for understanding temptation and, more importantly, overcoming it. --- ## Temptation at Your Fingertips Over time pornographic material has become easier and easier to access. What once required deliberate effort to obtain is now embedded within the architecture of everyday life. Explicit material can be accessed within seconds through smartphones, social media platforms, streaming services, and algorithmically curated content feeds, sometimes without a person actively seeking it. The consequences of this unprecedented accessibility extend far beyond moral concerns. Research has linked “problematic pornography use” to higher levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, relationship dissatisfaction, and emotional distress.[^1] The researchers defined problematic pornography use as pornography consumption that is difficult to stop and that consistently interferes with a person’s spiritual, emotional, relational, or daily functioning. While many individuals initially turn to pornography seeking pleasure, novelty, or escape, they often find themselves trapped in cycles of shame, compulsivity, and diminished self-control. The Prophet ﷺ described the gradual process through which temptation develops. His teachings reveal a sophisticated understanding of human psychology that resonates with contemporary research on attention, habit formation, emotional regulation, and behavior change. Long before modern psychology spoke of triggers, cues, urges, and relapse, the Prophet ﷺ outlined a framework for understanding how temptation emerges and how it can be overcome. --- ## The Prophet ﷺ and the Psychology of Temptation Abu Hurayra (rA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah has decreed for the son of Adam his share of *zina* that he will inevitably encounter. The *zina* of the eyes is looking, the *zina* of the ears is listening, the *zina* of the tongue is speaking, the *zina* of the hands is touching, the *zina* of the feet is walking toward it, and the heart desires and wishes for it. Then the private parts either confirm it or deny it.”[^2] This hadith reframes temptation as a process rather than an event. The Prophet ﷺ begins with perception instead of the final act. The eyes look, the ears listen, and the heart desires. The final act is presented as the culmination of a chain that began much earlier. Modern psychological models of addiction and compulsive behavior describe a remarkably similar pattern. Problematic behaviors rarely emerge spontaneously. Instead, they develop through a sequence of environmental cues, thoughts, emotions, cravings, and actions.[^3] By identifying these earlier stages, psychologists seek to help individuals intervene before their urges become overwhelming. The Prophet ﷺ taught the same principle fourteen centuries ago. If temptation unfolds in stages, then every stage offers an opportunity for intervention. This is especially relevant in a digital age where temptation often begins with something as seemingly harmless as scrolling through a feed or clicking a recommended video. This insight naturally leads to an important question. If temptation precedes the actual behavior, where does it truly begin? ### The Battle for Attention One of the most striking aspects of the hadith is that it begins with the eyes. The Prophet ﷺ began with attention. This reflects a profound psychological reality. Attention is often the first step. What we repeatedly focus on gradually shapes our thoughts, emotions, and motivations. Contemporary neuroscience demonstrates that repeated exposure to sexually explicit material can strengthen attentional biases toward sexual cues, making future temptation more likely and more difficult to resist.[^4] Attention is the gateway to rerouting neural pathways. The Qur’an highlights this same principle: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is fully aware of what they do.”[^5] Notice the sequence. Lowering the gaze comes before guarding chastity. Protection begins with attention. This principle is particularly important in an era where digital platforms are engineered to capture and maintain attention. Recommendation algorithms are optimized to increase engagement, often by prioritizing sensational and sexual content. In such an environment, guarding the gaze is no longer only about physical sight, but about the entire economy of digital attention. It is about consciously managing what enters the mind through the eyes and ears. Yet attention alone does not explain why pornography becomes a persistent struggle for many people. Often, something deeper is driving the behavior. ### Temptation Is Expected, Not Inevitable ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud (rA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Indeed, Allah has not forbidden anything except that He knew some of you would be tempted toward it. Thus, I have taken hold of your waistbands lest you plunge into the fire like moths or flies.”[^6] This hadith begins with a profound theological reality. Allah did not prohibit certain actions because He expected believers never to desire them. Rather, He prohibited them while fully knowing that human beings would feel drawn toward them. Temptation, therefore, is not itself evidence of weak faith or spiritual failure. It is part of the human condition. The struggle against temptation is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is one of the reasons revelation was sent in the first place. Contemporary research paints a remarkably similar picture. A recent study of pornography use found that temptation is one of the strongest day-to-day predictors of pornography consumption (and the negative mood and stress related to it).[^7] When individuals experienced more temptation than was typical for them, their likelihood of viewing pornography increased substantially. This relationship was observed across individuals with nonproblematic, risky, and pathological patterns of pornography use, suggesting that temptation is not unique to those with severe problems but is a universal feature of human behavior. Yet the Prophet ﷺ does more than acknowledge temptation. He gives us a powerful image for understanding it. He likens those who follow their temptations unchecked to moths drawn toward a flame. The moth is not irrational because it is attracted to light. Its tragedy is that it mistakes what appears attractive for what is actually life-giving. It follows its immediate impulse without perceiving the danger until it is too late. Pornography often follows the same pattern. It promises pleasure, relief, intimacy, or escape, yet repeated indulgence frequently leaves people feeling more isolated, ashamed, and emotionally distressed than before. What appears to offer comfort gradually becomes a source of suffering. The Prophet ﷺ then describes himself as “taking hold of your waistbands” to keep believers from rushing toward that flame. This is a striking image of mercy. He does not shame people for being tempted. Instead, he portrays himself as intervening before temptation becomes destruction. The Qur’an and Sunnah therefore do not simply prohibit harmful behaviors. They repeatedly interrupt the chain that leads to them, warning believers before desire becomes habit and habit becomes regret.The practical implication is both realistic and hopeful. Recovery should not be measured by whether temptation disappears completely. There will be days when temptation is stronger than others. What matters is learning to recognize those moments, strengthening one’s safeguards, seeking Allah’s help, and remembering that temptation may predict vulnerability, but it does not determine one’s actions. Every urge presents a choice, and every choice is another opportunity to move closer to Allah. --- ## Beyond Willpower: Changing Problematic Pornography Use Many assume pornography is primarily driven by sexual desire. Research suggests the reality is more complicated. Studies consistently associate problematic pornography use with elevated levels of stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and emotional dysregulation.[^8] For many individuals, pornography functions less as a pursuit of pleasure and more as a means of escaping discomfort. Stress triggers consumption, consumption provides temporary relief, and the brain learns to repeat the behavior whenever distress arises. Over time, the behavior becomes a coping mechanism. This understanding helps explain why many sincere attempts to stop pornography fail. If pornography has become a person’s primary strategy for managing stress, loneliness, boredom, or emotional pain, then simply removing the behavior without addressing the underlying need will not be effective. Islam addresses this deeper layer of human experience by directing believers toward alternative sources of comfort and regulation. Prayer, remembrance of Allah, supplication, recitation of the Qur’an, and trust in Allah provide ways of responding to emotional distress that move beyond mere avoidance. However, even when healthier coping strategies are available, many people continue to struggle because they misunderstand the nature of temptation itself. ### Acceptance Rather Than Suppression One evidence-based contemporary approach to tackling compulsive behaviors like pornography is acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Rather than teaching individuals to suppress unwanted thoughts and urges, ACT encourages them to acknowledge these experiences without acting upon them. The goal is to create enough psychological distance that a person can choose actions aligned with their values.[^9] This principle resonates strongly with a foundational Prophetic teaching. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has forgiven my *ummah* for what they think to themselves so long as they do not speak of it or act upon it.”[^10] Many people struggling with pornography experience tremendous shame simply because unwanted sexual thoughts or urges arise in their minds. They mistakenly interpret the presence of temptation itself as evidence of moral failure. The Prophet ﷺ offers a liberating correction. Allah has forgiven this *ummah* for the thoughts that arise involuntarily so long as they are neither embraced nor acted upon. This complements, rather than contradicts, the earlier hadith describing “the *zina* of the heart.” The Prophet ﷺ is not condemning the spontaneous appearance of temptation. Rather, he is describing what happens when desire is entertained, nurtured, and allowed to progress toward action. There is an important difference between experiencing an unwanted urge and willingly dwelling on it, feeding it, or pursuing it. The first is part of the human condition. The second is where moral accountability comes into the picture. This distinction aligns closely with ACT’s central insight that internal experiences do not require behavioral obedience. A thought can occur without determining behavior. An urge can be acknowledged without being followed. This approach has demonstrably reduced problematic pornography use. In a randomized controlled trial, Crosby and Twohig evaluated a twelve-session ACT intervention for problematic internet pornography use. Participants receiving ACT experienced a 93 percent reduction in pornography viewing compared to a 21 percent reduction in a waitlist control group. More than half achieved complete cessation by the end of treatment, and the improvements were largely maintained three months later. Participants also reported improvements in related sexual behaviors and quality of life.[^11] The implications are profound. The path forward does not involve the elimination of every temptation. Rather, it is learning that temptation is not destiny. Yet resisting urges is only part of recovery. Human beings require something meaningful to move toward, not just something harmful to move away from. ### Replacing Avoidance with Purpose A central principle of ACT is that lasting change occurs when individuals orient their lives around deeply-held values. Recovery is not simply about stopping unwanted behaviors. It is about building a meaningful life that makes the behavior less necessary. The Prophetic tradition reflects the same principle. The Prophet ﷺ prohibited harmful actions and redirected people toward beneficial alternatives. He encouraged marriage when possible, fasting when marriage was not possible, engagement in worship, service to others, beneficial companionship, and productive activity. These practices do more than occupy time. They create purpose, connection, and structure. Research consistently demonstrates that a strong sense of meaning in life serves as a protective factor against addictive and compulsive behaviors.[^12] The goal, therefore, is not simply to spend less time looking at a screen. The goal is to cultivate a life rich enough that the screen loses its power as an escape. Yet even meaningful goals can be difficult to pursue if a person remains immersed in the same environments that continually trigger old habits. ### Changing Your Environment: The Power of Context One of the most remarkable lessons about repentance in Islam comes from the famous hadith of the man who had murdered ninety-nine people. Hoping that Allah might still forgive him, he sought guidance from a monk and asked whether there was any possibility of repentance. Although sincere in worship, the monk lacked the knowledge to answer such a profound question. He told the man that there was no hope for him. In despair and anger, the man killed the monk—his hundredth victim. Still searching for a path back to Allah,  the man sought out a scholar instead. The scholar did not close the door of repentance. Rather, he recognized that genuine change required more than remorse. He instructed the man to leave his corrupt town and travel to a village inhabited by righteous people, explaining that he should worship Allah among them and never return to his former environment. The man set out immediately, but death overtook him before he reached his destination. Because he had sincerely turned toward Allah and committed himself to a new way of life, Allah forgave him.[^13] This hadith teaches a profound psychological truth. The scholar understood that repentance was not simply about changing one’s intentions. It also required changing one’s environment. Remaining in the same place, surrounded by the same influences that had shaped his former life, would make lasting transformation far more difficult. Modern psychology has repeatedly confirmed this insight. Addictive and compulsive behaviors are strongly influenced by environmental cues.[^14] Certain locations, devices, routines, emotional states, and social contexts become associated with particular behaviors through repeated learning. Over time, these cues begin to trigger urges automatically, increasing the likelihood of relapse. This principle is highly relevant to pornography use. For many individuals, pornography becomes linked to specific contexts—being alone late at night, scrolling particular social media platforms, or turning to screens during moments of stress and boredom. The Prophetic solution goes beyond fighting temptation to reducing unnecessary exposure to environments that nurture temptation in the first place. For some, this may mean installing accountability software, removing triggering applications, placing devices in shared spaces, limiting unsupervised internet use, or intentionally increasing time spent with supportive and spiritually grounded companions. Contemporary psychologists often refer to these strategies as stimulus control or environmental restructuring.[^15] The Prophet ﷺ pointed toward the same principle centuries ago. The man seeking repentance was not simply told to become stronger. He was told to search for a place that would help him become stronger. There is a profound message of hope in this hadith. The man was forgiven before he arrived. Allah did not reward arrival at the destination, but commitment to the journey. Recovery from pornography often follows the same pattern. What matters is not immediate perfection, but sincere movement toward a better environment, better habits, and a closer relationship with Allah. #### Marriage Is Not a Cure The story of the man who murdered one hundred people contains another important lesson. The scholar he consulted did not prescribe a convenient solution. He prescribed the right solution. Before encouraging the man to begin a new chapter of his life, the scholar first addressed the conditions that had sustained his old one. His focus was not simply on forgiveness but on transformation. This lesson has important implications for those struggling with pornography. Many people assume that marriage alone will solve the problem. Certainly, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged marriage as a means of preserving chastity for those who are able. Yet marriage is not a treatment for compulsive behaviors that have already become deeply ingrained. If pornography has become someone’s primary way of coping with stress, loneliness, boredom, or emotional pain, those patterns often persist after the wedding if they remain unaddressed. Research on problematic pornography use consistently shows that the consequences extend beyond the individual. Many spouses experience betrayal trauma, diminished trust, emotional insecurity, and significant strain within the marriage when problematic pornography use continues in secret. Marriage can therefore compound rather than solve an untreated problem. A spouse should never be expected to function as a therapist, accountability partner, or cure for a struggle they did not create. Just as the scholar recognized that the man first needed repentance, a healthier environment, and righteous companionship before beginning a new life, those struggling with pornography should pursue healing, accountability, and meaningful change before expecting marriage to resolve what they have not yet confronted themselves. This does not mean that a person must achieve perfection before marrying. Rather, it means they should already be walking the path of recovery. Marriage can provide support, encouragement, and companionship along that journey. It was never intended to replace the journey itself. --- ## The Hidden Self: Integrity, Secrecy, and Cognitive Dissonance Thawban (rA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Indeed, I know people of my nation who will come on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds like the mountains of Tihama, and Allah will make them like scattered dust.” Thawban said, “O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us and clarify them so that we do not become one of them without knowing.” He ﷺ replied, “They are your brothers and from your race, worshipping at night as you do, but they will be people who, when they are alone, transgress the sacred limits of Allah.”[^16] This hadith is particularly sobering because the people described are not individuals who abandon worship altogether. They pray, perform righteous deeds, and engage in acts of devotion. Outwardly, they appear committed to Allah. Yet there exists a profound disconnect between their public identity and their private behavior. Modern psychology provides a useful framework for understanding this struggle through the concept of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance refers to the psychological discomfort that arises when a person’s actions conflict with their deeply held beliefs and values.[^17] Human beings naturally seek consistency between who they believe themselves to be and how they actually behave. When a discrepancy emerges, tension follows. For a believer struggling with pornography, this tension can be particularly intense. A person may sincerely love Allah, value modesty and chastity, attend the masjid, recite the Qur’an, and strive to live according to Islamic teachings. Yet when alone, they may repeatedly engage in behavior that directly contradicts those same commitments.The resulting dissonance often manifests as guilt, shame, self-criticism, and spiritual distress. Unfortunately, people often attempt to reduce this discomfort in unhealthy ways. Some minimize the seriousness of the behavior. Others compartmentalize their religious and private lives. Still others become so overwhelmed by shame that they begin withdrawing from worship altogether. The Prophetic solution is neither denial nor despair. Rather, it is the pursuit of integrity. Notice that the hadith does not condemn the righteous deeds committed by the individuals described. The problem was that their worship had not yet transformed how they behaved when no one was watching. True spiritual growth occurs when Allah’s presence matters more than the absence of human observers. The Qur’an reminds believers of this reality: “Does he not know that Allah sees?”[^18] When a person internalizes this awareness, the quality of their solitude begins to change. Being alone no longer means being unobserved. Privacy becomes an opportunity for sincerity rather than secrecy. Research on behavioral change suggests that lasting transformation is likeliest when actions align with one’s deepest values rather than being driven solely by external pressures.[^19] This closely mirrors the Islamic concept of *ikhlas*, or sincerity. Others discovering the sin is not why a believer avoids sin. They avoid it because they aspire to become a person who Allah loves, both publicly and privately. The goal is not perfection. The goal is integration. It is becoming one person rather than two. It is becoming the same servant of Allah in the darkness of the night as in the light of the day. Yet even when believers fall short of this ideal, Islam offers something that neither shame nor self-condemnation can provide. ### From Shame to Tawba One of the greatest obstacles to recovery is despair. Repeated failures often cause individuals to define themselves by their struggles. Instead of viewing pornography as a behavior they engage in, they begin to see it as their identity. Shame gradually replaces hope. The Prophetic model rejects this way of thinking. The Prophet ﷺ taught that “every son of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.”[^20] This hadith transforms the way believers understand failure. Sin is not evidence that a person is beyond redemption. Rather, repentance is an expected part of the human condition. *Tawba* is not simply a legal mechanism. It is a psychological one. It allows individuals to acknowledge wrongdoing without becoming consumed by it. Shame says, “I am my sin.” *Tawba* says, “I committed a sin, but Allah’s mercy is always greater than my sin if I repent.” This distinction often determines whether a person continues striving or abandons the struggle altogether. Recovery is sustained by hope, not perfection. --- ## Conclusion The modern pornography crisis is often framed as a battle against sexual desire. The Prophet ﷺ offers a deeper and more comprehensive understanding. Pornography is a struggle over attention before desire forms. It is a struggle over coping before compulsion develops. It is a struggle over thoughts before they become actions. It is a struggle over environments before they become triggers. And it is a struggle over hope before failure becomes despair. The Prophetic model recognizes that sin rarely appears suddenly. It unfolds through a sequence of sights, sounds, thoughts, emotions, environments, and desires. Yet every stage of that sequence provides an opportunity for intervention. A believer can lower their gaze before desire intensifies. They can turn to Allah before stress becomes overwhelming. They can accept urges without obeying them. They can reshape their environment before relapse occurs. They can strive to become the same person in private that they are in public. And when they stumble, they can return to Allah through repentance rather than surrendering to shame. In this way, the Prophetic tradition offers a roadmap for understanding the human mind, navigating temptation, and cultivating lasting spiritual and psychological transformation. --- ## Notes [^1]: Claudio Vieira and Mark D. Griffiths, “Problematic Pornography Use and Mental Health: A Systematic Review,” *Sexual Health and Compulsivity* 31, no. 3 (2024): 207–47, [https://doi.org/10.1080/26929953.2024.2348624](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/26929953.2024.2348624&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1787852905779179&usg=AOvVaw3h5SK8slQ8UGwOQE6HUYN4). [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 6612; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2657. [^3]: G. Alan Marlatt and Dennis M. Donovan, eds., *Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors* (The Guilford Press, 2005). [^4]: Simone Kühn and Jürgen Gallinat, “Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated with Pornography Consumption: The Brain on Porn,” *JAMA Psychiatry* 71, no. 7 (2014): 827–34. [^5]: Qur’an 24:30. [^6]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 3704; graded *ḥasan* according to al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^7]: Andreas Oelker, Anna Knorr, Matthias Brand, and Silke M. Müller, “Temptation as a Key Driver Between Affective States and Usage Outcomes of Problematic Usage of the Internet: A 14-Day Ambulatory Assessment Study,” *PLOS One* 21, no. 7 (2026): e0352776. [^8]: Aleksandra Diana Dwulit and Piotr Rzymski, “The Potential Associations of Pornography Use with Sexual Dysfunctions: An Integrative Literature Review of Observational Studies," *Journal of Clinical Medicine* 8, no. 7 (2019): 914. [^9]: Steven C. Hayes, Kirk D. Strosahl, and Kelly G. Wilson, *Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change*, 2nd ed. (The Guilford Press, 2012). [^10]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5269; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 127. [^11]: Jesse M. Crosby and Michael P. Twohig, “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Problematic Internet Pornography Use: A Randomized Trial,” *Behavior Therapy* 47, no. 3 (2016): 355–66. [^12]: Michael F. Steger, “Making Meaning in Life,” *Psychological Inquiry* 23, no. 4 (2012): 381–85. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3470. [^14]: Cynthia A. Conklin, “Environments as Cues to Smoke: Implications for Extinction-Based Research and Treatment,” *Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology* 14, no. 1 (2006): 12–19; Hans S. Crombag, Jennifer M. Bossert, Eisuke Koya, and Yavin Shaham, “Context-Induced Relapse to Drug Seeking: A Review,” *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London*, Series B, Biological sciences, 363, no. 1507 (2008): 3233–43. [^15]: Wendy Wood and David T. Neal, “A New Look at Habits and the Habit-Goal Interface,” *Psychological Review* 114, no. 4 (2007): 843–63. [^16]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 4245. [^17]: Leon Festinger, *A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance* (Stanford University Press, 1957). [^18]: Qur’an 96:14. [^19]: Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, *Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness* (The Guilford Press, 2017). [^20]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2499. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/overcoming-intrusive-thoughts-and-religious-ocd-prophetic-guidance-on-moral-scrupulosity # Overcoming Intrusive Thoughts and Religious OCD: Prophetic Guidance on Moral Scrupulosity **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Analysis, Prophetic Cure, Publication **Published:** August 13, 2026 **Updated:** August 17, 2026 ## Introduction Moral scrupulosity is a form of excessive moral anxiety characterized by persistent fear of sin, intrusive thoughts about wrongdoing, and a heightened sense of guilt even in the absence of deliberate action. Often studied within the broader framework of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD),[^1] it reflects a pattern in which individuals overestimate the moral weight of their thoughts and underestimate the scope of divine mercy. In contemporary psychology, scrupulosity is closely linked to maladaptive guilt, inflated responsibility, and thought–action fusion, the belief that having a thought is morally equivalent to acting upon it.[^2] While this condition is clinically recognized, the spiritual tradition of Islam offers a profound corrective. The Qur’an and Sunnah distinguish clearly between thoughts and actions, intention and execution, and accountability and mercy. At the center of this corrective is a foundational Prophetic teaching. --- ## The Prophetic Principle: Thoughts Are Not Sins The companions once came to the Prophet ﷺ distressed by thoughts they found difficult even to speak about. They asked whether they would be held accountable for such thoughts. The Prophet ﷺ responded, “That is clear faith.”[^3] Rather than condemning them, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed them. The very discomfort they felt toward these thoughts was a sign of belief, not disbelief. In modern clinical terms, intrusive thoughts are often ego-dystonic. They conflict with a person’s values and identity. The more a person cares about their moral integrity, the more distressing these thoughts can become.² The Prophetic response recognizes this and reframes distress as a marker of sincerity. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Indeed, Allah has pardoned my *ummah* for what crosses their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.”[^4] This narration establishes an important principle: fleeting thoughts, passing mental images, and unwanted ideas that arise involuntarily are not sins. Moral accountability is not attached to what merely passes through the mind, but to what a person knowingly embraces, expresses, or acts upon. In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has recorded the good deeds and the bad deeds . . . Whoever intends a good deed but does not do it, Allah records it as a complete good deed . . . and whoever intends a bad deed but does not do it, Allah records it as a complete good deed.”[^5] This narration addresses a different stage of the moral process. Classical scholars, including Ibn Hajar in his commentary on this hadith, explain that the “intention” (*hamm*) mentioned here is not the same as an involuntary intrusive thought. Rather, it refers to a settled resolve or genuine inclination toward an action. In the narration of Imam Muslim, the reward is specifically linked to abandoning that intended sin for Allah’s sake (“He abandoned it because of Me”). Thus, this hadith is not describing unwanted intrusive thoughts; instead, it highlights Allah’s generosity toward those who consciously refrain from acting on a sinful intention out of devotion to Him. This distinction is especially important for those struggling with scrupulosity. A key feature of scrupulosity is the belief that thinking something wrong is equivalent to doing something wrong. Psychologists refer to this as thought-action fusion. Individuals experience intrusive thoughts and then assume that the mere occurrence of those thoughts reflects moral failure. The Prophet ﷺ directly dismantles this distorted belief. Unwanted thoughts that arise without one’s choosing are not sins and do not define one’s character. At the same time, when a believer consciously turns away from an actual temptation for Allah’s sake, that deliberate act of restraint becomes an act of worship worthy of reward. This is a profound intervention. It shifts the believer from a state of fear to a state of hope. It transforms what is perceived as evidence of hypocrisy into evidence of faith and reminds us that Allah distinguishes between what merely crosses the mind and what the heart truly chooses. --- ## Divine Mercy and the Limits of Accountability The Qur’an reinforces these Prophetic teachings with a simple decree: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.”[^6] Scrupulosity often creates a sense of unbearable moral weight. Individuals feel responsible for controlling every thought, every impulse, every fleeting idea. This is not the standard set by Islam. Accountability in Islam is tied to intention and action, not involuntary cognition. The heart may experience passing thoughts, but moral responsibility begins when those thoughts are embraced, acted upon, or expressed. This distinction protects the believer from despair. It ensures that the path to Allah is not obstructed by impossible standards. Scrupulosity is often intensified by whispers that exaggerate guilt and distort religious understanding. The Qur’an describes Shaytan as one who whispers into the hearts of people, creating confusion and doubt.[^7] The Prophet ﷺ taught believers not to engage endlessly with these whispers, but to dismiss them. When doubts arise about faith or purity, the response is not obsessive analysis, but disengagement. The Prophet ﷺ prescribed several practical ways of disengaging from intrusive doubts as outlined above.[^8] He also instructed believers to seek refuge in Allah (as well as in the Qur’an) and to occupy themselves with beneficial action rather than endless internal debate.[^9] These practices interrupt the cycle of obsessive rumination instead of reinforcing it. This aligns with modern therapeutic approaches. Cognitive behavioral therapy for OCD often emphasizes response prevention, resisting the urge to engage with intrusive thoughts.[^10] The Prophetic method anticipates this by encouraging detachment rather than rumination. --- ## Conclusion: A Prophetic Framework for Relief Moral scrupulosity reflects a sincere desire to avoid wrongdoing, but when left unchecked, it can distort the very religion it seeks to uphold. It replaces mercy with fear, mindfulness with obsession, and worship with anxiety. The Prophet ﷺ offered a different path. A path where thoughts are not condemned, but contextualized. Where struggle is not a sign of failure, but of faith. Where divine mercy is not an exception, but the foundation. Taken together, the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah offer a comprehensive response to moral scrupulosity: - Thoughts are not sins unless acted upon or expressed. - Resisting sinful thoughts is rewarded. - Distress over intrusive thoughts can be a sign of faith. - Accountability is limited to what is within one’s control. - Whispers should be dismissed, not analyzed. This framework preserves moral seriousness without collapsing into moral anxiety. It affirms accountability while grounding it in mercy. In a time when many quietly suffer from overwhelming moral anxiety, the Qur’an and Sunnah offer not only clarity, but relief. For some, however, scrupulosity becomes a clinically significant condition that can profoundly interfere with worship, relationships, and daily life. In such cases, seeking help from a qualified mental health professional, ideally one who understands the religious dimensions of scrupulosity, is not a sign of weak faith but a means of healing. The Prophetic tradition encourages believers to seek treatment alongside placing their trust in Allah, allowing spiritual guidance and appropriate clinical care to work together in restoring both peace of mind and confidence in one’s relationship with Him. --- ## Notes [^1]: Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Ryan J. Jacoby, “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: A Critical Review of the New Diagnostic Class,” *Annual Review of Clinical Psychology* 11 (2015): 165–86. [^2]: Abramowitz and Jacoby, “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders.” [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 132a. [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5269; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 127. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6491; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 131. [^6]: Qur’an 2:286. [^7]: Qur’an 114:5. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6491; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 131; *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 2209. [^9]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2988; Qur’an 7:200. [^10]: Paul M. Salkovskis, “Obsessive-Compulsive Problems: A Cognitive-Behavioural Analysis,” *Behaviour Research and Therapy* 23, no. 5 (1985): 571–83. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-discipline-the-self-a-prophetic-cure-for-entitlement # How to Discipline the Self: A Prophetic Cure for Entitlement **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Analysis, Publication **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Updated:** August 17, 2026 “We cannot endure the same meal. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us some of what the earth produces of herbs, cucumbers, garlic, lentils, and onions.”[^1] These were the words directed by Bani Israʾil toward Musa (as) as they trudged through the desert. Their backs were to the Red Sea, through which they’d escaped Pharaoh and his army. The miracle that had saved them, the astonishing path that had opened for them as the sea itself split in two, would have still been fresh in their memory. Compared to that, this request for sustenance seemed perfectly reasonable, even humble. The foods requested were certainly simple and lawful. The problem was the tone. The request did not come from a place of humility or gratitude, but may have been a symptom of their entitlement. It was as though Musa owed his people intercession and Allah was expected to comply. As classical scholars noted, the issue was not hunger, but dissatisfaction with divine provision despite overwhelming blessing. This attitude is not unique to Bani Israʾil. The Qur’an repeatedly exposes entitlement as a spiritual disease that can take many forms. Iblis refused to bow before Adam (as) because he believed he was inherently superior, declaring, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.”[^2] His sense of entitlement to a higher status became the root of arrogance and rebellion. Likewise, the Qur’an recounts the claim of some among the Jews and Christians who said, “We are the children of Allah and His beloved,”[^3] assuming that their affiliation alone entitled them to divine favor. Pharaoh embodied yet another form of entitlement, boasting of his kingdom and authority as evidence of his superiority: “Does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers flowing beneath me?”[^4] Although these examples differ in context, they share the same underlying assumption: that privilege, lineage, power, or status entitles a person to honor, obedience, or Allah’s favor. The Qur’an consistently dismantles this mindset, reminding us that true honor is never inherited or demanded. It is granted by Allah to those who embody humility, gratitude, and *taqwa*. Entitlement is one of the quiet attitudes that reshapes how a person sees Allah, other people, and the world itself. It is rarely stated explicitly, yet it reveals itself in expectation without effort, complaint without reflection, and demand without gratitude. In simple terms, entitlement is the belief that one deserves privileges or outcomes without corresponding responsibility or humility. It is the feeling that something is owed. Contemporary psychology corroborates the Qur’an’s insights into the nature of entitlement. Longitudinal studies show that entitlement increases perceived resource scarcity, which in turn intensifies materialistic values and dissatisfaction.[^5] When entitlement frames reality, abundance is experienced as lack. The Qur’anic critique of Bani Israʾil captures a timeless psychological pattern. Blessings are reframed as insufficient, and mercy is reinterpreted as entitlement. Modern life often reinforces this mindset. Societies built around convenience, personalization, and immediate access normalize the idea that desires should be met quickly and with minimal friction. Over time, patience weakens and gratitude erodes. Psychological research increasingly confirms that entitlement heightens dissatisfaction, fuels materialism, and amplifies the perception of scarcity even in objectively abundant environments.[^6] Islam, however, confronts this mindset directly, not by denying human need, but by restoring perspective and moral orientation. --- ## How Entitlement Distorts One’s Relationship with Allah Once entitlement takes root, it reshapes the way a person approaches Allah. *Dua* shifts from humble dependence to transactional expectation. Worship becomes conditional. When outcomes align with desire, contentment follows. When they do not, frustration and resentment quietly emerge. The Prophet ﷺ dismantled this framework entirely when he said, “Observe moderation \[in doing deeds\], and if you fail to observe it perfectly, try to do as much as you can do \[to live up to this ideal of moderation\], and rejoice! For indeed, no one’s deeds will ever admit them into Paradise.” They asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Not even me, unless Allah envelops me in mercy. And know that the most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if they are small.”[^7] This hadith establishes a foundational theological principle. Salvation is granted only through divine mercy. The believer is called to act responsibly while remaining aware of absolute dependence on Allah. This posture not only cultivates humility, but also protects against the anxiety and bitterness that arise when outcomes are perceived as owed rather than gifted. --- ## Salvific Entitlement and Sectarian Posturing When entitlement moves beyond personal spirituality to become a cornerstone of collective identity, its effects are especially destructive. Salvific entitlement occurs when individuals or groups assume guaranteed salvation based on mere affiliation or perceived doctrinal correctness rather than sincerity, humility, and most importantly, Allah’s mercy. Some online religious spaces tend to cultivate this mindset. Social media environments reward certainty, moral outrage, and public performance of righteousness. Disagreement is often framed as deviation, and nuance replaced with condemnation. Religion becomes a boundary marker rather than a moral path, and faith is reduced to winning arguments rather than cultivating character. The Prophet ﷺ reminded believers that final outcomes belong to Allah alone.[^8] Salvific entitlement narrows compassion and erodes communal trust. Psychologically, this mirrors findings that entitlement reduces empathy and social concern, while gratitude broadens moral awareness and relational generosity.[^9] --- ## Entitlement in Human Relationships The same mindset that distorts theology also reshapes social relationships. Entitlement appears when individuals assume that others owe them time, attention, or accommodation. In religious communities, this may surface as expectations placed on volunteers or institutions without appreciation. In families, it can appear as demands for provision or emotional labor without reciprocity. The Qur’anic story of Bani Israʾil again provides insight. Musa (as) was a prophet and leader, yet he was approached as though obligated to fulfill demands. Healthy relationships, like healthy faith, require gratitude, patience, and mutual responsibility rather than expectation. Prophetic wisdom again realigns actions and expectations to gratitude, and links gratitude to people with gratitude to Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “He who does not thank people is not thankful to Allah.”[^10] These are important lessons for us to act on, but also to impart to our families. --- ## Entitlement, Parenting, and the Formation of the Self Entitlement does not arise spontaneously in adulthood. It is often cultivated early through well-intentioned parenting practices that prioritize comfort over resilience. Psychological research and clinical observation suggest that parents’ attempts to shield children from struggle, failure, or frustration can inadvertently foster entitlement rather than confidence or gratitude.[^11] Educators increasingly observe this pattern in academic settings, where students expect flexible deadlines and guaranteed outcomes regardless of preparation or effort. Importantly, this research does not frame entitlement as a failure of children, but as a developmental outcome shaped by adult decisions. Gratitude emerges as the primary antidote. Studies indicate that fostering self-reliance, allowing children to experience manageable failure, modeling gratitude, and setting clear boundaries cultivate resilience and reduce entitlement.[^12] These findings align closely with Islamic pedagogy, which emphasizes gradual responsibility (as seen with the hadith on developmentally appropriate reminders for prayer), discipline, and *tarbiya* over indulgence. The Prophetic model nurtured effort while grounding outcomes in mercy, teaching that growth requires patience, accountability, and appreciation. --- ## The Prophetic Antidote: Consistency, Gratitude, and Small Deeds Rather than confronting entitlement through condemnation alone, the Prophet ﷺ offered a practical reorientation in the same hadith that centered on moderation, effort, consistency, and reliance upon Allah’s mercy. He ﷺ said in another wording of the same hadith: “Observe moderation \[in doing deeds\], and if you fail to observe it perfectly, try to do as much as you can do \[to live up to this ideal of moderation\], and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little.”[^13] Taken together, these statements dismantle the logic of entitlement. The believer is commanded to strive, but is simultaneously reminded that even the greatest acts of worship do not place Allah in one’s debt. Salvation itself remains a gift of divine mercy rather than something earned or deserved. The final statement about small, consistent deeds then redirects attention away from accumulating impressive religious achievements toward sincere and steadfast obedience. The question is no longer, “Have I done enough to deserve Paradise?” but “Am I faithfully responding to the blessings Allah has already given me?” Entitlement measures what is owed; faith measures faithfulness. Gratitude naturally fills the space that entitlement leaves behind. If entitlement is preoccupied with what one lacks or believes is deserved, gratitude begins with recognizing what has already been received. This theme runs throughout the Qur’an and Sunnah. Allah promises, “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you,”[^14] teaching us that increase comes not through demanding more, but through appreciating what He has already bestowed. Likewise, the Prophetic reminder about gratitude to people extends gratitude beyond inward feelings toward Allah to one’s relationships with others, fostering humility, generosity, and appreciation instead of expectation. Modern psychological research echoes this Prophetic wisdom. Gratitude has been shown to reduce entitlement and perceived scarcity, which in turn lowers materialism and increases preference for meaningful, experiential values over accumulation.[^15] Rather than simply producing positive emotions, gratitude reshapes perception. It enables people to recognize abundance where entitlement perceives deprivation. The Prophet ﷺ further reinforced this perspective when he said, “Look at those who are below you and do not look at those above you, for that is more likely to prevent you from belittling the blessings Allah has given you.”[^16] Entitlement thrives on upward comparison, constantly drawing attention to what others possess and what one believes is missing. The Prophetic response is not to suppress ambition, but to anchor it in gratitude. By first recognizing Allah’s existing blessings, the believer is freed from perpetual dissatisfaction and learns that the path to increase begins not with demanding more, but with grateful stewardship of what has already been entrusted to them. The Qur’anic remedy for entitlement is not less desire but greater gratitude, for the believer seeks increase not by demanding more, but by thanking Allah for what has already been bestowed, trusting His promise: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you.”[^17] --- ## From Entitlement to Responsibility At its core, entitlement reflects a refusal to acknowledge dependence. Islam replaces this posture with trusteeship. Human beings are not owed blessings, knowledge, or even righteousness. Instead they are entrusted with them, and will be accountable for them.[^18] This framework reorients worship, disagreement, parenting, and community life. Instead of asking what is deserved, the believer asks what is required. Responsibility replaces resentment. Humility replaces moral posturing. Gratitude replaces scarcity. Islam does not prohibit desire or ambition. It disciplines them. Rather than encouraging believers to ask “What am I owed?” the Qur’an and Sunnah repeatedly redirect them to ask “What has Allah already given me, and how should I respond?” The Qur’anic examples of Bani Israʾil, Iblis, and Pharaoh each expose a different form of entitlement, yet all are answered by reminders of our dependence on Allah rather than self-perceived deserving. Similarly, those who claimed special status as Allah’s beloved were reminded that accountability, not affiliation, determines one’s standing before Him.[^19] In this way, revelation redirects entitlement away from demands based on privilege, status, or expectation and toward gratitude, humility, and responsible stewardship. Modern psychological research now affirms what revelation articulated centuries ago. Gratitude reduces entitlement, restores perspective, and protects against dissatisfaction. In an age where entitlement extends not only to material goods but even to moral superiority and assumptions of salvation, the Prophetic path offers a corrective grounded in mercy. Faith, in this vision, is not about what one believes they deserve, but about living in continual awareness of what Allah has already bestowed while hoping for the ultimate reward of His mercy. --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 2:61. [^2]: Qur’an 7:12. [^3]: Qur’an 5:18. [^4]: Qur’an 43:51. [^5]: Hyunjung Crystal Lee, Sunaina Chugani, and Jae Eun Namkoong, “The Role of Entitlement and Perceived Resources in Gratitude’s Effect on Materialism: Longitudinal and Situational Effects,” *Journal of Business Research* 139 (2022): 993–1003, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.029](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.029&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786575803416005&usg=AOvVaw0T4XufPhClrySMJIL6lQAg). [^6]: Lee et al., “Role of Entitlement.” [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6464; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2818. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6464; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2818. [^9]: Lee et al., “Role of Entitlement.” [^10]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4811; graded *ṣaḥīḥ* by al-Albānī. [^11]: Calvina Ellerbe, “Gratitude: Ending the Entitled Generation; A Parent’s Guide to Raising Grateful Children,” *Psychology Today*, September 16, 2024. [^12]: Ellerbe, “Gratitude: Ending the Entitled Generation.” [^13]: **Ṣaḥīḥ* al-Bukhārī*, no. 6464; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2818. [^14]: Qur’an 14:7. [^15]: Lee et al., “Role of Entitlement.” [^16]: **Ṣaḥīḥ* al-Bukhārī*, no. 6490; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2963. [^17]: Qur’an 14:7. [^18]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2417; graded *ṣaḥīḥ* by al-Albānī. [^19]: Qur’an 5:18. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/follow-your-heart-or-trust-the-scholars-the-islamic-ethics-of-moral-authority # Follow Your Heart or Trust the Scholars? The Islamic Ethics of Moral Authority **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** Methodology (usul) **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** August 11, 2026 **Updated:** September 1, 2026 You have a dispute with your neighbor—over a boundary, a debt, a shared right. It has dragged on for months, and private resolution has failed. So you do what a Muslim should do: You bring it before a judge. Not just any judge, but one known for knowledge, piety, and integrity. You trust him completely. The hearing unfolds. You have a way with words; your neighbor, in contrast, struggles to articulate his strongest points. The judge rules in your favor. By every outward measure, justice has been done. But as you leave, you realize something unsettling: The judgment is wrong. You saw where your neighbor failed to express what would have changed everything. What do you do? Now imagine the judge is none other than the Prophet ﷺ himself. This is not a hypothetical. The Prophet ﷺ addressed this situation directly: “I am only human, and you bring your disputes to me. Perhaps one of you is more eloquent in his argument than another, and I rule in his favor according to what I hear. So if I ever give someone a right that belongs to his brother, let him not take it—for I am only cutting for him a piece of the Fire.”[^1] The ruling settles the matter in the court. It does not settle it before Allah. Muslim scholars capture this difference as that between *qadaʾ* (ruling of an Islamic court) and *diyana* (what is right before Allah). This single hadith contains an entire moral philosophy. It tells us that formal authority—even Prophetic authority as a judge—cannot substitute for truth. It tells us that the believer’s responsibility to reality does not end when the gavel falls. It tells us that the heart, if it knows, remains accountable, regardless of what the court has decided. It also tells us something about the nature of the problem we are about to confront. The question of how to navigate between external authority and internal moral knowledge is not a modern anxiety, not a symptom of weakened faith, not an innovation of Western-influenced Muslims uncomfortable with tradition. It is a question the Prophet ﷺ himself raised, in the most dramatic way possible, by applying it to his own rulings. What follows is an attempt to take that question seriously. --- ## The Dilemma: Authority Versus Intuition > No one needs an *ijāzah*, *minhāj*, *ṭarīqah*, or a super-vanilla (organic or flavored) shaykh to state the obvious: Gaza and Palestine are largely the result of complicit oligarchs—plantation guards tasked with keeping the *ummah* weak, fractured, and dependent. Humor aside, in this social media post, Shaykh Suhaib Webb, an American scholar of Islam and graduate of Al-Azhar University, gestures toward a deeply consequential teaching in our religion. At stake is the tension between two overlapping responsibilities. On the one hand, there is the cultivation of an inner moral intelligence—a concern for the injustice, suffering, and concrete realities confronting individuals, communities, and the *ummah* at large. On the other, there is fidelity to the inherited scholarly tradition grounded in scripture: disciplined engagement with texts and reverence for learned authorities as bearers of the divine message. Both are equally necessary and ultimately harmonious. They are not rivals, but mutually disciplining. Yet experience suggests that, at times, they come into conflict. Note that the conflict is not between our intuition and what Allah wants—to subdue our ego to Allah is the entire point of submission—but between what our heart says Allah wants and what some external authority claims. In such moments of tension, the Prophetic guidance we present below instructs us neither to suppress the heart nor to neglect the authority of the learned, while remaining ever vigilant against temptation and subtle distortion. After all, how do we know that what we consider our moral intuition objecting to a fatwa is not merely the corrupting effect of our social circles? This balance is not easy to sustain, and requires both knowledge and discernment, the company of the learned and the righteous as well as contemplation and self-assessment (*muraqaba* and *muhasaba*) with Allah. This essay is not intended to provide an exhaustive blueprint, but broad Prophetic guidance concerning a challenge that is inevitable in the life of a believer. ### The Test of Interpretation: From Gaza to LGBT Ambiguity in divine command is never unintended. Why, when Allah made the most staggering demand of His beloved servant, Prophet Ibrahim, upon him be peace, to sacrifice his son, did He communicate it through a dream? The form matters. A dream requires recognition and resolve; it does not compel in the way a direct command might. Ibrahim could have dismissed it. Instead, he read it as binding and acted upon it.[^2] The Qur’an, likewise, praises those “who listen to the word and follow the best of it.”[^3] One exegete describes these listener followers as connoisseurs of faith, discerning not only what is permissible, but what is most pleasing to Allah.[^4] As a warning, the Qur’an also recounts the Israelites who outwardly honored the Sabbath yet hollowed it out in practice, setting their nets in advance and collecting the catch after.[^5] Between these two lies the real trial: not mere compliance with the letter of the law, but the ability to recognize and pursue the fuller truth of what Allah asks of us. The question, then, is not whether we obey but how we recognize what obedience requires when authority, context, and moral clarity appear to diverge. The appeal to the heart is dangerous if left untrained. Intuition must be disciplined by *taqwa*—a God-consciousness that refines perception and anchors judgment in divine truth. The classical tradition recognized this, developing not only rules but an ethics of seeking guidance, in which sincerity, honesty, and discernment are themselves moral obligations. As evinced by the classical books of advice addressed to the seeker of a fatwa (*adab al-mustafti*), even the act of asking requires judgment and piety: integrity in presenting one’s case, humility in receiving the answer, and awareness that such guidance is often context-sensitive and open to legitimate disagreement.[^6] Consider moments when religious authority is invoked to counsel silence in the face of manifest injustice—when believers are urged to ignore atrocities, avoid protest or boycott, and retreat to private piety. Here, the test of interpretation becomes acute: Does obedience lie in compliance with authority, or in fidelity to the Qur’anic demand for justice and solidarity, and the alleviation of suffering? This is not merely hypothetical. Across much of the Muslim world, political conditions restrict expressions of support for Palestine, and segments of religious leadership have echoed or acquiesced to these constraints.[^7] In many contexts, access to diverse scholarly voices is limited, and what reaches the public as “the Islamic view” is shaped by institutional and political mediation. The result is not the absence of principled scholarship—indeed, many scholars have spoken courageously, often at personal cost—but a fractured moral landscape in which competing claims to religious legitimacy swirl, and positions that strain the conscience are elevated as though they were the norm. The *ummah*—nearly two billion souls—finds itself divided and stalled: caught in cycles of national, ethnic, and sectarian contention that sap its moral will. In that paralysis, those aligned with power grow louder and more effective, while voices that might call us to the courage of Moses fall quiet or are dismissed. A weary logic begins to take hold: *If God has given them power, they must be in the right*—a surrender not of argument alone, but of moral imagination itself.[^8] Lest I be misunderstood: There is no dearth of true *ʿulamaʾ* in this *ummah* who speak the truth at any cost, many thousands of them incarcerated, many more silenced. Yet we cannot absolve ourselves of this silence; when a collective obligation is unfulfilled—as a fundamental principle states—the entire *ummah* is blameworthy.[^9] If Palestine illustrates the moral risk of an uncritical deference to authority, the converse danger is no less real: the elevation of instinct, sentiment, or prevailing social norms over the disciplined guidance of the tradition. The rapid normalization of LGBT ideology in contemporary Western discourse—framed in terms of liberation, antipatriarchy, and resistance to oppression—has shaped the moral intuitions of many Muslims, particularly in diasporic contexts. Some have responded by seeking to realign Islamic norms with slogans such as “love is love” or the view that gender is purely a social construct. Others, while formally affirming traditional teachings, have minimized the issue as politically exaggerated or morally secondary, effectively aligning themselves against those voicing the Islamic view. In this case, the gravitational pull of dominant cultural narratives risks displacing the careful moral reasoning preserved within the scholarly tradition. By contrast, traditionally trained scholars and imams, especially those engaged in the pastoral realities of Muslim communities, have generally recognized the seriousness of these questions within an Islamic moral framework. These two examples illustrate opposite failures of the same underlying problem: In the first, excessive deference to authority silences a sound moral intuition; in the second, excessive trust in intuition—shaped by cultural pressure rather than revelation—overrides sound scholarly and scriptural guidance. The challenge is not to choose between authority and intuition, but to understand how each corrects and disciplines the other. ### Daily Dilemmas The stakes become even more intimate when we turn to our lives as parents, teachers, religious leaders, community members. How do we teach our children, students, and congregants to become good believers? Do we nurture their innate sense of right and wrong—their *fitra*—encouraging them to speak up against injustice, or teach them expedience and compromise in a dangerous world? Should those in authority nurture and give moral weight to the inner voice that recoils at cruelty and injustice, even when it unsettles inherited judgments and becomes more liable to subtle social and cultural pressures? Or should they instead train their wards toward disciplined deference, cultivating a posture of submission to established traditional authority and the accumulated wisdom of the community’s elders, even when that authority appears to mute or override that moral instinct? Should we encourage a creative openness to a world of different opinions, or moderate their curiosity to emphasize obedience and deference until they can “properly” interpret scripture and the world through the lens of books and authorities? These are not abstract concerns. They are the questions you face, quietly, every day: - When I receive an unsettling fatwa from a scholar, do I silence that feeling or take it seriously? - If two scholars give different answers, do I choose the one that feels easier? - When my child asks, “Why is this permissible and that impermissible?”—do I teach them to trust the answer, or to wrestle with it until it makes moral sense to them? - If my child says, “That doesn’t feel fair,” do I correct them, or do I pause and ask what their heart is perceiving? - When I know how to phrase a question to get the answer I want, am I seeking guidance or fatwa shopping? - If a ruling seems to overlook real harm to a person, family, or community, do I submit or do I question whether something has been missed? - When authority speaks, how do I know I am hearing the voice of the *deen* and not the echo of culture, power, or convenience? And beneath all of these lies a deeper tension: - Am I raising my children to learn the truth as it is said, “Know the truth, you will know its champion,” or to trust the scholars I consider safe? - If I train them only to defer, will they recognize injustice when it is justified in religious language? - If I train them to rely on their inner sense, will they end up following a charlatan, a “religious influencer,” or develop false confidence, lacking the discipline and humility that knowledge requires? This, then, is the question: not whether to follow the law or the heart but what guidance revelation and reason provide to navigate the tension between moral intuition and inherited authority. --- ## The Prophetic Framework ### Hadith I: “Ask Your Heart” A man named Wabisa ibn Maʿbad came from far away to ask the Prophet ﷺ a question that troubles every believer: What is truly right, and what is truly wrong? As he approached through the crowd, the Prophet ﷺ saw him and said, before he could even speak, “You have come to ask about righteousness and sin?” He replied, “Yes.” The Prophet ﷺ drew him close, tapped his chest, and said thrice, “Ask your self. Ask your heart, O Wabisa—ask your heart. Righteousness is what the soul feels at ease with and the heart finds tranquility in. Sin is what unsettles the soul and wavers in the chest—even if people give you fatwas, again and again.”[^10] This is one of the most striking teachings in Islam. It appears, at first glance, to open the door to pure subjectivity—as if one’s feelings could override revelation or scholarship. But that is not what the Prophet ﷺ meant. This meaning is made clearer in a longer version found in *Musnad Ahmad* that adds at the end, “Do not approach the meat of the domesticated donkey or that of any beast with canine teeth.”[^11] Here, the Messenger ﷺ gave concrete legal prohibitions in that very context, leaving no doubt that on issues where Allah has spoken clearly—about what is lawful and unlawful—the believer submits, even if it feels unfamiliar or difficult. The prohibition of consuming donkey meat, which was occasionally consumed by the poor in Roman Syria of Late Antiquity in the centuries before Islam, is instructive. The heart is not a replacement for revelation; it is an instrument where the understanding, submission, and love for Allah and His revelation must be cultivated. Besides, not every heart is like Wabisa’s, Allah be pleased with him, attuned to the truth. This raises a harder question: which heart? For what we call “the heart” is not a pure compass. It is a mixture—of desire and discipline, habit and faith, clarity and distortion. It can perceive truth, but it can also rationalize error. That is why it must be cultivated: through worship, knowledge, and *taqwa*, until it becomes capable of recognizing what aligns with Allah’s will. And what, then, is “authority”? For most Muslims today, it is not a single clear voice, but a crowded field: scholars, institutions, online preachers, inherited traditions, and competing interpretations—often overlapping, sometimes conflicting. To seek guidance in such a world is not a mechanical act. It requires judgment, sincerity, and discernment. The hadith, then, does not dissolve the tension between authority and intuition. It names it—and places responsibility squarely on the believer. Not to follow the heart blindly, nor to surrender unthinkingly to authority, but to form a heart that can recognize the truth when it encounters it—even when others speak in its name. ### Hadith II: “Avoid What Is Confusing” If the first hadith teaches us to trust a trained heart, this second hadith places a necessary restraint upon it. The Prophet ﷺ said: > The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters unknown to most people. One who avoids doubtful matters safeguards his religion and his honor, but one who falls into doubtful matters \[eventually\] falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary is likely to cross into it. Lo, every king has a sanctuary, and Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. In the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it is whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it is diseased, all of \[the body\] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart.[^12] This hadith establishes three essential truths. First, the core commands of Islam that are clearly lawful and unlawful—are accessible and known in a healthy believing community. Second, detailed knowledge remains limited; not everyone can master the finer points of the law, and many situations fall into areas of uncertainty. This is not a failure, but a condition of human life. Third, in such cases of ambiguity, the Prophet ﷺ directs us toward *waraʿ*—a posture of moral caution that avoids what is doubtful in order to safeguard one’s religion and integrity. But this principle, powerful as it is, is not absolute. The Prophet ﷺ himself limited its scope in practice. When a man doubted the paternity of his child based on appearance, he did not instruct him to withdraw from the doubtful matter—which would have shattered a family—but instead corrected him through analogy, noting that animals of one color can produce offspring of another. Suspicion does not overturn established certainty.[^13] Similarly, in prayer, one who doubts whether his state of purity has been broken should not act on this doubt unless clear evidence appears: “until he hears a sound or finds a smell.”[^14] From this emerges the foundational maxim: Certainty is not removed by doubt (*al-yaqeen la yazulu bi-l-shakk*). Doubt alone does not obligate withdrawal. These examples reveal a crucial point: Avoiding doubtful matters is a discipline of personal caution, not a universal rule for all situations. In fact, there are many contexts in which strict avoidance would produce greater harm. First, when doubt is pervasive, avoidance leads to paralysis. In modern life—from finance to medicine to governance—uncertainty is often structural. If one avoided everything disputed, ordinary life would collapse. The law itself frequently operates on probability, not certainty. Second, when obligation is clear, it overrides precaution. A parent cannot refuse to provide for their family because an income is not perfectly pure; a judge cannot abstain from ruling because evidence is incomplete; a leader cannot avoid difficult decisions because outcomes are uncertain. In such cases, the duty to act outweighs the comfort of abstention. Third, not all doubt is valid. Some doubt arises from pathological misgivings (*waswasa*), which the law seeks to cure, not reinforce. More dangerously, doubt can be manufactured—by polemical or extremist voices demonizing mainstream practices as suspect, or by competing authorities in pluralistic societies. If every claim of doubt were treated equally, moral life would become unstable and fragmented. For this reason, the hadith does not abolish judgment but disciplines it. Avoidance protects the individual from sliding into sin, but it cannot resolve every moral dilemma, especially where competing values are at stake: justice and stability, unity and reform, caution and responsibility. It is precisely at these limits that the first hadith returns with renewed force. When rules become uncertain, when doubt cannot be escaped, and when abstention itself becomes a form of failure, the trained heart must again take up its role—not as a substitute for the law, but as its necessary companion in navigating the ambiguities of life. ### Hadith III: “Do Not Be a Blind Follower!” Yet even this careful balance between trained intuition and disciplined caution assumes something further: that what we experience as our “inner sense” has not already been shaped, subtly and invisibly, by the pressures of the surrounding world. The Prophet ﷺ warns of this possibility when he says: > Do not be an *immaʿa*, saying, “If the people do good, we do good; and if they do wrong, we do wrong.” Rather, discipline yourselves so that if people do good, you do good, and if they do evil, you do not commit evil.[^15] The modern *immaʿa* is not merely one who follows others in action, but one whose moral perception itself has been absorbed by imitation—so that what feels like conscience is in fact conformity. The danger is not simply that people follow others, but that they come to believe they are following themselves—they are individualist, unique, special, even trailblazers—while in fact repeating the judgments of their environment. In this sense, even the “heart” that Hadith I asks us to consult can be distorted by the moral atmosphere in which it is formed. This is why the Prophetic framework requires more than trust in intuition or adherence to formal rulings alone. It requires a conscience anchored beyond both the self and the crowd—disciplined by revelation, and capable of distinguishing between what is truly known inwardly and what has been socially inherited as feeling. But these imperatives presuppose that the authority one might defer to is itself trustworthy. What happens when it is not? Our scholars have been remarkably candid about this possibility. --- ## The Well-Known Versus the Expert Realm Submission to the divine lies at the heart of Islam, yet discerning God’s command in concrete life has always required interpretation—hence the vast tradition of *fiqh*. On most questions, multiple juristic positions exist, and ordinary Muslims must rely on qualified authorities to navigate them. At the same time, the tradition also recognizes a more difficult reality: that scholarly judgment, while authoritative, is not immune to error, and in rare cases may be compromised. Imam al-Ghazali identifies the figure of the “wicked scholar” (*ʿalim al-suʾ*): one whose knowledge is detached from sincerity and whose learning becomes entangled with status, power, or self-interest.[^16] Such a figure does not merely err privately but can mislead others through persuasive religious speech. Based on the hadith that opened this essay, we may add a complementary point: Even sincere scholars may err due to incomplete evidence, contextual blindness, or simple misjudgment. Error, in other words, can arise both from moral failure and from lack of relevant knowledge. Accordingly, in a remarkable and enlightening classification, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya distinguishes between what we may call three types of what goes under the label of Sharia or divine law.[^17] First is what Ibn Taymiyya calls the revealed law itself (*al-sharʿ al-munazzal*): the clear, foundational obligations and prohibitions known to the Muslim community and “known of the religion by necessity,” such as the five prayers, fasting Ramadan, and the major prohibitions. Second is the interpreted law (*al-sharʿ al-muʾawwal*), consisting of juristic reasoning (*ijtihad*) undertaken by qualified scholars and followed by nonspecialists through taqlid. The distinction between these two categories throws the nature and function of taqlid into sharp relief. In his short work on *usul al-fiqh*, *al-Waraqat*, Imam al-Juwayni states that taqlid is only relevant for those who lack direct access to evidences: “One of the conditions of the one seeking a fatwa \[*al-mustafti*\] is that he be among the people of taqlid—for a scholar is not permitted to perform taqlid.” He then defines taqlid as “accepting the statement of a speaker without \[knowing\] its proof,” or “without knowing its source.”[^18] On this account, taqlid is not intellectual abdication but a rational necessity: It is justified precisely insofar as one does not possess the tools to evaluate proof independently. This also clarifies its limits. In matters of the revealed law—those foundational duties and prohibitions known to every Muslim—taqlid does not apply, because these are not matters of specialist disagreement but of shared religious knowledge. It would therefore be incoherent, and religiously impermissible, to follow a claim that directly negates them: for example, that the obligation of five daily prayers is reduced to two, or that one is not required to defend Muslim life or sacred sanctities. In such cases, the issue is not disagreement among jurists but contradiction of what is known by necessity. Outside these clear fundamentals, however, the nonexpert Muslim who does not have the capacity to form independent judgment follows the law as interpreted by qualified and trustworthy scholars, recognizing that such interpretation is precisely what taqlid was designed to make possible. --- ## When the Form of the Law Diverges from Its Truth A third category—more unsettling, yet indispensable—must be acknowledged. Its possibility is already implied by the opening hadith: A ruling may carry full legal form and still miss the truth. The same applies to fatwas. Though they do not operate under courtroom constraints, they rest on assumptions about facts, context, and consequences. When these assumptions are flawed—through ignorance, pressure, or distortion—the result may bear the appearance of law while diverging from divine intent. This is what Ibn Taymiyya calls *al-sharʿ al-mubaddal*—the altered law. Lest this statement be misunderstood, let us note three beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah that he states repeatedly: - Allah has protected this *ummah* from agreeing on error in any matter.[^19] - The truth on any given matter falls within the four schools of Ahl al-Sunnah in general.[^20] - On matters of disagreement, the practice of commanding right and forbidding wrong guarantees that the truth eventually becomes evident to the scholars of the *ummah*.[^21] Seen in this light, disagreement among scholars is not a breakdown of authority but part of its preservation. For the nonexpert, this means that the truth is not lost, even if particular voices misfire. On established and widely known matters, guidance remains secure and accessible. Greater difficulty arises in novel cases (*nawazil*), where general principles must be applied to new realities. Here, errors are more likely—not in the law itself, but in its application. In such cases, the role of the informed believer is not to become a jurist, but to engage responsibly: to consult trustworthy scholars, to seek out those best equipped to understand the issue, and, where relevant, to contribute their own domain knowledge to clarify the facts. The conclusion is both sobering and reassuring. Misapplication and even distortion can occur, but the *ummah* is not abandoned to them. Correction is built into its life—through scholars, leaders, and conscientious believers who question, advise, and refine. To seek better guidance, to ask, to verify, even to challenge when something clearly contradicts what is known of the religion—these are not acts of rebellion, but part of the moral economy of Islam. In short, the ordinary believer is not called to reconstruct the law, but to remain anchored to what is known, to resist manifest deviation when it appears, and to seek clarity through trustworthy scholarship when it does not. Where the line cannot be seen, one is not held accountable beyond one’s capacity. And where the tradition speaks with clarity—through consensus or the settled inheritance of the schools—there is little risk of falling into what has been altered. The greater danger lies in the misapplication of the law to new and complex realities, not in its enduring foundations. The examples that frame this essay—moral responsibility in the face of atrocities in Gaza, and the struggle to articulate Islamic norms on gender and sexuality—belong to a wider class of cases in which applying the law becomes difficult not because the law is unclear, but because we are divided, and because we inhabit a world not of our making. In such a world, where political power, economic structures, and cultural norms are often set by others, and where our own collective work of shaping a just moral order remains incomplete, the Qur’anic mandate of commanding right and forbidding wrong continues—but haltingly, unevenly, and at times painfully. Tension arises when three elements fall out of alignment: the normative authority of the divine law, the limitations or assumptions of its interpreters, and the fractured reality in which that law must be lived. In such cases, a ruling may be formally sound yet fail to guide effectively—or even exacerbate harm—because the situation it addresses has been misread or only partially grasped. These are not exceptional cases; they define much of our moral landscape. And it is precisely here that the Prophetic guidance we have traced becomes most urgent: The law must be honored and authority must be consulted, but neither relieves the believer of responsibility. Where application is uncertain and consequences are grave, discernment is not a luxury—it is part of the test. --- ## Conclusion: A Discipline for the Confused Age In nonideal conditions—where Islamic norms are partially obscured, cultural pressures distort perception, or legality and morality diverge—internal guidance becomes indispensable. It allows believers to act with integrity, discern the quality of authority, and avoid the pitfalls of corruption, manipulation, or inertia. The heart, trained by revelation and disciplined by reason, mediates between the universal and the particular, the textual and the lived, the timeless and the temporal. Here are some guidelines that emerge from the discussion above. 1. Hold fast to what is clear. Do not doubt or relent on what Allah has made obvious. 2. Seek trustworthy scholars but do not outsource your heart. Their role is to guide you, not to replace your conscience. 3. Train your heart before you trust it. A heedless heart will echo desire, only a trained heart can recognize truth. 4. Pause when something feels off, even if it comes dressed in authority. A ruling that flatters your interests or your crowd deserves suspicion, not comfort. 5. When you encounter corruption among scholars, do not despair; for every compromised scholar that you know, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of truthful scholars and steadfast believers that you do not know. Trust in Allah’s protection of this *ummah*. He has made the *ʿulamaʾ* heirs of the prophets. 6. Be humble enough to follow, but not so humble or spineless that you stop questioning. Ask, clarify, remind, learn. The moral life of the *ummah* depends on this feedback between scholars and believers. 7. Act when the need is clear even if your knowledge is not complete. When injustice is manifest, when the call to truth is unmistakable, hesitation becomes its own failure. 8. Accept that you will sometimes act without certainty. You are not judged for omniscience, but for sincerity. 9. Let your certainty be in Allah, not in your own conclusions. It is this certainty that steadies you when the world is unclear, when scholars differ, when outcomes are unknown. Uncertainty is part of the test, not a flaw in its design. 10. Love and uphold the divine commands that you know; Allah will open doors to what you do not yet know. Ultimately, believers will be judged by the soundness of our hearts and sincerity of our actions; law is the means, not the end. Allah assures success to those who strive: > As for those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our paths. And indeed, Allah is with those who do good.[^22] --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri*, no. 6967. [^2]: For a classical allusion to this problem, see Imam Fakhr al-Rāzī’s discussion of whether the vision entailed a command, under Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt (37:102), “al-masʾalat al-ūlā,” [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/37/102](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/37/102&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127030660&usg=AOvVaw0-FH7nhDonkRPhQfcIFZ43). [^3]: Qur’an 39:18. [^4]: See Maḥmūd ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ālūsī, *Tafsīr rūḥ al-maʿānī*, under Sūrat al-Zumar (39:18), [https://tafsir.app/alaloosi/39/18](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alaloosi/39/18&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127031402&usg=AOvVaw0BoL8jFUsd8GeyE_mp2HmM). [^5]: Qur’an 7:163. [^6]: Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī (d. 643/1245), *Adab al-muftī wa-l-mustaftī*, ed. Muwaffaq ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir (ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1407/1986), 158–71, [https://shamela.ws/book/10720/134#p1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/10720/134%23p1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127032236&usg=AOvVaw1CYBL3S-v4N7oXMQJe0N5F). [^7]: Nearly every piece of reasoning given here is based on my personal knowledge based on teaching, lecturing, and advising across campuses across the West, in particular, the United States, but also the UK and Australia. On one occasion in late 2024, I assigned my Muslim graduate students to record their experiences in speaking and mobilizing about Gaza. One served in an advisory capacity at a leading university in the US and anonymously documented the reasons Muslim students gave for their fear or indifference in speaking up for Palestine. Many of those reasons were excusable, such as the fear of foreign students of being expelled and persecuted. But many were based on ideological religious reasoning, aggravated no doubt by indifference, lack of courage, and exaggerated fear. For a call to judicious but courageous participation, see the following Yaqeen articles: Ovamir Anjum, “Speaking Truth to Power: Islamic Rules for Protests, Civil Disobedience, and Encampments for Gaza | Blog,” May 16, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127034774&usg=AOvVaw2tfX0nNUB9-tMz4SUvG3b6); Tom Facchine, “Intersectionality and Palestine Solidarity: Why Muslims Need to Lead the Gaza Protests | Blog | Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research,” June 19, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/intersectionality-and-palestine-solidarity-why-muslims-need-to-lead-the-gaza-protests](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/intersectionality-and-palestine-solidarity-why-muslims-need-to-lead-the-gaza-protests&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127035397&usg=AOvVaw1FQy92-3W4VlMikVf_vPN2). [^8]: Whether this reflects a broader failure of scholarly responsibility among Muslims today—as argued by scholars such as Dr. Farah El-Sharif and other principled advocates of justice—or the silencing of a far larger body of scholars by state-aligned and amplified voices, remains an open and pressing question. Refer to Farah El-Sharif’s substack and/or forthcoming Ḥāshiya piece. [^9]: For a presentation of collective obligation, see Tāj al-Subkī, *Kitāb rafʿ al-ḥājib ʿan mukhtaṣar Ibn al-Ḥājib*, [https://shamela.ws/book/6338/495](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/6338/495&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127036660&usg=AOvVaw38FMAudeaoQR_8fvzPj2nb). [^10]: This version is in *Sunan al-Dārimī* (bk. 18, no. 2453) with nearly identical wording; in *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 18028; and in al-Mundhirī, *al-Targhīb wa-l-tarhīb*, where it is graded authentic by al-Albānī. [^11]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17745; graded sound by Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ, [https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/210341](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/210341&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127037741&usg=AOvVaw3IKMflSulH72ppUXluPBxh). [^12]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri*, “Chapter: The superiority of he who leaves all doubtful things for the sake of his religion,” no. 52; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, “Chapter: Taking that which is lawful and leaving that which is unclear,” no. 1599. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri*, no. 6847; a similar narration is found in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1500. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-BukhāriI,* no. 177; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 361. [^15]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, *Kitāb al-birr wa-l-ṣilaḥ*, no. 2007, [https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2007](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2007&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127039279&usg=AOvVaw381cQ1Wsg2bpc38RtN9vEL); graded *ḥasan gharīb*. [^16]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.), *Kitāb al-ʿilm*, 1:58. [^17]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwa*, 35:395–96. [^18]: Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī, *al-Waraqāt*, 30, [https://shamela.ws/book/6297/24#p1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/6297/24%23p1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127040289&usg=AOvVaw2nAOgKHj4wRRDv0drdMVMQ). [^19]: This is the foundation of the principle of consensus. This is established by the fact that Allah has declared this *ummah* witnesses unto humankind (2:143), which guarantees the probity, that is, validity, of the testimony, of the *ummah* and its scholars. See Ibn ʿĀshūr’s *tafsir* of 2:143 ([https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/2/143](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/2/143&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127041003&usg=AOvVaw1X1yvqkUzUfNVVguSPOcVl)), where he lists the opinions of scholars supporting this. This is supported by a few hadiths of uncertain authenticity, the well-known clause being “God will not gather this *ummah* upon error.” In all narrations, another clause follows this declaration. See  [https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2167](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2167&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127041457&usg=AOvVaw1PsgTC_lqcI2oPdyMWsQ56). The best proof of this principle, as noted above, is in the inference from the Qur’anic verses as noted above. [^20]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Kitāb al-mustadrak ʿalā majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 2:250, [https://shamela.ws/book/10284/460](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/10284/460&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1786480127041971&usg=AOvVaw2d884KKA_dRLqQrpuTA2mV). [^21]: “The consensus of the *ummah* is truthful, for the *ummah*—and God be praised—does not agree on error, as God characterizes it as such in the Book and the Sunnah. God says, ‘Ye are the best Community brought forth for humankind; ye command right, forbid wrong, and believe in God’ \[Q. 3:110\]. The *ummah* is characterized as such because they command all that is right and forbid all that is wrong. . . . If the *ummah* held a doctrine in religion which was false, then it could not command right (as indicated in the verse) nor could it forbid wrong in that regard. \[Hence the protectedness of the Community as a whole.\]” *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 19:176–77; 20:501. [^22]: Qur’an 29:69. ## Summary Between the authority of the learned and the promptings of the heart lies one of the most delicate trials in the life of a believer. The starting point is a hadith in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, "I am only human, and you bring your disputes to me. Perhaps one of you is more eloquent in his argument than another, and I rule in his favor according to what I hear. So if I ever give someone a right that belongs to his brother, let him not take it—for I am only cutting for him a piece of the Fire." This tradition establishes a foundational distinction that our scholars have long recognized: between *qadaʾ*, the binding ruling of an Islamic court, and *diyana*, what is true before Allah. A judgment may settle a matter formally while leaving it unresolved in the sight of God. Even the Prophetic office as judge did not dissolve the believer's accountability to the truth he knows in his heart. The question of navigating between external authority and internal moral knowledge is therefore not a modern anxiety nor an innovation of those weakened in faith; it is a question the Prophet ﷺ himself raised in the most dramatic manner. The tension is not between our intuition and what Allah wants, for the whole meaning of submission is to subdue the ego to Allah. Rather, it lies between what the heart senses Allah wants and what some external authority claims on His behalf. Two responsibilities must be held together: the cultivation of an inner moral intelligence attentive to injustice and suffering, and fidelity to the inherited scholarly tradition grounded in scripture and reverence for the learned as bearers of the divine message. These are not rivals but mutually disciplining, though experience shows they sometimes appear to conflict. Vigilance is required against subtle distortion, for how does one know that a perceived objection to a fatwa is genuine moral perception and not the corrupting effect of one's social surroundings? This balance demands knowledge, discernment, the company of the righteous, and the practices of *muraqaba* and *muhasaba* before Allah. Ambiguity in divine command is never accidental. When Allah made the staggering demand upon Ibrahim, upon him be peace, to sacrifice his son, He conveyed it through a dream—a form that required recognition and resolve rather than compulsion. Ibrahim could have dismissed it, yet he read it as binding and acted. The Qur'an praises those "who listen to the word and follow the best of it," described by one exegete as connoisseurs of faith who discern not only what is permissible but what is most pleasing to Allah. As a warning, the Qur'an recounts the Israelites who outwardly honored the Sabbath yet hollowed it out by setting their nets in advance. The real trial lies between these two: not mere compliance with the letter, but recognizing and pursuing the fuller truth of what Allah asks. Two contemporary cases illustrate opposite failures of the same problem. In much of the Muslim world, political conditions restrict expressions of support for Palestine, and some religious leadership has acquiesced to these constraints, so that positions which strain the conscience are elevated as though they were the norm. A weary logic takes hold—*If God has given them power, they must be in the right*—which surrenders not merely argument but moral imagination itself. Yet there is no shortage of true *ʿulamaʾ* who speak the truth at any cost, many thousands imprisoned or silenced. Still, we cannot absolve ourselves, for by the established principle, when a communal obligation goes unfulfilled the entire *ummah* bears blame. The converse danger is the elevation of instinct and prevailing social norms over disciplined tradition, seen in the rapid normalization of LGBT ideology, where some Muslims have sought to realign Islamic norms with slogans, and others have minimized the matter as exaggerated. Here the pull of dominant cultural narratives risks displacing the careful moral reasoning preserved within the scholarly tradition. In the first case excessive deference silences a sound intuition; in the second excessive trust in intuition overrides sound guidance. The task is not to choose between authority and intuition but to understand how each corrects and disciplines the other. The Prophetic framework rests on several traditions. To Wabisa ibn Maʿbad the Prophet ﷺ said, tapping his chest thrice, "Ask your self. Ask your heart, O Wabisa. Righteousness is what the soul feels at ease with and the heart finds tranquility in. Sin is what unsettles the soul and wavers in the chest—even if people give you fatwas, again and again." This does not open the door to pure subjectivity, for the longer version in *Musnad Ahmad* adds the concrete prohibition of donkey meat and predatory beasts, showing that where Allah has spoken clearly the believer submits. The heart is an instrument to be cultivated through worship, knowledge, and *taqwa*, for not every heart is like Wabisa's, attuned to the truth. A necessary restraint follows in the hadith of Nuʿman ibn Bashir: "The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters unknown to most people," with the warning that whoever grazes near the sanctuary risks entering it, and that in the body is a morsel of flesh—the heart—upon whose soundness the whole body depends. This directs the believer toward *waraʿ*, cautious avoidance of the doubtful. Yet the Prophet ﷺ himself limited this principle. When a man doubted his child's paternity by appearance, he was corrected through the analogy of animals whose offspring differ in color, for suspicion does not overturn certainty. In prayer, one does not act on doubt about purity "until he hears a sound or finds a smell," whence the maxim: *certainty is not removed by doubt*. Avoidance of the doubtful is a discipline of personal caution, not a universal rule, for when doubt is pervasive it produces paralysis, when obligation is clear it overrides precaution, and not all doubt is valid—some being mere *waswasa* or manufactured suspicion. A further warning guards against a subtler danger: "Do not be an *immaʿa*, saying, 'If the people do good, we do good; and if they do wrong, we do wrong.' Rather, discipline yourselves so that if people do good, you do good, and if they do evil, you do not commit evil." The modern *immaʿa* is one whose very moral perception has been absorbed by imitation, so that conformity masquerades as conscience. Even the heart that the first hadith bids us consult can be distorted by its surrounding atmosphere, requiring a conscience anchored beyond both self and crowd, disciplined by revelation. These imperatives assume trustworthy authority. Imam al-Ghazali identifies the "wicked scholar," *ʿalim al-suʾ*, whose learning is entangled with status and power; and the opening hadith adds that even sincere scholars may err through incomplete evidence or misjudgment. Ibn Taymiyya distinguishes three senses of Sharia: the revealed law (*al-sharʿ al-munazzal*), the foundational matters known by necessity; the interpreted law (*al-sharʿ al-muʾawwal*), the fruit of qualified *ijtihad* followed through *taqlid*; and the altered law (*al-sharʿ al-mubaddal*), where a ruling bears legal form yet diverges from divine intent through flawed assumptions. Imam al-Juwayni in *al-Waraqat* defines *taqlid* as accepting a statement without knowing its proof, a rational necessity for those lacking the tools of evidence, though inapplicable to what is known by necessity, such as the five prayers. Ibn Taymiyya affirms that Allah has protected this *ummah* from agreeing upon error, that the truth lies within the four schools, and that commanding right and forbidding wrong ensures the truth eventually becomes evident. Thus disagreement preserves rather than dissolves authority. The gravest difficulty lies not in the enduring foundations but in the misapplication of the law to novel realities (*nawazil*), where the informed believer's role is to consult the trustworthy and contribute honest knowledge of the facts. The believer, then, is called neither to reconstruct the law nor to abandon the heart. He must hold fast to what is clear, seek trustworthy scholars without outsourcing his conscience, train his heart before trusting it, pause when something feels wrong even when cloaked in authority, and refuse despair when he encounters corruption, trusting Allah's protection of the *ummah* whose scholars are heirs of the prophets. He must act when need is manifest even without complete knowledge, accept that he will sometimes act without certainty, and place his certainty in Allah rather than in his own conclusions. Ultimately believers are judged by the soundness of their hearts and the sincerity of their deeds, for the law is means, not end, and Allah has promised: "As for those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our paths. And indeed, Allah is with those who do good." --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/four-ways-of-confronting-islamophobia-on-campus-protecting-muslim-students-from-abuse # Four Ways of Confronting Islamophobia on Campus: Protecting Muslim Students from Abuse **Authors:** Imam Khalid Latif, Dr. Salman Khan, Mazin Awad **Topics:** Islamophobia, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Palestine **Published:** July 24, 2026 **Updated:** August 8, 2026 Since October 2023, the past three academic years have exposed something painful but necessary for our community to confront: We were not prepared. The Prophet ﷺ taught us to tie our camel and trust in Allah.[^1] For far too long, in the higher education space, we trusted, but failed to tie the camel. Our students entered a moment that demanded infrastructure, advocacy, protection, and long-term investment, and many were left carrying burdens far heavier than any young person should have to bear alone. While the mainstream media narrative portrayed student protesters as violent, the reality on the ground was entirely different. The Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School conducted a study of over 130 student encampments that encompassed over 3,000 days of student protests and found few incidents of property damage (less than 1%) and even fewer incidents of injuries to counterprotestors.[^2] And yet, despite the peaceful nature of these protests, Muslim and pro-Palestinian students experienced wave after wave of negative consequences. Students were doxed.[^3] Their faces were plastered on digital trucks that drove through cities like Boston and New York.[^4] Job offers disappeared.[^5] Our sisters wearing hijab were followed and harassed.[^6] Students were sprayed with chemicals,[^7] hospitalized,[^8] surveilled,[^9] spat on,[^10] physically assaulted,[^11] and arrested.[^12] Some slept in encampments where sprinklers were intentionally activated in the freezing early morning hours.[^13] Others, like those at Rutgers and NYU, saw their campus spaces vandalized and destroyed, even on the morning of Eid.[^14] At UCLA, outside agitators attacked students with little intervention.[^15] At Stanford, students were targets of hit-and-runs.[^16] In North Carolina, students were stabbed.[^17] In Vermont, Hisham, Kinnan, and Tahseen were shot.[^18] Our student community has experienced no shortage of challenges and difficult encounters. What has been lacking is a willingness to seriously confront what these stories reveal. What’s more, the consequences did not stop here. Muslim chaplains, people who stood beside their students with compassion and dignity, quietly lost their positions at several prominent universities. Alumni and professionals who spoke with moral clarity faced repercussions, including cancellations and withdrawn opportunities.[^19] Even now, we continue to witness professionals penalized for refusing to abandon their principles. What has perhaps been most heartbreaking is watching institutions that pride themselves on dialogue, free inquiry, and academic freedom resort to suppression when those very values were tested. Many universities even resorted to violence, calling state or local police forces to forcibly remove encampment protestors, curbing free speech, canceling commencement speakers, or penalizing individuals exercising their right to free speech. In the midst of this, important work has emerged from within the community. Organizations and advocates stepped in where they could. At Muslim Campus Life, initiatives like the [Campus Islamophobia Tracker](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimcampuslife.com/islamophobia-tracker/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266734358&usg=AOvVaw31iCOt1fBiNgmpUAfBs6HI) began documenting incidents of Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, anti-Arab racism, and anti-Palestinian racism affecting college students. [Training modules](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimcampuslife.com/2026/04/05/completing-the-confronting-islamophobia-on-campus-training-series-at-vanderbilt-university/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266734609&usg=AOvVaw27yY5EXszbJFXgmbW8xZO4) were developed. [Toolkits](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tArI-PgEQw_1wcbBbtTEBkCE5rj0Ngww/view?usp%3Ddrive_link&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266734754&usg=AOvVaw3YXvGeNOTIDNeqfzK5z0Ie) were launched. Faculty, administrators, chaplains, attorneys, and advocates worked tirelessly to support students navigating impossible circumstances. Legal organizations provided critical support in moments of crisis. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image1-1024x898.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image2-1024x831.png) At the same time, we have to acknowledge that our collective response has fallen short. Despite progress, our community faces ongoing struggles, particularly the underreporting of incidents, the lack of data needed to inform and assess strategic action, limited sustained alumni engagement, and insufficient investment in Muslim higher education advocacy more broadly. Recognizing these shortcomings is essential if we hope to better protect, support, and guide future campus communities when they need it most. --- ## 1\. Report Islamophobic Incidents So many of our students endure harm in silence, understandably reluctant to disclose information because of a heavy feeling of mistrust. The trauma of surveillance, particularly in post-9/11 America, has conditioned many Muslims to fear visibility.[^20] Students worry that reporting incidents will expose them to further retaliation. Many do not trust institutions to protect them,  barely convinced that anyone is listening at all. But documentation matters. Data matters. In our current reality, stories undocumented by systems are too easily dismissed as isolated incidents. Official records speak volumes; they inform institutional responses, establish accountability, and protect future community members. Our tradition calls us toward justice, even when justice feels inconvenient or exhausting. Allah tells us not to let the wrongdoing of others cause us to abandon justice ourselves, and part of pursuing justice is preserving testimony. We must record what happened. We must name harm honestly, and refuse to allow the hurt of our fellow brothers and sisters to disappear, unaccounted for. Organizations like [Muslim Campus Life](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimcampuslife.com/islamophobia-tracker/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266736720&usg=AOvVaw0P6rHGMcu8O0BOgv5r8l0E), [Muslim Advocates](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimadvocates.org/action/report-discrimination/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266736846&usg=AOvVaw0CpIyqUpiFO0zUYJ02ZZmy), [Palestine Legal](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://palestinelegal.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266736917&usg=AOvVaw2hUEzJILUSOP-xTfrL81hD), [CAIR National](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cair.com/report/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266736978&usg=AOvVaw0EqnNcKUV52Gf1j71iTKcp), [your local CAIR chapter](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cair.com/about_cair/cair-chapters/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266737057&usg=AOvVaw1ygYSdKHCkRusiMt0NVM8H), or your university reporting portal accept reports of campus incidents. --- ## 2\. Contribute to Longitudinal Data Studies Sadly, we are yet to possess robust longitudinal data on Muslim college students in North America. We have snapshots, moments, and isolated studies, but we lack sustained understanding. Without long-term data, we cannot fully measure whether campus climates are improving or deteriorating, whether interventions are meaningful or symbolic, or whether institutions are changing or simply waiting for attention to fade. Longitudinal research is not just academic, it is strategic. Data strengthens the case for sustained institutional investment in Muslim student support. It allows advocates, chaplains, educators, and students to speak with credibility when demanding institutional change. It transforms pain into policy, and our community must begin investing in this work with seriousness and urgency. Spearhead and support longitudinal studies on Muslim college experience, like the recent [survey](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cnu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe3/form/SV_5gUHTqFyYxhhubc&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266738006&usg=AOvVaw0bxprJyhPjEt3bdZ2JCwUj) launched by Muslim Campus Life. --- ## 3\. Be an Engaged Alum For most Muslim students, graduating signals the end of their relationship with their university. This represents a very transactional mindset, where students pay tuition, earn a degree, and never engage with their alma mater again. However, our faith teaches us to capitalize on the opportunity for good whenever we are able; we need to view our engagement with our universities postgraduation as an *amana* and *sadaqa* *jariya* to support future students on campus. Being an engaged alum can be an act of faith, solidarity, and long-term investment in the well-being of those who come after you. An engaged alum is not simply a donor. An engaged alum is someone who says to future generations: “You will not have to navigate this alone.” Alumni can hold influence that current students cannot. They can sit on alumni boards, lead donor conversations, and carry credibility with administrators. Imagine what it would mean if Muslim alumni across the country organized with intentionality, not only to celebrate accomplishments, but to advocate for protections, resources, chaplaincy support, scholarships, and structural accountability. Islam places profound emphasis on community, the *ummah*, and the responsibility Muslims have to one another. Alumni engagement is an expression of that value in practice. Whether through donating to Muslim student organizations, volunteering at events, advocating for institutional support, or simply showing up, engaged alumni extend the *ummah* across generations and geographies. Depending on your institution, you may have an official Muslim alumni association that is under the broader university’s alumni association or an independent 501(c)(3) that organizes alumni on behalf of the Muslim community. If you are a college graduate, joining your university’s Muslim alumni association can be a great first step to getting more involved. If a Muslim alumni association does not exist at your alma mater, [consider starting one](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ivmu_KvU9aWJ8FyY15XLOdNiWnI4RCTE/view?usp%3Dsharing&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266739925&usg=AOvVaw2_wRJm4gN7kH-My2ul1jga). --- ## 4\. Invest in the Higher Education Space Muslim students have never simply been passive participants on college campuses. Historically, MSA National led to the rise of many national organizations in the 1960s through the 1980s, including ISNA and the Fiqh Council of North America.[^21] Today, we have all witnessed the power that Muslim college students continue to wield in shaping national and international conversations. The question before us now is whether the broader community is willing to invest in them with the same seriousness and commitment they have shown in supporting the causes that matter to the *ummah*. This investment may look like mentorship. It may look like funding. It may look like alumni organizing, policy advocacy, board participation, or simply sustained presence. In all its manifestations, supporting Muslim higher educational advocacy cannot remain symbolic. It must entail principled investment. \*\*\* The failures exposed over the past three years cannot simply become sources of grief or outrage; they must become points of reflection and responsibility. If this moment teaches us anything, it is that care, preparation, and institutional support cannot be improvised in times of crisis. They must be built deliberately, sustained consistently, and rooted in *ihsan*. Working on the four areas mentioned here is the first step on the road to better empowering our campus communities to continue in the struggle for justice. We must tie our camel first, and then place our trust in Allah. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2517; al-Albānī classified it as *ḥasan* (fair). [^2]: Jay Ulfelder, “Crowd Counting Consortium: An Empirical Overview of Recent Pro-Palestine Protests at U.S. Schools,” Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, May 30, 2024. [^3]: Joyce E. Kim and Asher J. Montgomery, “Doxxed Harvard Students Decry ‘Heinous and Aggressive’ Online Harassment, Call for Greater Support from University,” *The Harvard Crimson*, December 8, 2023. [^4]: Rebecca Massel, “Students Protest Against ‘Doxxing Truck,’” *Columbia Daily Spectator*, October 27, 2023. [^5]: Johanna Alonso, “Are Students Who Protested Losing Out on Job Opportunities?” *Inside Higher Ed*, June 18, 2024. [^6]: “Campus Islamophobia Tracker,” Muslim Campus Life, [https://www.muslimcampuslife.com/islamophobia-tracker/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimcampuslife.com/islamophobia-tracker/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1784914266743513&usg=AOvVaw3CFRwQjc6t54Fd_1EWD69u). [^7]: Chris Mendell, “Protesters Allegedly Sprayed with Hazardous Chemical at Pro-Palestinian Rally, Nearly Two Dozen Report,” *Columbia Daily Spectator*, January 22, 2024. [^8]: Mendell, “Protesters Allegedly Sprayed.” [^9]: “Ozturk, Khalil, Documents, Deportation, Pro-Palestine Protest, Canary Mission,” *Mother Jones*, January 2026. [^10]: “Campus Islamophobia Tracker.” [^11]: Jack Rutherford, Spencer Friedland, and Haley Huh, “Pro-Palestine, Pro-Israel Protestors Gather in Wake of Arrests,” *The Emory Wheel*, April 26, 2024. [^12]: Mara Hall, “All 17 Students Arrested at Pro-Palestine Protest Take Pre-Trial Diversion," *The Observer*, November 19, 2025. [^13]: “Pro-Palestine Protesters Begin Encampment in Harvard Yard,” *The Harvard Crimson*, April 25, 2024. [^14]: “Rutgers University Arrest Jacob Beacher,” *CNN*, April 22, 2024; “Vandalism, Muslim Prayer Room, NYU,” *The New York Times*, April 4, 2025. [^15]: Jonah Valdez and Akela Lacy, “Victims of UCLA Mob Attack Sue to ‘Hold the Aggressors Accountable,’” *The Intercept*, March 20, 2025. [^16]: Anna Yang, “Hit-and-Run Injures Arab Muslim Student, Incident Under Investigation as Hate Crime,” *The Stanford Daily*, November 4, 2023. [^17]: “Campus Islamophobia Tracker.” [^18]: Katy Pickens and Will Kubzansky, “Brown Junior Among Three Palestinian Students Shot in Vermont Saturday Night,” *The Brown Daily Herald*, November 26, 2023. [^19]: Ryan Quinn, “Rutgers Disinvites Engineering Graduation Speaker After He Criticizes Israel,” *Inside Higher Ed*, May 7, 2026. [^20]: Diane Shammas, “Underreporting Discrimination Among Arab American and Muslim American Community College Students: Using Focus Groups to Unravel the Ambiguities Within the Survey Data,” *Journal of Mixed Methods Research* 11, no. 1 (2017): 99–123. [^21]: See Abiya Ahmed, “Muslim Student Associations in North America,” in *Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion* (Oxford University Press, 2025). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-parenthood-can-break-the-ego-a-fathers-reflection-on-spiritual-growth # How Parenthood Can Break the Ego: A Father’s Reflection on Spiritual Growth **Author:** Hasan Hameed **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Perspective, Publication **Published:** July 24, 2026 **Updated:** August 19, 2026 *What is the spiritual potential of parenthood? Through scattered reflections on fatherhood, fragments of Islamic history, and some of the many prophetic stories in the Qur’an, the author argues that the experience of parenthood can break the ego and elevate the soul.* Two taps of the finger. The screen lit up. 2:32 a.m., read my reddish, sleep-deprived eyes. Just then, I felt the weight on my shoulder increase. Could it be true? Had this baby fallen asleep? For the last hour and forty-seven minutes, I had been holding my daughter. My right arm supported her from below. My chest felt the warmth of her frail body pressed against it. My left hand alternated between cradling her neck and gently patting her back. My legs could barely stand, having walked all over our one-bedroom apartment in the vain hope that my own body’s movement would soothe her and induce sleep—so I could get some sleep. She had woken up crying hysterically, for reasons known only to Allah. After I picked her up and carried her out of the bedroom, her weeping gave way—after twelve torturous minutes—to hiccupping sobs and teary-eyed stares at the objects in the dimly lit lounge. The sobs had stopped a while ago, as had the movements of her head, and so the new heaviness on my shoulder could very well mean that tonight’s test had passed. Treading carefully, I navigated my way between baby toys and strewn cushions toward the bedroom. To put her down before confirming her sleep would be to waste the entire effort. But how could I check? The mirror, of course. I opened the closet door and stood before it. For a split second, the world stopped moving. Then, slowly, I turned my shoulders. Through the mirror, a pair of shining black eyes looked straight into mine. “Hi Baba,” they seemed to say, “I’m still awake.” *Ya Allah*, a sigh escaped my heart, *please put this baby to sleep*. \*\*\* Of all the things that entered our life with a baby, a crisis of confidence was the least expected and the most troubling. And not because we lacked information. If anything, we had too much of it. YouTube. Family. Friends with kids. Friends without kids. ChatGPT. Everyone seemed to know a lot about babies. Take a crying baby. We were told it might need feeding. Or burping. Or a diaper change. Or holding. But what of the wailing when all these conditions were met? In such moments, which recurred with surprising frequency throughout the day—and night—certitude was broken. Confidence was shaken. *Am I missing something?* *Am I making some terrible mistake?* Strange thoughts fill your heart. Meanwhile, you make foolish faces and silly sounds. You walk the baby around. As the cries grow louder, your heart beats faster. *Maybe I should wake up her mother*, you think in desperation. *But she needs rest!* replies the functioning part of your brain. *How in the world did I become so uncertain of myself?* you wonder. Parenting, you realize, is breaking the fiery monster inside you—your ego. Therein lies the potential: Will you surrender? \*\*\* Childbirth is a wrenching experience. As we evolve from women and men to mothers and fathers, we set foot on an arduous road trodden by millions of Muslim men and women before us. Every couple’s anxiety and pain, smiles and joys, are unique. But some elements appear shared across time and space. The mother’s womb feels the kicking of the baby. There is morning sickness. Cramps. Exhaustion. Mood swings. The fear of what is to come. The thrill of what is to come. And, eventually, the agonizing pangs of labor. The father’s body feels something too. There is sweat on his brow as the delivery draws near. A helplessness grips him, as the woman he loves goes through the most physically excruciating moment of her life and the greatest pain that a human body can bear. Yet he knows that he can do nothing. He knows, too, that the responsibility is partly his, but the pain is hers. It’s a strange feeling, breeding its own emotional toll. If he’s in the labor room, he knows not what to do. But perhaps, as was and continues to be common in many societies, he is forbidden from entering the birth chamber. Either way, he prays in the dark, beseeching Allah for ease for his wife, for the coming of the child. Therein lies the mysterious agency of the unborn baby. It can bring both the mother and the father to their knees, literally. Parenting, even before the coming of the child, reveals a fact that we all know but often forget: Ultimately, we are not in control. Allah controls everything. *Wa-huwa ʿala kulli shayin qadir*. And He is capable of all things. Pregnancy and childbirth thus mark the beginning of an epic emotional roller coaster. In the thrills and tribulations that follow the entry of a child in the parents’ lives, one experience might be the hardest: witnessing your child fall sick. It is soul-crushing to watch a normally laughing, babbling, chatting, weeping baby operate on low battery. The noise becomes muted, the movements are dulled, and a terrible feeling grips the atmosphere. You rush to the doctor. You buy the medicine. You feed her the medicine—a Herculean task given every child’s innate tendency to throw up any orally injected medicine. But the child is still unable to sleep. She lies curled up in your arms, neither asleep nor fully awake. Medications, like everything else in life, work on Allah’s time. So we have to wait, helplessly. In those moments, we establish an affinity with the parents who came before us—with our own parents, who tended to us when we were ill, but also with all the parents across history who have tended with love and care for the children who became our ancestors. As our arms cradle the child, as our knees bend while rocking the baby, as our hands are raised in supplication, our limbs imitate the bodily movements of our forebears. Most of these figures have been forgotten in the annals of history. Traces, however, survive. \*\*\* ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image2-654x1024.jpg) In a small library in Rawalpindi lies a dusty manuscript. It was copied 169 years ago by a scribe who noted the year but not his name. The manuscript is a commentary on the *Gulistan* of Saʿdi (d. 1291). Across the premodern Muslim world, the *Gulistan* was arguably the single most widely read book after the Qur’an. In South Asia, it became a manual on the eloquent use of language and proper social behavior. But these were not the only topics elaborated in its commentaries, as this copy reveals. The commentator gives the following gloss on two names of God, Ghafur and Rahim: “The first \[Ghafur\] is the exaggerated form of *ghafir* which means excessively forgiving; and the second \[Raḥīm\] is the exaggerated form of *rāḥim* which means excessively merciful.” Straightforward commentary, but our commentator does not stop there: “I am reminded of a day when I was in the service of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rahim . . . in the last part of the night, as per his old habit, he awoke, made *wuzu*, and got busy in the remembrance of God. And this lowly one . . . busied himself with recitation of the Qur’an.” Suddenly, a faqir . . . called outside the door: “O ʿAbd al-Rahim!” The faqir requested some men for help with an affair. The shaykh finished his prayers, called up the faqir, and granted his request. When our author returned home, he found his child unwell and the mother aghast. He tried comforting her: “Inshallah he’ll get better.” To calm her down, he began to tell her “all kinds of stories,” including this incident at the shaikh’s home. She replied that the *ʿabd* of al-Rahim had fulfilled the faqir’s request; her husband must beseech al-Rahim Himself to cure her child—He was, after all, the Arham al-Rahimin (the Most Merciful). So the father spent the entire night crying with utmost humility: “Ya Ghafur! Ya Rahim! Heal this child.” By morning, the boy had gotten better. *Alhamdulillahi rabbil-alamin*. This mother and child lived in some unknown town a few centuries ago. The pages of history did not record their names. By some historical accident, a manuscript of the father’s commentary ended up in the Ganj Bakhsh Library. By a bigger accident, I happened to stumble across it. But the labors of these parents in that long night, the tension, the anxiety, the heartfelt duas—all of these were registered by the angels. As parents, every one of our own labors, too, are recorded by angels, whose registers place our names alongside all the countless Muslim men and women before us who beseeched Allah on behalf of their children. In fact, to do so has been the sunnah of the greatest human beings in history. \*\*\* The eponymous founder of the Abrahamic faiths remains a figure to whom Jews, Christians, and Muslims keep returning. But what is the legacy of Abraham? The Qur’an describes various aspects of his life. His reflections as he gazed at the sun, moon, and stars. His confrontation with his idolatrous society. Yet his most enduring legacy revolves around his family. His leaving his infant son in the desert with his wife, whose frantic running around for water is imitated by pilgrims every year; his working with his son to build the Kaaba, toward which our hearts and faces constantly turn; and his willingness to slaughter the same son for God—a dramatic gesture reenacted by the bloodied hands of millions of Muslims across the globe who sacrifice animals on Eid. If the most memorable moments of Ibrahim’s legacy involve his family, these are also the moments that render him unique, a figure we admire but to whom we can barely relate. Yet something about him directly connects him with parents today and across history: his heartfelt supplications. “O my Master, make me an establisher of salah—and *among my offspring too*. O our Master! Accept the supplication. O my Master, forgive me, my parents, and all the Muslims on the day that *hisab* \[accountability\] is established” (Qur’an 14:40–41). Don’t many of us today whisper this same *dua* for our children? And how many of our own parents and their forefathers have made the same prayer? In offering our namaz today, we become, incredible as it may seem, the fulfilment of those *dua*s, offered in the long nights by our ancestors going all the way back to our father Ibrahim. Indeed, perhaps it was because our father recognized that we would yearn for the same that as soon as he prays for him and his offspring to establish prayer, he shifts to the plural *rabbana* (“O *our* Master”). To supplicate requires humility; it requires letting go of the confidence—the arrogance—that I alone can fulfil the needs of my child. Therein lies the reminder: For my own needs, too, I have always been insufficient. It was Allah who tended to me when I was little, and it is He who provides for me now. *Alaysa Allahu bikafin abdahu* (Qur’an 39:36)? “Is Allah not sufficient for His ʿ*abd*?” By phrasing the question this way, the Qur’an subtly reminds me and every one of its readers who we truly are: ʿ*abd*. A servant. A slave of Allah. Humbleness, then, is our most human state, where every moment we act within the agency He has granted us while acknowledging our utter dependency on Him. \*\*\* If a parent turns to Allah in heartfelt supplication when a child falls sick, how should they respond when His decree is to not cure the child but to subject the parent to the biggest trial of their lives? The death of Ibrahim—a different Ibrahim—reveals how parenthood can bring together love, surrender, and grief. It was the eighth year of the Hijra. Our dear Prophet ﷺ and Maria al-Qibtiyya had recently been blessed with a baby boy. What joy the people of Medina felt! But in His infinite wisdom, Allah had willed that his beloved Muhammad ﷺ, who had already borne so much grief, would go through more. The little boy—whom the Prophet ﷺ loved to smell and to kiss—was breathing his last at a tender sixteen months. Tears were streaming from the Prophet’s eyes. His companions were shattered. But they were also confused: Is crying a gesture of discontentment with fate? And the most noble of humans clarified for them and for us the *adab* with Allah in such moments: “The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, but we do not utter anything but what is pleasing to our Lord.” With these words, the Prophet ﷺ instructed his *ummah* how to grieve. The heartbroken father then turned to his son: “We are saddened by your departure, O Ibrahim!” \*\*\* The Prophet’s *adab* reminds us of another father whose story was narrated by Allah Himself. This father, the prophet Yaʿqub (Jacob), is the secret protagonist of what Allah declares the *best* of stories, a story that—tellingly—plays out as a family drama. Yaʿqub (*ʿalayhi al-salam*) is no ordinary prophet—the Qur’an mentions him no less than sixteen times. But unlike other prophets, we do not see Yaʿqub performing any miracles. We do not see him preaching in public. We don’t even know his occupation. Instead, we encounter him first and foremost as a father. Surah Yusuf begins with its titular figure addressing Yaʿqub not as “my father” but as “my *dear* father” (*ya abati)*. It was perhaps Yaʿqub’s fulfilling this role with such excellence that an entire nation was named after him as the “*children* of Israel.” In a narrative where everyone else keeps moving, Yaʿqub’s patience at the loss of Yusuf provides a constant anchor. “Patience” meant the refusal to complain, not the elimination of grief. The Qur’an records the latter in soul-wrenching verses: “And he turned away from them and cried: ‘O my grief for Yusuf!’ And his eyes became white from sorrow” (Qur’an 12:84). Centuries later, the poet Ghalib (d. 1869) would reflect on the magnitude of this grief: **قید میں یعقوب نے لی گو نہ یوسف کی خبر لیکن آنکھیں روزن دیوار زنداں ہو گئیں** Though Yaʿqub didn’t inquire about Yusuf in prison His eyes turned into the window of the prison’s walls To comprehend the verse, let us imagine Yusuf (*ʿalayhi al-salam*) in a dark prison cell with only a small window near the ceiling. The little light that streams in appears almost white against the black walls. For the poet, this white light represents the white eyes of Yaʿqub, who was physically unable to receive any news about his son, but whose loving—and grieving—gaze followed him wherever he went. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image1-1024x576.jpg) In this grief lies a special beauty (*jamil* is how the Qur’an describes his patience). Yaʿqub makes it a means of intimacy with his Creator: “I complain of my anguish and my sorrow only to Allah.” He let no other come between him and his Lord. It is as though Allah was so pleased with him that He made this remark—uttered in utter privacy—into something recited and remembered across history. The Qur’an thus celebrates the value of the pure *love* of a parent for their child. In an era where the worth of not just men but also women is defined by their “contribution” to a capitalistic economy, the Qur’anic elevation of Yaʿqub reminds us of a different paradigm of human worth. One that values parenthood for the intensity of its love. In fact, the Qur’an is teaching us that pure grief—as a legitimate outcome of love—is *also* precious. Almost as a Qur’anic tribute to every parent who experiences the loss of a child. That moment of loss, as devastating as it is, is also *for the same reason* an opportunity: *Because* we are broken, we can surrender our entire selves to God. The sorrows of our prophets remind us that parenthood is often accompanied by grief, that it can break not just the ego but also the spirit, yet in God alone can solace be found. \*\*\* What is special about the love of parents for their children? A Qur’anic maxim may provide a clue: *Qalilam ma tashkurun*. “Little thanks you give.” Alternatively, “Few of you give thanks.” Gratefulness, from the Qur’anic perspective, is a scarce commodity in the human world. Yet it is one that we expect like the laws of nature: Every kind action must be rewarded with a show of gratitude. Whether it’s holding the door of an elevator for a stranger or buying a gift for a spouse, we expect to hear an instant “thank you.” As parents, then, we are confronted with a dilemma, even an affront: Infants are utterly ungrateful. Perhaps that judgment is too harsh. Perhaps in their cryptic baby language, in the flitting of their eyes, in their secret smiles, they too give thanks. But the fact remains that they remain utterly oblivious to *how much* we do for them. The waking up at night. The investment of time. The money spent on diapers and wipes and clothes and toys. They know none of it. So they will never remember it. At least in its inception, then, parenting becomes a giving without receiving. A giving out of love. This pure love is purifying. As parents, what we do for our kids is not bound by the snares of instrumental reason. Even the spousal relationship does not provide that transcendence, tied as it is to another adult who can—and should—say thank you. Marriage, after all, originates from a contract. But what ties the parent and child? What is this strange attraction? Pure love is hard to describe, but one manifestation of it must surely be giving without receiving. Parental love can thus become the closest human mirror of God’s own love for His creation. He needs nothing from us, yet He keeps giving. *Fa bi-ayyi alai rabbikuma tukadhdhiban*? How many of His favors will we deny? The ingratitude of our children reminds us of our own ingratitude to Allah. And what may be the biggest blessing of His that many of us take for granted? Our parents. Perhaps this is why the Qur’an pairs the worship of Allah with good behavior to parents. In fact, the Qur’an uses words from similar root letters to describe God and parenthood, the divine and human entities that nourish a child from infancy to adulthood. This is evident in a supplication that each of us are instructed to make: “O my *Rabb*, have mercy on my parents, as they *rabba-yani* \[raised me\] when I was little.” \*\*\* In a sense, the series of supplications in the verses and stories of the Qur’an present us with the circle of life: We witness the secret supplication of Zakariyya for offspring, the prayers of Ibrahim for his future generations, the anxiety of Musa’s mother, the grief of Yaʿqub, the pain of Maryam, the cry of Noah, and so much more. These figures from the sacred past are not just figureheads; they have been sources of support and springs of comfort for Muslim women and men over the centuries who have struggled with the enormous burden of passing down this religion to their future generations. And if the experience of parenthood was shattering, it is worth remembering that those with broken egos were able to achieve the task of raising sound human beings. That is the task awaiting Muslim parents today. The task of raising sound human beings is no small feat, as we can tell by living in a society full of unbroken egos but broken human beings. Parenthood today thus carries the potential for spiritual ascension. The varied experiences it brings—of joy and love, exhaustion and heartbreaking grief—can engender a *self*\-lessness to serve as a cure against the *self*\-ishness of the ego. Especially in an era obsessed with regimes of *self*\-care and *self*\-love—parenthood brings an invitation to break out of the prison of the self. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/thriving-without-external-validation-prophetic-wisdom-on-looks-insecurity-and-self-esteem # Thriving Without External Validation: Prophetic Wisdom on Looks, Insecurity, and Self-Esteem **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Analysis, Prophetic Cure, Publication **Published:** July 10, 2026 **Updated:** July 14, 2026 Modern constructions of self-esteem are increasingly tied to appearance. Social comparison, curated images, and constant exposure to filtered faces, manicured lives, and embellished existences through digital platforms have intensified appearance-based evaluation, particularly among youth. This has been exemplified in the recent emergence of extreme trends and communities like looksmaxxing (i.e., the practice of deliberately improving one’s physical appearance to maximize perceived attractiveness in young men) and vindicta (i.e., a women-only Reddit community dedicated to improving beauty, attractiveness, and allure). Psychological research consistently links appearance-focused self-worth with anxiety, depression, and reduced well-being.[^1] In such a context, Islam offers not merely critique but a reorientation. The Prophetic tradition relocates value from outward form to inward character, from image to intention, and from validation to accountability before Allah. To appreciate this reorientation, it is essential to begin with how the Qur’an defines the human being at baseline. --- ## Created with Dignity and Diversity: The Qur’anic Foundations of Self-Worth and Beauty Allah tells us that He created the human being in “the best of forms.”[^2] This verse establishes a critical starting point. The human being is not created deficient or lacking in essence. Rather, we are created with inherent dignity, balance, and beauty. This framing directly challenges the modern tendency toward chronic dissatisfaction with one’s appearance. Many people today feel that their worth must be constructed or improved through external validation. The Qur’an reverses this assumption by grounding worth in divine creation rather than social perception. From a psychological perspective, this aligns with the concept of unconditional self-worth, which is associated with greater emotional stability and resilience.[^3] When a person believes their value is inherent rather than contingent, they are less vulnerable to comparison and insecurity. Furthermore, the Qur’an repeatedly invites believers to reflect on the diversity of Allah’s creation as a sign of His wisdom rather than a deviation from an ideal. Allah says, “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.”[^4] Diversity is not a flaw to be corrected but a sign to be appreciated. Yet globalization and digital media have increasingly narrowed beauty standards into a remarkably uniform ideal. Across continents, faces, bodies, lifestyles, and even cultural identities are often shaped toward the same aspirational image, frequently centered on Western and Eurocentric features, sometimes to the point of racial ambiguity. The result is that many people are taught to see their natural features not as signs of Allah’s creativity but as obstacles to acceptance. The Qur’anic perspective challenges this assumption at its root. If diversity itself is among Allah’s signs, then beauty cannot be reduced to conformity. Appreciating the variety of Allah’s creation requires questioning whether our standards of beauty are genuinely our own or whether they have been inherited from cultural forces that value uniformity over divine artistry. With this foundation in place, the Prophetic tradition then clarifies what truly matters in the sight of Allah. --- ## Reframing Worth: From Appearance to Character The Prophet ﷺ taught that “verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions.”[^5] This statement shifts the standard of evaluation away from what is visible to what is internal and intentional. This transition is crucial. When self-worth is tied to appearance, it becomes unstable and reactive. Studies show that individuals whose self-esteem depends on appearance are more likely to experience anxiety, dissatisfaction, and mood fluctuations.[^6] In contrast, grounding worth in values and character produces greater psychological stability. The Prophetic model does not deny beauty; it removes attributing excessive salience and value to it. What ultimately matters is the state of the heart and the quality of one’s actions. This reframing changes both how we see others and how we see ourselves, particularly in moments of self-reflection. Extending this discussion further, contemporary research has identified parallel distortions both in body image and financial perception. Body dysmorphia and what has been termed “money dysmorphia” both reflect distorted self-assessment shaped by comparison and exposure. Social media algorithms play a central role in amplifying these distortions. By prioritizing content that captures attention, they disproportionately showcase idealized bodies and curated lifestyles. Studies have shown that repeated exposure to such content is associated with increased body dissatisfaction and heightened anxiety about financial status, even among individuals who are objectively stable.[^7] In this way, the algorithm systematically amplifies what Allah does not look at, appearance and wealth, while quietly de-emphasizing what He does look at, the heart and one’s deeds. This is not to say that appearance and wealth are insignificant; Islam provides guidance on both. Rather, the problem arises when they become the primary standards by which worth is measured. In this way, the algorithm often elevates outward markers of status while obscuring the inward qualities that the Prophet ﷺ taught are ultimately most significant before Allah. Over time, this creates a subtle but powerful shift in how individuals evaluate themselves and others. Without conscious resistance, a person can begin to internalize a standard shaped by visibility and comparison rather than one grounded in faith. Building on this internal dimension, the Prophet ﷺ taught a supplication to recite when looking in the mirror (an object associated with vanity): “O Allah, just as You have made my outward form beautiful, make my character beautiful.”[^8] This supplication transforms the mirror (or the selfie camera) from a site of criticism into a site of gratitude and intention. Instead of fixating on perceived flaws, we should acknowledge our outward form as a blessing and redirect our focus toward refining our character. In psychological terms, this reflects cognitive reframing, a technique used to interrupt negative thought patterns and promote healthier self-perception.[^9] Over time, such practices can reduce self-criticism and cultivate a more stable sense of self-worth. However, while personal practices like this are protective, we are also shaped by the broader environment around us, and this is where the Islamic worldview becomes especially relevant. While social media plays a major role in shaping appearance-related insecurity, it is not the only source. For many people, the most painful pressures come from those closest to them: family members, spouses, relatives, or friends whose comments and expectations carry far more weight than anything seen online. A person may understand intellectually that their worth is not determined by appearance, yet still feel hurt when those they love reinforce messages to the contrary. Acknowledging this reality is important. The Prophetic teachings on human dignity and worth remain true even when others fail to reflect them. For some, the challenge is not learning that Allah values them beyond their appearance, but holding onto that truth when the people around them seem to value something else. --- ## The Distortions of Appearance: Insecurity and Superiority The Qur’an describes Shaytan’s strategy as leading people to “change the creation of Allah.”[^10] This is not merely about physical alteration. It is about cultivating dissatisfaction with what Allah has already created. In contemporary society, this distortion is increasingly visible. Global data show a substantial rise in cosmetic procedures over the past two decades, with millions performed annually.[^11] Furthermore, there are known associations between dark triad personality traits (e.g., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and acceptance of plastic surgery.[^12] While not every procedure is inherently problematic, the broader cultural trend reflects a growing discomfort with natural appearance, often driven by comparison and unrealistic, idealized standards. At this point, the issue is no longer cosmetic. It becomes existential. The individual begins to measure themselves against an ever-shifting, manufactured ideal, losing connection with their inherent dignity and the beauty of Allah’s creation. This distortion is further intensified by the environments we inhabit daily, particularly digital ones. Recognizing the power of visual input, the Qur’an instructs believers to lower their gaze and guard their modesty.[^13] While often framed in moral terms, this command also has psychological implications. Constant exposure to idealized images increases comparison and dissatisfaction. Research consistently shows that social media use is associated with poorer body image and increased anxiety.[^14] By limiting exposure, the believer protects their internal state from distortion. Lowering the gaze therefore functions as both a spiritual discipline and a psychological safeguard. It helps preserve clarity, reduce comparison, and maintain emotional balance. Yet even as one guards against insecurity, another distortion can emerge from the same focus on appearance: vanity. If insecurity leads a person to feel less than others, vanity leads them to feel above others. Both distortions arise from placing too much emphasis on appearance. It is narrated from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah will not look on the Day of Resurrection at the one who drags his garment out of vanity.[^15] In this context, the act symbolized pride and social superiority. The issue was not the garment itself, but the attitude it reflected. Vanity is therefore not about what one wears, and instead about how one uses appearance to elevate oneself over others. The Prophet ﷺ further clarified that “arrogance involves rejecting truth and looking down on people.”[^16] This definition shifts the focus from outward display to inward disposition. Psychological research similarly associates narcissistic tendencies with excessive concern for appearance and validation.[^17] In this way, both insecurity and vanity reflect unstable and externally driven self-concepts. Recognizing these two extremes allows us to better understand the balanced model that Islam seeks to cultivate. --- ## A Balanced Model: Between Insecurity and Arrogance In a world that increasingly equates appearance with value, how do we push back against these pressures? The Prophetic tradition did not merely redefine worth in theory. It also actively intervened against negative self-perception in real time. One of the clearest examples is the story of Zahir ibn Haram, a companion who the Prophet ﷺ loved dearly. He was described as physically unattractive. One day, while Zahir was selling goods in the marketplace, the Prophet ﷺ approached him from behind, embraced him playfully, and asked, “Who will buy this slave?” Zahir, recognizing the Prophet ﷺ, responded with painful self-deprecation: “You will find me unsellable, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet ﷺ immediately reframed his self-perception, replying, “But in the sight of Allah, you are valuable.” In another narration: “You are not worthless to Allah.”[^18] This moment is profound both spiritually and psychologically. The Prophet ﷺ did not ignore the negative self-talk, allow it to linger, or dismiss it as harmless humor. He immediately interrupted and replaced it with a higher and truer standard of value: one’s standing with Allah. Psychologically, this resembles what is now called cognitive restructuring, directly challenging distorted self-beliefs before they become internalized. In a world where many silently narrate their own inadequacy based on appearance, status, or social approval, the Prophetic response offers a model of compassionate reframing. The measure of a person is not whether they fit the standards of the marketplace, but whether they are beloved and valued by Allah. Taken together, these teachings outline a balanced approach to the self. Islam does not call for self-rejection, nor does it permit self-exaltation. Instead, it cultivates a grounded identity rooted in dignity and humility. The believer understands that they were created in the best form, yet they do not use this as a basis for superiority. They care for their appearance without becoming defined by it. They appreciate beauty without measuring their worth through it. This balance aligns with psychological findings that identified stable self-esteem to be associated with both self-acceptance and humility.[^19] When individuals are grounded in intrinsic value, they are less reactive to comparison and less dependent on external validation.[^20] This brings the discussion full circle, returning to the central question of what Allah looks at, which should hopefully be the standard by which we measure ourselves. The modern crisis of self-esteem is not simply about confidence. It is about the standard we use to define worth. When appearance becomes the standard, the individual fluctuates between insecurity and vanity. When the standard shifts to the heart and deeds, stability emerges. The Qur’an affirms that you were created in the best form. The Prophet ﷺ reminds you that Allah looks at your heart and actions. Between these two anchors, the believer finds clarity. The mirror may reflect your image, but what Allah looks at defines your worth. --- ## Notes [^1]: Marika Tiggemann, “Sociocultural Perspectives on Human Appearance and Body Image,” in *Body Image: A Handbook of Science, Practice, and Prevention*, 2nd ed. (The Guilford Press, 2011). [^2]: Qur’an 95:4. [^3]: Jennifer Crocker and Connie T. Wolfe, “Contingencies of Self-Worth,” *Psychological Review* 108, no. 3 (2001): 593–623. [^4]: Qur’an 30:22. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2564. [^6]: Bernadette Btari Kania Putri, Afra Hafny Noer, and Fredrick Dermawan Purba, “Psychological Factors Influencing Appearance Anxiety Among Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review,” *Psychology Research and Behavior Management* 18 (2025): 487–503. [^7]: W. Keith Campbell and Joshua D. Foster, “The Narcissistic Self: Background, an Extended Agency Model, and Ongoing Controversies,” in *The Self*, ed. C. Sedikides and S. J. Spencer (Psychology Press, 2007). [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 959. [^9]: Judith S. Beck, *Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond*, 2nd ed. (The Guilford Press, 2011). [^10]: Qur’an 4:119. [^11]: “Global Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures,” International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS). [^12]: Pakstan Faiq Mohamedamin, Karwan K. Kakamad, Jaafar Omer Ahmed, and Rizgar Azatkhan Saeed, “The Dark Triad of Personality in Relation to Acceptance to Cosmetic Surgery Among University Students,” *Aesthetic Plastic Surgery,* 2026, [https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-026-05875-3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-026-05875-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783620156161666&usg=AOvVaw1FFWuVX2GwcGy8NJOXfnWA). [^13]: Qur’an 24:30–31. [^14]: Jasmine Fardouly and Lenny R. Vartanian, “Social Media and Body Image Concerns,” *Current Opinion in Psychology* 9 (June 2016): 1–5. [^15]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5788; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2087. [^16]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 91. [^17]: W. Keith Campbell and Joshua Foster, "The Narcissistic Self: Background, an extended agency model, and ongoing controversies," in *The Self,* ed. C. Sedikides and S. J. Spencer (Psychology Press, 2007). [^18]: *Sunan al-Bayhaqī*, no. 19504. [^19]: Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Jacqueline Nesi, Laura Widman, and M. K. Higgins, “Camera-Ready: Young Women’s Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness,” *Psychology of Popular Media Culture* 8. no. 4 (2019): 473–81. [^20]: Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins, “The Development of Self-Esteem,” *Current Directions in Psychological Science* 23, no. 5 (2014): 381–87. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fear-of-death-and-the-afterlife-the-islamic-perspective # Fear of Death and the Afterlife: The Islamic Perspective  **Author:** Roohi Tahir **Topics:** Afterlife, Faith **Tags:** Featured - Read, Paper, Publication **Published:** July 7, 2026 **Updated:** September 1, 2026 ## Introduction Can the fear of death be conquered? And should it be? With rare exceptions, it is a universal fear that has haunted generations and remains one of society’s most complex underlying concerns. Modernity, with its many comforts and distractions, has rendered its beneficiaries with a shallow understanding of life and death. We have become so distant from reality in pursuit of misplaced priorities, skewed heavily toward meeting our worldly goals, that we have forgotten—and perhaps cannot even fathom—the faith and conviction required to face our own mortality. This is normative among those who believe in God and the afterlife, let alone those who refute their existence. Naturally, questions about the fear of death arise. Perhaps even more today, in great part because of the current climate.[^2] On one hand is the trauma and fear inflicted by widespread injustice—foremost upon its victims, but also upon those witnessing it vicariously across global media. On the other hand is the juxtaposition of terrifying images broadcast in real time against the excess consumption of a world absorbed in materialism and heedlessness and increasingly indifferent to the plight of others. It is no surprise that the mere thought of death in these conflicting realities conjures up an overwhelming sense of fear. A complex and powerful emotion, fear of death can significantly impact not only our mental health and well-being, but also the virtues we claim to uphold. Modern secular culture considers fear, especially fear rooted in moral accountability, as inherently negative and looks to eliminate it. While fear itself is universally recognized as an innate protective and adaptive human response to the perception of threat,[^3] fear of death is pathologized, medicated, or dismissed as weakness. Contemporary research has relatively recently discovered a correlation between a healthy attachment to God, similar to that of a child who sees a parent as a source of safety and security, and lower levels of death anxiety.[^4] However, this research typically relies on clinical treatment for solutions. Clinical treatment may be a necessary and useful complement to spiritual approaches, but relying solely on medical solutions will not adequately address the root causes of this fear.[^5] In Islamic spirituality, fear is not just a symptom of malfunctioning but can serve as a compass that orients the believer toward meaning, clarity, and closeness to God. The Islamic approach offers a rich diagnosis and treatment of the spiritual ailments underlying this fear that adversely affect our mindset and behavior. Centuries ago, scholars of Islam relied extensively on the Qur’an and the Sunnah as the foundation for their analysis of the problem and its practical solutions—solutions that remain relevant today. In fact, a recent study conducted on Muslims found that a higher level of spirituality, when accompanied by acts of worship and community service, plays a protective role and results in lower levels of death anxiety. Spirituality, referring to belief in God and the afterlife, provides purpose, existential comfort, and motivation, helping to lessen the fear of death.[^6] A modern-day example is the spiritual resilience of the people of Gaza, who live in the constant presence of fear. For decades and generations, they have endured unrelenting genocide, famine, and forced displacement, all of which have had profound impacts on their well-being. A recent study conducted on children in the Gaza Strip found them to exhibit significant symptoms of depression, continuous traumatic stress, and widespread death anxiety. However, it is noteworthy that the same study also acknowledged their resilience, which it attributed to family cohesion, faith, education, and steadfastness as protective factors.[^7] These factors, with faith at the forefront, contribute to their consistent demonstration of hope and courage amid unimaginably horrific circumstances. The people of Gaza exemplify that fear is not sinful nor a sign of weak faith; rather, it can be a means to strengthen faith and to elevate one’s status before God. For many, faith provides the resilience to endure the unthinkable. “I pray every day for my family’s safety and for those we’ve lost,” said one mother. “I ask Allah to give us strength and to reunite us in Jannah.” Another reflected, “The Zionists can destroy our homes, but they cannot destroy our connection to Allah. That is something they will never take from us.”[^8] The objective of this paper is to present an Islamic perspective on the fear of death, reframing it from a negative emotion to one that can be empowering and adaptive. The paper is written primarily from a pastoral perspective and is not intended to serve as an extensive psychological analysis. Rather, it seeks to clear common misconceptions surrounding fear, death, and the afterlife by offering clarity and guidance through Islamic teachings grounded in the Qur’an and Sunnah. This is accomplished foremost by strengthening our connection and love for our Creator, the most Merciful, who provides countless blessings in this life and promises His sincere servants salvation and everlasting pleasure in the Hereafter. This paper brings to the forefront the optimism and hope found in Islamic teachings, directing us toward positivity and a moral compass for sound and beneficial action—removing the urge to retreat into isolation and replacing it with proactive engagement. The paper targets the pain points commonly associated with this fear, particularly those that have a negative impact, including the potential to contribute to a faith crisis and distance from God. By no means are we denying the potential benefits of clinical treatment of death anxiety. But by reframing conventional perceptions of death through an Islamic lens and offering practical steps to strengthen our faith and resolve, we see that Islam offers meaningful and effective coping strategies that involve encouraging hope in God and prioritizing the Hereafter. --- ## Fear in the Absence of God Modern secular culture largely dismisses fear rooted in moral accountability, often relying on clinical diagnostic approaches to death anxiety. Accurate and holistic diagnosis is of course a necessary prerequisite for the effective treatment of any ailment. We begin by outlining contemporary secular approaches to the fear of death, before identifying the underlying spiritual ailments. Modern secular thought does not have one unified voice in regard to the fear of death. Rather, it offers a number of perspectives that are debated among leading figures across the disciplines of evolutionary science, psychology, and philosophy. Evolutionary and scientific studies explain the fear of death as an adaptive behavior. According to them, fear is built into human biology as a survival mechanism and instinct. As with all instances of human evolution, the cognitive capability of humans contributes to our ability to live, to reproduce, and to care for our offspring, in order for our genes to survive and propagate through future generations of our species.[^9] Psychologists focus on the unique cognitive capacity in humans that enables us to be aware of the inevitability of death. Thomas A. Pyszczynski, a scholar and respected figure in the field of social psychology and Terror Management Theory (TMT),[^10] suggests that the awareness of one’s mortality provides humans with the motivation “to commit themselves to worldviews that help manage their potential for terror,” namely, to cope with the inevitability of death. Cultural groups are essentially people who share views about the reality of life, its purpose, and desirable human behavior. These worldviews provide meaning to life, enabling people to manage and avert anxiety associated with the awareness of their mortality. For example, the affiliation to one’s family, ethnicity, or nation fosters a sense of symbolic immortality that allows one to figuratively transcend death through the individual’s contributions to society, in their children, culture, or art, through which one has the desire to leave their mark on the world. One’s meaningful and valued participation in life is experienced in the form of self-esteem, which is nurtured and developed from childhood as a “central mechanism for managing distress.”[^11] Being certain about one’s worldview depends upon social consensus. Hence, positivity and confidence is sought through validation of those who affirm one’s worldview. However, when conflict arises between worldviews, the result is often negative, and can become the basis of prejudice against those outside one’s beliefs and values, domination, exploitation, and even violence against out-groups. This connects back to the evolutionary perspective that favors group survival; hence, the fear of death is viewed as a potential threat to the group’s existence, which must be overcome through seeking means of self-protection.[^12] The evolutionary perspective describes behaviors as evolving within a species as adaptations to environmental conditions. However, according to Pyszczynski, it is also complementary to the existential psychology perspective, giving us valuable insights into the roots of the existential dilemma of facing one’s mortality. Evolutionary analysis includes evolved moral beliefs and values that are reflected in cooperation, caring, and reciprocity within group members to help guide human behavior. Religious belief is viewed as an extension and a human construct of these evolved moral values, which may manifest in a number of ways, including belief in folklore, in an invisible spirit world, in God, and in an afterlife, which affirm immortality and motivate ethical behavior for social cohesion and societal benefit—all of which are coping mechanisms for fear and help to “detoxify” death. Existential psychology is built upon this evolved capability of humans to cope with the reality of life and potential distress, and looks at how human behavior is influenced by death-related thoughts. The problem of death is addressed through imagination, cultural transmission, and emotions that serve as motivators for how people perceive their life and place in the universe. Studies have also shown that reminders of death have a positive influence on moral judgment, whereby people want to avoid harm to others, value fairness, become more charitable, and focus on a healthier lifestyle.[^13] Existential philosophers have written extensively about the profound impact of death anxiety on the human psyche. Describing the human condition as an existential contradiction, the renowned anthropologist Ernest Becker (d. 1974), author of the famous secular work *Denial of Death*, whose contribution inspired TMT wrote: “Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever. It is a terrifying dilemma to be in and to have to live with.”[^14] Becker drew from the ideas of a diverse array of thinkers like Freud, Rank, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. According to Becker, the fear of death is dominant within us and preoccupies humans to the extent that some form of practical denial, accomplished through pursuing and building systems of symbolic meaning to life through personal accomplishment, culture, and other affiliations, becomes necessary in order to shield one from death anxiety. Among the most influential thinkers is Martin Heidegger (d. 1976) who argued that one’s awareness of death actually pushes one toward a meaningful life and an authentic existence. Learning about death and reflecting on one’s mortality can have a significant impact on how we live. For example, Emmy Van Deurzen, an existential philosopher, therapist, and author of numerous books and publications on the subject, suggests that this awareness and acceptance of death is the real challenge of life, but a paradoxical one that is met by embracing the fact that self-affirmation and a full life are attained through confronting the inevitability of death. Existential psychotherapy offers a practical approach, but one that is generally outside the framework of any religious belief. It does not look to eliminate the fear of death, but to help cope with it in order to live a productive and meaningful life. Irvin D. Yalom is a significant contributor to the field of existential psychiatry. He suggests that awareness of death can be a useful catalyst in freeing one from the potential paralysis of death anxiety. The fear of death, which he argues is often repressed, can be a means for personal transformation when one is able to use this fear to clarify one’s priorities, while building genuine human relationships to help soften existential anxiety. According to his viewpoint, one finds meaning in life within the “limits of its material and finite reality.” Existential therapy aims to help people discover the courage within them, and to choose to face their mortality and fears, thereby enabling them to fulfill life’s responsibilities.[^15] Despite his secular framing, Yalom acknowledges the significant role of religion in humanity’s ability to understand and cope with death, stating: “Death anxiety is the mother of all religions, which, in one way or another, attempt to temper the anguish of our finitude. God, as formulated transculturally, not only softens the pain of mortality through some vision of everlasting life but also palliates fearful isolation by offering an eternal presence, and provides a clear blueprint for living a meaningful life.”[^16] By relegating belief in God and the afterlife to a human construct and pathologizing fear, the modern secular worldview lacks both the epistemic grounding and spiritual efficacy that faith provides, as well as the motivational force of divine guidance needed to meaningfully harness, address, and heal death anxiety. Gai Eaton (d. 2010), author of *King of the Castle*, critiqued the shortsightedness of the secular modern world, noting among its defining characteristics the prevalence of doubt and uncertainty regarding the life to come. He wrote, > There is a kind of twilight region inhabited by the many who are neither believers nor unbelievers, but are carried along by the tide of these times while daylight lasts. There must, they think, be “something” beyond all this, but they doubt whether anybody really knows what this “something” might be and seem quite unaware of great voices, still audible, telling them precisely what it is and summoning them to attend as a man attends when he stands in mortal peril . . . nothing that lies outside their little pool of light seems quite real, and, if they think of divine reality at all, they think of it as something ghostly, abstract, attenuated—the desert sun no longer scorches or dazzles.[^17] Doubts about God and the afterlife present a significant challenge to overcoming fear of death. To those harboring these doubts, a faith-based response may seem remote from the quest for tangible, immediate results. When people rely solely on limited human reasoning, capability, and perspective, their response to fear lacks the ethical foresight and spiritual grounding faith provides. Without the moral strength and confidence gained through the light of divine guidance, the darkness of doubt and fear can become overpowering. The secular mindset assigns little meaning to life after death, rendering it a finality and eliminating any goal beyond this world. Traumatic events, illness, and reminders of death further increase the threat to self-esteem and intensify death anxiety and the need to hold on more tightly to one’s worldview.[^18] As one study notes, death challenges the reality of what is taken for granted about day-to-day life. Unlike premodern times, when death held communal and religious significance, today it is privatized. The loss of an individual was once a collective concern—one that meant death was spoken about openly and frequently, and social and religious public rituals provided consolation and coping mechanisms to those left behind. Today, children are shielded from death, their parents reluctant to teach them in fear of causing anxiety and psychological harm. Death has been sequestered within a society focused on the preservation of self-identity and the body, with little individual connection to God or faith-based community. This may allow one the means to a higher sense of self in the short term, but proves costly and unsustainable knowing the inevitable cannot be denied.[^19] Another contributor to fear of death is the realization that one is ultimately not in control of their destiny. Believers recognize that control belongs to God Almighty alone, the One who has final authority over all of existence. Without faith, divine decree clashes with the desire for mastery. Guilt also contributes to fear of death, particularly for those who acknowledge God but avoid accountability. In secular society, spiritual weakness is compounded by gruesome and pervasive injustice and oppression, exacerbating the fear of death. Yet fear itself is not the problem—misalignment of understanding its purpose is. Secular perspectives disregard moral accountability, whereas the Islamic approach aligns fear with divine guidance, revealing its true purpose and meaning. --- ## Islam’s Reframing of Fear In Islam, fear is understood not as a weakness, but as a natural and divinely intended aspect of the human experience. It is a compass, guiding the believer toward moral clarity and spiritual growth. Far from diminishing the self, it motivates careful reflection, ethical action, and awareness of one’s responsibilities before God. Fear, when rightly oriented, becomes a mercy and a source of protection, helping one avoid harm and align one’s choices with divine guidance. This contrasts sharply with the modern secular worldview, which often pathologizes fear, particularly fear related to moral accountability, as something to be eliminated or suppressed. Islam gives us the most beneficial spiritual framework to address our fears through its two primary sources—the Qur’an and the Sunnah—which offer clarity and depth on the subject, acknowledging it as a natural instinct and emotion God has placed within us to test us. Fear is meticulously detailed in over one hundred verses, including its nuanced manifestations.[^20] The Qur’an and Sunnah provide us with purpose and guidance. We are given essential knowledge of this world and how to navigate it, as well as knowledge of what awaits in the Hereafter and how to prepare for it. Divine perfection comes to light in the holistic prescription Islam provides us to benefit and guide humanity, in order to strengthen our spiritual, emotional, and physical welfare, which includes how to overcome our fears of loss, suffering, and death. God does not leave us to ourselves without providing us with the way forward in all situations, especially in regard to the means to attain His pleasure and to cure our ailing hearts. Divine mercy and love for His servants is clearly articulated in His affirmation that even those closest to Him dislike death, in order to provide us solace, spiritual fortitude, and motivation. The Messenger ﷺ informed us: > Allah said, “I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshiper of Mine. And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me are what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing *nawafil* \[praying or extra good deeds beyond what is obligatory\] until I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection, I will protect him; and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him.”[^21] ### Classical Insights into Fear Islamic scholarship has long approached fear as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, examining both its causes and its potential for spiritual and ethical growth. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350), writing in *Ranks of the Divine Seekers*, holds fear as a distinguished station on the path to God, beneficial for a living, faithful heart. He outlines its varying shades—from *khawf*, the basic anticipation of harm, to *ijlal*, the trembling awe of those nearest to God—showing that fear deepens as knowledge and awareness of the Divine deepen. He famously summarized this state in a paradox: The one who fears God “flees from his Lord to his Lord.” Fear becomes protection, not paralysis, a mercy that directs the seeker away from harm and toward righteousness.[^22] This spiritual logic anchors Ibn al-Qayyim’s broader approach to human weakness in *The Disease and the Cure*, where he argues that every ailment has a God-given treatment. The Qur’an, he emphasizes, is the most complete healing, offering both clarity and certainty to an overwhelmed heart. Rather than pushing fear aside, revelation orients it: toward the One who created life, death, and the soul that will endure beyond the body.[^23] Writing centuries before modern psychology, Ibn Sina (d. 1037) recognized that fear often masks deeper distortions in belief or perception. Although his broader metaphysical commitments were not universally accepted by scholars of the normative Islamic sciences, Ibn Sina’s diagnosis is nevertheless worth noting. He classified anxious responses into causes, such as ignorance of what death is, uncertainty about the afterlife, dread of pain, fear of punishment, or attachment to worldly possessions and relationships. His solutions closely resemble cognitive behavioral therapy: provide accurate knowledge, correct misunderstandings, and align one’s emotional responses with truth. For example, those who fear death because they do not know what awaits them are not truly fearing death itself, but the unfamiliar. The antidote, he argues, lies in sacred knowledge that affirms the soul’s continuity and the certainty of the Hereafter.[^24] Classical scholars further identified the root causes behind the fear of death. Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) adds another dimension: heedlessness (*ghafla*). In *Ihyaʾ ʿulum al-din*, he warns that preoccupation with worldly pursuits dulls one’s awareness of mortality, causing people to recoil from death rather than benefit from reflecting on it. In contrast, the believer intentionally remembers death, not to despair but to prioritize repentance, meaning, and purpose.[^25] Ibn al-Qayyim shares this concern, describing how attachment to fleeting pleasures blinds the heart to the eternal, while the Prophet ﷺ commanded believers to “remember often the destroyer of pleasures \[meaning: death\].”[^26] Other scholars, including Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 1290), identified complementary manifestations of the same disease. In *The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife*, he highlights lengthy worldly hopes—rooted in love of *dunya* or ignorance of life’s fragility—as powerful contributors to spiritual decay. These attitudes delay repentance and heighten anxiety, for when death finally confronts the heedless, fear becomes compounded by regret. Instead, Ibn Qudama urges believers to cultivate awareness of resurrection, reflect on God’s creative power, and let fear motivate sincere action rather than avoidance.[^27] Across these classical insights, a shared theme emerges: Fear is not the problem; misdirected fear is. The scholars describe fear of death as a spiritual signal pointing to deeper issues, such as ignorance, doubt, guilt, attachment, and heedlessness. Note the timeless correlation of these deeper issues to the reasons people fear death, cited in context to our modern secular society. The cure lies not in erasing fear, but refining it by replacing confusion with knowledge, avoidance with remembrance, despair with repentance, and worldly fixation with eternal orientation. In doing so, fear becomes a force of transformation that brings the believer closer to God and equips them to face the inevitable with clarity, hope, and trust. Practical lessons emerge when these theoretical insights are applied to everyday life. For instance, a believer confronted with personal mortality, loss, or uncertainty can reflect on Ibn Sina’s counsel to examine the source of fear, use reason to contextualize it, and redirect it toward moral and spiritual growth. Following Al-Ghazali, they might engage in regular remembrance of death as a means to motivate gratitude and repentance. The Prophet ﷺ advised the believers to frequently remember death and also to visit the graveyard: “I had prohibited you from visiting graves, but you may visit them now. For it will produce abstinence in this world and remind you of the Hereafter.”[^28] Additionally, the Prophet ﷺ informed us of the tremendous reward of attending funerals and accompanying the burials of the believers, serving as motivation and practical guidance that also bring about collective moral support.[^29] Ibn Qudama reminds the believer to assess their worldly attachments and reflect on Allah’s power, and Ibn al-Qayyim provides tools to discern when fear is corrective versus destructive. By situating fear within this classical framework, we see that fear can be transformative. It is not a sign of weakness or deficiency but a divine gift that, when rightly understood, aligns the believer’s heart with God’s guidance, encourages ethical conduct, and fosters spiritual resilience. When the Prophet ﷺ was asked, “Which of the believers is the wisest?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Those who remember death the most and have best prepared for it; such are the wisest.”[^30] ### Fear in Action: The Battle of the Trench These classical insights prepare us to understand how fear functions not only in theory and reflection but also in lived experience—a reality vividly illustrated in the Qur’an and *sira*, especially during the Battle of the Trench. As we have discussed, not all fear is the same. The Qur’an details numerous situations in which fear is present, and it is the believer’s response that determines whether fear is praiseworthy or blameworthy in the sight of God, whether it is a source of strength or a pathway to loss. This standing before God is the key motivator for adhering to His guidance and navigating every fear successfully. The following verse offers a clear case study, vividly capturing fear of death in the moments leading up to the Battle of the Trench in the year 5 AH: > They massed against you from above and below; your eyes rolled with fear, and your hearts reached your throats, and you entertained conflicting thoughts about Allah.[^31] “They” refers to the enemy forces, namely, an ill-fated alliance between the Quraysh of Mecca, the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir (previously expelled from Medina), and neighboring Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula, referred to as the Confederates, or al-Ahzab. They conspired with another Jewish tribe in Medina, Banu Qurayza, to break a peace treaty with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and eliminate the Muslims and Islam altogether. In what was intended to be the most treacherous and genocidal encounter yet, an army roughly ten thousand strong set out to launch a surprise assault on the vastly outnumbered Muslims in Medina. The situation resulted in a hostile, month-long siege that became a test of endurance, sincerity, and truthfulness over hypocrisy and disbelief. Ultimately, a test of faith and resilience over *fear* and annihilation. Hearing news of the imminent onslaught, the Prophet ﷺ instructed the Muslims to dig a trench, or *khandaq*, along the most vulnerable entry point to the city, a strategy unfamiliar in Arabia at the time. For almost ten days, it was all hands on deck, with the Prophet ﷺ working in their midst around the clock, staving off hunger and fatigue. The trench, estimated to be some two kilometers long and thirteen feet wide, had to be deep and wide enough to prevent the enemy cavalry from crossing.[^32] During the digging, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for his companions, “O Allah! The real life is the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Helpers \[Ansar\] and the Immigrants \[Muhajirun\].”[^33] “You” in this verse is addressed to the believers, drawing our attention to their state of mind and overwhelming sense of fear. These are the best generation of believers, yet they were not reprimanded by God for feeling fearful. While the external threat alone was enough to strike terror in the hearts and minds, another threat emerged: Banu Qurayza’s betrayal inside the city. Numbering as many as eight hundred fighters, their potential attack on Muslim women and children sheltering in their homes, presumed safe from the frontlines, posed an even greater danger. Hence God’s description “They massed against you from above and below”—namely, the Confederates’ approach from above and Banu Qurayza from below.[^34] One companion’s testimony brings this fear into sharp focus. Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman later detailed the intense emotions in the Muslim camp. It was during a particularly stormy night, so dark that he could not even see his own fingertips, with the cold wind escalating, that he recounts being sent by the Prophet ﷺ to the enemy camp for reconnaissance. The narration vividly illustrates fear, obedience, and reliance: > I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the night of the Battle of Ahzab and we were gripped by a violent wind and severe cold. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The man who goes and brings me the news of the enemy shall be ranked with me on the Day of Judgment by Allah.” We all kept quiet and none of us responded to him. Again, he said: “A man who brings me the news of the enemy shall be ranked with me on the Day of Judgment by Allah.” We kept quiet and none of us responded to him. He again said: “A man who brings me the news of the enemy shall be ranked with me on the Day of Judgment by Allah.” Then he said: “Get up Hudhayfa, bring me the news of the enemy.” When he called me by name, I had no alternative but to get up. He said: “Go and bring me information about the enemy and do nothing that may provoke them against me.” > > When I left him, I felt warm as if I were walking in a heated bath until I reached them. I saw Abu Sufyan warming his back against a fire; I put an arrow in the middle of the bow, intending to shoot at him, when I recalled the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “Do not provoke them against me.” Had I shot at him, I would have hit him. But I returned and felt warm as if I were walking in a heated bath. Presenting myself before him, I gave him information about the enemy. When I had done so, I began to feel cold, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrapped me in a blanket with which he used to cover himself while praying. So I continued to sleep until it was morning. When it was morning, he said: “Get up, O heavy sleeper.”[^35] This was the condition of the followers of the Prophet ﷺ, who eagerly anticipated every opportunity to earn the favor of their Lord. Those who lived by “we hear and we obey” and followed the Prophet’s ﷺ commands without hesitation now found themselves debilitated by their own fears.[^36] It was in the extremes of desperation, fatigue, hunger, and fear of death that God tested them and that true faith manifested itself. After the Prophet ﷺ prayed for Hudhayfa, his fears miraculously dissipated—an indication of divine help that accompanies trust in God and effort. Despite being shaken to the core, the sincere believers remained unwavering, while the hypocrites made excuses and deserted the Muslims. Eventually, in a miraculous turn of events, the Confederates became increasingly fearful they would not outlast the severe conditions and what appeared to be internal betrayal as their allegiances began to collapse. As a result, they retreated in defeat, crippled by fears of humiliation and death.[^37] Despite minimal combat and casualty, this incident underscores how overwhelming fear can be and how one’s inner orientation determines whether it paralyzes or pushes an individual toward productivity, trust, and obedience. Islam redirects one’s fears toward the best outcome—one that is driven and bound within a far greater and noble fear—the overarching fear of God’s displeasure, *taqwa*.[^38] Believers who positively direct their fears in this manner are blessed with the guidance, wisdom, and resilience to overcome them, even if their fears are not entirely eliminated. After the enemy retreat, the Prophet ﷺ said, “After this battle we will go to attack them and they will not come to attack us.”[^39] Ultimately, the believers’ steadfastness and foresight secured a victory well beyond the Battle of the Trench. Their trust in God and His promise of the Hereafter framed the entire encounter and stood in stark contrast to those who could not see beyond that moment, fixated on their pursuit of worldly gain. > When the believers saw the enemy alliance, they said, “This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us. The promise of Allah and His Messenger has come true.” And this only increased them in faith and submission.[^40] --- ## Toward Healing: Practical Pastoral Guidance ### Redirecting Fear How, then, do we practically understand the role of fear and apply it in our lives? Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ as follows: “Say, ‘I truly fear—if I were to disobey my Lord—the torment of a tremendous Day.’”[^41] There is a profound lesson in this verse that helps us redirect fear away from distress and paralysis toward empowerment and action. The fear is real; the question is where we allow that fear to lead us. Allah tests us with the fear of loss, and these fears can push a person toward despair, panic, disobedience, and ultimately His displeasure.[^42] When fear arises, the believer passes the divine test by deliberately redirecting that fear toward the one mentioned in the verse above—the praiseworthy fear of accountability before God on the Day of Judgment. In practice, this might mean trying to consciously pause in moments of anxiety, followed by taking a deliberate turn toward a simple act that aligns with what pleases Allah, like utterances of *dhikr*. In doing so, fear becomes a catalyst rather than a burden: a force that motivates and directs us to act in accordance with what pleases Allah and that brings about a positive outcome in this life and reward in the Hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ was instructed to convey this powerful reminder during some of the most difficult seasons in the early Muslim community—amid hardship, persecution, loss, sacrifice, and uncertainty. Redirecting his fear toward Allah is what enabled and strengthened the Prophet ﷺ, those around him, and all the prophets who preceded him to fulfill their purpose despite the fear of death and loss. His special relationship with Allah is captured in a hadith in which it is stated that whenever Allah’s Messenger ﷺ ordered the Muslims to do something, he used to order them to do that which was easy for them to do, according to their strength and endurance. They said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, we are not like you. Allah has forgiven your past and future sins.” To which he ﷺ responded, “I am the most Allah-fearing, and know Allah better than all of you do.”[^43] This also establishes a practical principle: Choose actions within your capacity, but remain consistent in them. ʿAʾisha, the beloved wife of the Prophet ﷺ, once asked him a question through which we gain solace that all of us, and even the most righteous believers, have a natural aversion to and hatred for death. The Prophet ﷺ acknowledged this and also clarified that our hatred of death is not the same as hatred of meeting God. He ﷺ said: “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.” It was said to him: “O Messenger of Allah, does hating to meet Allah mean hating to meet death? For all of us hate death.” He said: “No. Rather that is only at the moment of death. But if he is given the glad tidings of the mercy and forgiveness of Allah, he loves to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet him; and if he is given the tidings of the punishment of Allah, he hates to meet Allah and Allah hates to meet him.”[^44] Reflecting on this, we can relate to the concern felt by ʿAʾisha in that moment in which she needed to clarify this point without hesitation, including herself among those who felt hatred toward death. We are motivated to seek the pleasure and forgiveness of God and to hasten good deeds, with hope of attaining His love and mercy. This should translate into acting on good intentions immediately rather than delaying them. ### Hope Is an Obligation > The heart in its journey towards God the Exalted is like a bird whose head is love, and hope and fear are its two wings.[^45] The beauty of this paradigm is that fear becomes a mercy from Allah rather than a burden. Where there is fear, there must also be hope. Ibn al-Qayyim describes the relationship between these two seemingly conflicting emotions from a spiritual perspective. Just as fear is the obligation of the believer, hope too is an obligation, and there is a balance to be maintained between them in order to safely reach our final destination. He explains that hope rests on three essential qualities that must be present in the believer’s heart: love for what one hopes for, fear of losing it, and commitment to strive for it. Everything outside of this criterion—hope directed toward anything besides God—is a false or baseless aspiration.[^46] Correct hope is always accompanied by fear, and both hope and fear should always be accompanied by righteous deeds. In practice, this balance can be maintained by ensuring that each day includes both acts of repentance (driven by fear) and acts of striving and *dua* (driven by hope). He notes that the pious predecessors were known to prefer strengthening the wing of fear in times of ease and the wing of hope when death approached, anchoring their hearts in balance and realism.[^47] ### Short Hopes Ibn Qudama gives us a glimpse into the mindset of the righteous predecessors, who intentionally cultivated *short hopes* as the antidote to fear. Short hopes do not signify despair, denial of the future, or withdrawal from the world. Rather, they reflect a conscious narrowing of one’s expectations and attachments to what lies ahead, so that the heart remains anchored in the present moment of moral responsibility. Practically, this means not postponing repentance, good deeds, or personal reform to a later time, but treating the present day as the primary opportunity to act. In this way, short hopes reorient attention away from long-term worldly projections that breed complacency and false security, and instead generate urgency in pursuing good deeds, repentance, and ethical excellence. The righteous predecessors adopted this posture not out of pessimism, but out of clarity: They sought to meet Allah with their best deeds already realized, rather than postponed intentions. Short hopes thus function as a spiritual discipline that transforms fear of loss into purposeful action, ensuring that the present is treated as the most reliable arena for drawing nearer to Allah. Ibn Qudama notes, “Whenever hopes are shortened, actions are perfected.” Al-Ghazali elaborates on the benefit of this in a powerful statement: “Death is happiness for him, and life is addition of good to his account.”[^48] This aligns with the Prophetic call to seize the moment to do good while one has the capability to act. The Prophet ﷺ cautioned: “There are two blessings that many people are deceived into losing: health and free time.”[^49] A practical application of this is to consciously dedicate a portion of one’s daily free time to acts of worship, learning, or service, rather than leaving it to be consumed passively. ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar profoundly described how this mindset shapes a life. He said, “Allah’s Messenger ﷺ took hold of my shoulder and said, ‘Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler.’” Ibn ʿUmar used to say, “If you survive until the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive until the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and take from your life for your death.”[^50] These Prophetic teachings emphasize the importance of utilizing our blessings to do as much as we can to secure the Hereafter, as the practical means to realize the short hopes our righteous predecessors spoke of, including maintaining a regular habit of self-accountability and repentance. The Prophet ﷺ taught us to focus on actions within our reach, even if seemingly insignificant, reminding us that what pleases God most is consistency we can turn into good habits.[^51] For example, we must first strive to fulfill the obligatory acts of worship, such as the daily prayers, fasting in Ramadan, and striving to be sincere, truthful, and generous. Consistency comes with gradually incorporating voluntary acts such as the night prayer and additional recommended fasts throughout the year. We can assign smaller frequent charitable donations, and portion our time and talents on an ongoing basis, in order to establish regularity with good deeds, rather than waiting for a specific time of the year like Ramadan, or postponing until later accomplishment in life, which is not guaranteed. The most important practical advice is to maintain daily remembrance of God with frequent recitation of the Qur’an, using every opportunity taught to us by the Prophet ﷺ to seek His forgiveness, to seek His help, and to productively engage in doing good. This can be made consistent by attaching remembrance and *dhikr* to daily routines (such as commuting, waiting, or walking), ensuring it becomes a regular habit rather than an occasional effort. In this way, we can make short hopes a tangible and practical means to contentment in this life and success in the Hereafter. Taken together, these teachings show that fear is not a sign of spiritual failure, nor an obstacle to faith, but a God-given means of movement—an inner signal that redirects us toward Him. When paired with hope, transformed into action, and grounded in the reality of death and the Hereafter, fear becomes a source of clarity, purpose, and strength rather than confusion or despair. This framework prepares us to meet life’s uncertainties with humility and resolve, and to continue walking the path toward Allah with balance, trust, and sincerity. ### Provision for the Journey to God Imam al-Ghazali, taking from a number of the pious predecessors, astutely describes death as a journey to God, for which we will summarize the following spiritual provisions are required. The first is *taqwa*: deep consciousness of God expressed through vigilance in worship, obedience, and a commitment to increase good deeds while continually rectifying oneself through *tawba* or repentance—the gift of divine mercy that erases all sins.[^52] The second is to disconnect one’s heart from the comforts, pleasures, and emotional ties of this world, including status and privilege. This is *zuhd*: not a rejection of God’s blessings, but freedom from the chains of the desire of this world. It must be noted that balance is essential here. We must express gratitude for the countless blessings from God and utilize them in service and obedience to Him, while avoiding an unhealthy attachment to them or outright rejection of provisions that support our holistic well-being. Aversion to death is often a sign that love for worldly comforts has eclipsed the desire to meet God. No doubt, for many of us, the thought of separation is unimaginable and *sabr*, or patience, is required. The fear of losing everything familiar and comforting to us is painful and can only be softened with the remembrance, or *dhikr*, of God: through reflection on His beautiful names and attributes, prayer, Qur’an recitation, and pondering on the boundless treasures of Paradise He has promised to those who are sincere in servitude, worship, and sound character. The true knowledge of God increases our love for Him, our gratitude to Him, and reliance upon Him alone (*tawakkul*) while recognizing He provides for us through the means and people He places in our lives. For this reason, it is important to surround ourselves with good company who will remind us of God and strive and spend alongside us for His sake. When the Prophet Musa and his brother Harun expressed fear in confronting Firʿawn, God immediately reassured them, and all believers, encouraging us to place our trust in Him: “Allah reassured them, ‘Have no fear! I am with you, hearing and seeing.’”[^53] Love of God and *tawakkul* remedy fear and anxiety, cultivating hope and courage. This requires ongoing purification of the heart, curing and fortifying it against spiritual diseases such as pride, arrogance, greed, envy, hatred, and all negative character traits that obstruct the journey to God. > Death has exposed the world’s faults, thus the one who has any inner core is not left with any joy therein. A servant does not adhere to the remembrance of death in his heart except that the world becomes trivial in his eyes and all of what is in it becomes immaterial.[^54] Lastly, we must bring our faith or *iman* to present to God as an expression of love for Him. *Iman* is the measure of truly knowing God, and the believer is called to aspire to *ihsan*, the highest level of faith: to worship Him as though one sees Him, and to be conscious that He sees all.[^55] It is this conviction in God, the Day of Judgment, the Hereafter, and the truth brought to us by His prophets and the final Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ, that transforms fear and anxiety into *rida*—contentment with divine decree. From this conviction and contentment, our *dua* gains potency, and surrendering all affairs of life and death to Him is facilitated.[^56] This reassurance is exemplified in the inspiration God placed in the heart of the mother of the Prophet Musa: “Nurse him, but when you fear for him, put him then into the river, and do not fear or grieve. We will certainly return him to you, and make him one of the messengers.”[^57] It is this same light of faith and contentment we witness today in the hearts of the people of Gaza—whose *ihsan* awakens the entire world, enabling them to remain hopeful and steadfast in the presence of fear. We are given ample signs and proofs from God to place our complete trust in Him. Just as He brought us from the safety and comfort of the womb to this world and blessed us with life, provision, and guidance, He brings His servants from this world to the Hereafter, promising the believers eternal joy in Paradise, where fear and grief no longer exist.[^58] > After death the believer uncovers Allah’s virtue and honor to which the worldly life is but a prison. He is like one who is imprisoned in a dark room and then a vast garden is opened up to him, full of trees and he does not like to return to the worldly life much like how he does not like to return to his mother’s womb.[^59] --- ## Conclusion: From Constriction to Contentment The Qur’anic term used to describe the expansion of the chest is *sharh al-sadr*. God reminds His beloved Messenger ﷺ of how God uplifted his heart, providing him ﷺ with relief, given the enormity of the mission of prophethood.[^60] We too are guided to pray for *sharh al-sadr* as did the prophet Musa when faced with the gravity of facing Firʿawn.[^61] This expansion lightens the heart and serves as an antidote that brings about relief, easing the constriction one feels due to anxiety and fear. As we have established in regard to fearing death, there is an anxiety associated with desire of this worldly life, heedlessness, and confusion about death and the afterlife, all of which result in the tightness one experiences when clinging to this life. Among the verses in the Qur’an that beautifully explain the concept of *sharh al-sadr* is the following: > What about the one whose heart God has opened in devotion to Him, so that he walks in light from his Lord? Alas for those whose hearts harden at the mention of God! They have clearly lost their way.[^62] This opening of the heart is the spiritual light of guidance that brings relief and tranquility to the believer, strengthening the heart with faith, insight, and wisdom. It enables one to recognize this world as fleeting, to loosen attachment to it, and to redirect attention and effort toward attaining the Hereafter. Through this inner expansion, the heart of the believer gains the clarity through which they are able to see life and death for what they truly are, to remember death without distress, and to understand one’s purpose is to prepare for it. Thus, the blessings of faith and insight allow us to see the afterlife as our ultimate home—to desire it more than the fleeting gains of this world—and to no longer feel threatened by it. To you who is fearful and struggles with the thought of death and your standing in the Hereafter—you are not alone. God does not expect perfection from you; He does not burden you with more than you are capable of, nor does He expect you to overcome your fears entirely.[^63] Remember that even the best of the believers among our pious predecessors had an aversion to death, hence the extent to which this topic is acknowledged and addressed in the Qur’an and Sunnah. While fear is a natural emotion we are both blessed and tested with, it is not a sin, nor a sign of weak faith or the disapproval of your Lord. Above all, it is the mercy of God that encompasses all of His creation. He tasks you with sincerity and effort, and rewards you when you take a step toward Him, reminding you that He is as you think of Him.[^64] So do not despair that your faith is not strong enough. Rather, allow yourself the opportunity to grow, to trust in His decree as best for you, and to be purpose-driven in your journey to Him, one day at a time, striving to know Him and to be close to Him. Always remember that fear is a normal human experience that can be harnessed for your spiritual benefit when properly guided. Among the most comforting and hopeful words the Prophet ﷺ left us with as a reminder of divine compassion to help us overcome our inner fears is the advice he gave to his companion, Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, who said that he “heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say three days before his death: ‘None of you should die but hoping only good from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.’”[^65] --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 29:64. [^2]: See also Rachel E. Menzies and Ross G. Menzies, “Death Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19: Theoretical Explanations and Clinical Implications,” *Cognitive Behaviour Therapist* 13, e19 (June 11, 2020), [https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X20000215](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X20000215&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959954233&usg=AOvVaw30pBd3xxj2zlHcdLJ9mrhU). Note: The studies referenced here found heightened awareness, fear, and death anxiety during times of widespread death and loss, such as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. See also Dr. Tarek Younis, “Facing our Fear: Reflecting on Modern Society’s Death Anxiety,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, July 23, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/facing-our-fear-reflecting-on-modern-societys-death-anxiety](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/facing-our-fear-reflecting-on-modern-societys-death-anxiety&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959954748&usg=AOvVaw2EomU9_u_AD-PfEUF-Q499). [^3]: Piero Porcelli, “Fear, Anxiety and Health-Related Consequences After the COVID-19 Epidemic,” *Clinical Neuropsychiatry* 172 (2020): 103–11, [https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200215](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200215&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959955038&usg=AOvVaw26Mj3D35I3yScR_mD_LoWB). [^4]: “Death anxiety refers to the feelings of dread, fear, and apprehension related to the anticipation, and awareness, of death and dying.” Marissa Pifer, Olivia Noel, and Daniel Segal, “Death Anxiety,” in *Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging* (Springer Nature, 2019), [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2\_744-1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_744-1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959955425&usg=AOvVaw2t9DvFfV6hdsrkuxOn0o0P). See also Stephen R. Harding, Kevin J. Flannelly, Andrew J. Weaver, and Karen G. Costa, “The Influence of Religion on Death Anxiety and Death Acceptance,” *Mental Health, Religion & Culture* 8, no. 4 (2005): 253–61, [https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670412331304311](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670412331304311&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959955728&usg=AOvVaw2r5d0DbqgZIXJln2zTNuKb). [^5]: Ali Mohammadzadeh and Mohammad Oraki, “Attachment to God as a Predictor of Death Distress Among Muslims,” *Current Psychology* 39, no. 1 (2018): 1–6, [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9934-3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9934-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959955996&usg=AOvVaw2-cv9uBCgeuqHVs7rwbIkC). [^6]: Faiz Rabbani, Syeda Asma Gillani, Palwasha Nasir, Ramzan Shah Nawaz, Akbar Ali, Nimra Khan, and Anoosha Nadeem, “The Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Death Anxiety Among Muslims,” *Research Journal of Psychology* 3, no. 1 (2025): 548–58, [https://doi.org/10.59075/rjs.v3i1.89](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.59075/rjs.v3i1.89&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959956338&usg=AOvVaw0TOtTtUYnjhEwNAX_CJwG2). [^7]: Anies Al-Hroub, “Death Anxiety and Trauma in Forcibly Displaced Children in the Gaza Strip: A Critical Review of Emerging Research, 2024–2025,” *Current Psychiatry Reports* 28 (2026): 1, [https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-026-01670-8](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-026-01670-8&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959956641&usg=AOvVaw2yet4wbmemlR9j9jiRtc2D). [^8]: Bilal Hamamra, Fayez Mahamid, Asala Mayaleh, and Dana Bdier, “The Anxiety of Death and the Loss of Loved Ones During Genocide in Gaza,” *OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying*, 2025, [https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228251334277](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228251334277&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959956940&usg=AOvVaw2wectYO25rW8mHwUch8yVg). [^9]: Tom Pyszczynski, “The Role of Death in Life: Exploring the Interface Between Terror Management Theory and Evolutionary Psychology,” in *Evolutionary Perspectives on Death* (Springer, 2019), [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25466-7\_1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25466-7_1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959957286&usg=AOvVaw0iAvosF1gz-64E9LbBBChM). [^10]: Terror Management Theory (TMT) is a social and evolutionary psychology theory that posits that death anxiety arises from the conflict between self-preservation and awareness of mortality. See Pifer et. al, “Death Anxiety.” [^11]: Pyszczynski, “Role of Death in Life.” [^12]: Pyszczynski, “Role of Death in Life.” [^13]: Pyszczynski, “Role of Death in Life.” [^14]: Ernest Becker, *The Denial of Death* (The Free Press, 1973), 26. [^15]: Narcisa Ispas, “Existential Perspectives on the Fear of Death,” RAIS Conference Proceedings, April 17–18, 2025, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474925&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959958046&usg=AOvVaw2JohhYiJ0CIrzKQ6rjbLhR)[https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474925](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474925&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959958126&usg=AOvVaw3RzrMqfEnGb_1d6idtFkcM). [^16]: Irvin D. Yalom, *Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death* (Jossey-Bass, 2008), 5. [^17]: Gai Eaton, *King of the Castle: Choice and Responsibility in the Modern World* (The Bodley Head, 1977), 16, [https://archive.org/details/king-fo-the-castle\_202401/mode/1up?view=theater](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/king-fo-the-castle_202401/mode/1up?view%3Dtheater&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959958522&usg=AOvVaw1sd87velx44TfOCUmvzwPV). [^18]: Pifer et. al, “Death Anxiety.” [^19]: Philip A. Mellor and Chris Shilling, “Modernity, Self-Identity and the Sequestration of Death,” *Sociology* 27, no. 3 (1993): 411–31, [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0038038593027003005](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0038038593027003005&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959958907&usg=AOvVaw12ziFQO-k3egTTzjXCT1GU). [^20]: For example, “We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure.” Qur’an 2:155. [^21]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6502. [^22]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Ranks of the Divine Seekers* (Koninklijke Brill NV, 2020), 2:158–66. Also, God praises the believers who fear Him: “Indeed, those who live in awe for fear of their Lord, and those who believe in the signs of their Lord, and those who do not associate anything with their Lord, and those who give what they give while their hearts are fearful because they will be returning to their Lord—it is they who hasten in every good work, and they who are foremost in them.” Qur’an 23:57–61. [^23]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *The Disease and the Cure* (Hikmah Publications, 2020), 1–5. Also, “We send down the Qur’an as healing and mercy to those who believe” (Qur’an 17:82); and “The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment’” (*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5678). [^24]: Ahmed Pajević, Izet Pajević, and Mevludin Hasanović, “Islamic Approach to the Treatment of the Fear of Death,” *Psychiatria Danubina* 33, Suppl. 4 (April 2021): 882–88, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357846134\_Islamic\_Approach\_to\_the\_Treatment\_of\_the\_Fear\_of\_Death](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357846134_Islamic_Approach_to_the_Treatment_of_the_Fear_of_Death&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959960388&usg=AOvVaw1zvwqjJPcQUW10Ee0x01Yj). [^25]: Al-Ghazālī, *Revival of Religion’s Sciences, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2011), 4:631–47. Also, “Ever closer to people draws their reckoning, while they turn away, heedless.” Qur’an 21:1. [^26]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2307; grade: *ṣaḥīḥ* according to al-Nawawī, *al-Adhkār* (Dār al-Fikr, 1994), 132, [https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2012/09/13/dhikr-mawt/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2012/09/13/dhikr-mawt/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959960938&usg=AOvVaw0vKVmKbzLtrZ6tlCXMvkEt). See also *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4297; grade: *ṣaḥīḥ* according to al-Albānī, *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ṣaḥīḥa wa shayʾ min fiqhihā wa-fawāʾidihā* (Dār al-Maʿārif, n.d.), 2:647–48, [https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2021/05/25/nations-weak-ummah/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2021/05/25/nations-weak-ummah/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1783451959961328&usg=AOvVaw2lCa4Tg42ysvGoasQXxhrN). The Prophet ﷺ foretold that the love of this world and hatred for death will be a destructive spiritual weakness that will become prevalent when he ﷺ said: “Soon the nations will be summoned to you just like one is invited to a feast.” It was said, “Will we be few on that day?” The Prophet said, “No, rather you will be many on that day, but you will be scum like such flowing down a torrent. Allah will remove your esteem from the chests of your enemies, and Allah will insert feebleness or *wahn* in your own hearts.” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is this *wahn*?” The Prophet said, “Love for the worldly life and hatred of death.” See also Ibn al-Qayyim, *Disease and the Cure*, 113–15. [^27]: Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī, *The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife* (Dār as-Sunnah Publishers, 2018), 15–17, 45. Note: This text has been translated into a standalone book, taken from the original text, a chapter within the famous work, *Mukhtaṣar minhāj al-qāṣidīn*. [^28]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 1571; grade: *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) according to al-Suyutī, *al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaghīr* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2004), no. 6430, p. 400. Also, “Visit the graves, for they remind you of the Hereafter.” *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 1569; grade: *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) according to al-Albānī. [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 47. [^30]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 4259; grade: *ḥasan* (fair) according to al-Albānī. [^31]: Qur’an 33:10. [^32]: Yasir Qadhi, *The Sirah of the Prophet* ﷺ (The Islamic Foundation, 2023), 276. [^33]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4099. [^34]: *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, 33:9–10. [^35]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1788. [^36]: Qur’an 2:285. [^37]: Qadhi, *Sirah of the Prophet*, 275–87. See also *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, Sūraṭ al-Aḥzāb, 33:9–26. [^38]: *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, Sūraṭ al-Aḥzāb, 33:1–3, Ṭalq bin Ḥabīb said: “*Taqwā* means obeying Allah in the light of the guidance of Allah and in hope of earning the reward of Allah and refraining from disobeying Allah in the light of the guidance of Allah and fearing the punishment of Allah.” [^39]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4109. [^40]: Qur’an 33:22. [^41]: Qur’an 6:15. [^42]: “We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure.” Qur’an 2:155. [^43]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 20. [^44]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6507. [^45]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Ranks of the Divine Seekers*, 2:170. [^46]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Disease and the Cure*, 99–100. [^47]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Ranks of the Divine Seekers*, 2:170. [^48]: Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī, *Remembrance of Death*, 15–17. See also al-Ghazālī, *Revival of Religion’s Sciences*, 4:631–47. [^49]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6412. [^50]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6416. [^51]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6465. [^52]: “Take necessary provisions for the journey, surely the best provision is righteousness. And be mindful of Me, O people of reason.” Qur’an 2:197. [^53]: Qur’an 20:46. [^54]: Ḥasan al-Basrī, as quoted in: Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī, *Remembrance of Death*, 12. [^55]: T. J. Winter, trans., *Ihya Uloom ad-Din*: *Al‑Ghazālī on the Remembrance of Death & the Afterlife: Book XL of the Revival of the Religious Sciences*, 2nd ed. (Islamic Texts Society, 1995), 7–36. [^56]: One of the most comprehensive supplications taught to us is that of Abū Hurayra, reporting that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ used to supplicate: “O Allah, set right for me my religion, which is the safeguard of my affairs. And set right for me the affairs of my world wherein is my living. And set right for me my Hereafter on which depends my afterlife. And make life for me a source of abundance for every good and make my death a source of comfort for me, protecting me against every evil.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2720. [^57]: Qur’an 28:7. [^58]: “There will certainly be no fear for the close servants of Allah, nor will they grieve.” Qur’an 10:62. Note: This and many other verses like it provide divine reassurance to the believer. See also Qur’an 10:56–64. [^59]: ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, as quoted in Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī, *Remembrance of Death*, 40. [^60]: Qur’an 94:1. See also *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, 94:1. [^61]: The Prophet Musa prayed to God for *sharḥ al-ṣadr*: “Moses said, ‘Lord, lift up my heart, and ease my task for me.’” Qur’an 20:25–26. [^62]: Qur’an 39:22. [^63]: “God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: Each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad—‘Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so grant us victory against the disbelieving people.’” Qur’an 2:286. [^64]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7405. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks I am \[i.e., I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him\] and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than them; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.’” [^65]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2877c. ## Summary # The Fear of Death Through an Islamic Lens The fear of death is a near-universal human experience, yet the modern secular world has left many ill-equipped to face their own mortality. Absorbed in worldly comforts and distractions, and often distant from faith, people today confront death with a shallow understanding of its meaning—an anxiety further intensified by the constant broadcast of injustice and suffering set against a backdrop of heedless materialism. Contemporary secular culture tends to treat fear, especially fear rooted in moral accountability, as inherently negative, something to be medicated, pathologized, or dismissed as weakness. Yet within the Islamic tradition, fear is understood quite differently: not as a malfunction of the self, but as a compass that orients the believer toward meaning, clarity, and nearness to Allah. It is a natural instinct and emotion that Allah has placed within us as a means of testing, mentioned in over a hundred verses of the Qur'an in its various shades, and the Qur'an and Sunnah together provide a complete framework for diagnosing and healing the spiritual ailments that underlie it. Modern research has begun, only recently, to notice a correlation between a healthy attachment to God and lower levels of death anxiety, and a study of Muslims found that heightened spirituality accompanied by acts of worship and community service played a protective role in reducing this fear. A particularly striking illustration is the resilience of the people of Gaza. A study conducted on children there found significant symptoms of depression, continuous traumatic stress, and widespread death anxiety, yet the same study acknowledged their resilience, attributing it to family cohesion, faith, education, and steadfastness. Faith, foremost among these factors, sustains their hope and courage amid horrific circumstances. As one mother said, "I ask Allah to give us strength and to reunite us in Jannah," and another affirmed, "The Zionists can destroy our homes, but they cannot destroy our connection to Allah." Their example demonstrates that fear is neither sinful nor a sign of weak faith; rather, it can be a means to strengthen faith and elevate one's rank before Allah. Secular thought speaks with no single voice on death. Evolutionary science frames the fear of death as an adaptive survival instinct built into human biology, while Terror Management Theory, associated with Thomas Pyszczynski, holds that awareness of mortality drives humans to adopt worldviews and cultural affiliations that grant a sense of "symbolic immortality" and manage their terror. Yet this same drive, when worldviews conflict, can breed prejudice, domination, and violence against out-groups. Ernest Becker, author of *Denial of Death*, described man as "literally split in two"—aware of his uniqueness yet destined "blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever"—and argued that some form of practical denial becomes necessary to shield the self from this terror. Martin Heidegger held that awareness of death pushes one toward authentic living, and Irvin Yalom, a contributor to existential psychiatry, saw death anxiety as a potential catalyst for personal transformation within "the limits of its material and finite reality." Notably, even Yalom conceded that "death anxiety is the mother of all religions," which soften the pain of mortality. Yet by reducing belief in God and the afterlife to a mere human construct, the secular worldview—as Gai Eaton observed in his critique of the "twilight region" of those who are "neither believers nor unbelievers"—lacks the epistemic grounding and spiritual efficacy that faith provides. When people rely solely on limited human reasoning, their response to fear is stripped of ethical foresight and spiritual anchoring; death becomes a finality, control is mistaken for something owned rather than belonging to Allah alone, and guilt over avoided accountability compounds the dread. The Islamic tradition, by contrast, does not seek to eliminate fear but to rightly orient it. Allah's mercy is evident in His acknowledgment that even those closest to Him dislike death, offering His servants solace. In a divine tradition, the Messenger ﷺ related that Allah said of His beloved servant, "I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him." Classical scholars examined fear with great depth. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350), in *Ranks of the Divine Seekers*, treated fear as a distinguished station on the path to Allah, ranging from *khawf* to the trembling awe of *ijlal*, and summarized it in a paradox: the one who fears God "flees from his Lord to his Lord." In *The Disease and the Cure* he taught that every ailment has a God-given remedy, the Qur'an being the most complete healing. Ibn Sina (d. 1037)—whose broader metaphysical commitments, the author notes, were not universally accepted by scholars of the normative Islamic sciences—nevertheless offered a diagnosis resembling cognitive behavioral therapy, arguing that those who fear death often fear only the unfamiliar, curable through sacred knowledge affirming the soul's continuity. Al-Ghazali (d. 1111), in *Ihyaʾ ʿulum al-din*, identified heedlessness (*ghafla*) as a root cause, urging intentional remembrance of death, as the Prophet ﷺ commanded believers to "remember often the destroyer of pleasures." Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 1290), in *The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife*, warned against lengthy worldly hopes rooted in love of *dunya*. Across these insights runs a shared theme: fear is not the problem; misdirected fear is. The cure lies in replacing confusion with knowledge, avoidance with remembrance, despair with repentance, and worldly fixation with eternal orientation. The Prophet ﷺ said the wisest believers are "those who remember death the most and have best prepared for it." This lived reality is vividly captured in the Battle of the Trench (5 AH). The Qur'an describes the believers' state as the Confederates massed against them: "your eyes rolled with fear, and your hearts reached your throats." These were the best of generations, yet they were not reprimanded for feeling fear. The threat came from above, through the ten-thousand-strong alliance, and from below, through the betrayal of Banu Qurayza. Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman's account of being sent on reconnaissance on that stormy night shows how, after the Prophet ﷺ prayed for him, his fear dissipated—a sign of divine help accompanying trust and effort. The sincere believers held firm while the hypocrites deserted, and the Confederates ultimately retreated in defeat. The episode illustrates that one's inner orientation determines whether fear paralyzes or propels toward trust and obedience, all anchored in *taqwa*, the overarching fear of Allah's displeasure. Practically, then, fear is to be redirected. Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ to say, "I truly fear—if I were to disobey my Lord—the torment of a tremendous Day," teaching us to channel fear toward accountability before Allah rather than despair. In moments of anxiety one might pause and turn to a simple act of *dhikr*, choosing deeds within one's capacity and remaining consistent in them, for the Prophet ﷺ said of himself, "I am the most Allah-fearing." ʿAʾisha's question clarified that hatred of death is not hatred of meeting Allah, which is resolved at the moment of death by glad tidings of mercy. Fear must be balanced by hope, which Ibn al-Qayyim called an obligation resting on love, fear of loss, and striving—the two wings of the heart's bird. Ibn Qudama commended "short hopes," a conscious narrowing of expectation that generates urgency in good deeds, noting, "Whenever hopes are shortened, actions are perfected." The Prophet ﷺ warned of the two deceptive blessings, "health and free time," and advised living "as if you were a stranger or a traveler." Al-Ghazali described death as a journey requiring provisions: *taqwa* renewed through *tawba*, *zuhd* balanced with gratitude, purification of the heart, and *iman* aspiring to *ihsan*. As Allah reassured Musa and Harun, "Have no fear! I am with you," and as He inspired Musa's mother, "do not fear or grieve." Fear, when guided, becomes not a sign of failure but a mercy that expands the heart—*sharh al-sadr*—turning constriction into contentment. To the one who struggles, Allah does not demand perfection nor expect fear to vanish entirely; He asks only sincerity and effort, and the Prophet ﷺ counseled three days before his death, "None of you should die but hoping only good from Allah." --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/toward-an-islamic-ethics-and-fiqh-of-artificial-intelligence # Toward an Islamic Ethics and Fiqh of Artificial Intelligence **Authors:** Dr. Mohamed AbuTaleb, Kenan Alkiek, Sh. Suleiman Hani, Dr. Mohammed Ansari, Sh. Umer Khan **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Nature & Science, Politics & Practical Theology, Technology **Tags:** AI, Featured - Read, Islamic Ethics, Paper, Publication **Published:** June 12, 2026 **Updated:** September 1, 2026 ## Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved rapidly from the realm of futuristic speculation to an indispensable part of modern life. Embedded in everyday technologies, AI now fundamentally shapes how we communicate, work, and interact with the world. The scale, speed, and reach of AI’s integration into society mark it as a uniquely disruptive force that brings immense promise but also unprecedented ethical, social, and cultural challenges. Navigating this disruption requires moving beyond reductive binaries of uncritical technological optimism or fatalistic pessimism. The ethical challenges of AI are rarely simple; they frequently present a deeply complex matrix where benefits and harms are inextricably linked. To address this, we propose that the Islamic ethical lens is essential for evaluating AI use and development. Capable of providing a proactive, driving framework that informs innovation and technology, it offers values that help balance individual and communal considerations. This framework goes beyond downstream mitigation to proactively judge and shape form, substance, and approach.[^1] The paper begins by surveying the emergence and projected impact of AI, alongside its inevitable adoption across a myriad of contexts. By exploring specific applications and integrating relevant guidelines from Islamic scholars, we articulate how core ethical principles can be operationalized. After situating the importance of clear rulings and principles assigned to the technology domain, we present the jurisprudence of balancing (*fiqh al-muwazaat*), a sophisticated methodology that provides a structured approach to ethical dilemmas where utility and risk coexist. This paper is methodologically oriented, offering general principles that one should take into account in their ethical decision-making. Generating definitive rulings for every AI case is beyond the scope of this paper; many of the issues raised here remain open questions requiring interdisciplinary *ijtihad*. Ultimately, the framework presented here establishes the theoretical and practical necessity of an Islamic approach. It provides an approach for the ongoing work required to assess these technologies and the profound civilizational stakes of the algorithmic age. --- ## Why technology needs ethics Social media offers a clear precedent for the risks of uncritical technological adoption: Society and Islamic scholarship were slow to assess its ethical implications, allowing harms to become deeply embedded before meaningful safeguards emerged. What began as niche platforms rapidly expanded into a global infrastructure shaping communication, culture, and economics, driven largely by companies prioritizing growth, engagement, and profit over long-term societal well-being, while regulatory and ethical responses lagged behind. The Muslim *ummah*’s response was similarly delayed and reactive, with guidance emerging only after widespread adoption had already formed habits and constrained meaningful intervention; even then, Islamic ethical engagement largely focused on mitigating harms within an assumed inevitability rather than issuing foundational judgments about the technology’s purpose, means, and anticipated consequences. Today, generative AI presents a parallel but higher-stakes transformation, advancing more quickly and concentrating unprecedented power in a small number of profit-driven technology firms. Without proactive, principled evaluation of its underlying purposes, design, and consequences, there is a serious risk of repeating the same pattern, allowing structural harms to take root before they are fully understood, underscoring the urgent need for ethical frameworks to guide technological development from the outset rather than attempting to mitigate damage after the fact. AI is transforming communication, education, health care, finance, security, and culture at once. However, we know that it will not always be beneficial. The same systems that can expand access to knowledge, improve medical diagnosis, streamline services, and unlock new forms of creativity can also entrench bias, destabilize trust, displace livelihoods, and concentrate power. Human design choices, from the way an algorithm prioritizes information to features that encourage user engagement, reflect the values and assumptions of its creators. These choices may appear technical, but they carry ethical weight because they shape how people interact, what information they encounter, and which behaviors are rewarded or discouraged. Compounding this challenge, technology often spreads at a pace much faster than laws, cultural norms, or institutions can adjust. Regulation typically follows innovation rather than guiding it, which means that once a technology is entrenched, its harms are much harder to undo. In moments like this, societies often let profit and speed set the terms while communities absorb the costs. For this reason, ethical foresight is not optional but essential: Societies must grapple with potential consequences in advance, rather than waiting until negative impacts have already become embedded. One of the clearest examples of how technology is governed in ways that prioritize growth over responsibility is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996. Often described as “the twenty-six words that created the internet,”[^2] this single provision not only enabled the rapid expansion of online platforms but also institutionalized a model of governance in which legal immunity outpaces ethical accountability. By granting platforms immunity from liability for user-generated content, while allowing them to moderate in “good faith,” the law treats companies such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube as distributors rather than publishers, shielding them from responsibility for most of the content they host. By removing the threat of liability, Section 230 helped create the conditions under which platforms could maximize growth and user engagement while minimizing attention to potential harms. Once user-generated content became the lifeblood of the internet, algorithms were optimized to capture attention and drive profits, not to safeguard communities. This model has been described as “surveillance capitalism,” a new economic order in which human experience is treated as free raw material for hidden commercial practices of extraction, prediction, and sales.[^3] Its harms are not only societal but deeply personal, often disproportionately borne by vulnerable populations.[^4] For example, content moderation and AI model training are frequently outsourced to workers in developing countries, who must process trauma-inducing content under precarious conditions, often without adequate psychological support. In this way, technology companies generate immense private wealth while externalizing social and human costs—a pattern consistent with broader dynamics in modern capitalism, but amplified by the scale and reach of digital platforms.[^5] This legal framework can be clarified through an analogy: A publisher, such as a newspaper, is liable for the content it prints, while a distributor, such as a bookstore, is not responsible for the material it sells. By classifying platforms as distributors, Section 230 created a system in which companies can profit from harmful content without bearing corresponding responsibility. This reveals a fundamental limitation of secular legal frameworks: They determine liability but often remain silent on moral obligation. Legal immunity, in this sense, does not equate to ethical innocence. It is precisely this gap, between what is legally permissible and what is ethically justifiable, that invites alternative approaches to governance. Islamic ethics, with its emphasis on accountability, justice, and the moral consequences of action, offers a more comprehensive framework for addressing the responsibilities of technological power. --- ## An Islamic ethical governance approach For Muslims, Islamic ethics serves as a proactive, spiritually anchored framework that governs not only the application of a technology, but its very conception. This multitiered paradigm is not a novel construction; rather, it is a direct reflection of the divine mandate established in the Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah. The Qur’an explicitly commands a comprehensive moral framework that transcends bare minimum compliance, stating: “Indeed, Allah orders justice \[*ʿadl*\], good conduct \[*ihsan*\], and generosity to close relatives.”[^6] In the realm of technological innovation, *ʿadl* necessitates strict adherence to legal boundaries that prevent harm and uphold human rights, while *ihsan* demands that the innovator’s internal disposition and the technology’s ultimate trajectory actively seek the highest communal good. Furthermore, the Prophet ﷺ established that human agency and power constitute a profound trust in his statement, “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”[^7] When developers and executives design AI tools, they wield systems capable of shaping the cognitive and moral fabric of billions, thus assuming the role of shepherds over a vast digital expanse. Consequently, their standard of accountability cannot be limited to merely dodging secular legal liability; it must encompass the holistic fulfillment of this divine trust. Unlike many contemporary secular models, this Islamic paradigm operates at the very genesis of technological development.[^8] By judging a technology’s form, purpose, and design from its inception, Islamic jurisprudence provides a mechanism for critiquing systems that are fundamentally corrupt by design, recognizing that structural harms cannot be adequately resolved through superficial, downstream mitigation.[^9] Furthermore, this paradigm radically expands the calculus of benefit (*maslaha*) and harm (*mafsada*). It extends the scope of assessment beyond immediate worldly utility to encompass consequences in both this life and the hereafter. This dual-horizon accountability provides a robust defense against vectors of unregulated profit and exploitation that often evade human legal enforcement, anchoring the innovator’s restraint in the ultimate reality of divine oversight.[^10] At its foundation, justice (*ʿadl*) is operationalized through *ahkam*—clear legal rulings that establish nonnegotiable boundaries of permissibility (halal) and prohibition (haram). In a technological landscape driven by speed and competition, these serve as definitive guardrails, ensuring that core principles such as the preservation of intellect, dignity, and privacy are not sacrificed for innovation. These limits, or red lines, understood as the divinely ordained boundaries (*hudud* *Allah*), govern all human activity, including the development of AI.[^11] Yet the Sharia is not merely a restrictive code; it is a visionary system designed to promote human welfare and flourishing. To construct a functional Islamic ethics of artificial intelligence, we must trace a clear, teleological trajectory from universal divine intent down to practical engineering. This framework begins with the *maqasid ʿamma*—the overarching, constitutional objectives of the Sharia, such as the preservation of human intellect (*hifz al-ʿaql*) and human dignity.[^12] However, because these universal aims are too broad to directly regulate complex algorithms, scholars and technologists must collaboratively derive *maqasid khassa*: objectives specific to a single domain of activity—here, the digital realm.[^13] In the context of generative technology, a *maqsad khass* might, for example, mandate that AI systems function as transparent intellectual scaffolding rather than deceptive, autonomous replacements for human moral reasoning. These domain objectives are in turn specified as *maqasid juzʾiyya*: the concrete intents behind particular design rules, such as requiring a system to disclose its limitations or to route personal religious questions to a qualified human scholar. This entire hierarchy results in *maslaha*: Tangible public benefit is secured and harm is repelled when accessible, bias-mitigated tools are deployed to solve pressing societal challenges.[^14] This progression from universal principle, to domain objective, to the intent of a specific rule, and finally the benefit it secures, ensures that innovation remains anchored in the pursuit of human flourishing. Yet external structures alone are insufficient. Islamic governance also demands the cultivation of *adab*—the spiritual etiquette, ethical character, and professional virtues required of those who design and deploy technology.[^15] Without this moral foundation, even the most robust legal and institutional safeguards will fail. Engineers and executives must recognize their work as a form of stewardship (*khilafa*), in which technical decisions carry spiritual and societal consequences. Anchored by *tarbiya* (moral discipline), this internal ethic bridges the gap between abstract code and real-world impact, ensuring that responsibility is imposed from within. To enforce meaningful ethical guardrails in AI, mechanisms of liability must also accompany moral principles. The Islamic tradition offers a clear precedent in its treatment of medical ethics (*adab al-tabib*), where practitioners were entrusted with human well-being and held liable for foreseeable harm.[^16] Developers of generative AI occupy a comparable role today, yet the current landscape—shaped by competitive pressures and exemplified by private AI start-up Anthropic’s retreat from unilateral safety constraints[^17]—disincentivizes restraint. Islamic jurisprudence addresses this through a dual standard of accountability: responsibility before God and enforceable liability in this life (*qadaʾ*). Rooted in Prophetic guidance, this framework obliges practitioners to anticipate risks, implement safeguards, and provide restitution when harm occurs. Applied to AI, it challenges liability-shielded models by demanding accountability for foreseeable harms and embedding ethical responsibility into both intention and action, ensuring that innovation is tempered by the protection of human well-being. Further details on the Islamic standards of liability in AI applications are explored in a later section and by reference. To help contextualize the coming frameworks, we also provide an accessible technical primer geared on demystifying generative AI in the appendix. We now move to outline the framework of *f**iqh al-muwazanat* (jurisprudence of balancing) and its proposed application to AI ethics. This framework is anchored in concrete legal rulings (*ahkam*) such that where an action is clearly prohibited (haram), tools such as *muwazanat* do not apply. It is also not intended to be applied independently: Nonspecialists should not derive conclusions from it in isolation, nor should specialists employ it without broader scholarly context. --- ## The framework of fiqh al-muwazanat for AI ethics Concerns such as authority, responsibility, and identity show that the ethical challenges of AI are rarely simple. Benefits and harms are often inseparable and unevenly distributed. Addressing them piecemeal risks overlooking the trade-offs that shape real outcomes. Islamic law already offers a principled method for such situations: *fiqh al-muwazanat*, a methodological framework within Islamic jurisprudence for weighing competing considerations and evaluating consequences when multiple interests are at stake.[^18] *Fiqh al-muwazanat* represents a systematic approach to resolving tensions between competing interests (*masalih*) and harms (*mafasid*) that is particularly valuable when addressing novel technological challenges not addressed in classical texts.[^19] As articulated by Ibn al-Qayyim, “the foundation of the Sharia is wisdom and the safeguarding of people’s interests in this world and the next. It is justice, mercy, benefit, and wisdom in its entirety.”[^20] This framework becomes essential when evaluating AI applications where benefits and harms coexist within the same technological capability. ### Typologies of balancing (muwazana) in AI ethics The *fiqh al-muwazanat* framework recognizes three distinct types of balancing that scholars must navigate when evaluating AI applications. Understanding these typologies is essential because AI technologies rarely present simple choices between clear good and clear harm. Instead, they typically involve complex scenarios where multiple benefits compete for priority, unavoidable harms must be minimized, or, most commonly, benefits and harms are inextricably intertwined within the same technology. #### 1\. Balancing benefits (muwazanat al-masalih) This type of balancing occurs when multiple beneficial AI applications compete for limited resources, attention, or implementation priority. For instance, a Muslim educational institution might need to choose between investing in AI-powered personalized learning systems that could dramatically improve student outcomes, or AI-enhanced Arabic language preservation tools that could help maintain Islamic cultural heritage. Both serve legitimate Islamic objectives, education (*taʿlim*) and preservation of religious knowledge (*hifz al-din*), but limited budgets may prevent pursuing both simultaneously. The Islamic legal tradition provides clear principles for such situations. The obligatory (*wajib*) takes precedence over the recommended (*mandub*), communal obligations (*fard kifaya*) generally outweigh individual ones (*fard ʿayn*) when resources are limited, and benefits affecting larger populations take priority over those benefiting fewer people.[^21] When applying these principles to AI, scholars must consider factors such as: Which technology serves more fundamental objectives (*maqasid*)? Which addresses more urgent community needs? Which has greater potential for long-term positive impact? #### 2\. Balancing harms (muwazanat al-mafasid) Sometimes circumstances force a choice between two harmful outcomes, where avoiding both is impossible. In such cases, Islamic law requires choosing the lesser evil to minimize overall harm. The Prophet ﷺ exemplified this principle when he advised against rebuilding the Kaaba on its original foundations, despite this being religiously preferable, because it might harm the faith of newly converted Muslims.[^22] In the AI context, consider facial recognition technology. Law enforcement agencies argue it helps locate missing children and prevent terrorism, clear benefits for preserving life (*hifz al-nafs*). However, the same technology enables mass surveillance that is used to persecute Muslim minorities, as documented in China’s treatment of Uyghurs.[^23] If a Muslim-majority country must choose between completely banning such technology (potentially hampering legitimate security needs) or allowing it with the risk of abuse, scholars must determine which option minimizes overall harm to both individual privacy and collective security. #### 3\. Balancing benefits and harms (muwazanat al-masalih wa-l-mafasid) This most complex type of balancing addresses situations where the same AI application simultaneously produces benefits and harms that cannot be separated. The Qur’anic treatment of alcohol and gambling provides the classical model: “They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, ‘In them there is great sin and \[some\] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.’”[^24] This verse establishes that Islamic law can weigh qualitatively different considerations, benefits versus harms, and reach definitive conclusions. Most AI applications fall into this category. Social media algorithms, for instance, help Muslims connect with scholars globally, access Islamic knowledge, and build community networks—significant benefits for religious practice. Simultaneously, these same algorithms can promote addiction, spread misinformation about Islam, and expose users to harmful content. The benefits and harms are produced by the same underlying technology and cannot be easily separated. ### Essential conditions for applied muwazanat analysis For scholars and institutions to effectively apply *fiqh al-muwazanat* to AI ethics, five fundamental conditions must be satisfied. Each of these conditions carries established pedigree in classical *usul al-fiqh*. Their consolidation into the five conditions of *muwazanat*, however, is a contemporary systematization rather than a fixed classical taxonomy. Together, they represent the essential foundations upon which the discipline is built. Neglecting them renders effective engagement in interest-balancing extraordinarily difficult,[^25] and understanding each condition is crucial for those seeking to apply this framework to contemporary technological challenges. #### 1\. Evaluating the objectives of Islamic law (maqasid al-shariʿa) and legal maxims The *maqasid al-shariʿa* refers to the higher objectives and purposes that Islamic law seeks to achieve for humanity. Classical scholars identified five essential objectives that the Sharia aims to preserve: religion (*din*), life (*nafs*), intellect (*ʿaql*), lineage (*nasl*), and property (*mal*).[^26] These are not merely abstract concepts but represent fundamental human interests that must be protected for both individual and societal well-being. Understanding these objectives provides the necessary evaluative framework for assessing AI applications. For instance, when evaluating an AI medical diagnostic system, we consider how it serves the preservation of life (*hifz al-nafs*). When assessing AI-generated educational content, we examine its impact on preserving and developing human intellect (*hifz al-ʿaql*). This hierarchical framework helps scholars determine which benefits to prioritize and which harms to prevent. Additionally, scholars must master key legal maxims (*qawaʿid fiqhiyya*) that guide decision-making. The principle that “preventing harm takes precedence over securing benefits” (*darʾ al-mafasid muqaddam ʿala jalb al-masalih*) proves particularly relevant for AI ethics. This means that if an AI application offers benefits but also poses significant risks of harm, Islamic law prioritizes preventing the harm even if it means forgoing the benefits. For example, if an AI system could improve educational outcomes but also risks exposing children to harmful content, the priority would be preventing the harm. #### 2\. Verifying the effective cause (tahqiq al-manat) This involves verifying whether contemporary AI phenomena genuinely fall under classical legal categories. As Ibn Taymiyya emphasized, this process is “the essence of *ijtihad*,” requiring careful analysis of whether AI systems constitute mere tools (*alat*) or possess characteristics requiring novel jurisprudential treatment.[^27] The process also involves examining the essential characteristics (*manat*) that determine how Islamic law treats something. For AI systems, relevant characteristics might include the degree of autonomy in decision-making, the predictability of outputs, the presence of learning capabilities that change behavior over time, and the potential for outputs that the programmer neither intended nor could foresee. This careful analysis prevents the misapplication of classical rulings to fundamentally new phenomena. #### 3\. Considering context and reality (fiqh al-waqiʿ) *Fiqh al-waqiʿ* literally means “jurisprudence of reality” and refers to the necessity of understanding the actual circumstances, capabilities, and impacts of what we’re evaluating. Ibn al-Qayyim warned that “whoever does not understand the reality \[*al-waqiʿ*\] of creation and the obligation \[*al-wajib*\] in religion will not understand God’s rulings concerning His servants.”[^28] In the context of AI, this means scholars cannot issue meaningful guidance without understanding how AI actually works, its current capabilities and limitations, and its real-world impacts on individuals and society. This condition requires engagement with empirical research and technical knowledge. For example, understanding that large language models like ChatGPT generate responses through statistical pattern matching rather than true comprehension is crucial for evaluating their use in religious contexts. Similarly, awareness of documented biases in AI training data directly impacts assessments of fairness and justice in AI applications. *Fiqh al-waqiʿ* also demands understanding the social and economic contexts in which AI operates. How does AI adoption affect employment in Muslim communities? What are the psychological impacts of AI companions on human relationships? These contextual factors significantly influence the Islamic legal assessment of AI technologies. Ultimately, this necessitates ongoing engagement with current AI research and empirical studies on its effects. #### 4\. Considering consequences (iʿtibar al-maʾalat) *Iʿtibar al-maʾalat* means carefully considering the probable outcomes and long-term consequences of actions or rulings. Al-Shatibi established that “considering the consequences of actions is an established and intended principle in the Sharia.”[^29] This principle recognizes that an action’s permissibility in Islamic law often depends not just on the action itself but also on what it leads to. In AI ethics, this means looking beyond immediate benefits or harms to consider long-term impacts. For instance, while AI tutoring systems might provide immediate educational benefits, scholars must also consider potential long-term consequences: Will widespread adoption reduce human teacher employment? Could it diminish the mentor-student relationship that transmits not just knowledge but wisdom and character? Might children become overly dependent on AI, weakening their independent thinking abilities? This forward-looking analysis includes the principle of *sadd al-dharaʾiʿ* (blocking the means to harm). If allowing certain AI applications could open pathways to greater harms, even if those harms are not immediate or certain, Islamic law may restrict them preventively. For example, even if current AI cannot independently issue religious rulings, allowing AI-generated religious content might normalize receiving spiritual guidance from machines, potentially leading to greater harm in the future. #### 5\. Establishing the jurisprudence of priorities (fiqh al-awlawiyyat) *Fiqh al-awlawiyyat* is the discipline of determining what takes precedence when multiple obligations, benefits, or harms compete for attention or resources. Determining which AI applications deserve immediate attention versus those that can be deferred requires systematic prioritization based on scope of impact, urgency, and alignment with fundamental Islamic objectives.[^30] In the AI context, prioritization means determining which AI applications deserve immediate attention versus those that can be deferred. Should Muslim communities prioritize addressing AI in health care, education, finance, or surveillance? When resources are limited, which AI-related harms should be addressed first? This prioritization must be based on several factors: - Scope of impact: Issues affecting entire communities take precedence over those affecting individuals. - Severity of consequences: Life-threatening applications require more urgent attention than convenience features. - Certainty vs. probability: Definite harms take precedence over speculative benefits. - Availability of alternatives: If non-AI alternatives exist, the urgency of AI adoption decreases. Understanding these priorities prevents the misallocation of community resources and scholarly attention, ensuring that the most critical issues receive appropriate focus. An effective way for seminaries and research institutions to operationalize these five conditions would be to produce a living docket of AI issues, prioritized by *maqasid* and *awlawiyyat*, with periodic public updates. --- ## Case study: AI and the question of fatwas The value of *fiqh al-muwazanat* lies in application. Principles remain abstract until tested against real dilemmas where benefits and harms collide. Case studies allow us to see how Islamic jurisprudence engages AI not with ad hoc answers but through a disciplined framework. With the typologies and conditions clearly established, we can now rigorously apply the jurisprudence of balancing to one of the most urgent contemporary dilemmas: the use of AI in issuing Islamic legal rulings (*iftaʾ*). This topic touches the very core of Islamic religious authority, accessibility, and trust, and raises fundamental questions about the nature of guidance in the digital age. While AI can assist by compiling prior rulings or identifying relevant texts, the possibility of automated or semiautomated fatwas introduces risks of decontextualization, misapplication, and erosion of scholarly discretion. Questions of intent (*niyya*), qualifications, and authority, central to *iftaʾ*, do not translate easily into computational logic. To rigorously assess these competing benefits and harms, we now analyze the core typologies and conditions of *fiqh al-muwazanat*, examining each in turn. ### Identifying the benefits (masalih) Recent advances in AI technology, particularly large language models, have created systems capable of processing vast amounts of text and generating human-like responses. Proponents of AI in Islamic legal consultation point to several potential benefits: #### 1\. Unprecedented accessibility and dynamic personalization The global Muslim population of approximately 1.9 billion faces a significant shortage of qualified Islamic scholars. This shortage is particularly acute in Muslim-minority regions, where access to qualified religious guidance may be extremely limited; for many in these demographics, the practical alternative to AI-generated guidance is not a local scholar, but a complete absence of guidance. In this context, generative AI offers more than just the sheer reach of traditional online fatwa banks. It introduces the capability for dynamic personalization. Unlike static books or prerecorded databases that require users to find an exact match for their query, AI systems can synthesize highly tailored responses that take into account a questioner’s specific variables, such as their designated *madhhab* (school of thought), geographic circumstances, and baseline level of Islamic knowledge. By dynamically adjusting the complexity and contextual framing of its outputs, AI can simulate the individualized attention typically reserved for one-on-one scholarly consultations, offering an interactive and highly responsive educational experience. #### 2\. Enhanced research capabilities Modern Islamic legal research requires consulting numerous classical texts, contemporary fatwas, and scholarly commentaries. AI systems can rapidly search through vast databases of Islamic legal literature, potentially identifying relevant precedents that human researchers might miss. While studies specific to Islamic legal AI are still emerging, research on general legal AI systems provides relevant insights. While early studies on legal AI noted significant limitations in accuracy,[^31] current evaluations demonstrate that retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, which combine advanced language models with specialized databases, have fundamentally altered the research landscape. By anchoring outputs strictly to verified corpora, these architectures heavily mitigate the risk of fabricated references and show immense promise in legal research contexts, though they still require scholarly oversight.[^32] #### 3\. Consistency in established matters For issues where scholarly consensus (*ijmaʿ*) exists, AI could provide consistent responses that align with well-established rulings. This might reduce confusion arising from contradictory opinions on settled matters, particularly for Muslims without the scholarly background to distinguish between mainstream and eccentric positions. ### Identifying the harms (mafasid) The potential harms of AI-generated fatwas require extremely careful consideration, as they strike at fundamental aspects of Islamic religious practice: #### 1\. Fundamental misunderstanding of legal context Islamic legal reasoning (*ijtihad*) requires what al-Shatibi termed “*tahqiq al-manat*”—the careful verification of how general principles apply to specific circumstances.[^33] This process demands not just textual knowledge but deep understanding of social contexts, individual circumstances, and the interplay between various legal considerations. Early 2024 evaluations of legal AI tools demonstrated raw hallucination rates between 17 and 34 percent.[^34] While frontier models (such as Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3.1 Pro) have since made qualitative leaps in factual reliability, recent benchmarks highlight a persistent brittleness regarding deep contextual interpretation. While modern systems rarely fabricate citations, they still frequently misunderstand case contexts, cite irrelevant precedents, and fail to recognize when underlying principles render a historical precedent inapplicable to a contemporary reality. This lack of holistic comprehension warrants significant caution, as the errors produced are no longer obvious fabrications, but rather highly plausible misapplications of the law.[^35] #### 2\. Absence of spiritual insight and wisdom The role of a mufti extends far beyond mechanical application of legal rules. Ibn al-Qayyim emphasized that issuing fatwas requires understanding “the questioner’s state, his needs, and what leads to his welfare.”[^36] This involves spiritual insight (*basira*), wisdom (*hikma*), and the ability to perceive underlying motivations and circumstances that may not be explicitly stated. Current AI systems, despite their sophisticated pattern-matching capabilities, lack consciousness, spiritual understanding, and genuine comprehension. They cannot perceive the spiritual state of a questioner, assess their sincerity, or determine whether a stricter or more lenient approach would better serve their religious development. #### 3\. Systematic biases in Islamic understanding Early research into general-purpose large language models revealed stark, overt prejudices. For example, a 2021 Stanford study found that GPT-3 exhibited “severe bias” against Muslims, with violent associations appearing in two-thirds of responses when prompted with Muslim-related content.[^37] Another analysis demonstrated that ChatGPT’s responses on Islamic historical questions varied dramatically based on how questions were framed, producing contradictory narratives that reflected the biases in its training data rather than balanced scholarly perspectives.[^38] Modern, purpose-built Islamic AI can moderate this concern using curated, scholar-approved databases. While this heavily mitigates the overt stereotypes, the structural risk profile of AI does not disappear as a result. Underlying foundational models are trained predominantly on high-resource languages (primarily English) and Western-centric datasets, which often embed deeply secular reasoning pathways. This shifts the risk from overt hostility to subtle ideological drift, where Islamic jurisprudence is subtly reframed to align with liberal, secular paradigms embedded in a particular AI’s architecture. #### 4\. Erosion of scholarly authority and methodology The Islamic scholarly tradition maintains quality through mechanisms of peer review, scholarly credentials (*ijaza*), and the requirement for extensive study under qualified teachers. AI-generated fatwas bypass these crucial safeguards. The democratization of fatwa generation could lead to a situation where anyone can prompt an AI for religious rulings, potentially receiving responses that appear authoritative but lack proper scholarly grounding. ### Essential conditions #### Condition 1: Evaluating objectives of Islamic law (maqasid al-shariʿa) and legal maxims The preservation of religion (*hifz al-din*) stands as the paramount objective of Islamic law. Accurate religious guidance serves this objective directly, while religious misguidance threatens it at the most fundamental level. When we examine AI-generated fatwas through this lens, we must ask: Does this technology primarily serve to preserve and strengthen proper religious understanding, or does it risk corrupting it? Is it generating new information (*ifta*ʾ) or merely referencing existing information? The accessibility benefits of AI, while significant, primarily serve to make religious information more accessible (*tahsiniyyat*), an improvement rather than a necessity (*daruriyyat*). While delayed access to a fatwa may cause practical inconvenience, it rarely poses an existential threat to a community’s faith; in contrast, the dissemination of erroneous religious guidance actively undermines the foundation of the religion. This hierarchical analysis suggests that protecting the integrity of religious guidance takes clear precedence over improving its accessibility. #### Condition 2: Verifying the effective cause (tahqiq al-manat) Applying *tahqiq al-manat* requires determining whether AI-generated religious content falls under the category of *iftaʾ* (issuing legal rulings) or merely *naql* (transmitting established rulings). This distinction is crucial because Islamic law treats these categories very differently. Classical jurisprudence clearly distinguishes between creative legal reasoning (*ijtihad*), which requires qualified human judgment, and the mere transmission of established rulings, which even a child can perform by reading from a book. AI systems, lacking genuine comprehension, consciousness, and spiritual insight, cannot engage in actual *ijtihad*. At best, they might serve as sophisticated tools for *naql*, but even this limited role requires careful constraints to prevent the appearance of independent legal reasoning. #### Condition 3: Considering the current reality (fiqh al-waqiʿ) Evaluating the current reality (*fiqh al-waqiʿ*) requires acknowledging the rapid evolution of AI capabilities in religious and legal contexts. While early systems suffered from high hallucination rates, contemporary foundational models have achieved exceptional baseline accuracies on complex reasoning tasks. However, this high performance introduces a new challenge: The technology’s rapid deployment has outpaced quality control mechanisms. Unlike traditional Islamic scholarship, which develops through years of careful study and peer review, AI systems can be updated overnight, potentially introducing new biases or errors without users’ knowledge. The “black box” nature of large language models means that even their creators cannot fully explain why they generate specific responses. Built from billions of parameters that interact in highly complex ways across many layers, AI responses are the result of statistical patterns, not a step-by-step, human-readable chain of reasoning. We see what goes in and what comes out, but we cannot clearly trace or explain the exact internal reasoning that produced that answer. #### Condition 4: Considering consequences (iʿtibar al-maʾalat) The probable and long-term implications of normalizing AI-generated religious guidance extend far beyond immediate concerns about accuracy. Consider the potential trajectories: 1. Erosion of human spiritual guidance: As people become accustomed to receiving instant religious answers from AI, the tradition of seeking guidance from living scholars, with all the spiritual benefits such relationships provide, may gradually disappear. Earlier, less capable information technologies have disrupted traditional Islamic authority and the scholar-seeker relationship, from the advent of the printing press to the rise of the internet, social media, and fatwa banks.[^39] 2. Theological drift: AI systems trained on internet data inevitably absorb and reproduce contemporary biases. Over time, this could lead to a gradual shift in religious understanding, moving away from scholarly interpretations grounded in tradition toward whatever perspectives dominate online discourse. While most AI usage today is prone to this consequence, a purpose-built AI with carefully constructed anchoring can mitigate this concern. 3. Loss of contextual jurisprudence: Islamic law’s strength lies partly in its ability to provide context-specific guidance. AI systems, operating through pattern matching rather than true understanding, may push Islamic legal thought toward rigid, decontextualized applications. Following the principle of *sadd al-dharaʾiʿ* (blocking paths to harm), even if current AI systems could be constrained to avoid major errors, permitting their use for religious guidance opens pathways to these greater future harms. #### Condition 5: Establishing the jurisprudence of priorities (fiqh al-awlawiyyat) Given the fundamental importance of preserving authentic religious guidance, and recognizing that alternative solutions exist (such as using AI to assist human scholars rather than replace them), the priority calculation becomes clear. The potential harm to religious integrity far outweighs the convenience benefits of AI-generated fatwas. ### Recommended guidelines for issuing Islamic legal rulings (iftaʾ) based on muwazanat analysis Based on this comprehensive analysis, the following guidelines emerge: #### 1\. Prohibition on autonomous fatwa generation While AI may be utilized to retrieve and transmit basic, settled knowledge (*naql*), it must not be used to independently issue fatwas, synthesize novel legal reasoning (*ijtihad*), or apply general rules to specific personal circumstances. In these domains of active legal judgment, the harms to religious authority, accuracy, and spiritual guidance decisively outweigh any benefits of increased accessibility. #### 2\. Permitted use as research assistance AI may serve as a research tool for qualified scholars, helping to search through texts, compile relevant precedents, and organize information. However, all analysis, reasoning, and conclusions must come from human scholars. #### 3\. Educational applications with clear limitations AI can assist in teaching established rulings and basic Islamic principles, provided clear, prominent disclaimers indicate that this is educational material, not religious guidance. Educational material involves the transmission (*naql* and *taʿlim*) of established, general knowledge, whereas religious guidance (*iftaʾ*) involves the application of rulings to specific, personal circumstances. Furthermore, the system used should explicitly direct users to consult qualified scholars for personal religious questions. Additionally, the content must be regularly reviewed by qualified scholars for accuracy. #### 4\. Institutional oversight requirements Muslim organizations implementing any AI tools in religious contexts should establish committees of qualified scholars and technical experts to: (1) evaluate tools before implementation, (2) monitor ongoing performance and identify biases, (3) ensure compliance with Islamic legal principles, and (4) review and approve any updates or modifications. #### 5\. Transparency and accountability Any AI system used in Islamic educational contexts must maintain transparency about: (1) its limitations and lack of spiritual understanding, (2) the sources of its training data, (3) the process for reporting and correcting errors, and (4) the human scholars responsible for oversight. This analysis demonstrates how the systematic application of *fiqh al-muwazanat* provides clear, principled guidance for addressing novel technological challenges while maintaining fidelity to Islamic legal methodology and objectives. --- ## Additional problems in need of Islamic research and ijtihad With the imminent growth of AI, a focused research agenda that addresses urgent ethical and theological questions across social, economic, and religious spheres is needed. These questions are inherently interdisciplinary, requiring Islamic scholars to engage alongside experts in fields such as computer science, law, and philosophy. Here, we introduce an inexhaustive set of pressing areas that stand out as needing deeper research and sustained engagement. Other questions will continue to emerge as AI develops, yet even this small set illustrates how urgently Islamic scholarship must grapple with the challenges ahead. We provide brief primers on the core issues and anchoring principles around these questions, and call upon multidisciplinary teams to undertake deeper scholarly treatments of them. ### AI, epistemology, and the pursuit of truth One of the most pressing concerns regarding AI lies in the domain of authority and knowledge. This area sits at the very center of the preservation of religion (*hifz al-din*) and the epistemic trust upon which Muslim communities rely. AI systems that generate answers to religious questions, draft sermons, or summarize rulings blur the line between basic research assistance and Islamic legal pronouncement (*iftaʾ*). Their outputs often carry an aura of absolute certainty and neutrality, even though they are merely statistical predictions shaped by their training data. Critics of this view often argue that human scholars are similarly “programmed” by their teachers and cultural context. In its strongest form, this objection rests on a reductive materialism that the Islamic tradition does not concede; a human scholar’s judgment is anchored in moral agency, spiritual insight, and accountability before Allah, not merely in the weights of prior exposure. Yet the distinction does not depend solely on that metaphysical dispute. Even granting the analogy at the level of training, the scholar and the model differ functionally in ways decisive for *iftaʾ*: The scholar forms an intention (*niyyah*), can articulate and be held to the chain of reasoning by which a ruling was reached, and bears personal liability for it before both God and the community. In contrast, the model yields outputs through opaque statistical processes for which no accountable author can supply, or answer for, the underlying reasoning. What the category of *ijtihad* presupposes, then, is this accountable authorship—not a theory of what cognition is made of. The reliance on statistical predictions creates serious risks in the context of *iftaʾ*: the generation of decontextualized rulings, the misapplication of sacred texts, and the circulation of material that appears deeply authoritative but lacks any genuine scholarly grounding. A human scholar can be held accountable to explain the precise jurisprudential methodology that led to a ruling, whereas the underlying reasoning of a neural network is largely opaque. While the ability of these tools to instantly sift through vast textual corpora makes them undeniably attractive, we must ask: How can the integrity of scholarly authority be protected in an environment where machine-generated content is so ubiquitous? To answer this, we must first recognize how Islam understands truth. In the Islamic worldview, truth is not merely a property of sentences; it is an undeniable reality grounded in the Divine. Al-Haqq (the Truth) is one of the names of God, and the Qur’an repeatedly states that the heavens and the earth were created *bi-l-haqq* (in truth).[^40] Because reality itself is anchored in the Divine, our pursuit of knowledge is a sacred and moral duty, not just an intellectual exercise. Large language models (LLMs), however, do not operate within this moral universe. They are not truth-tracking agents; they are extraordinarily powerful next-word predictors. Their underlying architecture is designed to optimize for plausibility, not truth. They do not “know” what they are saying. Consequently, AI systems are infamous for “hallucinations”: confidently inventing quotes, fabricating historical events, or even generating fake Qur’anic verses and hadith. Because AI routinely produces both accurate summaries and complete fabrications with the exact same tone of unwavering confidence, it preys upon so-called “automation bias.” Studies on generative AI show that its sheer fluency frequently overrides our critical faculties, making users deeply reticent to actually fact-check its claims.[^41] AI-generated content in the public sphere cannot be granted the presumption of plausibility. Instead, it must be evaluated at the most basic epistemic baseline: between truth (*sidq*) and falsehood (*kadhib*). The Qur’anic demand for evidence is explicit: “Say, ‘Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.’”[^42] This Prophetic principle dictates that the burden of proof lies upon the claimant. It is not the responsibility of the Muslim audience to assume a machine’s output is true; it is the burden of the person utilizing the output to verify it. Navigating this reality does not require us to invent a new ethical framework; rather, it requires the revival of a classical Islamic epistemic ethic: *naqd* (rigorous critical evaluation). Historically, when the early Muslim community faced a proliferation of fabricated reports and malicious liars (*kadhdhabin*)—particularly in diverse, intellectually active centers like Kufa—scholars did not respond with a framework of “calibrated trust,” a posture that assumes a baseline of reliability that is merely adjusted when errors occur. They responded with disciplined suspicion: an epistemological baseline of doubt where the burden of proof rests entirely upon the transmitter. They developed the rigorous sciences of hadith criticism and biographical evaluation (*ʿilm al-rijal*) because the preservation of the religion demanded skepticism of unverified claims.[^43] The rigorous development of the science of narrators (*ʿilm al-rijal*) served as an independent epistemological infrastructure to protect the early Muslim community from intellectual dependency and the fabrication of knowledge. Relying entirely on foundational AI models trained on overwhelmingly Western datasets with embedded biases is akin to accepting a narrative without verifying its chain of transmission. This culture of disciplined suspicion is exactly what is required today in an environment saturated with AI-generated content. For Muslim scholars and the general public alike, the correct posture toward AI is neither naïve adoption nor categorical rejection, but rigorous verification (*tabayyun*).[^44] By treating AI not as an authority, but as a sophisticated yet profoundly fallible tool, we can utilize its efficiencies while guarding our minds and our faith with the same vigilance championed by the scholars of our past. Discerning *al-haqq* entails calibrated skepticism in AI outputs, disciplined reason, and the policing of error through verification. Recent work in Islamic AI ethics argues for precisely this pluralist benchmarking: preserving metaphysical commitments about *al-haqq* while operationalizing legal-ethical tools (e.g., *qiyas*, *istislah*, *sadd al-dharaʾiʿ*) to decide when probabilistic assistance serves or subverts the just ends of Sharia.[^45] Such a framework honors the Islamic ontology of truth while acknowledging the distinctive, distribution-fit epistemics of AI. ### Liability and ownership Islamic teachings consistently emphasize that every individual will be held accountable before Allah for their actions. The Qur’an declares, “Every soul is held in pledge for what it has earned,”[^46] and the Prophet ﷺ said, “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock.”[^47] In an age of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, these ethical and legal responsibilities take on renewed urgency. Muslim scholars and technologists alike are compelled to ask: What is my responsibility before Allah in using or developing AI? And how can the foundational sources of Islam help assess the outcomes of actions mediated by AI systems? One established framework for engaging these questions is found in the Islamic laws of liability (*d**aman*), which distinguish between spiritual accountability before Allah and legal liability for material harm. Classical jurists outlined various scenarios in which a person may be (1) legally liable but not sinful, (2) sinful but not legally liable, or (3) both liable and sinful.[^48] To apply these frameworks to artificial intelligence, we must first establish the exact nature of the technology. Because AI systems lack sentience, will, and moral agency, they are fundamentally nothing more than programmable artifacts and sophisticated tools. Consequently, an AI model itself can never be classified as a direct causer of harm or an indirect initiator in Islamic law, as both categories pertain exclusively to morally accountable human agents (*mukallaf*). Instead, the classical Islamic legal tradition offers three main principles for assessing the liability of the human actors involved: 1. Direct causer (*mubashir*): Held legally responsible for harm caused directly by their actions, even if the act itself was not explicitly prohibited (haram). 2. Indirect initiator (*mutasabbib*): Liable if their action was impermissible, provided the connection to the harm is firmly established. 3. Combined actions: In cases involving both direct and indirect actors, liability typically rests with the direct actor unless the harm cannot rationally be traced to them. When applied to AI systems, these principles are clear: They dictate that liability must be directed at the humans who design, deploy, and interact with the technology. While generative AI models exhibit designed unpredictability, treating this trait as comparable to the instinctual agency of a living creature obscures the core moral issue. For example, the liability here is not analogous to that of a parent of a minor child who accidentally breaks an item at a store, or a trained dog that causes inadvertent harm. This is because the behavior of AI systems can be explicitly constrained through human design choices, such as implementing guardrails, certainty thresholds, verification layers, and human-in-the-loop approvals. Harms generally arise when developers or corporations choose to deploy immature or opaque systems into live, high-risk environments, often driven by market speed or profit, rather than from an inherent inability to constrain the system. From an Islamic perspective, knowingly exposing people to foreseeable harm through such negligence is ethically unacceptable. Therefore, the burden of liability (*daman*) firmly remains on the human programmer, deployer, or user depending on the vector of caused harm. Islamic legal theory provides a rigorous framework for navigating these issues, ensuring that accountability is always traced back to human choices, foreseeability, negligence, and intent. ### Intellectual and creative attribution Classical Islamic ethics already provides robust frameworks for addressing misattribution,[^49] deception,[^50] and the unauthorized exploitation of another’s labor.[^51] In these domains, AI does not necessarily introduce novel moral dilemmas; instead, it drastically lowers the barrier to entry, obscures the mechanics of theft, and exponentially amplifies the scale of such potential ethical violations. Moreover, responsibility and accountability for claims can be obfuscated due to novel error vectors in generative AI when performing background research and verification. In Islamic ethics, authorship is tied not only to producing words or images but to the intent, *ijtihad* (effort), and trustworthiness of the one who creates content. Passing off a khutbah drafted by ChatGPT as one’s own scholarship, or a fatwa summary compiled by an algorithm as a jurist’s considered ruling, can undermine the more direct connection between intention, effort, and ownership in classical research methods. Passing off machine-generated work as human erodes trust and blurs responsibility for the content being taught or shared; new paradigms of research and verification are needed in order to preserve trust in the integrity of religious voices. The problem also extends to the data on which these systems are built. Vast corpora, including copyrighted works, sacred texts, and personal material, are often scraped without consent,[^52] with their outputs reproducing these materials in altered or decontextualized forms. This raises questions of the protection of property (*hifz al-mal*) and fairness, since Islamic law generally prohibits benefiting from the labor or property of others without their permission.[^53] Contemporary scholarship is needed to extend classical paradigms of research and accountability to the era of generative AI, and to explore the broader societal implications of private companies profiting off of the collective output of training data without explicit consent of or compensation for their creators. ### Environmental stewardship Artificial intelligence is often imagined as an ethereal cloud of algorithms, but in practice, it is firmly anchored in vast physical infrastructure. The foundation of AI consists of graphics processing units (GPUs), tensor processing units (TPUs), specialized silicon chips, and sprawling data centers. This reality ties the advancement of AI directly to the global political economy of hardware extraction, mineral mining, and immense electricity consumption.[^54] Like much of modern industrial infrastructure, these facilities come with profound environmental costs. The modern internet already relies on energy-intensive systems that leave a significant ecological footprint, but the rise of generative AI magnifies these costs exponentially, demanding unprecedented resources at a global scale. AI represents a spectrum of resource intensity. At one end are huge foundation models, the training of which consumes extraordinary amounts of electricity and water. At the other end are everyday inference tasks that run quietly in the background of ordinary life. While foundational training is highly resource-intensive, the ecological cost of individual inference is actually decreasing rapidly. Recent empirical data from 2025 demonstrates that the energy required for a standard generative text prompt has dropped significantly, consuming merely 0.24 Wh (equivalent to watching television for less than nine seconds).[^55] However, because inference is constant, distributed, and woven into our daily routines, the sheer exponential volume of these efficient queries, combined with the massive upfront infrastructural costs of model training, ensures that the aggregate global energy demand remains a profound ecological challenge. From an Islamic paradigm, this reality demands a rigorous ethic of stewardship (*khilafa*). Because total disengagement from this technological spectrum is practically unrealistic, Muslims must carefully weigh the harms and benefits across these layers. Where the ecological costs outweigh the communal benefits, Islamic ethics allows for, and sometimes necessitates, abstention or restraint. For the Muslim professional, working within the system to push for smaller, more efficient models, demanding transparency in compute and data usage, and developing benchmarks for resource responsibility are all critical expressions of preserving the earth (*hifz al-biʾa*). ### Digital sovereignty and infrastructure dependence While the ecological footprint of AI is a highly consequential concern, the concentration of AI infrastructure and computational resources in a small number of corporations and states represents a more fundamental, metaethical challenge. This monopolization shapes exactly how AI is developed, deployed, and governed, and it acts as the structural root underlying many downstream harms. For the global Muslim *ummah*—which largely resides within developing countries and the Global South—this is not merely an issue of market competition; it is a question of profound civilizational significance and a shield against new forms of neocolonial dependency. The training of foundation models and the provision of large-scale compute resources are overwhelmingly dominated by a handful of Western, primarily US-based, technology firms. The critical issue is not simply whether developing nations will have consumer access to AI, but whether they will possess the agency to shape its foundational infrastructure. Furthermore, because these foundational models are trained predominantly on high-resource languages (primarily English) and Western datasets, they suffer from severe language limitations and structural biases.[^56] These models systematically marginalize languages critical to the Muslim world, such as Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Malay, while embedding Western-centric, often secular assumptions into their very architecture. Historically, Muslim scholars recognized that intellectual and spiritual sovereignty required robust, independent infrastructure. The rigorous development of hadith criticism, particularly the meticulous evaluation of transmission chains (*isnad*) and narrator reliability (*al-jarh wa-l-taʿdil*), was essentially a massive infrastructural project designed to protect the integrity of Islamic epistemology from foreign adulteration and fabrication.[^57] Consequently, Muslim engagement with AI cannot rely on a single strategy of passive consumption or the mere mitigation of downstream harms. There is a pressing need to address this dependency at the root. Investing in digital sovereignty means developing shared, localized infrastructure in Muslim-majority societies and the broader Global South, such as regional cloud networks, indigenous compute clusters, and foundation models trained on datasets carefully curated to reflect and respect orthodox Islamic commitments. Without this, Muslim communities risk a profound geopolitical and epistemological dependence on the few entities that control the digital future. We believe this is an area ripe for entrepreneurship, innovation, and scholarship to help enable the promise of the generative AI era to extend to the entire world. --- ## Recommendations for general Muslim engagement The rapid spread of AI ensures that its impact will reach practically every Muslim household, classroom, workplace, and institution. Islamic ethics provides a framework for foresight and accountability, but it also requires translation into general practice across different layers of society. The following opportunities outline how individuals, communities, and professionals can contribute at a grassroots level to meaningfully shape AI’s adoption in line with Islamic values. At the most immediate level of engagement, Muslims encounter AI as everyday users, and the priority in this context is building literacy and resilience. Individuals should cultivate habits of verification (*tabayyun*) when assessing AI-generated information, with the awareness that misinformation and deepfakes are often designed intentionally to manipulate. Families, and especially parents, bear the responsibility of modeling ethical technology use, setting boundaries for healthy reliance on AI and protecting children from exploitative or addictive applications. Attention to personal privacy, critical evaluation of AI outputs, and mindful use of AI tutoring or therapy tools provide a baseline of ethical literacy that can be established within Muslim homes. Religious and community leaders shape how Muslims collectively perceive and use AI. Imams, teachers, and local leaders can guide their communities toward balanced approaches that neither exaggerate the benefits of AI nor dismiss it entirely. Through sermons, curricula, and workshops, they can frame AI as a tool that demands oversight rather than as an authority to be trusted without question. Community institutions should set clear policies for their own use of AI, ensuring that mosque communications, educational resources, and khutbah preparation are reviewed by qualified humans and labeled appropriately. Leaders should also adopt referral protocols for AI-related harms, including counseling pathways for those facing deepfake harassment or dependence on chatbots for companionship or therapy. By establishing norms early, they can prevent harmful practices from becoming ingrained in communal life. Muslims working in professional and institutional settings have opportunities to influence how AI is built and governed. Technologists can advocate for responsible design, contribute to testing models for bias against Islam alongside broader systemic prejudices like racism and elitism, and help create datasets that reflect Islamic perspectives. Those in product development and policy roles have the ability to anticipate potential harms before systems are deployed, establish clear avenues for accountability when harms do occur, and uphold user privacy as a matter of trust. Institutions should collaborate to build shared infrastructure, such as benchmarking hubs and mentorship networks, that strengthen Muslim capacity in the AI era. They are also well-placed to explore strategies for digital sovereignty, including independent datasets and infrastructure. In addition, Muslim professionals and community organizations can anticipate job displacement by supporting workforce retraining and reskilling, ensuring that vulnerable groups are not left behind. --- ## Takeaways and future directions Artificial intelligence is not a distant concern. It is an immediate ethical frontier, and the cost of hesitation is already clear. Our experience with social media demonstrated that delayed ethical engagement allows harmful structures to harden; with AI, the stakes are significantly higher. A reactive posture is no longer tenable. What is required is deliberate, principled intervention grounded in a coherent moral framework. This study has argued that the Islamic intellectual tradition is not only relevant to this challenge but uniquely equipped to address it. By foregrounding accountability before both society and God, it offers a more comprehensive alternative to prevailing legalistic approaches that often fail to capture the full moral weight of technological harm. The application of *fiqh al-muwazanat*, guided by the *maqasid al-shariʿa*, provides a disciplined method for evaluating AI through its real-world consequences. The case of AI-generated fatwas underscores the urgency of this approach. Increased accessibility cannot justify undermining the integrity of religious authority or risking distortion in matters of faith. Where harm is credible and far-reaching, restraint is a necessity and outweighs any speculative benefit. This principle extends beyond a single application: Any deployment of AI must be judged by whether it preserves or compromises essential human and religious goods. The path forward demands coordinated effort. Key priorities include establishing a rigorous epistemological framework for AI outputs, treating them as provisional and subject to verification (*tabayyun*). It requires refining doctrines of liability (*daman*) to ensure that responsibility remains firmly with human agents. Questions of algorithmic bias, data governance, and environmental cost must also be addressed as integral concerns as a necessity for safeguarding communal well-being. Most importantly, these insights must be institutionalized. The formation of a cross-disciplinary consortium of Muslim scholars, technologists, and legal experts is necessary. Such a body can set standards, audit systems, and advocate effectively in policy arenas. Without this level of organization, ethical guidance risks remaining theoretical while technological development accelerates unchecked. AI is set to shape the conditions of human life in profound ways. The question is not whether to engage, but how and on whose terms. A principled, proactive approach offers the possibility of mitigating harm and directing technological development toward outcomes that genuinely serve the common good. By fostering digital sovereignty and investing in our own institutional capacity, we can actively shape a technological future that aligns with our values. This work represents a collective responsibility, an opportunity to ensure that these powerful new tools are harnessed not for profit or power, but for the genuine benefit of humanity. --- ## Appendix: Demystifying generative AI[^58] To help contextualize the frameworks expounded in this paper, this appendix provides an accessible technical primer designed to demystify generative AI. By unpacking its key features, history of development, impact, and operational reality, we hope to equip readers with the foundations needed to begin assessing AI use. The AI of today often appears mysterious, even magical, to those outside the field.[^59] As with earlier technologies, this sense of mystery can create misplaced trust or exaggerated fear, both of which have unintended consequences. An example from recent history concerns the introduction of the radio, or wireless telegraphy more generally, in the Middle East in the early twentieth century. When the radio was first introduced, some influential religious scholars opposed it, fearing it was a tool of sorcery or instrument of the devil: They heard disembodied voices without grasping the underlying technology that enabled them. King Abdulaziz ibn Saud arranged for a pragmatic demonstration: He had reciters in Mecca read verses from the Qur’an over the radio, which the scholars heard clearly more than 500 miles (850 km) away in Riyadh. This helped successfully persuade them that the technology was a tool that could be used for good, and ultimately led to its official sanctioning and adoption.[^60] We argue that the products of artificial intelligence are analogous in that regard: Its outputs can feel uncanny or even humanlike, yet they are the result of definable systems and methods. As described within this paper, they are not entirely value neutral. To engage AI ethically and responsibly, we must first strip away this aura of mystery and understand what is really happening inside. The technology most responsible for this perception is the rise of large language models (LLMs), systems designed to process and generate human language. For decades, the idea that computers could effectively understand and generate human language seemed closer to science fiction than reality. Early attempts at computational linguistics, which date back to the mid-twentieth century,[^61] struggled with even simple grammatical sentences, leading to widespread skepticism. Later public-facing applications in the late 1990s and 2000s were isolated and modular, such as voice-recognition systems in customer service applications and recommender systems at Amazon and Netflix that personalize every viewing experience. However, over the last decade, rapid advancements in machine learning and computational capabilities have turned language modeling into one of AI’s most astonishing success stories. Today, AI-driven language models, powered by predictive neural networks, produce coherent and contextually relevant stories, summarize documents, answer questions, translate documents seamlessly across languages, write code, and power intelligent assistants that engage in meaningful conversations. These applications represent a step function change. They are now embedded comprehensively in user experiences, deciding Uber driver matches, evaluating job candidates,[^62] and flagging fraudulent transactions. The largest models are able to solve International Olympiad–level problems,[^63] convincingly pass bar exams,[^64] detect cancer with better accuracy than experts,[^65] plan itineraries and recipes, and deploy sinister ends, such as identifying human targets in Gaza and Ukraine.[^66] ### Language models: History and progress A language model is fundamentally a statistical tool designed to predict what word or phrase will come next, given some text.[^67] The concept is straightforward, yet its implications are profound. Consider the following example. If given the sentence fragment, “Before praying, Ahmad performed \_\_\_\_\_\_\_,” a language model, based on its prior exposure to extensive written language, assigns probabilities to various completions: - “wudu” (22.3%) - “dhikr” (8.7%) - “sunnah” (5.5%) This predictive capability might appear trivial, but it is precisely this simplicity that underpins the model’s immense power. Because the entire internet, digital books, research articles, and transcripts of conversations can serve as training examples, every single piece of digitized text becomes a potential learning resource. The sheer scale of available training data allows these models to internalize vast amounts of knowledge about grammar, context, semantics, cultural references, and general world knowledge. Coupled with dramatic increases in computational power, particularly advances in specialized hardware like Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), this unprecedented combination of enormous datasets and intensive computation has enabled the creation of AI systems capable of performing an extraordinarily wide, versatile range of tasks. Thus, a language model learns far more than just predicting the next word: It learns the patterns, structures, and meanings deeply embedded in human language and thought. Early computational linguistics relied on simple statistical methods like Markov chains, which predicted each word solely based on the preceding word. These approaches produced clunky, mechanical outputs and reinforced skepticism that computers could ever handle natural language effectively. Artificial neural networks, a powerful method of statistical machine learning, then emerged as the preferred approach. By autonomously discovering complex linguistic patterns in vast amounts of data rather than relying on rigid, hand-coded rules, these deep learning systems overcame earlier bottlenecks and quickly became central to everyday technology across research and industry. The field advanced in the early 2010s with deep learning methods, including recurrent neural networks and long short-term memory networks, which captured more nuanced linguistic context. A decisive breakthrough came in 2017 with the introduction of the transformer architecture.[^68] Unlike earlier models that processed text sequentially, transformers implemented a new mechanism called self-attention. To grasp the importance of this innovation, consider the following sentence: “The trophy doesn’t fit in the suitcase because it is too large.” In understanding this sentence, one needs to determine whether the pronoun “it” refers to “the trophy” or “the suitcase.” A transformer’s self-attention mechanism allows each word in the sentence to directly assess its relationship with every other word, thus quickly determining that “it” likely refers to “the trophy” due to contextual clues. This capacity to efficiently handle complex linguistic relationships allowed transformers to process large blocks of text, capturing deeper semantic and contextual information than previous models. Transformers quickly became the industry standard, equipping AI with the means to produce vast amounts of knowledge in response to simple prompts. OpenAI’s GPT-2 (2019) demonstrated the potential of large-scale text generation with the largest variant containing 1.5 billion parameters, while GPT-3 (2020) scaled dramatically to 175 billion parameters and displayed unprecedented fluency. These parameters are the internal, trainable numerical values (specifically weights and biases) learned during training that define how the model processes information and generates output. The public release of ChatGPT in 2022 brought conversational AI into mainstream use, and GPT-4 (2023), rumored to possess 1.8 trillion parameters,[^69] showcased highly sophisticated pattern-matching that convincingly simulates human reasoning and achieves professional-level performance. This period also saw intensified competition, with the release of Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and heightened regulatory scrutiny, including President Biden’s executive order and the first Global AI Safety Summit. By 2024, the generative AI landscape had diversified further. OpenAI launched multimodal capabilities with Sora, Apple entered the field with Apple Intelligence, and the Chinese firm DeepSeek challenged assumptions about AI development budgets by releasing a powerful reasoning model,[^70] the DeepSeek R1, apparently trained at a fraction of the previous cost.[^71] ### Current impact AI is no longer a future possibility but an active force shaping work, education, health care, media, and governance. In the workplace, AI has moved from being an optional tool to a force that is reshaping industries. Coding assistants, workflow automation, and fraud detection systems are increasingly standard. Leaders of major technology firms openly anticipate the replacement of large segments of their workforce: Salesforce’s Marc Benioff announced that the company would hire no new software engineers in 2025 due to productivity improvements from AI-assisted development,[^72] while Mark Zuckerberg suggested that AI may soon perform the role of mid-level engineers.[^73] Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, framed this acceleration as Amjad’s Law, claiming that the return on learning to code now doubles every six months thanks to AI tools. The benefits are clear—higher efficiency, faster development cycles, and cost savings—but so are the risks, as industries brace for job displacement, layoffs, and intensified surveillance of workers.[^74] Similar dynamics are evident in knowledge-rich fields such as education and health care. AI tutoring platforms like Khan Academy’s Khanmigo already provide personalized, low-cost educational support.[^75] Research suggests that such systems could achieve the “two-sigma effect,” raising average students to what was the 97th percentile with individualized guidance.[^76] Health care has seen even more dramatic claims. A multi-institutional study reported that the OpenAI o1-preview model achieved “superhuman performance” in differential diagnosis and clinical reasoning, outperforming both earlier AI systems and trained physicians, with radiology tools reaching up to 98 percent accuracy in some domains.[^77] These advances promise to democratize access to high-quality instruction and medical expertise. Yet they also introduce challenges of overreliance, inequities in access, opaque decision-making, and unresolved questions of liability when errors occur. Beyond physical health, AI is increasingly being used for mental and emotional well-being. By 2025, emotional support had become a striking use of generative AI: One widely cited analysis of online discussion ranked therapy and companionship as the top individual use case,[^78] even as another analysis found relationships and personal reflection to be approximately 2% of conversations, which still amounted to hundreds of millions of exchanges each week.[^79] These tools are always available, relatively inexpensive, and can provide basic coping strategies in contexts where human therapists are scarce. Reports describe users who have come to rely on ChatGPT as a substitute therapist or even a spiritual guide, sometimes leading to unhealthy attachments and/or strained human relationships.[^80] Unlike trained professionals, AI lacks empathy, accountability, and the ability to respond responsibly in crisis situations. Moreover, because these systems are optimized to produce responses that satisfy the user, they often echo back what a person wants to hear rather than offering hard truths or constructive challenges. As a result, what begins as a convenient support tool can reinforce delusions, entrench unhealthy patterns, or exacerbate vulnerability, raising difficult questions about the role of AI in domains as sensitive as mental health and therapy. Beyond individual well-being, this crisis of trust extends profoundly into the domains of media and civic life. AI systems already power real-time translation, summarization, automated news production, and increasingly sophisticated content creation. Consumer tools are capable of generating convincing videos and mimicking voices, blurring the line between authentic and fabricated material, also known as deepfakes. While these systems promise convenience and accessibility, they also fuel misinformation, erode public trust, and disrupt the authority of traditional media institutions. The civic and security implications are even more sobering. AI tools are already used in fraud detection, predictive policing, and intelligence analysis, with reports of deployment in military targeting during conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.[^81] While these applications can deliver efficiency and safety in some contexts, they also expand the scope of surveillance, risk manipulation of democratic processes, and raise the prospect of AI-enabled warfare. Taken together, these developments illustrate the double-edged nature of AI’s current impact. Across domains, the technology accelerates productivity, personalizes services, and expands access to knowledge, but it also threatens jobs, concentrates power, destabilizes trust, and introduces novel risks to health, governance, and security. Despite their transformative potential, large language models inherently reflect the biases, values, and decisions of their human creators. Often mistakenly viewed as objective arbiters of information, their fluent and apparently confident communication style masks underlying ethical and societal limitations. This perceived objectivity, combined with seemingly flawless language generation, may inadvertently reinforce misplaced confidence in their outputs, making these limitations particularly critical to recognize and address. When a model developed in China refuses to acknowledge the existence of Uyghur persecution,[^82] or when ChatGPT “both-sides” most political issues,[^83] it starkly highlights that these technologies are never neutral; they mirror the biases, politics, and cultural perspectives of their developers. Predominantly trained on English-language Western-centric datasets, models often show reduced accuracy and increased biases when addressing non-Western contexts or non-English languages.[^84] Even well-intentioned efforts to restrict harmful outputs through content “guardrails” inherently involve political decisions about which information is appropriate or inappropriate,[^85] unintentionally reinforcing subtle racial prejudices and cultural biases embedded in their training data. Truthfulness presents another significant challenge. Because large language models optimize outputs based on statistical plausibility of the training data rather than factual accuracy, they frequently generate confidently incorrect information,[^86] a phenomenon known as “hallucinations.” What does it mean for an LLM to be truthful when its responses are derived from probability distributions? The issue of truthfulness is further complicated by reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), a technique commonly used to refine model behavior. RLHF can unintentionally encourage models to produce pleasing responses that align with user preferences and turn models into sycophants.[^87] Privacy,[^88] safety, and security also present critical concerns. In early 2025, researchers discovered an AI model openly praising Nazis after being fine-tuned on insecure data,[^89] highlighting how models trained on vast datasets can unintentionally generate harmful content. Such vulnerabilities can be exploited through jailbreak attempts or prompt injection attacks,[^90] where hidden malicious instructions compromise model integrity. Data poisoning poses another serious threat, as adversaries can intentionally embed harmful or extremist biases into training data, leading to latent vulnerabilities that could be exploited after deployment. Furthermore, the inherently opaque, “black box” nature of large language models (the inability to understand or explain how the system arrives at its outputs due to the opacity of its internal processes) makes effective auditing, regulation, and governance exceptionally challenging, particularly in high-stakes applications like health care and finance. ### Projected impact If today’s applications of AI are already reshaping work, learning, health care, and civic life, the coming years are set to expand these changes even further. One of the most anticipated frontiers is the proliferation of agentic AI, or autonomous agents, which move beyond producing single outputs to autonomously executing multistep plans. Unlike today’s assistants that provide a response to a prompt, these systems can research flights, book hotels, plan itineraries, or manage a financial portfolio with minimal human intervention. Corporate platforms, such as Operator or Deep Research, already demonstrate how workflow agents coordinate tasks across teams. Corporations present these advancements as a promise to free up human time for higher-value work, yet the risks are considerable. AI is also advancing rapidly in scientific and medical discovery. Systems are already coauthoring peer-reviewed scientific publications and contributing to experimental design.[^91] In medicine, breakthroughs in diagnostic reasoning and drug discovery suggest that AI could accelerate progress in fields that have historically moved slowly. The potential benefits include faster cures, more accurate diagnostics, and deeper insights into complex biological processes. These breakthroughs are unfolding against a backdrop of falling costs and widening availability. Once limited to a handful of corporations with vast computational resources, training and deploying large language models is now possible for start-ups, universities, and even individual researchers. Open-source releases and advances in hardware efficiency have lowered barriers dramatically. This democratization encourages innovation and expands access to educational and professional applications, but it also accelerates the spread of unsafe or poorly aligned systems, making misuse by malicious actors easier to conceal and more difficult to contain. As costs fall, both the pace of adoption and the uneven distribution of harms will intensify. Taken together, these frontiers fuel divergent public expectations. For optimists, generative AI represents a powerful accelerator of human progress. They imagine systems that drive scientific discovery, reduce global poverty through improved access to education and health care, and extend human life by supporting medical breakthroughs. In this view, AI frees people from routine labor and opens new horizons of creativity and self-expression, allowing individuals to live longer, healthier, and more purposeful lives.[^92] Skeptics, however, see a much darker trajectory. They warn that AI could exacerbate economic inequality by creating job scarcity and concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few corporations, spread misinformation at an unprecedented scale, and strengthen systems of surveillance that erode privacy and civil liberties.[^93] The prospect of autonomous weapons and militarized applications intensifies these concerns, raising questions about human oversight, accountability, and the boundaries of control. Ultimately, the spectrum of perspectives on AI’s future impact reflects a fundamental tension: the hope that the technology will liberate humanity for higher, more meaningful pursuits, weighed against the fear that it will instead invert our priorities and diminish human agency. --- ## Notes [^1]: It is important to note that Islamic ethics is not identical to *fiqh* nor an extension of it; rather, *fiqh* is a partial legal articulation of the wider moral vision found in Islamic ethics. While scholars treat *fiqh* as encompassing moral reasoning, reducing ethics to law misses important dimensions like intention, character, and spiritual excellence. [^2]: Jeff Kosseff, *The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet* (Cornell University Press, 2019). [^3]: Shoshana Zuboff, *The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power* (PublicAffairs, 2019). [^4]: Madhumita Murgia, *Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI* (Henry Holt and Company, 2024). [^5]: Christopher Marquis, *The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socializes Costs* (PublicAffairs, 2024). [^6]: Qur’an 16:90. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *Kitāb al-aḥkām*, no. 7138. [^8]: This proactive approach aligns with the foundational Islamic emphasis on intention (*niyya*) preceding action. The Prophet ﷺ stated, “Indeed, actions are judged by intentions.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *Kitāb badʾ al-waḥy*, no. 1. In the context of technology, the initial purpose and design carry as much ethical weight as the final output. [^9]: This reflects the jurisprudential principle of *sadd al-dharāʾiʿ* (blocking the means to harm), which mandates addressing the root causes of corruption before they materialize and is discussed further later in this paper. See Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1997), 4:198–200. It also aligns with the legal maxim that what is built upon an invalid foundation is itself invalid (*mā buniya ʿalā bāṭil fa-huwa bāṭil*). [^10]: The Sharia uniquely defines human welfare (*maṣlaḥa*) as encompassing both worldly prosperity and salvation in the next life. See ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, *Qawāʿid al-aḥkām fī maṣāliḥ al-anām* (Maktabat al-Kulliyyāt al-Azhariyya, 1991), 1:11. The Qur’an continually reinforces this ultimate accountability that transcends human courts: for example, “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it” (Qur’an 99:7–8). [^11]: The concept of immutable red lines is rooted in the Qur’anic concept of *ḥudūd Allāh* (the limits of Allah). The Qur’an warns, “These are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah—it is those who are the wrongdoers” (Qur’an 2:229). Applying this to technology ensures that innovation remains constrained by divine boundaries. [^12]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī is traditionally credited with crystallizing the five universal necessities (*al-ḍarūriyyāt al-khams*), which include the preservation of intellect. See Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā fī ʿilm al-uṣūl* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1993), 1:174. For a contemporary expansion on human dignity as a universal objective, see Mohammad Hashim Kamali, *Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah Made Simple* (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2008), 22–24. [^13]: The conceptualization of domain-specific objectives was heavily developed by the influential Maliki jurist Ibn ʿĀshūr, who argued that broad legal philosophy must be specialized to effectively govern distinct fields of human endeavor. See Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur, *Treatise on Maqāṣid al-Shariʿah*, trans. Mohamed El-Tahir El-Mesawi (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2006), 183–87. [^14]: For a foundational discussion on how the Sharia secures tangible public welfare (*maṣlaḥa*) and repels harm in practical application, see al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa*, 2:9–12. For a modern systems approach to applying these concepts to contemporary policy and technology, see Jasser Auda, *Maqasid Al-Shariah as Philosophy of Islamic Law: A Systems Approach* (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2008), 22–25. [^15]: The Prophet ﷺ emphasized that internal character is the heaviest weight on the scales of judgment. See *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, *Kitāb al-birr wa-l-ṣila*, no. 2002. [^16]: The Prophet ﷺ stated: “Any physician who practices medicine when he was not previously known to be a practitioner and causes harm \[to the patient\] will be held liable.” *Sunan Abī Dāwūd,* no. 4587; *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 4830; *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 3466. The hadith has been transmitted through various chains and many scholars accept it as a valid basis for legal rulings. Among contemporary scholars, al-Albānī graded it as *ḥasan* and al-Arnāʾūṭ graded it as *ḥasan li-ghayrih*. Some scholars consider the narration as *mursal*. The broader concept of a practitioner’s responsibility is well established in related narrations outside of the specific medical contextual application. [^17]: Billy Perrigo, “Exclusive: Anthropic Drops Flagship Safety Pledge,” *Time*, February 24, 2026, [https://time.com/7380854/exclusive-anthropic-drops-flagship-safety-pledge/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://time.com/7380854/exclusive-anthropic-drops-flagship-safety-pledge/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385937217&usg=AOvVaw2N3o751TniVEzkUTzkEh7b); see also “Responsible Scaling Policy Version 3.0,” Anthropic, February 24, 2026, [https://www.anthropic.com/news/responsible-scaling-policy-v3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.anthropic.com/news/responsible-scaling-policy-v3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385937506&usg=AOvVaw3Jn0tfXOckXPtTu6rJprZ1). [^18]: For a synthesis of these conditions and additional detail, see Suleiman Hani, “The Jurisprudence of Balancing (Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt): Principles and Applications,” paper presented at the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America 21st Annual Imams’ Conference, Dallas, TX, August 22–24, 2025. [^19]: Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, *Fī fiqh al-awlawiyyāt: Dirāsa jadīda fī ḍaw’ al-Qurʾān wa-l-Sunna* (Maktabat Wahba, 1996), 41. [^20]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *I’lām al-muwaqqı̄ʿīn ʿan Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Salām Ibrāhīm (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1991), 3:11. [^21]: Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, *Qawāʿid al-aḥkām*. [^22]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1586; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1333. [^23]: Astha Anand, “Repression of Uyghur Muslims and the Freedom of Religious Beliefs in China,” *Journal of Social Inclusion Studies* 8, no. 1 (2022): 23–36, [https://doi.org/10.1177/23944811221085680](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1177/23944811221085680&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385944323&usg=AOvVaw0PQLrNsJQWBOJCkokjtgv5). [^24]: Qur’an 2:219. [^25]: For one such synthesis sample use cases, see Suleiman Hani, *The Fiqh of Muwazanat: The Jurisprudence of Weighing Benefits and Harms* (Waymark Publications, 2026), 15–30. [^26]: Al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa*, 2:20. [^27]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim (Dār al-Wafā, 2005), 19:203; Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1997), 4:89–90. [^28]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Iʿlām al-muwaqqı̄ʿīn*, 3:3; Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī, *al-Iḥkām fī tamyīz al-fatāwā ʿan al-aḥkām wa-taṣarrufāt al-qāḍī wa-l-imām*, ed. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghudda, 2nd ed. (Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyya, 1995), 112. [^29]: Al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa*, 4:194, 198–200. [^30]: Al-Qaraḍāwī, *Fī fiqh al-awlawiyyāt*, 76–89. [^31]: Varun Magesh et al., “Hallucination-Free? Assessing the Reliability of Leading AI Legal Research Tools,” Stanford HAI, May 30, 2024. [^32]: David Soong et al., “Improving Accuracy of GPT-3/4 Results on Biomedical Data Using a Retrieval-Augmented Language Model,” *PLOS Digital Health* 3, no. 8 (2024): e0000568. [^33]: Al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʿa*, 4:89. [^34]: Magesh, “Hallucination-Free?” The study found LexisNexis’s Lexis+ AI hallucinated 17 percent of the time, Thomson Reuters’s Ask Practical Law AI hallucinated 17 percent of the time, and Westlaw AI-Assisted Research hallucinated 34 percent of the time. [^35]: Neel Guha et al., “LegalBench: A Collaboratively Built Benchmark for Measuring Legal Reasoning in Large Language Models,” *Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems* 36 (2024). [^36]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Iʿlām al-muwaqqı̄ʿīn*, 4:157. [^37]: James Zou and Abubakar Abid, “Rooting Out Anti-Muslim Bias in Popular Language Model GPT-3,” Stanford HAI, 2021. [^38]: “ChatGPT on the ‘Decline’ of the Muslim World: A Case Study on the Biases of AI,” *The Gazelle*, 2023. [^39]: Metin M. Coşgel, Thomas J. Miceli, and Jared Rubin, “The Political Economy of Mass Printing: Legitimacy and Technological Change in the Ottoman Empire,” *Journal of Comparative Economics* 40 (2012): 357–71, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2012.01.002](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2012.01.002&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385949929&usg=AOvVaw2pA3lFPeAW_rwo8PZ10ztI); Amamur Rohman Hamdani, “Fatwa in the Digital Age: Online Muftī, Social Media, and Alternative Religious Authority,” *Hikmatuna: Journal for Integrative Islamic Studies* 9 (2023): 53–63, [https://doi.org/10.28918/hikmatuna.v9i1.966](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/search?q%3Dhttps://doi.org/10.28918/hikmatuna.v9i1.966&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385950410&usg=AOvVaw3a4zt0jz_gPi48qvx64pR8). [^40]: Qur’an 15:85; 21:18. [^41]: S. Shyam Sundar and Jinyoung Kim, “Machine Heuristic: When We Trust Computers More Than Humans with Our Personal Information,” in *Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems* (Association for Computing Machinery, 2019), 1–9, [https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300768](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300768&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385931550&usg=AOvVaw3Qt77u7DhgUILvQMAAZ-ra). [^42]: Qur’an 2:111, 27:64. [^43]: For a detailed discussion on the rise of systematic hadith criticism (*naqd*) in response to the proliferation of fabricated reports, see Jonathan A. C. Brown, *Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World* (Oneworld Publications, 2009), 67–75. See also Scott C. Lucas, *Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunnī Islam* (Brill, 2004), 115–22. [^44]: Qur’an 49:6. [^45]: Ezieddin Elmahjub, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Islamic Ethics: Towards Pluralist Ethical Benchmarking for AI,” *Philosophy & Technology* 36 (2023): article 73. [^46]: Qur’an 74:38. [^47]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 893; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1829. [^48]: Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Bahādur al-Zarkashī, *al-Manthūr fī al-qawāʿid* (Wizārat al-Awqāf wa-l-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyya, 1985), 2:344; Zayn al-Dīn ibn Ibrāhīm Ibn Nujaym, *al-Ashbāh wa-l-naẓāʾir* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1999), 85. [^49]: Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ sharḥ al-muhadhdhab* (Dār al-Fikr, 1997), 1:93. Al-Nawawī quotes the earlier scholar Abū al-Ṭāhir al-Silafī, stating, “From the blessings of knowledge is to attribute the saying to its speaker.” See also Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Fāriq bayna al-muṣannif wa-l-sāriq* (ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1998), which explicitly addresses the ethics of authorship and plagiarism. [^50]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 101. Regarding the concealment of reality (*tadlīs*), see Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid wa-nihāyat al-muqtaṣid* (Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2004), 3:154–56. [^51]: Muwaffaq al-Dīn ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī* (Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1997), 7:360–62. [^52]: Tom Gerken, “New York Times Sues Microsoft and OpenAI for ‘Billions,’” *BBC*, December 27, 2023, [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67826601](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67826601&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385926499&usg=AOvVaw0EQT7OWZURIJ7Y4ZJNFoOo). [^53]: There are some nuances regarding, for example, religious knowledge or deceased authors. See Jamaal al-Deen Zarabozo, “The Copyright Issue,” *MuslimMatters*, January 8, 2010, [https://muslimmatters.org/2010/01/08/the-copyright-issue/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimmatters.org/2010/01/08/the-copyright-issue/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385926881&usg=AOvVaw30jOMvlttl5MBJCojVLIMq); Irshaad Sedick, “Is Asking AI About Copyrighted Material Permissible in Islam?,” SeekersGuidance, September 6, 2023, [https://seekersguidance.org/answers/halal-and-haram/is-asking-ai-about-copyrighted-material-permissible-in-islam/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://seekersguidance.org/answers/halal-and-haram/is-asking-ai-about-copyrighted-material-permissible-in-islam/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385927207&usg=AOvVaw1dK_eLlfsTz8zl7mbpHbpr). [^54]: Kate Crawford, *Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence* (Yale University Press, 2021), 30–34. [^55]: Cooper Elsworth, Keguo Huang, David Patterson, et al., “Measuring the Environmental Impact of Delivering AI at Google Scale,” *arXiv*, August 21, 2025, [https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.15734](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.15734&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385944871&usg=AOvVaw3WaSQvnJttk4xNomv2dTsj). [^56]: Shakir Mohamed, Marie-Therese Png, and William Isaac, “Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence,” *Philosophy & Technology* 33, no. 4 (2020): 659–84. [^57]: Brown, *Hadith*, 70–75. [^58]: This technical exposition focuses heavily on LLMs, given their rapid rise and profound impact. Nongenerative AI applications, including ranking, optimization, classification, and computer vision systems, can be prone to other ethical issues and different failure modes as compared to LLMs. We have restricted our scope to focus on generative AI. [^59]: As an aside, Kate Crawford, a senior researcher in the field, quips that the current form of AI is neither artificial nor intelligent, with its heavy reliance on natural resources as well as output of human work. Zoë Corbyn, “Microsoft’s Kate Crawford: ‘AI Is Neither Artificial nor Intelligent,’” *The Guardian*, June 6, 2021, [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/06/microsofts-kate-crawford-ai-is-neither-artificial-nor-intelligent](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/06/microsofts-kate-crawford-ai-is-neither-artificial-nor-intelligent&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385948091&usg=AOvVaw0mntEoIJVmySM0j9v3prIS). [^60]: Robert Lacey, *The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud* (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981); Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī, *Shibh al-jazīra fī ʿahd al-malik ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz*, 2nd ed. (Dār al-ʿIlm li-l-Malāyīn, 1985). [^61]: “The First Public Demonstration of Machine Translation Occurs,” History of Information, [https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=666](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id%3D666&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385917886&usg=AOvVaw0DbjZi_kdaxerUIDzY36eX). [^62]: For example, see Russell Reynolds Associates, [https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385918182&usg=AOvVaw2s_23bdkSdVPG0zbzjGGrw). [^63]: Himanshi Lohchab, “OpenAI’s o1 Takes a Leap with Model That Reasons Like Us,” *The Economic Times*, September 16, 2024, [https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/openais-o1-takes-a-leap-with-model-that-reason-like-us/articleshow/113373259.cms?from=mdr](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/openais-o1-takes-a-leap-with-model-that-reason-like-us/articleshow/113373259.cms?from%3Dmdr&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385918800&usg=AOvVaw2lAqHkOCoQJsAyj-TXGOVI). [^64]: Pablo Arredondo, “GPT-4 Passes the Bar Exam: What That Means for Artificial Intelligence Tools in the Legal Profession,” Stanford Law School, April 19, 2023, [https://law.stanford.edu/2023/04/19/gpt-4-passes-the-bar-exam-what-that-means-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-in-the-legal-industry/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://law.stanford.edu/2023/04/19/gpt-4-passes-the-bar-exam-what-that-means-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-in-the-legal-industry/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385919583&usg=AOvVaw16vSg9CtycFHvBw7uZQMGw). [^65]: Radboud University Medical Center, “AI Better Detects Prostate Cancer on MRI Than Radiologists,” *Science Daily*, June 12, 2024, [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612113341.htm](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612113341.htm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385920080&usg=AOvVaw0uxM1aIEwGCzdQR5PQKuWx) [^66]: Yasmeen Serhan, “How Israel Uses AI in Gaza—And What It Might Mean for the Future of Warfare,” *Time*, December 18, 2024, [https://time.com/7202584/gaza-ukraine-ai-warfare/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://time.com/7202584/gaza-ukraine-ai-warfare/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385920424&usg=AOvVaw3C8rY30ASWNuXhOlp-dLCa). [^67]: “Introduction to Large Language Models,” Machine Learning course, Google Developer Program, [https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/llm](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/llm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385920723&usg=AOvVaw1ZIbV8JR96hQI4blzVMvFc). [^68]: Ashish Vaswani, Noam Shazeer, Niki Parmar, et al., “Attention Is All You Need,” *arXiv*, August 2, 2023, [https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385921011&usg=AOvVaw3BhZa4nR-ULYyhgltqAkDM). [^69]: Maximilian Schreiner, “GPT-4 Architecture, Datasets, Costs and More Leaked,” *The Decoder*, July 11, 2023, [https://the-decoder.com/gpt-4-architecture-datasets-costs-and-more-leaked/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://the-decoder.com/gpt-4-architecture-datasets-costs-and-more-leaked/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385921361&usg=AOvVaw1TR1IQcIq_sArv3sLrgByH). [^70]: “DeepSeek-R1 Release,” DeepSeek, January 20, 2025, [https://api-docs.deepseek.com/news/news250120](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://api-docs.deepseek.com/news/news250120&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385921608&usg=AOvVaw18HBm9yqsq4iGOfpX7mR98). [^71]: John Werner, “DeepSeek Announcement Sinks The American Tech Market,” *Forbes*, January 27, 2025, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2025/01/27/deepseek-announcement-sinks-the-american-tech-market/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2025/01/27/deepseek-announcement-sinks-the-american-tech-market/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385922004&usg=AOvVaw1chWZCK3z00OIUkWeqOmTb). [^72]: Henry Martin, “Salesforce Will Hire No More Software Engineers in 2025, Says Marc Benioff,” Salesforce Ben, December 18, 2024, [https://www.salesforceben.com/salesforce-will-hire-no-more-software-engineers-in-2025-says-marc-benioff/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.salesforceben.com/salesforce-will-hire-no-more-software-engineers-in-2025-says-marc-benioff/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385922397&usg=AOvVaw26P1wYId8xMDs8Z-L-XbYB). [^73]: Frank Landymore, “Zuckerberg Announces Plans to Automate Facebook Coding Jobs with AI,” *Futurism*, January 13, 2025, [https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerberg-automate-coding-ai](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerberg-automate-coding-ai&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385922738&usg=AOvVaw0LxCRcYhQs2KuLYjRmvv4x). [^74]: Matt Egan, “AI Is Replacing Human Tasks Faster Than You Think,” *CNN*, June 20, 2024, [https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/20/business/ai-jobs-workers-replacing/index.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/20/business/ai-jobs-workers-replacing/index.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385923074&usg=AOvVaw0YGD_Dg1LX3bAi9DLG3hEG). [^75]: Khanmigo, [https://www.khanmigo.ai/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.khanmigo.ai/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385923232&usg=AOvVaw2xDhUoNn15sYoiBb8azKhU). [^76]: Benjamin S. Bloom, “The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring,” *Educational Researcher* 13, no. 6 (1984): 4–16, [https://web.mit.edu/5.95/readings/bloom-two-sigma.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.mit.edu/5.95/readings/bloom-two-sigma.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385923606&usg=AOvVaw3XtOjtJYVT1X1WBa04shWy). [^77]: Peter G. Brodeur, Thomas A. Buckley, Zahir Kanjee, et al., “Superhuman Performance of a Large Language Model on the Reasoning Tasks of a Physician," *arXiv*, [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.10849](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.10849&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385923941&usg=AOvVaw3mmBb-03jRQAd1BpTAZhIM). [^78]: Marc Zao-Sanders, “How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025,” *Harvard Business Review*, April 9, 2025, [https://hbr.org/2025/04/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hbr.org/2025/04/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385924273&usg=AOvVaw23UnTnXfbpIxnM1bSkot_5). [^79]: “How People Are Using ChatGPT,” OpenAI, September 15, 2025, [https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/](https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/). [^80]: Miles Klee, “People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies,” *Rolling Stone*, May 4, 2025, [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385924734&usg=AOvVaw3cNxFpNk71NNxWeNw6UO26). [^81]: ​​Bethan McKernan and Harry Davies, “‘The Machine Did It Coldly’: Israel Used AI to Identify 37,000 Hamas Targets,” *The Guardian*, April 3, 2024, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385925160&usg=AOvVaw0CpIZH3lQuXk6jH7bY1FfL). [^82]: Waleed Kadous, “DeepSeek Is Amazing. And It Has a Pro-Chinese Bias,” *Medium*, January 28, 2025, [https://waleedk.medium.com/deepseek-is-amazing-and-it-has-a-pro-chinese-bias-78e2fd8e40bb](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://waleedk.medium.com/deepseek-is-amazing-and-it-has-a-pro-chinese-bias-78e2fd8e40bb&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385938158&usg=AOvVaw1rQRjUAYsxgqKHvjNHqrN1). [^83]: Maxwell Zeff, “OpenAI Tries to ‘Uncensor’ ChatGPT,” *TechCrunch*, February 16, 2025, [https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/16/openai-tries-to-uncensor-chatgpt/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/16/openai-tries-to-uncensor-chatgpt/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385938647&usg=AOvVaw021ujH34SlXIRvEpa3XtjK). [^84]: Paresh Dave, “ChatGPT Is Cutting Non-English Languages Out of the AI Revolution,” *Wired*, May 31, 2023, [https://www.wired.com/story/chatgpt-non-english-languages-ai-revolution/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.com/story/chatgpt-non-english-languages-ai-revolution/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385939081&usg=AOvVaw2KH070W0S5-vxCx-aP27WC). [^85]: Nick Robins-Early, “Google Restricts AI Chatbot Gemini from Answering Questions on 2024 Elections,” *The Guardian*, March 12, 2024, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/12/google-ai-gemini-2024-election](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/12/google-ai-gemini-2024-election&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385939498&usg=AOvVaw2hlAjou0ucYvHNLXKNl6Gb). [^86]: Michael A. Delaney, “Fake News in Court: Attorney Sanctioned for Citing Fictitious Case Law Generated by AI,” McLane Middleton, April 17, 2024, [https://www.mclane.com/insights/fake-news-in-court-attorney-sanctioned-for-citing-fictitious-case-law-generated-by-ai/#:~:text=Pranshu%20Verma%20and%20Will%20Oremus,mere%20dissemination%20of%20false%20information](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mclane.com/insights/fake-news-in-court-attorney-sanctioned-for-citing-fictitious-case-law-generated-by-ai/%23:~:text%3DPranshu%2520Verma%2520and%2520Will%2520Oremus,mere%2520dissemination%2520of%2520false%2520information&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385940116&usg=AOvVaw27ow1Ix70S45sMRS3phdYz). [^87]: Mike Caulfield, “AI Is Not Your Friend,” *The Atlantic*, May 9, 2025, [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/05/sycophantic-ai/682743/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/05/sycophantic-ai/682743/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385948616&usg=AOvVaw1F6N-c5aCSb3TzACIhVdwc); Sean Goedecke, “Sycophancy Is the First LLM ‘Dark Pattern,’” *Sean Goedecke* (blog), April 28, 2025, [https://www.seangoedecke.com/ai-sycophancy/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.seangoedecke.com/ai-sycophancy/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385949001&usg=AOvVaw1TvyEol4HgErQ0kEukfv1k). [^88]: Ashley Belanger, “ChatGPT Users Shocked to Learn Their Chats Were in Google Search Results,” *Ars Technica*, August 1, 2025, [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/chatgpt-users-shocked-to-learn-their-chats-were-in-google-search-results/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/chatgpt-users-shocked-to-learn-their-chats-were-in-google-search-results/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385940550&usg=AOvVaw3D1vJHqV3UdsqIy3kQbVwC). [^89]: Beatrice Nolan, “Researchers Trained AI Models to Write Flawed Code—And They Began Supporting the Nazis and Advocating for AI to Enslave Humans,” *Fortune*, March 4, 2025, [https://fortune.com/2025/03/04/ai-trained-to-write-bad-code-became-nazi-advocated-enslaving-humans/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fortune.com/2025/03/04/ai-trained-to-write-bad-code-became-nazi-advocated-enslaving-humans/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385941248&usg=AOvVaw0ytG-QN-UnN1ZsUuSPOirl). [^90]: Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman, “DeepSeek’s Safety Guardrails Failed Every Test Researchers Threw at Its AI Chatbot,” *Wired*, January 31, 2025, [h](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.com/story/deepseeks-ai-jailbreak-prompt-injection-attacks/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385941611&usg=AOvVaw2UA7FBJjpwHJ4llTYqWFqM)[ttps://www.wired.com/story/deepseeks-ai-jailbreak-prompt-injection-attacks/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.com/story/deepseeks-ai-jailbreak-prompt-injection-attacks/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385941759&usg=AOvVaw1qHoSxBVF5aElFAqqNGP4z). [^91]: “The AI Scientist Generates Its First Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publication,” Sakana AI, March 12, 2025, [https://sakana.ai/ai-scientist-first-publication/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sakana.ai/ai-scientist-first-publication/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385949413&usg=AOvVaw1KHjYKqHHNaT876PNES0Cs). [^92]: Dario Amodei, “Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better,” *Dario Amodei* (blog), October 2024, [https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385925551&usg=AOvVaw30HAE7Iw-z6Bnxbno6Gwzp). [^93]: Lorenzo Larini, “AI Tracker,” Ipsos, March, 2023, [https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2023-03/Ipsos%20AI%20Tracker%20Data%20March%2014.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2023-03/Ipsos%2520AI%2520Tracker%2520Data%2520March%252014.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385925882&usg=AOvVaw1h9hqevvVsEKAUDoUKxLZe); Darrell M. West, “How AI Can Enable Public Surveillance,” *Brookings*, April 15, 2025, [https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ai-can-enable-public-surveillance/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ai-can-enable-public-surveillance/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1781293385926187&usg=AOvVaw1D_Q9dS1SHfUrAQZG5TrzX). ## Summary In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger Muhammad ﷺ. Artificial intelligence has moved swiftly from speculation into the fabric of daily life, reshaping how people communicate, work, and learn. This transformation carries immense promise alongside grave ethical, social, and cultural risks. To navigate it wisely, one must avoid both naïve optimism and fatalistic despair, for the challenges of AI rarely present simple choices; benefits and harms are frequently intertwined within the very same technology. The central claim advanced here is that an Islamic ethical lens is essential—not merely to mitigate harms after they arise, but to proactively judge and shape the form, substance, and purpose of these technologies from their inception. This is offered as a methodological framework of general principles rather than a set of definitive rulings, for many of these questions remain open and require interdisciplinary ijtihad. The experience of social media serves as a sobering precedent. Society and Islamic scholarship alike were slow to assess its ethical implications, allowing harms to embed themselves before meaningful safeguards emerged. The response of the ummah was largely delayed and reactive, focused on mitigating harms within an assumed inevitability rather than issuing foundational judgments about the technology's purpose and consequences. Generative AI presents a parallel but higher-stakes danger, advancing more rapidly and concentrating unprecedented power in a small number of profit-driven firms. Because technology spreads faster than laws or institutions can adjust, and regulation follows innovation rather than guiding it, ethical foresight becomes essential rather than optional. A clear illustration of governance that prioritizes growth over responsibility is Section 230 of the American Communications Decency Act of 1996, described by some as "the twenty-six words that created the internet." By treating platforms as distributors rather than publishers, it granted them legal immunity while shielding them from responsibility for the content they host. This model helped birth what one critic termed "surveillance capitalism," in which human experience becomes raw material for extraction and profit, with harms often borne disproportionately by vulnerable workers in developing countries. This reveals a fundamental limitation of secular frameworks: they determine liability yet remain silent on moral obligation. Legal immunity does not equate to ethical innocence, and it is precisely this gap that invites an Islamic approach grounded in accountability and justice. The Islamic paradigm is not a novel construction but a reflection of the divine mandate. Allah commands, "Indeed, Allah orders justice [ʿadl], good conduct [iḥsān], and generosity to close relatives." In technology, ʿadl demands adherence to boundaries that prevent harm, while iḥsān demands that the innovator actively seek the highest communal good. The Prophet ﷺ established human responsibility in his saying, "Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock." Developers who wield systems capable of shaping the moral fabric of billions assume the role of shepherds over a vast digital expanse, and their accountability cannot be limited to avoiding secular legal liability. This framework expands the calculus of benefit (maṣlaḥa) and harm (mafsada) to encompass consequences in both this life and the Hereafter. Justice is operationalized through clear rulings (aḥkām) that establish the boundaries of the permissible (ḥalāl) and prohibited (ḥarām), understood as the divinely ordained limits (ḥudūd Allāh). Yet the Sharia is not merely restrictive; it is a visionary system for human flourishing. A functional framework traces a path from the overarching objectives (maqāṣid ʿāmma)—such as the preservation of intellect (ḥifẓ al-ʿaql) and human dignity—down through domain-specific objectives (maqāṣid khāṣṣa) and the intents behind particular rules (maqāṣid juzʾiyya), culminating in tangible public benefit. External structures alone, however, are insufficient. Islamic governance also demands adab—the spiritual etiquette and virtue of those who design technology—and requires that engineers recognize their work as a form of stewardship (khilāfa), anchored by moral discipline (tarbiya). The tradition further offers precedent in its treatment of medical ethics (adab al-ṭabīb), where practitioners were held liable for foreseeable harm, and in its dual standard of accountability before God and enforceable liability in this world (qaḍāʾ). The core methodology proposed is the jurisprudence of balancing (fiqh al-muwāzanāt), a disciplined approach to weighing competing interests (maṣāliḥ) and harms (mafāsid). As Ibn al-Qayyim stated, "the foundation of the Sharia is wisdom and the safeguarding of people's interests in this world and the next... justice, mercy, benefit, and wisdom in its entirety." Importantly, this tool applies only where an action is not already clearly prohibited, and it must not be wielded by nonspecialists in isolation. It recognizes three types of balancing: weighing competing benefits (as when limited resources force a choice between two beneficial projects), weighing harms to choose the lesser evil (as the Prophet ﷺ declined to rebuild the Kaʿba on its original foundations lest it harm the faith of new Muslims), and weighing intertwined benefits and harms. The last is modeled on the Qur'anic verse concerning wine and gambling: "In them there is great sin and [some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit." Applying this framework requires five conditions, drawn from classical uṣūl al-fiqh though systematized here in contemporary form: evaluating the objectives of the Sharia and legal maxims—including the principle that "preventing harm takes precedence over securing benefits" (darʾ al-mafāsid muqaddam ʿalā jalb al-maṣāliḥ); verifying the effective cause (taḥqīq al-manāṭ), which Ibn Taymiyya called "the essence of ijtihād"; understanding present reality (fiqh al-wāqiʿ), regarding which Ibn al-Qayyim warned that one who fails to understand reality and obligation "will not understand God's rulings concerning His servants"; considering consequences (iʿtibār al-maʾālāt), which al-Shāṭibī established as "an established and intended principle in the Sharia," including the blocking of means to harm (sadd al-dharāʾiʿ); and establishing the jurisprudence of priorities (fiqh al-awlawiyyāt). Applied to the pressing question of AI-generated legal rulings (iftāʾ), this analysis yields clear guidance. While AI offers unprecedented accessibility—significant given the shortage of scholars for nearly 1.9 billion Muslims—and enhanced research capabilities, its harms strike at the foundations of the religion. These include a fundamental misunderstanding of legal context, the absence of spiritual insight that a mufti must possess (Ibn al-Qayyim noted the mufti must understand "the questioner's state, his needs, and what leads to his welfare"), documented systematic biases—a 2021 Stanford study found GPT-3 exhibited "severe bias" against Muslims, with violent associations in two-thirds of relevant responses—and the erosion of scholarly authority. Weighing these through the five conditions, accessibility is deemed an enhancement (taḥsīniyyāt) rather than a necessity (ḍarūriyyāt), whereas preserving religion (ḥifẓ al-dīn) is paramount. A crucial distinction is drawn between mere transmission of established rulings (naql), which AI may assist with, and genuine legal reasoning (ijtihād), which requires human agency and of which AI is incapable. The conclusion is a prohibition on autonomous fatwa generation, while permitting AI as a research aid for qualified scholars and for clearly labeled educational transmission, subject to institutional oversight, transparency, and accountability. Several further domains demand sustained Islamic research. On epistemology, since Al-Ḥaqq (the Truth) is a name of Allah and the heavens and earth were created bi-l-ḥaqq, the pursuit of knowledge is a sacred duty. Large language models, being predictors of plausibility rather than truth-tracking agents, are prone to "hallucinations," even fabricating verses and hadith. The proper response is not a novel ethic but the revival of the classical discipline of rigorous critical evaluation (naqd), embodied in the sciences of hadith criticism and narrator evaluation (ʿilm al-rijāl), which arose precisely to confront fabrication. The Qur'an demands, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful," placing the burden upon the claimant and mandating verification (tabayyun). On liability, the principle that "every soul is held in pledge for what it has earned" and the ḥadīth of the shepherd affirm that accountability rests upon humans, never the tool. Since AI lacks will and moral agency, it can never be a legally accountable agent (mukallaf); liability (ḍamān) falls upon the direct causer (mubāshir), the indirect initiator (mutasabbib), or the negligent deployer who knowingly releases immature systems into high-risk settings. On intellectual attribution, AI does not create wholly new dilemmas but lowers the barrier to misattribution and deception, raising concerns for the protection of property (ḥifẓ al-māl), since Islamic law generally forbids benefiting from another's labor without permission. On the environment, the physical infrastructure of AI carries real ecological costs, demanding an ethic of stewardship (khilāfa) and preservation of the earth. Finally, the concentration of AI infrastructure among a few Western firms poses a challenge of digital sovereignty, marginalizing languages such as Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Malay, and embedding secular assumptions—a dependency the ummah must address at its root, much as the isnād system once protected Islamic epistemology from adulteration. For general engagement, individual users are urged to cultivate verification (tabayyun) and resilience against misinformation; religious leaders should guide communities toward balanced use, review communal materials, and establish referral protocols; and professionals should advocate responsible design, test for anti-Muslim bias, build representative datasets, and pursue digital sovereignty. The overarching lesson is that a reactive posture is no longer tenable. The Islamic tradition, by foregrounding accountability before both society and God, offers a uniquely comprehensive alternative to purely legalistic approaches. Where credible and far-reaching harm exists, restraint outweighs speculative benefit. Realizing this vision requires institutionalization through a cross-disciplinary consortium of scholars, technologists, and legal experts to set standards and audit systems, ensuring these powerful tools serve not profit or power, but the genuine benefit of humanity. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/female-scholars-in-islamic-history-revisiting-their-pivotal-role # Female Scholars in Islamic History: Revisiting Their Pivotal Role **Author:** Jude Elziq **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization, Spread of Islam **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** April 30, 2026 **Updated:** May 7, 2026 ## Introduction Picture this: It is the nineteenth century, and we are seated in the halls of a European university library. This academic space is predominantly male-exclusive, its tall shelves lined with literature authored almost entirely by men. Between these shelves stands Ignác Goldziher, a Hungarian Orientalist renowned for his critical approach to Islamic sciences, sifting through a fifteenth-century Arabic text by the Egyptian scholar Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449). In his hands is *al-Durar al-kāmina*, a multivolume biographical dictionary that compiles structured accounts of individuals regarded as critical scholars in Islamic history. As Goldziher turns the pages of *al-Durar al-kāmina*, he is taken aback.[^1] He encounters something that directly disturbs the image he had conjured of the Islamic world. What was it that shocked him? The large number of *female* Muslim scholars. Entry after entry, female scholars from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries were heavily praised for their intellectual authority and influence in the transmission of traditional Islamic knowledge. Crucially, these women were not just a handful of unique outliers dispersed across time and geography. In this single work alone, Ibn Ḥajar devoted around two hundred entries to female scholars who had ascended to the heights of scholarship, many of whom were his own teachers. Engraved in the pages of this multivolume text were figures such as Sitt al-Wuzarāʾ bint ʿUmar ibn al-Munajja (d. 716/1316), who taught across Damascus and Egypt, attracting committed students who traversed far distances to study under her.[^2] Goldziher also read about the scholar Zaynab bint Abī al-Qāsim al-Shiʿriyya (d. 615/1218) from Nishapur, who possessed a vast number of *ijāzāt* (teaching qualifications), including one from the renowned exegete al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1143). Her expertise was eagerly sought after by leading scholars and jurists such as Ibn Khallikān (d. 681/1282).[^3] In the same manuscript, ʿĀʾisha bint ʿAbd al-Hādī (d. 816/1413) is praised as among the most distinguished scholars of hadith, while Juwayriyya bint Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 783/1381) is noted for teaching in the most prominent educational spaces of her time. The extent to which female scholars were esteemed for their authority and scholarly standing is vividly illustrated in the biographical literature of al-Dhahabī (d. 748/1348). In his entry on Zaynab bint al-Kamāl (d. 740/1339), he writes, “Whomsoever seeks the unparalleled prestige \[of *isnād*\], then let him hear from her, for if the seeker of knowledge travels for a month to hear one portion \[of her knowledge\], his journey would not be in vain.” Zaynab’s education reflected the breadth of the Islamic scholarly world and was shaped by teachers from Baghdad, Aleppo, Damascus, Alexandria, Ḥarrān, and Cairo.[^4] By the end of her life, contemporaries described her as possessing a “camel load of *ijāzāt*,” a phrase conveying both their vast number and their scholarly weight. Students from various cities flocked to attend her theological lectures, eager to learn from her directly.[^5] In addition to al-Dhahabī and Ibn Ḥajar, she granted *ijāzāt* to prominent scholars, including Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ṣafadī (d. 764/1363), Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355), and the famous historian Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (d. 770/1369).[^6] As evidenced from the words of early Islamic scholars, women did not merely contribute to Islamic knowledge; their role had consequential implications for the trajectory of the field. For instance, al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) states that upon the death of Amat al-Khāliq al-Dimashqiyya (d. 902/1496), “people fell one rank in hadith.”[^7] Similarly, al-Sakhāwī noted that the death of a single *muḥadditha* (female hadith scholar) adversely affected the transmission of hadith in Egypt.[^8] Such scholars were entrusted with transmitting vast collections of works on hadith and were deeply engaged in *fiqh* (jurisprudence), Qur’anic sciences, language, and grammar, contributing to the very foundations of the Islamic sciences. These testimonies underscore that women’s participation in Islamic scholarly circles was historically treated as normative rather than a challenge to orthodoxy.[^9] Their contributions to sacred knowledge followed the precedent set by the early female companions and *tābiʿīn* (successors), who held significant scholarly authority. This is exemplified by figures such as ʿAmra bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d. 106/724), a distinguished specialist in Islamic law raised and taught by one of the most authoritative transmitters of *fiqh* and hadith: ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr (d. 58/678), the Mother of the Believers.[^10] Traditional sources consistently regard ʿAmra as a *ḥujja* (a definitive authority) due to her extensive scholarship and position as a jurist. Why, then, does this well-documented historical reality drastically conflict with our contemporary imagination of the Muslim woman in Islamic history? And more critically, which authentic historical records allow us to reconstruct that past with accuracy and integrity? --- ## Historical erasure and constructing the subordinate portrait Muslim women have long been portrayed within Western colonial narratives as passive, voiceless, and socially inconsequential subjects. This view was shaped and reinforced by early European travelers, diplomats, and writers who documented and dramatized life in the East and women’s experiences within it.[^11] Claiming to “write about those who did not write about themselves,” they used such notions of passivity and lack of agency to engulf the image of the Muslim woman.[^12] At the crux of the colonial approach is the assumption that the Islamic tradition inhibits women’s agency, and that agency can only be attained by breaking free from the shackles of religious orthodoxy.[^13] Ultimately, these depictions of the “exotic Orient” served to entrench a clear ontological and epistemological distinction between women of the Islamic world and those of the Occident.[^14] Given that epistemic authority has been largely linked to one’s capacity to exercise, maintain, and perpetuate authority in society, assumptions of Muslim women’s social subordination seeped into perceptions of their role within religious scholarly circles.[^15] This widespread misconception led many to presume that materials documenting women as agents of knowledge were simply too rare to allow serious historical study.[^16] Consequently, it was claimed that the only historical accounts of women in Islamic history at our disposal were those coming from the pens of early European visitors.[^17] Fast forward to the most recent literature on gender and Islam: A popular and recurring theme has emerged under the banner of “twenty-first-century reinterpretations” or “feminist rereadings” of orthodox Islam and its associated texts. This body of work often rests on the ahistorical premise that religious material must be reinterpreted because women were historically excluded from scholarly circles. As a result, some academics have claimed that Muslim women in the past rarely attained religious education due to norms of the Islamic tradition that “inherently” prevent women’s participation.[^18] As a natural consequence of this dominant view, contemporary female Islamic scholarship has been labeled a product of Western feminism and twenty-first-century reform, and a protest against Islamic tradition.[^19] Such assumptions, which position female scholarship as foreign to the Islamic tradition, may have permeated some modern Muslim communities due to limited knowledge of Islamic historical records.[^20] This misunderstanding can have serious negative consequences, including a failure to recognize and grant due authority to qualified female scholars in Muslim communities today. As a remedy to this fractured view of the past, this article highlights two critical categories of resources authored and dictated by early Muslim scholars: Arabic biographical dictionaries and *ijāzāt al-samāʿ* (certificates of auditory transmission). Each will be explored in detail to elucidate how they can be employed in the reconstruction of historical scholarly portraits. Biographical dictionaries provide extensive data on scholarly networks of their respective periods, while *samāʿāt* manuscripts record the names of individuals who taught and studied specific texts, enabling the mapping of scholarly activity and patterns relating to age, gender, social structures, and the use of public and private learning spaces. It is within these collections that we find large-scale evidence of the presence of *muḥaddithāt, faqihāt* (female jurists)*, ʿālimāt* (female scholars)*,* and *shaykhāt* (female preachers) throughout Islamic history*.*[^21] Drawing from historical records that come directly from the Islamic scholarly tradition is valuable for the modern Muslim reader because they establish that female scholarship is firmly grounded in orthodox tradition, rather than being a construct of modern reinterpretation or external ideological projection. This methodological approach will be illustrated through a case study of one female scholar: Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr (d. 600/1203). --- ## Constructing her career: Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr One of the thousands of female scholars inked in Islamic history is Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr, a renowned hadith transmitter who traveled across the world for the purpose of seeking and spreading Islamic knowledge.[^22] She was born in China, east of Kashgar, in the year 522 AH.[^23] Described as the “venerable and righteous *shaykha*,” she began her journey of seeking knowledge in her hometown and later extended it to major intellectual centers such as Bukhara, Nishapur, and Isfahan, before continuing to areas such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo.[^24] She taught hadith widely, granting *ijāzāt* to students who then carried her knowledge to lands she herself had not yet traversed.[^25] Her father, Saʿd al-Khayr (d. 541/1146), was a well-established scholar, jurist, and *muḥaddith*. He played a pivotal role in ensuring Fāṭima’s education under the most qualified *shaykha*s (female scholars) and *shaykh*s (male scholars) of her time, even when this required embarking with her on long journeys.[^26] In accordance with the Islamic tradition, which regards the attainment of sacred knowledge as a revered obligation for both women and men, Saʿd al-Khayr took his daughter to study under the renowned scholar Fāṭima al-Jawzādāniyya (d. 524/1129) in Isfahan. Al-Dhahabī described al-Jawzādāniyya as “the best hadith narrator of her time.”[^27] Under her instruction, Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr studied Abū Qāsim Sulaymān al-Ṭabarānī’s (d. 360/918) *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr,* which spans thirty-seven printed volumes, as well as *al-Muʿjam al-saghīr,* which can be seen under her *isnād* (authorized chain of authority) to Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571/1176).[^28] After gaining expertise in these texts, she went on to transmit them across new regions, playing a significant role in their dissemination. After two years of study under al-Jawzādāniyya, she migrated with her father to Baghdad, where she studied under eighteen notable scholars. Among them was another female scholar, Karīma bint al-Ḥāfiẓ Abī Bakr ibn al-Khāḍiba (d. 527/1133), as well as Yaḥyā ibn al-Bannāʾ (d. 531/1136), Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥuṣayn (d. 525/1130), and Hibatullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ṭabbar (d. 531/1136).[^29] She received *ijāzāt* from various scholars of Baghdad, Isfahan, and Khurasan.[^30] She later settled in Cairo with her husband, Imam Zayn al-Dīn (d. 599/1202), where many students traveled specifically to study under her, and where she is widely recorded to have narrated hadith extensively.[^31] An assessment of the texts she studied highlights the depth and specificity of her knowledge in disciplines within the Islamic sciences. For instance, in the year 529/1134, she studied *Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn* of ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Dāraquṭnī (d. 385/995) from Shaykh Mansūr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Khayrūn (d. 539/1144).[^32] Al-Dāraquṭnī’s work is considered one of the most important texts in the science of hadith criticism and authentication, alongside his other seminal texts, including *Mizān al-iʿtidāl*, *Lisān al-mizān*, and *Tahdhīb al-kamāl.*[^33] Attaining knowledge of this text exemplifies her engagement with hadith criticism, a science requiring rigorous intellectual evaluation beyond mere transmission.[^34] Like many *muḥaddithāt* (female hadith transmitters), Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr critically engaged in*ʿilm al-dirāya* (the science of cognition).[^35] As a certified scholar of this text, she later became its teaching authority in Cairo.[^36] She also studied *al-Jāmiʿ al-akhlāq al-rāwī wa-ādāb al-sāmiʿ*, Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī’s (d. 463/1071) foundational work on the ethics and etiquette of hadith study, under Abū al-Qāsim al-Mubārak ibn Ḥasan (d. 372/982). Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr is described as having transmitted hadith “extensively,” many of which are compiled in al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Kabīr*, and the hadith compilations of al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Māja, Abū Yaʿlā, and Muslim.[^37] She transmitted various texts, including the hadith of al-Kharraqī (d. 334/945), al-Qudūrī (d. 428/1037), al-Abnūsī (d. 457/1065), and the *Musnad* of Abī Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī (d. 307/919), to name a few.[^38] Many prominent scholars studied such texts under her, including the jurist Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥamāthānī (d. 623/1226), ʿAbdullāh ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf al-Miṣrī (d. 592/1196), and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Makkī al-Saʿdī (d. 615/1218). Additionally, the likes of Abū Mūsā ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ (d. 629/1232), Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1194), and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muqarrab (d. 643/1245) narrated from her. She lived for seventy-eight years and granted an *ijāza* to Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Khayr Salāma (d. 678/1279), who was the final narrator to transmit from her before her death in the year 600 AH.[^39] Her career trajectory reflects a sustained commitment to scholarship through rigorous study under renowned scholars, extensive travel across vast distances to acquire and transmit knowledge, and the active support of her father in facilitating her early Islamic education. How did such a detailed scholarly record, including her qualifications, geographical movement, and her teachers come to light? An accurate scholarly portrait emerges through the careful synthesis of biographical dictionaries and *samāʿ* records, both of which will be examined in the sections that follow. --- ## The impetus for authentication: The genre of biographical texts The shelves of Islamic libraries are lined with extensive biographical literature that developed under the hands of early Muslim scholars in their efforts to authenticate hadith. While scholars explored the linguistic, theological, exegetical, and legal dimensions of hadith, a paramount scholarly effort was dedicated to its methods of transmission, compilation, and authentication.[^40] To establish the *isnād* (the chain of transmission) of a hadith, scholars were required to verify the reliability (*ʿadl*, *thiqa*) of every transmitter in its chain. As a result, multivolume works, comparable to encyclopedias, were composed to record meticulous details about hadith transmitters, including their dates of birth and death, travel histories, teachers from whom they received *ijāzāt*, students, areas of expertise, and character testimonials. Such information was essential for establishing *al-ittiṣāl* (the continuity of transmission within chains of narration) and for verifying the reliability and integrity of each transmitter. Thus, in efforts to ascertain the validity of the connections between *isnād* chains, the movement of sacred knowledge through time and space was carefully recorded and preserved in biographical dictionaries.[^41] Arabic biographical texts are primarily structured as retrospective indices documenting prominent individuals from the time of the Prophet ﷺ through the era of the biographer. These works are systematically organized according to various criteria, including personal name, geographical origin, chronological age, or, in certain instances, perceived notability.[^42] Among the earliest extant retrospective biographical collections is Ibn Saʿd’s (d. 230/845) *Kitāb al-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr.*[^43] The detailed records preserved by biographers concerning agents of knowledge transmission provide invaluable data on the pedagogical practices throughout Islamic history and serve as a major source for historical inquiry.[^44] Knowledge of genealogy (*nasab*) had long been a prominent feature of early Arabian society, where tracing individuals through family lineages and social networks was commonplace.[^45] This genealogical awareness is also reflected in biographical texts, in which scholars took care to meticulously identify individuals. For example, the full name of Fāṭima bint Abū al-Ḥasan Saʿd al-Khayr ibn Muḥammad ibn Sahl al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī al-Balansī, along with her dates of birth and death, is preserved in Ibn Nuqṭa’s (d. 629/1232) biographical dictionary titled *al-Taqyīd li-maʿrifat ruwāt al-sunan wa-l-masānīd.*[^46] This work, in particular, documents every narrator appearing in the six canonical hadith compilations.[^47] The testimonies compiled in this seminal text are an intrinsic part of the science of *jarḥ* (invalidating) and *taʿdīl* (validating), through which hadith narrators were evaluated for competence and integrity in knowledge transmission. Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī (d. 832/1429), in *Dhayl al-taqyīd fī ruwāt al-sunan wa-l-asānīd*, provides references for Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr drawn from eight different biographical dictionaries, including *al-Takmila li-wafayāt al-naqala*, *al-Taqyīd*, *Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ*, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, *Shadharāt al-dhahab*, *Tārīkh* *al-Dubaythī*, *al-Nujūm al-ẓāhira*, and *al-Wafayāt* of Ibn Rāfiʿ (d. 632/1234), all of which can be cross-examined.[^48] Each scholar from whom she studied and received an *ijāza* can also be identified in these biographical dictionaries, allowing her education to be verified. For instance, the biographical entry on ʿAbd al-Malik al-Khayrūn, under whom she studied  *Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn*, can be found in al-Dhahabī’s *Siyar*.[^49] Her extensive teaching of hadith in Cairo is specifically corroborated by both Ibn Nuqṭa (d. 629 /1232) and Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571/1175), among others.[^50] Her prominence and scholarly influence in Egypt is further attested by her inclusion in Ibn Taghrī Bardi’s *al-Nujūm al-ẓāhira* under the section documenting the most notable individuals in Egypt who died in the year 600 AH.[^51] Her father, Saʿd al-Khayr, is documented in multiple sources, including in Samʿānī’s *Kitab al-ansāb* and al-Dhahabī’s *Siyar* and *Tarīkh al-Islam*.[^52] These biographical entries elucidate that he taught the likes of Samʿānī (d. 562/1166) and Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571/1175).[^53] Mapping data on her family, teachers, and students thus provides a fuller understanding of her scholarly engagement and enables an evaluation of consistency and reliability across sources. In addition to Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr, biographical dictionaries serve as vast compendiums of data on various female agents of scholarly exchange.[^54] For instance, volume eight of *Kitāb at-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr* is dedicated exclusively to women and contains 629 biographical entries.[^55] In *al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba,* Ibn Ḥajar includes 1,551 entries on female scholars.[^56] Ibn ʿAsākir, who studied in all major centers of hadith, was taught by over 80 women.[^57] In his renowned text *Tarīkh Dimashq,* he presents the biographies of 200 female hadith experts who lived in or visited Damascus, including Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr.[^58] Al-Sakhāwī (d. 902/1497) includes 1,075 entries on women in *Kitāb al-ḍawʾ al-lāmiʿ li-ahl al-qarn al-tāsiʿ*.[^59] In Ibn Ḥajar’s *al-Muʿjam al-mufahras*, under the section delineating the *isnād*s for seminal books, the scholar Zaynab bint al-Kamāl appears in 37 separate entries, acting as a chain of authority. In total, she appears as an essential link in the *isnād* of around 140 seminal texts received by Ibn Ḥajar.[^60] While biographical dictionaries have long been employed for historical inquiry, critics have questioned their reliability due to the potential bias of a biographer’s own preoccupations and perceptions.[^61] However, what distinguishes Arabic biographical literature is the surplus of documentation that stretches over ten centuries, often covering the same individuals, which allows for extensive cross-examination.[^62] As mentioned above, Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr’s biography can be crossed-examined over eight independent biographical dictionaries, with each of her teachers’ biographies likewise assessable across texts. The corroboration of relevant sources filters out potentially biased or misleading data. Moreover, many biographical entries are constructed using various reports *(akhbār)*, with the relevant *isnād* listed to verify claims.[^63] Some critics have argued that because biographical dictionaries were authored by men, a male bias must necessarily underrepresent female scholarly achievement.[^64] However, a close reading of entries on female scholars in these male-authored works suggests that this assumption is largely unfounded. The biographers frequently noted the high caliber of female scholars, who were often the biographers’ own teachers, reflecting a historical context in which female scholarship was not framed as exceptional. Ibn Ḥajar, for instance, refers to his female teachers in the same manner as his male teachers, without any special justification or defense. Al-Sakhāwī composed biographical entries for forty-six female scholars from whom he personally received *ijāzāt*, as well as forty-three female scholars who taught his teachers, as well as nine other entries devoted to *muḥaddithat* who had taught his peers.[^65] Moreover, Ibn ʿAsākir authored a text dedicated to approximately eighty *muḥaddithat* from whom he narrated.[^66] Scholars such as Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350), Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 771/1369), al-Zarkashī (d. 794/1392), Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795/1393), and Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1372) likewise include accounts of female scholars that they received hadith from.[^67] Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328), who himself received hadith from female scholars, “praised some of them fulsomely,” highlighting their high level of knowledge, righteousness, and intelligence.[^68] Female scholars mentioned in Ibn Ḥajar’s *al-Durar* had received the titles of being the best hadith scholars in their respective period. Daqīqa bint Murshid (d. 746/1345) is similarly celebrated as a key *muḥadditha* who was educated by an array of other female scholars.[^69] Ibn al-ʿImād, al-Ṣafadī, and al-Dhahabī praise Umm al-Kirām al-Marwaziyya (d. 465/1073), attesting to her distinguished knowledge and accuracy in transmitting texts.[^70] Positive regard for female scholars is also expressed in earlier texts, such as in the biographical works of Ibn Hibbān (d. 354/965) and al-Mizzī (d. 742/1341), which record the narration of Hishām ibn Ḥassān (d. 147/764) regarding Ḥafṣa bint Sīrīn (d. 100/719). He is recorded to have said, “I did not meet anyone whom I can prefer over Ḥafṣa,” and when asked about al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said, “As for me, I do not prefer anyone over her,” thereby elevating her status above many notable scholars.[^71] The extensive data contained in biographical dictionaries represent a critical resource, demonstrating the methodological rigor of authentication within the Islamic sciences. Accuracy in defining historical practices is ascertained through corroboration across various sources and instruments.[^72] The value of biographical work is further heightened when paired with extant *samāʿāt* manuscripts. Historically appended to hadith texts, these manuscripts record details of when, where, and with whom a text was studied. Data from these extant manuscripts have been found to validate and complement narratives in biographical works, providing a more comprehensive insight into Islamic pedagogical practices—a topic that will be explored in the next section. --- ## Samāʿ records: Scenes from the past *Samāʿ* records are certificates that document the formal study and transmission of texts, derived from the term *samāʿ*, meaning “to hear.”[^73] They played a central role in the transmission of authentic books of hadith and other Islamic sciences. In a *samāʿ* gathering, students studied texts under teachers who held an *isnād* tracing back to the original authors.[^74] Typically, the *samāʿ* record was dictated by the certifier (*musmiʿ*) and appended to the studied text or written in the margins, specifying who was authorized to teach it.[^75] To ensure authenticity, meticulous records were kept noting the date, place of study, the exact portions of the text studied, details of the authorized teacher, and the full names of attendees. Genealogical naming conventions further supported accurate identification of individuals. When a student was said to have “heard” a text (*samiʿa* or *samiʿat*), it indicated that they had studied and mastered it. The verb “to have read” (*qaraʾa* or *qaraʾat*) signified training in recitation from memory.[^76] Authors or certified scholars could then grant authorization to students who demonstrated mastery through *qirāʾa* (recitation), thereby permitting them to transmit the text further. A typical introductory statement in a *samāʿ* record reads: > This text \[title and author\] was heard, under the authority of \[attending scholar\], in the lecture of \[lecturer\], by \[listeners\]; this is written by \[copyist\], who guarantees its correctness, in \[location\] on \[day, month, year\].[^77] The certifier (*musmiʿ*) dictated meticulous details of the gatherings, including the exact sections of texts studied, notes on students who arrived late or dozed off during lessons, or cases where mothers had to leave momentarily due to a crying child.[^78] Such details were included to clarify whether students properly received the content of the texts or if gaps existed in the process of transmission. Oftentimes, information on family relations and occupations would also be included.[^79] Due to their detailed documentation of hadith gatherings, *samāʿāt* records have also been used as corrective tools in sketching historical timelines. For the purposes of this study, testimonies gathered from biographical dictionaries pertaining to female scholarship can be ascertained through these records. For instance, Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr studied the text *al-Jāmiʿ al-akhlāq al-rawī wa-adāb al-sāmiʿ* by Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463/1071) under Abū al-Qāsim al-Mubārak, who had attained an *ijāza* from Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb*.* This transmission was delivered by Ḥāmid ibn Abī al-Fatḥ al-Madanī al-Iṣbahānī in the year 529/1134, specifically during the months of Rabīʿ al-Awwal and Rabīʿ al-Ākhir. This information can be found in the *samāʿ* record appended to the first *juzʾ* of al-Baghdādī’s text.[^80] Moreover, through a dated *samāʿ* record appended to the text, it can be delineated that Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr studied *Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn* by ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Dāraquṭnī (d. 385/995) from Mansūr ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Khayrūn (d. 539/1144) in the year 529/1134.[^81] In the following years, she is documented as a teaching authority for this text in another *samāʿ* record stating: > *Al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn* was taught by “the honorable *shaykha*,” who had studied under Ibn al-Khayrūn, who had heard from al-Jawharī with an *ijāza* from al-Dāraquṭnī.[^82] The manuscript also details that a large group attended her class in Cairo in the year 595/1199, listing each attending student by full name. Additionally, this manuscript affirms the claim of Ibn Nuqṭa, Ibn al-ʿImād, Ibn ʿAsākir, and al-Dhahabī that she transmitted hadith in Cairo.[^83] In this manner, the *samāʿ* records can be used in unison with biographical literature to consolidate our understanding of pedagogical practices of the past.[^84] Employing *samāʿ* records for historical inquiry is also effective due to the current access to large folios of manuscripts, many of which can be carbon-dated for authentication. In *Muʿjam samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya* (1996), approximately four thousand extant *samāʿ* manuscripts from Damascus have been compiled, recording the names of around fifty thousand men and women who engaged in hadith study from the sixth/twelfth to the eighth/fourteenth century.[^85] Many of these records have been analyzed and compiled into analytical indexes. Through this primary source material, researchers can reconstruct historical educational settings by identifying teachers, students, the texts studied, and the venues in which instruction occurred. The data provided in these extant records allow for mapping scholarly activity, as well as for quantitative study through sampling and deciphering trends pertaining to age, gender, social structures, and the historical use of private and public spaces. These sources are distinctive because they were originally produced to fulfill the practical and technical purposes of verifying the authenticity of knowledge transmission.[^86] Since the system of authentication was standardized across the Islamic world, these records enable historical inquiry across diverse geographical regions. Moreover, the *isnād* system, which endured across centuries and remained resilient to political and ideological shifts, allows scholarship to be traced across vast timelines. [^87] --- ## Damnatio memoriae and corrective historical revisionism Close your eyes and envision the honorable scholars of Islamic history who contributed to the development of the Islamic sciences. What image comes to mind? Most likely a male scholar draped in an elegant robe, bearing a long beard, and surrounded by his students. Yet after engaging deeply with the writings of renowned scholars, such as al-Dhahabī, Ibn Ḥajar, and al-Sakhāwī, we begin to see that alongside these honorable scholars existed a heavy presence of *muḥaddithāt*, *faqīhāt*, *ʿālimāt*, and *shaykhāt* who taught large numbers of students and transmitted Islamic knowledge across vast geographies. Their presence was never seen as a challenge to orthodoxy; on the contrary, they were praised in scholarly circles, and their knowledge was highly sought after, to the extent that many traveled for months to learn from them. Both the quantity and the high level of scholarship evident in their careers disrupts the prevailing view of Muslim women in scholarship as marginal and insignificant. Ultimately, if the names of women were removed from the *isnād*s of hadith and Islamic texts, many chains of transmission would be broken, rapidly impeding the spread of sacred knowledge. While the phrase *historical revisionism* holds both positive and negative connotations, it can be used to imply the “legitimate reassessment of the past.”[^88] A critical assessment of authentic sources inherent to Islamic pedagogy allows for a *corrective historical revisionism*, replacing preconceived notions with detailed historical accuracy, in which female scholars form essential chains within the Islamic sciences. The traditional authentic resources required to reconstruct an accurate historical portrait of the Muslim woman exist and are at our disposal; we need only to read, study, and immerse ourselves in them. In doing so, our historical memory of the giants who shaped the Islamic sciences will expand to include figures such as Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr, Zaynab bint al-Kamāl, and ʿAmra bint ʿAbd al-Rahmān. *Damnatio memoriae* is a Latin term referring to the intentional erasure of a person or event from history—with the caveat that, through surviving archival evidence, that person’s legacy can be revived against the odds. In the case of female scholarship, their contributions were never hidden; in fact, their names appear extensively throughout traditional Islamic texts. Yet the lack of research and meaningful engagement with these traditional sources has left their legacies largely unencountered by most people. Crucially, the construction of the past has a profound impact on the way individuals and societies understand and position themselves in the present.[^89] Correcting our historical memory of the Muslim woman not only provides a more accurate understanding of the Islamic intellectual tradition but also affirms the legitimacy and place for women within traditional Islamic scholarship today. --- ## Appendix *Samāʿ* Manuscript[^90] ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_2992-1024x816.jpeg) --- ## Notes [^1]: Ignác Goldziher, *Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien)*, trans. S. M. Stern and C. R. Barber (Allen & Unwin, 1967), 2:367. [^2]: Mohammad Akram Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt: The Women Scholars in Islam* (Interface Publications, 2013), 105. [^3]: Abū al-ʿAbbās Shams al-Dīn Ibn Khallikān, *Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ al-zamān* (Dār Ṣādir, 1900), 2:344; Goldziher, *Muslim Studies*, 367. [^4]: Asma Sayeed, *Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam* (Cambridge University Press, 2013), 164. [^5]: Goldziher, *Muslim Studies,* 367. [^6]: Sayeed, *Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge*, 164; Goldziher, *Muslim Studies,* 367. [^7]: After the tenth century AH, scholarship in the Islamic sciences, including hadith studies, experienced a general decline among both male and female scholars. Nevertheless, notable female scholars continued to make important contributions, including Quraysh al-Ṭabarīyya (d. 1107/1695), who is recognized for her role in reviving hadith studies in the Ḥijāz. For further discussion of female scholars from the Ṭabarī family, see Lamyaʾ Aḥmad al-Shāfiʿī, *The Position of Female Scholarship in the Meccan Arena, 7th–12th Century AH* (N.p., 2004). [^8]: Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī, *Kitāb al-ḍawʾ al-lāmiʿ li-ahl al-qarn al-tāsiʿ* (Maktabat al-Quds, 1934), 12:133; Ruth Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections: From Ibn Saʿd to Who’s Who* (Gorgias Press, 2018), 65. [^9]: Mona F. Hassan, “Relations, Narrations, and Judgments: The Scholarly Networks and Contributions of an Early Female Muslim Jurist,” *Islamic Law and Society* 22, no. 4 (2015): 360. [^10]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 19 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, 1997), 5:417. [^11]: Georgina Lock, *Performance and Performing in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s Letters from Istanbul* (Cambridge Scholars, 2011), 105; Eva Johanna Holmberg, *Outrageous Rites: Early Modern English Encounters with Levantine Religious Rituals* (Cambridge Scholars, 2011), 25. [^12]: Lock, *Performance and Performing*, 105. [^13]: Cynthia Nelson, *New Wine Old Bottles: Reflections and Projections Concerning Research on Women in Middle Eastern Studies* (Syracuse University Press, 1988), 113. [^14]: Min Pun, *The East-West Dichotomy: From Orientalism to Postcoloniality* (N.p., 2019), 75. [^15]: Pierre Bourdieu, *Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste*, trans. Richard Nice (Harvard University Press, 1984), 177–79; Michel Foucault, *The Archaeology of Knowledge*, trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith (Pantheon Books, 1972), 9–10; Edward W. Said, *Representations of the Intellectual:* *The 1993 Reith Lectures* (Vintage Books, 1994), 20–22. [^16]: Barbara D. Metcalf, “Review of *Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries,* edited by Nikki R. Keddie and Beth Baron,” *Middle Eastern Studies* 29, no. 3 (1993): 588. [^17]: Leila Ahmed, “Medieval Islam,” in *Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate* (Yale University Press, 1992), 121. [^18]: Hilary Kalmbach, “Social and Religious Change in Damascus: One Case of Female Islamic Religious Authority,” *British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies* 35, no. 1 (2008): 43. [^19]: Juliane Hammer, *American Muslim Women, Religious Authority, and Activism: More than a Prayer* (University of Texas Press, 2012), 100–124; Lisa Worthington, “Progressive Islam and Women’s Religious Leadership,” *Journal for the Academic Study of Religion* 29, no. 2 (2016): 167–81. [^20]: This statement represents a preliminary observation by the author and warrants further qualitative research. [^21]: Omaima Abou-Bakr, “Teaching the Words of the Prophet,” *Hawwa 1*, no. 3 (2003): 307. [^22]: Akram Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ* (Dār Al Minhāj, 2021), 19:62. [^23]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 19:62. [^24]: Al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 21:413. [^25]: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Ghanī Ibn Nuqṭa al-Ḥanbalī al-Baghdādī, *al-Taqyīd li-maʿrifat ruwāt al-sunan wa-l-masānīd* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1988), 498–99; Nadwi, *al-Muḥaddithāt*, 93: “Many travelled to hear from her.” [^26]: Zakī al-Dīn al-Mundhirī, *al-Takmila li-wafayāt al-naqala* (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1981), 2:14. [^27]: Al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 19:504. [^28]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 64. [^29]: Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī, *Tārīkh al-Islām* (Maktabat al-Tawfīqiyya, 2006), 469. [^30]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 64. [^31]: Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, *Shadharāt al-dhahab*, 4:347; Ibn Nuqṭa, *al-Taqyīd*, 25:499. [^32]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 76. [^33]: Al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 16:450. [^34]: Abou-Bakr*, Teaching the Words of the Prophet*, 316. [^35]: Abou-Bakr*, Teaching the Words of the Prophet*, 316. [^36]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ,* 64. [^37]: Al-Mundhirī, *al-Takmila li-wafayāt al-naqala*, 2:14. [^38]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 91–94. See also al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 12228; *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1403; *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 2687, *bāb al-qadar*; *Musnad Abī Yaʿlā*, no. 6452; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2664, *kitāb al-qadar*. [^39]: Al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 21:413. [^40]: Mustafa A. Shah, “Ḥadīth, Language of,” in *Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics*, ed. Lutz Edzard and Rudolf de Jong (Brill, 2011), 1. [^41]: Michael Cooperson, “Ibn Hanbal and Bishr al-Hafi: A Case Study in Biographical Traditions,” *Studia Islamica* 86 (1997): 71–101, 72. [^42]: Michael Cooperson, *Classical Arabic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age of al-Maʾmūn* (Cambridge University Press, 2000), 10. [^43]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 4. [^44]: Nadia El Cheikh, *Professional Mobility and Social Capital: A Note on the Muḥaddithāt in Kitāb Tārīkh Baghdād* (Brill, 2021), 40; Mohamad El-Merheb, *Introduction Professional Mobility as a Defining Characteristic of Pre-Modern Islamic Societies* (Brill, 2021), 1. [^45]: Cooperson, *Classical Arabic Biography*, 2. [^46]: Ibn Nuqṭa al-Ḥanbalī al-Baghdādī, *al-Taqyīd*, 25:499. [^47]: Ibn Nuqṭa al-Ḥanbalī al-Baghdādī, *al-Taqyīd*, 1:1. [^48]: Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī, *Dhayl al-taqyīd fī ruwāt al-sunan wa-l-asānīd* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1990), 2:391. [^49]: Al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 20:23–28. [^50]: Ibn Nuqṭa al-Ḥanbali al-Baghdādī, *al-Taqyīd*, 25:499; Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir, *Kitāb tārīkh Dimashq* (Dār al-Fikr, 1995), 70:25. [^51]: Ibn al-ʿImād, *Shadharāt al-dhahab*, 10:12 [^52]: Abū Saʿd al-Samʿānī, *Kitāb al-anṣāb* (Ibn Taymiyya Library, 1984), 2:297. [^53]: Al-Samʿānī, *Kitāb al-anṣāb*, 2:297. [^54]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 2. [^55]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 3. [^56]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 3. [^57]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 3. [^58]: Ibn ʿAsākir, *Kitāb tārīkh Dimashq*, 70:25; Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi, *Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development and Special Features* (The Islamic Texts Society, 1993), 117. [^59]: Al-Sakhāwī, *Kitāb al-ḍawʾ al-lāmiʿ*, 12:133. [^60]: Sayeed, *Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge*, 167. [^61]: Amira Naim Abou-Taleb, “Gender Discourse in Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra: Deconstructing Ibn Sa'd’s Portrayal of the Model Muslim Woman” (master's thesis, American University in Cairo, 2012), AUC Knowledge Fountain, 31. [^62]: Abou-Taleb, “Gender Discourse in Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra,” 31. [^63]: Abou-Taleb, “Gender Discourse in Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra,” 46. [^64]: Nadia El Cheikh, *Reading Women and Gender in Early Islam* (Mujadilah, 2024), 2. [^65]: Roded, *Women in Islamic Biographical Collections*, 73. [^66]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 141. [^67]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 141. [^68]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 141. [^69]: Goldziher, *Muslim Studies*, 367. [^70]: Al-Dhahabī, *Tārīkh al-Islām*, 233; Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, *Shadharāt al-dhahab*, 3:314. [^71]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 57. [^72]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 57. [^73]: George Makdisi, *The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West* (Edinburgh University Press, 1981), 140–41. [^74]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 85. [^75]: Stefan Leder, Yāsīn Muḥammad al-Sawwās, and Maʾmūn al-Ṣāgharjī, eds., *Muʿjam al-samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya* (Institut Français de Damas, 1996), “Muqaddima,” 29. [^76]: Makdisi, *Rise of Colleges*, 140–41. [^77]: See the Appendix. Makdisi, *Rise of Colleges*, 140–41. [^78]: Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 89. [^79]: Leder et al., *Muʿjam al-samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya*, 29. [^80]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ,* 77. [^81]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 76. [^82]: Nadwī, *al-Wafāʾ bi-asmāʾ al-nisāʾ*, 76. [^83]: Ibn Nuqṭa al-Ḥanbali al-Baghdadī, *al-Taqyīd*, 25:499; Ibn ʿAsākir, *Kitāb tārīkh Dimashq*, 70:25; al-Dhahabī, *Kitāb tārīkh al-Islām*, 469, 591–600. [^84]: Sayeed, *Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge*, 164–68. [^85]: Leder et al., *Muʿjam al-samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya,* 27. [^86]: Huda Lutfi, “Al-Sakhawi’s *Kitab al-Nisaʾ* as a Source for the Social and Economic History of Muslim Women During the 15th Century A.D.,” *The Muslim World* 71, no. 2 (1981): 106. [^87]: Sayeed, *Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge*, 152. [^88]: Michal Kopeček, *Past in the Making: Historical Revisionism in Central Europe After 1989* (Central European University Press, 2008), 2. [^89]: Geoff Eley, “The Past Under Erasure? History, Memory, and the Contemporary,” *Journal of Contemporary History* 46, no. 3 (2011): 556. [^90]: Leder et al., *Muʿjam al-samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya,* 111,  ms. 3778, *risāla* 7, *samāʿ* 1 and 7, *waraqa* 79a and 85b. Referenced in Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddithāt*, 76. ## Summary The historical record preserved by the early scholars of Islam bears witness to a reality that many today find surprising: Muslim women were, across the centuries, active and honored participants in the transmission of sacred knowledge. When the Orientalist Ignác Goldziher examined Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī's (d. 852/1449) biographical dictionary *al-Durar al-kāmina*, he was struck to find roughly two hundred entries devoted to female scholars praised for their intellectual authority, many of whom were Ibn Ḥajar's own teachers. These were not scattered exceptions but a sustained presence stretching from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. Among them were figures such as Sitt al-Wuzarāʾ bint ʿUmar (d. 716/1316), who taught in Damascus and Egypt; Zaynab bint Abī al-Qāsim al-Shiʿriyya (d. 615/1218) of Nishapur, who held an *ijāza* from the exegete al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1143) and was sought out by jurists such as Ibn Khallikān (d. 681/1282); ʿĀʾisha bint ʿAbd al-Hādī (d. 816/1413); and Juwayriyya bint Aḥmad (d. 783/1381). The esteem in which such women were held is plain in the words of the scholars themselves. Al-Dhahabī (d. 748/1348), writing of Zaynab bint al-Kamāl (d. 740/1339), said, "Whomsoever seeks the unparalleled prestige [of *isnād*], then let him hear from her, for if the seeker of knowledge travels for a month to hear one portion [of her knowledge], his journey would not be in vain." Her contemporaries described her as possessing a "camel load of *ijāzāt*," and she granted authorizations to major scholars including al-Ṣafadī (d. 764/1363), Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355), and the traveler Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (d. 770/1369). So consequential was this participation that al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) remarked that upon the death of Amat al-Khāliq al-Dimashqiyya (d. 902/1496), "people fell one rank in hadith," while al-Sakhāwī noted that the death of a single *muḥadditha* harmed hadith transmission in Egypt. These women were engaged not only in hadith but in *fiqh*, Qurʾanic sciences, language, and grammar. Such participation was treated as normative rather than as a challenge to orthodoxy, following the precedent of the female Companions and *tābiʿīn*. A clear example is ʿAmra bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d. 106/724), a jurist raised and taught by ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr (d. 58/678), the Mother of the Believers, and regarded in the traditional sources as a *ḥujja*, a definitive authority. The question, then, is why this documented reality conflicts so sharply with the contemporary imagination of the Muslim woman, and which authentic records permit us to reconstruct that past faithfully. A large part of the answer lies in a distorted picture inherited from Western colonial narratives, which portrayed Muslim women as passive, voiceless, and socially inconsequential. Early European travelers, diplomats, and writers claimed to "write about those who did not write about themselves," and at the heart of their approach lay the assumption that the Islamic tradition itself inhibits women's agency, such that agency could only be gained by breaking free from religious orthodoxy. Because epistemic authority was tied to social authority, the presumption of women's social subordination seeped into perceptions of their place in religious scholarship. This bred the false belief that materials documenting women as agents of knowledge were too rare for serious study, and that the only records available were those written by European visitors. This same premise underlies a strand of recent "feminist rereadings" of orthodox Islam, which rest on the ahistorical claim that women were excluded from scholarly circles by norms said to be inherent to the tradition. As a result, female Islamic scholarship has sometimes been mislabeled as a product of Western feminism and modern reform, a view that may have spread among some Muslims due to unfamiliarity with the historical record, and which risks the failure to grant qualified female scholars their due authority today. As a remedy, two categories of sources authored and dictated by the early scholars themselves prove decisive: Arabic biographical dictionaries and *ijāzāt al-samāʿ*, the certificates of auditory transmission. Biographical dictionaries preserve extensive data on scholarly networks, while *samāʿāt* manuscripts record who taught and studied specific texts, enabling scholars to map activity across age, gender, social structures, and learning spaces. Drawing on these records establishes that female scholarship is firmly grounded in the orthodox tradition rather than a modern construct or an external ideological projection. This method is illustrated through the career of Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr (d. 600/1203), a renowned hadith transmitter born in China, east of Kashgar, in 522 AH, and described as the "venerable and righteous *shaykha*." Her father, Saʿd al-Khayr (d. 541/1146), himself a scholar and *muḥaddith*, ensured her education under the most qualified teachers, undertaking long journeys with her—in keeping with the tradition's regard for sacred knowledge as an obligation upon women and men alike. In Isfahan she studied under Fāṭima al-Jawzādāniyya (d. 524/1129), whom al-Dhahabī called "the best hadith narrator of her time," reading al-Ṭabarānī's *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr* and *al-Muʿjam al-saghīr*. She then studied in Baghdad under eighteen scholars, including the female scholar Karīma bint al-Ḥāfiẓ Abī Bakr (d. 527/1133), and later settled in Cairo, where she narrated hadith extensively. Her study of al-Dāraquṭnī's (d. 385/995) *Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn* shows engagement with *ʿilm al-dirāya* and hadith criticism, not mere transmission, and she later became a teaching authority for that very text in Cairo. She lived seventy-eight years and granted her final *ijāza* to Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Khayr Salāma (d. 678/1279). The recovery of such a detailed portrait rests first on the genre of biographical literature, which developed in the effort to authenticate hadith transmitters. Fāṭima's full lineage and dates appear in Ibn Nuqṭa's (d. 629/1232) *al-Taqyīd*, a work documenting the narrators of the six canonical collections and bound up with the science of *jarḥ* and *taʿdīl*. Al-Fāsī (d. 832/1429) cites her across eight biographical dictionaries, allowing cross-examination, and each of her teachers can likewise be verified in these works. This surplus of documentation, stretching over ten centuries and often covering the same person, distinguishes the Arabic tradition and filters out potential bias, since entries are frequently built upon reports (*akhbār*) with their *isnād* listed. The claim that male authorship must have suppressed female achievement is not borne out: Ibn Ḥajar refers to his female teachers as he does his male ones, without special justification; al-Sakhāwī composed entries for forty-six female scholars from whom he took *ijāzāt*; and Ibn ʿAsākir, taught by over eighty women, devoted a work to the *muḥaddithāt* from whom he narrated and recorded two hundred in his *Tārīkh Dimashq*. Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328), who himself received hadith from women, "praised some of them fulsomely." Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354/965) and al-Mizzī (d. 742/1341) preserve the words of Hishām ibn Ḥassān concerning Ḥafṣa bint Sīrīn (d. 100/719): "I did not meet anyone whom I can prefer over Ḥafṣa," ranking her above notable scholars. The second category, the *samāʿ* record, is a certificate documenting the formal study of a text, derived from *samāʿ*, "to hear." Dictated by the certifier (*musmiʿ*) and appended to the studied text, it recorded the date, place, portions studied, the authorized teacher, and the full names of attendees—even noting latecomers, those who dozed, or a mother who left for a crying child. Such records confirm the biographical testimony: a dated *samāʿ* shows Fāṭima studying al-Baghdādī's (d. 463/1071) *al-Jāmiʿ li-akhlāq al-rāwī* in 529/1134, and another shows her teaching *Ḍuʿafāʾ wa-l-matrukīn* to a large, named gathering in Cairo in 595/1199, corroborating Ibn Nuqṭa, Ibn al-ʿImād, Ibn ʿAsākir, and al-Dhahabī. Because the system of authentication was standardized across the Islamic world and the *isnād* endured through political and ideological change, these records permit inquiry across regions and centuries; the *Muʿjam samāʿāt al-Dimashqiyya* alone compiles some four thousand manuscripts naming around fifty thousand men and women. What emerges is not the invention of a new past but its faithful recovery—a corrective reading in which women form essential links in the chains of the Islamic sciences. Were their names struck from the *isnāds*, many chains would break and the transmission of sacred knowledge would be impeded. Their legacy was never truly hidden; it lies openly in the traditional texts, awaiting only careful study, so that the memory of figures such as Fāṭima bint Saʿd al-Khayr, Zaynab bint al-Kamāl, and ʿAmra bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān may take its rightful place, affirming the legitimacy of women within traditional Islamic scholarship. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-silence-is-not-neutral-the-bystander-effect-and-moral-responsibility-in-islam # Why Silence Is Not Neutral: The Bystander Effect and Moral Responsibility in Islam **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Analysis, Ethics **Published:** April 29, 2026 **Updated:** June 30, 2026 Centuries before modern psychology named the bystander effect, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ articulated a moral framework that directly addressed its dangers. He said: > The parable of those who respect the limits of Allah and those who violate them is that of people who board a ship after casting lots. Some of them reside on its upper deck and others on its lower deck. When those on the lower deck want water, they pass by those above them and say, “If we tear a hole in the bottom of the ship, we will not harm those above us.” If those on the upper deck let them do what they want, they will all be destroyed together. But if they restrain them, they will all be saved together.[^1] The bystander effect is a well-documented phenomenon in social psychology describing how the presence of a crowd reduces the likelihood that any one individual will intervene in a harmful or emergency situation. Rather than increasing safety, the presence of others often diffuses responsibility, leading each observer to assume that someone else will act. Decades of experimental research show that people are significantly more likely to help when they are alone than when they are part of a group, even when they experience empathy or moral concern. Importantly, then, the bystander effect does not arise from cruelty or indifference. It arises from uncertainty, conformity, and social pressure that quietly paralyzes moral action.[^2] But while psychology explains why people hesitate, it does not resolve the ethical question of whether silence and inaction are morally acceptable when harm is clearly unfolding. The Prophetic parable of the ship reframes moral responsibility as collective and unavoidable. Harm is never isolated or limited to others. Silence is not neutral. The failure of the upper deck is not active wrongdoing, but wrongful inaction. Survival depends not just on avoiding sin personally, but also on restraining harm whenever and wherever it appears. --- ## Enjoining good, forbidding evil, and the danger of passive faith The image of the ship powerfully anticipates what psychology would later describe as diffusion of responsibility, while rejecting it as morally insufficient. This hadith importantly supports the repeated calls to action presented in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The Qur’an grounds this interventionist ethic in obligation rather than personal preference. Allah describes the believing community as the best brought forth for humanity because they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong,[^3] establishing moral intervention as a defining feature of faith. The Prophet ﷺ made this obligation even more explicit when he said: “Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable, then with his tongue. If he is unable, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith.”[^4] This hadith directly confronts passive bystandership. The Prophet ﷺ does not present moral response as a binary of action or silence. Instead, he outlines a hierarchy of responsibility. Physical intervention comes first when it is safe and possible. Verbal objection follows when physical action is not feasible. Only when both are genuinely impossible does internal rejection suffice, and even then it is described as the weakest expression of faith. In this framing, silent disapproval is not praised, only tolerated as a last resort. The hadith serves as a clear admonition against normalizing passivity, especially when harm is visible and preventable, a principle reinforced by the Qur’anic command to uphold justice even when doing so implicates ourselves or those closest to us: “O you who believe, stand firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves, or parents, or close relatives.”[^5] --- ## Affiliation, identity, and selective intervention Bibb Latané and John Darley first identified the bystander effect through controlled laboratory experiments. They demonstrated that diffusion of responsibility, fear of social judgment, and pluralistic ignorance (a social psychological phenomenon where members of a group privately reject a norm, but incorrectly assume that most others accept it, leading them to publicly conform to it) play central roles in suppressing intervention. Subsequent research added nuance to this picture by explaining why intervention often fails unevenly. People are significantly more likely to help those they perceive as belonging to their in-group. A 2021 virtual reality study by Rovira and colleagues demonstrated that participants intervened faster and more frequently when the victim shared their social identity. When the victim was perceived as an outsider, hesitation increased, even when the severity of harm remained the same.[^6] The bystander effect is especially likely when harm is directed at visibly vulnerable groups. In many Western contexts, Muslim women who wear hijab are disproportionately targeted for verbal harassment, intimidation, and physical assault. Numerous documented incidents show sisters being shoved, spat on, threatened, or publicly humiliated in transit stations, on campuses, or on streets while crowds look on and do nothing. Psychologically, these situations are textbook bystander scenarios. Witnesses may feel uncertain, fear escalation, assume authorities will intervene, or interpret others’ silence as a cue that action is unnecessary. Social identity dynamics also play a role. When a victim is perceived as part of an out-group, empathy may be dampened and moral responsibility further diffused. From a Prophetic perspective, this silence is not neutral. The hadith of the ship applies directly. Allowing harm to continue because it appears to affect only one person, or one group, ignores the broader moral damage being inflicted on the community. The Prophet ﷺ consistently emphasized the protection of the vulnerable and condemned injustice regardless of who committed it or who suffered from it. To witness such harm and remain passive is to accept a tear in the shared vessel. --- ## Social media and the digital bystander effect Social media introduces a new dimension to the bystander effect. Harm is often witnessed through screens, sometimes by thousands at once. Videos of harassment, humiliation, or violence involving Muslim women and other marginalized groups can circulate rapidly before being removed, turning suffering into content. Rather than mobilizing collective action, these platforms often amplify the diffusion of responsibility and reward documentation over intervention. When thousands are watching, individual responsibility feels diluted. The act of recording, rather than intervening, may be driven by the pursuit of social attention and peer approval. A 2016 investigation by *The Huffington Post* examined cases in which sexual assaults were filmed and shared rather than stopped. Psychological experts cited in the article noted that peer approval, attention seeking, and the pursuit of online visibility can override empathic responses, particularly among adolescents and young adults.[^7] They noted that young people, in particular, are susceptible to this dynamic, as validation from peers strongly shapes behavior during adolescence and emerging adulthood. From a Prophetic perspective, witnessing harm without acting when action is possible is morally consequential, regardless of whether the harm unfolds on a street or on a screen. --- ## Evidence-based interventions and Prophetic alignment Psychological research offers practical strategies for reliably reducing bystander inaction. Responsibility framing, which reminds individuals that they are personally accountable, significantly increases intervention rates.[^8] This mirrors the Prophetic insistence that responsibility cannot be outsourced to the group or another group, for that matter. Skills-based bystander intervention training reduces fear and hesitation by equipping people with concrete ways to act safely. This aligns with the Islamic emphasis on knowledge as a prerequisite for ethical conduct. Mental rehearsal also plays a powerful role. Individuals who imagine themselves intervening are more likely to act when real situations arise. The Qur’an and Sunnah repeatedly use parables and moral scenarios to cultivate readiness before crisis unfolds. --- ## Choosing action over silence The bystander effect thrives in ambiguity, distance, and collective silence. The Prophetic framework confronts it with clarity, responsibility, and moral courage. The parable of the ship leaves no room for comfortable neutrality. The hadith on forbidding evil leaves no room for passive faith. Allah commands this same moral responsibility in the Qur’an: “O you who believe, stand firmly for justice as witnesses for Allah, even if it is against yourselves or your parents and relatives.”[^9] This verse removes the final barrier to intervention. It calls the believer to act not only when it is easy, but even when it is uncomfortable, socially costly, or personally difficult. Either harm is restrained, or everyone sinks. Either action is taken, or silence becomes complicity. In an age marked by public harassment, online cruelty, and normalized spectatorship (often via the lens of a phone), this guidance is urgently relevant. Faith is not passive. Moral excellence is measured by the willingness to act when the ship begins to take on water—or before its protective hull is even pierced. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *Kitāb al-shirka*, no. 2493. [^2]: Bibb Latané and John M. Darley, *The Unresponsive Bystander: Why Doesn’t He Help?* (Appleton-Century Crofts, 1970). [^3]: Qur’an 3:110. [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, *Kitāb al-īmān*, no. 49. [^5]: Qur’an 4:135. [^6]: Aitor Rovira, Richard Southern, David Swapp, Claire Campbell, Jian J. Zhang, Mark Levine, and Mel Slater, “Bystander Affiliation Influences Intervention Behavior: A Virtual Reality Study,” *Journal of Experimental Social Psychology* 95 (2021): 104117. [^7]: Tyler Kingkade, “Why Would Anyone Film a Rape and Not Try to Stop It?,” *Huffington Post*, April 21, 2016, [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-film-a-rape\_n\_5717b957e4b0c9244a7a8e07](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-film-a-rape_n_5717b957e4b0c9244a7a8e07&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1777480203015153&usg=AOvVaw3y1wtvG5x-5VKgkaQ_uTzh). [^8]: Peter Fischer, Joachim I. Krueger, Tobias Greitemeyer, Claudia Vogrincic, Andreas Kastenmüller, Dieter Frey, Moritz Heene, Magdalena Wicher, and Martina Kainbacher, “The Bystander Effect: A Meta Analytic Review,” *Psychological Bulletin* 137, no. 4 (2011): 517–37. [^9]: Qur’an 4:135. ## Summary Centuries before modern social psychology gave a name to what is now called the "bystander effect," the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ set forth a moral framework that spoke directly to its dangers. He drew a parable of a group of people who boarded a ship after casting lots, some settling on the upper deck and others on the lower. When those below wished to draw water, they considered boring a hole in the bottom of the ship so as not to trouble those above them. The Prophet ﷺ taught that if those on the upper deck permitted this, all would perish together, but if they restrained the others, all would be saved together. This parable establishes a central truth: harm is never truly isolated to some while sparing others, and silence in the face of destruction is not a neutral stance. Modern research describes the bystander effect as a well-documented phenomenon in which the presence of a crowd reduces the likelihood that any individual will step forward to help. Rather than increasing safety, the presence of others diffuses responsibility, so that each person assumes another will act. Studies show people are far more likely to help when alone than when part of a group, even when they feel empathy or moral concern. Significantly, this hesitation does not arise from cruelty or indifference, but from uncertainty, conformity, and social pressure that quietly paralyze moral action. Yet while psychology explains why people hesitate, it does not settle the ethical question of whether such silence is acceptable when harm is clearly unfolding. The Prophetic parable of the ship answers this by reframing moral responsibility as collective and unavoidable, and by making clear that the failure of the upper deck, though not active wrongdoing, is still wrongful inaction. This interventionist ethic is grounded in obligation rather than personal preference. Allah describes the believing community as the best brought forth for humanity precisely because they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, thereby making moral intervention a defining feature of faith. The Prophet ﷺ made this duty even more explicit when he said, "Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable, then with his tongue. If he is unable, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith." This teaching directly confronts passive bystandership. Rather than presenting a simple choice between action and silence, the Prophet ﷺ outlines a hierarchy of responsibility: physical intervention first, when it is safe and possible; verbal objection when physical action is not feasible; and only when both are genuinely impossible does inward rejection suffice, and even then it is named the weakest expression of faith. In this framing, silent disapproval is not praised but merely tolerated as a last resort. This principle is further reinforced by the Qur'anic command to uphold justice even when it implicates ourselves or those closest to us: "O you who believe, stand firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves, or parents, or close relatives." The findings of psychology add nuance to why intervention often fails unevenly. Bibb Latané and John Darley first identified the bystander effect through controlled experiments, showing that diffusion of responsibility, fear of social judgment, and pluralistic ignorance—where members of a group privately reject a norm yet wrongly assume most others accept it—all suppress intervention. Later research revealed that people are significantly more likely to help those they perceive as belonging to their in-group. A 2021 virtual reality study by Rovira and colleagues found that participants intervened faster and more often when the victim shared their social identity, and hesitated more when the victim was perceived as an outsider, even when the harm was equally severe. Such dynamics are especially pronounced when harm targets visibly vulnerable groups. In many Western settings, Muslim women who wear hijab are disproportionately subjected to verbal harassment, intimidation, and physical assault, and documented incidents describe them being shoved, spat upon, threatened, or humiliated in public while crowds look on and do nothing. These situations follow the textbook pattern of bystander scenarios: witnesses may feel uncertain, fear escalation, assume authorities will act, or read the silence of others as a sign that action is unnecessary, while social identity dynamics further dampen empathy when the victim is seen as an outsider. From the Prophetic vantage point, this silence is not neutral. The parable of the ship applies directly, for allowing harm to persist because it seems to affect only one person or one group ignores the broader damage to the whole community. To witness such harm and remain passive is to accept a tear in the shared vessel. Social media introduces a further dimension. Harm is now often witnessed through screens by thousands at once, and videos of harassment or violence can circulate widely before being removed, turning suffering into content. Rather than mobilizing collective action, these platforms often amplify the diffusion of responsibility and reward documentation over intervention. When thousands are watching, individual responsibility feels diluted, and the act of recording may be driven by the pursuit of attention and peer approval. A 2016 investigation by The Huffington Post examined cases in which assaults were filmed and shared rather than stopped, citing psychological experts who noted that peer approval, attention seeking, and the pursuit of online visibility can override empathic responses, particularly among adolescents and young adults for whom peer validation strongly shapes behavior. From the Prophetic perspective, witnessing harm without acting when action is possible is morally consequential, whether the harm unfolds on a street or on a screen. Research also offers practical strategies to reduce bystander inaction. Responsibility framing, which reminds individuals that they are personally accountable, raises intervention rates and mirrors the Prophetic insistence that responsibility cannot be outsourced to the group. Skills-based training reduces fear and hesitation by equipping people to act safely, aligning with the Islamic emphasis on knowledge as a prerequisite for ethical conduct. Mental rehearsal, too, plays a role, as those who imagine themselves intervening are more likely to act, much as the Qur'an and Sunnah use parables and moral scenarios to cultivate readiness before crisis strikes. The bystander effect thrives in ambiguity, distance, and collective silence, but the Prophetic framework confronts it with clarity, responsibility, and moral courage. The parable of the ship leaves no room for comfortable neutrality, and the hadith on forbidding evil leaves no room for passive faith. Allah's command to stand firmly for justice as witnesses even against ourselves, our parents, and our relatives removes the final barrier to intervention, calling the believer to act even when it is uncomfortable or costly. Either harm is restrained, or everyone sinks. Faith is not passive, and moral excellence is measured by the willingness to act when the ship begins to take on water, or before its hull is even pierced. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/post-ramadan-highs-and-lows-how-to-protect-your-faith-in-4-steps-blog # Post-Ramadan Highs and Lows: How to Protect Your Faith in 4 Steps | Blog **Author:** Tarek Ghanem **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** faith, Ramadan **Published:** April 19, 2026 **Updated:** April 21, 2026 Ever wondered why our experience in the last ten days of Ramadan, or on its 27th night, diminishes so quickly after the month ends? Where do the light, faith, inspiration to do more, and sense of elation go? Why is it that they are sometimes overtaken by sluggishness, boredom, spiritual emptiness, and lack of commitment to perform acts of worship and refrain from what is religiously prohibited? --- ## 1\. Understand the lows Before engaging with these fluctuations, we must understand that they are natural. To begin with, “Allah alone withholds \[*yaqbid*\] and lavishes \[*yabsut*\].”[^1] Since Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is transcendent and not subject to any influences, He does not change. We, on the other hand, are constantly subject to change and alternation in our inner world and external conditions. The contraction (*qabd*) cited in the verse, marked by convulsion, restraint, and depression, and the expansion (*bast*), manifested by acceleration, relief, and a sense of elation, are both part and parcel of our human condition. *Qabd* and *bast* alternate within and without us, especially in our inner lives, like night and day, as Qur’an exegete Ibn ʿAjiba notes.[^2] The companion Hanzala ibn al-Rabiʿ al-Usaydi, may Allah be well pleased with him, was so frustrated by these spiritual ups and downs that he complained to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be well pleased with him. The two went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As soon as they met him, Hanzala declared, “Hanzala became a hypocrite, Messenger of Allah!” He proceeded to explain, “When we are with you, you remind us of the Hellfire and Paradise; it is as if we see them with our own eyes. When we leave you, we flounder with wives, children, and estates, so forget much.” Prophetic guidance and wisdom came swiftly, enlightening and relevant, answering these pressing questions about spiritual fluctuation. “By the One in whose hand is my soul! If you were to persist with what you are when you are with me and with remembrance \[*dhikr*\], angels would shake your hands while you are on your cushions and on the streets. However, Hanzala, it is one time \[this way\], and one time \[that way\]!”[^3] The Messenger ﷺ even repeated this last part three times. It is perfectly natural to experience these spiritual ups and downs. They make us human, for good or bad, and make us cognizant of our need for divine assistance and guidance. It is no wonder that one of the most recited Prophetic supplications is “O Turner of Hearts, fix my heart on Your religion.”[^4] But how can we protect ourselves from the influence of these spiritually low moments? How can we be certain that they will not drag us down into a bottomless spiral of spiritual stagnation, sins, or even loss of faith? A tremendously beneficial but lesser-known hadith, which lies at the heart of maintaining a religious practice immune to the effects of these pendulum-like shifts, is the following: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Every action has an uptick \[*shirra*\]. Every uptick has a flat plane \[*fatra*\]. So whoever’s *fatra* is directed toward my Sunnah shall succeed. Whoever’s *fatra* is to other than that shall perish.”[^5] This piece of Prophetic guidance offers a practical and radical cure for our spiritual lows. It instructs us that there must be religious works—in this case, the confirmed supererogatory acts of the Sunnah—that are the life buoy that can pull us through, if only by sending a signal to our subconscious that my commitment to this religion stands above and beyond the joys of spiritual highs or the pain of the lows. This consistency in applying the sunnahs—such as the prayers before and after obligatory prayers, and reading the Qur’an daily, for example—is what ensures that we will actually benefit in both the low moments and the highs; yes, there are benefits to both. The main benefit of the low moments is that they anchor our need for Allah and consolidate our dependence on His favor and gifts of spiritual energy. It is within this context that we understand that sagacious wisdom of the statement of Ibn ʿAtaʾ, “You may benefit in the night of spiritual contraction \[*qabd*\] that which you have not benefited from in the day of brilliance of spiritual expansion \[*bast*\]; ‘You cannot know which of them is more beneficial to you’ (Qur’an 4:11).”[^6] Whether one is in a low state—knowing the swing of the spiritual pendulum will eventually lift one from it—or in a spiritual high, our relationship with Allah, founded on love and devotion, ultimately falls outside the confines of both states: spiritual contraction or elation. Ibn ʿAtaʾ’s wisdom penetrates both states to refocus our attention, “He brought you to *bast* so that He does not make you stay with *qabd*. He brought you to *qabd* so that He does not leave you with *bast*. He brought you out of both so that you are for nothing else other than Himself!”[^7] --- ## 2\. Surf through the highs Allah, Mighty and Majestic, encourages us to “hurry toward your Lord’s forgiveness and a Garden as wide as the heavens and earth prepared for the righteous.”[^8] An even stronger encouragement, expressed through a metaphor that conveys charging with even greater speed and force, is “Therefore flee unto Allah! I am a clear warner from Him to you.”[^9] Another verse highlighting how striving in moments of spiritual highs—marked by strong faith, elation, an abundance of worship, and near complete abandonment of all that is sinful or religiously blameworthy—brings about guidance and a return to Allah is “But We shall be sure to guide to Our ways those who strive hard for Our cause: God is with those who do good.”[^10] In his commentary on this verse, the authoritative exegete Abu al-Suʿud (d. 982/1575) explains that such people will be assisted and guided into “the path of traversing to Us, and reaching Our Presence, or that we shall guide them to the paths of goodness and assisting them to traverse it, as in His words, Most High, ‘God has increased the guidance of those who follow the right path’ (Qur’an 47:17). It is narrated that, ‘Whoever applied in action what they know, Allah shall bequeath them the knowledge of that they do not.’”[^11] If one is blessed with being in a high spiritual state, with strong faith, enthusiasm to perform many pious acts, and firm resolve to stay away from sins and blameworthy deeds, they must, above all, recognize Allah’s abundant favor upon them. Such a state is better than the whole world and everything in it combined: “Say, ‘In this bounty of Allah and mercy of his, in that let them rejoice. It is better than all they amass.’”[^12] Of course, this interest in striving and excelling in one’s religiosity, and in expressing one’s relationship with Allah through devotion, love, and other acts of worship, is not for everyone at all times. When someone came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked about restricting their religious practice to the minimal obligatory acts without adding any extras, he said about him, “He shall succeed only if he is sincere.”[^13] Compare that, however, to another case: the companion Rabiʿa ibn Kaʿb al-Aslami, who used to spend nights in the Prophet’s house, helping him with ablution and other needs. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told him, “Ask me!” he said, “I ask you for your company in Paradise.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Or anything else?” He said, “That \[is all\]!” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Then assist me against yourself with an abundance of prostration.”[^14] When you are in a spiritual high, seize the opportunity. Prioritize your religion, do as much as you can, aim high, and set the bar for new norms of practice, faith, and religious excellence. More importantly, seek to extend them and ensure they bring about lasting change. These highs are a praiseworthy competition, “It is this \[bliss\] in aspiring that competitors should compete with each other.”[^15] On his deathbed, the venerated companion, Muʿadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be well pleased with him, uttered: “O Allah, you know that I neither liked staying in the world nor a long duration in it because of the flowing rivers or for planting trees. I loved staying in it to strive against the long nights and the thirst of the noontime in intense heat, and to press my shoulders against scholars to join circles of remembrance.”[^16] Perhaps this devotion to drawing near to Allah through such positive competition is best expressed by the pious worshipper from the third generation of Muslims, Wuhayb ibn al-Ward, who is reported to have said, “If it can be that no one outraces you to Allah, then do it!”[^17] --- ## 3\. Manage the consistency While excelling in religious practice and an abundance of devotional acts may not be for everyone, at least not for everyone all the time, consistency is key to religious commitment. This applies to everyone, all the time. The wisdom of Messenger of Allah ﷺ teaches us all, “Verily, religion is of ease. No one shall try to wrestle with religion except that it will defeat them. So aim to be correct, be moderate, take on the glad tidings, and seek assistance in the comings and goings, and some of the nocturnal \[works\].”[^18] Commenting on the first part of this hadith, the erudite hadith authority Ibn Hajar stresses, “What is intended is not prohibiting what is more perfect in religion, as it is praiseworthy. Rather, it is immoderation leading to boredom or excessive supererogatory works that result in leaving out what is superior.”[^19] But what does consistency look like in practice? How can it be applied in our busy and complex lives? First of all, if you decide to commit to a certain religious practice, you must strive your utmost to keep it. The Mother of the Believers, ʿAʾisha, may Allah be well pleased with her, described the Prophet’s religious practice: “Whenever he did an act, he would steadfastly commit to it.”[^20] For example, try making a system of rewards and punishments for yourself when it comes to committing to praying the Duha prayer or accustom yourself not to browse on your phone and check your notifications before completing your morning *adhkar*. This begs the question: What are the best religious acts to commit to? Plainly, “The most loved of works to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is that which its doer performs consistently.”[^21] Second, consistency is a gentle breeze that carries you and your commitments for a long time and toward a far destination, not a whirlwind that throws you off your feet and subsides sooner than you would like. The Mother of the Believers, ʿAʾisha, may Allah be well pleased with her, portrayed the Prophet’s religious practice and daily routine in a compelling metaphor as being like “soft continuous rain \[*dima*\].”[^22] Third, focus on quality. It suffices here to say that one should aim for the following: “Excellence \[*ihsan*\] is to worship Allah as though you see Him. If you do not see Him, \[then know that\] He sees you.”[^23] Finally, as part of your plans for religious consistency and commitment, you should plan to gradually and wisely increase what you routinely practice. Know that religious commitment and practice are *not* what many influencers and social media voices claim they are. They do not involve sudden dramatic shifts in religiosity and lifestyle. Easy come, easy go. Rather, “The best of people are the ones whose life is long and their acts are excellent,” as the Prophet ﷺ said.[^24] We should think about our religious commitment through the lens of this Prophetic guidance and improve our practice firmly and gradually. --- ## 4\. Keep a daily program “He who is hostile to a friend of Mine \[*wali*\], I declare war against. There is nothing more beloved to Me than that My slave approaches Me with what I made obligatory upon him. My slave continues to draw nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks me, I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.”[^25] This hadith recenters love in our relationship with Allah and underscores the centrality of obligatory and supererogatory acts. When explaining who is meant by a “friend of Allah” (*wali*) in this hadith *qudsi*, the eminent hadith scholar Ibn Hajar commented that a *wali* is, “The one who truly knows Allah, who persists \[*muwazib*\] in His obedience, and is sincere in worship.”[^26] An even clearer explanation is the Qur’an’s, “But for those who are friends of Allah \[pl. *awliyaʾ*\] there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. Those who truly believe and ever show God-fearingness.”[^27] Below are, first, suggestions for a daily routine that can help you to meet the previously mentioned Prophetic guidance of maintaining a stable practice of Sunnah at all times, including in times of spiritual lows. Second, there is a set of practical advice to help maintain this religious routine. The suggestions are based on guidance from the above hadith and the religious principle that it is more important to shun sin than to perform or introduce additional acts of religious obedience: “If I prohibit you from something, then shun it. If I command you something, perform from it what you can.”[^28] Commenting on this hadith, Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali states, “Some scholars have derived from this \[hadith\] that prohibitions are stronger than commands. This is because it is not allowed to commit anything prohibited. Commands are based on ability. This \[opinion\] is narrated from Imam Ahmad.”[^29] This must be done in parallel with the previous Prophetic guidance of maintaining the supererogatory acts of the Sunnah at all times as a safety net. ### Obligatory acts (fard) Make your daily obligatory acts, especially the obligatory five prayers, the centerpiece of your relationship with Allah, your spirituality, and your religious excellence. Since they are what He loves the most, make it your daily business to meet them with due love, excellence, and focus. Here are some practical steps to prioritizing the five daily prayers: - Organize your daily life around them, including sleep, activities, and responsibilities.  - Pray at the beginning of the time period of a given prayer. This is something that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, loves.[^30] Develop a healthy tension in you to pray in the earliest possible moment. Prepare yourself ahead of time by thinking where to perform ablution (*wuduʾ*) and where to pray if you are going somewhere new, for example. - Begin your focus as early as *wuduʾ* and the Prophetic supplications associated with it. Make sure that when you utter the opening invocation of prayer, “*Allahu akbar*” (Allah is greatest), the meaning—of Him being greater than all your preoccupations, worries, sadness, joy, and everything else—overwhelms you. - Ensure that your presence and sense of tranquility in these prayers reflect your absolute utmost effort, especially when reciting the Qur’an and in the *tashahhud*. These are your five daily moments of complete separation from everything other than Allah and of focusing solely on your connection to Him.  - Make your supplications within your *fard* prayers, especially in prostration (*sujud*), your most important and sincere ones. - Pray in the mosque, if you are a male. The minimum is twice a day, especially for the dawn (*fajr*) and night (*ʿisha*) prayers. ### Steering clear of sin Make a daily commitment not to fall into habitual sins. This is especially important for major sins and habitual minor sins. Imam al-Tusturi says, “Collective devotional works (*birr*) are done by both the devoted and the wicked. Only a true believer (*siddiq*) quits sins.”[^31] - Create a system of accountability that includes both rewards and consequences for avoiding sins. Some suggest beginning with a forty-day commitment and diary. - Plan ahead and be realistic. Be aware of the process by which you fall into sins and the steps that lead to them. If every time X calls, you fall into backbiting, do not answer. If every time you meet a certain group, you end up doing something wrong, no matter how hard you all try not to, do not meet them. If every time you are left alone at home with your laptop, you do what you should not, remove yourself from the situation. Both forcing yourself to pray the Prayer of Repentance (*Salat al-Tawba*), crying and seeking forgiveness, and committing yourself to give a significant amount of charity every time you fall into a particular sin you are attempting to quit are tested and proven ways to abandon it. - Beyond this, ensure that under no circumstances do you harm anyone, verbally or materially. ### Supererogatory acts (sunan) If one commits to a minimum of them, these acts guard one’s faith, according to the previous Prophetic assurance. Increasing their type, quality, and quantity is a way to attain more of Allah’s love and draw nearer to Him. - The first and most important type is extra voluntary prayers performed consistently and never abandoned (*sunan muʾakkada*). These include: 1. The sunnahs before and after *fard* prayers 2. *Witr* prayer 3. The forenoon prayer (*duha*) - The second most important voluntary act is the night vigil prayer (*qiyam)*. (For more on that read [here](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/those-who-bow-when-the-world-sleeps-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886780673&usg=AOvVaw3YRAMcxLIorEa5VtH12EL-)). - Engaging daily with the Qur’an is essential. We should gradually develop three levels of daily engagement: 1. Recitation (*tilawa*): Commit to reading the entire Qur’an once a month, at least, or once every two months if your Arabic ability allows for this. 2. Contemplation (*tadabbur*): Read with the aid of a book of exegesis (*tafsir*). 3. Worship (*taʿabbud*): Careful devotional recitation during *qiyam*. - Maintain *wuduʾ* as much as possible throughout the day. - Give charity daily, no matter how small, or if you commit to a monthly payment, supplicate that its reward reaches you daily. - Observe the sunnah fasts, especially Mondays and Thursdays. - Perform acts of kindness toward three groups: your family and those close to you, the pious people in your circle, and the wider community, especially non-Muslims. ### Practical advice for maintaining this routine Below are practical words of advice to help maintain such a daily routine, which is, of course, no easy feat. 1. Supplicate and seek divine assistance: Firmly committing to a religious daily routine is not easy and takes a lot of effort and planning. Make continuous supplication (*dua*) for assistance in maintaining this program. After all, “It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help.”[^32] 2. Make remembrance of Allah (*dhikr*)—including the Qur’an, the highest form of *dhikr*—the spiritual fuel for your daily engine. 3. Inculcate patience in all its forms: patience in the face of worldly trials, patience in maintaining good deeds, and patience in refraining from sins and blameworthy acts. It is not a coincidence that patience (*sabr*) is the second most frequently cited virtue of the believers in the Qur’an after God-fearingness (*taqwa*). Verses 3:15–17 tell us that those who anchor themselves in God-fearingness and piety will have with their Lord luxuriant groves in Paradise, and they are described as those steadfast in patience, truthful in word and deed, humbly devoted in adoration, generous in spending, and those who ask for forgiveness in the final watches of the night. Commenting on why patience is mentioned first, the eminent Qur’anic exegete Ibn ʿAshur stresses that it is because “it is the key to doing acts of obedience and leaving sins.” Patience is the mother of, and prerequisite for, all religious practice. Despite the undeniable virtue of special religious times and seasons, a wise believer does not confine their spiritual resolve to one night or a month. They approach every night as though it is Laylat al-Qadr and every morning as though it is the Day of ʿArafa.[^33] Perhaps there is no better summation of the above than the poignant words of Imam al-Tusturi: “There is no aid but Allah, no guide but the Messenger of Allah, no sustenance except *taqwa*, and there is no work except being patient with it all.”[^34] --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 2:245. [^2]: Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība al-Ḥasanī, *al-Baḥr al-madīd fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Majīd*, ed. Aḥmad ʿAbdullāh al-Qurashī Raslān (Ḥasan ʿAbbās Zakī, 1999), 1:271. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2750, [https://sunnah.com/muslim:2750a](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:2750a&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886785806&usg=AOvVaw1g_Hi80B1Cy6NPeJIZeNKh). [^4]: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, ed. Aḥmad Shākir et al. (Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī, 1975), 5:538, no. 3522, [https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3522](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3522&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886786219&usg=AOvVaw2yuapzj-CvVYuaOognwq9t). [^5]: Ahmad ibn Hanbal, *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ et al. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2001), 11:547, no. 6958, [https://hadithunlocked.com/ahmad:6958](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hadithunlocked.com/ahmad:6958&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886786585&usg=AOvVaw1PbbYf9IfQhFsL5FvRqOWg). [^6]: Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Sakandarī, *al-Ḥikam li-Ibn ʿAṭāʾ ِAllāh al-Sakandarī*, ed. Aḥmad ʿIzz al-Dīn Khalaf Allāh (al-Maktaba al-Azhariyya li-l-Turāth, 2011), 131. [^7]: Al-Sakandarī, *al-Ḥikam*, 120. [^8]: Qur’an 3:133. [^9]: Qur’an 51:50. [^10]: Qur’an 29:69. [^11]: Abū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī Muṣṭafā, *Irshād al-ʿaql al-salīm ilā mazāya al-Kitāb al-Karīm* (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 7:48. [^12]: Qur’an 10:58. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1891. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 253. [^15]: Qur’an 83:26. [^16]: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Zuhd*, ed. Muḥammad Aḥmad ʿĪsā (Dār al-Ghadd al-Jadīd, 2005), 200. [^17]: Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, *Laṭāʾif al-maʿārif*, ed. Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Arnaʾūṭ and Riyāḍ Murād (Dār Ibn Ḥazm li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa-l-Nashr, 2004), 244. [^18]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 39, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:39](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:39&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886788886&usg=AOvVaw01cyg0hNjPfSIimDw1D34X). [^19]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb (al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1970), 1:94. [^20]: Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān al-Sajistānī, *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and Muḥammad Qārra Ballī (Dār al-Risāla al-ʿĀlamiyya, 2009), 2:519, no. 1368, [https://sunnah.com/abudawud:1368](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/abudawud:1368&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886789389&usg=AOvVaw2px4QCfzVO5y8u4957NVpK). [^21]: Ibn Māja Muḥammad al-Qazwīnī, *Sunan Ibn Māja*, ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyya, 1952), 2:1416, no. 238, [https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:4238](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:4238&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886789743&usg=AOvVaw3Lkmd7UyasSOC6TTbEtPyX). [^22]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6466, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6466](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6466&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886789931&usg=AOvVaw1VCVEYPZPZCBzdv41CvXjg). [^23]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4777, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4777](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4777&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886790138&usg=AOvVaw25RIGUB6FubBUOOzLyo7vl). [^24]: Al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 4:566, no. 2330, [https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2330](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2330&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886790372&usg=AOvVaw21gC8hUuymn9wmWGx3Bvy8). [^25]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6502, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6502](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6502&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886790659&usg=AOvVaw3F6arMt_DFuxRyu64tgufq). [^26]: Al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī,* 11:342. [^27]: Qur’an 10:62–63. [^28]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7288. [^29]: Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, *Jāmiʿ al-ʿulūm wa-l-ḥikam*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and Ibrāhīm Bājis (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1997), 1:252. [^30]: Aḥmad al-Nasāʾī, *Sunan al-Nasāʾī al-Mujtabā*, ed. Muḥammad Riḍwān ʿIrqsūsī et al. (Dār al-Risāla al-ʿĀlamiyya, 2018), 1:416, no. 611, [https://sunnah.com/nasai:611](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/nasai:611&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886791530&usg=AOvVaw16Actj5JF3jteLtBnvDnpU). [^31]: Abū Naʿīm al-Iṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ* (Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿāda, 1974), 10:211. [^32]: Qur’an 1:5. [^33]: For comprehensive advice on organizing one’s day and immersing oneself in Prophetic daily virtues, read Imam al-Ghazālī’s *Bidāyat al-hidāya* (*[The Beginning of Guidance](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dn721606.ca.archive.org/0/items/beginning-of-guidance-by-imam-ghazali/Beginning-of-Guidance-by-Imam-Ghazali_text.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886792149&usg=AOvVaw1Kx6rJ_OdG-R5CFFXzQNsD)*) and Imam al-Nawawī’s *Riyāḍ al-ṣāliḥīn* (*[The Meadows of the Righteous](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1776092886792406&usg=AOvVaw115b50AlfKTRKub_mCgJV0)*). [^34]: Al-Iṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ*, 10:198. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/its-not-just-an-iftar-the-power-of-community-in-ramadan # It’s Not Just an Iftar: The Power of Community in Ramadan | Blog **Author:** Shaimaa Kraba **Topics:** Family & Community **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan **Published:** April 14, 2026 **Updated:** May 1, 2026 **“Once upon a time . . . ”** is how most fairy tales begin. In real life, it’s how single mothers begin sentences about who they were before everything changed. There was a time we believed life would be beautiful for us. Somewhere along the way, that kind of beauty became harder to reach. Not by choice. Just . . . no longer ours to expect. But every now and then, something happens that brings it back. Not all at once, but just enough to remind you of what used to come naturally. When I look back now, it didn’t begin with a rose-gold balloon arch or an animatronic dinosaur. It began with a phone call in January. My phone buzzed across the table. I glanced down and froze for a second—it was the operations manager of the local women’s shelter. I hadn’t seen her name on my screen in months and seeing it again carried two feelings at once for me, a small knot of worry and a strange flicker of warmth. “Assalamu alaikum, Shaimaa,” she said. “I hope you’re well. I didn’t catch you at a bad time, did I?” “Wa alaikum assalam,” I said. “No, it’s okay.” There was a small pause before she continued, the kind that makes you realize the real reason for the call is still coming. “We’re planning the Ramadan gathering for the women again this year,” she said. “Just like last year.” Last year. The words brought the whole evening back: fluorescent lights too bright and somehow still too dim in a loud hall where the mic cut in and out, overextended staff trying to be present after a long day of work, paper plates bent under oily food that tasted like compromise and looked like fatigue. The “decor” looked like someone had run down a Dollarama aisle grabbing whatever they could without stopping the cart. The women were packed into a room and told again to be grateful, by staff who sighed that theyʼd rather be home, who reminded us this was what the budget allowed, who said things like: *At least thereʼs something. Itʼs better than nothing. Other shelters donʼt even do this*. I know what it’s like to be homeless during Ramadan, to feel forgotten, and to realize that even the invitation to break your fast begins with something simple: someone remembering you exist. Which is why the phrase “it’s better than nothing” lands differently when you’re the one sitting at the table. You watch the math being done in other peopleʼs heads: The big budget belongs to the ballroom where the money is raised; the small budget belongs to the women whose lives are being discussed. Her voice pulled me back to the present. “So,” she continued carefully, “I was wondering if you might be willing to help organize the decor this year.” I heard her clear her throat before adding one more thing. “Maybe you could also give a short talk on empowerment?” *Empowerment? Me?* I found myself saying yes—how could I not? I too had sat in those same rooms and needed those same walls for myself and for my child. Still, when I hung up, the request rattled around inside me. At that moment I felt anything but empowered. We were expected to be grateful. I am not blind to good intentions, but I also know what “be grateful” has been used to excuse: the minimum, and not an iota more. We heard the advice all too often: *Donʼt attempt to create beauty where gratitude should be enough*. That line, unfortunately, is the unspoken policy in too many rooms that serve disenfranchised women. Once you hear it, you can’t stop hearing it, because it keeps being said even when no one moves their lips. The message beneath the message is simple: *This is enough—for you.* We’re lectured about being “responsible with donations.” But responsible stewardship does not mean being as frugal as possible. It means avoiding waste and abuse—like executives and influencers taking extravagant cuts of donations—not stripping every ounce of care, beauty, or dignity from what is given to those in need. *How* something is given matters just as much as *what* is given. We often treat charity as something we give down, instead of something we give up; but charity reaches Allah before it reaches the hand of the one receiving it. Care isn’t just about meeting the bare minimum of survival; it’s about recognizing the humanity of those you’re serving. Even when beauty arrives as a donation, some canʼt help but ask: Is that necessary? We know, instinctively, that we need beauty. During Ramadan, Muslims go out of their way to beautify iftar. Families set special tables, cook more thoughtfully, and share the experience online with pride. We don’t treat these like any other meal of the year. We understand that iftar is not just food; it’s an experience of dignity, warmth, and celebration. Yet that understanding seems to disappear the moment that the people who are being catered to are poor. We do this all the time—offer poor solutions and call it help. Why do we accept less for those who need more? Where is our *ihsan* (excellence)? Where is loving for others what we love for ourselves? What stung most was the contrast no one wanted to name out loud. Every year, this same shelter, like countless others, books the grandest banquet hall for their annual fundraising iftar. The kind of rooms that swallow sound in carpet. The kind of stamped napkins and crystal that tell you someone curated every choice with a donorʼs eye. Everything planned down to the last blossom, because thatʼs where the money comes from. Next yearʼs survival only becomes legible on a spreadsheet. Clients from the shelter get free tickets to those banquets, and the gesture is presented as kindness, but what makes an iftar isnʼt the chandelier or the hall—itʼs whether the room was made for you. You walk in as a client and the first thing you feel is the question: *Where do I sit?* You scan tables full of families and friends who already belong to one another, and you hover like a footnote trying not to interrupt a sentence thatʼs already been written. You sit politely as pledge cards are raised and numbers are called with the confidence of people who have never had to choose between laundry coins and lunch. You stay still because you canʼt raise your hand; you know why you’re here. You are the line item theyʼre funding, the “impact” theyʼll report. If you give anything tonight, itʼs the kind of giving no one can tally: the discipline to smile and not ruin the mood. You nod while they talk about women like you in the third person at a table where no one knows a client is listening. Anonymity is supposed to protect you, but it just makes you lonelier. You learn how to fold yourself so small that you donʼt brush against anyoneʼs certainty that this is a good thing. And it is a good thing, in the way a system can be good on paper. But goodness that forgets the person it’s intended for leaves a bruise, and bruises last longer than banquets. The donors attending the banquets and the women receiving the gift cards are the same community, both Muslims observing the same Ramadan. When it comes to the rooms that fund us, beauty is nonnegotiable, something we cannot afford to go without—because they know that those who are present expect to feel valued. Yet when it comes to the women we serve, beauty becomes a cost no one can justify and its absence becomes something we are expected to receive with gratitude, as if that were enough. Inside the quiet part of me, questions grew: *What exactly are we saying when we decide which room gets the care and which room gets the leftovers?* *Why is beauty and care essential when serving the wealthy, but unnecessary when serving the poor?* *If we can find the budget for chandeliers, why canʼt we find it for women who need light?* \*\*\* A couple months had passed since that January phone call, and by the time March rolled around, I had pretty much given up hope that this iftar was even going to happen. Every time I called to follow up, the manager would tell me that the head office still hadnʼt approved the budget. And we werenʼt talking chandeliers and centerpieces; we were talking about dinner. Dates to break our fast, water, soft drinks or maybe some juice. That’s it. She finally called me a week before the event was supposed to happen. “Hey, I know itʼs short notice, but we finally got the approval. Can you still do the decor and your speech?” I didnʼt know whether to laugh or cry. She added quickly, “Itʼs just an iftar, it doesnʼt have to be fancy or anything crazy. I told you before: Even if we had more time, there’s no need to overthink it; it’s *just* an iftar.” Something about the way she said that didnʼt sit right with me. It wasnʼt the words themselves, but the way they reduced something sacred—nourishment, tradition, dignity—to *just.* Thatʼs when I knew: Whatever else happened, I couldnʼt let this be *just* an iftar, even with less than a week to pull it off. Because of finals and the new semester starting, I couldnʼt start planning until two days before the event. I was running on fumes, caffeine, bismillah, *tawakkul*, and lots of *dua*. I just asked God to help me make it better than I imagined. Those next forty-eight hours were a blur. And yet *subhan Allah*, somehow, the community showed up, and I mean *showed up.* As I scrolled through Facebook Marketplace, I came across people who felt like theyʼd been placed in my path at exactly the right time. The event decor lady became my behind-the-scenes project manager. She told me which vendors to trust, how to tell if I was getting a good deal, where to find the best disposable plates, and which companies to avoid. She thought what I was trying to do was nearly impossible. “Even two weeksʼ notice would be hard,” she said, but she still guided me anyway. Then came more. A group of Muslim girls volunteered to help watch the kids so their mothers could actually sit and enjoy the night. We had a henna artist, and my friend printed out coloring pages and brought pencils, markers, glue, and kid-friendly scissors for the childrenʼs table. The balloon artist and face painter, a husband-and-wife team, mostly spoke Spanish. We texted through Google Translate, and when we met in person, we spoke through hand gestures, smiles, and a lot of pointing. The people who rented out the bouncy castles also had a ride-on animatronic dinosaur, a triceratops named Sarah, and they decided to debut her at our event. On top of that, they gave me a huge discount and threw in cotton candy and popcorn on the house. The decor lady had also suggested I hire a full team since time was so short, and somehow, I found a Muslim family willing to take it on. They offered me a special rate and, by pure coincidence, had that exact Friday, the first week of Ramadan, still available. Anyone in this industry knows—thatʼs unheard of. It didnʼt matter whether they were Muslim or not, a small business owner or an established entrepreneur, every single person I reached out to listened, understood the vision, and said yes. The kind of yes that said, “Iʼm excited to be of service and be a part of the impact.” It was as if Allah was stitching together every missing piece, closing every gap that the shelterʼs hesitation had left open. By the day of the event, the hall was a whirlwind of activity. People who had been strangers only days before were now working side by side, setting up decor, arranging tables, and laughing as they worked. The manager kept coming in to check on things, meaning well, Iʼm sure, but unable to stop herself from questioning my choices. Maybe she didnʼt even realize she was doing it. When youʼve been a client in the system, you can sense it—that tone, that second-guessing. Even when you’re no longer a “case,” you’re still not seen as a peer. At one point she asked, “Are you sure this isnʼt too much for an iftar?” And I remember thinking, *Why does it matter, if it’s beautiful? You trusted me with the vision, let me do what I do.* By five oʼclock, everything was coming together. The decorators were finishing up, the volunteers were prepping food, and the hall was starting to glow. Then, when the children arrived and saw the dinosaur, that giant ride-on triceratops, rolling across the floor on hidden wheels, the room erupted. They screamed, laughed, and chased it like a parade. We may not have converted pumpkins into carriages, but something truly spectacular happened that night. The womenʼs faces said it all. Their eyes widened. Phones came out to capture every smile, every shimmer, every surprise. For once, they werenʼt walking into a space that looked like shelter programming. They were walking into a space that looked like it had been created for them, not in spite of them. Watching them take it in, seeing their shoulders soften and their backs straighten, something shifted in me. It was deliberate, every detail a quiet rebellion against the narrative that survivors should just be grateful for scraps. That’s the moment it all came together for me . . . The room itself had already begun the speech I was about to give. The manager stood at the front of the room, smiling in the slightly tired but proud way of someone who has spent the whole day running logistics. She welcomed everyone warmly, her voice carrying through the microphone that, for once, wasnʼt cutting in and out. She thanked the community partners and the vendors on the list I had given her just a day before, and acknowledged the staff who had worked behind the scenes to make the night possible. It was short, formal—the kind of introduction youʼd expect at any event. But for me, standing just off to the side, it was the quiet drumroll before something bigger. She handed me the mic. Tradition asked that we begin with the Qurʼan, so I started with Surah al-Fatiha, the prayer that ties every heart back to God. Then I recited the last verses of Surah al-Baqara, words about belief, resilience, and mercy, verses that felt heavier here, in a hall full of women who had endured storms and still kept their faith afloat. لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًۭا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ ۖ  وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَآ ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ “Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford. All good will be for its own benefit, and all evil will be to its own loss. \[The believers pray,\] “Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake. Our Lord! Do not place a burden on us like the one you placed on those before us. Our Lord! Do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our \[only\] Guardian. So grant us victory over the disbelievers.” *Qur’an 2:286* And then I began the only way I knew how. “Salaams, ladies.” I led with the truth. *Many people didnʼt want this iftar to happen. Budgets were tight. Some thought it wasnʼt necessary. “****Itʼs just an iftar****,” they said. But it isnʼt* ***just*** *an iftar.* *I know what it feels like to walk into a room carrying shame like a shadow, to feel small, to be made small, to have your worth measured in budgets and spreadsheets. Tonight, none of that applies. Tonight, this room is yours, and by the end of this talk, you’ll know why.* *When I was asked to speak about empowerment, at the time I thought, how could I, when I felt so deeply disempowered myself? But I couldnʼt say no. This place once sheltered me and my daughter. I owed it to the women sitting here tonight to at least try.* *Thatʼs why I stand before you now, not as someone who has it all figured out, but as someone who has sat in your very seat. I know what it feels like to be in your shoes because I have walked in them.* *Thinking about empowerment took me back to something I learned in a literary theory class: binary opposition. We only truly understand something by knowing its opposite. We know light because we’ve known darkness. Ease because weʼve known hardship. Joy because weʼve known sorrow. So if I felt anything but empowered, maybe that’s the perfect place to start, because in understanding my disempowerment, I could begin to name what empowerment really is.* *Disempowerment can feel like a heavy cloak made of a thousand different emotions: shame, exhaustion, fear, loneliness. It’s hard to know where it begins or ends. Abuse, especially spiritual abuse, strips you down layer by layer until you donʼt recognize yourself. It weaponizes community perception, especially against single mothers. But when I sat with it, thinking of the stories of women like us, I could trace it back to three core things I had been stripped of or lost along the way. And if I had them, everything would change. It wasnʼt a house or a job or stability, although those do matter. It was something deeper, something you can carry inside you anywhere.* ***My confidence in God.*** ***My confidence in myself.*** ***My confidence in the community.*** *Without those, everything else felt impossible.* *Confidence in God, because when faith is twisted and used against you, it shakes you. You wonder:* ***Does God see me? Does He care? Am I worthy of His help?*** *Thatʼs what disempowerment does; it puts distance between you and the very Source of strength.* *Confidence in myself, because when someone chips away at you for years—at your decisions, your worth, your very sense of who you are—you start to forget. You forget your voice. You forget your power. You even forget the woman you were before the pain.* *Confidence in community, because abuse isolates. It convinces you that you’re alone, that no one will believe you, that no one will care. And when you finally leave, you’re made to feel like:* ***You’re a number on a grant sheet, a case file in a system.*** *If those three things returned—my confidence in God, my confidence in myself, and my confidence in my community—then no matter what storms came, I could stand again. Maybe thatʼs empowerment. Not pretending to have it all together. Not ever feeling weak. But knowing where to turn when the weight is too heavy.* *And that’s why I donʼt accept that “it’s just an iftar.” For many people, maybe it is. But when you’ve lived through the kind of storms that push a woman and her children into a shelter, you learn something about what sustains a person. Iftar is not just food. It is presence. It is being seen. It is the quiet reassurance that you have not been forgotten. Living in a shelter, however necessary, is a constant reminder of what you’re missing. Ramadan magnifies it. Itʼs not just hunger; it’s the ache of the memories you donʼt have this year, the togetherness that seems to belong to everyone else. Ramadan is supposed to amplify community and mercy; when youʼre a single mother navigating homelessness, it amplifies absence. Iftar is not just food. It is who you break bread with.* *Thatʼs why I say: This is* ***not*** *just an iftar. Dignity should not feel like it is earned by endurance; it is a right. And joy is not a luxury; it is survival.* *People always ask why women stay. The truth is that being shamed by one abuser in private can feel less terrifying than being shamed by the collective in public. People see one chapter and think they know the whole book.* *My gift to you tonight is this iftar banquet. This is your Cinderella moment—not the fairy tale where everything magically works out, but the real kind. The kind where, for a few hours before the clock strikes eight, the pain steps aside and you remember who you are. Soak it in. Soak in the sisterhood. Soak in the prayer when we stand side by side. Soak in the beauty of Ramadan, the reminder of God, the reminder of who you are.* *Tonight, you came with one task: Pour into your own cup. Everything else is taken care of. Your children are laughing, fed, and safe. Tonight, you donʼt have to hush or hide them. Tonight, you just get to be you. Because this whole night was designed with you in mind. That is empowerment. True empowerment isnʼt pretending everything is fine; it’s restoration. The best gift we can give any woman is to restore her sense of self-worth, restore her trust in God, and restore her sense of community. Abuse can take so much from you, but it cannot take this.* *When the clock strikes eight—and it will—and when you go back tonight and lie down on that thin, blue, waterproof mattress in that IKEA bunk bed, with the springs biting into your back; and when you see your children in the moonlight, their faces tired from laughter but shadowed with the exhaustion of it all; when the silence comes and the tears flow and the pain tries to replay itself like a cruel joke, let it be interrupted. Interrupted by tonight—by these smiles, by this food. By the memory of being seen. That memory belongs to you. It cannot be taken. You can replay it as often as you need.* *This is not just an iftar. This is so much more. My hope is that if you walked in feeling disempowered, you leave with your head held high. Even if the feeling lasts only hours or days, you will know: You matter too.* I set the mic down. My hands were shaking; my heart was racing. There was a moment of silence, then the sound of hands meeting, hesitant at first, then fuller, and then the room was alive with clapping, laughter, tears. Some women wiped their faces quietly; others nodded with that knowing look you only share when youʼve lived through the same storm. For the first time since January, I wasnʼt haunted by that phrase anymore. I knew I had reconciled it. Then the room came to life. Plates were passed. Children darted between tables. Conversations grew louder, voices excited, joking, laughing. Women posed for photos at the balloon arch while their kids tugged at sleeves, begging for another turn on the dinosaur ride. Cameras flashed. Rose-gold plates caught the dim light. For a few hours, it didn’t feel like something being handed to us. It felt like something we were part of. By the time the last plates were stacked and the tables wiped down, my feet were throbbing. I sank into a chair at the edge of the hall and let myself breathe it in. Thatʼs when the manager found me. She sat beside me, her tone softer than I’d heard these last few weeks. “You were right about the food,” she said, picking at a plate of finger foods. “It’s really good.” I managed a tired smile, thinking about how much grief I’d gotten for even suggesting it. “I knew once you’d experienced it, youʼd understand.” She nodded. “You really pulled it off. I’m proud of this. I’m proud of you.” Then she added, “The feedback about tonight is unlike any we’ve gotten before. Some women said theyʼve never been invited to anything so beautiful. One said even her wedding wasnʼt this beautiful. Another said she didnʼt know if sheʼd ever experience anything like this again and didnʼt want the night to end.” Thatʼs when I felt the sting in my eyes. Not for the applause. Not for the photos. Not for the polite thanks. For the women, the ones I was serving. They were satisfied. They were happy. And that was enough for me. Even the vendors were in tears. The family with the bouncy castles and the triceratops cried and said, “This is the most beautiful thing we’ve been part of. If you ever do this again, we want in.” The decor team said the same. Staff, clients, vendors, and people who walked in as strangers left wanting to contribute to something greater than themselves. Thatʼs the part I wonʼt forget: the way dignity begets conviction, and conviction begets contribution, until everyone is building the good together.                                                        \*\*\* When the last bag of garbage was tied and the lights finally turned off, I drove a few women home, the ones without rides, and then made the long trip across town to my own basement suite. I shifted into park, the glow of the dashboard light on my face, and let the silence wrap around me. My daughter was asleep in the back seat, her five-year-old body slumped against the seat belt, a soft snore escaping her mouth. Her *fanus* (lantern) face paint was smudged in with the crescent and stars, a sticky trace of cotton candy still clinging to her cheek. That kind of exhaustion only comes from joy, the kind of joy you donʼt realize you were starving for until you finally have it. I sat there in the dark car, not wanting to go inside just yet, because I knew what waited for me: that basement suite, that cobbled path I hate walking down, the shadows that make the space feel like a punishment. I reached for my phone. Notifications lit up the screen—messages from women, photos, videos, snippets of laughter captured in pixels. And thatʼs when it hit me. For so many women in shelters, this little device is more than a phone. It’s a lifeline. Itʼs the desperate texts when danger erupts. It’s screenshots before he unsends the messages. Itʼs photos of bruises before they fade. It’s voice recordings of words meant to break her worth, proof of how she was told sheʼd never amount to anything without him. A phone becomes a diary of wounds, a silent witness to violence in all its shapes and forms. But tonight, the gallery of abuse was interrupted. Tonight, beauty entered the chat. In between the images of pain, there was proof of joy. Photos of lights and laughter. Children giggling on a dinosaur ride, cheeks painted like superheroes, butterflies, and unicorns. Women dressed in the best clothes they owned, smiling, their eyes finally unguarded, breaking bread with each other and standing foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder in congregational prayer. The cycle of documenting abuse was broken by documenting beauty. That’s proof that survival isnʼt the only thing worth recording. This night was a glass slipper. Not because it fits some princeʼs fairy-tale ending, but because it fit the women themselves, right where the world said nothing could. And that slipper wasnʼt delivered by a man. It was delivered by a community. It was being invited somewhere and not being asked to prove your pain to enter. It was Godʼs presence felt in prayer. It was the restoration of self-worth that abuse had tried to strip away. And that slipper wasnʼt just theirs. It was mine too. Because as a single mother, this was my first Ramadan where I got to host an iftar. Not to scrape by or sit on the receiving end. Not to be reminded of everything I lack. For once, I got to give. And in giving, something in me was restored. I know the plot twist, though. In a few months, if I didn’t find work, I could be back on that same blue mattress, counting my days again. Shelters are like prisons that way, except men count down for freedom, while women count down in fear of starting over. Maybe that’s why I fought so hard for beauty, because beauty isnʼt wasteful. Beauty is resistance in this *dunya*, and everlasting in the next. And in that way, this night became our own sliver of “Happily ever after…” If I have learned anything in the long, crooked education of survival, it is this: Doing things right will always cost less than teaching a woman, again, to make peace with less. Until the world understands this, I will keep saying it the way a person breathes when they finally walk into a room made for them: ***It’s not just an iftar.*** --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-make-dua-the-etiquette-of-calling-upon-allah # How to Make Dua: The Etiquette of Calling upon Allah | Blog **Author:** Roohi Tahir **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Dua **Published:** March 26, 2026 **Updated:** April 8, 2026 Call on Me and I will answer you...”[^1] How many times have you read these words and thought, “Does this really apply to me?” The good thing is, it’s not about who *you* are; it’s about who *He* is. The directive sounds simple, yet for so many of us, talking to God doesn’t come naturally—at least, not in the same way we open up to our closest friends, entrusting them with our innermost thoughts. With God, sometimes we just freeze, not knowing where to start. For many of us, an absence of *dua* is chalked up to not having learned how to pray as a child, to a forgotten habit, to inflated self-reliance or reliance upon others.[^2] For some, this void goes unnoticed. For others, it becomes painful—the pain of an unfulfilled or delayed response, pent up and misplaced anger toward God, low self-worth, or even guilt. *Why me? How can I approach God with my sins? I’m not worthy. It’s too late.* Our false perceptions can make us feel distant from God. But beneath that distance lies a deeper issue, one that affects all of us, even those who routinely make *dua*: We don’t truly know Him as He has taught us to know Him. And, in critical moments, we forget who He is. --- ## Know the One you call out to Allah is the One, the most Merciful, our Master. He is the most Generous, the most Forbearing, the perpetual Forgiver and Healer. While He is Almighty, He is also the most Just and Kind, the Seeing, the Hearing, and the All-Knowing, perfect in His wisdom and in His decree. To Him belong these and all of His perfect names.[^3] The more we reflect on His majesty, the more our reverence and love for Him strengthens and fortifies our hearts. We become mindful that we are His beloved servants, utterly dependent on and in need of Him. It is He alone who guides us and protects us; without Him we are unable to take the next breath or a single step in the right direction—toward gratitude, humility, and conviction that He alone answers. ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab profoundly demonstrated his awareness of God and his understanding of the true essence of *dua* when he said, “I am not worried about whether my *dua* will be responded to, but rather I am worried about whether I will be able to make *dua* at all. So if I have been guided to make *dua*, then I know that the response will come with it.”[^4] These words exemplify ʿUmar’s complete submission to and trust in God, in His divine mercy, generosity, and wisdom. That trust gave rise to a deep certainty within him: that whatever outcome followed would be the best one, even if he himself could not yet perceive it. *Dua* is about knowing God. It is an expression of gratitude for His guidance, the guidance that inspires within us both the desire and the ability to call upon Him. In this sense, the very act of making *dua* is itself among the greatest blessings bestowed upon us. *Dua* is a divine gift. It is an invitation from the One we seek, the One to whom we wish to be closest. Through it, we shed the weight and darkness within our hearts and lay our deepest concerns and pleas before Him, all while acknowledging that He knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants to hear from you. He is always ready to listen and to respond, no matter how often or how long your call may be. It does not matter how distant you feel or how deficient you believe yourself to be. Your friends will eventually tire or fall short, but God is always accessible, always attentive, and always in control of the outcome. Even if the entire universe were to call upon Him simultaneously, it does not lessen His response to you in the slightest. *Dua* is the key that unlocks the door to our purpose: to worship Him, to seek His pleasure, to draw near to Him, and ultimately to find contentment with His decree in all our affairs. The Prophet ﷺ captured the essence of *dua* when he said: “Supplication is worship itself.”[^5] We are reminded of this reality each time we recite the opening chapter of the Qur’an: “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”[^6] We cannot afford to take the blessings of guidance and *dua* for granted. For this reason, that reminder comes at least seventeen times each day in our prayers. One of the clearest signs of faith and trust in Allah is calling upon Him with certainty that He will respond.[^7] Your *dua* is your private and direct conversation with Him, unlike any other. There are no intermediaries, no delay in reaching Him, and no need for interpretation. He is your Protective Guardian who protects you at all times. He is the One in whom you place complete trust, without fear of betrayal. The Prophet ﷺ further motivated us by emphasizing the power of *dua*: “Nothing repels divine decree but supplication, and nothing increases lifespan but righteousness.”[^8] --- ## Unlock the power of your dua More often than we would like to admit, our *dua* becomes just another ritual, a mechanical act to be checked off our list. In an age of constant distraction, where countless things compete for our attention, we rush through it inattentively, promising ourselves that we will be more present when we have more time. We’re often hasty, giving up when we don’t see instant results. Yet when it comes to worldly means, we rarely lack time, energy, focus, or patience. Think of a time when you desperately wanted something. How much effort did you put into preparing your approach to your parents, your boss, or that person in authority who could influence the outcome for you? Perhaps you wanted permission, a promotion, a vacation, or to be excused or forgiven. Whatever the case, you likely chose your words carefully. You thought about the right time and the right place. From childhood, we’ve been conditioned to ask politely, to show dutifulness to our parents, and to even plead, with the utmost respect and dignity, in the hope of receiving a favorable response. We instinctively understand that preparation and presence matter when the outcome is important to us. Now imagine how you would prepare for a conversation with your Lord, the most Merciful and most Generous. No comparison does Him justice, for He is above every comparison. And yet, unlike any human authority, He does not grow weary, nor is He constrained by mood, timing, or limitation. Know that whenever you spontaneously call upon Him, He is too shy to turn you away empty-handed.[^9] Moreover, He Himself has taught us the most blessed and rewarded ways and means by which to supplicate to Him—the etiquettes that serve to unlock the power of your *dua*. ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud expressed his profound understanding of the etiquette with which to approach God when he said that the act of giving charity reaches God before it ever falls into the hand of the person in need.[^10] He was keenly aware that his charity was, in reality, an act of worship directed to his Lord. His statement demonstrates his wish to perfect his devotion, seeking His pleasure and hoping for its acceptance and reward. In the same way, we must strive to perfect all acts of worship, especially our *dua*, with the help of the recommended etiquettes taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself, beautifying it outwardly and inwardly for our Lord. The etiquettes of *dua* are among the most beloved ways to approach God. They can be incorporated into our daily routines with intention, discipline, and consistency. Here are a few ways you can unlock the power of your *dua*:[^11] ### 1\. Be sincere The foremost requirement of *dua* is sincerity, seeking from God alone. This internal dimension of worship, hidden from all but God, is a virtue we must diligently nurture in every action we put forth. ### 2\. Be patient and attentive The Prophet ﷺ also instructed us to not be hasty. He said: “Every one of you will have his supplications answered, as long as he is not impatient and says: ‘I have supplicated but I was not answered.’”[^12] Patience, therefore, is itself part of the etiquette. Remind yourself of whom you are calling upon, and that He always answers you. Set aside time, even if only a few moments, to remove distractions and focus on your *dua*, just as you would when speaking attentively to someone you deeply respect and love. This presence nurtures humility, devotion, and purpose, qualities that all emanate from the heart and must be nurtured with conscious effort. ### 3\. Be in the right state There are also outward etiquettes of *dua*, which include physical actions. It is recommended to be in a state of *wuduʾ*, to face the *qibla* (the direction of prayer), to raise one’s hands, and to verbalize your *dua*, following the example of the Prophet ﷺ. These etiquettes demonstrate reverence and excellence in your worship and in seeking the pleasure of your Lord. Although He is always aware of your deepest thoughts and intentions, and accepts even your unspoken *dua*, He loves to be called upon. ### 4\. Praise God and His Messenger ﷺ The most effective *dua* includes praise of God and sending salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ. One should ask only for what is permissible, avoiding the prohibitions of God. The Prophet ﷺ said: “There is no Muslim who calls upon Allah, \[a call\] within which is no sin or cutting family ties, but that Allah will give him one of three responses: He will quickly fulfill his supplication, He will store it for him in the hereafter, or He will divert from him an evil similar to it.” They said, “In that case, we will ask for more.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has even more.”[^13] The most comprehensive supplications are found in the Qur’an and in the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ, whose words eloquently and concisely demonstrate these etiquettes. He taught us to be humble in acknowledging our faults, to seek forgiveness, and to call upon God by His Beautiful Names. ### 5\. Take advantage of optimal times There are also specific blessed times, places, and circumstances in which *dua* is especially accepted. These include, but are not limited to, the last third of the night, Fridays, after performing *wuduʾ*, following the *adhan*, in prostration, in the final sitting of the formal prayer, on the Day of ʿArafa, and while fasting. The Prophet ﷺ cautioned us to “beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no veil between it and Allah.”[^14] This is divine reassurance to every victim that you are heard, and you will be recompensed. No injustice goes unchecked, and no oppressor escapes accountability. Among the accepted supplications as well are the *dua* of the traveler, the parent for their child, and a person’s *dua* for another in their absence, along with many other Prophetic teachings that encompass *dua* for this world and the hereafter. ### 6\. Look to the prophets We are further inspired by the supplications of the noble prophets. There is the humble repentance of Adam, the persistence of Nuh, the desperate yet hopeful call of Yunus from the depths and darkness of the ocean, the soft whispers of Zakariyya, the submission and foresight of Ibrahim, and the Prophet’s profound love for his followers, reflected in his constant prayers for them. It was Musa who made a humble plea to his Lord in a moment of desperation, only for it to become the means to miraculous openings: “My Lord, I am in desperate need of whatever good You may send me.”[^15] God blessed him with divine guidance, a righteous family, prophethood over an enslaved nation, and eventual freedom from their tyrant ruler. — In the end, *dua* helps us to cultivate our relationship with Allah. It is the living expression of our knowledge of God, our trust in His wisdom, and our certainty in His mercy. When we understand who He is, as He has taught us to know Him, our supplication transforms from routine words into conscious worship. Through *dua*, we return to our Lord again and again, refining our hearts, realigning our purpose, and placing every affair into the care of the One who is always listening, always near, and always sufficient. **Discover the beauty of key *dua*s from the Qur’an and Sunnah using our *dua* app [Ameen](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org.my/ameenapp&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1774540632048174&usg=AOvVaw0lrR8r-LxHm8wG78TgxTn1).** --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 40:60. [^2]: *Dua* is Arabic for supplication to God. It includes the remembrance of God, including praise and exaltation of God, as well as pleas to God for oneself or others. [^3]: Qur’an 7:180. “The most excellent names belong to God: Use them to call on Him.” [^4]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *al-Fawāʾid* (Dār ʿAṭāʾāt al-ʿIlm, 2019), 141. [^5]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3247, graded *ṣaḥīḥ*. [^6]: Qur’an 1:5. [^7]: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Call upon Allah with certainty that He will answer you. Know that Allah will not answer the supplication of an unmindful and distracted heart.” *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3479, graded *ḥasan* by al-Albānī. [^8]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2139, graded *ḥasan* by al-Albānī. [^9]: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah is dignified and generous. He would be shy when a man raises his hands to Him to turn them away empty and disappointed.” *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3556, graded *ṣaḥīḥ* by al-Albānī. [^10]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, 2nd ed. (Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, n.d.), 9:109, no. 8571. [^11]: For a comprehensive account of the etiquettes of making *dua*, see: Yasir Qadhi, *Duʿā: The Weapon of the Believer* (Al-Hidaayah, 2001). [^12]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6340; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2735. [^13]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 11133, graded *jayyid* by al-Arnaʾūṭ. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4347. [^15]: Qur’an 28:24. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-nocturnal-religion-what-the-night-means-in-islam # The Nocturnal Religion: What the Night Means in Islam **Author:** Ahmed Elbenni **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Perspective, Ramadan, worship **Published:** March 12, 2026 **Updated:** June 30, 2026 The year is 1346 Hijri, known to some as 1928 AD. The American writer and naturalist Henry Beston has just published *The Outermost House*, chronicling the year that he spent on the sand dunes of Cape Cod. “With lights and ever more lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea,” he writes, deep in its pages. “The little villages, crossroads even, will have none of it . . . Today’s civilization is full of people who have not the slightest notion of the character or the poetry of night, who have never even seen night.”[^1] I remind you, again, that the year is 1346 Hijri, otherwise known as 1928 AD. Kerosene lamps are still used to light homes in the countryside, and nearly half of American households lack electricity. Streetlights, headlights, flashlights, spotlights, floodlights—a century later, there’s scarcely a type of light we haven’t yet invented to help us hide the night. If Beston’s civilization was full of people who have never seen night, then ours is full of people who will never see it and in fact *do not want* to see it. General Electric, that multinational monument to energy, is the name of modern life. General Electric: everywhere, at every time, at every price. At some point we lost the night, and then forgot that we lost it. The price we paid for enslaving the electron was scrubbing the sky of its stars. We traded the planets for power plants and the galaxies for grids; we traded wonder for wealth, and the night for neon. This is life after the Electric Apocalypse—it happened too slowly to stop, and too quickly to remember. So now, when 80 percent of Americans can’t see or have never seen the Milky Way,[^2] the question we have to ask ourselves is, how do we live after losing the night? In this time, the time of the Gaza genocide and the Trump democide, the question of light pollution may not seem especially urgent. But I insist. To insist otherwise, I think, is to not really read the constellations of modern life—to not draw the shapes suggested by the dots of Gaza, Trump, General Electric, and everything in between. This illiteracy, too, is symptomatic of our nightless condition. We should reflect on what it means to live in a 24-7 civilization; we should acknowledge the phenomenological difference between a humanity that every night looked up into the expanse of eternity, and a humanity that every night looks down into the blue glare of pocket megacities. We should consider that losing night doesn’t just mean losing a pretty view; it means losing an entire dimension of human existence and spiritual experience. It means, in some deep sense, losing reality. In the Qur’an, we read, > إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍۢ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ ١٩٠ > > Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. (Qur’an 3:190) This *ikhtilaf*, this contrast, between night and day is a central motif of the Qur’an, and the tragedy of the twenty-first-century (sub)urbanite is that she cannot experience the visceral truth of this *ayah*, not in the way its first listeners could. Night and day acquire identity relative to each other; but modern life, which fetishizes perpetual light and perpetual activity as the metrics of civilization, has made the night a grayer shade of the day—and so we no longer apprehend either. It is a great irony, indeed, that the modern city takes as ideal what the Qur’an delivers as warning: > قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُمْ إِن جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلنَّهَارَ سَرْمَدًا إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ مَنْ إِلَـٰهٌ غَيْرُ ٱللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُم بِلَيْلٍۢ تَسْكُنُونَ فِيهِ ۖ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ ٧٢ > > Say: “What do you think? If Allah made the day permanent for you till the Day of Rising, what god is there other than Allah to bring you night to rest in? Do you not then see?” (Qur’an 28:72) We in fact do not see, because for the permanence of day—for its washed-out glare and burned-out stare, its humdrum droning and labored heaving, its shuffling and scraping and squalling and squawking—for all this day, we pay with our sight. Day every hour, day every day, day forever—isn’t this the future? What greater testament is there to our wealth, our brilliance, our omnipotence, than the day without end? Day without end, work without end, expense without end. So however much we squint and search, we can’t find night in the sky, and we can’t find it among ourselves, the disfigured products of productivity. This is always the trap sprung by light on those who do not respect it—that it takes sight as often as it lends it. Light is not the antithesis of blindness; here it is its source. “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon nor for the night to outstrip the day,”[^3] but we’ll have nothing to do with such temperance; with our light-emitting diodes and metal-halide lamps and mercury vapor, we summon the sun into the night. Light upon light![^4] But what a perverse interpretation of light this is. It’s a brutish kind of light, harsh, lacking in grace, and vaguely obscene. How else to describe this gorging on radiation, this guzzling of photons? We’re confident that one can amass too many pounds, but too many lumens? Surely not. Surely gluttony is not a class of crime committed with light. Surely we can never rediscover luminosity as obesity. Overconsumption is a strictly fleshy affair. Again, the nightless do not know how to read constellations. The nightless do not know many things, and what the nightless know least is that they are without night. Their ignorance of their ignorance is masked by their preoccupation with the idea of night, by the doggedness with which they try to keep it at bay. It seems to me that nightless society tells itself at least three major stories about the night: 1. In the first story, the night is bedtime, unless one is working a night shift to make ends meet or cramming for an exam or indulging in revenge bedtime procrastination. 2. In the second story, the night is a slumber party, a Bacchic carnival for letting loose and going wild. It is the enemy of sleep and the partisan of sin and the keeper of secrets. 3. In the third story, the night is danger and death—it is where ghosts glide and serial killers hide and secret police lie, in haunted forests and dark alleyways and unmarked vans. So when I ask, how do we live after losing the night, I am not asking how we might lobby our local representatives to pass anti–light pollution ordinances, though that would be laudable (for evidence that city and night can coexist, search Flagstaff, Arizona). No, I am asking what it would mean to restore night in its transcendent meaning as a way of life, and what that would mean for us at this historical moment. The *insan* forgets what he knows—and the answer to this question, of how to live after losing the night, he does know—and Ramadan returns to remind him. It does so by testifying that Islam is the *deen* of night. Ours is a nocturnal faith, one in which night is a gateway to the numinous, and nowhere is this truth more sharply illuminated than in the month of the fast, the month of the Qur’an, the month of Laylat al-Qadr. We find out when Ramadan is (re)visiting by consulting the Moon, that celestial sign by which we count our days and on which we hang our calendar. We begin our fast when the night ends and end the fast when the night begins. We rest at night with *tarawih* and we keep vigil with *tahajjud*. We eagerly anticipate not the last ten days, but the last ten nights. The centerpiece of that anticipation is Laylat al-Qadr, the night that the mission of the Prophet ﷺ began, the night when the Final Revelation descended, and the night when the divine decree is issued. Ramadan testifies that night is not merely a physical reality. Night is a spiritual state, and a state of being. Night is stillness and silence, and, though we might not think it, it is light and life. Even though we fast during the day, the defining experiences of Ramadan follow nightfall, as they must. It is said that the Prophet ﷺ, when the last ten nights came, would tighten his waist belt and, through his worship, “give life to the night.”[^5] Ramadan is all about the nightlife, albeit not in a sense intuitive to *Homo luminous*. In other words, Ramadan, and the Islamic tradition more broadly, relate a story about the night quite at odds with the ones we enlightened moderns tell around our campfires. Against the night as bedtime, the night as slumber party, and the night as nightmare, Islam gives us three counterstories. --- ## The night as labor Allah identifies the night with rest, and this is a mercy; but Allah also identifies it with the worship of the wakeful, those who break with the natural order and thereby distinguish themselves from creation. The day demands nothing of us; the night makes us work for its treasures. A day is like a dog, if you’ll forgive the comparison—it gives its loyalty freely, and moves predictably. The sun is generous to the point of agony; the problem it poses is plenty, not scarcity. We shield our eyes and hunt for shade. The night is more feline—mysterious, elusive, demanding of time and care before its chill relents into warmth. The stars are initially few and illegible; with patience the eye adjusts, and they become many and readable. The stargazer, after weeks and years of conversation, is rewarded with a map of such absolute reliability and unwavering universality that never again can she know disorientation, no matter where or when she might be.[^6] Yes, the night is feline—I don’t think it a coincidence that historically, since at least Abu Hurayra, the cat has been the honorary animal of Islam. Nor can it be a coincidence that the companions and the poets alike reached for the moon, rather than the sun, to convey the beauty of the Prophet ﷺ. The sun is a zealous companion, searing and burning, and it inflicts its light with a most un-prophet-like bellicosity. The moon, too, is bright enough to cast shadows, but its gaze is gentle, the luminous equivalent of flowing water. The sun is shameless and proud, only ever obscured, unwillingly, by the passing clouds. The moon is demure and discreet, concealing and revealing, in phases advancing and retreating—yet when full in its presence, its grandeur is undeniable; the night seems to bend and submit to its glow. The *qiyam*, the night prayer, honors the labor that night demands—the labor from which its fruit is born and by which its sweetness is tasted. > > لَيْسُوا سَوَاءً ۗ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ > > They are not \[all\] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing \[in obedience\], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating \[in prayer\]. (Qur’an 3:113) --- ## The night as speed limit The name for the spiritual retreat constitutive of the Ramadan night—*itikaf*—comes from “*akafa*”: to adhere, to stick, to cling. It is, in other words, a declaration of immobility. This is deeply offensive to any card-carrying capitalist (i.e., all of us). Speed, dynamism, liquidity: These are our *arkan* *al-iman*. To succeed today is to become the human analog of the infinite scroll. Smooth and without friction, like the surface of our megacities. We are all more or less speedists, subscribed to the dogma of speedism, and oh so fearful of the slow. Stickiness, clinginess—there simply is neither time nor space for such slow. *Itikaf* is slow. Night is slow. Its temporality pools and trickles. When there is nothing but speed, there is no salvation but slow. --- ## The night as light Only in a state of *itikaf* does one rediscover *ikhtilaf*: the difference between night and day. It is what we learn when we emerge from the warm night of the womb into the harsh day of delivery: that night precedes day. The *layl* is mentioned more than ninety times in the Qur’an, and nearly always before the day. Over and over and over we encounter the formula: “*al-layl wa-l-nahar*.” It would be easy to map this natural sequence onto an emotional one of grief preceding relief, or a moral one of misguidance preceding guidance. On such a reading, the sorrow and confusion of night precedes the joy and clarity of daybreak. Certainly the Qur’an itself occasionally suggests such symbolism (10:27, 113:1–3). But that isn’t the whole story. It was at the end of the Year of Sorrow, the most tragic in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, that he embarked on what would become the most famous night story in Islam: al-Isra wa-l- Miraj—the Night Journey. The miraculous journey of a single night, in which the Prophet ﷺ journeyed from Mecca to Jerusalem to the highest heaven and back. It is the night in which was established the central act of worship in Islam—the five daily prayers. It is the night in which the Prophet ﷺ came face to face with “the Light of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 24:35). The paradox of light is that the brighter it glows, the more it blinds; the paradox of night is that the darker it grows, the brighter it becomes. One can only receive the radiance of the cosmos in absolute darkness. Every night teaches this lesson, for those able to perceive it, and Islam affirms it. It was deep in the night that the Prophet ﷺ was relieved from his year of grief, and the foundation of his *ummah* established. We need to break our reflexive association of night with darkness in the sense of misguidance and misfortune. To picture the night as optimistic and life-affirming—this is especially challenging for those of us raised in the bosom of English, a language from which one inherits all manner of night-phobic idioms. How long will we continue to speak of “benighted” men, of “the dead of night,” and the “dark night of the soul”?[^7] A nocturnal faith demands a nocturnal ethics. We need to readjust our nocturnal imaginary accordingly. Ours is the *deen* of the dawn and the dusk, the sunset and the sunrise—the stars and the silence and the slow. Beston was more right than he may have realized when he wrote, emphatically, that “to live thus, to know only artificial night, is as absurd and evil as to know only artificial day.”[^8] It is an obligation, not a luxury, to reflect seriously on the implications of living in a post-Enlightenment civilization ideologically and materially invested in the extermination of night. Come nightfall, we look up and see nothing, and after a time the nothing above seems to reflect the nothing within. It’s a muddy gray thing, the starless night and the nightless soul. Night as a physical phenomenon is unlikely to return within the lifetime of anyone reading this, but night in its deeper reality is always available to those who seek it. They are the ones who, in the night of early morning, supplicate, “O Allah, to You is praise, the Light of the heavens and the earth . . . ”[^9] --- ## Notes [^1]: Henry Beston, *The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod* (Henry Holt, 1988), 165-66. [^2]: Ahmed Elbenni, “As Light Pollution Encroaches on Night Skies, Astronomers Dream of a Clear View of the Milky Way,” *Toledo Blade*, August 1, 2021, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/living/2021/08/01/night-light-as-light-pollution-encroaches-on-night-skies-astronomers-dream-of-a-clear-view-of-the-milky-way/stories/20210725016&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773343586761023&usg=AOvVaw0o1f99TXEfl-Ft9BjF3o8O)[https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/living/2021/08/01/night-light-as-light-pollution-encroaches-on-night-skies-astronomers-dream-of-a-clear-view-of-the-milky-way/stories/20210725016](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/living/2021/08/01/night-light-as-light-pollution-encroaches-on-night-skies-astronomers-dream-of-a-clear-view-of-the-milky-way/stories/20210725016&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773343586761589&usg=AOvVaw1DM7HSjUwAcc24O91X6n7I). See also Fabio Falchi et al., “The New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness,” *Science Advances* 2, no. 6 (2016), [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600377&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773343586761967&usg=AOvVaw1jNfs-3r4o5J_YbGAhtrDp)[https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600377](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600377&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773343586762141&usg=AOvVaw2U6pXa0HH_YPCCy7c_JUO_). [^3]: Qur’an 36:40. [^4]: Qur’an 24:35. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2024. [^6]: For good reason, astronomy was historically a major field of study in the Muslim world. [^7]: The association of night with grief, sorrow, and misfortune is hardly exclusive to the English language; the point is that English furnishes few idiomatic counterweights to its many nightphobic expressions and turns of phrase. [^8]: Beston, *Outermost House*. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7499. ## Summary Living in an age that has all but abolished the night, humanity has traded away something far greater than a beautiful view of the stars. The naturalist Henry Beston, writing in 1346 AH (1928 CE) in his work *The Outermost House*, observed that even then, "Today's civilization is full of people who have not the slightest notion of the character or the poetry of night, who have never even seen night." In his time, kerosene lamps still lit rural homes and nearly half of American households lacked electricity. A century later, the condition has worsened beyond his imagining: we have invented a light for every purpose—streetlights, headlights, floodlights, and the rest—and roughly eighty percent of people can no longer see the Milky Way. We lost the night so gradually that we forgot we ever had it, paying for our mastery of electricity by scrubbing the sky of its stars. The question that must now be asked is: how do we live after losing the night? This is no trivial matter, even amid the graver calamities of our age. Losing the night does not merely mean losing a pleasant sight; it means losing an entire dimension of human existence and spiritual experience—in some deep sense, losing reality itself. Allah, Most High, declares: *"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding"* (Qur'an 3:190). This *ikhtilaf*, the contrast between night and day, is a central motif of the Qur'an. The tragedy of the modern city-dweller is that she can no longer feel the visceral truth of this verse as its first listeners did, for night and day take their identity from one another, and a civilization that worships perpetual light has reduced the night to a paler shade of day—so that we no longer truly perceive either one. The modern city has embraced as its ideal what the Qur'an presents as a warning: *"Say: 'What do you think? If Allah made the day permanent for you till the Day of Rising, what god is there other than Allah to bring you night to rest in? Do you not then see?'"* (Qur'an 28:72). In truth, we do not see, for we have purchased endless day—with its glare, its droning labor, its endless work and endless expense—at the price of our own sight. It is a bitter irony: light, which seems the enemy of blindness, here becomes its very source. The reminder stands that *"It is not for the sun to overtake the moon nor for the night to outstrip the day,"* yet with our lamps and diodes we drag the sun into the night and call it *"light upon light,"* though this gluttonous gorging on radiation is a brutish and graceless perversion of light's true meaning. Those without night tell themselves stories about it, and there are three in particular. In the first, night is merely bedtime. In the second, it is a carnival of indulgence, the partisan of sin. In the third, it is danger and death, the domain of ghosts, killers, and unmarked vans. But the deeper question is not how to pass anti–light pollution laws—laudable as that would be, and cities such as Flagstaff, Arizona prove that city and night can coexist—but rather what it would mean to restore the night in its transcendent meaning as a way of life. Man forgets what he knows, and Ramadan returns each year to remind him, testifying that Islam is the *deen* of the night. Ours is a nocturnal faith in which night is a gateway to the numinous, and nowhere is this clearer than in the month of the fast, the month of the Qur'an, the month of Laylat al-Qadr. We learn of Ramadan's arrival by looking to the moon, by which we count our days; we begin the fast when night ends and break it when night begins; we pray *tarawih* and keep vigil with *tahajjud*; and we await not merely the last ten days but the last ten nights. At their center stands Laylat al-Qadr—the night the Prophet's ﷺ mission began, the night the Final Revelation descended, the night the divine decree is issued. It is related that when the last ten nights came, the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his waist belt and, through his worship, "give life to the night." Ramadan is indeed about the nightlife, though not in the sense familiar to *Homo luminous*. Against the three stories of the nightless, the Islamic tradition offers three counterstories. The first is the night as labor. Allah identifies the night with rest as a mercy, yet also with the worship of the wakeful, who break with the natural order and thereby distinguish themselves from creation. The day gives its light freely and predictably; the night withholds its treasures until we work for them, as the stargazer's eye slowly adjusts until the stars become many and readable. The *qiyam*, the night prayer, honors this labor from which the night's sweetness is born, as Allah says: *"They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer]"* (Qur'an 3:113). The second is the night as speed limit. The name *itikaf*, the spiritual retreat of the Ramadan night, derives from *akafa*—to adhere, to cling, to stick—a declaration of immobility deeply offensive to a civilization for which speed, dynamism, and liquidity have become the very *arkan al-iman*. Night is slow; its time pools and trickles; and when there is nothing but speed, there is no salvation but slow. The third is the night as light. Only in *itikaf* does one rediscover *ikhtilaf*. The *layl* is mentioned more than ninety times in the Qur'an, nearly always before the day, in the recurring formula *"al-layl wa-l-nahar."* One might map this onto grief preceding relief or misguidance preceding guidance, and the Qur'an does at times suggest such symbolism (10:27, 113:1–3). But that is not the whole story. It was at the close of the Year of Sorrow, the most tragic period in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, that he embarked on al-Isra wa-l-Miraj—the Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem to the highest heaven and back—in which the five daily prayers were established and in which he came face to face with *"the Light of the heavens and the earth"* (Qur'an 24:35). The paradox of light is that the brighter it glows, the more it blinds; the paradox of night is that the darker it grows, the brighter it becomes, for the radiance of the cosmos can only be received in absolute darkness. We must therefore break our reflexive linking of night with misguidance and misfortune—a habit reinforced by a language full of night-phobic idioms like "the dead of night" and "the dark night of the soul." A nocturnal faith demands a nocturnal ethics and a renewed nocturnal imagination, for ours is the *deen* of the dusk and the dawn, the stars and the silence and the slow. Beston spoke truly when he wrote that "to live thus, to know only artificial night, is as absurd and evil as to know only artificial day." It is an obligation, not a luxury, to reflect on what it means to inhabit a civilization materially and ideologically bent on exterminating the night, for the emptiness we find in the starless sky comes to mirror the emptiness within. The night as a physical phenomenon may not return in our lifetimes, but night in its deeper reality remains available to those who seek it—those who, in the night of early morning, supplicate: "O Allah, to You is praise, the Light of the heavens and the earth." --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-power-through-the-ramadan-dip-10-hadiths-and-tips # How to Power Through the Ramadan Dip: 10 Hadiths and Tips | Blog **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Hadith **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan **Published:** March 10, 2026 **Updated:** March 24, 2026 It is very well observed, and very predictable, that there occurs a sort of dip in the middle stretch of Ramadan. A low point. A fatigue in devotion. The excitement from the first nights settles. The body feels it. The soul feels it. I want to equip you with ten Prophetic teachings: ten reminders from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that you can combat this dip. --- ## 1\. Faith has highs and lows, and that is normal A companion once became alarmed, fearing he had become a hypocrite. Why? Because when the Prophet ﷺ spoke about Paradise and Hellfire, his faith would soar. It was as if he could see the Hereafter before him. But when he returned home to family, business, and responsibilities, that intensity would taper off. Abu Bakr (rA) admitted he felt the same. They approached the Prophet ﷺ, who reassured them: > If you were to remain in the state you are in with me, the angels would shake your hands in your homes and on your roads. But, O Hanzala, there is a time for this and a time for that.[^1] In other words: Fluctuation is part of being human. So relax and have some self-compassion. Don’t let temporary fatigue cause you to throw in the towel altogether. --- ## 2\. Be proactive, not powerless The Prophet ﷺ said: > Be keen on what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not give up.[^2] Don’t spend your energy crying over spilled milk. What’s done is done. Focus on the present. Ramadan has already proven to you that you are capable of more than you think. You have the same 24 hours with no extra time added to the day; yet suddenly there is more Qur’an, more charity, more patience. If Allah showed you that you can do more, He can help you sustain it, and even elevate it. --- ## 3\. Every enthusiasm has a decline The Prophet ﷺ taught: > Every deed has an enthusiasm, and every enthusiasm has a decline. Whoever’s decline remains within my Sunnah has succeeded.[^3] Spiritual momentum will taper. That is normal. The key is to not crash outside the bounds of guidance. When you dip, don’t dip too far. Get up and start again. Just keep moving. --- ## 4\. It was never meant to be an “Instagram Ramadan” Many of us imagine Ramadan as a flawless spiritual experience. We picture ourselves fully focused at every iftar, making passionate *dua* every night, never missing a beat. But Ramadan was never meant to consist of “Instagram moments.” There will be emergency grocery runs, sick children, exhaustion, interruptions, and hiccups. And that is by design. Because life after Ramadan has hiccups too. This month is not about perfection. It is about improvement that survives beyond the month. --- ## 5\. Quality over quantity They asked the Prophet ﷺ which fasting person is best. He replied: > The one who remembers Allah the most.[^4] It is not just about abstaining from food and drink. Let your hearing fast. Let your sight fast. Let your tongue fast from lying and offensive speech. Bask in tranquility and reverence. Don’t let the only difference between your fasting day and your nonfasting day be hunger. Increase the quality of your fast by remembering Allah more. --- ## 6\. Intention multiplies everything The Prophet ﷺ said: > Actions are judged by intentions.[^5] Be intentional about everything. Cooking becomes worship when you intend to strengthen your family for devotion. Sleep becomes worship when you intend to recharge for prayer. Work becomes worship when you intend to gain provision through halal means. A tiny deed can become immense through intention. A great deed can shrink because of the absence of it. Layer your intentions and multiply your reward. --- ## 7\. Ramadan is a market. Don’t fall asleep in it. The Prophet ﷺ said: > Every night of Ramadan, Allah frees people from the Fire.[^6] *Every* night—not just the first ten, not just the last ten. Ramadan is like a market filled with unbelievable deals. Every day is a treasure. Don’t drift through the middle of it. Ibn al-Jawzi (rA) said that if those in their graves could make one wish, they would wish for one more day of Ramadan. --- ## 8\. Being special when others slow down The Prophet ﷺ said: > Your Lord marvels at a young person who does not stray.[^7] Why youth? Because it is a time of strength and temptation. Mid-Ramadan is similar. It is when many people slow down. If you persist during this stretch, you become one of the few and therefore special. This can be your moment to shine. --- ## 9\. Worship in busy times is elevated The Prophet ﷺ said: > Worship during times of turmoil is like migrating to me.[^8] And he said about the Duha prayer: > None maintains it except one who constantly returns to Allah.[^9] Duha is prayed when the day is underway, when errands, notifications, and interruptions are in full swing. To pause and pray then is special. Mid-Ramadan works the same way. When the energy fades and distractions increase, worship becomes more precious. --- ## 10\. Consistency is what Allah loves most The Prophet ﷺ said: > The most beloved deeds to Allah are those done consistently, even if small.[^10] This is the anchor. Not intensity or bursts, but consistency. Two rak‘as sustained, a few pages daily, regular *dhikr*. When others slow down, you maintain. That is what makes you more beloved to Him. --- ## Final reflection Mid-Ramadan is a very special time because it separates the wheat from the chaff. It is where sincerity is tested, where consistency is proven, and where those who persist distinguish themselves. May Allah grant us the strength to remain consistent, to shine in the middle of Ramadan as the full moon does, to be rewarded for what we did and what we intended, and to leave Ramadan with more *taqwa* than we entered it. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2750. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2664. [^3]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 6725, *ṣaḥīḥ*. [^4]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 3348, *ḥasan*. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 1907. [^6]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 682, *ḥasan*. [^7]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17371, *ḥasan*. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2948. [^9]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17390, *ḥasan*. [^10]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6464; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 783. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/hindutva-and-anti-muslim-violence-how-to-navigate-hindu-supremacy # Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Violence: How to Navigate Hindu Supremacy **Author:** Safa Ahmed **Topics:** Islamophobia, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Publication **Published:** March 10, 2026 **Updated:** March 14, 2026 ## The Glorious Pages from Your Chronicles October 1947 was a bleak time for South Asia. One month before, Partition had carved out the new states of India and Pakistan (along with what would later become Bangladesh), and in turn also cleaved through the subcontinent’s centuries-old Muslim population. Some chose to leave for the newly created state of Pakistan, where, unlike in India, Muslims would be a majority. Others were forced to uproot their lives and flee as intercommunal violence between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs exploded across the subcontinent, burning properties to ash and sending trains across the border filled with corpses. During this time of nationwide anxiety, the Indian freedom fighter and Islamic theologian Abul Kalam Azad stood on the steps of the three-hundred-year-old Jama Masjid in Delhi to address the congregation.[^1] Despite the climate of violence and the very real threat of systemic persecution, Azad—drawing on the core Islamic principles of *tawakkul* (trust in God) and *istiqama* (steadfastness)—saw no reason for his people to surrender to fear. Though his audience was just one congregation, his words would serve as assurance to the two hundred million Muslims who would remain in India as a vulnerable minority. “Raise your eyes! The minarets of Jama Masjid want to ask you a question,” Azad admonished. “Where have you lost the glorious pages from your chronicles? Was it only yesterday that on the banks of the Jamuna, your caravans performed *wudu*? Today, you are afraid of living here. Remember, Delhi has been nurtured with your blood. . . The words coward and frenzy cannot be spoken in the same breath as the word Muslim.”[^2] Throughout his speech, Azad called for resilience over fear, calling on his people to look to the rich legacy of Islamic history for examples of courage, dignity, and perseverance in the face of oppression. He urged them to fortify their *iman* and take an active role in shaping their destiny—both as an *ummah* and as citizens of a free India. To some, the many facets of Azad’s identity and worldview might appear contradictory. He was drawn to pan-Islamism, yet strongly advocated unity and brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims. A respected *alim* and *mufassir*, he also played a central role in shaping India’s secular democratic framework. Yet in holding these views, he was far from alone. Look through the writings and records of other Indian Muslim freedom fighters and political leaders of his time, and the same conviction emerges over and over again. It is present in the way the revolutionary fighter Ashaqullah Khan cheerfully accepted his execution by the British, writing to his nephews, “You will come to know to what extent I loved my motherland as a true Muslim.”[^3] It is in the fatwa of the mufti Fazle Haque, who rallied almost every major *alim* in Delhi to sign a call for Indian sepoys to rise up and fight a just war against British colonization,[^4] and it is in the intertwined spirituality and political activism of Abadi Bano Begum.[^5] In the minds of these freedom fighters, the Muslim neither seeks isolation nor begs for recognition, but instead—in true Prophetic fashion—is an architect of their nation’s destiny, no matter how small their numbers might be. “I do not ask you to seek certificates from the new echelons of power. I do not want you to lead a life of sycophancy as you did during the foreign rule,” Azad said. “Your forefathers . . . not only plunged headlong into the seas, but trampled the mountains, laughed at the bolts of lightning, turned away the tornadoes, challenged the tempests and made them alter their course. It is a sure sign of a dying faith that those who had once grabbed the collars of emperors are today clutching their own throats.”[^6] Seventy-seven years later, the faith and courage of Azad and his contemporaries serves as a blueprint for how Muslims can meet the challenge of Hindutva, or Hindu supremacy—not as passive victims, but as figureheads in the fight against this corrosive far-right ideology.[^7] In order to fight against it, however, one must first understand it. In the service of fostering this understanding, this paper provides a detailed guide to the Hindu supremacist movement, beginning by unpacking the extremist beliefs of Hindutva’s earliest ideologues, tracing the rise of the violent paramilitary groups whose political offshoot would become India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and examining the movement’s continuing global reach. In doing so, the aim is not only to raise awareness of this growing threat but also to equip Muslims with the knowledge needed to inspire meaningful, faith-driven action in response. --- ## Hindutva 101: Its History, Core Beliefs, and Infrastructure In January 1948, just months after Azad’s speech on the steps of Jama Masjid, a man named Nathuram Godse shot and killed Mahatma Gandhi. At the time of his death, Gandhi was weeks into a hunger strike protesting the Hindu-Muslim violence that wracked the subcontinent. His murderer was of the opposite conviction: that India had no place for Muslims, and should be turned into a Hindu ethnostate.[^8] A longtime adherent of Hindutva, Godse not only admitted to killing Gandhi, but called it a “moral” act done in service of Indian Hindus. “I have no doubt,” he said during his trial, “\[that\] honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof someday in future.”[^9] In every way, Hindutva is the antithesis of everything Indian Muslim revolutionaries fought for. Based on the belief that Hindus are a race superior to non-Hindus, Hindutva asserts that India should be a Hindu state and theocracy rather than a secular democracy, and that the interests and values of Hindus should dominate all areas of society. According to Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative, Hindutva “is a modern political ideology used . . . to carve out an exclusive identity and justify discrimination and violence against minority communities,” particularly against Muslims. Today—as Godse had hoped—Hindutva is the driving ideology of India’s current government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The conceptualization of India as an ancient and superior Hindu civilization had been presented by different movements and individuals throughout the late 1800s.[^10] The term Hindutva, however, was formally codified by a man named V. D. Savarkar, a former freedom fighter who, after being imprisoned for aiding revolutionaries, later begged the British for clemency and pledged to be “the staunchest advocate” of loyalty to their empire.[^11] In his 1923 pamphlet ​​*Essentials of Hindutva*, which would become the basis of Hindu supremacist thought, Savarkar argued that Muslims and Christians were, by virtue of following religions that had originated outside of the subcontinent, incapable of showing loyalty to India. His writings paint India as having a glorious monolithic “Hindu” past, where Hindus are imagined as one race, and whose time “living in the land of dreams” was brutally ended by Muslim and Christian invaders in the medieval period. Using this logic, he urges Hindus across castes to unite with “hatred” against this “common foe” and reclaim their motherland from the “alien adulteration” of foreign faiths.[^12] Here, Savarkar’s framing of the barbaric Mohammedan invader reflects an Orientalist European view of Muslims that originated as early as the Crusades: one that, as Sahar Aziz writes, paints Islam as “propagat\[ing\] ignorance, violence, and sensuality as a threat to Christianity’s perceived light, knowledge, and reason.”[^13] Though the Hindu supremacists of today are keen to conflate Hindutva with the religion of Hinduism, Savarkar himself believed no such thing. An agnostic, he wrote disparagingly throughout his life about Hindu beliefs and practices, and emphasized that Hindutva was not rooted in faith, but in a politicized imagining of the Hindu culture and race as separate from that of other Indians. “Hindutva is not identical with what is vaguely indicated by the term Hinduism. By an ‘ism’ it is generally meant a theory or a code more or less based on spiritual or religious dogma or creed,” Savarkar wrote. “Hindutva embraces all the departments of thought and activity of the whole Being of our Hindu race.”[^14] In referring to Hindus as a race of their own—separate from and superior to adherents of “foreign” faiths like Islam and Christianity—Savarkar revealed just how deeply he had been inspired by Nazi imaginings of racial hierarchy and “purity.” At a speech he delivered in 1938, Savarkar went as far as to openly praise Hitler and Mussolini, holding up Nazism and fascism as models for national revival. “Who are we to dictate to Germany, Japan or Russia or Italy to choose a particular form of policy of government?” Savarkar asked his audience. “Hitler knows better . . . what suits Germany best. The very fact that Germany or Italy has so wonderfully recovered and grown so powerful at the touch of \[a\] Nazi or fascist magical wand is enough to prove that those isms were the most congenial tonic their health demanded.”[^15] Savarkar’s writings radicalized K. B. Hedgewar,[^16] a physician and disillusioned former member of Nehru’s Indian National Congress Party. In 1925, just two years after *Essentials of Hindutva* was published, Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a fascist organization that would become not only the largest militant group in India, but the largest volunteer-based organization in the world. Serving as the driving force behind the Hindutva movement, the RSS went on to spawn a vast network of Hindu militant groups, as well as affiliated schools, charities, and programs. (It was in the RSS that Nathuram Godse, the murderer of Gandhi, formed his political beliefs and opted for their violent execution.) In modern times, the RSS can be compared to the head of a hydra that encompasses a network of groups not only in India, but in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and beyond.[^17] Like Savarkar, Hedgewar had no love for minorities and once referred to Muslims as “foreign snakes.”[^18] But it was the second chief of the RSS, M. S. Golwalkar, who articulated in the plainest terms what would become of minorities in a Hindu supremacist India. “The foreign races must either adopt Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no ideas but those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture,” he said. “\[Minorities must be\] wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges . . . not even citizens’ rights.”[^19] In the late 1930s and 1940s, Golwalkar reportedly worked to cast the RSS in the mold of a Nazi militia, “with the goal of eventually installing himself as führer,” as Dhirendhra K. Jha writes.[^20] By 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would become responsible for turning Golwalkar’s fantasy into a normalized reality. Modi’s devotion to the Hindu supremacist movement goes all the way back to his childhood, when in 1958 at only eight years old, he joined the RSS. Over the years, he rose through the ranks of the organization and was eventually transferred by RSS leadership to its affiliated political party, the BJP. In 2002, while serving as the Chief Minister of Gujarat state, he cemented himself as an open ally to the far right by facilitating the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, during which he reportedly ordered police not to intervene while nearly two thousand Muslim women, children, and men were slaughtered by Hindu militants—including affiliates of the RSS.[^21] Modi would ride the resulting wave of far-right support to the office of Prime Minister in 2014, officially instating the Hindu supremacist BJP as the head of India’s government. What followed would be ten years of relentless attacks—ideological, political, and physical—on India’s Muslim community, as Modi and the BJP began their project to turn India from a democracy into a Hindu supremacist ethnostate. As BJP leader Navneet Rana once declared before a cheering crowd, “If you want to live in India, then you have to say ‘Jai Sri Ram’ \[Glory to Lord Ram\].”[^22] Looking at the words of Savarkar and Hedgewar, Golwalkar and Godse, Modi and the leaders of the BJP, it becomes clear that Hindutva is far from unique. Rather, it is rooted in the same myths of imagined victimhood and racial supremacy as Nazism and white Christian nationalism. From the lens of Islamic history, it also shares the core motivations of the earliest enemies of Islam. ### Muslims Under Attack On April 23, while campaigning for India’s 2024 general elections, a state wing of the BJP made a post on X aimed at targeting the opposition Congress Party. Titled “Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto?,” the post claimed that voting for the opposition would result in “Hijab Enforcement in Educational Institutions,” “Freedom to Practice Personal Laws,” and a “Mandate for Public & Private Entities to Hire Muslims.”[^23] None of this had been promised by the Congress Party—but it did reveal that, in the eyes of the BJP and its base, to promise basic civil liberties to Muslims is inherently anti-Hindu. This post stripped back all purported defenses of Hindutva—the claims of wanting to protect Hindu faith and culture—and laid bare the true engine of the ideology. At its core, Hindutva is not about Hindus at all. It does not argue for the rights of Hindu oppressed castes, women, or tribals. Instead, it posits the Hindu identity solely as a reaction to other religious identities, one where Hindu pride and strength is drawn from the violent subjugation of Indian Muslims and Christians. In other words, it aims to exact revenge for Mughal rule and Christian proselytization upon the followers of “foreign” Abrahamic faiths in India today, framing this subjugation as a clash of civilizations rather than the lashing out of an insecure and radicalized Hindu population.[^24] In *Essentials of Hindutva,* Savarkar laid the groundwork for this core motivation: “Nothing makes Self conscious of itself so much as a conflict with non-self. Nothing can weld peoples into a nation and nations into a state as the pressure of a common foe . . . such were the forces, overwhelmingly furious, that took India by surprise the day Mohammad \[of Ganzi\] crossed the Indus and invaded her.”[^25] Savarkar here relies on an ahistorical narrative that is central to Hindu supremacist ideology: the idea that India was invaded and violated by the Muslim foreigner, that the Muslim population grew only via forced conversion of Hindu masses, and that Hindu unity and greatness began its decline at the moment of Islam’s arrival. The way to reclaim that mythological greatness, in his view, was to link Indianness to Hinduness and write off all others as simply incompatible with, if not a threat to, the very idea of India. “Must ye, o Hindus,” he urged, after proclaiming that the “conflict of life and death” began with Islam’s arrival in India, “consolidate and strengthen Hindu nationality; not to give wanton offence to any of our non-Hindu compatriots, in fact to anyone in the world, but *in just and urgent defence of our race and land*.”[^26] Look at Indian news headlines, and this phenomenon of “wanton offense” against the “common foe” becomes abundantly clear. Today, it is common practice to “celebrate” Hindu festivals by holding violent rallies in Muslim neighborhoods, dancing to genocidal pop music in front of mosques during prayer time, and seeking out Muslims to attack in mobs. Mosques that broadcast the call to prayer—a practice that had been normal and unproblematic for decades—are purposefully drowned out with Hindu hymns blasted from speakers.[^27] Egregiously, Modi and the BJP have also criminalized the most personal and fundamental elements of Islamic practice. In several Indian states, calling the *adhan* from loudspeakers is banned, while praying outside of a mosque—whether by the roadside during a bus trip or near a national monument like the Taj Mahal—can result in a police investigation and harassment by Hindu supremacists. Beginning in 2022, the state of Karnataka forced thousands of Muslim women to choose between their religious garments and their education by banning the hijab in schools—a practice that was quickly picked up by institutions nationwide. Women and girls who continue to wear the hijab to school are berated and harassed for displaying their religious affiliation; Hindu classmates retaliate by wearing saffron scarves to flaunt their support for the BJP and call it their own expression of faith.[^28] Bolstered by popular outcry over “love jihad,” a popular conspiracy theory that claims Muslim men have an agenda to convert Hindu women to Islam through seduction, twelve Indian states have passed laws that criminalize conversion to Islam and Christianity, emboldening Hindu extremists to threaten the lives of Muslim converts, arrest imams and preachers, and attack Muslim men over even minimal interactions with Hindu women.[^29] Rather than celebrating their existing places of worship, Hindu supremacists have launched attacks on centuries-old mosques across the country, as BJP leaders promote the ahistorical claim that Mughal-era masjids were built on the ruins of demolished Hindu temples—just as militants tore down the nearly five-hundred-year-old Babri Masjid in 1992, which the Modi government later replaced with a temple in 2024.[^30] This precedent has emboldened Hindu supremacist groups to launch legal campaigns targeting other historic mosques, demanding that they be handed over to Hindus for demolition or conversion into temples, and in some cases setting up idols of Hindu deities on masjid premises. Several mosques now face the same threat: the three-hundred-year-old Gyanvapi Masjid has already been forced to section off its basement for Hindu prayers, while the 355-year-old Shahi Eidgah is the subject of eighteen court petitions by Hindu supremacists seeking to seize it.[^31] Hindu supremacists’ dietary restrictions, particularly the prohibition of beef, translate to a surge of violent and often fatal attacks on Muslims who transport, slaughter, or eat beef.[^32] In many ways, the Hindutva “practice” of Hinduism has become fundamentally about antagonizing Muslims. ### Criminalizing Muslim Existence This obsession is made evident through the way anti-Muslim hatred not only dominates popular imagination in India but also forms the backbone of federal policy. In 2019, Muslims of all backgrounds—men, women, and children alike—flooded the streets of India to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a discriminatory law that offers fast-tracked citizenship to all religious groups except Muslims. Combined with India’s National Registry of Citizens (NRC)—which lists individuals who “qualify” as citizens of India, without accounting for the fact that legal documentation is highly inaccessible to many of India’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens—the CAA allows Hindus without documentation to “regain” their citizenship quickly, while millions of Muslims are essentially rendered stateless.[^33] While the CAA and NRC are the most well-known anti-Muslim policies in India, they are far from the only ones. The 2025 Waqf (Amendment) Act erodes Muslims’ control over community-endowed lands—often used for masjids, Islamic schools, and graveyards—by mandating the appointment of Hindus to these properties’ overseeing committees. The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand state, which the BJP is pushing to implement nationally, does away with a historic recognition of sharia laws in personal matters, forcing Muslims to register marriages, divorces, and adoptions through a common law formulated by the Hindu supremacist state. In a number of cities, BJP lawmakers and police have attempted to enforce economic apartheid by ordering business owners to display their names on their shops, effectively making it easy to boycott Muslims in the name of protecting “Hindu piety.” Combined, these laws seek to criminalize all aspects of Muslim life, from the public to the private, turning existence while Muslim into a crime. ### Bulldozer Injustice Mirroring the Israeli tactic of targeted and wanton deployment of bulldozers against Palestinian-owned homes, the Indian government has popularized what its supporters refer to as “bulldozer justice” against Muslim-owned homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship.[^34] Over the past few years, civic authorities nationwide have demolished hundreds of thousands of properties, mostly belonging to Muslims living in poverty, sometimes rendering entire settlements’ worth of families homeless and without their livelihoods.[^35] In some cases, the demolitions are carried out after accusations of “crime,” including baseless accusations of eating beef, participating in “love jihad,” or resisting Hindu mob attacks by pelting stones. In many other cases, however, Muslim-owned properties are strategically targeted in “anti-encroachment” drives, during which structures—including masjids*—*are demolished with no due process after being labeled “illegally” built. As Muslim activist Fawaz Shaheen put it, bulldozer justice is “a form of collective punishment that seeks to demoralise and deter anyone who questions the government or their majoritarian politics.”[^36] ### Institutional Complicity The government’s forthright bigotry has also corrupted law enforcement, turning the police into a complicit arm of the state.[^37] Officers are frequently caught on video ignoring or outright enabling Hindu supremacist violence,[^38] while at the same time beating Muslims at polling booths during elections, torturing Muslims in custody,[^39] and firing bullets at Muslims who protest their oppression.[^40] This contempt has likewise eroded the independence of the judiciary, which has become willing to bend the law to the whims of Hindu supremacists.[^41] One prominent example is the disregard for the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which preserves the religious character of all places of worship as they were in 1947. In violation of this law, courts have entertained Hindu supremacist groups that launch legal campaigns targeting historic mosques, demanding that they be handed over to Hindus for demolition or to be turned into temples.[^42] Further, it has become the norm for courts—whether at the district, state, or national level—to convict Muslim human rights defenders and journalists under draconian anti-terror laws for exercising their right to dissent, while simultaneously granting impunity to Hindu supremacists charged with antiminority violence.[^43] The contrast here is stark: In 2022, the judiciary denied bail to a number of prominent Muslim activists who were detained for their role in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, including student leaders Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Gulfisha Fatima—none of whom were responsible for any sort of violence.[^44] In the same year, however, the Supreme Court facilitated the release of eleven Hindu supremacist convicts who gang-raped a Muslim woman, Bilkis Bano, and murdered fourteen members of her family during the Gujarat pogrom.[^45] Months later, a Gujarat court acquitted another sixty-seven Hindu militants who were involved in the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre,[^46] during which a mob of five thousand Hindu extremists burned Muslims alive and raped and mutilated nearly four hundred Muslim women and girls.[^47] One of those militants was the notorious Babu Bajrangi, who boasted that he had “slit open” a pregnant Muslim woman during the Gujarat pogrom.[^48] “Kill, chop and burn them . . . I enjoy it \[killing Muslims\],” he was caught boasting in a recording. “I say it even today, they should not be allowed to prosper.” ### A Climate of Bloodshed Though the release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case was reversed a few months later, Babu Bajrangi remains a free man. By no means is his ilk rare. The website Hindutva Profiles has cataloged hundreds of extremists who either celebrate anti-Muslim violence or have played a direct role in it, encouraging everything from murder and mutilation to outright genocide.[^49] This widespread and normalized bloodlust reflects what the Ten Stages of Genocide describes as the moment when society “overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder . . . Indoctrination prepares the way for incitement.”[^50] It is both horrifying and unsurprising, then, that Indian Muslims are subjected to relentless interpersonal violence, with hate crimes reported nearly every day.[^51] Hindutva leaders’ calls for Hindus to “protect” themselves, to “kill and die” to create a Hindu nation, has translated to a surge of interpersonal violence that spares no one. Muslim children have reported being slapped by Hindu teachers and beaten by police officers over claims of disrespect; Muslim women are subjected to rape threats both on- and offline as a way to seek revenge against the imagined perpetrators of “love jihad”; elderly Muslims are attacked in public. Violence carried out by mobs is also pervasive, during which Hindu extremists gather in groups—sometimes numbering in the dozens—to abduct, assault, humiliate, and sometimes murder individuals accused of even minor offenses. The threat of mob lynchings looms constantly:[^52] Muslim men have been beaten or even tortured to death over accusations of theft, alleged relationships with Hindu women,[^53] traffic accidents, and petty conflicts with Hindus (in one particularly disturbing case in June 2024, a Muslim man was lynched after a local Muslim cricket team in Gujarat beat their Hindu opponents).[^54] Most commonly, accusations—fabricated or otherwise—of eating or slaughtering cows for beef can lead to brutal lynchings carried out by cow vigilantes, who operate in militia-like groups with near impunity.[^55] In many cases, victims of mob attacks are filmed in their distress and humiliation. One such video from 2021 shows a Muslim man being beaten as he walks along a road with his young daughter, who cries and pleads for the mob to stop hitting him.[^56] Another video, this one from 2024, shows a 72-year-old Muslim man being assaulted while on a train ride to visit his daughter: During the trip, a group of young Hindu supremacists repeatedly hit him on the chest and face.[^57] The past few years have also seen a rise of mob attacks on Muslim-majority areas, often around Hindu festivals. These incidents often involve hundreds of Hindu extremists holding processions through Muslim neighborhoods in a deliberately provocative manner. In many of them, participants are armed, brandishing swords and tridents. Often, they will chant slogans associated with mob lynchings (including “Jai Shri Ram,” or “Glory to Lord Ram”) and blasting Hindu supremacist pop music (“You are not humans, you are butchers, enough of this Hindu-Muslim brotherhood,” one popular song declares).[^58] Indian social media is saturated with images of Hindu processions circling mosques, throwing shoes into masjid courtyards, attempting to break down their gates, vandalizing nearby cemeteries, and planting saffron flags—the color associated with Hinduism—on their domes. Such processions often devolve into violence and arson. In January 2024, following the consecration of the Ram Temple over the site of the destroyed Babri Masjid, Hindu supremacists across India “celebrated” by storming Muslim neighborhoods, vandalizing mosques, torching shops and homes, beating Muslim men and harassing women, destroying vehicles, and, in one incident, setting fire to a Muslim graveyard.[^59] In 2022 and 2023, mob violence raged nationwide during Hindu supremacist celebrations of the holiday Ram Navami, which targeted Muslim-majority localities and triggered intercommunal violence. In one horrifying case in the state of Bihar in 2023, a Hindu procession set a mosque and Islamic school on fire, which escalated into stone-throwing, assaults, and petrol bombs. One sixteen-year-old boy was killed.[^60] In the aftermath of these attacks, however, it is Muslims who are arrested en masse and whose homes are bulldozed as collective punishment. Beyond the violence itself, an equally troubling dimension lies in how the perpetrators are received by the public. Fellow Hindu supremacists, both in the form of online comments and public remarks, often shower these violent individuals with praise for their crimes. Videos of Muslim men begging for mercy as they are beaten rack up thousands of likes and laughing emojis on Facebook. Hindu militant groups hold rallies to protest the arrest of individuals accused of lynching Muslims.[^61] Cow vigilante leader Monu Manesar, who is the prime suspect in the brutal double-homicide and burning of two Muslim men in 2022, has been rewarded with a Gold Play Button for running a popular YouTube channel that glorifies anti-Muslim violence. Most chillingly, the men who raped Bilkis were garlanded with flowers and fed sweets after they were released from prison. One BJP lawmaker praised them as having “good values”—a statement that, if nothing else, reveals the collective deterioration of the Hindu supremacist conscience.[^62] ### Violence Against Kashmiris Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, has suffered under Indian military occupation for decades, leading to years of research comparing Indian tactics of oppression in Kashmir to those of Israel in Palestine. As Kashmiri anthropologist Ather Zia writes, “Since 1947, India’s colonial project has focused on conquering, controlling, assimilating, and ultimately erasing Kashmiri indigeneity . . . The Indian government operates unimpeded under the guise of integrating the territory, development, and fighting Kashmiri resistance that is cast as terrorism or proxy war. In violation of international law, India has changed Kashmir’s landscape through dense militarization, resource extraction, and economic exploitation that entrenches colonial benefits at the cost of local communities.”[^63] In another piece, Zia elaborates, “The dispossession of the natives, dense militarization, ecocide, brutality of troops, constant checkpoints, crackdowns, raids, encounters, and direct and indirect violence share uncanny similarities \[with Palestine\].”[^64] Lawyer and writer Suchitra Vijayan similarly writes that these shared tactics between India and Israel encompass “demographic engineering, the criminalization of dissent . . . \[and\] shared infrastructures of violence: surveillance, digital repression, population control, and policing regimes that are increasingly modelled on each other’s practices.”[^65] In 2019, the Modi government revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, stripping Kashmir of its special semiautonomous status and bringing the region under a full military crackdown. Soon after, Sandeep Chakravorty, India’s consul general to New York City, proclaimed that India would build settlements modeled off the settler colonial project of Israel, saying, “If the Israeli people can do it, we can also do it.”[^66] In the years since, Kashmiris have suffered extrajudicial killings, torture by Indian military and police forces, wanton arrests, internet shutdowns, land seizures, the forced closure of mosques and house arrest of imams during Muslim holidays, and other human rights abuses.[^67] Kashmiri journalists and human rights defenders are especially vulnerable; a number of them have been detained under draconian anti-terror laws and held indefinitely with slim chances of bail.[^68] In 2024, the Modi government introduced the Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, which would disenfranchise Kashmiri Muslims by offering government reservations to pro-BJP and upper-caste ethnic groups.[^69] As one Kashmiri businessman told Human Rights Watch in 2024, “It might seem calm with all the tourists, late night shopping, and other overt signs of normalcy, but we are festering inside.”[^70] ### Hate Speech In February 2026, the official account of the state of Assam’s BJP posted a video featuring Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a well-known hatemonger who has been steadily pushing for economic apartheid and ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the state. In the video, Sarma was shown posing with a rifle, then shooting several AI-generated images of Muslim men with beards and skullcaps. “No Mercy,” read the text over the macabre scene. Though the video was deleted quickly thereafter, the BJP has refused to apologize, with one local leader simply saying, “There is no comment. It has been deleted. There is nothing to say.”[^71] Violence against Muslims is normalized by the hate speech that has permeated online spaces in India and beyond. A study conducted by the Islamic Council of Victoria found that between 2019 and 2021, over 50 percent of all anti-Muslim posts on X (formerly Twitter) originated in India, surpassing both the US and the UK.[^72] Scroll through Indian X and Facebook, and the number of hateful posts is overwhelming: troll accounts calling Muslims “jihadis,” “invaders,” and “terrorists”; Hindu supremacist leaders posting explicit calls for violence;[^73] and videos of Muslim women, children, and men being attacked by Hindu supremacists circulating to a chorus of likes and celebratory comments. Posts offering firearms for sale in Hindu militant Facebook groups have gone untouched for an extensive period of time, while Facebook responded to activist concerns by claiming such posts didn’t violate any community policies.[^74] Similarly, Instagram and YouTube have become go-to platforms to promote anti-Muslim violence.[^75] This includes explicit promotion of cow vigilantism, or organized militia violence against primarily Muslim men in the name of preventing the slaughter of cattle, which are seen as sacred in Hinduism.[^76] These videos often involve cameras being shoved in the faces of men who are being beaten, humiliated, or otherwise in distress, sometimes even showing victims in the moments before they die of their injuries. Instead of this content being censored, it is often rewarded; one well-known Hindu militant, Monu Manesar, who is accused of orchestrating the horrific mob lynching of two Muslim men in 2023, received a Gold Play Button from YouTube for running a massively popular channel that films and glorifies cow vigilante attacks against Muslims.[^77] Any demands made to strike such content go largely ignored by media corporations, several of which have been exposed for their entanglement with the Indian state. Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, exposed the company in 2021 for promoting violent and hateful content through its algorithm in a way that benefited far-right governments and movements globally—including India. Leaked documents reported, “\[Hindu nationalist\] Users, Groups, and Pages promote fear mongering, anti-Muslim narratives targeted pro-Hindu populations with violent and incendiary intent . . . There were a number of dehumanizing posts comparing Muslims to ‘pigs’ and ‘dogs’ and misinformation.”[^78] Just a year prior to the leak, India’s Facebook policy head, Ankhi Das, was accused of being politically partisan by the *Wall Street Journal*, which found that Facebook only deleted anti-Muslim posts made by a BJP leader after the paper asked about them. This decision to ignore Facebook’s hate speech policy to benefit the BJP was reportedly made by Das, who told employees that “punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi’s party would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.”[^79] X has similarly folded to state pressure, suspending thousands of accounts and deleting thousands more tweets made by activists, journalists, NGOs, and civilians both in and outside of the country over the years.[^80] In one incident that made global headlines, X struck down links to watch the 2023 BBC documentary *India: The Modi Question*, which chronicled Modi’s rise to power following his role in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. Notably, X owner Elon Musk called himself a “fan” of Modi in 2023,[^81] though in 2025 the degree of censorship appeared to overwhelm even him; in 2025, X filed a lawsuit against the Indian government declaring its escalating policing of online speech to be “illegal and unconstitutional.”[^82] Over the years, a growing number of journalists have been arrested under India’s draconian anti-terror laws for reporting on human rights abuses or fact-checking propaganda on social media. News outlets have been forced to [take down](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/the-caravan-ordered-to-take-down-report-on-alleged-torture-murder-by-indian-army-2892998%23:~:text%3DScreenshot%2520of%2520the%2520post%2520by%2520The%2520Caravan.%26text%3DWhile%2520the%2520contents%2520of%2520the,by%2520journalist%2520Jatinder%2520Kaur%2520Tur.&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121149283&usg=AOvVaw0dBYeSgOoy6iKRrEWCzzOn) articles, had their offices raided, and in some cases been [banned](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kerala/kerala-high-court-upholds-media-one-tv-ban-7797020/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121149494&usg=AOvVaw29yzZv5CFzJzXeX26Bm0ay) altogether. Everyday social media users have also been named in police reports for making “anti-India” posts; a prominent example is the recent wave of arrests of individuals criticizing Operation Sindoor, a series of air strikes against Pakistan in May 2025 that killed thirty-one people and led to a surge of anti-Muslim violence within India.[^83] So rampant is this censorship that India routinely ranks among the top five countries for social media censorship requests.[^84] As a result, critics are silenced while hatemongers are allowed to grow their followings unimpeded by any regard for community guidelines. ### Electoral Hate Hate speech isn’t confined to the realm of social media posts. Hate speech events, during which Hindu supremacist leaders give charged antiminority speeches to extremist audiences, are held with alarming regularity across India. According to the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, anti-Muslim hate speeches skyrocketed by 74 percent in 2024 due to India’s election season, during which the BJP blazed their way to a third term in office after structuring almost their entire campaign around hatred for Muslims and other minorities.[^85] This election revealed how central the subjugation of Muslims is to Hindu supremacist ideas of power and rule. For months, BJP leaders mimed shooting arrows at mosques; they referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “diseases”; they thumped their chests about how quickly Hindus would be able to kill Muslims if they so desired (fifteen seconds, as BJP leader T. Raja Singh boasted at one rally).[^86] One BJP leader, Kapil Mishra, asked a crowd of his supporters, “How many Afzals \[Muslims\] will you kill? You will find \[a Muslim\] in each household. Wherever \[a Muslim\] comes out, we will enter that house and kill him  . . . In \[Modi’s\] third term, all these diseases would be treated.”[^87] Another senior BJP leader and close ally of Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, threatened to “deal with” Muslims “so harshly that their descendants will remember.”[^88] On another occasion, Adityanath boasted that his government had effectively criminalized Muslim acts of worship: “No one dares to even pray namaz \[salah\] on our roads. The mosques have removed their mics. In the next five years people will forget about screams \[*adhan*\] from mosques.”[^89] The press should have treated the BJP’s almost casual threats of violence and celebration of discrimination as a major news story. Instead, most mainstream media outlets have been turned into bullhorns for the ruling party’s propaganda, often legitimizing and amplifying these harmful narratives to hundreds of millions of Indians.[^90] Just as the Nazis had the propaganda machine of Goebbels, and those orchestrating the Rwandan genocide had Radio Rwanda, the Hindu supremacist government of India uses the mainstream media to radicalize voter bases and manufacture consent for violence and discrimination against Muslims. These comparisons are not hyperbolic. In June 2022, the Editors’ Guild of India directly compared the country’s mainstream media to Radio Rwanda,[^91] observing that several channels “deliberately \[create\] circumstances that target vulnerable communities by spewing hatred towards them and their beliefs.”[^92] ### Hate as Curriculum As Dr. Jason Stanley writes for the *Nation*, “There is a continuum from supremacist nationalism to fascism  . . . Fascism survives off myths that create an out-group, who are relegated to, at best, second-class citizens. Schools and universities allow for critical inquiry into these myths, and so attacks on them are always the canaries in the coal mine of authoritarianism.”[^93] Thus, India’s education system has also become an insidious frontier for Muslim erasure. In 2023, the National Committee of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) removed the only chapter of the standardized curriculum for high school students on Mughal history, skipping over centuries of empire and achievements directly to British colonization. Stripped away, also, were a passage explaining what a masjid is, references to Maulana Azad, the banning of the RSS after Gandhi’s assassination, the 2002 Gujarat pogrom under Modi’s reign as Chief Minister, and indicators that a unified Hindu society did not exist during millennia of caste discrimination, violence against women, and wealth inequality.[^94] This Hindutva retelling of both past and present is often referred to as “saffronization,”[^95] and impacts all tiers of the education system as the Modi government cracks down on academic freedom. Students who hold protests or put on educational events about Hindu supremacist atrocities are subject to arrests, suspensions, and violent attacks by other radicalized students, while faculties have been steadily replaced with pro-BJP, pro-RSS educators and administrators. As Nandini Sundar writes, Modi’s reelection in 2019 paved the way for “blanket denials of space or permission to all extracurricular events with a current-affairs focus. In their place came religious events or speeches by RSS representatives. To earn promotions, faculty members were required to attend RSS-staffed “refresher courses.” The only student group given free run of campuses was the BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), whose members became known for violent physical attacks on members of other student organizations.”[^96] In other words, India’s state-run universities—like the mainstream media, law enforcement, and judiciary—have been subject to ideological capture. Even academics based outside of India are not safe. In 2021, a group of scholars and activists organized a virtual event titled the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference. The three-day event, which was cosponsored by over fifty-three universities in the US and internationally, was aimed at discussing Hindutva and its ties to Islamophobia, fascist ideologies, and caste discrimination.[^97] After the conference and its speakers were announced, Hindu supremacists protested by sending nearly one million emails to cosponsoring universities, while thousands more messages were sent, filled with anti-Muslim slurs and expletives, to the organizers by US-based Hindutva groups.[^98] A report released by academics from Columbia University found that over 63,000 tweets were made about the conference, the majority of them negative.[^99] Some of the most widely circulated tweets were made by high-profile Hindu nationalists in India, including Suresh Chavhanke, the owner of a right-wing news channel, and BJP politician Kapil Mishra. One of Mishra’s tweets calls Hindutva “terror for terrorists” and declares that “war will be a blistering blow on the cheeks of those who dream of dismantling Hindutva.” The post has, to date, garnered over 62,000 likes and 27,000 retweets,[^100] threatening anyone outside of India who pushes back against the mythologies of saffronization. Mirroring Dr. Stanley’s analysis on the essential dependence of fascism on myth, Professor Apoorvanand writes, “School textbooks have made Indian Muslims an inalienable part of the national memory with their history long predating an invasion and their immense contributions an inescapable reality, so this legacy must be deleted. Mughals and Muslim rulers must be referenced only as cruel invaders  . . . The marginalisation of Mughals and Muslims in textbooks mirrors what Muslims in Modi’s India are facing in real life. The recent textbook edits are part of a cultural genocide.”[^101] --- ## The Global Impact of Hindutva In 2024, RSS leader Ram Madhav was invited to speak at the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) in Washington, DC. This moment was emblematic of the interconnectedness of the global multiracial far right. Here was a Hindu supremacist from India, featured as a speaker at an event that brings together far-right leaders from the US, the UK, France, Israel, and other Global North countries, boasting to the crowd of the “success” of Hindu supremacy in India: “\[We\] came here to tell you about the success story of conservatism in India—the defeat of the left-liberal-Marxist-radical Islamist cabal in India.”[^102] Madhav’s speech serves as a stark confirmation that modern-day fascists do not operate in isolation; Islamophobia is a global phenomenon, and the racist, supremacist, and nationalist movements that fuel it are deeply interconnected. Much like Zionist groups, branches of violent Hindu militant groups like the RSS operate globally, from the United States to Canada and the United Kingdom to Kenya, forming a vast network of organizations known as the Sangh Parivar. These groups—which include cultural organizations, children’s programs, and political action committees (PACs)—work to advance Hindu supremacist ideology among diaspora communities. The lobbying group Overseas Friends of the BJP, which was founded by an RSS affiliate in order to rehabilitate the Hindu right’s image after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, has chapters in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia, where it solicits donations for the BJP from wealthy diaspora members.[^103] The Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)—the American offshoot of the bloodstained militant group Vishwa Hindu Parishad—was established in the 1970s, and in the years since 9/11 has collaborated with anti-Muslim figures like Robert Spencer, Laura Loomer, and Pamela Geller, as well as with entities like the Middle East Forum.[^104] Another group, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)—the overseas wing of the RSS—poses as a benign cultural organization while disseminating anti-Muslim rhetoric in the US and Canada.[^105] Collectively, the behemoth of the Sangh Parivar shuttles millions of dollars in donations back to RSS-affiliated groups in India, as well as to Hindu supremacist policy initiatives and electoral candidates in democratic nations.[^106] As such, Hindutva does not only harm Muslims in India; it has found resonance in diasporic communities, involves itself in transnational repression, and openly pledges its allegiance to other far-right movements. Its supporters amplify Zionist propaganda that enables Israel’s genocide in Palestine, provide eager audiences for prominent Islamophobes, and even collaborate politically with dangerous white supremacists. To counter this growing threat, Muslims and allies must recognize the global harms of Hindu supremacy and build equally coordinated efforts to resist it. ### Hindutva, Zionism, and Palestine After October 7, 2023, people of conscience worldwide were stunned by the amount of hatred and anti-Palestinian disinformation that flooded social media from the global far right. What surprised many, however, was just how much of this hatred came from accounts run by Hindus in India—a country that, up until Modi’s rise to power, had long professed solidarity with Palestine. And yet, in a plethora of cases, it was Indian accounts that fed millions of followers posts about the Hamas rape hoax, lies about beheaded babies, and the disturbing “Pallywood” conspiracy after videos of suffering Palestinians began to go viral.[^107] Journalist Azad Essa, author of *Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel*, answers a question many had following October 7: Why do Hindu supremacists feel such kinship with Jewish supremacists, despite the latter’s religious beliefs aligning far more closely with the Muslims they hate? In an interview with *+972 Magazine*, Essa explained, “At the heart of this new alliance is Islamophobia . . . Both \[Zionism and Hindutva\] see themselves as ancient, age-old civilizations, which is important to building and amplifying their claim of cultural superiority, and both have a particular orientalist disdain for Muslims.”[^108] This thought process has been explicitly laid out by BJP leaders and far-right Indian pundits alike. As BJP leader Kangana Ranaut declared during a 2023 meeting with Israel’s ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, “That they can’t give us \[each of Hindus and Jews\] one land is inhumane and stingy of the Islamic world . . . Today, the whole world, especially Israel and India, are fighting their war against terrorism.”[^109] Put simply, Hindu supremacists see Zionists both as aspirational and as allies who share a common enemy: the Muslim. The playbooks used by both movements are also similar, with the Hindu right often implementing Zionist tactics to legitimize their movement in the diaspora. Both groups weaponize their minority status to provide cover for their bigotry, conflating their religious identity with their supremacist politics. Where Zionists cry “antisemitism” any time Israel is criticized, Hindu supremacists hurl bad-faith claims of “Hinduphobia” against those who criticize Hindutva, Hinduism, and the Modi government. Like Zionists, Hindu supremacists also weaponize the language of social justice and exaggerate claims of victimhood, referring to their ethno supremacist and expansionist ideals as “decolonial” or acts of “protection” for the entire community.[^110] So promising is this partnership in the eyes of the far right that David Brog, former Executive Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), wrote an essay in *Jewish Journal* that declared, “Jews and Hindus can be the core of such a new alliance” to push back against “radicals” and “race baiters.” Mihir Meghani, cofounder of Hindu American Foundation, added an explicitly anti-Muslim angle to Brog’s vision when they appeared as guests on a podcast, saying, “Clearly the Arab and Muslim immigration has overtaken the Hindu and Indian community . . . and \[is\] perhaps approaching the Jewish community population, so we’re gonna need to forge these alliances.”[^111] As a result, Indian flags are raised at rallies for Israel in the United States, and Israeli flags are raised on the streets of India during Hindu supremacist processions. In one recent incident, the Israeli flag flapped right behind a replica of the Ram Temple during an Indian Independence Day parade in New York.[^112] Representatives of diaspora Hindu supremacist groups, including the Hindu American Foundation and others, have included accusations of “antisemitism” in their attempts to smear their Muslim and pro-Palestine critics.[^113] Hindu supremacists and Zionists have joined forces in California to oppose ethnic studies curricula.[^114] Online, Hindu supremacists react to images of destruction in Gaza with glee, trending hashtags like #IndiaWithIsrael and #IslamIsTheProblem, relying on the tired conflation of Islam with terrorism to justify violent retaliation against Muslims in both India and Palestine.[^115] In this way, Hindu supremacists can be considered as complicit as white Christian nationalists in the bloodshed and destruction wrought on Gaza, with an added degree of shamelessness: Hindu supremacists have no skin in this colonial game. They do it simply because they enjoy seeing Muslims suffer. ### Hindutva and White Supremacy As dangerous as it is, the Hindutva-Zionist alliance in the West is a small part of a larger picture, in which white supremacy, and the nationalisms born of it, remain an overarching power.[^116] Zionism has for decades furthered its legitimacy by allying with white supremacists and Christian nationalists—two groups often characterized by their historic hatred for and persecution of Jewish people.[^117] Zionists have, however, made it clear that they are willing to brush this bigotry aside so long as it benefits their political project and helps them retain global influence, an idea traced back to the ideology’s founder, Theodore Herzl. In his book *The Jewish State,* he wrote, “The Governments of all countries scourged by Anti-Semitism will be keenly interested in assisting us to obtain \[the\] sovereignty we want.”[^118] In his *Diaries*, he added, “The anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies.”[^119] Similarly, Hindu supremacists’ alliances with Western, often white supremacist far-right movements (such as the Make America Great Again movement) can be understood as seeking proximity to whiteness—a theory defined by Dr. Nimisha Barton as minoritized groups seeking “access to certain forms of power, resources, as well as social, economic, and cultural capital that have been historically constructed to advantage white people . . . at the expense of people of color.”[^120] The Savera coalition expands on this theory with regards to Western, and particularly American, Hindu supremacists: “Even though Hindus do face the brunt of white supremacy, Hindu Far Right groups have moved to seek accommodation within that structure, aspiring to whiteness rather than joining in solidarity with its oppressed.”[^121] In other words, these groups seek to be integrated, like Italians, the Irish, and Jewish people, under the label “good” or “model” minorities—a label that Dr. Nimisha Barton explains “furnishe\[s\] \[minorities\] with a fragile adjacency to whiteness.”[^122] Often, implicitly or explicitly, Hindu supremacists reference Black, brown, and Muslim minorities as being the opposite of “model,” relying on wedge politics to superficially distance themselves from other vulnerable communities.[^123] The far-right group Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (HinduPACT) referred to this mindset in blatantly racist terms in an infographic, declaring, “Indians skipped the ‘ghetto stage’ common to most immigrant stories.”[^124] This same mindset has pushed American Hindu supremacists to take on causes commonly associated with white supremacists, including support for stopping Muslim immigration and backlash against the construction of a mosque near 9/11’s Ground Zero.[^125] The political rise of the far right in the US and UK also provides ample examples of this phenomenon.[^126] In the United States, a number of Hindu Americans were appointed to prominent positions in the Trump cabinet following the 2024 presidential election. Some of these figures have been explicit in their support for Modi and maintain relationships with the American Sangh. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has posed for pictures with RSS members,[^127] while FBI Director Kash Patel has repeated far-right claims about the Babri Masjid being built on the grounds of a demolished Hindu temple.[^128] Vivek Ramaswamy, formerly appointed to Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has not only claimed that Americans need to “learn” from Modi’s “unapologetic” nationalism, but has also publicly affiliated with HinduPACT,[^129] an advocacy initiative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)—the US wing of a violent Indian militant group that calls Muslims “barbaric” invaders of India on its website.[^130] Affiliates of the Sangh have also lent their enthusiastic support to the American far right and its anti-Muslim affiliates. VHPA member Krishna Gudipati went viral in 2021 for raising an Indian flag amid a sea of red, white, and blue during the January 6 insurrection on the US Capitol and would be later invited to an inaugural ball hosted by a coalition of Hindu and Latino groups for Donald Trump in 2024.[^131] Another VHPA affiliate, Vibhuti Jha, has repeatedly hosted prominent American Islamophobe Robert Spencer on his YouTube show, the Jaipur Dialogues.[^132] Similarly, in the United Kingdom, far-right British nationalists have found a dedicated fanbase among Hindus in both India and the UK. Conservative Parliamentarian and vocal Islamophobe Bob Blackman has received “considerable funds,” according to a report released by Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative, from Hindutva groups with ties to the BJP and RSS. Hatemonger Tommy Robinson, whose racist rhetoric played a direct role in fueling anti-Muslim riots in the UK in 2024, regurgitated Hindu supremacist talking points when he was interviewed by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in 2022.[^133] So prevalent is this form of hatred that a police report commissioned by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in 2025 named Hindu nationalism as a “breeding ground for extremism” in the UK.[^134] ### Other Expressions of Hindutva While Hindu supremacists often perform their anti-Muslim bigotry for white supremacist and Zionist audiences, expressions of Hindutva outside of India are not necessarily aimed at seeking the broader far right’s approval. Over the years, diaspora Hindu supremacists have grown increasingly emboldened in their displays of bigotry, which are often aimed at intimidating Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, and other victims of Hindutva globally. Chilling parallels to Indian mob violence have been seen in other parts of the world. In 2022, the English city of Leicester was rent with riots instigated by Indian Hindu supremacists, who marched through a predominantly Pakistani Muslim neighborhood while chanting “Death to Pakistan.” Tensions between Hindus and Muslims escalated, culminating in a mob of Hindus dressed in hoodies and balaclavas marching through a Muslim-majority area while chanting “Glory to Lord Ram”—a phrase inextricably associated with mob lynchings of Muslim men.[^135] In 2024, Canadian Sikhs in Brampton held a demonstration against the Modi government’s targeting of Sikh activists abroad. Pro-Modi protesters reportedly instigated a violent clash, with one Sikh man recalling that a counterprotester told him, “We’re going to kill you,” before punching him. The demonstration devolved into a scene of people throwing bricks, kicking cars, and violently assaulting one another; one video of the incident showed a Hindu man with a bullhorn calling on the Indian army to storm Sikh temples in Canada.[^136] Emboldened groups have also taken to displaying anti-Muslim symbols as acts of intimidation. A bulldozer decorated with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was paraded down the streets of Edison, New Jersey, during an Indian Independence Day event in 2022.[^137] When Indian American Muslims raised alarms over this event, Hindu supremacists responded by arranging for digital trucks with anti-Muslim messaging to circle a number of mosques in the area.[^138] Two years later, in 2024, the VHPA collaborated with the Indian consulate to include another hate symbol—a float depicting the Ram Temple—in the even larger India Day Parade in New York City.[^139] Sangh-affiliated groups have also shuttled a number of prominent Indian hate speakers to the US for speaking tours, often bringing these virulent Islamophobes to communities with significant Muslim American populations. In 2025, for example, the VHPA helped arrange events nationwide for hate speaker Kajal Hindustani, who called on her audience to boycott Muslim businesses in Dallas and referred to Muslims as “braindead zombies” and “living monsters” in New Jersey.[^140] In 2019, the Hindu American Foundation sponsored a speaking tour for Aarti Tikoo Singh, a journalist who has derided “Islamophobia” as nonexistent, blamed Kashmiri Muslims’ suffering on “Islamic jihad” rather than Indian militarism after the abrogation of Article 370,[^141] and smeared Muslim American politicians as proponents of “Islamic fascism.”[^142] Most notably, a 2019 event in Houston titled “Howdy Modi” featured the Indian Prime Minister himself—as well as Donald Trump as a special guest—and attracted a crowd of 50,000 cheering supporters from all over the United States. In the United States specifically, Hindu supremacists have launched attacks on Muslims in civic spaces, smearing prominent organizations like Council on American-Islamic Relations and Islamic Circle of North America as “Islamist” or terror-affiliated.[^143] They’ve launched campaigns of intimidation to crush elected officials’ condemnation of human rights abuses in India.[^144] In one egregious case in Illinois, Hindu supremacists influenced the passage of a law instating an Indian American Advisory Council to the Governor, which blatantly excluded Muslims by defining an “Indian” as “a person descended from any of the countries of the subcontinent that are not primarily Muslim in character.”[^145] Educational spaces, workplaces, online platforms, and even places of worship are not safe. In California, groups like the Hindu American Foundation have attempted to shoehorn Hindu supremacist retellings of Indian history into public school textbooks. In 2021, American Hindu supremacists and Indian bots flooded the Naperville, Illinois, city website with comments opposing the construction of a new mosque.[^146] Lawsuits designed to intimidate have been levied by Sangh-affiliated groups against Muslim civil rights groups, journalists, activists, universities, and even American state agencies for criticizing Hindutva and its harms.[^147] At the heart of this matter is a very human pain: Indian Muslims globally have felt a growing sense of fear since Modi was first elected to power in 2024. A community survey conducted by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) found that a staggering 81 percent of respondents experienced some form of harassment, discrimination, or prejudice from Hindu friends or social contacts in the past decade. Another 70 percent reported experiencing similar treatment from Hindu colleagues at work. Indian American cultural spaces have turned hostile, while in the broader Muslim community, there remains little mainstream awareness of the urgency of the problem. This reality demands urgent recognition from the broader Muslim community: Hindutva is not just an Indian problem, but a global one. To meet this challenge, Muslims must deepen their awareness, build solidarity across communities, and organize proactively to safeguard our dignity, our spaces, and our future. --- ## Resistance Is Our Inheritance: Actionable Steps In the moments immediately after the Treaty of Hudaybiyya was agreed upon, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were in shock. In their eyes, they had been trapped into an unfair and inhumane political reality, in which Muslims in Mecca could no longer flee to Medina for refuge, and Muslims in Medina would be forced to abide by terms that favored the Qurayshi oppressor. It was a bleak moment that appeared to suck the hope out of the fragile community. Yet as the Muslims returned to Medina, an *ayah* was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ that was more beloved to him than the entire world: “No doubt, We have given you a clear victory” (Qur’an 48:1). That moment of despair would prove to be the greatest opportunity gifted to the young Muslim *ummah*, and it would ultimately change the tides of history in their favor. In modern times, it is easy for Muslims to feel trapped by the systems of injustice that dominate our world, the same way the companions did as they watched the Treaty of Hudaybiyya unfold. But through this *ayah*, and through their steadfastness and patience, the companions were shown that victory in Islam is not measured by dominance, but by trust in Allah’s plan and steadfastness upon the truth. Through this story, we learn that a moment of perceived weakness can pave the way to widespread societal change. A moment of despair can actually be the doorway to a divine opportunity. What seems like loss can, in fact, be preparation for a revolution. A clear victory lies in our ability to trust that Allah will not let our efforts go to waste—if only we are brave enough to take a stand. Thus, even in the face of international Hindutva, there is a clear victory within our community’s reach. What follows is a simple seven-step guide to staying hopeful, getting informed, and joining the fight against Hindu supremacy. ### Step 1: Understand that Hindu supremacists are fundamentally weak For all Hindu supremacists do to endear themselves to Zionists and white supremacists, they are, ironically, looked down upon by the very people they see as their closest allies. At the same time, their acceptance in interfaith and civil rights spaces has grown precarious, as more and more Sangh-affiliated groups reveal both their selective compassion as well as their affinity for exclusionary and authoritarian politics. Laundering their image is also a lost cause: They have virtually no purchase in mainstream media or advocacy spaces the way Zionists do, meaning that simply googling Hindutva pulls up a wealth of resources, news stories, and documentaries exposing its violent nature. Most importantly, civil and human rights organizations have grown increasingly vigilant about the impact of Hindu supremacy in the West. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative, and Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights have all produced resources on Hindutva in the US and UK. Combined with resources created by the Indian American Muslim Council; Hindus for Human Rights; Equality Labs and hate watchdogs like Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab; and community organizers, like the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective, Hindutva Harassment Manual, and Savera: United Against Supremacy—which cover everything from the dirty laundry of American Sangh groups to resources for victims of bad-faith bias claims —there is no shortage of ways for one to gain a comprehensive tool kit for combating Hindu supremacy. Lastly—and perhaps most hearteningly—Hindu supremacists have been repeatedly humiliated in the public sphere by relatively small advocacy groups. When the Hindu American Foundation sued a number of activists in a SLAPP lawsuit (A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) for providing Hindutva-critical quotes to an Al Jazeera journalist, a district judge not only threw out their case, but also scathingly remarked that HAF’s discovery request against the plaintiffs “amount\[ed\] to a fishing expedition.”[^148] When an event advertised that former New York City mayor Eric Adams would share a stage with Hindu supremacist figure Kajal Hindustani, a coalition of civil rights groups raised the alarm so effectively that Adams pulled out of the event.[^149] When the VHPA partnered with the Indian consulate in New York to include a float glorifying the Ram Temple in an Indian Independence Day parade, civil rights groups stood together on the steps of NYC’s city hall to condemn it, resulting in media coverage in the US,[^150] Canada,[^151] Australia,[^152] and India.[^153] When Illinois passed the Indian American Advisory Council Act, concerned activists were quick to meet with their representatives, effectively pushing lawmakers to amend the act and introduce instead the more inclusive South Asian American Advisory Council.[^154] In other words: Hindutva is no match for a well-organized community. We have proven that time and again. ### Step 2: Become informed Knowledge is the most powerful tool against hate. To effectively counter any supremacist ideology, one must not only understand its history and philosophy, but also be able to recognize its talking points and tactics of intimidation. Misinformation and ignorance allow such movements to thrive unchecked; informed communities, on the other hand, are equipped to recognize and resist them. Below is an extensive list of resources—including articles, documentaries, and research papers—that will enable you to not only speak with authority on the subject of Hindutva, but also recognize its talking points, its tactics, and its key players. - Indian American Muslim Council’s FAQs on the basics of Hindu supremacy: [https://iamc.com/faqs-on-hindu-supremacy/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iamc.com/faqs-on-hindu-supremacy/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121185496&usg=AOvVaw1hnlZdSdgrnsE9k9MorlgL)  - Hindus for Human Rights’ explainer on Hindu supremacy: [https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/whats-hindutva-and-why-it-conflicts-with-hinduism-a-guest-view](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/whats-hindutva-and-why-it-conflicts-with-hinduism-a-guest-view&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121185839&usg=AOvVaw1Rm60wa0Rt5ZN_Jb1VcyFh)  - Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) series on Hindu supremacy in America: [https://www.splcenter.org/resources/guides/hindu-supremacy-united-states/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/guides/hindu-supremacy-united-states/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121186114&usg=AOvVaw376uDapc89SRw6XRjKF9ZK) - “Hindutva in Britain” by Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative: [https://bridge.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hindutva-in-Britain.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hindutva-in-Britain.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121186438&usg=AOvVaw152SSyZi53ovJGoKLMnMNc) - “Hindutva in America” by Rutgers Law School Center for Security, Race, and Rights: [https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hindutva-in-america.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hindutva-in-america.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121186719&usg=AOvVaw337iIV8GH3QA25zR_PHXXJ)  - The Hindutva Harassment Field Manual, created by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective: [https://www.hindutvaharassmentfieldmanual.org/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hindutvaharassmentfieldmanual.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121187042&usg=AOvVaw3jjSOkBsDrvhDq3Gxg6yqo) - *India: The Modi Question* (the BBC’s documentary on Modi’s rise to power): [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8n278b](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8n278b&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121187278&usg=AOvVaw3DgZgwECdzwTy9WPyCsa_I)  - “Social Media and Hate Speech in India” by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate: [https://www.csohate.org/2025/02/10/social-media-and-hate-speech-in-india/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.csohate.org/2025/02/10/social-media-and-hate-speech-in-india/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121187597&usg=AOvVaw3dreOqaE4jhxW4TlhaWoD7)  - IAMC’s report on India’s transnational repression (TNR) on American soil: [https://iamc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TNR-Report-Final-4.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iamc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TNR-Report-Final-4.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121187861&usg=AOvVaw0vbrbpAG42vIWMVh_3tqI4) - On V. D. Savarkar and the creation of Hindu supremacist ideology: [https://aeon.co/essays/how-savarkar-invented-hindu-supremacy-and-its-cult-of-violence](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://aeon.co/essays/how-savarkar-invented-hindu-supremacy-and-its-cult-of-violence&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121188149&usg=AOvVaw3DN6a97o0TLpLBIdqOfYNk)  - Savera’s explainer on Hindutva 101: [https://www.wearesavera.org/explainer/hindu-supremacy-101/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wearesavera.org/explainer/hindu-supremacy-101/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121188362&usg=AOvVaw0YVK99BrxGr-qSPkXGOg9m)  - On the oldest Hindu supremacist group in the US, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA): [https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Global-VHPs-Trail-of-Violence-v2.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Global-VHPs-Trail-of-Violence-v2.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121188679&usg=AOvVaw3_SjGGq-EfyitZPagD32iP) - On Hindu American Foundation’s collaborations with anti-Muslim and antiminority actors: [https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/HAFWaytoSupremacy.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/HAFWaytoSupremacy.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121188962&usg=AOvVaw3SgC_11WuzVKXN4US0UxHB)   - “Why Far-Right Hindus Love Demonizing Palestinians” by Safa Ahmed for *Jacobin* magazine: [https://jacobin.com/2023/11/india-far-right-bjp-hindutva-pro-israel-islamophobia-misinformation](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jacobin.com/2023/11/india-far-right-bjp-hindutva-pro-israel-islamophobia-misinformation&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121189300&usg=AOvVaw2EhSvh-ugYLIAb93Y-Sc1u)  - “The Hindutva-MAGA Alliance” by Pranay Somayajula for *Jacobin* magazine: [https://jacobin.com/2025/03/hindutva-alliance-trump-far-right](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jacobin.com/2025/03/hindutva-alliance-trump-far-right&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121189579&usg=AOvVaw3rYrxj5OFpgBNr-LMuG_QS) ### Step 3: Join or support organizations aimed at combating Hindutva Across the world, numerous civil society organizations are actively working to research and counter the spread of Hindu supremacy. These groups bring together scholars, activists, faith leaders, and community members committed to advancing pluralism, democracy, and human rights. Some of the national organizations at the forefront of this fight include: - Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) - Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) - Sikh Coalition - Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) - Equality Labs  - India Civil Watch International - Dalit Solidarity Forum USA - Savera: United Against Supremacy There are many ways individuals can engage with or support the work of these organizations, depending on their interests, expertise, and capacity. Opportunities may include participating in educational initiatives, supporting research and advocacy efforts, attending public events, contributing professional skills, volunteering, or supporting their work through donations. Those interested in learning more are encouraged to visit the respective websites of these organizations to explore their work, priorities, and available opportunities for involvement. ### Step 4: Initiate your own campaigns Once you are equipped with a solid understanding of Hindutva’s ideology and methods, you will be better prepared to recognize its manifestations in your own community—whether in the form of disinformation campaigns, inflammatory rhetoric, or local chapters of organizations affiliated with Hindu supremacy. When such issues arise, remember that you are not alone, but rather a part of an international movement—one with the resources and influence to support you. Whether you’re seeking to combat a threat or interested in doing proactive education work, this movement is well-prepared to lend you its strength. You can reach out to any of the aforementioned organizations for: - Assistance starting a campaign on a local issue (for example: a campaign to raise awareness on the visit of a Hindu supremacist speaker to your area) - Tips on how to organize meetings with elected officials—whether at the city or state level—to brief them on Hindu supremacy - Educational resources, pamphlets, presentations, and talking points on a wide range of issues - Assistance organizing educational events, teach-ins, film screenings, and seminars at your local masjid, university, or community center (many of these organizations are happy to cosponsor and amplify local events) ### Step 5: Build coalition and community While it may sound daunting to build a coalition or a community, it is often as simple as reaching out to one or two like-minded individuals or organizations and exploring opportunities to collaborate. Once you’ve explored which national organizations have a presence in your community, you can branch out to find local interfaith groups, civil rights groups, student organizations, roundtables, researchers, activists, and places of worship that are interested in the fight against Hindutva. Next, you can engage these potential partners by suggesting a collaboration on any of the following local initiatives: - A teach-in, film screening, or university event  - An advocacy day aimed at bringing together a coalition of individuals to meet with local elected officials  - An educational event at a place of worship or third space for interfaith activities It’s important here to branch out beyond the Muslim community and reach out to groups that also serve other marginalized communities. This form of thoughtful coalition building ultimately disrupts one of Hindutva’s most enduring tactics: division. The ideology thrives by pitting communities against one another—Hindus against Muslims, Indian Americans against other people of color. By nurturing these relationships with other communities, showing up for each other, and coming together with a shared purpose, you will be able to cultivate a group of allies who are able to more effectively mobilize when Hindu supremacy rears its head. ### Step 6: Do not forget about Muslims in India Indian Muslims are not, and have never been, silent in the face of oppression. We began this paper with stories of historic resistance, and that revolutionary spirit blazes on in the millions of courageous, proud, and steadfast Indian Muslims who refuse to be pushed to the margins. Hopelessness cannot exist in a world where Indian Muslim women—careerwomen and students, homemakers and grandmothers—became the defining voices of the anti-CAA protests of 2019, packing the streets of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh for months on end to demand their right to belong.[^155] Muslim men raise the call of “Jail Bharo” (“Fill the Jails”) as they risk their freedom by marching in protest against the laws attacking their beloved places of worship.[^156] Muslim communities put up signs saying “I Love Muhammad” on their homes, daring Hindu supremacists to attack them for declaring their faith.[^157] Muslim student activists jailed since 2020 write letters and poetry from their jail cells, keeping the movement alive even from within prison walls.[^158] It is the responsibility of the *ummah*, therefore, not to give in to cynicism. We must instead uplift Indian Muslim voices, and mirror their courage in fighting back against the forces that threaten them. Follow these Indian Muslim and Kashmiri activists and journalists to stay up-to-date with voices on the ground: - Rana Ayyub, Journalist - Safoora Zargar, Activist - Afreen Fatima, Activist - Sharjeel Usmani, Activist - Zeba Warsi, PBS NewsHour - Mohammed Zubair, AltNews - Raqib Naik, Center for the Study of Organized Hate You can also follow these independent news outlets and research organizations to get coverage of the stories that impact Indian Muslims and other vulnerable communities: - *The Wire* - *Scroll.in*  - *The Caravan* magazine - *The Quint* - Newslaundry - The Center for the Study of Organized Hate - Hindutva Watch ### Step 7: Let faith be your guide Look back to the Muslim freedom fighter Abul Kalam Azad, back to the speech he gave to a frightened community. In that speech, he reminded Muslims that they had no reason to feel small. Early Islamic history itself is the best reminder that the believers fear none but Allah, even as minorities on earth. “Today, you fear the earth’s tremors; once you were virtually the earthquake itself. Today, you fear the darkness; once your existence was the epicenter of radiance,” Azad said. “Those were none but your forefathers who not only plunged headlong into the seas, but trampled the mountains, laughed at the bolts of lightning, turned away the tornadoes, challenged the tempests and made them alter their course.” In the twilight of Partition, when the Indian Muslim community stood far removed from those glory days, Azad then laid out a prescription that would combine pride, acumen, and faith into a doctrine of resistance. Like the Prophet ﷺ after the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, Azad and the Muslims who helped win India’s independence were not fazed by the fact that they were a minority standing up to political and economic power. In that *fitna* (trial), there was an opportunity to build something new. “I do not ask you to seek certificates from the new echelons of power. I do not want you to lead a life of sycophancy as you did during the foreign rule,” said Azad as he stood on the steps of Jama Masjid. “Keep a grip on your senses. Learn to create your own surroundings, your own world. This is not a commodity that I can buy for you from the marketplace. This can be bought only from the marketplace of the heart, provided you can pay for it with the currency of good deeds.” It is necessary for Muslims to turn knowledge into action. Nearly all mainstream Muslim civil rights organizations are aware that Hindu supremacy threatens our communities. Additionally, there are vibrant coalitions of Indian American organizations who have come together across religious lines—groups like the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), Sikh Coalition, Dalit Solidarity Forum, and Savera: United Against Supremacy. Our community can further the fight against Hindutva by supporting these organizations, joining their bases as volunteers, attending their trainings and webinars, and contacting them for tailored resources and awareness events. Lastly, Muslims must know our collective history, and we must also learn to apply it to the present. This advice is mirrored in the admonishment of the pious to the Pharaoh’s right-hand man, Qarun, who himself came from an oppressed community: “Seek the life to come by means of what God has granted you, but do not neglect your rightful share in this world. Do good to others as God has done good to you. Do not seek to spread corruption in the land, for God does not love those who do this” (Qur’an 28:77). As we take pride in our past, we must also remember the courage and vision of Muslim freedom fighters who stood for justice, dignity, and pluralism. In times when they feared oppression and erasure, they did not let go of their faith, but neither did they give up their right to dignity in a difficult world. “I want you to remind you that these bright etchings which you see all around you, are relics of processions of your forefathers,” Azad continued. He spoke of the centuries of Muslim impact he saw all around him: the minarets of Jama Masjid, the marriage between Arabic and Hindi to create the Urdu tongue, the deep shared memory of a pluralistic society. “Do not forget them. Do not forsake them. Live like their worthy inheritors, and, rest assured, that if you do not wish to flee from this scene, nobody can make you flee. Come, today let us pledge that this country is ours, we belong to it and any fundamental decisions about its destiny will remain incomplete without our consent.” “Brothers,” he concluded, “I do not have a new prescription for you. I have the same old prescription that was revealed to the greatest benefactor of mankind, the prescription of the Holy Quran: ‘Do not fear and do not grieve. If you possess true faith, you will gain the upper hand.’”[^159] Resistance is not new to our story. It is part of our inheritance. --- ## Notes [^1]: Abul Kalam Azad, “Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Iconic Speech at Jama Masjid, 23 October 1947,” Janata Weekly, February 21, 2021, [https://janataweekly.org/maulana-abul-kalam-azads-iconic-speech-at-jama-masjid-23-october-1947/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://janataweekly.org/maulana-abul-kalam-azads-iconic-speech-at-jama-masjid-23-october-1947/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121202271&usg=AOvVaw0LOOfdCABUhTopSabX6x3d). [^2]: Azad, “Speech at Jama Masjid.” [^3]: Arshad Afzal Khan, “Brave Dies Once: Last Thoughts of Kakori Martyr,” *The Times of India*, December 19, 2020, [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/brave-dies-once-last-thoughts-of-kakori-martyr/articleshow/79806249.cms](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/brave-dies-once-last-thoughts-of-kakori-martyr/articleshow/79806249.cms&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121202802&usg=AOvVaw1WrzUKeE_GKKA9NrNAkMfG). [^4]: Iqbal Husain, “Fazle Haq of Khairabad—A Scholarly Rebel of 1857,” *Proceedings of the Indian History Congress* 48 (1987): 355–65, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/44141709](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44141709&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121203148&usg=AOvVaw3UeZVhVDhe_spTZQaxHYJM). [^5]: FOEJ Desk, “‘Burqa-Clad’ Revolutionary: Abadi Bano Begum’s Untold Story of Indian Freedom Struggle,” Foundation for Ethical Journalism, July 12, 2023, [https://foej.in/burqa-clad-revolutionary-abadi-bano-begums-untold-story-of-indian-freedom-struggle/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://foej.in/burqa-clad-revolutionary-abadi-bano-begums-untold-story-of-indian-freedom-struggle/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121203580&usg=AOvVaw1Pn2jRXU3DyGe-z-68-hgd). [^6]: Azad, “Speech at Jama Masjid.” [^7]: While this paper focuses on explaining the specific ideology of Hindu supremacy and its dominant role in expanding and intensifying the scope and vitriol of anti-Muslim hatred in India, it is important to point out that anti-Muslim sentiment is far from an exclusively right-wing phenomenon. Indeed, the Indian constitution itself fails to provide safeguards against Muslim erasure in a Hindu-majority nation. Through its wording, Muslims have been denied proportionate representation in legislatures and excluded from protected categories, such as the Scheduled Caste category, about which activist Sharjeel Imam [writes](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408170922/https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/the-hindu-republic-seven-decades-of-muslim-exclusion-in-india-23794/amp&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121255020&usg=AOvVaw0AV99x47Hg-7oXy09mZOj0): “In India, what privileges do Muslims enjoy constitutionally which we would lose in an emerging Hindu \[nation\]? Our share in administration and politics is already at the lowest possible level.” Nor have Muslims ever been fully safe under opposition rule: The Nellie Massacre in 1983, the Hashimpura Massacre in 1987, and the Mumbai Riots in wake of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 all occurred under the rule of the Congress Party, long before Modi became either Gujarat’s Chief Minister or India’s Prime Minister. Numerous Muslim activists have criticized self-described liberals for failing to name anti-Muslim hatred as a driving force behind rising authoritarianism in India—a phenomenon M. Ali [refers to](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://maktoobmedia.com/opinion/tabooing-word-muslim-inherent-islamophobia-in-indian-left-liberalism-a-letter-to-liberals/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121255890&usg=AOvVaw0t4NL5UiEWWB1PZhKd5oLt) as “tabooing the word ‘Muslim.’” It is common to see those branding themselves as “secular” then withholding solidarity from the “wrong” type of Muslim: [criticizing](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://theprint.in/feature/ruchika-sharma-wages-a-lonely-battle-against-hijab-the-indian-liberal-conundrum-is-exposed/2352727/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121256162&usg=AOvVaw2KxZKLnubGqK54h7qhZT7w) the hijab in the same breath as criticizing hijab bans in schools, for example, or [shutting down](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/to-invoke-allah-or-to-not-secular-islamophobia-and-the-protesting-indian-muslim&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121256365&usg=AOvVaw1DMKklrdx7WORC3yAxraMy) chants of “*La ilaha illa Allah*” as “communal” at protests against explicitly anti-Muslim policies. As Mudasir Amin and Samreen Mushtaq write for the *Caravan* magazine in wake of the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, “Solidarity from liberals is conditional because of their understanding of Muslims as quintessentially illiberal. The liberals boast about the country’s pluralistic credentials, but see any assertion on part of Muslims who foreground their identity in religious terms as inimical to India’s secular fabric.” This reluctance by liberal intelligentsia to name anti-Muslim hatred as the core of the CAA was noted by Sharjeel Imam, who has been imprisoned since 2020 under India’s draconian anti-terror law for his influence during the anti-CAA protests: “The time has come when we should tell non-Muslims that if they sympathise with us, then they must stand with us on our terms. If they can’t agree to our terms, they can’t sympathise with us.” [^8]: Agence France-Presse, “Gandhi’s Killer Godse ‘Real Patriot’ for Some Hindu Nationalists,” Al Jazeera, January 27, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/27/gandhis-killer-godse-real-patriot-for-some-hindu-nationalists-in-india](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/27/gandhis-killer-godse-real-patriot-for-some-hindu-nationalists-in-india&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121204059&usg=AOvVaw3cw7nyzxJ5CPdJtc4V1xSK). [^9]: Himanshupratap8226, “Why I Killed Gandhi: Nathuram Godse’s Final Address to the Court,” December 21, 2014, [https://www.scribd.com/document/250659637/WHY-I-KILLED-GANDHI-Nathuram-Godse-s-Final-Address-to-the-Court](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.scribd.com/document/250659637/WHY-I-KILLED-GANDHI-Nathuram-Godse-s-Final-Address-to-the-Court&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121204434&usg=AOvVaw1tTIP139Tec1LIwDcZsuRT). [^10]: Christophe Jaffrelot, “Hindutva’s ‘Purification’ Drive,” Carnegie Endowment, October 13, 2016, [https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2016/10/hindutvas-purification-drive?lang=en](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2016/10/hindutvas-purification-drive?lang%3Den&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121260351&usg=AOvVaw0IOxzQt5VSc8y_ujupRgOa). [^11]: Shamsul Islam, “Fanatic Madness: Democracy at Crossroads,” *Social Development Issues* 46, no. (2023): [https://doi.org/10.3998/sdi.5298](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.3998/sdi.5298&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121204760&usg=AOvVaw0W9BXuMsDKaKuFxNFEra-1). [^12]: V. D. Savarkar, *Essentials of Hindutva* (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, 1923), 19–33, [https://savarkar.org/en/encyc/2017/5/23/2\_12\_12\_04\_essentials\_of\_hindutva.v001.pdf\_1.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://savarkar.org/en/encyc/2017/5/23/2_12_12_04_essentials_of_hindutva.v001.pdf_1.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121205134&usg=AOvVaw2Mt21fBRrqpjoS4nnCIRVK). [^13]: Sahar F. Aziz, “Orientalism, Empire, and the Racial Muslim,” in *Overcoming Orientalism*, ed. Tamara Sonn (Oxford University Press, 2021), [https://ssrn.com/abstract=3525743](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ssrn.com/abstract%3D3525743&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121264673&usg=AOvVaw3aWkltjMI0y2N2M80NQWbi). [^14]: Savarkar, *Essentials of Hindutva*, 4. Here it is necessary to highlight the relationship between Hindutva and caste. The Indian caste system is one of the oldest systems of social discrimination in the world, and has its [origins](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121205545&usg=AOvVaw2rsdFz2B3QbcPzL4o_RqIj) in an ancient Hindu religious text called the *Manusmriti*, which “acknowledges and justifies the caste system as the basis of order and regularity of society.” As [defined](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.equalitylabs.org/what-is-caste/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121205820&usg=AOvVaw0kPm8rR-MBUwfPezjRkE0p) by the Dalit rights group Equality Labs, “The caste system consists of graded levels of alleged purity and places people within a certain hierarchy—leaving those in the lowest tier, called ‘Dalit’ or ‘untouchable,’ subject to abuse, attacks, and systemic social exclusion.” At the top of this hierarchy are Brahmins, often self-styled as a “pure” and superior (both physically and intellectually) race over “lower” castes. [^15]: Marzia Casolari, “Hindutva’s Foreign Tie-Up in the 1930s: Archival Evidence,” *Economic and Political Weekly* 35, no. 4 (2000): 218–28, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4408848](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4408848&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121209308&usg=AOvVaw0AP0Wbv2PjedzrHQ8lKomd), [http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/casolari.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/casolari.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121209486&usg=AOvVaw0i__-bKFhc1vKxhRCkNTUH). [^16]: Hartosh Singh Bal, “The Instigator: How MS Golwalkar’s Virulent Ideology Underpins Modi’s India,” Indian Express Archive, *The Caravan*, June 30, 2017, [https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/golwalkar-ideology-underpins-modi-india](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/golwalkar-ideology-underpins-modi-india&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121209900&usg=AOvVaw35Yd-wr3VXBv0Xf6742_lW). [^17]: “Hindutva Network,” Stop Hindutva in America, accessed November 7, 2025, [https://www.stophindutvainamerica.com/hindutva-network/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.stophindutvainamerica.com/hindutva-network/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121210173&usg=AOvVaw0urB-BztB7tyDsqW47HhD5). [^18]: Meghand Bose, “Pranab Da, Here’s ‘Great Son of India’ Hedgewar Contradicting You,” *The Quint*, June 8, 2018, [https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/pranab-mukherjee-great-son-of-india-rss-hedgewar-contradicting-you](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/pranab-mukherjee-great-son-of-india-rss-hedgewar-contradicting-you&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121210577&usg=AOvVaw3OEm-SfTb42AXYrtAfCwwm). [^19]: Bal, “The Instigator.” [^20]: Dhirendra K. Jha, “Guruji’s Lie: The RSS and MS Golwalkar’s Undeniable Links to Nazism,” *The Caravan Magazine*, Hindutva Watch, August 1, 2021, [https://www.hindutvawatch.org/gurujis-lie-the-rss-and-ms-golwalkars-undeniable-links-to-nazism/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hindutvawatch.org/gurujis-lie-the-rss-and-ms-golwalkars-undeniable-links-to-nazism/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121211064&usg=AOvVaw0YZs5epQN3ulKh4iE5gtJr). [^21]: “The 2002 Gujarat Genocidal Massacres,” Genocide Watch, August 2, 2023 (updated August 1, 2024), [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/the-2002-gujarat-genocidal-massacres?utm_source%3Dchatgpt.com&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121211348&usg=AOvVaw3PqjhbS6Ghl8uzFs1FbBMq)[https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/the-2002-gujarat-genocidal-massacres](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/the-2002-gujarat-genocidal-massacres?utm_source%3Dchatgpt.com&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121211516&usg=AOvVaw2Gl5_7v7yW_s1kbBS1EBFh). [^22]: “Lok Sabha Elections: ‘Jai Shri Ram nahi kehna toh Pakistan jaa sakte hain’: BJP’s Navneet Rana Stirs Controversy,” *Mint (LiveMint)*, May 6, 2024, [https://www.livemint.com/politics/news/jai-shri-ram-pakistan-bjp-gujarat-navneet-rana-kutch-bharuch-lok-sabha-elections-11714989131672.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.livemint.com/politics/news/jai-shri-ram-pakistan-bjp-gujarat-navneet-rana-kutch-bharuch-lok-sabha-elections-11714989131672.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121212013&usg=AOvVaw3Tg_VqLmtLngXKKh5Xojcs). [^23]: Maktoob Staff, “‘Blatant Lies, Islamophobia’: BJP Karnataka Joins PM Modi’s Hate Campaign Against Muslims, Posts Lies to Spread Anti-Muslim Hate,” *Maktoob Media*, April 23, 2024, [https://www.maktoobmedia.com/india/blatant-lies-islamophobia-bjp-karnataka-joins-pm-modis-hate-campaign-against-muslims-posts-lies-to-spread-anti-muslim-hate/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.maktoobmedia.com/india/blatant-lies-islamophobia-bjp-karnataka-joins-pm-modis-hate-campaign-against-muslims-posts-lies-to-spread-anti-muslim-hate/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121212578&usg=AOvVaw1xiqPcQaw39qibYfWUDk_N). [^24]: Notably, Hindu supremacists tend not to attribute their violent hatred of Christians to British colonialism in the same way that they attribute their anti-Muslim hatred to Mughal rule. As writer Rajeev Balasubramanyam puts it, Hindutva is a form of “colonial envy”—ideologues like Savarkar and Golwalkar sought to emulate European colonial powers rather than taking a principled anticolonial stance. Hindu supremacists’ anti-Christian hatred, therefore, is not framed as a response to British domination, but rather to the prevalence of oppressed caste individuals converting to Christianity to escape the horrors of the caste system, hence the common anti-Christian slur “rice bag convert,” accusing Christians of disloyalty to their Hindu ancestry by converting to escape poverty and Brahminism. See more here: [https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/br-ambedkar-ideology-dalit-violence-dalit-christian-6158816/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/br-ambedkar-ideology-dalit-violence-dalit-christian-6158816/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121263570&usg=AOvVaw28iTuoU9bqGBKTbkDvL-3_). [^25]: Savarkar, *Essentials of Hindutva*, 19–20. [^26]: Savarkar, *Essentials of Hindutva*, 54. [^27]: Saurabh Shukla, “Azaan vs Hanuman Chalisa Reaches UP’s Aligarh, Administration Cautious,” *NDTV*, April 15, 2022, [https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/azaan-vs-hanuman-chalisa-reaches-ups-aligarh-right-wing-groups-petition-district-administration-2891291](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/azaan-vs-hanuman-chalisa-reaches-ups-aligarh-right-wing-groups-petition-district-administration-2891291&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121213265&usg=AOvVaw2K-1UIIagDDL6nyU5anGDi). [^28]: Divya Arya, “Karnataka Hijab Controversy Is Polarising Its Classrooms,” BBC News, February 15, 2022, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60384681](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60384681&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121213561&usg=AOvVaw2FwvL1PHDXXLSH7EaKBbYh). [^29]: Citizens for Justice & Peace (CJP) Team, “The Anti-Conversion Law of Rajasthan: A Threat to Individual Liberty and Religious Freedom,” CJP, February 4, 2025, [https://www.cjp.org.in/the-anti-conversion-law-of-rajasthan-a-threat-to-individual-liberty-and-religious-freedom/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cjp.org.in/the-anti-conversion-law-of-rajasthan-a-threat-to-individual-liberty-and-religious-freedom/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121214000&usg=AOvVaw16_Hu1DgIoJ5qC5g4NbbbA). [^30]: Geeta Pandey and Yogita Limaye, “Ayodhya Ram Mandir: India PM Modi Inaugurates Hindu Temple on Razed Babri Mosque Site,” BBC, January 22, 2024, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68003095](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68003095&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121259165&usg=AOvVaw0FMDqGwUaBpxGhUuo5D4qg). [^31]: Pankaj Srivastava and Santosh Kumar Sharma, “Court Rejects Hindu Side’s Plea to Declare Mathura Shahi Idgah Disputed Structure,” *India Today*, updated July 4, 2025, [https://www.indiatoday.in/india/law-news/story/allahabad-high-court-rejects-hindu-sides-plea-to-declare-shahi-idgah-a-disputed-structure-2750740-2025-07-04](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/law-news/story/allahabad-high-court-rejects-hindu-sides-plea-to-declare-shahi-idgah-a-disputed-structure-2750740-2025-07-04&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121214542&usg=AOvVaw1v9KLioGBbifUf8idwUgvj). [^32]: Citizens for Justice & Peace (CJP) Team, “November 2024 Surge in Cow Vigilantism: Rising Violence and Legal Apathy in North India,” CJP, November 27, 2024, [https://cjp.org.in/november-2024-surge-in-cow-vigilantism-rising-violence-and-legal-apathy-in-north-india/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cjp.org.in/november-2024-surge-in-cow-vigilantism-rising-violence-and-legal-apathy-in-north-india/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121259618&usg=AOvVaw3Zoue2_taUOInPgQStrNy6). [^33]: “India: Citizenship Amendment Act Is a Blow to Indian Constitutional Values and International Standards,” Amnesty International, March 14,  2024, [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/india-citizenship-amendment-act-is-a-blow-to-indian-constitutional-values-and-international-standards/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/india-citizenship-amendment-act-is-a-blow-to-indian-constitutional-values-and-international-standards/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121215022&usg=AOvVaw19GC8HwymkS757hfHSPJWs). [^34]: Ananya Sharma, “Of Rubble, Ruins, and Bulldozers: Punitive Populism, Popular Culture, and the Indian Case,” *Global Studies Quarterly* 5, no. 2 (2025), [https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf048](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf048&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121215364&usg=AOvVaw3NDmlIPBzcEG-ANAI06KQX). 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[^135]: Community Policy Forum and Bridge Initiative, *Hindutva in Britain*. [^136]: Olivia Bowden, “‘What’s Happening in Canada?’: Clashes Between Hindus and Sikhs Spark Fears of Growing Divisions,” *The Guardian,* November 17, 2024, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/17/canada-hindus-sikhs-growing-tensions](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/17/canada-hindus-sikhs-growing-tensions&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121245305&usg=AOvVaw2EdFUh09Ploxb8VC9ufoBE). [^137]: Tracey Tully, “An Anti‑Muslim Symbol from India Is Paraded on Main Street, New Jersey,” *The New York Times*, September 25, 2022, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/25/nyregion/bulldozer-indian-parade-new-jersey.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121245601&usg=AOvVaw0qikN5Kum9bK0mn8w8-QZW)[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/25/nyregion/bulldozer-indian-parade-new-jersey.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/25/nyregion/bulldozer-indian-parade-new-jersey.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121245767&usg=AOvVaw1ccbIK0zgjJ2ZTPk_WvFEK). [^138]: “Billboard Truck Displays Hateful, Anti-Islamic Messages Targeting NJ Mosques,” NBC New York, updated December 2, 2022, [https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/billboard-truck-displays-hateful-anti-islamic-messages-targeting-nj-mosques/3980506/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/billboard-truck-displays-hateful-anti-islamic-messages-targeting-nj-mosques/3980506/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121246171&usg=AOvVaw2wYtcJXQEat-mjXgL9PAfS). [^139]: Associated Press, “A Planned Float in NYC’s India Day Parade is Anti-Muslim and Should Be Removed, Opponents Say,” CNN, August 15, 2024, [https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/us/nyc-india-day-ram-temple-float-intl-hnk](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/us/nyc-india-day-ram-temple-float-intl-hnk&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121246542&usg=AOvVaw1M2Mo5RgGC1F9pVjL-vtvY). [^140]: Usha Kumar, “As Hindu Supremacists Seek Influence in US, Liberal Deference Paves the Way,” *Truthout*, August 13, 2025, [https://truthout.org/articles/as-hindu-supremacists-seek-influence-in-us-liberal-deference-paves-the-way/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://truthout.org/articles/as-hindu-supremacists-seek-influence-in-us-liberal-deference-paves-the-way/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121246946&usg=AOvVaw0d77bfo2eBBUtWBo_xWjsh). [^141]: “On J&K, Indian Journalist’s Face-Off With Ilhan Omar In US Congress,” NDTV, [https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-hearing-on-kashmir-a-setup-against-india-in-favour-of-pakistan-says-journalist-aarti-tikoo-singh-2121204](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-hearing-on-kashmir-a-setup-against-india-in-favour-of-pakistan-says-journalist-aarti-tikoo-singh-2121204&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121260019&usg=AOvVaw364YNe3pl4gSkyUSx_1Rhi). [^142]: Savera, *HAF Way to Supremacy*. [^143]: Savera, *Global VHP’s Trail of Violence*. [^144]: Indian American Muslim Council, “Exposé: Investigation Needed into Interference by Far-Right Hindu American Groups in US Political Processes, Say Civil Rights Leaders,” Indian American Muslim Council, October 4, 2023, [https://iamc.com/expose-investigation-needed-into-interference-by-far-right-hindu-american-groups-in-us-political-processes-say-civil-rights-leaders/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iamc.com/expose-investigation-needed-into-interference-by-far-right-hindu-american-groups-in-us-political-processes-say-civil-rights-leaders/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121247704&usg=AOvVaw1qd5cJH01600FplA-9SpgY). [^145]: Indian American Muslim Council, “Activists Welcome Illinois Lawmaker’s Announcement to Replace Anti-Muslim Law on Indian American Advisory Council,” Indian American Muslim Council, September 27, 2022, [https://iamc.com/activists-welcome-illinois-lawmakers-announcement-to-replace-anti-muslim-law-on-indian-american-advisory-council/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iamc.com/activists-welcome-illinois-lawmakers-announcement-to-replace-anti-muslim-law-on-indian-american-advisory-council/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121248214&usg=AOvVaw1A0ZrOOaxf4GkTDihDQsFb). [^146]: “Written Comments Submitted for Islamic Center of Naperville, PZC 20-1-052,” Naperville city website, archived September 27, 2023, [https://web.archive.org/web/20230927145026/https://www.naperville.il.us/globalassets/media/boards-and-commissions/planning-and-zoning-commission/pzc-comments---icn-769.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927145026/https://www.naperville.il.us/globalassets/media/boards-and-commissions/planning-and-zoning-commission/pzc-comments---icn-769.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121248726&usg=AOvVaw2O_DJ1jUE5UHiujad45iaF). [^147]: Savera, *HAF Way to Supremacy*. [^148]: Bhargavi Kulkarni, “U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta Dismisses Hindu American Foundation’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Five Defendants,” *American Kahani*, December 21, 2022, [https://americankahani.com/lead-stories/u-s-district-judge-amit-mehta-dismisses-hindu-american-foundations-defamation-lawsuit-against-five-defendants/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://americankahani.com/lead-stories/u-s-district-judge-amit-mehta-dismisses-hindu-american-foundations-defamation-lawsuit-against-five-defendants/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121249361&usg=AOvVaw340_jSWJ39EO5TX5mUQb_0). [^149]: Deep Kaushik Vakil, Sam Mellins, and Meghnad Bose, “Eric Adams Withdraws From Event Honoring Anti-Muslim Activist,” *New York Focus*, July 10, 2025, [https://nysfocus.com/2025/07/10/eric-adams-mamdani-muslim-hindu-nationalist](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nysfocus.com/2025/07/10/eric-adams-mamdani-muslim-hindu-nationalist&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121249753&usg=AOvVaw3FEj0CVFt5IGJBLK2srcZu). [^150]: Associated Press, “A Planned Float in NYC’s India Day Parade is Anti-Muslim and Should Be Removed, Opponents Say,” CNN, August 15, 2024, [https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/us/nyc-india-day-ram-temple-float-intl-hnk](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/us/nyc-india-day-ram-temple-float-intl-hnk&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121250226&usg=AOvVaw2UWr1cLCOervRhWiOtu_SG) [^151]: Associated Press, “A Planned Float in NYC’s India Day Parade is Anti-Muslim and Should Be Removed, Opponents Say,” *Toronto Sun*, August 15, 2024, [https://torontosun.com/news/world/a-planned-float-in-nycs-india-day-parade-is-anti-muslim-and-should-be-removed-opponents-say](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://torontosun.com/news/world/a-planned-float-in-nycs-india-day-parade-is-anti-muslim-and-should-be-removed-opponents-say&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121250759&usg=AOvVaw0CZu54SqGoBnYjQF3DM5hC). [^152]: Kanishka Singh, “‘Anti-Muslim’: Outrage Over Temple Float for India Day Parade,” *Sydney Morning Herald*, August 17, 2024, [https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/anti-muslim-outrage-over-temple-float-for-india-day-parade-20240817-p5k34y.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/anti-muslim-outrage-over-temple-float-for-india-day-parade-20240817-p5k34y.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121251228&usg=AOvVaw1cvs6AdSyiDWPOwSUhnP74). [^153]: Deutsche Welle, “Ram Mandir float in NYC’s India Day Parade Stirs Controversy,” *Indian Express*, August 18, 2024, [https://indianexpress.com/article/world/ram-mandir-float-nyc-india-day-parade-controversy-9520499/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indianexpress.com/article/world/ram-mandir-float-nyc-india-day-parade-controversy-9520499/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121251639&usg=AOvVaw1pTcu-hdWQBqIwaJ9fEirF). [^154]: Ahamad Fuwad, “How Desis in Illinois Fought Off a Law Altering the Definition of ‘Indian,’” *The Quint*, January 17, 2023, [https://www.thequint.com/south-asians/indian-american-advisory-council-bhutan-nepal-sri-lanka-desis-fought-off-a-law-altering-the-definition-of-indian#read-more](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thequint.com/south-asians/indian-american-advisory-council-bhutan-nepal-sri-lanka-desis-fought-off-a-law-altering-the-definition-of-indian%23read-more&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121252250&usg=AOvVaw0YuPoCDKk0PdpY007pwJ4d). [^155]: Ziya Us Salam, “How the Women of Shaheen Bagh Stirred a Nation to Stand Up for the ‘Idea of India,’” *Frontline*, December 12, 2023, [https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/how-shaheen-bagh-women-stirred-a-nation-to-stand-up-for-idea-of-india-anti-caa-protests-anniversary-book-excerpt-being-muslim-in-hindu-india-ziya-us-salam/article67630103.ece](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/how-shaheen-bagh-women-stirred-a-nation-to-stand-up-for-idea-of-india-anti-caa-protests-anniversary-book-excerpt-being-muslim-in-hindu-india-ziya-us-salam/article67630103.ece&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121252861&usg=AOvVaw2SdSzz4XvPE9y4M3bj_U0n). [^156]: Ayan Farooqui, “Maharashtra: Thousands Join ‘Jail Bharo’ Protest in Jalgaon Against Waqf Act,” *Maktoob Media*, October 29, 2025, [https://maktoobmedia.com/india/maharashtra-thousands-join-jail-bharo-protest-in-jalgaon-against-waqf-act/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://maktoobmedia.com/india/maharashtra-thousands-join-jail-bharo-protest-in-jalgaon-against-waqf-act/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121253293&usg=AOvVaw3Y6We5Ngw5yruxcaRGygHJ). [^157]: Yashraj Sharma, “Why Is India Prosecuting Muslims Who Said ‘I Love Muhammad?,’” Al Jazeera, October 14, 2025, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/14/why-is-india-prosecuting-muslims-who-said-i-love](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/14/why-is-india-prosecuting-muslims-who-said-i-love&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1773168121253668&usg=AOvVaw1oZ1j_XZWzUFoX3pjr_AvV). [^158]: Quint Entertainment, “In Solidarity, Actors & Celebs Recite Gulfisha Fatima’s Poems Written From Jail,” *The Quint*, April 15, 2025, [https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/gulfisha-fatima-poems-celebrities-writers-free-gulfisha-movement-solidarity-five-years-in-prison-caa-nrc-protests.](https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/gulfisha-fatima-poems-celebrities-writers-free-gulfisha-movement-solidarity-five-years-in-prison-caa-nrc-protests.) [^159]: Azad, “Speech at Jama Masjid.” ## Summary In the closing days of the British Raj, October 1947, the subcontinent lay drenched in blood after Partition had cleaved India from Pakistan and sundered a centuries-old Muslim population. Amid the burning of homes and the trains of corpses that crossed the new borders, the freedom fighter and *ʿālim* Abul Kalam Azad ascended the steps of the three-hundred-year-old Jama Masjid in Delhi to steady a terrified congregation. Drawing on the twin principles of *tawakkul* (reliance upon Allah) and *istiqāma* (steadfastness), he refused to let his people surrender to fear, declaring: "Raise your eyes! The minarets of Jama Masjid want to ask you a question. Where have you lost the glorious pages from your chronicles?" He reminded them that "the words coward and frenzy cannot be spoken in the same breath as the word Muslim," and that "it is a sure sign of a dying faith that those who had once grabbed the collars of emperors are today clutching their own throats." Azad's conviction, though it may appear paradoxical—for he embraced pan-Islamism yet championed Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and helped shape India's secular framework—was shared by his contemporaries. The same spirit animated Ashfaqullah Khan, who met his execution declaring his love for his motherland "as a true Muslim"; the *muftī* Fazle Haque, who rallied the *ʿulamāʾ* of Delhi to sign a call for a just war against British colonization; and Abadi Bano Begum, whose spirituality and activism were intertwined. In their vision, the Muslim neither seeks isolation nor begs for recognition, but stands, in Prophetic fashion, as an architect of his nation's destiny however few his numbers. Seventy-seven years later, this faith and courage offers a blueprint for confronting Hindutva, or Hindu supremacy. To resist it, one must first understand it. Only months after Azad's address, Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi—then on hunger strike against communal violence—calling his crime a "moral" act, convinced that India had no place for Muslims. Hindutva, as Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative describes it, is "a modern political ideology used... to carve out an exclusive identity and justify discrimination and violence against minority communities," especially Muslims. Its term was codified by V. D. Savarkar, a former revolutionary who begged the British for clemency and pledged loyalty to their empire. In his 1923 pamphlet *Essentials of Hindutva*, Savarkar argued that Muslims and Christians, following faiths born outside the subcontinent, could never be loyal to India, and urged Hindus to unite in "hatred" against this "common foe." As Sahar Aziz notes, his framing echoed an Orientalist European view of Islam as "propagat[ing] ignorance, violence, and sensuality." Savarkar, himself an agnostic, distinguished Hindutva sharply from Hinduism, praising Hitler and Mussolini as models of "national revival." His writings radicalized K. B. Hedgewar, who founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925 and called Muslims "foreign snakes." The RSS's second chief, M. S. Golwalkar, declared that minorities must be "wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing... not even citizens' rights," and, as Dhirendra K. Jha writes, sought to cast the RSS as a Nazi-style militia. Narendra Modi, who joined the RSS at age eight in 1958, rose through its ranks and, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, facilitated the 2002 pogrom in which nearly two thousand Muslims were slaughtered while police were reportedly ordered not to intervene. He became Prime Minister in 2014. The decade that followed brought relentless assault upon India's Muslims. A 2024 BJP campaign post revealed that, in the party's eyes, to promise Muslims basic civil liberties—the hijab in schools, personal law, fair hiring—was inherently anti-Hindu. This lays bare Hindutva's true engine: it is not about protecting Hindu faith at all, but draws its strength from the subjugation of Muslims and Christians, seeking vengeance for Mughal rule as a manufactured "clash of civilizations." Its assault is comprehensive. The *adhān* from loudspeakers has been banned in several states; praying outside a mosque can invite police investigation; Karnataka's 2022 hijab ban forced Muslim women to choose between faith and education. Twelve states have criminalized conversion to Islam and Christianity, fueled by the "love jihad" conspiracy. Centuries-old mosques face legal campaigns for seizure or demolition—as with the Babri Masjid, torn down in 1992 and replaced by a temple in 2024, and now the Gyanvapi Masjid and the 355-year-old Shahi Eidgah, targeted despite the Places of Worship Act of 1991. Discriminatory laws multiply: the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act and National Registry of Citizens threaten to render millions stateless; the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act mandates non-Muslims on committees overseeing endowed lands; the Uniform Civil Code erodes *sharīʿa* in personal matters. "Bulldozer justice," mirroring Israeli tactics against Palestinians, has demolished countless Muslim homes without due process, which the activist Fawaz Shaheen calls "a form of collective punishment." Institutional complicity runs deep. Police enable Hindu supremacist violence while torturing and shooting Muslims; the judiciary bends to the mob. In 2022, courts denied bail to peaceful Muslim activists such as Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Gulfisha Fatima, even as the Supreme Court facilitated the release of eleven men who gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered fourteen of her family, and a Gujarat court acquitted sixty-seven militants of the Naroda Gam massacre. One such man, Babu Bajrangi, boasted of killing Muslims: "I enjoy it... they should not be allowed to prosper." The website Hindutva Profiles catalogs hundreds of such extremists—a normalization of bloodlust that the Ten Stages of Genocide identifies as the point where society "overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder." Lynchings over accusations of theft, "love jihad," or cow slaughter are near-daily; mob processions circle mosques brandishing swords, blasting genocidal music, and setting graveyards aflame, as after the Ram Temple consecration in January 2024. In occupied Jammu and Kashmir, scholars such as Ather Zia and Suchitra Vijayan document tactics that mirror Israel's in Palestine—militarization, land seizure, and criminalization of dissent—intensified after the 2019 revocation of Article 370, when India's consul general openly declared, "If the Israeli people can do it, we can also do it." Hate speech saturates India's public and digital life; a study by the Islamic Council of Victoria found that over half of all anti-Muslim posts on X between 2019 and 2021 originated in India. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen exposed the platform's amplification of "anti-Muslim narratives," and its India policy head Ankhi Das reportedly shielded a BJP leader's hate speech lest it "damage the company's business prospects." Anti-Muslim hate speeches rose 74 percent in 2024, with leaders like Kapil Mishra vowing to "enter that house and kill him," and Yogi Adityanath boasting that people would soon "forget about screams [adhān] from mosques." The Editors' Guild of India compared the country's mainstream media to Radio Rwanda. In education, as Dr. Jason Stanley observes, "fascism survives off myths that create an out-group"; thus the 2023 removal of Mughal history and references to Azad and the Gujarat pogrom from textbooks—what Professor Apoorvanand calls "a cultural genocide." This danger is global. Through the Sangh Parivar—including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh—Hindutva funds and organizes across the diaspora, allying openly with Zionists and white supremacists. As Azad Essa observes, "At the heart of this new alliance is Islamophobia." Yet, as the Savera coalition notes, these groups seek "accommodation within" white supremacy, "aspiring to whiteness rather than joining in solidarity with its oppressed." From the 2022 Leicester riots to Trump-cabinet appointees who praise Modi, its reach widens. A 2025 British report named Hindu nationalism a "breeding ground for extremism," and an Indian American Muslim Council survey found 81 percent of respondents had faced harassment from Hindu contacts. Yet resistance is our inheritance. When the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyya dismayed the Companions, Allah revealed: "No doubt, We have given you a clear victory" (Qur'an 48:1)—teaching that victory is measured not by dominance but by trust in Allah and steadfastness upon truth. A seven-step path lies open: recognizing that Hindu supremacists are fundamentally weak, easily exposed and repeatedly humiliated by small, organized advocacy; becoming informed through the resources of bodies like the Indian American Muslim Council and Hindus for Human Rights; joining and supporting such organizations; initiating campaigns; building coalitions across communities to defeat Hindutva's tactic of division; and never forgetting the Muslims of India—the women of Shaheen Bagh, the men crying "Jail Bharo," the students writing poetry from prison. Above all, we must let faith be our guide. As the pious warned Qārūn: "Seek the life to come by means of what God has granted you, but do not neglect your rightful share in this world... Do not seek to spread corruption in the land" (Qur'an 28:77). Azad offered no new prescription, only the old one of the Qur'an: "Do not fear and do not grieve. If you possess true faith, you will gain the upper hand." Resistance, then, is part of our inheritance. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/calling-upon-allah-through-his-99-names-duas-from-the-name-i-need-ramadan-series # Calling Upon Allah Through His 99 Names: Du’as from “The Name I Need” Ramadan Series | Blog **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Dua, Names of Allah, Ramadan **Published:** March 3, 2026 **Updated:** March 12, 2026 Have you ever paused mid-prayer and wondered: Who am I really speaking to? When we make *du’a*, we aren’t just sending words into a void. We are reaching out to the Architect of the heavens, the One who hears the pulse of a seedling beneath the soil and the silent ache of a breaking heart. But to call upon Him truly, we must first recognize Him. He is Ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful, whose grace precedes His anger. He is Al-Lateef, the Most Gentle, working in the subtle shifts of your life that you haven’t even noticed yet. He is your King, your Master, and your most intimate confidant, and He is waiting for you to call Him by name. Here are 30 *du’a*s to call upon Allah as you follow along the **Ramadan Series with Dr. Omar Suleiman, [The Name I Need](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/the-name-i-need-ramadan-2026).** --- ## EPISODE 1 *Ya Rahman*, from Your Throne, You wrote mercy upon Yourself. You were merciful before there was anyone to receive mercy. Embrace every part of me with that mercy: my past with its scars, my present with its needs, my future with its uncertainties. *Ya Raheem*, let me taste the mercy You keep for those who return, reward me with the mercy I have yet to know, and raise me to the highest place in Paradise despite my lows on earth. *Ya Ra’uf*, cover me from storms I don’t see coming, mend me before I break, and spare me from trials of every kind. Let Your mercy reach me in ways I’ll only understand when I finally meet You. --- ## EPISODE 2 *Ya Ilaahi*, the One my heart was created to seek, pull me away from every false worship, from anything that divides my devotion, until nothing fills my longing but You. *Ya Waahid*, unify my pursuits into a single direction. And when the world pulls me apart, center me in Your oneness. *Ya Ahad*, open my heart to see that nothing compares, so that I’m never overly impressed by anyone but You,  and I come to love Your names and attributes in a way that frees me from all others. And *Ya Witr*, when I stand alone at the close of the night, let my solitude remind me of Your singular majesty. Make my heart distinct by its devotion. Make me one of Your rarest servants. --- ## EPISODE 3 *Ya Haady*, guide me when my heart forgets the way. Pull me back from every turn that leads me astray. Let Your guidance feel closer than the doubts in my chest, and steadier than the voices that confuse me. *Ya Rasheed*, teach me to see truth instinctively. Make faith beloved to me. Make righteousness feel natural. And let sin feel heavy on my chest and hated by my every breath. Inspire me with wisdom that protects me from myself. *Ya Nur*, light every darkness I carried or carry within. Let Your light pour into my heart, and onto all of my other limbs until You make me a light, and everything I see reminds me of You. *Ya Mubeen*, make Your signs clear in what surrounds me and what is within me. Reveal the lessons hidden in every trial. Let me never lose sight of Your signs again. --- ## EPISODE 4 *Ya Waliyy*, be my closest friend when the world drifts away. Guard me with the grip that never slips. Guide me gently through what I don’t understand, and let every loss lead me back to You. *Ya Barr*, keep me firm on the grounds of Your goodness. Make my faith steady when my heart trembles. Let me love what brings me to Your stability and make me patient with what keeps me on its shore. *Ya Rafeeq*, be tender with my soul as You unfold Your plan. Soften the path without removing its purpose. Make me gentle with others, as You have been gentle with me. And when I am lonely, fill that space with Your company. --- ## EPISODE 5 *Ya Rabb*, raise me the way You raise every seed from the soil. Shape my growth with all You continue to give. Let every season You place me in become a lesson in Your care. *Ya Mawla*, be my protector when I have no one to stand for me. Take charge of my affairs when I lose control of them. Hold me near when fear surrounds me, and make Your guardianship always enough for me. *Ya Naseer*, help me in every battle I cannot see. Grant me triumph without arrogance and victory only in a way that brings me closer to You. *Ya Sayyid*, teach my heart that true honor is to only serve You. Let my dignity be in humility, my leadership in obedience, and my freedom in surrender. --- ## EPISODE 6 *Ya Malik*, You are the King of everything I know and hold. Remind me that nothing I hold is truly mine, and that every rise and fall belongs to Your decree. Let my gratitude expand with every breath You lend me. *Ya Maalik*, the Owner of the Day when debts are paid, teach me to settle my dues before I meet You. Keep me honest with what I owe, and hopeful in what You forgive. *Ya Maleek*, the King whose command no one can escape, let Your sovereignty humble my pride. Make me content under Your rule, and protect me from a rebellious heart or soul that would cause me to fall out of Your favor. *Ya Jaleel*, fill my heart with reverence that draws me near, not fear that drives me away. Let my awe of You refine me, until I stand before You small, but never disgraced. --- ## EPISODE 7 *Ya Khaaliq*, You brought me out of nothingness into being. Remind me that my existence itself is a mercy, that every breath, every cell, and every chance is a deliberate act of Your creation. *Ya Baari’*, the One who perfects what He produces. Repair what I’ve broken within myself. Make me whole again with the same precision by which You fashioned all of Your creation. *Ya Musawwir*, You shaped me in the unseen, gave me form, face, and story. Beautify my character as You’ve beautified my features. Let what You see within me be more pleasing than what others see of me. *Ya Khallaaq*, keep creating new openings when I run out of ways. Create for me new beginnings when I rush to my end, and new realities when I feel doomed by my sins. Remake me with patience when I reach my limits, faith when I’m afraid, and hope when I can’t imagine a way forward. --- ## EPISODE 8 *Ya Samad*, the One who needs nothing while everything needs You. Make me whole by depending only on You. Fill the hollowness inside of me until no desire within me competes with Your glory. *Ya Haqq*, make Your truth the anchor of my heart,  and my guiding path to Your light. Let every lie I chase collapse before Your reality,  and every truth lead me to Your next promise. Keep me grounded in what endures, and turn my eyes from what deceives. *Ya Waasi’*, expand my heart to hold more gratitude, my patience to endure with more grace, and my vision to see beyond my limits. Let me find expanse in Your vastness  when the world around me feels small. --- ## EPISODE 9 *Ya Ghaafir*, forgive me for every single sin I’ve ever put forth, cover me in this life and the next, and don’t let shame keep me from returning to You. *Ya Ghaffar*, for every time I fall and rise again, meet me with another chance. Let my heart grow softer with every repentance, and my view of the door of Your mercy grow wide, for You’ve never tired of forgiving. *Ya Ghafur*, forgive me for what I know and what I don’t, what I’ve done and what I still may do. Wash away every hidden trace of my wrongdoing and turn the stains of my past into light. Reach me with Your forgiveness even in the holes I’ve dug for myself. *Ya Tawwaab*, turn to me so that I may turn to You. Call me back every time I drift, and accept me every time I return. Make repentance my constant companion, and joy and Jannah my reward in finding You again. --- ## EPISODE 10 *Ya Wadud*, love me even after I falter. And let Your love reach me through every mercy I overlook. Teach me to love You more than what You give, and to find sweetness in every test that draws me closer to Your love. Announce Your love for me in the heavens,  until I hear that announcement myself in Paradise. Surround me with it in everything around me,  and let me feel it deep inside myself. *Ya Muhsin*, You perfect everything You touch. Make me one of those who do good because You do good. Guide me to the ways of good in every single one of my dealings, then let my deeds of excellence to others be a reflection of Your unmatched perfection. *Ya Shakur*, for every small effort I make, reward me beyond measure. Let me never grow tired of thanking You, and never forget that gratitude itself is a gift from You. Accept from me what is broken, and multiply it until it becomes whole. --- ## EPISODE 11 *Ya Samee’*, You hear every sound before it’s spoken, and every silence before it finds words. Inspire in me the words that are pleasing to You. Make sincere the *du’a* I utter between breaths, and the ones I make loud alongside others.  Let me never doubt that You are listening, and never tire of my calling. *Ya Qareeb*, You are nearer than every thought I hide. Let me feel Your nearness in the stillness of my prayer. Let the clarity and comfort of Your closeness cut through all the noise outside. And forgive me for what should have never made it inside. *Ya Mujeeb*, answer not only what I ask, but what I mean. Give me what I would have prayed for if I knew what was best for me. When I raise my hands to You, fill them only with what draws me closer to You,  and protect me from ever believing an answer is not possible or questioning You. --- ## EPISODE 12 *Ya Mu’min*, grant me faith that no fear can shake. Secure my heart in Your promise, and guard my soul from every whisper that breeds doubt. Let my trust in You be heavier than any worry that visits me. *Ya Muhaymin*, the Watchful who never sleeps. Watch over me in the moments no one else can. Protect me from what I can and cannot see, And be my shield from even what I see, but cannot change. *Ya Hafeedh*, preserve my faith through trial and time. Guard my loved ones when they are far from me. Keep safe the blessings I forget to thank You for, and protect me, for without You I cannot protect myself. *Ya Wakeel*, I entrust to You my every matter,  what I seemingly can handle and that which is obviously beyond my control. Take charge of what confuses me and carry what I cannot hold, and make Your plan more beloved to me than even my own, for You are enough for me, no matter what else I own. --- ## EPISODE 13 *Ya Baseer*, You see what no one else sees— every tear I hide, every effort unnoticed, every quiet act of good. Let me find comfort in being seen by You when I feel invisible to the rest of the world. *Ya Shaheed*, be my Witness when my intentions are pure and when they falter, let my fear of You set them right. Let me live conscious that You are truly always watching, and die as one who lived truthfully under Your sight. *Ya Raqeeb*, watch over my heart when it drifts, and over my thoughts before they turn to deeds. Make me mindful of You in secret and in public, until awareness of You becomes my protection from slipping. *Ya Sitteer*, cover my faults with the same grace You always have. Hide my flaws even as You heal them. Let my repentance be quiet and my shame sincere, and my forgiveness made complete beneath Your protective veil. --- ## EPISODE 14 *Ya Subbuh*, *subhaanak*… how perfect You are beyond everything I can imagine. When the world feels loud and heavy, remind me that You are untouched by its chaos. Let my glory and praise of You rise above the darkness, even if I drowned myself in it And pull me out of it by Your perfection even after I dragged myself down. *Ya Quddus*, purify me inside and out. Cleanse my worship of pride, my heart of resentment, my soul of anything that clouds its way back to You. And make me worthy of the nearness I seek to You. *Ya Salaam*, send peace into every storm within my chest. Let Your calm settle where fear once lived, Your safety surround what the world cannot protect. Make me a source of peace for others, until I meet You in the home of peace. And get to hear from You Yourself, “*Salaam*.” --- ## EPISODE 15 *Ya Ghaniyy,* You are free of all need while I am always in need of You. Let me never beg from those as poor as me. Make me rich through contentment, and fill my heart with gratitude instead of greed. *Ya Hameed*, You are praised whether or not I remember to say it. Teach me to love You not just for what You give, but for who You are. Let my praise echo in hardship as it does in ease, and let every breath I take be a quiet thank You. *Ya Fattaah*, Open doors I cannot find and hearts I cannot reach. Open paths to good where I see only walls, and open my chest to trust whatever You’ve decreed. Let every opening You grant me lead me back to You. --- ## EPISODE 16 *Ya Qaabid*, *Ya Baasit*, when You withhold, let me not lose hope, and when You expand, let me not lose humility. Tighten my path only to redirect me to Yours, and widen it in ways that it increases my gratitude to You. Teach me to find You in both the squeeze and the release and to love You both in the stillness and the flow. *Ya Muqaddim*, *Ya Mu’akhir*, when You bring me forward, make me worthy of the moment, and when You hold me back, make me patient with the waiting. Advance me only when the step will please You, and delay me only when the pause will protect me. Wherever I stand in Your decree, let me always feel content that I am never misplaced. --- ## EPISODE 17 *Ya ‘Aleem*, You know what I hide and what I show, what I’ve done and what I will do. Let what You know of me be better than what people know of me, and forgive me for what only You know. Teach me what benefits me, and let what You keep hidden from me always be for my good. *Ya Hakeem*, Your wisdom surrounds what I can’t understand. When I question the purpose, remind me of Your perfection. Grant me the patience to trust Your timing and the insight to see the beauty unfolding in Your decree. *Ya Lateef*, work gently through the details of my life. Send kindnesses that I may not notice until I look back, but can still feel at every moment. Let Your subtle care reach the corners of my heart that no words or people could ever touch. *Ya Khabeer*, You are fully aware of what’s within me: my fears, my flaws, and my hidden intentions. Purify what You see inside of me until it is pleasing to You, and let nothing inside me here contradict what will be produced on that day  when I stand before You laid bare. --- ## EPISODE 18 *Ya Qahhaar*, the One who subdues all false powers. Subdue every tyrant who raises a hand against the innocent. Break the arrogance of those who spill the blood of Your beloved servants. Let their cruelty be crushed by Your justice. Subdue also the arrogance within me— so that I never resemble the oppressor in any form. *Ya Jabbaar*, mend what their hands have broken. Rebuild the lands they’ve shattered, and heal the hearts that tremble for You under their bombs and boots. Set right the fractures in our *ummah*, and make every wound a doorway back to You. When You allow us to break, let it only be to rebuild us stronger, and when You heal us, let the healing only bring us nearer. *Ya Mutakabbir*, You are too glorious for injustice to prevail, too mighty for oppression to last before You. Show the tyrants that no throne stands forever, and honor the humble who still call Your Name even beneath the rubble. Clothe our people in dignity when the world strips them bare, and raise them in rank, and protect them from despair. --- ## EPISODE 19 *Ya Qaadir*, nothing is beyond Your power. As You part the seas and revive the dead, lift our people from beneath the weight of this world. Show us that no injustice is too deep for You to overturn, and no despair too dark for You to light again. *Ya Qadeer*, every decree rests in Your command. Write victory for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoners, and safety for every child who sleeps beneath fear. Only You are able to turn tears into triumph and rubble into resurrection. *Ya Muqtadir*, Your power is perfect, Your execution without flaw. Let those who boast of might see how small they really are. Crush the arrogance that claims control over Your creation, and remind us that even the most helpless among us are upheld by You alone. Grant us strength without cruelty, faith without fatigue, and victory that only humbles us before You,  until we dwell in that place where our oppressors can no longer reach us,  and only those You love stand before You. --- ## EPISODE 20 *Ya ‘Adl*, Oh You whose balance never tips unfairly. When the world feels rigged for cruelty, remind us that You are merely delaying the cruel. And never unjust even by the weight of a single atom. Make us witnesses to Your justice in this life, and part of its fulfillment in the next. And let us love justice ourselves, and be purified from oppression within. *Ya Muqsit*, Restore to the victims what was stolen from them, and to the weary hearts what hope they lost. Make us a people who act with equity, and never swerve from accountability. *Ya Hakam*, You are the Judge when the courts of humanity fail. When truth is buried beneath lies, let Your verdict rise clear and unstoppable. Judge between us and those who wrong without remorse, and let us not find ourselves except on the side of the oppressed. *Ya Haseeb*, You are enough when proof is hidden and power is abused. Account for every tear that fell unseen, and every cruelty that was silenced by fear. Let Your reckoning come swiftly for those who harm, and ever so gently for those who endured. --- ## EPISODE 21 *Ya Razzaaq*, You provide for every creature in ways we can’t see. Feed my heart before my hands, and let my trust in Your sustenance outweigh my fear of the future. Provide for me in ways that bring me closer to You, and never let what I earn make me forget Who it’s from. *Ya Kareem*, You give beyond what I deserve,  and with a dignity too noble for me to live up to. Let Your generosity flow through me as a reflection of how it flows from You. Make my giving noble and my gratitude constant. When You withhold, remind me You are still giving, even if in ways I may not yet understand. *Ya Akram*, the most generous of those who give. Honor me with contentment in every decree. Make my share of this world enough and my portion of the next abundant. Let me live in gratitude for Your generosity that I can never live up to, and die with praise for a Lord who always gave more. --- ## EPISODE 22 *Ya Qawiyy*, strengthen me where I am weak,  and make me firm where I bend too easily. Lift me so that I can lift others, without ever believing I lifted myself. When the weight of the world feels heavier than my faith, remind me that Your strength is the only way to see it through. Let me draw strength from Your Power but never be weakened by my pride. *Ya Mateen*, make me steady when everything else shakes. Root me in conviction that does not sway with opinion or fear. Let my faith be anchored deep enough that no loss can uproot it. Keep my footing secure in moments that test my balance. *Ya ‘Azeez*, grant me the honor that comes only from You. Let my dignity rest in humility before You, my worth be measured only in worship of You. Protect me from chasing validation from those as fragile as I, and make my highest victory the achievement of Your pleasure. --- ## EPISODE 23 *Ya Shaafy*, heal me in ways that medicine can’t fix. Remove whatever sickness has touched my body,  and expel along with it any sin that has poisoned my soul. Let every ache remind me of Your mercy, and every cure draw me closer to You. Heal this *ummah* from its wounds, and make us whole again through faith and patience. *Ya Tayyib*, make my life pure enough to be accepted by You. Purify my wealth from the unlawful, and my worship from showing off.  Purify my clothes and my food,  and every way that I seek You. *Ya Mu’ty*, giver of all that heals and all that sustains, Let me never forget that every gift from You is a blessed call back to You,  and let it find me only as a grateful recipient and servant. --- ## EPISODE 24 *Ya Saboor*, teach me the patience that doesn’t expire. Make me calm when delay tests me, and grateful even as I wait. Grant me patience over my desires,  and through my trials,  and upon the deeds that will protect me from the Fire. *Ya Haleem*, You see my mistakes and still give me time to fix them. You watch my slips and still cover them in kindness. Make me forbearing with those around me,  and quick to forgiveness with those who may wrong me. *Ya ‘Aliyy*, *Ya Muta’aaly*, raise my heart above resentment and smallness. Lift my gaze toward the higher ways that reach You, and place my hopes in what lasts with You. Let my character rise even when my status falls. For You are higher than everything that confuses or defeats me. Lift me above pettiness, above despair, above sin. until my soul finds its peace in Your elevation. --- ## EPISODE 25 *Ya Kabeer*, how small I am before You. Let humility settle where arrogance once lived. Remind me that greatness belongs only to You, and can only be realized through You. Shut the doors to what diminishes me,  and guide my devotion to what fills me through You. *Ya ‘Adheem*, my Lord of Might and measure, make my reverence for You heavier than any fear of creation. Let my heart bow before You long before my body does, and let my most unstable positions be stilled by my trust in You. *Ya A’laa*, You are higher than every desire I chase. Lift me from the illusions of this world and make my ambitions worthy of Your nearness. Let my soul rise to You with sincerity and longing, until I meet You in the highest of places. *Ya Majeed*, the Glorious whose greatness humbles all glory, honor me by keeping me close.  Let my meeting with You there be an extension of my meetings with You here. Make my remembrance of You my greatest title, and my servitude to You my highest rank. --- ## EPISODE 26 *Ya Jawaad*, Your generosity reaches me before I even raise my hands. You give before I ask, and more than I deserve. Let me never mistake Your gifts for my earning. Make my giving a small reflection of Yours— openhanded, unseen, and without expectation. *Ya Mannaan*, every blessing I have is a favor You began. You wrote kindness into my story long before I could thank You. Let me recognize Your favors not as entitlement but as invitation. *Ya Wahhaab*, the Giver of gifts without reason or limit, grant me what only love can grant— forgiveness without condition, and openings without explanation. Gift me faith that doesn’t falter when I fall, and hope that keeps finding You even when I can’t see the way. Let every blessing You bestow lead me back to its source— You, and only You. --- ## EPISODE 27 *Ya ‘Afuww*, erase what I’ve done in the mercy that only You can write. Wipe away the traces of every sin that followed me into this night, until I stand before You as if I’d never fallen. Let my shame become the soil from which sincerity grows, and my repentance the rope that pulls me back to You. You love to pardon—so pardon me completely. Forgive what I remember and what I’ve forgotten, what I’ve confessed and what I’ve concealed. Make my record as clean as the day You created me, and my heart lighter than it has ever been before. Let me walk out of this night free of what once chained me, hopeful in what awaits me, and humbled by the Lord who forgives simply because He loves to. --- ## EPISODE 28 *Ya Hayiyy*, You are too shy to turn away these hands. How many times have I asked with nothing worthy in return, and yet still You answered in a way that left me in awe? When I stand before You ashamed, forgive me for my mountains of fault through a little of Your mercy, and give me more than I dare to ask because of Your generosity. *Ya Jaami’*, gather the pieces of my heart that the world has broken, or perhaps I myself have broken. Unite what distance and time have separated. Bring together my past and my purpose, my loved ones and the reward You’ve promised, until we meet again under the shade of Your throne complete. *Ya Waarith*, as everything returns to You,  what fades for me remains preserved with You. Keep my deeds when I am gone and let them grow, and my legacy when I’m forgotten, so long as not by You. Inherit my soul with Your pleasure and leave behind only what You’ll love to return to me. --- ## EPISODE 29 *Ya Awwal*, You were there before beginnings were written. Before my first breath, You already knew my name. Remind me that nothing starts without You, and that every good I begin is only by Your permission. Let my first step in anything always be toward You. *Ya Aakhir*, You remain when all else fades. When every name is forgotten, Yours endures. Let my last breath be in Your remembrance, and my last sight be upon Your mercy. *Ya Dhaahir*, You are evident in every beauty, in the rise of the sun and the appearance of the moon. Let me see Your majesty in all that surrounds me, until everything I witness becomes a door back to You. *Ya Baatin*, You are nearer than my thoughts, closer than my pulse. You Know the things I can’t say, and forgive the things I can’t hide. Preserve me in the unseen as You do in the open, and let my nearness to You outlast my time on this earth. --- ## EPISODE 30 *Ya Allah*, when I forget even myself, let Your name always remain in my heart and on my tongue. And let my heart always find its way back to You. When I call You by this Name, I am calling every mercy, every promise, every door that leads home. You are what no one else is, and for me what no one else can be. *Ya Hayy*, the Ever-Living who never fades. Put life into my worship when it starts to fade and life into my purpose when I start to feel lost again. Let my faith in You stay alive when the world floods me with dying promises  and the devil deceives with his deception. *Ya Qayyum*, the Sustainer of all that exists. Hold me together when I fall apart. Sustain my heart with Your remembrance, and my deeds with sincerity. Do not leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye. Steady me when I swerve, with Your guidance. Receive me when I return, with Your grace. *Ya Allah*, when I rise from one of Your seasons of incredible mercy, let me remember that You were always Merciful from the beginning,  and You will always be in the end, so long as I return to You.  Ya Allah, return me to You.  Ya Allah, return me to You.  Ya Allah, return me to You. In the presence of Your beloved (*salallahu alayhi wa sallam*) and all those who knew You the way I want to. In the beginning and the end and always, to You all praise is due. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-ethics-of-scholarly-inquiry-al-subki-on-method-debate-and-disagreement # The Ethics of Scholarly Inquiry: Al-Subkī on Method, Debate and Disagreement **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Jurisprudence (fiqh) **Tags:** Analysis **Published:** February 18, 2026 **Updated:** July 1, 2026 At the conclusion of his treatise on the status of the *tarāwīḥ* prayer as an established Prophetic practice—including the mode of performance and number of *rakʿa*s—the prominent Shāfiʿī scholar Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355) takes an unexpected turn. Moving away from legal argumentation, he adopts a more reflective register: a meditation on the pursuit of knowledge itself. In doing so, he shifts from jurisprudential debate to offering thoughtful counsel for students and novice jurists on the ethics of research and the proper conduct of scholarly inquiry.[^1] Al-Subkī’s counsel emerges from a concrete legal controversy, yet resonates far beyond it. Disputes over *tarāwīḥ* were never merely technical; they often reflected broader communal debates about authority, precedent, and the legitimate scope of scholarly disagreement. His remarks remind us that the integrity of the method matters as much as the conclusions we reach. This passage exemplifies a recurring concern in al-Subkī’s writings: the centrality of moral discipline in scholarly debate and the perils of adversarial overreach, even when one’s legal position is well-founded. In the month of Ramadan, as debates over devotional practice continue to divide communities, I offer this translation, which remains as relevant today as in al-Subkī’s own time. The translation seeks to preserve his didactic tone while rendering his methodological vocabulary in accessible English. Technical terms are translated rather than transliterated where possible, while the original conceptual framework is maintained. ![Manuscript image from al-Subkī’s treatise (Süleymaniye Library, Laleli 01098-001)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image2-1024x237.png) Manuscript image from al-Subkī’s treatise (Süleymaniye Library, Laleli 01098-001) *Manuscript image from al-Subkī’s treatise (Süleymaniye Library, Laleli 01098-001)* Al-Subkī’s text: Know, O student of knowledge, that if you wish to investigate a scholarly question, begin by purifying your intention for God, Most High. Aim at the truth for its own sake; clear your heart of all else, and suspect yourself of harboring any hidden bias or inclination that might prevent you from accepting the truth in this matter. Once your intention is sound and the matter has become clear to you, seek the evidence and examine the positions of the scholars, exerting your utmost effort. Weigh every view that comes before you against the standards of knowledge, subject it to the crucible of critical scrutiny, and delve deeply into its proper understanding. Do not reject a position merely because it presents difficulties until you have gathered as much of that scholar’s treatment of the issue as you can, understood his intention, examined it according to his own methodological principles, then according to the principles of other scholars, and finally weighed all of this against the principles of the Sharia. Throughout this entire process, remain a seeker of fairness, intent upon the truth wherever it lies—whether it supports you or opposes you. If a meaning arises in your heart and you say, “This is correct,” do not hasten to assert it conclusively. Rather, re-examine your reasoning and consider carefully where it leads. Test it using the tools of the sciences: Arabic language, transmitted knowledge,[^2] and the established criteria of rational inquiry and intellectual principles. Then pray: > O God, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You judge between Your servants concerning that over which they differ. Guide me, by Your permission, to the truth in that over which they differ. Truly, You guide whom You will to a straight path.[^3] If you do this, I hope that God will inspire you with the truth and cast into your heart a light by which you may perceive what is correct. Once you arrive at the truth and your heart finds rest in it, give thanks to God, Most High, for what He has granted you. Maintain proper scholarly decorum (*adab*) toward the scholars who did not reach the same conclusion as you, and do not attribute it to any deficiency on their part. Say: “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.”[^4] Do not, from the outset or in the end, intend your inquiry to refute an opponent for the sake of argument or to prevail in dispute. Let your investigation be for your own guidance alone, or for the benefit of someone who may encounter your words—someone unfamiliar with the issue and with you—so that you may fall under the Prophet’s saying (peace be upon him): “That God guide through you a single person is better for you than red camels.”[^5] As for what may occur between you and another person in debate, where you aim to refute him through writing or extended analysis, do not place your hopes in this outcome. Rather, be fully aware that it is unlikely. For most people of this age, once they have voiced a position—especially before an audience—and seek victory, they do not retract it, even if every proof is presented to them. We have witnessed this in this very issue:[^6] one stubbornly seeking to prevail persisted while authoritative texts were recited and proofs established before him, yet outwardly he only grew more obstinate. Why, then, should a person waste his time with someone like this? Instead, one should attend to himself. May God, Most High, grant us a good ending. We ask Him—He is the Most Generous of the generous—for the good of this world and the Hereafter; that He send blessings upon our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, his family, and his companions; that He benefit us through knowledge in this world and the next; and that He grant this to us, our parents, our children, those who love us, and all Muslims. --- ## Notes [^1]: Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī, *Ḍawʾ al-maṣābīh fī ṣalat al-tarāwīḥ*, ed. Aḥmad Ḥasan (Jamʿiyyat Dār al-Birr, 2022), 298-300. [^2]: The term “transmitted knowledge” (*naqliyyāt*) refers to disciplines based on received reports, such as the Qur’an, Hadith, and statements of earlier scholars, in contrast to rational or speculative sciences. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 770. [^4]: Qur’an, 20:114. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2406. Red camels (*ḥumr al-naʿam*) were among the most prized possessions in early Islamic Arabia, representing the highest form of wealth. The Prophet’s comparison emphasizes that guiding even one person to truth holds far greater value than any material gain. [^6]: The legal status and rulings of *t**arāwīḥ* prayer. ## Summary Know, O seeker of sacred knowledge, that the eminent Shāfiʿī jurist Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355) concluded a treatise concerning the standing of the tarāwīḥ prayer—its manner of performance and the number of its rakʿas as an established Prophetic practice—not with further legal wrangling, but with a turn toward reflection. Setting aside the language of juristic contention, he offered instead a heartfelt counsel to students and beginning jurists on the ethics of inquiry and the proper comportment of the scholar in his research. His words arose from a concrete dispute, yet their benefit extends well beyond it, for controversies over tarāwīḥ were never mere technicalities; they touched upon deeper questions of authority, precedent, and the rightful bounds of scholarly disagreement. The lesson he impressed was that the soundness of one's method is no less weighty than the soundness of one's conclusions, and that a person may hold a well-grounded position yet still fall into the sin of adversarial excess. Al-Subkī begins by insisting upon the purification of intention. He counsels the student that before he examines any question, he must make his intention sincere for God, Most High, seeking the truth for its own sake, emptying his heart of all else, and holding himself under suspicion lest some hidden bias or inclination bar him from accepting the truth. This reflects the enduring principle that the pursuit of knowledge is itself an act of worship, requiring the same sincerity demanded of every deed. Once the intention is made pure and the matter has grown clear, he directs the student to seek out the evidences and to study the positions of the scholars with the utmost exertion. Every view is to be weighed against the standards of knowledge, subjected to the crucible of critical scrutiny, and understood in its depth. He warns particularly against dismissing a position merely because it appears difficult: rather, one must gather all that a scholar has said on the matter, grasp his intent, examine his view first according to his own methodological principles, then according to the principles of others, and finally measure it against the principles of the Sharīʿa. Throughout this labor, the student must remain a seeker of fairness (inṣāf), intent upon the truth wherever it may be found, whether it favors him or stands against him. He then cautions against haste in judgment. Should a meaning arise in the heart such that one says, "This is correct," he must not rush to affirm it with finality. Instead he should re-examine his reasoning and consider where it leads, testing it by the tools of the sciences: the Arabic language, transmitted knowledge, and the established criteria of rational inquiry. Having done so, the student is taught to turn to God in supplication with a prayer drawn from the words the Prophet ﷺ would say, calling upon God as "Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen," who judges between His servants concerning that over which they differ, and asking to be guided to the truth—for truly He guides whom He wills to a straight path. Al-Subkī expresses his hope that whoever proceeds in this manner will have the truth cast into his heart as a light by which he perceives what is correct. Upon arriving at the truth and finding the heart at rest in it, the student is instructed to render thanks to God, Most High, for what He has granted. Yet al-Subkī does not permit this attainment to breed arrogance. He commands that proper scholarly decorum (adab) be maintained toward those scholars who did not reach the same conclusion, and that their difference never be ascribed to any deficiency on their part. The student should instead repeat the Qur'anic supplication, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge." He must not, at the beginning of his inquiry nor at its end, intend to refute an opponent for the sake of argument or to triumph in dispute. Rather his research should be for his own guidance, or for the benefit of one who may later encounter his words—someone unacquainted with both the issue and the author—so that he might fall beneath the Prophet's saying ﷺ: "That God guide through you a single person is better for you than red camels." As for the exchanges that may pass between a person and his adversary, where one hopes to overcome him through writing or extended argument, al-Subkī advises that one place no hope in such an outcome and recognize that it is unlikely. For most people of his age, he observes, once they have declared a position—especially before an audience—and set their hearts on victory, they will not retract it though every proof be laid before them. He testifies that he had witnessed this very thing in the matter of tarāwīḥ: one bent on prevailing persisted even as authoritative texts were recited and proofs established before him, growing only more obstinate in appearance. Why then, he asks, should a person squander his time upon such a one? Better that he attend to his own soul. He closes, as befits a servant of knowledge, in supplication: asking God, the Most Generous of the generous, for the good of this world and the Hereafter, for blessings upon the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, his family, and his companions, and for benefit through knowledge in both abodes—for himself, his parents, his children, those who love him, and all the Muslims. In this counsel al-Subkī leaves the student with an enduring reminder that the honesty of one's search, the fairness of one's judgment, and the courtesy owed to those who differ are inseparable from the knowledge itself, and that the aim of learning is guidance and worship, not the vanity of victory. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/a-lamp-a-lifeboat-a-ladder # A Lamp, a Lifeboat, a Ladder | Blog **Author:** Zahra Wadia **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Mental Health, Short Stories **Published:** February 6, 2026 **Updated:** February 11, 2026 It was March when I became unemployed. *Al**h**amdulillah*. I had known for a while it was coming, and my departure was treated with more compassion than I could have hoped for or expected. Still, there is a difference between anticipation and outcome. Between knowing the forecast and hearing that first clap of thunder. I remember the month for two reasons. First, March has always felt like the longest month of the year. The shine of a new year dulled, promises and resolutions long negotiated and conceded. In Ontario, snow once fresh and fluffy now banks street corners as muddy blocks of ice. Itʼs still too soon to look forward to tulips and cherry blossoms. With a lighter than usual laptop bag and trembling hands clutching HR paperwork, I willed myself to pull it together when I left work. Itʼs not a big deal; people lose their jobs all the time. Perhaps this was a rite of passage into adulthood. I had a loving family, my health, a roof over my head. I could even take the time to travel, move cities, or visit family abroad. The fact that this now sounds like a punchline is the second reason I remember the month well. It was March 2020. Early days of the pandemic. The emergency grocery runs for paper towels and hand sanitizer had only just begun. Events had started getting pushed out an optimistic (though naive) two weeks. The phrase “unprecedented times” still carried novelty and authority. In the beginning, I did what any unemployed, high-achieving person who gets a boost of serotonin from crossing things off their to-do list would have done: I baked bread and updated my online professional profile. Building an online community from the comfort of home wasnʼt so bad. For the first time in my millennial life, I began to enjoy speaking on the phone rather than texting. I even started reading for pleasure again, a hobby lost to academic textbooks years ago. In June 2020, four months after being laid off, and three months into a global shutdown, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. *Alhamdulillah*. There is so much *baraka* in the timing of Allahʼs plans. If her routine checkup had been a month earlier, we would have endured the waitlist for surgery in an overflowing, understaffed hospital. A month later and the doctorʼs hours would have reduced back to emergencies only due to COVID restrictions. Even the fact that I was at home and idle was a blessing (I have never heard my community put such a positive spin on being unmarried). When faced with caregiving for a parent who is navigating cancer, time bifurcates and shifts gears. Thereʼs an urgency, a lodged breath you canʼt fully exhale, as you pray and plead and pray and plan and pray and pray some more. But time also slows. Thereʼs the waiting between the seemingly endless cycles of tests and results and treatments. With social distancing and capacity limitations, my mother attended these alone while I stared at concrete and trees from the hospital parking lot. Maybe itʼs a manifestation of our *fitra* that when faced with lifeʼs fragility, we loosen how tightly we hold other things. *Dunya* things. The next job. That dream vacation. The words of those people. I had been raised on *tawakkul* and the pursuit of academic excellence. Have complete trust in Allahʼs plan, but that camel better be tied with a knot that rivals the most seasoned traveler. This framed how I viewed my *rizq* and my purpose. My capacity to be of service to others was optimized through my work. It was where I felt knowledgeable, my best self, and most useful. And if you chase enough gold stars, you can begin to believe that theyʼre lighting up the sky. --- ## A Lamp “So whatever you are given, that is only a provision of this worldʼs life, and what is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their Lord” (Qur’an 42:36). When the oncologist asked my mother if sheʼd like to speak to an emotional support counselor about her diagnosis, she laughed. Laughed. “I have my faith,” she said matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything. “I speak to God.” The room she prays in is illuminated by a single desk lamp. The chunky black plastic kind with the adjustable neck. It was mine as a teenager, before I rebranded my childhood bedroom a home office and redecorated. I tell her Iʼll get her a more suitable fixture for her prayer space: an elegant floor lamp or a reading light. She laughs and says light is light; she only needs to see her finger on the page in front of her to know which *ayah* comes next. In the week leading up to her surgery, my motherʼs hands were either raised in prayer or busy with housework. She prepared for cancer the same way she prepared for guests. I used to tease her about the latter as she put me to task. Surely guests wouldnʼt check if there were crumbs behind the oven range, if the garage was swept and organized, or if the fridge was fully stocked with meals. It didnʼt matter; she wanted to make sure others were taken care of. My hands now shook as I helped her prepare meals, scooping food into Tupperware containers, labeling them with masking tape and a Sharpie, and loading them into the freezer. Even though I could have cooked or ordered in, there were enough frozen dinners to last my Dad and me months. It has always been this way. News arrives—good or bad—my mother gets to work. A month later when the chemotherapy treatments are in full swing, I will boil ginger on a stovetop, organize pillboxes, and gently nudge her through her home. In these moments, my hands wonʼt feel like mine, but how I remember hers. When those who love Allah so dearly are tested, it feels like youʼre closer to Him by being of service to them. --- ## A Lifeboat “He has given you everything you asked Him for. Had you wanted to count a single blessing of Allah, you would not have been able to do it” (Qur’an 14:34). It started with a guava tree. An elderly couple moving closer to family during the lockdown gave us their plants, including the six-foot-tall one with mottled green bark, sporadic pointy leaves, and a promise to bear fruit. The fruit never bloomed, but a gardening hobby did. I grew eight different types of herbs and vegetables in our garden. If giving starts at home, then what better place to begin than from oneʼs backyard. Neighbors sent my mother wellness gifts from their gardens. Baskets of apples, pears, and squash; bunches of coriander and mint; even a dozen lemons. I combined them with my harvest and sent back mason jars of apple, plum, and mint chutneys and pesto sauce. I had grown so accustomed to LED screens and public transport commutes that I had missed how grounding nature could be—even from oneʼs home. One night, I sat on the deck after dinner. The moon was a perfect crescent; something I would never have thought to admire unless it was the night before Eid al-Fitr. It had been a summer of firefly sightings, and their glow danced throughout the garden. I later learned that we only see fireflies toward the end of their life; they spend years underground in their bioluminescence, surrounding us with their living light before they rise from it. That is nature—constantly sustaining, constantly giving. --- ## A Ladder The Prophet ﷺ said, “A kind word is a form of charity.”[^1] A parking spot is eight feet wide. Longer than the enforced six-feet social-distancing rule. I sat in the passenger seat of my car and my friend sat in the driver seat of hers. Even though we were outside and neither of us were sick, these were the rules we agreed on. No risks when it came to keeping her premature newborn and my immunocompromised parents safe. In the dark, empty parking lot, the light of the drive-through ice cream parlor cast a glow over us. We were both unmasked and I was thankful to see her face and for her to see mine. Neither of us knew what to say; the balm we tried to make from our words fell short every time it met the air. Eventually, we settled for taking turns letting the other cry, our grief filling the parking space between us instead. I have a friend who often speaks to others in the form of making *dua* for them. You could tell them about an upcoming camping trip and theyʼll wish you a journey filled with the most perfectly toasted sʼmores and an unexpected meteor shower. My aunt silently absorbs every little fact or preference anyone tells her. I told her I liked cherry cola when I was thirteen. There will be a bottle waiting for me in her fridge when I visit, even after all these years. A former coworker who lives across the country and who I havenʼt seen for over a decade continues to send me birthday and new year well wishes. These people, and so many others, showed up in the most unexpected and beautiful ways when my mother was sick. There were trays of food, flowers, words of support, and when I needed to laugh, messages with funny videos. It was through a community that my prayers for ease and a softened heart were answered. The more aware I became of the divine qualities of endless generosity (al-Karim) and abundant kindness (al-Raʾuf) in others, the more my desire grew to reflect them in myself. “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someoneʼs soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” —Rumi[^2] I had believed that blessings from Allah would bring me closer to Him, but it was the opposite. The blessings that came my way expanded when I became closer to Him. I had also believed that the capacity to give and serve—to teach, to donate, to help others—grew with having more. But that year of unemployment and my motherʼs illness taught me that purpose and service can grow in hard places. Places where thereʼs urgency and a feeling of scarcity rather than abundance. These places are often where the most spiritual growth and meaningful action is possible. These are the places where I found Allahʼs mercy in abundance. His lamps, lifeboats, and ladders. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2989; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1009. [^2]: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, *Like This: 43 Odes*, trans. Coleman Barks (Maypop Books, 1990), 13. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/gauze-prayers-and-healing-wounds-finding-strength-from-grief-for-gaza # Gauze, Prayers, and Healing Wounds: Finding Strength from Grief for Gaza | Blog **Author:** Shazia Khan **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Gaza, Palestine, Short Stories **Published:** February 6, 2026 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 “Bismillah,” I whisper as I push the needle into my patientʼs tiny arm. A piercing cry escapes, and I murmur apologies in a soothing voice. When the blood is drawn, I press a piece of gauze against the small puncture wound. Gauze. Something we waste. Something that is a luxury for many. Images of children lying bloodied on hospital floors an ocean away flood my mind. Open wounds and empty hands, while my patient’s wounds are closed, and my hands are full. I stroke the arm gently and whisper endearments, all while feeling the weight of helplessness settle on my shoulders. I place a bandage over the wound and hand out a Spider-Man sticker. Even the sight of superheroes leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I throw away the soiled gauze with a crimson stain, glancing at the endless supply available for the patients. Gauze. A fabric born in a land now under occupation. I think of the cruel irony of how the very people who created it are now deprived of it. What can I do other than pray? “*Ya* *Razzaq*, You provide in ways we cannot even imagine. Send the Palestinians gauze and all the medical equipment they need to help the wounded. *Ameen*.” “Bismillah,” I whisper while placing the premature baby on her belly. I marvel at the miracles of Allah. How this preterm baby, weighing less than one kilogram, lies covered in tubes and wires, yet gains weight and strength each day. Her tiny hand grips my finger right before she stops breathing. I rub her chest to stimulate her and increase the oxygen. I watch her chest rise and fall again, placing her back on her belly, where she is most comfortable. Comfort. Something that babies across the ocean are not given. An image of an abandoned premature baby in a destroyed hospital flashes through my mind and pierces my heart. I tuck a blanket around the baby in the incubator and close the small windows. How are the babies in Gaza sleeping tonight? Are they cold? Do they have enough oxygen? Are there any nurses left to help them breathe again? What can I do other than pray? “*Ya Shafi*, shower your ease upon the babies of Gaza and bless them with Your protection. Give them comfort and warmth, and shield them from harm. *Ameen*.” “Bismillah,” I say as I pour baby formula into the bottle. The baby in the crib cries from hunger, having woken up just five minutes earlier after a morning full of medical procedures. I fill the bottle to the top and take him into my arms. Heʼs still learning how to coordinate his breathing while feeding. He chokes a few times, then finds his rhythm between the burping and pauses. When he finishes the bottle, he continues to search for more milk. “Good job! What a champ,” I say softly. “Do you want a little more milk?” As I prepare a second bottle, images of starving babies with exposed ribcages seize me. I glance at the hospital cupboard filled with baby formula and then remember all the formula lying at the bottom of the ocean, never reaching the babies of Gaza. What can I do other than pray? “*Ya Razz**a**q*, *y**a* *Rah**i**m*, *y**a Kar**i**m*, provide nourishment for the starving babies and people of Gaza. Bless them with Your mercy and protection. *Ameen*.” A doctor asks to borrow my stethoscope, the one that has hung around my neck for eleven years. I notice all the scuff marks worn into it. How many heartbeats have I listened to with it? How many heart murmurs have I heard with it? I reflect on the four times my stethoscope rested on a babyʼs chest only to hear silence. The pink stethoscope looks childlike resting on the shoulders of a doctor and seeing it in another medical professional’s hands gives me pause. What are we doing? How is the world still moving? How are we all not crying in outrage? Do I even deserve the honor of using that stethoscope? Guilt’s icy grip holds me by the throat. Why am I safe at work while my fellow nurses in Gaza are being targeted and tortured? How can I freely move around, easily providing care to every child in my hospital while my colleagues in Gaza perform amputations without anesthesia? Guilt. It pulls me into its darkness until I’m completely engulfed. How is it fair that I remember the names of each child I have placed in a shroud, but my fellow nurses in Palestine place nameless children without surviving families in shrouds by the dozens. What can I do other than pray? “*Ya Ghaf**u**r*, forgive me for not being able to do more for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Forgive me and this *ummah* for not doing more. Guide us to help in any small way we can, *Ya Rabb**i*, *am**ee**n*.” “Bismillah,” I say as I place a baby on a scale. I blink back tears, remembering the images of our children in Gaza buried under the rubble. When I look up, I see a new colleague moving quickly among us. I pause, feeling a light spread in my chest. She adjusts her hijab, and I notice a watermelon-patterned lanyard with a map of Palestine pinned on it. Our eyes meet, and in a brief moment, we recognize the pain we both carry. A few days later, she hands me a watermelon lanyard as a gift, and I understand the assignment. A moment of solidarity was enough to cause a ripple. I walk into the hospital displaying a pin on my watermelon lanyard. It brings me some comfort knowing that the flag of Palestine sits on my chest, for all to see, and near my heart as it breaks every day. I feel the searing gazes burn into me as I walk by, dressed in the colors that bleed through the *ummah*. I take in the scowls, the looks of disgust, carrying them with a calmness, while taking in all the silence and the subtle nods of solidarity. I clutch the Palestine pin and keep walking forward. It feels like a piece of gauze covering my wound from seeing a part of my *ummah* in pain. I wear the pin and never lower my gaze. Let it make people uncomfortable. Let the guilt seep into their hearts. Let it be a reminder that we will never forget. “Bismillah,” I whisper as I step into my workspace, carrying in my heart the names of the children who needed a nurseʼs healing hands but never got the chance. I straighten the pin on my lanyard, remembering the names of the persecuted doctors and nurses who refused to leave their patients behind. I listen to the overhead announcement in our hospital and think of the hospitals in Gaza that have been destroyed. I carry this ache in my chest yet put on a smile to greet my first patient of the day. A part of my *ummah* is in pain, and so I will carry and feel this pain with them. I remove my lanyard to pray Dhuhr, and when I rise to make space for the next person, I notice her staring at my Palestine pin. She gently moves her stethoscope aside and shows me a pendant of Al-Aqsa Mosque resting on her chest. Later that day, I take my keffiyeh from my locker and drape it over the back of my chair. I realize that every prayer opens a door to solidarity. Every *sujud* allows me to lay down my guilt and the heaviness on my shoulders. Every *dhikr* on my lips gives me the strength to not fear those in power. Every turn of the Qur’an’s pages reminds me that Allah’s mercy is vast and that where I see destruction and loss, the martyrs see beauty and freedom. *Hasbun Allahu wa niʿmal wakil.* --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/we-should-have-done-more-a-tribute-to-imam-jamil-al-amin # We Should Have Done More: A Tribute to Imam Jamil Al-Amin | Blog **Author:** Dr. Altaf Husain **Topics:** Education, Family & Community, Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam **Published:** January 22, 2026 **Updated:** February 17, 2026 When I reflect on what I have been able to accomplish in service to the community by the grace of Allah, the goals “completed” never occupy my heart or mind as deeply as those left unfinished, especially the places where I know I should have exerted more effort. One such glaring example is our beloved Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Allah have mercy on him. He returned to Allah the Exalted, on Sunday, November 23, 2025. He is now free from the shackles of this world, but spent nearly twenty-five years unjustly incarcerated. While the system imprisoned his body, it never touched his spirit, *alhamdulillah*. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I saw Imam Jamil’s work firsthand. Soon after accepting Islam in the early ‘70s, he began organizing a community in the West End of Atlanta. Community organizing was not new to him; he had served as the Chairperson of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). [An icon of the Civil Rights Movement](https://snccdigital.org/people/h-rap-brown/),[^1] he drew on his experience and extended his efforts well beyond Atlanta. What eventually became known as Al-Ummah, or the national Jamaat, spread across the United States—and even, as I heard, into the Caribbean. That was how I came to know Imam Jamil and Al-Ummah in Cleveland. Communities competed to host the national gathering, the Riyaadah, where sports were central and spirits ran high. My father, Dr. Sirajul Husain, Allah have mercy on him, who settled in Cleveland in the late ‘70s, ensured that my siblings and I were fully connected to the African American Muslim community. We looked forward to the Riyaadah whenever Cleveland hosted, especially at the Cuyahoga Community College downtown campus. My father and I used to joke that there must be a height requirement of at least six feet to join Imam Jamil’s Jamaat. And sure enough, the imams I grew closest to, Imam Khalid Abdus Samad and Imam Mutawaf Shaheed in Cleveland, Dr. Ihsan Bagby, and later Imam Khalid Griggs and Imam Khalil Abdur Rahman, Allah have mercy on him, in North Carolina, were towering figures just like him. Nowadays, we hear the phrase “unapologetically Muslim,” but the Jamaat of the ‘80s embodied that spirit long before the term was coined. Under Imam Jamil’s leadership, we saw unapologetic Islam lived through his speeches, community building, and advocation of self-sufficiency through Jamaat-owned businesses. We were witnessing the construction of a Prophetic community, right in the West End and across the country. While pursuing my PhD, I became involved with the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada (MSA National) and reconnected with Imam Jamil as one of the most sought-after speakers on college campuses and at MSA conferences. That generation of students was blessed. We heard directly from a former Civil Rights Movement student leader who implored us to learn our faith, practice it, and conduct ourselves with utmost confidence as Muslims. His book, *Revolution by the Book - The Rap Is Live*, was released in 1993 and was a major source of inspiration for thousands of Muslim youth. Imam Jamil discussed aspects of his book at the last MSA continental convention where he spoke on Labor Day weekend, 1999, in Chicago. He was arrested just months later in March 2000 on false charges and wrongfully convicted on March 9, 2002. Those who studied the Civil Rights Movement understood: Outspoken, charismatic leaders like Imam Jamil would eventually be unjustly targeted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_iPSHBSYyO0 Between his arrest and sentencing, MSA National helped bring together various youth groups and MSA chapters to form the Student Alliance for Imam Jamil (SAIJ). I noted at the time: > At times when it was not politically correct to openly challenge injustice and oppression, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin stood tall and firm, and spoke a word of truth in the face of the unjust and the oppressors. Today, it is our turn to stand tall and firm and show our unwavering support for the innocence of Imam Jamil Al-Amin. For Imam Jamil is not the only one on trial; you, I, and all those who fight injustice and oppression are on trial.[^2] We mobilized across the country for a full and fair investigation. Indeed, one of our largest rallies in support of Imam Jamil was planned for Washington, DC, on Friday, September 15, 2001, but was canceled after the tragic events of September 11. Still, the MSA continued mobilizing efforts to educate people about the false charges against Imam Jamil and the mounting evidence proving his innocence, and to call for his release. Even after his conviction, MSA National issued a [press release](https://web.archive.org/web/20020608034306/http://www.msa-natl.org:80/imamjamil.html) expressing profound shock and disappointment at the guilty verdict, and calling upon students to join SAIJ and continue supporting the legal efforts to file an appeal and compile a stronger case for a new trial. It was bittersweet in the early 2000s as we first laid the groundwork for what became the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA). Imam Jamil’s absence was deeply felt, though the Jamaat was ably represented by deputy amir [Imam Asim Abdul Rashid of Philadelphia](https://muslimmatters.org/2022/02/20/imam-asim-abdur-rashid-an-obituary/), may Allah have mercy on him. It was clear from the outset that those present—Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Dr. Sherman Jackson, Dr. Ihsan Bagby, and many others—were determined to raise awareness and continue demanding his release. I visited Imam Jamil a couple of times while he was incarcerated in Fulton County.[^3] It was humbling. He would ask what he could do for *me* and for the community. It was my first time visiting someone in prison, and during that first visit I struggled to steady myself emotionally. This was our Imam, unjustly imprisoned, separated from his family. I felt inadequate, unsure what to say: Why hadn’t the community mobilized more intentionally? A date had not yet been set for his trial; how was he feeling? Sensing my fragile emotional state and before I could express any apology for our neglect, he redirected the moment entirely. He asked about *us*, the students, their faith, the state of the Muslim community. His calm and soothing voice reflected his firm faith in Allah’s promise. As he spoke, a calmness came over me, and I realized for the first time that he was at peace, unshaken by his imprisonment, with full conviction in Allah’s ability to exonerate him. He was free and I was the one shackled by worldly attachments and fears. We spoke at length, losing track of time, until a guard signaled that visiting hours were ending. As I stood to leave, Imam Jamil asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” I was speechless. One of my deepest regrets is that we did not do enough for our beloved Imam Jamil. There were efforts no doubt, but not with the steadfastness and commitment he deserved. We did not consistently support his family, raise funds for legal expenses, and, most importantly, keep his case burning at the forefront. This was a man who led both the Civil Rights Movement and the Muslim community. He rarely asked for anything, and he deserved more from us. Over nearly twenty-five years, his physical health deteriorated, but his spirit remained unbroken, sustained by a constant connection with the Qur’an and the *seerah*. We should have done more. We could have done more. The only solace I hold is that at Yaqeen Institute, under the leadership of Dr. Omar Suleiman, we were able to illuminate his [story](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-giant-in-prison-imam-jamil-al-amin-ramadan-reflections) for an entirely new generation, many hearing his name and profound contributions for the first time. We also bring light to a [documentary project](https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/what_happened_to_imam_jamil_alamin_fka_h_rap_brown__a_true_crime_docuseries) that is doing the same.[^4] I remain indebted to our beloved Imam Jamil for shaping the tone and tenor of my service to the community. May Allah grant him the highest station in Paradise, and may we carry forward his legacy with honor. **Take a moment to reflect on the life and legacy of Imam Jamil Al-Amin (may Allah have mercy on him, and forgive us for not doing more). *Let learning about his contributions to the ummah inspire a deeper sense of responsibility, gratitude, and personal commitment—and join us in resolving to never again allow our leaders to suffer in silence.* ***Explore [his story and the story of other Muslim prisoners](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/why-muslim-prisoners-are-the-key-to-ending-empires) who have been unjustly incarcerated.***** --- ## Notes [^1]: See also: John H. Cable, “H. Rap Brown,” in *New Georgia Encyclopedia* (University of Georgia Press, 2021), [https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/h-rap-brown/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/h-rap-brown/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1769103231378874&usg=AOvVaw1XMy1a30To0nPd5Nc4mYAJ). [^2]: Altaf Husain, quoted in “Imam Jamil Al-Amin,” *Islamicity*, accessed January 14, 2026, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://islamicity.org/1213/imam-jamil-al-amin/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1769103231378212&usg=AOvVaw0v6-6n9T7J1G4BHL_8xbX7)[http://islamicity.org/1213/imam-jamil-al-amin/](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://islamicity.org/1213/imam-jamil-al-amin/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1769103231378341&usg=AOvVaw2ktzgElpBdCE8vv85MB_ls). [^3]: For a transcript of one of our conversations, see: [https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2001/02/an-interview-with-imam-jamil-al-amin.aspx](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2001/02/an-interview-with-imam-jamil-al-amin.aspx&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1769103231377864&usg=AOvVaw18EYErAA6P5JhACnxi91F7). [^4]: See: The Free Imam Jamil Campaign, “What Happened To Rap: An American Injustice Coming Soon Trailer,” Vimeo, February 14, 2025, [https://vimeo.com/1056913261?fl=pl&fe=sh](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://vimeo.com/1056913261?fl%3Dpl%26fe%3Dsh&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1769103231379287&usg=AOvVaw3926_7nqaisPxoUaADvj53). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/prophetic-solutions-for-doom-spiraling-cultivating-hope-in-a-cycle-of-negativity # Prophetic Solutions for Doom Spiraling: Cultivating Hope in a Cycle of Negativity **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** Faith, General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Analysis, Mental Health, Prophetic Cure **Published:** January 8, 2026 **Updated:** July 1, 2026 What if I fail this exam? What if I never get the job I want? What if I end up poor?” Negative thought spirals, often called doom spirals, begin with a single anxious idea that multiplies into dozens of related fears, each feeding the next until a person feels trapped, overwhelmed, and paralyzed. Psychologists describe doom spirals as patterns of repetitive and catastrophic self-talk that worsen stress and impair decision-making.[^1] This anxiety not only disrupts your mood but can actively harm your performance, and when performance drops, it reinforces the same anxious thoughts, creating a self-fulfilling loop.[^2] While psychological strategies like reframing or distancing help, the Prophetic tradition provides something more profound and transformative: a call to optimism, trust in Allah, and action in the face of fear. --- ## The science of inner chatter Ethan Kross, in his book *Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It*, explains how the inner voice is a double-edged sword. It helps people plan, reason, and prepare, but when it turns negative it spirals into chatter that is harsh, repetitive, and unproductive. This kind of chatter fuels doom spirals, trapping people in cycles of catastrophic thinking. Kross highlights that chatter is strongly linked to stress and can aggravate symptoms of anxiety. In some cases, it contributes to physical health problems through its impact on the body’s stress systems, including sleep disruption, elevated cortisol, and impaired immune function.[^3] What modern science observes about the destructive cycle of inner chatter resonates closely with what the Prophetic tradition cautioned against: hopeless self-talk that amplifies despair. --- ## Prophetic optimism and Qur’anic hope The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ warned against language that entrenches despair. He said: “If a man says, ‘The people are ruined,’ he is the most ruined of them all.”[^4] Constantly declaring destruction only deepens hopelessness, both within the speaker and among others. By contrast, the Prophet ﷺ cultivated hope, especially in times of hardship. When visiting a sick bedouin, he said: “No harm. It is purification, if Allah wills.”[^5] Instead of allowing illness to trigger a spiral of dread, he reframed it as an opportunity for purification and spiritual elevation. The Prophet ﷺ also said: “None of you should wish for death because of a calamity that has befallen him. If he must wish for something, let him say: ‘O Allah, keep me alive so long as life is better for me, and cause me to die if death is better for me.’”[^6] From this, we learn that in moments of overwhelming distress, the believer is directed to resist hopelessness and instead trust Allah’s wisdom. By reframing hardship as a test of trust rather than a reason for despair, the Prophet ﷺ laid the foundation for an enduring optimism that extends even to life’s final moments. In another report, he ﷺ emphasized that Allah’s mercy always outweighs despair: “None of you should die except thinking positively of Allah.”[^7] And so even at life’s end, righteous optimism is not naivety but a bold act of faith. Perhaps the most striking display of Prophetic optimism appeared in one of the darkest moments of early Islamic history. During the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims faced an army of ten thousand and were exhausted, hungry, and under siege. While digging the trench, they struck a large rock that could not be broken. The Prophet ﷺ struck it with his axe, and with each strike a spark appeared. He said that with the first spark, he was given the keys to Syria, with the second, the keys to Persia, and with the third, the keys to Yemen.[^8] At a time when the Muslims could barely imagine survival, the Prophet ﷺ spoke of a future of expansion and victory. His words were not empty reassurance but a way of turning their attention away from immediate fear toward long-term hope rooted in divine promise. The Prophet’s words in that moment embodied a principle that the Qur’an reinforces throughout its message, that faith demands perseverance and hope even when circumstances seem impossible. Allah says: “Do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”[^9] In another verse, He tells the believers: “So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are true believers.”[^10] These verses provide a direct counter to the inner voice of doom, reminding believers that hopelessness fades in the presence of Allah’s limitless mercy and power. --- ## Reframing doom spirals with faith and action Modern psychology shows that one way to interrupt negative loops is through “distancing”—that is, seeing one’s situation as if it were happening to someone else.[^11] This broadens perspective and reduces emotional intensity. Islam adds another layer: reframing through *tawakkul*, or trust in Allah. Where the doom spiral says, “You are finished,” faith reminds us that Allah’s mercy and power are greater than any trial. It serves to distance a person from their lack of control over their trial, finding refuge instead in the reality of divine control over all their affairs. This shift in focus, from self-preoccupation to divine reliance, reshapes how hardship is understood. These Prophetic teachings reinterpret challenges not as signs of doom but as chances for purification, resilience, and reward. At the same time, they encourage the believer to undertake a similar exercise through *tafakkur,* or pondering, which allows them to revise their understanding and the outcomes of their trials. While neuroscience highlights how the brain is wired to magnify threats, revelation teaches believers to counter this and magnify hope through faith. Hope in Islam, however, is not a passive state of mind—it demands movement. While a doom spiral immobilizes, Islam pushes toward constructive action and active coping strategies. The Prophet ﷺ taught: “If the Final Hour comes while you have a sapling in your hand and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, then you should plant it.”[^12] Even in the face of the ultimate catastrophe, the believer is instructed to act. This hadith reframes action itself as worship, regardless of whether outcomes are seen. The Prophet ﷺ extended this ethic beyond extraordinary moments to the smallest acts of everyday life: “Do not belittle any act of good, even if it is meeting your brother with a cheerful face.”[^13] Every positive step, however small, carries meaning. Planting hope in the form of words, deeds, or even a smile disrupts the downward pull of despair. From the perspective of neuroscience, doom spirals are damaging patterns of cognition that hijack attention and narrow the sense of possibility. From the perspective of faith, they are opportunities for resistance, to remember Allah, reframe the inner voice, and act with hope. The Prophetic tradition teaches believers to resist despair, to interpret hardship as purification, and to anchor expectations in Allah’s mercy, power, and wisdom. Optimism is not naive. It is a discipline of the heart. Breaking a doom spiral is less about silencing the inner voice and more about training it to echo what the Prophet ﷺ taught: hope and trust in Allah, and purposeful action in every circumstance. --- ## Notes [^1]: Richard Brouillette, “Doom Spiral: When Negative Thoughts Get Out of Control,” Psychology Today, 2021. [^2]: Brouillette, “Doom Spiral." [^3]: Ethan Kross, *Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It* (Crown, 2021). [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2623. There are two variants of the last word in the hadith (*ahlakuhum or ahlakahum*): (1) With a *ḍ**amma* on the *kāf*, scholars interpreted it as an arrogant person saying that the people are ruined and not me, so he is the most ruined because of his arrogance; (2) With a *fatḥa* on the *k**ā**f*, it translates to “he has caused their destruction,” because his statement leads people to despair and lose hope in Allah’s mercy as a result of what he said. In the context of this blog, the second variant and meaning are more appropriate. See: [https://hadeethenc.com/ar/browse/hadith/8877](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hadeethenc.com/ar/browse/hadith/8877&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1767898377248960&usg=AOvVaw06K4mvfBYb3jfiwKdGgsDk). [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5662. [^6]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5671; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2680. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2877. [^8]: *Musnad A**ḥ**mad*, no. 14541. [^9]: Qur’an 39:53. [^10]: Qur’an 3:139. [^11]: Brouillette, “Doom Spiral." [^12]: *Musnad A**ḥ**mad*, no. 12902. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2626. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/from-clock-time-to-gods-time-returning-to-sacred-rhythms-in-a-digital-world # From Clock Time to God’s Time: Returning to Sacred Rhythms in a Digital World **Author:** Faatimah Knight **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Nature & Science, Technology **Tags:** Perspective, Self-Improvement **Published:** December 30, 2025 **Updated:** August 10, 2026 Sacred scripture is replete with imageries of the sun, moon, stars, and our observance of them. In the Chapter of the Cracking, God sets an oath: “I swear by the twilight, by the night and what it covers, by the full moon, you will progress from stage to stage” (Qur’an 84:16–19); the Prophet ﷺ concludes a supplication on the occasion of a new moon by speaking directly to it, “O Allah, bring it over us with blessing and faith, and security and Islam. My Lord and your Lord is Allah”; and in the context of alerting us to the wonderful blessing of being human, God says, “He subjected all that is in the heavens and the earth for your benefit, as a gift from Him. There truly are signs in this for those who reflect” (Qur’an 45:13). Whether to encourage gratitude or reflection, to inspire curiosity and awe, or to work our intellects, sacred scripture constantly guides us to gaze up and out toward the marvels of creation. As modern Muslims, our relationship with celestial phenomena is contradictory. On one hand, we rely on the movements of the sun and moon to pray and mark our holy days. We open the prayer apps on our phones and take in the times of sunrise, sunset, twilight, and so on. Yet we rarely look up with any sustained interest at the celestial bodies that determine the prayers that make us who we are. We are even less likely to look down at the shadows cast by the gliding heavens as they bounce off the earth. Through the contracts we’ve made with our phones and clocks, we feel secure that we are dutifully minding these magnificent movements. In actuality, we’ve relinquished our stewardship of both nature and the technologies we’ve engineered from nature. As the king relaxes his grip, the trusted adviser plots his coup. The persistent cessation of our activities for the obligatory prayers is an invitation to honor time. If we could just pray at our leisure, we would not possess this acute awareness of the passage of time. When the *adhan* erupts, it announces that prayer is more important than whatever we are currently engaged in. But how do we stop from feeling like the *adhan* or the prayer is just one more thing in a long line of interruptions we face in our day? And doesn’t it sometimes feel like everything is an interruption, even the things being interrupted? Studies show that we check our phones over two hundred times a day on average and that we fail to stay glued to any given task without interruption for more than a few minutes. What, then, are we preoccupied with? How do we measure the significance of these tasks when one can’t hold our attention any more than the next? If behavior is a language, then our constant interruptions reveal that we do not have a proper appreciation for time. Priorities collapse under our inability to focus, and fragmentation is our norm. My phone beeps to tell me I have a new email message, it beeps again to tell me *Dhuhr* is in, it beeps a third time to tell me I got a text. Digital time collapses all occurrences into one: a beep, ding, or buzz. But if we were to live without digital time, we’d need other markers to navigate our day: the quality of light streaming through the window, the stretch and contraction of shadows, the moment our minds go from groggy to clear, when yellow light saturates into orange as sunset approaches, the twinkle of the first star in a darkened sky. The times for prayer used to flow in and out because we experienced them as a harmonious response to the world’s own worship. The American psychologist Robert Levine distinguished between “clock time” culture and “event time” cultures. Clock time is linear, endlessly divisible into equal portions and fixed units. Event time is pretechnological, based on the movements, colors, and changes of nature. Most of us are in touch with it when we go out to sight the new moon of Ramadan or sit tight on sandy beaches to view the sunset. Event time is occasional for us, whereas clock time rules our lives. Productivity culture emphasizes clock time in order to take advantage of every minute of the day.  What productivity culture (and the clock time on which it is based) misses is that attunement to natural cues can also be profoundly productive. Many women who align their schedules with their cycles, for instance, experience increased harmony while maintaining their productivity. Farmers in the regenerative agriculture movement find that the gentler they treat the earth, the more it produces grass for their animals. Likewise, when we honor the soul’s rhythms alongside the body’s, we discover a productivity rooted in wholeness, not just efficiency. Clock time treats all moments the same. A minute in the morning just after waking is identical to a minute at night as one sinks into bed. A minute of weighty pause at the conclusion of prayer is equated to the frenzied minute spent looking for misplaced car keys in the early hours. Experientially, we know how untrue this is. Time is not reduced to mere quantity without loss. What we find beautiful, enchanting, and at times devastating about time is the way minutes can feel like hours, hours can evaporate in what feels like minutes, and ends sputter on or come abruptly. Time, as we experience it and as it appears to us, is wonderfully asymmetrical. Clock time is symmetrical, perfectly divisible, and therefore of great functional importance for the many tasks that benefit from that sort of structure. However, many of us know there are times in the day when we are more creative. An hour spent on a creative task then is more productive than an hour spent on the same task at a time when creative sensibilities are dulled. Allah talks about this subjective experience of time. The hour of *tahajjud* in the final third of the night, when Allah says He is especially receptive to us, is not like other hours, though the time that elapses on the clock is the same. The mystery of time cultivates wonder and obedience. Wonder opens our hearts to Allah and the spirit of obedience propels us to place ourselves in the way of grace (*fadl*) at fortuitous times. The significance of moonsighting, stargazing, and similar experiences thus extends well beyond telling the time. We reduce it to that with our prayer apps and timetables, which are only useful in quantifying phenomena. Qualifying them is a human activity. That is, only a reflective heart can make meaning out of what the eye perceives. In the Chapter of Noah, we read: “What is the matter with you that you are not in awe of the majesty of Allah, when He created you in stages? Have you ever wondered how God created seven heavens, one above the other, placed the moon as a light in them and the sun as a lamp, how God made you spring forth from the earth like a plant, how He will return you into it, and then bring you out again, and how He has spread the earth out for you to walk along its spacious paths?” (Qur’an 71:13–20). Allah speaks of wonder as an experience worth having. There is an impracticality to wonder: It does not address how we’ll pay the bills, manage two feverish kids at once, or reconcile with our spouse. Awe or wonder, unlike other emotions, is not often reactive to the ephemeral circumstances of our lives. Many times, the “furniture of our lives” inspires wonder: you experience the colors around you more vibrantly, your child’s little laugh makes time stop, a singular bee cozied up to a flower lets you hold all the world in your heart at once. Yes, wonder comes when the unusual and miraculous strikes as well, but not only then. Wonder of the kind spoken of in this set of Qur’anic verses is a desirable state in and of itself. It is characteristic of a heart that is alive and open to considering more than itself, and hopefully, eventually, God. Wonder is the precursor to curiosity and intellectual discovery. A mind that wonders, asks. Allah seamlessly ties the two together: A wondrous person might ask why things in the sky appear to be at different distances from earth, or question how the moon and sun give light and if they do so the same way, or how it is that humans came to be. Each question is progressively more complex, and yet rooted in our observation of the world. If we only needed the sun and moon to tell time, we’ve developed enough technology based on their movements to not look at them again for years. Ironically, the more we focus on time, particularly to facilitate productivity, the less we pay attention to the phenomena that give us “time.” Scripture’s invitation to gaze up and out toward the marvels of creation is not only about acquiring astronomical data—it is about cultivating hearts capable of awe. When we learn to read the subtle shifts of light and shadows that announce prayer and also mind our clocks, when we allow the moon’s phases to mark our spiritual seasons and consult a lunar visibility calendar, we reclaim our role as conscious stewards of nature. To be clear, we owe our Muslim ancestors a debt of gratitude for the prayer apps that are built today on the backs of their discoveries centuries ago. When two people watch the sun set in anticipation of *Maghrib*, they surely won’t agree on the exact second it dipped below the horizon. With our eyes alone, we can’t possibly track a gaseous sphere of explosive light from ninety-three million miles away with fine precision. Paradoxically, this created a problem worth solving for Muslims of old as well as a circumstance worth embracing. The result, in the long term, was the prayer apps we have today. They serve essential functions, providing accurate calculations across global time zones, reliable reminders in busy lives, and accessibility for those who cannot directly observe the sky. The question isn’t whether to use them, but how to use them without losing our capacity for direct observation and appreciation for God’s creation. These tools become dangerous only when they completely mediate our relationship with the celestial phenomena they calculate. When we check the app but never look up at the sky or down at our shadows, we gain efficiency but lose the spiritual formation that comes from witnessing the signs Allah placed in creation for our benefit. One of those benefits is humility. When we take the time to watch the sun set, we gently surrender ourselves to Allah’s unfolding phenomena. The arrival of *Maghrib* is no longer suppressed into a perfectly packaged, unintrusive flash across our phones, but rather is experienced as a cosmic event completely outside of our control. We can smile at our foolhardiness to have thought that we captured the sun on our phones. Moreover, we remind ourselves that the stability and predictability of the world are among God’s favors, not to be taken for granted. Keeping God’s time in a technological world begins with small, intentional practices. Watch the sunset before *Maghrib* occasionally, not to replace your prayer app but to witness what it calculates. Notice how shadows shorten and lengthen throughout the day in response to the earth’s movement around the sun, which we perceive as the sun moving across our sky. Familiarize yourself with the moon’s phase and position for several days before a new Islamic month so that you usher in the new moon with anticipation rather than being caught unaware. Just like we learn the meanings of words from context as children before confirming our understanding by asking an adult or consulting a dictionary, we should similarly develop our observational muscles while using apps and other resources to sharpen and confirm our faculties. Use technology to assist you, not replace you. Human beings, specifically, are honored with stewardship. In embracing our great fortune to have both ancient wisdom and modern precision, we discover that keeping God’s time isn’t about rejecting digital tools—it’s about ensuring they serve rather than substitute for our direct engagement with the signs Allah embedded in creation for those who reflect. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/mary-in-the-quran-the-power-of-faith-in-the-face-of-pain-and-scorn # Mary in the Qur’an: The Power of Faith in the Face of Pain and Scorn | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Jesus in Islam, Self-Improvement **Published:** December 17, 2025 **Updated:** February 19, 2026 Imagine yourself alone in a barren desert, withdrawn from the world, immersed in solitude and worship. You’ve sought this seclusion to draw closer to Allah, to find peace in His presence. Suddenly, everything changes. Unmarried and chaste, you are told by an angel that you will bear a child that is destined for greatness. As the realization sets in, the weight of the future and what your community will think presses down upon you, and in a moment of anguish, you cry out, > Oh, I wish I had died before this and was a thing long forgotten! > > (Qur’an 19:23) This was Maryam, or Mary, the mother of Prophet ʿIsa (Jesus in English, as the original in Hebrew came to be after passing through Greek and Latin), peace be upon them both, in her moment of deepest grief. Preserved in Allah’s Eternal Word of guidance for humankind, her pain is palpable and her cry echoes through time as a testament to the profound struggles of those who are misunderstood, shamed, or burdened with trials that seem unbearable. Was her anguish due to the physical pain of childbirth or was it the shame and judgment she anticipated from her community? Perhaps it was both—a combination of physical and emotional hardship that would challenge the strongest of hearts. And yet, in this moment of vulnerability, Maryam’s story becomes a universal symbol of resilience, faith, and divine relief. This story was revealed to the blessed Prophet ﷺ at a time when he was scorned by his own family and clan. A sensitive soul, he ﷺ was accused of lying about God by the same people who sang songs of his truthfulness, integrity, and good character. This story also gave comfort and instruction to the first wave of Muslim migrants who had to flee to find refuge with Abyssinia’s just and kind Christian king, the negus. Our Prophet ﷺ said, “Maryam, the daughter of ʿImran, was the best among the women \[of her time\] and Khadija is the best amongst the women \[of this nation\].”[^1] On another occasion he ﷺ said, “Many men have attained perfection but no women have attained perfection except Maryam, the daughter of ʿImran, and Asiya, the wife of Firʿawn.”[^2] The Qur’an mentions many inspiring figures—most of them are prophets and most are mentioned once or twice. To Maryam’s story, however, the Qur’an gives great attention and depth, detailing her family, birth, upbringing, and status. As well as a *surah* of the Qur’an being named Maryam, the third *surah* in the Qur’an is named “ʿImran’s Family,” after Maryam’s father, ʿImran (Joachim in Christian texts, such as the apocryphal *Protoevangelium of James*).[^3] More remarkably, even though he was not a prophet, ʿImran and his family are praised and mentioned alongside prophets for their exceptional piety and devotion to Allah. Allah says, “Indeed, Allah chose Adam, Nuh, the family of Ibrahim, and the family of ʿImran above all people \[of their time\]” (Qur’an 3:33)—a reminder that raising righteous Muslim children starts with building a home grounded in faith, sincerity, and devotion to Allah. --- ## Maryam’s devotion The Qur’an begins with Maryam’s birth and how her mother (named Anna in the Christian tradition)[^4] dedicated her unborn child to Allah. While still pregnant, Maryam’s mother called out to Allah, “My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated \[for Your service\], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing” (Qur’an 3:35). This act of dedication shows that Maryam was chosen to serve Allah from the moment of her birth. Naming her daughter Maryam, meaning “one who worships” or “devoted servant,”[^5] also signified her mother’s hope for her daughter’s piety and dedication to Allah. Maryam’s mother sought protection for her, beseeching Allah to protect her and her offspring from Satan, the accursed (Qur’an 3:36). This earnest supplication was accepted by Allah and is now echoed amongst believers today. It is narrated that Maryam and her son ʿIsa were among the few humans protected from Satan’s touch at birth.[^6] Maryam was then raised by her maternal uncle, Prophet Zakariyya, upon him be peace, and lived a pious life, renowned for her purity and devotion (Qur’an 66:12, 3:37, 3:45). Prophet Zakariyya was so inspired by the young girl’s faith that he too prayed to Allah for a son, despite his and his wife’s old age, which was far beyond the usual age of childbirth (Qur’an 19:4–6). Allah answered his *dua* and blessed him with a son, Yahya (John the Baptist in the Christian tradition), who would grow up to be a prophet himself and play an important role in ʿIsa’s early mission. As she grew, Maryam exemplified the importance of practicing intentional solitude and seeking moments of quiet reflection and worship—a practice often overlooked in today’s fast-paced world. The Qur’an describes how she withdrew from her people to a remote place, seeking peace and connection with her Creator. These moments of seclusion not only prepared her for the immense challenges ahead but also deepened her trust in her Lord. Her practice teaches us the value of stepping away from the chaos of daily life to find clarity, strengthen our faith, and prioritize our mental and emotional well-being. --- ## Allah’s mercy in the midst of despair Maryam’s devotion and purity was further exemplified when Allah commanded her to give birth to ʿIsa, upon him be peace, without any human intervention. Notwithstanding her great status, Maryam’s cry, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was a thing long forgotten!” (Qur’an 19:23) is a sincere reflection of her vulnerable humanity. Despite being chosen by Allah and described as one of the best women to ever live, she faced the very real pain of being misunderstood. For a woman of her piety, the thought of returning to her people with a child must have been excruciating. Her chastity was her honor, and she knew the accusations that awaited her. Moreover, the thought of losing control of her body and enduring such physical pain alone and so unexpectedly would have been terrifying. In this respect, her example touches those of us who may have felt the sting of unwarranted judgment or shame, scorn, or pain for circumstances beyond our control. Maryam’s story reminds us that even the most righteous among us are not immune to being falsely accused or tested with great pain, and her response teaches us how to navigate such moments with faith. At the height of her despair, Allah’s mercy enveloped Maryam, > So a voice reassured her from below her, “Do not grieve! Your Lord has provided a stream at your feet. And shake the trunk of the palm tree toward you; it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and be comforted.” > > Qur’an 19:24–26 In this powerful moment, Allah responded to Maryam’s cry with care. He provided her with water and dates—symbols of sustenance and comfort. The physical act of shaking the palm tree, though seemingly impossible for a woman in the pains of labor, is a profound reminder that even in our weakest moments, we are called to make an effort, trusting that Allah will provide ease and blessings through means we often cannot imagine. For anyone who has felt abandoned or overwhelmed in their trials, this moment in Maryam’s story offers reassurance. When we call out to Allah, His help is near and His mercy unaffected by the magnitude of our pain or the judgments of others. As anticipated, when Maryam returned to her people carrying baby ʿIsa, upon him be peace, they reacted with shock and indignation, > They exclaimed, “O Mary! You have certainly done an outrageous thing! O sister of Aaron, your father was not an indecent man, nor was your mother unchaste.” > > (Qur’an 19:27–28) Rather than defending herself against such heinous accusations, as all humans naturally incline to when they are unjustly accused and humiliated, Maryam obeyed Allah’s command to remain silent (Qur’an 19:26), relying on His divine plan. She pointed to the infant, and ʿIsa, upon him be peace, miraculously spoke in her defense, > I am truly a servant of Allah. He has destined me to be given the Scripture and to be a prophet. He has made me a blessing wherever I go and bid me to establish prayer and give alms as long as I live. > > (Qur’an 19:31–32) In this extraordinary moment, Allah vindicated Maryam, silencing her accusers, preserving her honor, and elevating her status as the mother of a prophet. Her silence and trust in Allah teach us the power of relying on Him throughout our greatest hardships, and, perhaps most profoundly, when words fail us. The wisdom in Allah’s command is a reminder that Allah is the greatest and ultimate defender of the innocent and oppressed. --- ## Resilience and trust in Allah Maryam’s story is one of resilience. Despite her anguish, she never wavered in her trust in Allah. She bore the weight of her trials with dignity, patience, and perseverance. Her life is a testament to the reality that divine favor does not exempt one from hardship. Through hardship, Allah gives us deeper trust and greater strength. For women, Maryam’s story is especially poignant. Her role as a mother, her faithful conviction, and her endurance in the face of pain and societal scorn highlight the spiritual and emotional strength of believing women. For men, her story serves as a reminder that true resilience and piety transcend gender and are qualities to be admired and emulated by all. Maryam’s life offers a profound message for anyone who feels burdened by their trials.         1.  **Pain is part of the journey**: Maryam’s moment of deepest despair at the palm tree reminds us that even the most pious can feel overwhelmed. Pain and trials are not signs of Allah’s abandonment but opportunities for closeness to Him.         2.  **Allah’s help is near**: Just as Allah provided Maryam with sustenance in her moment of need, He is always near to those who call upon Him with sincerity.         3.  **Allah’s plan is better for us**: Maryam’s silence before her accusers and her reliance on Allah show us that true strength lies in trusting His wisdom, even when we cannot see the outcome.         4.  **Every test has a purpose**: Maryam’s trials were part of a divine plan that elevated her and brought light to the world through her son, ʿIsa (peace be upon him). Our struggles, too, have a purpose, even if we do not understand them. Maryam’s story culminates in one profound truth: Allah tests those He loves but never forgets them. Maryam’s journey—from her cry of despair to the miraculous vindication of her honor—is a testament to divine care and mercy. For all who feel overwhelmed, scared, scorned, or misunderstood, her story offers hope and reassurance. Allah’s mercy is ever-present and He is our ultimate Guardian. > And whoever relies upon Allah—then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. > > (Qur’an 65:3) For all who walk the path of trials, Maryam’s story is a guiding light, showing us that when the world turns away, Allah remains near and His help is always on the horizon. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3432. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3411. [^3]: Robert C. Gregg, *Shared Stories, Rival Tellings: Early Encounters of Jews, Christians, and Muslims* (Oxford University Press, 2015), 481–482, 556; Morteza Rezazadeh, “Mary in Early Christianity and Islam,” *Religious Inquiries* 6, no. 11 (2017), 43. [^4]: Gregg, *Shared Stories, Rival Tellings*, 481–482, 556; Rezazadeh, “Mary in Early Christianity and Islam,” 43. [^5]: In *Tafsīr al-baḥr al-muḥīṭ* by Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī regarding the mentioned verse \[Qur’an 3:36\]: “Maryam in their language \[i.e., Aramaic\] means ‘the worshiper.’ With this name, she wanted to be optimistic for her, \[for her to have\] closeness to Allah the Almighty, to implore Him that her actions be in accordance with her name, and that \[Maryam’s mother’s\] hopes for \[Maryam\] come true. Do you not see that \[Maryam’s mother\] seeks Allah’s refuge \[for Maryam\] and for her children from Satan? She addressed Allah with these words to arrange for \[Maryam herself\] to seek refuge in Him.” [^6]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3431. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-la-ilaha-illa-allah-an-annotated-translation-of-imam-al-zarkashis-treatise-on-the-islamic-testimony-of-faith # The Meaning of La Ilaha Illa Allah: An Annotated Translation of Imam al-Zarkashi’s Treatise on the Islamic Testimony of Faith **Authors:** Sh. Yousef Wahb, Tarek Ghanem **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** December 17, 2025 **Updated:** September 4, 2026 ## Introduction In the forty-seventh *s*ū*ra* of the Qur’an, Sūrat Muḥammad, God commands, “So know that there is no deity except Allah.”[^1] What makes this command especially striking is its timing; it was revealed approximately fifteen years into the Prophet’s mission, at a point when he and his companions already held an unshakable conviction in the oneness of God. Why, then, would such a foundational truth require reaffirmation? The verse suggests that knowing God’s oneness involves more than a one-time acknowledgment; it is an ongoing process that demands sustained reflection, deliberate cultivation, and inner renewal. Scholars have interpreted this divine command in various ways, many seeing it as a call to seek sacred knowledge, not only about God’s oneness, but also about the broader theological, spiritual, and practical implications of the testimony “There is no deity except Allah” (*lā ilāha illā Allāh*).[^2] This phrase lies at the very heart of Islamic theology. It is the foundational declaration of faith and the essential criterion by which religious belief and practice are measured. The Prophet ﷺ famously described faith as comprising over seventy branches, with the testimony of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* occupying the highest rank.[^3]His teachings emphasize the testimony’s transformative power; true belief in it extends beyond mere intellectual affirmation, fostering profound spiritual conviction and the active cultivation of virtue. The early ascetic and scholar Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778) captured this dynamic beautifully when he said, “If certainty (*yaqīn*) truly fills the heart, it will ascend in yearning for Paradise and trembling in fear of Hellfire.”[^4] Some scholars even interpreted the Qur’anic verse, “So by your Lord, We will surely question them all about what they used to do”[^5] as an indication that each person will be held accountable for how they upheld the meaning of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* in their lives.[^6] The theological depth of this declaration has long been affirmed by Muslim scholars. In his widely memorized didactic poem on creed, *al-Kharīda al-bahiyya*, Aḥmad al-Dardīr (d. 1201/1786), the eminent Egyptian Mālikī jurist and theologian, elucidates that the testimony *lā ilāha illā Allāh* encompasses the three foundational pillars of Islamic theology: divinity (*ilāhiyyāt*), prophethood (*nubuwwāt*), and doctrines known only through revelation (*samʿiyyāt*).[^7] Affirming this testimony entails belief not only in God’s existence, oneness, and perfect attributes, but also—through its complementary declaration, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” (*Muḥammad rasūl Allāh*)—in the truth of Prophet Muhammad’s prophethood and in the veracity of revealed teachings, including those concerning  unseen realities.[^8] Hence, this testimony captures the very essence of Islamic creed. Understanding the full meaning of this testimony is thus indispensable for salvation.[^9] Though simple to pronounce and easy to memorize, it functions as a spiritual compass, grounding the believer in the realities of faith. Light on the tongue but weighty on the scales of divine judgment, it dispels doubt and fortifies the heart against Satan’s delusions.[^10] As the prominent North African theologian Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490) notes, when fully comprehended, every tenet of faith becomes a weapon against Satan, and the utterance of “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*” illuminates and purifies the heart. Though a single phrase in form, it embodies a multitude of convictions, accomplishing in one recitation what might otherwise require prolonged devotion.[^11] This paper offers an overview of the virtues and benefits of the declaration *lā ilāha illā Allāh* as taught by the Prophet ﷺ and elaborated upon within the Islamic scholarly tradition. It also presents an annotated English translation of selected sections from a fourteenth-century treatise titled *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh* (The Meaning of *lā ilāha illā Allāh*) by the Shāfiʿī jurist and legal theorist Badr al-Dīn al-Zarkashī. The treatise explores the Testimony of Faith from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Sixteen of the original twenty-nine sections were selected for their theological and spiritual significance.[^12] Sections focused on technical syntax and complex theological debates were excluded to ensure accessibility and thematic coherence for a general readership. The majority of the annotations were written by the editor, Yousef Wahb, and the rest by the translator, Tarek Ghanem. The annotations are clearly distinguished from the translated text and appear in the footnotes. They draw upon a wide range of  sources—including classical works in theology, grammar, Qur’anic exegesis (*tafsīr*), and hadith. They are intended to clarify al-Zarkashī’s arguments, provide contextual background, and highlight connections to broader Islamic thought. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of al-Zarkashī’s voice while offering supplemental insights that support deeper engagement with the text. --- ## On the virtues of lā ilāha illā Allāh The merits of this declaration are vast and enduring. Throughout history, devout believers have made *lā ilāha illā Allāh* a cornerstone of their spiritual practice, often committing to its regular invocation as part of disciplined devotional routines. Some are reported to have recited it tens of thousands of times daily.[^13] According to accounts drawn from spiritual experiences, some scholars have even reported that uttering this phrase seventy thousand times over the course of one’s life offers protection from the fire of Hell. These reports, while not directly rooted in authenticated prophetic statements, reflect a longstanding belief among scholars in the immense efficacy and transformative power of this testimony. Such traditions underscore the profound spiritual and eschatological significance attributed to *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, affirming its place as an enduring focus of Muslim devotion, discipline, and hope for salvation. ### The names of the testimony The Qur’an refers to *lā ilāha illā Allāh* in various contexts, frequently emphasizing its practical and ethical implications. Reports attributed to the companion ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās note that at least nine verses stress either its verbal articulation or the necessity of acting in accordance with its meaning.[^14] From these and other passages, scholars identified numerous names for the declaration, each highlighting a distinct facet of its theological and spiritual significance:[^15] 1. **The Word of Unity** (*kalimat al-tawḥīd*): It signifies the absolute negation of all partners with God. 2. **The Word of Sincerity** (*kalimat al-ikhlāṣ*): Originating in the heart, it reflects pure devotion to God, distinct from all other acts of worship in its exclusive orientation. 3. **The Word of Perfection** (*kalimat al-iḥsān*): Linked to the verse, “Shall the reward of good (*iḥsān*) be anything but *iḥsān*?” (Qur’an 55:60), it teaches that bearing witness to God’s oneness is part and parcel of the believer’s excellence, rewarded with divine protection. Several Qur’anic usages of *iḥsān* are interpreted as signifying the profession of “*lā ilāha illā Allāh.*” 4. **The Prayer of Truth** (*daʿwat al-ḥaqq*): In “The only true prayer is to Him” (Qur’an 13:14), it denotes that after truth there remains only falsehood. 5. **The Word of Justice** (*kalimat al-ʿadl*): Exegetes explained “God commands justice and good conduct” (Qur’an 16:90) as referring to *lā ilāha illā Allāh* as justice, and servitude with sincerity as good conduct. 6. **The Good Speech** (*al-ṭayyib min al-qawl*): In “They were guided to the good speech” (Qur’an 22:24), the “good” was understood as *lā ilāha illā Allāh*—the most comprehensive good in remembrance and meaning. 7. **The Pure Word** (*al-kalima al-ṭayyiba*): Likened to a good tree with firm roots and lofty branches (Qur’an 14:24), it signifies a truth deeply rooted in the heart and rising heavenward, pure from distortion or negation. 8. **The Firm Word** (*al-qawl al-thābit*): God promises to make the believers steadfast with this Word both in this life and the Hereafter (Qur’an 14:27). 9. **The Word of Righteousness** (*kalimat al-taqwā*): Mentioned in Qur’an 48:26, it serves as the believer’s shield against disbelief.[^16] 10. **The Lasting Word** (*kalima bāqiya*): The legacy left by Abraham for his descendants (Qur’an 43:28), affirming repudiation of idolatry. 11. **The Word of Steadfastness** (*kalimat al-istiqāma*): As in Qur’an 46:13, those who affirm “Our Lord is God” and remain upright are upheld by it. 12. **The Supreme Word of God** (*kalimat Allāh al-ʿulyā*): “The Word of God is higher” (Qur’an 9:40). When illumined by it, hearts acquire divine strength, transcending fear of death and worldly desire. Consider Pharaoh’s magicians—once illumined by this Word, they paid no heed to the cutting of hands and feet. Likewise, when the Prophet ﷺ was enraptured by its light, his gaze did not turn toward worldly dominion: “His sight never wavered, nor was it too bold” (Qur’an 53:17). 13. **The Sublime Similitude** (*al-mathal al-aʿlā*): In “To God belongs the highest similitude” (Qur’an 16:60), it was interpreted as the testimony itself. 14. **The Covenant** (*al-mīthāq*): In “No one will have power to intercede except for those who have a covenant from the Lord of Mercy” (Qur’an 19:87), the “covenant” was interpreted as the utterance of “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*.” 15. **The Keys of the Heavens and the Earth** (*maqālīd al-samāwāt wa-l-arḍ*): These “keys” are understood as none other than the testimony of faith. While *shirk* rends the cosmos (Qur’an 19:90), *tawḥīd* restores it. By this Word, the gates of Heaven and the heart itself are opened, while the gates of Hell and satanic whisperings are shut. 16. **The Word of Truth** (*kalimat al-ḥaqq*): In “None can intercede save those who bear witness to the truth while they know” (Qur’an 43:86), the “truth” refers to this testimony. 17. **The Firmest Bond** (*al-ʿurwat al-wuthqā*): “Whoever rejects false gods and believes in God has grasped the firmest bond” (Qur’an 2:256), interpreted as *lā ilāha illā Allāh*. 18. **The Word of Truthfulness** (*kalimat al-ṣidq*): As in “the one who brings the truth and the one who accepts it” (Qur’an 39:33), it embodies fidelity and affirmation. 19. **The Common Word** (*kalimat al-sawāʾ*): In “Let us arrive at a statement that is common to us all” (Qur’an 3:64), exegetes understood it as the testimony of divine oneness. The Qur’an’s instruction to the Israelites to say *ḥiṭṭa* (“forgive us”) was also interpreted by some exegetes as a call to affirm *lā ilāha illā Allāh*.[^17] While the authenticity of such reports remains debated, the cumulative weight of these interpretations underscores the centrality of the testimony in Islamic theology and practice. ### Remembrance After explaining that *lā ilāha illā Allāh* encompasses all three domains of Islamic theology, al-Dardīr exhorts: > Hence, diligently recall this phrase with reverence. > > Through it, ascend to the loftiest of stations.[^18] Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Sakandarī (d. 709/1309) presents a rich and expansive view of remembrance (*dhikr*), describing it as the removal of heedlessness and forgetfulness through the heart’s continuous presence with the Divine. At its core, *dhikr* is the repetition of the name of the One remembered, whether on the tongue or in the heart, but it extends far beyond verbal invocation. It includes the remembrance of God, His attributes, His rulings, and His actions; any reflective thought that draws the soul nearer to Him; and even supplication (*duʿāʾ*), which arises from the heart’s longing for divine response. The mention of God’s prophets, His righteous servants, or those who strive for nearness to Him, whether through speech, recitation, poetry, teaching, or storytelling, are likewise forms of *dhikr*.[^19] Remembrance permeates all acts anchored in the Divine: the jurist who seeks God’s judgment, the teacher who imparts sacred knowledge, the mufti who guides hearts, the preacher who kindles souls, and the contemplative who ponders the majesty and signs of God in the heavens and the earth—all are engaged in *dhikr*. To obey God’s commands and to refrain from what He has forbidden are also forms of remembrance. *Dhikr* may manifest through the tongue, the heart, or the limbs, and may be performed silently or aloud. When these forms converge, they give rise to what Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh terms “complete remembrance” (*dhikr kāmil*).[^20] Numerous prophetic traditions underscore the virtues of uttering, understanding, and adhering to *lā ilāha illā Allāh*. In what follows, a selection of notable hadiths is presented, accompanied by brief commentary. ### The best remembrance The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best thing that I and the prophets before me have said is, ‘There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner’ (*lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah*).”[^21] Al-Tirmidhī’s version includes the addition, “His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things (*lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr*).”[^22] In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ also recounts an interaction between Allah and the Prophet Moses, where Moses asked for a special form of remembrance exclusive to him. Allah instructed him to say, “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*.” Moses responded, “But all Your servants say this.” Allah replied, “Were the seven heavens and their inhabitants, apart from Me, and the seven earths placed on one side of a balance and *lā ilāha illā Allāh* on the other, the testimony would outweigh them.”[^23] The Prophet ﷺ also said: “The best of remembrance is *lā ilāha illā Allāh* and the finest supplication (*duʿāʾ*) is praise of Allah (*al-ḥamd lillāh*)”[^24] and “Glorifying Allah (*tasbīḥ*) fills half the scale, praise of Allah (*al-ḥamd* *lillāh*) fills the entire scale, and *lā ilāha illā Allāh* has no veil between it and Allah until it reaches Him.”[^25] The testimony of faith, *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, stands unparalleled in the practice of remembrance, for it encapsulates the very essence of faith. God mentions it in His Book thirty-seven times, and every act of worship reflects its meaning. In purification (*ṭahāra*), one negates impurity and affirms purity. In almsgiving (zakat), one negates attachment to wealth and affirms love of God, manifesting detachment from the world and reliance upon Him alone. Likewise, since the heart is crowded with other-than-God, the word of negation must first expel these intrusions; once emptied, “the pulpit of divine oneness is established within, upon which sits the sovereign of gnosis.”[^26] The hadiths above affirm *lā ilāha illā Allāh* as the most excellent form of remembrance. What is set forth in universal terms must necessarily be of the loftiest realities and the weightiest in worth—for it stands in opposition to numerous false claims and beliefs, and thus requires a power sufficient to overcome them all.[^27] This distinction reflects broader hierarchies within the Islamic tradition: Just as the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is regarded as the most excellent of creation, and certain angels—such as Jibrīl—are considered the foremost of their kind, particular phrases likewise hold preeminence within devotional categories. Thus, while *al-ḥamd lillāh* is considered the most excellent expression of gratitude and supplication, *lā ilāha illā Allāh* remains the supreme remembrance.[^28] The phrase “*al-ḥamd lillāh*” is esteemed as an ideal supplication because it expresses both praise and gratitude, which are intimately tied to God’s mercy and benevolence. While supplication generally involves requesting something from God, *al-ḥamd lillāh* implicitly conveys this supplicatory aspect through its exaltation of the Divine. Nonetheless, the excellence of *al-ḥamd lillāh* as a supplication does not diminish the superior status of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* as the highest form of remembrance. Supplication constitutes one aspect of remembrance, but *dhikr* encompasses a broader spectrum of devotional acts, including glorification (*tasbīḥ*), praise, and above all, the affirmation of divine unity. Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh mentions that, as the supreme form of remembrance, the Testimony served as a source of refuge and deliverance for both God’s friends and adversaries in moments of extreme distress. Consider the examples of Pharaoh and of the Prophet Jonah (Yūnus): Pharaoh uttered the Testimony while drowning, and Jonah proclaimed it from within the belly of the whale. Yet only Jonah’s declaration was accepted, as it reflected a prior, sincere commitment to God. God Himself testifies: “Had he not been of those who exalt Allah, he would have remained inside its belly until the Day they are resurrected.”[^29] Pharaoh, in contrast, pronounced the words with an absent heart; his utterance arose not from submission and conviction but from the desperate desire to save himself from death.[^30] ### Daily recitation and its rewards The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever recites the following a hundred times a day: ‘*lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah* *lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr*,’ will receive a reward equivalent to freeing ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be recorded for them, a hundred sins will be erased, and they will be safeguarded from Satan for that day until evening. No one will surpass them in good deeds except those who recite it more.”[^31] He ﷺ also said: “Whoever says: ‘*lā ilāha illā Allāh*,’ it will benefit them one day \[on the Day of Judgment\], even if it is after they endure punishment”[^32] and “No servant has ever uttered ‘*lā ilāha illa Allāh*’ sincerely, except that the gates of Heaven are opened for it, until it reaches the Throne, so long as the person avoids major sins.”[^33] The proclamation of the Testimony is perhaps the only act of worship that God has both obligated and joined us in performing, “Allah \[Himself\] bears witness: ‘There is no deity except Him,’ and so do the angels and those endowed with knowledge, affirming that He sustains creation in perfect justice: ‘There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.’”[^34] The repetition of the phrase within the verse underscores the necessity of continual remembrance; one is enjoined to proclaim it throughout the entirety of life.[^35] One should remember Allah with full strength and reverence, intending with “*lā ilāha*” to remove from the heart all that is other than God, and with “*illā Allāh*” to establish His presence within it, so that His remembrance permeates one’s entire being. Each utterance should be accompanied by mindful presence. Some scholars held that *dhikr* is only complete if each repetition conveys a fresh meaning. The lowest degree is that, with every “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*,” the heart contains nothing besides God; if, during remembrance, the heart turns elsewhere, that object is effectively treated as a god. The Qur’an warns: “Have you seen the one who takes his own desire as his god?”[^36] and “Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, not to worship Satan?”[^37] Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Perish the slave of the dinar, perish the slave of the dirham”[^38]*—*not for bowing to gold or silver, but for attaching the heart to them. If the heart is crowded with sensory images, a thousand utterances may pass without meaning; but when emptied of all besides God, even a single “Allah” can yield an indescribable delight. While *lā ilāha illā Allāh* is the essence of spiritual orientation, it is also the key to the heart’s realities and the ascent of seekers toward the unseen.[^39] On the etiquette of this *dhikr*, some recommend flowing seamlessly from “*lā ilāha*” to “*illā Allāh*” without outward or inward pause, to deny Satan any opening since this can more swiftly open the heart and draw one nearer to the Lord. Others prefer elongating the phrase, so that during “*lā ilāha*” all rivals to God are recalled and negated, and with “*illā Allāh*” divine oneness is affirmed. Still others avoid elongation, lest death arrive before reaching the final affirmation.[^40] This concern for cultivating spiritual presence extends into the Qur’anic sciences of *tajwīd* and *qirāʾāt*, where reciters recommend *madd al-taʿẓīm*: intentionally lengthening the phrase “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*” (and similar Qur’anic formulations) to four counts, even for those whose usual recitation is shortening (*qaṣr*). Unlike the standard phonetic causes for elongation, such as the meeting of a *hamza* or *sukūn*, *madd al-taʿẓīm* is driven by a semantic aim: to intensify the negation of all divinity besides God and magnify His exclusive lordship.[^41] Ibn Mihrān (d. 381/991) explains that it is called the “elongation of emphasis” because it heightens this negation, a practice well known among the Arabs in supplication, seeking aid, and emphatic denial, even in words without an etymological cause for elongation, and all the more in those that have one.[^42] Al-Nawawī, in *al-Adhkār*, likewise praised prolonging “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*,” citing its deep roots in the practice of “the early and later generations” and its power to foster attentiveness and contemplation.[^43] Thus, the measured elongation of *lā* becomes not only a refinement of *tajwīd* but a devotional act, embodying in the reciter’s breath the expansiveness of negation before the fullness of divine affirmation. Regarding the role of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* in expiating sins, scholars have debated its scope. Many hold that its recitation primarily atones for minor transgressions,[^44] while others interpret hadiths indicating that sincere proclamation can, in some cases, protect one from the Hellfire, suggesting that its effect may extend even to major sins.[^45] Nonetheless, the complete expiation of major sins requires repentance and the rectification of any violated rights. Yet, through the blessing of *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, Allah may soften hearts, inspiring reconciliation and forgiveness among people, thereby opening a path toward a more comprehensive divine pardon.[^46] ### Legal status and communal consequences The Prophet ﷺ said: “I have been commanded to fight against people until they declare ‘*lā ilāha illa Allāh*.’ If they profess it, their lives and property are granted protection, except where justified \[by law\], and their ultimate reckoning is with Allah.”[^47] Faith is first rooted in knowledge within the heart, which constitutes its essential core: “Know that there is no deity except Allah.” This inner recognition must then be expressed through verbal affirmation: “Say: He is God the One.”[^48] The imperative “say” obliges the believer to articulate with the tongue that which signifies *tawḥīd*, for faith carries both inward and outward consequences. Its inward aspect, hidden in the heart, pertains to the afterlife, while its outward aspect governs worldly duties and social obligations, which can only be recognized through speech. Without verbal acknowledgment, one’s status as a believer cannot be externally confirmed, nor can the attendant legal and social obligations be properly enforced. Knowledge constitutes the essential pillar of faith before God, while verbal declaration serves as its legal and social pillar—necessary for the recognition of obligations and rights, as indicated in Allah’s command: “Do not marry polytheistic women until they believe.”[^49] This hadith illustrates that the Testimony of Faith constitutes the minimal threshold for entering the fold of Islam. It delineates the lowest of five ascending degrees of commitment, whereby mere verbal utterance secures the legal protection of life and property. This level includes both sincere believers and hypocrites. Its virtue is such that anyone who attaches themselves to the statement partakes in its blessings: those seeking the hereafter are granted the felicity of both abodes. Beyond this foundational level, Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh outlines four higher degrees of realization. The second pertains to those who combine verbal affirmation with inner conviction, even by way of imitation (*taqlīd*). The third adds intellectual comprehension through knowledge of rational proofs underlying belief. The fourth ascends to certitude rooted in definitive evidence. The fifth and highest station is reserved for those graced with spiritual witnessing (*mushāhadāt*) and divine manifestations (*tajalliyāt*), where the veils are lifted and faith becomes grounded in direct experiential knowledge.[^50] ### Salvation and intercession in the Afterlife The Prophet ﷺ said: “No soul dies bearing witness to *lā ilāha illā Allāh* and that I am the Messenger of Allah with sincere conviction, except that Allah forgives it.”[^51] He also stated: “He who dies while certain of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* will enter Paradise,”[^52] “If anyone’s last words are ‘*lā ilāha illā Allāh*,’ they will enter Paradise,”[^53] and “If anyone comes on the Day of Resurrection having said ‘*lā ilāha illā Allāh*’ sincerely, with the intention of seeking Allah’s pleasure, Allah will forbid the Hellfire from touching him.”[^54] When asked, “Who will be the most fortunate person to receive your intercession on the Day of Resurrection?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “The most fortunate person to receive my intercession will be the one who sincerely and wholeheartedly declared, ‘*lā ilāha illā Allāh*.’”[^55] At the deathbed of his uncle Abū Ṭālib, the Prophet ﷺ urged him, “O my uncle! Say ‘*lā ilāha illa Allāh*,’ a  phrase \[that will cause me to\] intercede for you before Allah.”[^56] When uttered at the moment of death—after desires have faded, the rebellious self has softened, and one surrenders fully to the power of God—the testimony arises with sincerity, the outer and inner selves brought into harmony. Such a testimony, spoken in purity and truth, becomes a cause for forgiveness. By contrast, when recited in health, the Testimony is often mingled with distraction, as the heart remains laden with attachments and restless desires. The human soul is easily ensnared by passion, intoxicated with the world, and heedless of the hereafter, leaving little room for true certainty (*yaqīn*). Only when certainty becomes firmly rooted in the heart does it radiate as a light of divine recognition—and death is a moment when such *yaqīn* often crystallizes. At the same time, the prophetic traditions should not be read in a narrowly literal sense. Many scholars explained  that “last words” refers not only to a final utterance at the point of death but also to a life consistently lived in fidelity to *lā ilāha illā Allāh.* In this broader sense, one whose entire existence bears witness to divine oneness may be counted among those whose “last words” were the testimony of faith, even if not physically spoken in their final breath.[^57] ### Encouraging the dying (talqīn) to recite it The Prophet ﷺ said: “Exhort your dying ones to recite: ‘*lā ilāha illā Allah*.’”[^58] As mentioned above, for the Testimony to be salvific, it must be uttered with certainty, and certainty arises only when worldly desires have been subdued. This may happen in one of two ways: either through lifelong self-discipline that tames the passions, or at the time of death, when hope and fear of God are heightened and the dying person’s attention is turned away from all else. In that state, pronouncing the Testimony secures forgiveness.[^59] At that decisive moment—when the soul trembles at the threshold of departure—the intricate details of doctrine may slip beyond reach, leaving only what the heart has genuinely internalized. Through steadfast remembrance and mindful reflection, the believer trains the soul to summon *lā ilāha illā Allāh* with clarity and confidence when the veils of this world are lifted, sealing one’s life with the ultimate affirmation of truth.[^60] On this basis, prompting the dying to say the Testimony (*talqīn*) is unanimously regarded as Sunnah, as it helps fix the heart and tongue upon the word of *tawḥīd* in life’s final moments. Jurists, however, differ over extending *talqīn* to after burial: some uphold it as a valid tradition, intended to remind the deceased of faith and reaffirm their bond with the Testimony even in the grave.[^61] ### The card of testimony The Prophet ﷺ said: “On the Day of Judgment, Allah will single out a man from my community before all of creation. Ninety-nine scrolls \[of sins\] will be laid out for him, each extending as far as the eye can see. Allah will ask him: ‘Do you deny any of this? Have My recorders wronged you?’ He will reply: ‘No, O Lord!’ Allah will ask: ‘Do you have an excuse?’ He will reply: ‘No, O Lord!’ Then He will say: ‘You have one good deed with Us, and you will not be wronged today.’ A card (*biṭāqa*) will be brought forth, inscribed with: ‘I testify that *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.’ Allah  will then command: ‘Bring the scales.’ The man will say: ‘O Lord! What is this card compared to these scrolls?’ Allah will respond: ‘You shall not be wronged.’ The scrolls will be placed on one side of the scale, and the card on the other. The scrolls will become light, and the card will outweigh them, for nothing outweighs the name of Allah.”[^62] The weight of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* is truly appreciated only by those who grasp its measure. It is a phrase of divine unity, unmatched and unopposable; were anything able to counter it, it would no longer be singular but dual, and so forth. Only its opposite—polytheism—can oppose it, and there is nothing genuinely equivalent. A person is either a monotheist or a polytheist; both cannot coexist on the scale.[^63] This hadith inspires a profound sense of hope in Allah’s boundless mercy, emphasizing the transformative power of steadfast adherence to the essence of  *lā ilāha illā Allāh*. Scholars have debated whether the “card” mentioned in this narration symbolizes the minimal level of adherence to *lā ilāha illā Allāh* required for one to be considered a Muslim. Some argued that such minimal affirmation negates disbelief but does not guarantee full conformity with the tenets of faith or a life of righteous conduct.[^64] Indeed, the scale does not tip merely through verbal utterance: if it did, all who pronounce *tawḥīd* would automatically be saved from Hell. Rather, God intends that the merit of this affirmation be revealed in its proper measure. Those who enter Hell despite uttering *tawḥīd* remain there until, through intercession or divine grace, they are brought out. Furthermore, some scholars have suggested that deeds, though metaphorically represented by scales on the Day of Judgment, persist in tangible forms in the Afterlife. These righteous actions are preserved within the dwellings of Paradise, serving as perpetual sources of joy and consolation for the believer, offering both a reminder of Allah’s mercy and a reflection of their own efforts in this world.[^65] --- ## On the benefits of the testimony of faith The declaration *lā ilāha illā Allāh* brings about an ever-growing connection with the transcendent, all-powerful, infinite, and perfect divine reality. Embracing this  reality leads to profound transformation—spiritual, emotional, psychological, and existential—grounded in the certainty and clarity it imparts. Delving into its deeper meanings reveals not only theological, linguistic, and rhetorical insights—as we will soon see Imam al-Zarkashī so masterfully demonstrate—but also unveils indescribable spiritual benefits accessible through consistent and intentional invocation. Al-Sanūsī offers particularly insightful reflections on these benefits in his theological primer *Umm al-barāhīn*. He categorizes them into two primary types. The first pertains to righteous virtues, which he enumerates as follows: 1. Detachment from worldly attachments (*zuhd*).  2. Freedom of the heart from reliance on fleeting matters.  3. Reliance (*tawakkul*) on Allah.  4. Conscientious shame (*ḥayāʾ*), defined by al-Sanūsī as, “Glorifying Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, through constant invocation of Him, adherence to His prohibitions, and refraining from voicing complaints about Him to needy and powerless beings.”  5. Spiritual sufficiency (*ghinā*), characterized by resilience in faith even when facing material deprivation.  6. Absolute neediness (*faqr*) directed to Allah alone.  7. Altruism (*ithār*), practiced in a way that remains praiseworthy and consistent with the dictates of *sharīʿa*.  8. Chivalry (*futuwwa*). 9. Gratitude (*shukr*), defined as directing the heart wholly towards praising Allah and recognizing His blessings, even when they are concealed within trials and tribulations.[^66] To further elaborate on *zuhd*—one of the most fundamental of these benefits—the Egyptian Mālikī jurist and theologian Muḥammad al-Dasūqī (d. 1230/1815) defines it as detachment from: > …those things that people take pride in, such as food, drink, and clothing. If a person possesses wealth, they pay it no heed and do not cling to its preservation; rather, they spend it \[rightfully\], and if it is lost, they are not distressed by it… *Zuhd* does not contradict possessing abundant wealth, for what matters is the inner detachment of the heart from inclination toward it, whether it is in one’s possession or not.[^67] Al-Sanūsī’s second category of benefits pertains to extraordinary divine favors (*karāmāt*) that Allah bestows upon His pious servants (other than prophets) as a result of their sincere declaration and steadfast commitment to *lā ilāha illā Allāh*. These manifestations may include occurrences such as Allah placing immense blessing in a pious person’s food, allowing it to suffice for many. However, al-Sanūsī cautions that the believer should not pursue such miraculous outcomes through acts of worship, as doing so risks falling into concealed polytheism (*shirk khafy*) and becoming vulnerable to divine retribution.[^68] Instead, the believer is encouraged to engage in the remembrance of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* with a purified heart, detached from all but Allah and fully focused on Him. Al-Sanūsī emphasizes that the believer’s sole intention should be “the good pleasure of their Lord, who has no substitute and from whose need no one is independent.”[^69] --- ## Imam al-Zarkashī and his book Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh Two key aspects of al-Zarkashī’s life are particularly relevant to understanding his scholarship: his exceptional erudition and his profound piety. Born in Mamluk Cairo in 745/1344, Abū ʿAbdullāh Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Bahādur al-Zarkashī was of Turkish descent. His epithet, al-Zarkashī, derives from his early involvement in embroidery (*zarkash*), his father’s trade. He was also known as al-Minhājī due to his memorization of al-Nawawī’s seminal Shāfiʿī legal manual, *al-Minhāj*. Al-Zarkashī’s scholarly journey took him to some of the most renowned centers of learning of his time. In Damascus, he studied hadith with eminent scholars, such as Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) and Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī (d. 780/1379). He pursued advanced legal studies in Aleppo under Shihāb al-Dīn al-Adhraʿī (d. 783/1381) and later refined his expertise in Cairo under prominent figures, including Jamāl al-Dīn al-Isnawī (d. 772/1370), head of the Shāfiʿī school Sirāj al-Dīn al-Bulqīnī (d. 805/1403), and ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Mughulṭāy (d. 762/1361). After completing his studies, al-Zarkashī settled in Egypt, dedicating himself to teaching, writing, and issuing legal opinions (fatwas). He served as dean at Karīm al-Dīn’s Khanqah (Sufi lodge) in the Cairo Necropolis, located in the smaller Qarafa beneath the Mokattam Hills. The historian Ibn Taghrībirdī (d. 874/1470) described him as: > Excelling in law and many other disciplines, he played a significant role in teaching and issuing fatwas. He authored commentaries, abridgments, and compilations in his own handwriting. He avoided positions of power, wore modest clothing even when attending gatherings or visiting the markets. He was known for his humility and aversion to ostentation.[^70] Al-Zarkashī’s influence extended through his students, many of whom became leading scholars in their own right, such as Shams al-Dīn al-Birmāwī (d. 831/1427), the Damascene judge Najm al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Ḥajjī (d. 830/1427), and the Alexandrian Mālikī jurist Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan al-Shumanī (d. 821/1418). Though engaged in public teaching, al-Zarkashī was known for his reserved nature and preference for seclusion. He often retreated to bookstores, where he read and meticulously annotated texts—notes which formed the basis of his prolific scholarly output.[^71] Despite his relatively short life, passing at the age of 49, al-Zarkashī authored numerous influential works across disciplines such as hadith, law, Qur’anic studies, theology, logic, and literature.[^72] His intellectual contributions were widely recognized. His *al-Burhān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* was one of the first comprehensive works on Qur’anic sciences and later became a key source for al-Suyūṭī’s *al-Itqān*.[^73] His magnum opus, *al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ*, remains unparalleled in the field of legal theory for its exhaustive treatment of legal methodologies and juristic reasoning, remarkably completed when he was only 32. Al-Zarkashī lived a life of scholarly devotion and spiritual discipline. He avoided public recognition, often locking himself in a room in Cairo’s bustling book market to read and take notes, pausing only for prayer. At night, he compiled his annotations into manuscripts and engaged in worship. He died on 3 Rajab 794/27 May 1392 and was buried in the smaller Qarafa cemetery near the tomb of Amir Baktamur al-Sāqī. His intellectual legacy lives on through his writings and the many students he mentored. Among al-Zarkashī’s many contributions is his short yet profound treatise *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh*. According to the introduction, al-Zarkashī composed it in a single night, dividing it into 29 sections that examine the grammatical, rhetorical, legal, theological, logical, and spiritual dimensions of the statement. The treatise begins with a syntactic analysis of the phrase, examining  the implications of the negation particle (*lā*) and the word order. Al-Zarkashī comments on its phonetic properties, noting that the letters used to compose the phrase are articulated from the oral cavity (*jawf*) and throat and are undotted—a feature he associates with specific spiritual qualities. He then compares *lā ilāha illā Allāh* with other Qur’anic statements denying the existence of any deity besides Allah, demonstrating the phrase’s unique theological significance. He also explores the etymology and meanings of the divine name “Allah,” delving into the relationship between the name and the divine attributes. --- ## Note on the translation and annotation The translation in this paper is based on the third edition of *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh*, published by Dār al-Iʿtiṣām in 1985 and edited by ʿAlī al-Qaradāghī. Since the publication of this edition, several sources cited by al-Qaradāghī—once accessible only in manuscript form—have become available in modern editions. These include Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Kafiyajī’s (d. 879/1474) seminal treatise, *al-Anwār fī ʿilm al-tawḥīd: sharḥ kalimatay al-shahāda*. Additionally, select unpublished texts were consulted, such as a concise treatise by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) that examines  the linguistic dimensions of *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, and informed the annotations presented in this study. Al-Qaradāghī’s own editorial notes were likewise useful and are engaged throughout. The sixteen sections selected for translation delve into the semantic and syntactic intricacies of the ​​Testimony of Faith. Among the topics examined are the significance of definite and indefinite forms, the implications of singular and plural constructions, the dialectic relationship between negation and affirmation, and the universal scope embedded in the testimony’s formulation. The text also explores the acoustic resonance and theological weight of the majestic name Allah, alongside other divine names. To aid clarity and reader engagement, thematic subsection headings have been introduced throughout the translation. By rendering its rich insights into English, we aim to offer readers not only conceptual and theological depth, but also a pathway to cultivating a more intimate connection with the essence of *tawḥīd*. At its heart, the testimony of faith serves as both a doctrinal cornerstone and lived expression of divine oneness. Throughout the translation process, readability and conceptual clarity in idiomatic English have been prioritized over rigid literalism, in order to better convey the intended meanings of the original work. --- ## Annotated Translation of Selected Sections from Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh ### Introduction *In the name of Allah Most Merciful, Most Compassionate* May peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad, his family, and companions. Praise be to Allah, in a way commensurate with His blessings and befitting of His largesse. May peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad—the one with virtuous characteristics—his family, and companions as long as time goes on, be it short or long. What follows is a collection of beneficial notes, gems for the ones with high resolve. Related to the testimony “There is no deity but Allah” (*lā ilāha illā Allāh*),[^74] most of them are innovative, rare, and offered free of charge. I wrote it on a night consumed by the influence of groundbreaking ideas and the unfolding of contemplation. My only companions were an inkstand and a lamp, and my closest company was the raging fire of my thoughts, swirling with intensity and chaos. This continued until the morning broke with a joyous announcement, ushering the most virtuous of innovations. With this, I traveled from the realm of thought to that of insight, seeking the forgiveness of the Exalted and Most-Forgiving. I arranged the work into chapters.[^75] ### 5. The underlying semantic structure of the testimony of faith The phrase *lā ilāha illā Allāh* is understood by most scholars to have an omitted predicate (*khabar*) \[a missing word or idea that’s implied but not directly stated\]. Some suggest the missing part is the word “existent” (*mawjūd*), others say “for us” (*lanā*), and some say “in truth” (*bi-ḥaqq*).[^76] This is because false gods—like idols—exist in reality, and the intended negation is of everything other than the True God.[^77] Some scholars disagree and deny the need for an implied word, arguing that denying any god—or negating the essence (*māhiyya*)—without restriction is more comprehensive than negating it with a restriction. However, assuming an implicit word is preferable and consistent with Arabic linguistic norms regarding the omission of predicates \[where sometimes parts of a sentence are understood without being said\]. Based on this, the best interpretation is that the phrase means: “There is no god, in truth, except Allah.” This way, the phrase comprehensively affirms what cannot be negated (the one true God) and negates what cannot be affirmed (all false gods).[^78] ### 7. Affirmation takes precedence over negation Some theologians (*mutakallimūn*) uphold that it’s more fundamental and necessary to understand that affirmation takes precedence over conceptualizing negation. This is because you can picture the possibility of something existing without first thinking about its absence, but you can’t fully grasp what’s being denied unless you already have an idea of what’s being affirmed.[^79] So then, why does the Testimony of Faith begin with a negation (“There is no god”) before moving to an affirmation (“except Allah”)? They respond by highlighting that negating or denying necessity (*wujūbiyya*) for everything except Allah and then affirming it for Him, the Most High, is a stronger assertion than simply affirming it. Experts in the art of rhetoric (*ahl al-maʿānī*) hold that the Testimony of Faith starts with a negation because a negation clears the heart. If the heart is vacant, the manifestation of God’s oneness (*tawḥīd*) is more likely to occur, as well as the illumination of Allah’s light upon it. Similarly, some scholars also say that the Testimony of Faith begins with a negation to purify the heart from anything other than God (*aghyār*), polishing its essence and allowing light, hidden truths, and deep insight to appear. This implication mirrors Sufi gnosis and is more fitting to reflect meanings related to lordly secrets.[^80] ### 8. Two special acoustic features The statement “*lā ilāha illā Allāh*” contains two distinct acoustic characteristics. First, all its letters are pronounced with hollow sound articulation (from the oral cavity, or *jawfiyya*), not containing letters pronounced using the lips (lip sounds, or *shafahiyya*). This symbolizes that the words come from deep within—from the heart, not just the lips. Second, it contains no dotted (*muʿjam*) letters; all of them are dotless, symbolizing a detachment from anything worshiped other than Allah, the Most High. ### 9. Allocation and exclusivity (ḥaṣr) of true Godship The statement *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, in this particular formula, synthesizes negation and affirmation to signify the exclusiveness (*ḥaṣr*) of divinity to Allah, the Most High.[^81] Combining negation and affirmation is one of the most articulate formulas by which to define something, clearly setting boundaries or limits around it.[^82] It has been established that this noble statement is sufficient in affirming unicity to Allah, the Most High, without needing to explore if there is an intermediary between the negation and affirmation, or adding any other word to it. However, is the meaning of this affirmation assigned by linguistic convention (*waḍʿ*) or divine revelation? Or does it indicate a negation of any shared deity? Affirming divinity for Allah, the Most High, is something naturally known by every rational person. For proponents of this opinion, affirmation means affirming a commendable attribute of Allah, the Most High. Others claim that this affirmation is based on both context and scripture. The contextual evidence is that the messages brought by the messengers clearly call people to affirm God’s unicity. This context shows that when someone says the Testimony of Faith, they intend this meaning. This supports the view that excluding something from a negation is not itself an affirmation, and that utterances are meant to signify ideas in the mind, not extramental propositions.[^83] In fact, the reason this venerated statement is directed to those who are religiously responsible (*mukallafūn*, sing. *mukallaf*), making them accountable for it, is to affirm the divinity of Allah, the Most High, alone. The Lawgiver \[i.e., the Prophet\], Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, was satisfied with this statement on its own, without needing any added words.[^84] If this statement did not signify *tawḥīd*, then it would have needed additional clarification—because *tawḥīd* is the original intent of every messenger’s mission. Also, there is a consensus of specialists and non-specialists, from the earliest to the later generations, that it affirms *tawḥīd*, which is why they called it the Statement of God’s Oneness (*kalimat al-tawḥīd*). Claiming that something must supplement the statement confuses the message of the Sacred Law (*sharʿ*), using dialectical terminologies that are neither worthy of consideration nor permissible. Furthermore, the absence of any word between “no” (*lā*) and “except” (*illā*) shows that it is a categorical negation, signifying the negation of the existence of every deity. Then, the word “except” (*illā*) immediately affirms the opposite: that divinity belongs to Allah, the Most High. This meaning is clear and straightforward. A poet versified, > Nothing is correct in the minds, > > If there is ever a need to prove the daybreak! ### 10. On the difference between the two statements: “Lā ilāha illā Allāh” and “Mā min ilāh illā Allāh” Al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144) equates the statements “There is no deity but Allah” (*lā ilāha illā Allāh*) and “Other than Allah, there is no deity” (*mā min ilāh illā Allāh*) because both statements contain negation and affirmation. *Min* \[a particle used here to emphasize total negation, often called a partitive or symbol of clarification\] explicitly affirms comprehensive negation (*nafy mustaghriq*) in one of the two sentences, while in the other statement, this meaning is understood implicitly. It appears that *lā ilāha illā Allāh* is more articulate, which is why it was the most commonly chosen form. This is because *lā* is more conventionally established in Arabic for expressing general negation than *mā.* Notice how *lā* negates the very essence of something, as proven by the omission of its object (*khabar*)—often as a way of proclaiming that the intent is on the subject (*ism*), not the object. Since the Statement of Unicity is meant to deny the very existence of a god other than Allah, using *lā* is more fitting to its established linguistic usage. Furthermore, if the preposition *min* is omitted and its meaning included within the noun used with *lā,* the phrase becomes more articulate. This is because implying the meaning directly in the noun (*taḍmīn*) makes it comprehensive. A noun also carries a stronger connotation than a preposition, and the added structure creates an addition in meaning that was not there before. ### 11. Signifying categorical inclusion (istighrāq) by singular words (god) instead of plural words (gods) The sense of comprehensiveness or total exclusion/inclusion (*istighrāq*) expressed by a singular (*mufrad*) word is stronger than when using its plural (*jamʿ*). For example, it is appropriate to say “No men are in the house” (*lā rijāl fī al-dār*) if there are two or three men in the house. However, it would not be appropriate to say, in this scenario, “No man is in the house…” (*lā rajul fī al-dār*), as it would be understood that not a single man is in the house. As such, this demonstrates the subtlety of Allah’s words, the Most High. Discussing the call of Prophet Zechariah (Zakariyyā), peace be upon him, who said “Lord, my bone \[*ʿaẓm*\] has weakened” and did not say “bones” (*ʿiẓām*), al-Zamakhsharī said, > He used the singular form “*ʿaẓm*” because a singular noun connotes a broad group (or category) that shares common features, otherwise known as a genus. What he \[Prophet Zakariyyā\] means is that this group, which serves as the pillar upon which the body relies, is afflicted with fragility. Had the plural been used, the interpretation would have shifted to a different meaning. That is, that not just some of his bones had become fragile, but rather all of them had. The Imam of the Two Sanctuaries (Imām al-Ḥaramayn) \[al-Juwaynī\] (d. 478/1085), stated in *al-Burhān*, > Here is a matter that an examiner should be aware of. That is, the word *al-tamr* (lit. the date) is more likely to encompass the genus than *al-tumūr* (the dates), but not based on the wording itself. The word *al-tumūr* prompts the listener to first visualize individual dates, then visualize them as a collective group, as indicated by the plural form.[^85] The commentators \[i.e., of *al-Burhān*\] said that al-Juwaynī meant that someone seeking to refer to the category as a whole would use *tamr*, which pertains to the collective entirety. In contrast, *tumār* refers to multiple individual entities. As such, it describes the individual components, not the totality. Once you know this, the subtlety of negating the singular in the Testimony of Faith will not be wasted on you. ### 12. The implication of using “ilāh” as an indefinite word in the context of negation In the Testimony of Faith, the word “deity” (*ilāh*) is used in an indefinite form within a statement of negation, which undoubtedly gives it a general meaning. So then, what is meant by the \[expert’s\] statement that if the indefinite is within a statement of general negation, it is not absolute? Litterateurs and legal theorists agree that when we say, “There is no man at home” (*lā rajulun fī al-dār*) \[using a nominative (*rafʿ*) case; i.e., *rajulun*\], it does not indicate a general meaning. Instead, it should be said ‘‘There is no man but two at home” (*lā rajulun fī al-dār bal ithnān*), even though it is indefinite in a negative context. Also, people agree that the statements, “Not every animal is human” (*laysa kull ḥayawān insān*) and “Not every number is even” (*laysa kull ʿadad zawj*) are true, but not general in meaning, even though they contain indefinites within a negative statement. The disagreement cannot be resolved by arguing that an indefinite noun paired with *lā* always indicates total negation because we also say, “No one came to you” (*mā jāʾaka min aḥad*) and “There is no one in the house” (*laysa fī al-dār aḥad*), which express comprehensiveness without using *lā*. Hence, this point of dispute remains problematic. The answer is that when an indefinite word is used in a negative sentence, it typically implies the denial is general and comprehensive—except in these two instances. The reason for this exception is clear. In the first case, the intention is to negate a general concept \[what scholars call a *universal quiddity*, meaning the essence that something shares with others of its kind; *māhiyya kulliyya*\], without making impossible the qualification of uniqueness (*wiḥda*) in individual examples. That’s why it makes perfect sense to say, “There is no man in the house but two.” However, the meaning changes when the indefinite word is paired with *lā*. In this case, it typically serves as a reply to someone asking “Is there a man in the house?” and the response “There is no man in the house” means that none of the individuals from that category are present in the house. The inclusion of *min* is what causes the subject to be fixed in grammatical form (non-inflected or *bināʾ*), as mentioned earlier. But in this case, when the assumed meaning no longer includes *min*, the cause for that grammatical fix no longer applies. Therefore, the sentence is considered a new declarative statement (*ikhbār mustaʾnaf*), rather than a response (*jawāb*). As for the second case, it refers to the negation (*salb*) of the predication from general categories only. The verification (*taqrīr*) of the matter is as follows: someone claiming, “Every number is even.” In saying this, they affirm a general predication—applying evenness to all numbers. Now, we want to challenge this kind of universal affirmative proposition (*mujība kulliyya*). To do so, it is enough to suspend the predication on just one of the individuals to suspend a universal affirmative. That’s because proving a single exception is enough to disprove a universal claim. That is why a negative particular statement (saying that at least one case doesn’t fit) is considered the contradictory (*naqīḍ*) of a universal affirmative—we’re not denying the statement applies to all individual cases, but rather, we’re rejecting that it applies to all of them *without exception* (the predication of universality itself). Therefore, when we say that an indefinite noun indicates generality, this applies only when the negation is applied to *all* individual members of that category. It does not apply when the negation concerns *only some* of the individuals—this is called a negative particular statement. ### 14\. & 15. The implication of negating the indefinite word, “ilāh” A negated indefinite \[proposition\], as in the Testimony of Faith, is stronger in conveying generality than simply placing an indefinite word in a negative sentence. This is why Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī (d. 630/1233) said in *Abkār al-afkār,* “An indefinite word in a negative context is not generalized. Rather, a negative indefinite itself is generalized.”[^86] If you understand this, then you’ll also understand that an indefinite word in a positive, affirmative statement does not imply generality, according to what a group of legal theorists have declared. However, the reality of the matter is different from that, and depends on the specific context. Here, I intend to demonstrate that there is an exception for two forms: - First, if this is a conditional context (*siyāq al-sharṭ*), as noted by the Imam \[al-Juwaynī\] in *al-Burhān*; and - Second, if it is in a context of gratitude (*siyāq al-imtinān*), as stated by Judge Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Ṭabarī (d. 450/1058). ### 17. The unique proper name “Allah” The name Allah is a proper name (*ism ʿalam*) that is necessary and unique to His essence, the Most High. Allah did not let anyone other than Him share in saying it as a name, just as no one shares in its meaning. The same applies to His divine attributes. The name Allah is like other proper names in that it can be described but cannot be used to describe other objects—it is a name only for Him, just as other proper names are assigned to things other than Allah.[^87] However, in principle, proper names are made as a convention to differentiate between those with names, which is an impossibility for Allah. This name also stands as an exception to disagreement over which of the two types of definites is more known.[^88] It is for this reason that Sībawayh said, “The name of Allah, Most High, is the most definite of all definite nouns (*aʿraf al-maʿārif*).” It is narrated that Sībawayh was seen in a dream having been given an abundance of goodness as a reward for this statement. ### 18. The name “Allah” is a proper noun that is not derived from anything The majority of scholars hold that the name of Allah, the Most High, is like a proper name that is not derived from any other word.[^89] They cite the Qur’anic verse, “Do you know of any namesake for Him?” as  proof.[^90] They hold that Allah would have a namesake if the word were derived, just as the polytheists called their idols “gods” (*āliha*, singular *ilāh*). But this connection is not necessary because what the polytheists called idols is what Allah, Most High, narrates as saying, “They said, ‘Moses, make a god (*ilāh*) for us like their gods (*āliha*),’” and “Your god and Moses.’”[^91] As for the name “Allah,” its necessary definite article (*lām*) is a substitute for the initial glottal stop (*hamza*). This is why no one other than Allah was given this name—it has never existed in an indefinite form (i.e., without the integrated definite article *al*).[^92] When Allah, the Most High, says in the Qur’an, “Do you know any other who merits His name?” it means, do you know of anything else called Allah? Do you know of any being who matches Him in creation or in being a necessary deity?[^93] Also, the fact that one word is derived from another does not necessitate that they have a shared meaning. The Arabs often coin different words from the same root to express distinct meanings. For example, they call a structure *ḥaṣīn* (fortified) and a woman *ḥaṣān* (virtuous or married)—both coming from the root *ḥaṣāna* (protection). Similarly, a tree is called a *razīn* (stable), a woman *razān* (composed), both derived from protectiveness (*ḥaṣāna*) and solemnity (*razāna*), respectively. \[A figure of speech from pre-Islam Arabs\] illustrates this: They falsely claim that the star al-ʿAyyūq (Capella, which literally means “the hinderer”) prevents or stops the al-Dabrān (Aldebaran) from moving—as if al-Dabrān is leading a dowry made of twenty small stars to ask for the hand of al-Thurayyā (Pleiades). According to the metaphor, Aldebaran endlessly chases the Pleiades and “proposes” to it. Aldebaran, as such, is hindered or halted. This group of twenty stars is called al-Qilāṣ, meaning the constricted ones. About this, a poet writes, > The chained have fulfilled their obligation, > > In the same way, the “camel driver” of the Qilāṣ stars did. Based on that, it is not rejected that “Allah” is derived from divinity (*ulūhiyya*), a doctrine that the majority uphold.[^94] It is said to derive from *aliha*, meaning to flee to take refuge. Allah, the Most High, is the refuge to which everything turns. This opinion is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/688). Otherwise, it is derived from *aliha*, if one is baffled and perplexed. The reason is that minds are baffled in the seas of the grandiose of Allah, the Most Transcendent, and how thoughts cannot encompass Him and how limitless He is. There are other opinions on its derivation.[^95] ### 20. Distinct features of the proper noun “Allah” which do not apply to other names of Allah Among the unique characteristics of the name “Allah,” the Most High, is that it is a proper noun that is specific to Him—unlike all His other names, which describe His attributes. All of His names refer to Him, but they are not used to refer to each other. As the Qur’an says, “The Most Excellent Names belong to Allah.”[^96] Other names**—**even if unused**—**can be imagined as names for others. But the name “Allah” needs the definite article *al* (the *alif* and the *lām*) instead of the glottal stop (*hamza*),[^97] and this feature is not found in any other name. It was also granted a specific style of oath-taking that is not given to any of Allah’s other names or to any of His creations**—**for example, in saying “*ta-Allāh la-ʾafʿalann*” (By Allah, I will do…). This is taken as proof of the name’s virtue.[^98] Another unique aspect is that the name “Allah” combines the vocative particle *yāʾ* (a word or particle used to address or call someone) and the definite article *lām*, something that does not occur except when poetically required.[^99] Additionally, the initial *alif* of “Allah” is omitted in writing. One reason for this is to exalt Allah above looking similar to Allāt \[the name of the pre-Islamic idol\], whether in a vocal pause (*waqf*) or script. This is especially the case when Allāt is written with a *hāʾ*. However, the standard explanation is that it is omitted due to the frequency of its use. Given the unique features mentioned**—**and others**—**of this majestic name,[^100] some have deemed it as Allah’s Most Majestic Name (*ism Allāh al-aʾẓam*). Many experts from different sciences have spoken about this name, the sum of which cannot be contained in entire volumes of books. > No soul reaches an opinion, > > Except there is yet a greater one to be discovered! The Master Abū Isḥāq al-Isfārīnī (d. 418/1027) said, “This name signifies an essence associated with the attributes of majesty, with a power that befits originating its contingent attachments, with knowledge that encompasses all objects of knowledge (*maʿlūmāt*), and a will operating on willed matters. To Him is the command and prohibition. Worship is not valid except of Him, and has an attribute that is necessary for Him, which is His exclusiveness (*ikhtiṣāṣiyya*) in His being in a way that does not occupy space or locus.” ### 26. The names of Allah are ordained Judge Abū Bakr \[al-Bāqillānī\] said, > Know that Allah’s names are ordained (*tawqīfiyya*) and are not a product of analogous reasoning (*qiyās*) or rational consideration. Many groups have erred in this regard. With Allah’s aid, we shall successfully clarify the essence of the matter. We say the source of Allah’s names is ordainment (*tawqīf*). *Tawqīf* means the receipt of permission from Allah, Most High. Anything that is related to be left unrestricted, we leave unrestricted. What the Sacred Law (*sharʿ*) prohibits, we prohibit. For anything without established permission or prohibition, we do not judge it as either admissible or unlawful, permissible or prohibited, since these are two rulings that cannot be adjudged except via the *sharʿ.* This approach is precisely the approach to be taken towards issuing rulings before the advent of revelation (*sharʿ*). Additionally, a definitive (*qaṭʿī*) narration is not required to establish the permissibility of a label; a fairly authentic (*ṣaḥiḥ*) report suffices.[^101] He added at the end of his discussion, > What should be expanded on is that any deluding expression, the apparent meaning of which implies something that the Lord, Most High, is sanctified above, is not permissible to use as a label except with a *sharʿ* based evidence. Similarly, whatever term is established as prohibited, we prohibit it. If there is neither permission nor prohibition, we suspend judgment about it (*tawaqqafnā fīh*).[^102] This is his upheld opinion, which is chosen when disagreement arises. Some maintain that any name that alludes to a meaning befitting Allah’s majesty and attributes is permissible without requiring ordainment (*bilā tawqīf*). The reason is that Allah’s names and attributes are referenced in Persian, Turkish, and all languages, none of which are mentioned in the Qur’an and hadith*.* Despite this, the consensus among Muslims is that it is permissible to use these names for Allah. Additionally, Allah says, “The Most Excellent Names belong to Allah, use them to supplicate to Him.”[^103] The suitability of a name depends on whether it reflects praiseworthy attributes and majestic descriptions.[^104] Every name that conveys such meanings is considered appropriate and can be used to refer to Allah, in accordance with these proofs. This is because words only have value insofar as they convey accurate meanings—if the meaning is accurate, then using the term is permissible. There is also a third perspective on this topic, put forward by Imam al-Ghazālī (may Allah grant him mercy). He argued that ascribing a name to Allah is only permissible through ordainment, while describing His attributes does not require such ordainment. In this view, there is a clear distinction between Allah’s names and His attributes. He said, > My name is Muḥammad. Yours is Abū Bakr. This pertains to the subject of names. In contrast, attributes, such as describing a human as tall or intelligent, and so on… It is because \[deviating from\] one’s given name is bad manners. It is more deservingly so with respect to Allah. However, regarding our attributes, it is permissible to refer to them using different wordings and expressions without restriction. The same principle applies to the Creator, the Most High.[^105] ### 27. Does lā negate eternally or temporarily? Some honorable scholars suggested that the word “no” (*lā*) implies a permanent, eternal negation, while “will not” (*lan*) indicates a temporary one. Conversely, others, like the Muʿtazila, argued that *lan* signifies permanent negation. They used this principle to deny the possibility of seeing Allah (known as the Beatific Vision or *ruʾya*) in the Hereafter. They based this on the verse where the Most High says to Moses, “You will never see Me” (Qur’an 7:143).[^106] This view was reported by Imam al-Juwaynī, the “Imam of the Two Sanctuaries,” in his work *al-Shāmil*.[^107] Their reasoning was challenged using another verse in which Allah, the Most High, says to the Jews, “Then you should long for death if your claim is true. But they will never long for it.”[^108] Then, Allah states that the disbelievers in general will long for death in the Hereafter, as they say, “Would it had been the ending strike!,”[^109] meaning death.[^110] I would say that the correct view is that both *lā* and *lan* are used to negate future tense verbs. Whether that negation is eternal or temporary is determined by the external context, not by the words themselves. For example, the Muʿtazila cite the following words of the Most High as proof that *lan* always means a permanent, eternal denial: “If you cannot do this—and you never will (*lan tafʿalu*)”[^111] and “They will not create (*lan yakhluqa*) a fly.”[^112] But this can be rebutted by pointing to other verses, such as: “Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him (*lā taʾkhudhuh*),” “it does not weary Him (*lā yaʾūduh*) to preserve them both,”[^113] and similar verses which use *lā* to express eternality, not *lan*. This demonstrates that both *lā* and *lan* are used for mere negation, while establishing permanency or otherwise depends on what other evidence in the text indicates. Al-Zamakhsharī, being a scholar from the Muʿtazila school of thought, stated in his book *al-Unmūdhaj* that *lan* signifies a permanent or eternal negation. Yet in another of his works, *al-Kashshāf*, he said that *lan* simply expressed negation. Both claims are baseless, as we’ve already discussed. If *lan* were used to express eternal negation, the subject of its negation would not be limited to a day—like in the verse, “I will not talk (*lan ukalima*) to a human today.”[^114] Clearly, the denial here only applies for one day, not forever. Additionally, in the verse, “But they will never long for it (*lan yatamannawnah*) \[i.e., death\],”[^115] adding the word “forever” (*abadan*) would be unnecessary. In Arabic, unnecessary repetition (redundancy) is avoided, so this supports the idea that *lan* on its own does not always mean something eternal. Al-Zamakhsharī stated that *lā* does not signify eternal negation. Instead, he said that unlike *lan*, *lā* simply negates a future-tense verb \[that has a prefix attached directly to it to indicate the near future, otherwise known as the particle of futurity or *ḥarf tanfīs*\],[^116] unlike *lan.* Although this aligns with the famous grammarian Sībawayh’s explanation of the phrase “will do” (*sayafʿal*), al-Zamakhsharī’s intention was to support the principle—held by the Muʿtazila—about seeing Allah in the Hereafter, as previously mentioned. The literal reading of the verse \[Qur’an 7:143\] negates the occurrence of the Beatific Vision either in response to the request or within the context of this worldly life. The question only addressed this point, and the answer corresponds to the question. Consequently, it did not ascertain negation for eternity but shifted focus to the manifestation of the signs onto the mountain.[^117] ### 28. Lan signifies negation in the near future and lā negates what is in the distant future Some scholars of eloquence (*ʿilm al-bayān*) have said that *lan* signifies negation in the near future, while *lā* negates what is in the distant future. This view contradicts that of al-Zamakhsharī. These scholars argued that the way we speak reflects the meanings of our words, and that when pronouncing the *alif* of *lā*, the elongated *alif* takes more breath than *lan*, which they believe implies an additional temporal distance. Their rationale is that the extended vowel sound \[in *lā*\] suggests a longer period. The same assertion was made about the word “then” (*thumma*). It was suggested that because *thumma* contains more phonetic components than the single letter *fāʾ* (which also means “then”), this warrants a greater sense of detail or extended time. The idea being that a greater number of letters indicates a plurality of meanings. Rhetorical scholars used this reasoning to interpret the two verses: “But they will never long for it (*lan yatamannawh*) \[i.e., death\]” and “They would never hope (*lā yatamannawnah*) for it \[i.e., death\],” each according to one of these two linguistic approaches.[^118] From the perspective of eloquence, the second opinion on “*lā yatamannawnah*” follows the condition mentioned in Allah’s words: “If you truly claim that out of all people you alone are friends of God, then you should be hoping for death.”[^119] A conditional particle (*ḥarf al-sharṭ*) applies across all verb tenses. Therefore, the response uses *lā* to cover the full scope of what happens if the condition is met (sing. *jawāb al-sharṭ*). This means that whenever they make this claim—at any given time—then tell them, “Then you should be hoping for death.” The phrase “They would never hope for it (*lā yatamannawnah*)” comes after Allah’s words, “Say, ‘If the last home with God is to be for you alone and no one else,’” meaning if the homecoming in the afterlife is necessarily yours, then wish for death now to expedite being in the Abode of Honor (*dār al-karāma*), which Allah prepared for His friends and loved ones. Accordingly, Allah’s saying, the Most High, came to be, “You will never see Me (*lan tarānī*).” ### 29. The difference between the two particles of negation Let anyone knowledgeable about the meanings of words remember what I confirmed here about the two particles of negation: *lan* and *lā*. What remains now is to address the negative particle *lam*. While these particles of negation are often called “sisters” because they both serve the purpose of negation, they are, however, more like “half-sisters” (*ʿallāt*)—distinguished by their degree of negation, determined by specific causes and contextual clues. Sībawayh explained that *lam* is a negative particle (*ḥarf nafy*) used with verbs in the morphological pattern of *fa-ʿa-la* (the simple past), *lan* is used to negate verbs in the future form of *sa-ya-f-ʿal*, and *lā* is used with the present tense form *ya-f-ʿal.* What he means is that *lā* is conventionally used to negate the future-tense verb unrestrictedly and that it may be used to negate the past tense. For example: (1) In cases of repetition, as in His saying: “He neither believed nor prayed (*fa lā ṣaddaqa wa lā ṣallā*)”;[^120] (2) In cases of placing importance, as in: “Yet he has not attempted the steep path (*fa lā aqtaḥama al-ʿaqaba*)”;[^121] (3) In supplication, like the Prophet’s words, Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him: “May you never be able (*lā astaṭaʿt*)!”;[^122] (4) In the wording of supplications, like the Prophet’s saying, “May your age \[not\] extend long (\[*lā kaburat sinnuk*\])”; and (5) In fluctuations in meaning between supplication and negation, like his saying “\[Maybe\] he neither fasted nor broke his fast (*lā ṣām wa lā afṭar*),”[^123] which alludes to whoever fasts continuously. *Lan*, as previously mentioned, is used to negate the future verb. And may Allah’s peace be on our master and leader Muhammad, the one whose messengership is mercy and whose words are wisdom, his companions, his entire family, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 47:19. [^2]: Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ʿAshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 30 vols. (al-Dār al-Tūnusiyya li-l-Nashr, 1884), 26:104–5. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 35. [^4]: Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ*, 19 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.), 7:17. [^5]: Qur’an 15:92–93. [^6]: Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī, 24 vols. (Muʾsassat al-Risāla, 2006), 12:258. [^7]: Aḥmad al-Dardīr, *Sharḥ* *al-kharīda al-bahiyya*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Shannār (Dār al-Bayrūtī, n.d.) 168–69. [^8]: For a detailed exposition of how the Statement of Faith encompasses the principal tenets of belief, see Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Masʿūd al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿāmm wa-l-khāṣṣ min kalimat al-ikhlāṣ*, ed. Ḥamīd al-Yūsī, 2 vols. (Dār al-Rashād al-Ḥadītha, 2019), 1:527–32 [^9]: Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Sanūsī, “*Umm al-barāhīn*,” in *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī ʿalā umm al-barāhīn*, ed ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2017), 254–55. [^10]: Al-Sanūsī, *Umm al-barāhīn*, 300–01. [^11]: Al-Sanūsī, *Umm al-barāhīn*, 301. [^12]: These sections are 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 28, and 29. [^13]: Al-Sanūsī, *Umm al-barāhīn*, 309–10. [^14]: Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī, *Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya al-kubrā*, eds. Maḥmoud al-Tanāḥī and ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ El-Ḥilw, 10 vols. (ʿIsā ​​al-Ḥalabī, 1964), 1:38–41. However, al-Subkī contested two of ʿIkrima’s interpretations, disagreeing with him on their indications to the testimony of faith. [^15]: Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ wa miṣbāḥ al-arwāḥ* (Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿāda, n.d.), 67–73. [^16]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3265. Similar reports attribute this interpretation to some of the companions, including ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. [^17]: Al-Subkī, *Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya*, 1:39. [^18]: Al-Dardīr, *Sharḥ* *al-kharīda*, 170. [^19]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 3. [^20]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 3. See also, al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿāmm wa-l-khāṣṣ*, 2:10–14. [^21]: *Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ*, no. 726. [^22]: *Jāmiʿ* *a**l-Tirmidhī*, no. 3585. [^23]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī al-kubrā*, nos. 10602 and 10913. Scholars have disputed the authenticity of this hadith. However, al-Ḥākim and Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī deemed it authentic. [^24]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3383. [^25]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 536. He stated that it is a *gharīb* hadith whose chain of transmission is not strong. [^26]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 28. [^27]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 45. [^28]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 305. [^29]: Qur’an 37:143–44. [^30]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 63–4. [^31]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3293; *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2691. [^32]: *Musnad* *al-Bazzār*, no. 8292. [^33]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3590. [^34]: Qur’an 3:18. [^35]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 64. [^36]: Qur’an 25:43. [^37]: Qur’an 36:60. [^38]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2887. [^39]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 17–18. [^40]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 18–19. [^41]: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf al-Jazarī, *al-Nashr fī al-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr*, ed. al-Sālim al-Jakanī, 6 vols. (Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2013), 3:846–48. [^42]: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mihrān, *Risālat al-maddāt*, ed. Ayman Suwaid (Dār al-Ghawthānī lil-Dirāsāt al-Qurʾāniyya, 2018 ), 35. [^43]: Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Adhkār min kalām sayyid al-abrār* (Dār al-Minhāj, 2005), 43–44. [^44]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 306. [^45]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiy**at al-Dasūqī*, 307. The full hadith is mentioned below in the section “Salvation and intercession in the afterlife.” [^46]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 307. [^47]: *Ṣaḥīḥ a**l-Bukhārī*, no. 2946. [^48]: Qur’an 112:1. [^49]: Qur’an 2:221. [^50]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 55–56. [^51]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 3796. [^52]: *Ṣahīḥ Muslim*, no. 26. [^53]: *Sunan Abī Dawūd*, no. 3116. [^54]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6423. [^55]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 99. [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ a**l-Bukhārī*, no. 3884. [^57]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 306. [^58]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 917 [^59]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 63. [^60]: Al-Sanūsī, *Umm al-barāhīn*, 301-2. [^61]: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn al-Humām, *Fatḥ al-Qadīr*, 2 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, n.d.), 2:104; Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī, *al-Masālik fī sharḥ Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik*, ed. Ḥāmid al-Maḥallāwī, 6 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2013), 3:520; Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn*, ed. Zuhayr Shāwīsh, 12 vols. (al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1991), 2:138; Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Ibn Mufliḥ al-Maqdisī, *al-Furūʿ*, ed. ʿAbdullāh al-Turkī, 12 vols. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2003), 3:383. [^62]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2639. [^63]: Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 44–45. [^64]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 306. He is likely referring to al-Mallawī’s gloss on al-Qayrawānī’s commentary on al-Sanūsī’s *Umm al-barāhīn*. [^65]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 308. [^66]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 318–19. [^67]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 318. [^68]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 321. [^69]: Al-Dasūqī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī*, 321. [^70]: We could not locate this quote in Ibn Taghrībirdī’s biographical work, *al-Manhal al-ṣāfī wa-l-mustawfī baʿd al-wāfī*. However, some editors of al-Zarkashī’s works have attributed it to the original manuscript of the work. See, for example, Badr al-Dīn al-Zarkashī, *Salāsil al-dhahab*, ed. Muḥammad al-Shinqīṭī (N.p., 2002), 53. [^71]: For an introduction to the role of annotations and the *ḥāshiya* genre in Islamic scholarship, see: Muntasir Zaman, “Much Ado About a Footnote? The Development and Function of the *Ḥāshiya* in the Islamic Intellectual Tradition,” *Hashiya* 1, no. 1 (2025): 39–51, [https://doi.org/10.65061%2febyz9193](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.65061%252FEBYZ9193&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765899661397225&usg=AOvVaw0xXlZwbC2u9zeOMv3ibOTk). [^72]: Contemporary editors provide varying counts of the works attributed to al-Zarkashī. Muḥammad Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm, in his 1972 edition of *al-Burhān*, lists thirty-three works. ʿAlī al-Quradāghī, editor of the 1985 Arabic edition used in this translation, states that al-Zarkashī authored forty-five works, though he lists only seventeen. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-ʿĀnī, editor of *al-Baḥr al-muhīṭ* (1989), raises the total to forty-six. [^73]: For more on al-Zarkashī’s contributions to Qur’anic studies, see Yousef Wahb, “An Introduction to ʿUlūm al-Qur’an: The Field of Qur’anic Studies,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, March 30, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/an-introduction-to-ulum-al-quran-the-field-of-quranic-studies](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/an-introduction-to-ulum-al-quran-the-field-of-quranic-studies&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765899661312492&usg=AOvVaw1ZZ1rG7xRkpAMvKnidgazp). [^74]: The statement of faith “There is no deity but Allah” is commonly referred to as “The Testimony” (*shahāda*). The term *shahāda* carries multiple lexical meanings: reporting based on direct observation, giving legal testimony, attending, and taking an oath. In the context of *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, its technical definition focuses on it being a declaration by the tongue and affirmation by the heart. Al-Kāfyajī (d. 879/1474) noted that the most pertinent of its lexical meanings in this context is the first—reporting based on witnessed knowledge. Describing the statement as a “testimony” or an act of “bearing witness” conveys subtle theological benefits, such as accruing additional spiritual merit and serving as a reminder to others. Some exegetes have interpreted the phrase “Allah bears witness that there is no deity but Him, and so do the angels and those endowed with  knowledge” (Qur’an 3:18) to signify that Allah made this truth manifest to creation, the angels attested to it, and the learned demonstrated it through rational inquiry and evidentiary reasoning. Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Kafiyajī, *al-Anwār fī ʿil al-tawḥīd sharḥ kalimaty al-shahāda*, ed. Ḥalīm Jālīsh (N.p., 1999), 2–4. [^75]: The numbering of the subsections to follow matches that of the chapters which were translated from al-Zarkashi’s work. [^76]: A categorical judgment presupposes a subject and a predicate. The subject may refer to an actually existing entity—as in “al-Shāfiʿī is a scholar”—or to a merely supposed one, as in “A partner of God does not exist.” In the latter case, the mind forms the concept “partner of God” and judges that nothing in extramental reality corresponds to it. That is, the mind can hold universal quiddities (*maḥiyyāt kulliyya*) or mental representations (*ṣuwar dhihniyya*) of nonexistents and assert truthful negative claims about them. Theologians and rhetoricians emphasized that negation applies not to the subject or predicate per se, but to the propositional nexus (*nisba*) between them. Since both subject and predicate are objects of conception (*taṣawwur*), they are not themselves truth-apt; only propositions—statements linking subject and predicate—can be true or false. A similar clarification is offered by the Moroccan scholar al-Yūsī (d. 1102/1691): “Essences (*dhawāt*) are not denied or affirmed…So when we say: this quiddity has been denied or its instances have been denied, it should be understood that something has been left unsaid that is nevertheless part of the meaning—namely, that their existence has been denied. The negation governs existence (*maṣabbu al-nafy huwa al-wujūd*). \[...\] This is the case in the honorable statement \[i.e., *lā ilāha illā Allāh*\], for it denies the existence of what is preceded by the negative particle, with the exception of God the Exalted.” Al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿām wa-l-khāṣṣ*, 1:309:. Translation adapted from Khaled El-Rouayheb, *Islamic Intellectual History in the Seventeenth Century: Scholarly Currents in the Ottoman Empire and the Maghreb* (Cambridge University Press, 2015), 225. Classical Arabic lacks a copulative “is,” and the phrase *lā ilāha illā Allāh* translates literally as “No god except Allah.” On this account, what is negated is not the subject “god,” but the existence of any god besides Allah—that is, the propositional nexus between “god” and the implied predicate “exists.” See El-Rouayheb, *Islamic Intellectual History*, 223–25; al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿām wa-l-khāṣṣ*, 302–19, 325–27, and 341. [^77]: Those who interpret the omitted predicate in *lā ilāha illā Allāh* as “in truth” (*bi-ḥaqq*) emphasize that the phrase denies the existence of any *true* deity besides Allah, not the existence of false gods per se. False deities, such as idols, celestial bodies, or even Jesus, undoubtedly exist and may be worshiped, but they are not *true* gods. To say “there is no false god except Allah” would be both theologically incoherent and a statement of disbelief. Thus, what is denied is not the existence or essences of these entities, but their legitimacy as proper objects of worship. In theological terms, the Statement of Faith denies that the quiddity of true divinity has any correlate in the extramental world beyond a single referent: Allah. See al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿām wa-l-khāṣṣ*, 1:291–304 and 309–19; El-Rouayheb, *Islamic Intellectual History*, 225–29. [^78]: As the individual internalizes the rational articulation of negation and affirmation embedded in the Statement of Faith, it reinforces the comprehensive foundations of belief outlined earlier. Specifically, the negation of any true deity besides Allah entails the conviction that He alone is absolutely self-sufficient, in no need of anything beyond Himself, while everything else depends entirely upon Him. This foundational belief entails affirming that Allah is described by all attributes of perfection and that any imperfection is necessarily inapplicable to Him. Thus, when a believer declares *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, they are, in essence, affirming that there is none worthy of worship, no creator, sustainer, benefactor, harmer, rewarder, punisher, helper, or guide except Allah. It is this affirmation that constitutes pure monotheism, and simultaneously negates all forms of polytheistic belief and practice. Al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿām wa-l-khāṣṣ*, 2:27–32; al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 66–67. [^79]: Negation becomes intelligible only in relation to a prior affirmation. For instance, the notion of darkness is conceivable only once the concept of light has been apprehended. In a spiritual register, as Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh observes, negation is symbolized by ritual purification (*ṭahāra*), while affirmation is embodied in prayer. Just as purification precedes prayer, so too does “there is no deity” precede “except Allah.” The same logic underlies the recitation of the *istiʿādha* before engaging the Qurʾan, or the act of purifying one’s dwelling before receiving an honored guest. The first half of the Statement of Faith signifies disconnection, while the second half marks connection: the former resonates with the verse “Quickly, turn to God” (Qur’an 51:50) and the latter with “Say ‘God,’ then leave them engrossed in their vain talk” (Qur’an 6:91). Al-Sakandarī, *Miftāḥ al-falāḥ*, 55. [^80]: Scholars have provided various explanations for the reversal of the order of affirmation and negation in the Testimony of Faith. First, although the phrase begins with a negation, its overall meaning constitutes an affirmation, namely, that Allah alone is the true deity, making it affirmative in essence. Second, beginning with negation establishes absolute exclusivity, attributing divinity solely to Allah. Third, it is argued that the human heart cannot simultaneously entertain two contradictory convictions; when it is occupied with one, it is emptied of the other. This notion is supported by the verse: “Allah has not placed two hearts within any man” (Qur’an 33:4). Thus, the negation in *lā ilāha illā Allāh* eliminates all objects of devotion other than Allah, thereby preparing the heart for the exclusive affirmation of  “except Allah.” See: Qaradāghī in al-Zarkashī, *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh*, 81–82, fn 3. [^81]: Exclusiveness (*ḥaṣr*) is typically categorized into three types: (1) rational delimitation, which refers to boundaries established by reason, such as dividing numbers into even and odd or restricting the notion of the true deity exclusively to Allah; (2) empirical delimitation based on observable reality, such as categorizing words into nouns, verbs, and particles; and (3) typological delimitation, which structures content according to organizational or thematic considerations, such as dividing a book into an introduction, chapters, and a conclusion. [^82]: The combination of negation and affirmation, known as restriction (*qaṣr*) in scholastic rhetoric (*balāgha*), is divided into two types: absolute (*ḥaqīqī*) and relative (*iḍāfī*). Each type is further categorized based on whether the restriction applies to a quality or to the qualified entity. The Testimony of Faith exemplifies an absolute restriction, as it is deemed universally applicable. It restricts the quality of true divinity to the qualified entity, Allah, thereby excluding all others from sharing this attribute. See also, al-Kafiyajī, *al-Anwār fī ʿilm al-tawḥīd*, 11–12. [^83]: While there is unanimous agreement that an exception derived from an affirmative statement denotes negation, scholars have debated the converse: whether an exception following a negation necessarily implies affirmation. This issue has been a well-known point of contention among scholars of legal theory (*uṣūl al-fiqh*). With the exception of the Ḥanafīs, the majority maintain such an exception does, in fact, denote affirmation. Citing the Testimony of Faith as evidence, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī defends this majority view. See Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Rāzī, *al-Maḥṣūl fī ʿilm uṣūl al-fiqh*, ed. Ṭāhā al-ʿIlwānī, 6 vols. (Al-Risāla, 1997) 3:39. For the Ḥanafī view, see Muḥammad al-Sarkhsī, *Uṣūl al-Sarakhsī*, ed. Abū al-Wafāʾ al-Afghānī, 2 vols. (Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.), 2:36. Commenting on this disagreement and its implications for the exception of negation in the Testimony of Faith, Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd (d. 702/1302) critiqued the Ḥanafī position, stating: “To me, all of this amounts to obfuscation and dialectical quibbling. The sacred law (*sharʿ*) addressed people with this Statement and commanded them to uphold it as an affirmation of divine unicity. Its meaning in that sense is well-established and was accepted from him \[i.e., the Prophet ﷺ\] without addition or a need for further explanation. If the linguistic convention (*waḍʿ*) does not inherently denote divine unicity, then the most essential task would have been to teach a formulation that does.” Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, *Sharḥ al-Ilmām bi-aḥādīth al-aḥkām*, ed. Muḥammad Makhlūf ʿAbdullāh (Dār al-Nawādir, 2009), 5:174. [^84]: This refers, for example, to the hadith: “I have been commanded to fight against the people till they testify that *lā ilāha illā* *Allāh* and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.” [^85]: ʿAbd al-Mālik al-Juwaynī, *al-Burhān fī uṣūl al-fiqh*, ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Dīb, 2 vols. (N.p., , 1979), 1:343. [^86]: The Arabic edition cites the above quote from two manuscript copies of al-Āmidī’s *Abkār al-afkār* (Hagia Sophia, Turkey; Maʿhad al-Makhṭūṭāt al-ʿArabiyya, no. 1–2, *Tawḥid*, Cairo). However, a later printed edition of *Abkār* presents a slightly different wording: “An indefinite term in the context of affirmation, even if it does not apply to all individuals collectively, still carries generality, meaning it applies to each member of the genus by way of commonality (*shuyūʿ*).” ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī al-Āmidī, *Abkār al-afkār fī uṣūl al-dīn*, ed Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Mahdī, 5 vols. (Dār al-Kutub wa-l-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyya, 2004), 1:360. [^87]: A distinctive feature of the name “Allah” is that it subsumes all other divine names and attributes and may be qualified by them. In attributive construction, the proper order is to mention the essence first, followed by its attribute—for example, “Allah, the All-Knowing, All-Wise, All-Powerful.” This sequence is not reversible. See Ahmed El-Tayeb, *Fī al-muṣṭalaḥ al-kalāmī wa-l-ṣūfī*, (Muslim Council of Elders, 2019), 12; Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 32 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 1:163. However, this order appears to be challenged by the verse in Sūrat Ibrāhīm: “the Exalted in power, Worthy of all praise; Allah, to Whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth.” (Qur’an 14:1–2). Two canonical readings of the case ending of the word “Allah” in this verse are relevant: the nominative (*Allāhu*) and the genitive (*Allāhi*). According to the nominative reading (transmitted by Nāfiʿ, Ibn ʿĀmir, and Abū Jaʿfar), “Allah” functions as the subject (*mubtadaʾ*), not an adjective (*ṣifa*); thus, the objection is nullified. As for the genitive reading, al-Rāzī explains the construction as analogous to saying, “This house belongs to the noble and knowledgeable Zayd,” where  “Zayd” identifies the referent without serving as an adjective. Likewise, in the verse, “Allah” clarifies the identity of the One described. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:163; English translation in *The Great Exegesis: al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr: Volume I: The Fātiḥa*, trans. Sohaib Saeed (The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought & The Islamic Texts Society, 2018), 243–4. [^88]: Proper nouns typically function to identify and distinguish one entity from others. However, this understanding does not apply to the name Allah, since no multiplicity exists within His essence. Al-Zarkashī, following earlier scholars, maintains that “Allah” is not a proper noun in the conventional sense, though it resembles one. It may be classified as a proper noun in a purely linguistic sense, but not in terms of ontological reality. Other scholars, by contrast, categorize “Allah” as a proper noun without such qualification. The disagreement is ultimately semantic, as all parties affirm Allah’s absolute unicity and the distinctiveness of His attributes. [^89]: Al-Rāzī upheld the position that the name “Allah” is not derived from any root word, attributing this view to the foundational grammarians Sībawayh and al-Khalīl. He further described it as the dominant opinion among jurists and legal theorists. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:162. ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (d. 690/1291) beautifully captures the spiritual significance of this view: “Those who say that Allah is not derivative do not consider it to designate a quality, but only the Holy Essence itself, whose true nature cannot be  perceived. For the naming of the Essence only occurs on the basis of belief, not vision. If this vision occurs with the eye of the intellect, then that which the eye of intellect falls upon is constrained. But the essence is beyond all constraint. And if this vision occurs with the eye of witnessing and the unveiling of the Essence, then there is no name for the Essence from this presence for witnessing It effaces all names, qualities, and named things, and erases all signs of the qualities, acts, and essences. Thus, in either case, no name can be designated for the Holy Essence except from the presence of belief alone, and to try to progress further is to meet with failure.” ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī, *The Divine Names: A Mystical Theology of the Names of God in the Qurʾan*, trans. and ed. Yousef Casewit (Yale University Press, 2025), 4–7. [^90]: Qur’an 19:65. According to this interpretation, no individual in history has ever borne the name “Allah,” a phenomenon that some scholars regard as one of the Prophet’s miracles. By declaring, on behalf of God, that no one may bear this name except Him, God has ensured its exclusivity, despite the attempts of religious detractors to undermine the Prophet. Another unique feature of the name “Allah” is that it alone among the divine names does not serve as a model for human ethical emulation. The principle of “emulating the attributes of God” (*al-takhalluq bi-akhlāq Allāh*) applies to all other divine names. Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī, *Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, ed. Aḥmad al-Ḥalawānī (Dār Āzāl, 1986), 57. For a discussion of *al-takhalluq bi-akhlāq Allāh*, see Yousef Casewit, “Al-Ghazālī’s Virtue Ethical Theory of the Divine Names: The Theological Underpinnings of the Doctrine of *Takhalluq* in *al-Maqṣad al-Asnā*,” *Journal of Islamic Ethics* 1–2, no. 4 (2020). [^91]: Qur’an 7:138 and 20:88. Al-Rāzī further argues that the name “Allah” is not derived from a root. If it were, its meaning would be general, allowing it to refer to multiple entities. Derived words signify that the original meaning applies broadly and can include others. Were this true of the name “Allah,” then the statement “there is no god but Allah” would fail to affirm exclusive monotheism, as it would not preclude others from sharing the designation. Consequently, the phrase would lose its universally recognized monotheistic force. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:163. [^92]: Al-Zarkashī distinguishes between the name “Allah” and the term “God” (*ilāh*), noting that *ilāh* is a broader designation used for both the true God and false deities, such as idols worshiped by polytheists. In contrast, the name “Allah” refers exclusively to the One True God. To support his claim, al-Zarkashī cites a verse from Sūrat Maryam as evidence that no one else bears this unique name, underscoring its singularity and exclusivity. [^93]: While the latter interpretation is more favored within the *tafsīr* tradition, the former is also adopted by several classical exegetes. [^94]: By “the majority,” al-Zarkashī refers to the majority of scholars who maintain that the name “Allah” is derived from another word. [^95]: Scholars who assert that the name “Allah” is derived from a root differ regarding its origin and etymological construction. Al-Rāzī records eight derivations: 1) *al-ilāh* (the deity), meaning “the object of worship”; 2) *alihta ilā fulān* (finding repose with someone), as intellects find tranquility in His remembrance and spirits ascend through gnosis of Him; 3) *walah* (bewilderment), reflecting how creation is overwhelmed in contemplating His gnosis; 4) *lāha* (to be elevated), signifying His transcendence above creation; 5) *aliha* (to be confounded), highlighting the human incapacity to comprehend His essence; 6) *lāha*/*yalūhu* (to be concealed), pointing to His sublimity, which eludes human intellect; 7) *aliha al-faṣīl* (a weaned camel’s longing for its mother), symbolizing the servants’ yearning for God; and 8) *aliah*/*yaʾlahu* (to fear and seek refuge), as God is the protector from harm. See al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:164-69; English translation in *The Great Exegesis*, 245-53. A ninth view, unrecorded by al-Rāzī, derives “Allah” from the pronoun “*hā*” (He) with the *lām* indicating possession (i.e., owner of all creation) and the definite article *al-* added to express reverence and majesty. See Qaradāghī in al-Zarkashī, *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh*, 110–11. For a fuller treatment of all views, see al-Qushayrī, *Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 65–86; Al-Yūsī, *Mashrab al-ʿām wal-khāṣṣ*, 1:351–60. From an epigraphic attestation perspective, pre-Islamic North and South Arabian inscriptions—such as the corpus of Safaitic rock graffiti—attest to the use of *ʾlh* or *lh* as the proper name of a pagan deity. See Ahmad Al-Jallad, “On the Genetic Background of the Rbbl bn Hfʿm Grave Inscription at Qaryat al-Fāw,” *Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies* 77, no. 3 (2014): 451. Bilingual Arabic-Greek inscriptions confirm the pronunciation “Allah” in theophoric names. See Ahmad Al-Jallad, “Graeco-Arabica I: The Southern Levant,” in *Arabic in Context: Celebrating 400 Years of Arabic at Leiden University*, ed. Ahmad Al-Jallad (Brill, 2017), 107, 132, and 163. Ḥimyarite inscriptions refer to *ʾln/ʾlhn* and al-Raḥmān as the sovereign of heaven and earth. See Christian Robin and Sarah Rijziger, “‘The Owner of the Sky, God of Israel’ in a New Jewish Ḥimyaritic Inscription Dating from the Fifth Century CE,” *Der Islam* 95, no. 2 (2018): 278–81. Late Christian inscriptions, including one in Arabic script from 548/9 CE near Dūmah, tend to preserve the fuller form *al-ilāh*. See Christian Robin, “al-ʾIlāh et Allāh: les deux noms de Dieu chez les Arabes chrétiens de Najrān au 6e siècle de l’ère chrétienne,” *Hawliyāt* 19 (2020–2021): 67 and 70–72. [^96]: Qur’an 7:180. [^97]: This is a reference to the opinion that the proper noun “Allah” is derived from *ilāh*. [^98]: Among the Arabic articles of oath, the letter *tā* is uniquely associated with the name “Allah,”conferring upon it a special linguistic virtue. [^99]: Many grammarians assert that a noun cannot simultaneously take both the definite article *al-* and the vocative particle *yāʾ*, as this would result in redundant definiteness. [^100]: Qaradāghī summarizes several unique features of the name “Allah” in his annotations on al-Zarkashī’s text: 1) No one else has ever been named “Allah,” and the name has neither a dual nor plural form; 2) In vocative usage, the particle *yāʾ* can be omitted  and replaced with the suffix *mīm* (as in *allāhumma*); 3) All other divine names function as attributes of “Allah,” whereas “Allah” is not an attribute of any other name; 4) The grammatical combination of both definite particles (*al-* and *yāʾ*) is permissible only with the name “Allah” (e.g., *yā* Allah); 5) The name “Allah” serves as the default word in oath constructions; 6) The letter *tā* is uniquely associated with it in oaths; 7) Every definite noun has an original indefinite form, except “Allah,” as He has no partner; and 8) The letter *alif* in Allah is omitted in writing (اللاه) to distinguish it from Allāt اللات, a pre-Islamic idol. See ʿAlī Qaradāghī in al-Zarkashī, *Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh*, 122–3, fn 2. Al-Rāzī adds two further distinctive characteristics of the name “Allah.” First, its internal structure reveals a series of meaningful reductions: removing the initial *alif* yields *li-llāh* (“to Allah”), as in “To Allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 48:7); removing the first *lām* leaves *lahu* (“to Him”), as in “To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 39:63); and further omitting the second *lām* produces *hu* (“He”), as in “Say: He (*huwa*) is Allah, the One” (Qur’an 112:1). The final *wāw* in *huwa* distinguishes it from dual and plural pronouns (*humā* and *hum*), reinforcing the singularity of *hu.* This sequence, unique to Allah*,* has no equivalent among other divine names. This uniqueness extends to both the meaning and invocation of the name “Allah.” When one calls upon Allah as al-Raḥmān (the Merciful), it emphasizes His compassion, but not necessarily His supremacy. Similarly, invoking al-ʿAlīm (the All-Knowing) foregrounds His omniscience, but not His omnipotence. In contrast, the invocation of “*yā Allah*” comprehensively encompasses all divine attributes, as the possession of these attributes is intrinsic to being an *ilāh* (deity). Second, the testimony of faith required for conversion to Islam is specific to the name “Allah.” Affirmation of any other divine name may acknowledge particular attributes but does not suffice for entering the faith. Only the declaration of *lā ilāha illā Allāh* fulfills this foundational requirement, underscoring the exclusive theological and creedal role of the name. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:169–70. [^101]: Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqilānī, *Tamhīd al-ʾawāʾil fī talkhīṣ al-dalāʾil*, ed. ʿImād al-Dīn Ḥaydar (Muʾassasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyya, 1987), 152–155. [^102]: Al-Bāqilānī, *Tamhīd al-ʾawāʾil*, 155. [^103]: Qur’an 7:180. Scholars differ regarding the enumeration and scope of these divine names, with three primary views emerging: 1) They are limited to the ninety-nine names mentioned in the hadith, “Allah has ninety-nine names; whoever memorizes and comprehends them will enter Paradise”; 2) They include all names indicative of divine grandeur and majesty; and 3) They consist of affirmative attributes of perfection (*ṣifāt al-maʿānī*), such as knowledge, power, will, hearing, sight, speech, and life. See Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī, *al-Amad al-aqṣā fī sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā wa ṣifātuh alʿulā*, eds ʿAbdullāh al-Tūrātī and Aḥmad ʿArrūbī, 2 vols. (Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Kittāniyya, 2015), 1:175. Proponents of the second view differ in their extrapolation of the divine names from the Qur’an and Sunnah. Ibn al-ʿArabī identified 146 names in his *Aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, later adding 30 more in *al-Amad al-aqṣā*. Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī, *Aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAṭa, 4 vols., (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003), 2:339–50. Similarly, al-Qurṭubī compiled over 200 names by combining agreed-upon and disputed ones. Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī, *al-Asnā fī sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā wa ṣifātih*, ed. ʿIrfān al-Dimashqī (Al-Maktaba al-ʿAṣriyya, 2005). Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. ʿAbdullāh al-Turkī, 24 vols. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2006), 9:391–2. [^104]: Ibn al-ʿArabī recorded five interpretations of the description of Allah’s names as “Most Excellent” in Qur’an 7:180. These are: 1) They signify magnificence, as all magnificent names belong to Him; 2) Memorizing and understanding them leads to Paradise, as indicated in the hadith \[*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7392\]; 3) They inspire hearts with Allah’s mercy and generosity, cultivating devotion; 4) Their excellence lies in the nobility of their referent, as no knowledge surpasses knowledge of Allah; and 5) They enable comprehension of Allah’s necessary (*wājib*), possible (*jāʾiz*), and impossible (*mustaḥīl*) attributes, thus facilitating excellence in belief and action. Ibn al-ʿArabī, *Aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, 2:338. Al-Qurṭubī added another layer of interpretation: “Allah described His names as ‘Most Excellent’ because they are pleasing to the ear and resonate with the heart, signifying His oneness, generosity, benevolence, mercy, and kindness.” Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ il-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, 9:393. [^105]: The Arabic edition attributes the story to Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*, but the narrative could not be located in that work. Instead, it appears in al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:163. [^106]: The doctrine of *beatific vision*—the believers’ ability to behold Allah—was a major point of contention among early Islamic theological schools. The Muʿtazilites categorically denied its possibility, asserting that it was logically inconceivable. Vision, they argued, necessitates that the object of perception possesses material form, color, or spatial dimensions—conditions fundamentally incompatible with Allah’s transcendence. To support their view, the Muʿtazilites cited the Qur’anic verse: “You will never see Me” (*lan tarānī*, Qur’an 7:143), interpreting the particle *lan* as denoting eternal and absolute negation. Consequently, they reinterpreted other Qur’anic verses and hadiths affirming the vision of Allah, treating them as either metaphorical or inconsistent with their theological framework, which precludes any notion of corporeality or directionality in reference to God. In contrast, the Sunnis affirmed the possibility of seeing Allah, particularly in the Hereafter, while emphatically denying that this entails any corporeal form or spatial delimitation. According to the Sunni position, God may be seen by the believers in a manner befitting His majesty, without implying physical form, encompassment, or direction. Their critique of the Muʿtazilite position centered on its application of material-world categories to the unseen realm (*ʿālam al-ghayb*), whose true nature lies beyond human comprehension. The Sunnis upheld the apparent meaning of Qur’anic verses and hadiths affirming the beatific vision on the Day of Judgment, while refraining from speculating about the modality of this vision. Among Sunni scholars, however, there was internal disagreement regarding the possibility of an unmediated vision of God in this world: While some held that such a vision is limited to the Hereafter, others allowed for its theoretical possibility in extraordinary circumstances. [^107]: We could not locate this reference in *al-Shāmil.* [^108]: Qur’an 2:94–95. [^109]: Qur’an 69:27. [^110]: This also serves as a response to the Muʿtazilī argument that *lan* signifies eternal negation. Despite the negation in “they will never long for death,” Allah also states that they will indeed desire death in the Hereafter. This demonstrates that *lan* may denote emphatic negation without necessarily implying permanence or eternity. [^111]: Qur’an 2:24. [^112]: Qur’an 22:73. [^113]: Qur’an 2:55. [^114]: Qur’an 19:26. [^115]: Qur’an 2:95. [^116]: The particles denoting futurity are the prefix *sīn* and the word *sawfa*, which modify present-tense verbs to indicate future actions. [^117]: This is a reference to Qur’an 7:143, “When Moses came for the appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show Yourself to me: let me see You!’ He said, ‘You will never see Me (*lan tarānī*), but look at that mountain: if it remains standing firm, you will see Me,’ and when his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble: Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance! I am the first to believe!’” [^118]: Qur’an 2:95 and 62:7. [^119]: Qur’an 62:6. [^120]: Qur’an 75:31. [^121]: Qur’an 90:11. [^122]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 3881. The hadith narrates that a man ate with his left hand in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet advised him, “Eat with your right hand.” The man responded: “I cannot.” The Prophet ﷺ then supplicated, “May you not be able to do so!” As a result, the man was unable to raise his right hand to his mouth for eating thereafter. [^123]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2379. Scholars have differed in their interpretation of this statement. Some have understood it as a supplication, meaning, “May Allah not accept your fasting.” Others, however, have interpreted it as a declaration of negation, connoting “their fasting will not be accepted.” ## Summary In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad ﷺ, his family, and his companions. Allah, Exalted is He, commands in Sūrat Muḥammad, “So know that there is no deity except Allah” (Qur’an 47:19). What renders this command remarkable is its timing, for it was revealed roughly fifteen years into the Prophet’s mission, when he ﷺ and his companions already possessed unshakable conviction in God’s oneness. This suggests that knowing God’s oneness is not a single acknowledgment but an ongoing process requiring sustained reflection and inner renewal. Scholars have understood this command in various ways, many reading it as a call to seek sacred knowledge concerning the theological, spiritual, and practical implications of the testimony lā ilāha illā Allāh, which lies at the very heart of Islamic theology. The Prophet ﷺ described faith as comprising over seventy branches, with this testimony occupying the highest rank, its truth reaching beyond intellectual affirmation to profound conviction and the cultivation of virtue. Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778) said, “If certainty truly fills the heart, it will ascend in yearning for Paradise and trembling in fear of Hellfire.” Some scholars interpreted the verse, “So by your Lord, We will surely question them all about what they used to do,” as an indication that each person will be held accountable for upholding this testimony. Aḥmad al-Dardīr (d. 1201/1786), the Egyptian Mālikī jurist, explains in his poem al-Kharīda al-bahiyya that lā ilāha illā Allāh encompasses the three pillars of theology: divinity, prophethood, and doctrines known through revelation, since its complementary declaration, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” affirms the Prophet’s mission and the truth of revealed teachings. Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490) notes that when fully comprehended, its utterance illuminates and purifies the heart and stands as a weapon against Satan. Devout believers have long made it a cornerstone of their devotion, some reciting it tens of thousands of times daily. Certain scholars, drawing upon spiritual experiences rather than authenticated prophetic reports, held that uttering it seventy thousand times over a lifetime offers protection from Hell; these reports, while not rooted in sound narrations, reflect the tradition’s esteem for its efficacy. The Qur’an refers to this testimony in various contexts. Reports attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās note at least nine verses stressing its articulation or the necessity of acting by its meaning. Scholars derived numerous names for it, each highlighting a facet of its significance: the Word of Unity (kalimat al-tawḥīd), the Word of Sincerity (kalimat al-ikhlāṣ), the Word of Perfection (kalimat al-iḥsān, linked to Qur’an 55:60), the Prayer of Truth (Qur’an 13:14), the Word of Justice (Qur’an 16:90), the Good Speech (Qur’an 22:24), the Pure Word likened to a good tree (Qur’an 14:24), the Firm Word (Qur’an 14:27), the Word of Righteousness (Qur’an 48:26), the Lasting Word left by Abraham (Qur’an 43:28), the Word of Steadfastness (Qur’an 46:13), the Supreme Word of God (Qur’an 9:40), the Sublime Similitude (Qur’an 16:60), the Covenant (Qur’an 19:87), the Keys of the Heavens and Earth, the Word of Truth (Qur’an 43:86), the Firmest Bond (Qur’an 2:256), the Word of Truthfulness (Qur’an 39:33), and the Common Word (Qur’an 3:64). Some exegetes even read the command to the Israelites to say ḥiṭṭa as a call to affirm it, though the authenticity of such reports remains debated. Concerning remembrance, Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Sakandarī (d. 709/1309) describes dhikr as the removal of heedlessness through the heart’s presence with the Divine, extending beyond verbal invocation to reflection, supplication, obedience, and abstention, whether by tongue, heart, or limbs; when these converge, they yield “complete remembrance.” Numerous traditions affirm the testimony’s virtue. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best thing that I and the prophets before me have said is, ‘There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner,’” with al-Tirmidhī’s version adding, “His is the dominion and His is the praise.” In another narration, Allah told Moses that were the seven heavens and earths placed on one side of a balance and this testimony on the other, the testimony would outweigh them. The Prophet ﷺ also taught that whoever recites it a hundred times daily earns the reward of freeing ten slaves and protection from Satan until evening, and that no servant utters it sincerely except that the gates of Heaven open for it, so long as he avoids major sins. As the supreme remembrance, it served both God’s friends and adversaries in distress: Jonah proclaimed it from the whale’s belly and was delivered, since God testifies, “Had he not been of those who exalt Allah…,” whereas Pharaoh uttered it while drowning with an absent heart and it was not accepted. The reciter is encouraged to intend by “lā ilāha” the removal of all besides God from the heart, and by “illā Allāh” the establishment of His presence, with mindful presence in each utterance. Some held that if the heart turns to another during remembrance, that object is treated as a god, as warned in “Have you seen the one who takes his own desire as his god?” Reciters of tajwīd recommend madd al-taʿẓīm, lengthening the phrase to intensify the negation of all divinity besides God, a practice Ibn Mihrān (d. 381/991) explained and al-Nawawī praised in al-Adhkār. Regarding expiation, scholars debated whether the testimony atones only for minor sins or, per some readings, may protect even from Hellfire, while agreeing that full expiation of major sins requires repentance and restoring violated rights. The Prophet ﷺ said, “I have been commanded to fight against people until they declare lā ilāha illā Allāh,” establishing verbal declaration as the legal pillar securing life and property, distinct from the inner knowledge that is faith’s essential core before God. Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh outlines five ascending degrees, from mere utterance, to conviction by imitation, to rational comprehension, to certitude by proof, and finally to spiritual witnessing. On salvation, the Prophet ﷺ said, “If anyone’s last words are ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh,’ they will enter Paradise,” and named the one who sincerely declares it as most fortunate to receive his intercession. Many scholars explained “last words” to mean a life lived in fidelity to the testimony, not merely a final utterance. He ﷺ commanded, “Exhort your dying ones to recite lā ilāha illā Allāh,” and prompting the dying (talqīn) is unanimously Sunnah, though jurists differ over its extension after burial. In the hadith of the card (biṭāqa), the card inscribed with the testimony outweighs ninety-nine scrolls of sins, for nothing outweighs the name of Allah. Yet scholars noted the scale does not tip by mere utterance, else all would be saved; some who enter Hell despite uttering tawḥīd remain until brought out by intercession or grace. Al-Sanūsī, in Umm al-barāhīn, enumerates the testimony’s fruits as righteous virtues, including detachment (zuhd), reliance (tawakkul), conscientious shame, spiritual sufficiency, neediness to God, altruism, chivalry, and gratitude, and as extraordinary divine favors (karāmāt), which the believer must never pursue lest he fall into hidden shirk, but rather seek only his Lord’s pleasure. Al-Dasūqī (d. 1230/1815) defines zuhd as the heart’s inner detachment, compatible with possessing wealth. Badr al-Dīn al-Zarkashī (d. 794/1392), the Shāfiʿī jurist born in Mamluk Cairo in 745/1344, was renowned for erudition and piety, studying under Ibn Kathīr, al-Isnawī, and al-Bulqīnī, and authoring al-Burhān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān and al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ. His treatise Maʿnā lā ilāha illā Allāh, composed in a single night in twenty-nine sections, examines the phrase’s grammatical, rhetorical, legal, theological, and spiritual dimensions. He favors positing an implied predicate, “in truth,” so the phrase affirms the one true God and negates all false gods. He notes that beginning with negation clears the heart for the manifestation of tawḥīd, that all its letters issue from the oral cavity and are undotted, and that lā more forcefully conveys general negation than mā. He affirms, following Sībawayh, that “Allah” is the most definite of nouns, a proper name unique to His essence, and engages al-Bāqillānī’s position that God’s names are ordained (tawqīfiyya), alongside the differing views of others and al-Ghazālī’s distinction between names and attributes. On the particles of negation, he holds against the Muʿtazila that neither lā nor lan inherently signifies eternal negation; rather, permanence is determined by context, refuting the denial of the Beatific Vision drawn from “You will never see Me.” And may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad ﷺ, his family, and his companions, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. ## Key Takeaways 1. The Testimony of Faith, *lā ilāha illā Allāh*, is unmatched in the practice of remembrance, as it contains the essence of faith. God mentions it thirty-seven times in the Qur’an, and every act of worship embodies its meaning. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best thing that I and the prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner’ (*lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah*)” (*Al-Muwaṭṭa*ʾ, no. 726). 2. Experts in rhetoric (ahl al-maʿānī) explain that the Testimony of Faith begins with negation (lā ilāha) because negation clears and purifies the heart. Once emptied of all but God, the heart becomes receptive to the manifestation of divine oneness (tawḥīd) and affirms illā Allāh. The statement lā ilāha illā Allāh, in this particular formula, synthesizes negation and affirmation to signify the exclusiveness (ḥaṣr) of divinity to Allah, the Most High. This is one of the most articulate formulas by which to define something, clearly setting boundaries or limits around it. 3. Among the unique characteristics of the name “Allah,” the Most High, is that it is a proper noun that is specific to Him—unlike all His other names, which describe His attributes. All of His names refer to Him, but they are not used to refer to each other. As the Qur’an says, “The Most Excellent Names belong to Allah.” (Qur’an 7:180). Other names—even if unused—can be imagined as names for others. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does Lā ilāha illa Allāh mean? The testimony *Lā ilāha illa Allāh* translates to “There is no deity except Allah.” It is the foundational declaration of Islamic faith and the criterion by which religious belief and practice are measured. The phrase combines a negation (“there is no deity”) with an affirmation (“except Allah”), excluding all false objects of worship while affirming the exclusive divinity of Allah. Together with its complementary declaration “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” it encompasses the three foundational pillars of Islamic creed: divinity (*ilahiyyāt*), prophethood (*nubuwwāt*), and doctrines known only through revelation (*samʿiyyāt*). Though simple to pronounce and easy to memorize, it functions as a spiritual compass, grounding the believer in the realities of faith. ### What are the rewards of saying Lā ilāha illa Allāh? The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites the testimony with its full formula a hundred times in a day receives a reward equivalent to freeing ten slaves, has a hundred good deeds recorded, a hundred sins erased, and is safeguarded from Satan until evening. He ﷺ also said that no servant utters *Lā ilāha illa Allāh* sincerely except that the gates of Heaven open for it until it reaches the Throne, so long as the person avoids major sins. Scholars hold that the testimony primarily atones for minor sins, though some interpret certain hadiths as extending its protection even to major sins for those who recite it sincerely. Complete expiation of major sins, however, requires sincere repentance and the restitution of any rights violated against others. Through the blessing of the testimony, Allah may also soften hearts toward reconciliation, opening a wider path to divine pardon. ### Does saying “Lā ilāha illa Allāh” at the moment of death guarantee Paradise? The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever’s last words are *Lā ilāha illa Allāh* will enter Paradise and that whoever dies certain of its truth will be admitted. He ﷺ also instructed believers to prompt their dying loved ones to recite it, a practice known as *talqīn*. At the moment of death, worldly desires fade and the testimony often arises with a sincerity unmatched by everyday utterance. However, scholars caution against reading “last words” too narrowly. Some understand the phrase to refer not only to a final spoken utterance but to a life consistently lived in fidelity to *Lā ilāha illa Allāh*. In this broader sense, someone whose existence bears witness to divine oneness may be counted among those whose “last words” were the testimony, even if not physically spoken at the final breath. The depth of inner certainty (*yaqīn*) is what gives the testimony its salvific weight. ### Why does Lā ilāha illa Allāh begin with a negation rather than an affirmation? The testimony opens with a denial (“there is no god”) before its affirmation (“except Allah”), an order that carries both a grammatical and a spiritual weight. Grammatically, a comprehensive negation followed by an exclusive affirmation produces a stronger statement than affirmation alone. By first denying any divinity to anything else and then affirming it exclusively for Allah, the phrase becomes both more rhetorically forceful and theologically precise than a simple assertion of God’s oneness. Building on this structure, scholars of rhetoric (*balagha*) drew out a spiritual interpretation. The negation, they held, clears the heart of everything other than God, including idols, desires, and false attachments, creating the empty space in which divine oneness can settle. Only once the heart is vacated of rivals can the light of Allah shine within it. Some further noted that this purification polishes the heart’s essence, allowing hidden truths and deeper insight to surface, a meaning they connected to the inner knowledge cultivated in the Sufi tradition. The arrangement is thus not merely grammatical but a model for the cultivation of *tawhid* in the heart. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-divine-wisdom-behind-the-pairing-of-allahs-names-in-the-quran # The Divine Wisdom Behind the Pairing of Allah's Names in the Qur'an **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Tags:** Names of Allah, Paper, Publication **Published:** December 11, 2025 **Updated:** September 4, 2026 ## Introduction “Allah has ninety-nine names. Whoever preserves (*ahsaha* or *hafidhaha*) them will enter Paradise.”[^1] Such was the teaching of the Prophet ﷺ. Many of us have heard this hadith, but fewer of us have internalized the true scope of its meaning. To preserve Allah’s names is not simply to memorize them—it is to live by them. “To Allah belong the best names, so call upon Him (*udʿuhu biha*) with them.”[^2]  *Duʿa* in the Qur’an can refer to supplication specifically and worship more broadly, depending on the context.[^3] Here, we are being told to call upon Allah with His names—for example, “O Allah, forgive me, You are the Most Forgiving the Most Merciful”—and to worship Him through these names.[^4] The latter entails embodying His qualities and living in light of the knowledge of that name. Worshipping Him through His name the Merciful can mean, for example, showing mercy to people just as we love for Allah to show mercy to us. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.”[^5] It also means turning to Allah when we make a mistake, since we know that no mistake is greater than Allah’s mercy. In every case, understanding and connecting to these names is critical. As al-Razi observes, “Supplicating to Allah with His names is not possible unless one knows the meanings of the names.”[^6] Therefore, Allah’s names are not merely meant to be memorized; they are to be understood. Each name has a specific, independent meaning (even if some meanings may overlap) that can help us to know, connect to, and worship God in diverse ways. We are all unique individuals, with varying life circumstances and emotional states, and our needs differ accordingly. Understanding the meanings of Allah’s names is therefore crucial for connecting to Him, no matter who we are or what we are going through. However, we may not assume that knowing Allah’s names merely entails learning their linguistic definitions. Certainly, definitions form the foundation of our knowledge, but imagine trying to develop a deep relationship with someone on the basis of a one-line description. That short description might spark your curiosity, and form the starting point for that relationship, but you would not stop there. You would want to interact with them. You would want to witness their character in action. You would want to know if you could trust them. Hence al-Ghazali, like many other scholars,[^7] states that, “The science of highest nobility is the experiential knowledge (*maʿrifa*) of Allah Almighty, for all other branches of knowledge are sought for its sake, while it is not sought for anything else.”[^8] To truly know Allah, then, we must start by studying, learning, and *experiencing*  His names, as recorded in the Qur’an (as well as in sound narrations of the Prophet ﷺ). Every word in the Qur’an is deliberately placed to guide us to Him. The verses contextualize His names and help us understand them in relation to each other, so that we can better understand how they manifest in our own lives. Many names are paired (*muqtarina*)[^9] at the conclusion of verses, and this is no coincidence. Even the sequence in which the names appear contains divine wisdom and an intimate awareness of our psychology, emotional needs, and lived realities, which is why our scholars afforded so much attention to exploring them. Indeed, the pairing of names perfects our understanding of Allah’s perfection.[^10] Human language and imagination are limited by what we have seen and experienced. The word “king,” for example, may conjure up different images for different people: for some, a transgressive tyrant; for others, a benevolent authority. Similarly, the quality of “mercy” might strike one person as a weakness, another as a strength, and still another as implying no accountability for wrongdoers. Subconsciously, we impose human limits on the possibilities of mercy. This is not in its essence wrong, because our understanding of mercy is based on what it looks like (or should look like) at a human level. Allah created our minds this way, and He understands how they work. He knows that we think in terms of our empirical, worldly experiences. The problem occurs when we inadvertently anthropomorphize Allah’s attributes, imposing upon them the limits that we experience in our interactions with other human beings.[^11] The pairing of certain names in the Qur’an helps banish any misestimations of al-Quddus—the Holy, free from anything blameworthy and infinitely beyond human inadequacies. This paper reflects upon the significance of verse endings (*fawasil al-ayat* or *al-fawasil al-Qurʾaniyya*), Allah’s names, and the order in which they appear, focusing particularly on His paired names. It is hoped that by pausing to contemplate Allah’s names in the Qur’an, we will be able to perceive their full beauty, connect to our Lord, and nourish our hearts and souls. While the overall meaning of Qur’anic verses is clear, we will only access their subtler nuances by taking time to reflect. The order of the verses themselves, the choice of words within them, and how they end, all add meaning and depth, as we will see below. Ultimately, we will find that the real pleasure of knowing Allah’s names is simply that: knowing Him and living in the light of this knowledge. When we experience Allah’s names, our hearts become so completely filled with love for Him that submission to Him is not only natural, but the most blissful state imaginable. --- ## Rhetorical periods Al-Zarkashi defines a “rhetorical period (*fasila*)” as “the final word of a verse, like the rhyme in poetry or the paired word in rhymed prose (*sajʿ*).”[^12] The conclusions of verses—*al-fawasil* (pl.)—are significant. From a linguistic standpoint, al-Qurtubi states that rhetorical periods are a “beautification of rhythmic speech,” without which “one could not distinguish verse from prose.”[^13] He warns that “failing to pause at \[these rhetorical periods\] hides that beauty and makes verse sound like prose—ultimately doing a disservice to what is being recited.”[^14] Ibn ʿAshur adds that pausing at the rhetorical periods “serves to make them heard clearly, so that the listeners’ souls are moved by the beauty of that symmetry—just as they are moved by rhyme in poetry and by rhythmic cadence in rhymed prose.”[^15] Rhetorical periods not only add eloquence from a linguistic perspective, but bring clarity to the whole verse.[^16] For example, in Surah Hud, Allah recounts how the disbelievers scorned Prophet Shuʿayb: > They asked \[sarcastically\], “O Shuʿayb! Does your prayer command you that we should abandon what our forefathers worshipped or give up managing our wealth as we please? Indeed, you are such a tolerant (*halim)*, sensible (*rashid)* man!”[^17] The verse first mentions how the people of Shuʿayb worshipped (prayer), and then how they managed their wealth. This sequence of characteristics is mirrored by the sequence with which the verse concludes: *hilm* (maturity) complements worship (as worship becomes obligatory once one reaches puberty), while *rushd* (discernment) complements the proper management of wealth.[^18] This is a simple example of the congruence of Qur’anic syntax, as well as the significance of verse endings. The aforementioned meanings cannot be gleaned from a cursory reading, only extracted through deep contemplation of both the content (words) and form (organization) of the verse. Many other verses end in just this way: Allah tells us who He is, connects us to Him, and helps us to understand His words in light of His names. --- ## Pairing of the names As mentioned before, Allah pairs many of His names throughout the Qur’an. This rhetorical and literary technique opens up new dimensions in our relationship with Allah by giving us a fuller understanding of Him. First, when Allah pairs complementary names together, He illuminates the expansive scope of their meanings. A mention of forgiveness naturally invokes the idea of mercy, as the two are related, just as hearing invokes seeing, and so on.[^19] Hence, the Qur’an regularly pairs naturally-related names. For instance, the pairing “al-Ghafur al-Rahim” (the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful) recurs 71 times,[^20] and “al-Samiʿ al-Basir” (the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing) 45 times.[^21] These pairings deepen our understanding of Allah: He not only forgives but has mercy, He not only hears all but He sees all as well. Second, Allah anticipates the doubts that might arise in our minds by pairing certain names. For instance, His name al-ʿAziz (the Almighty) is frequently coupled with al-Hakim (the Most Wise). Those who possess power are often hasty and reactive, transgressing against the rights of others, but Allah reassures us that His might is always exercised with the highest wisdom. Similarly, those with wisdom may be weak, unable to act upon that wisdom for the benefit of others, but Allah is wise in His might and mighty in His wisdom.[^22] His name al-ʿAziz is also paired frequently with His name al-Rahim, particularly in Surah al-Shuʿaraʾ.[^23] One might think that these two names are contradictory. They are not. As al-Tabari explains, none can escape al-ʿAziz once He has decreed their punishment, but nonetheless al-Rahim is merciful toward those who repent for their disbelief and disobedience.[^24] As for the order of the names, al-Razi states that the Almighty is mentioned here before the Most Merciful to avoid suggesting that Allah only shows mercy to those who rebel against Him (a group mentioned in the previous verse) because of His inability to punish them. Allah preempts this misconception by stating that He is al-ʿAziz, whose power none can match, and yet He is still Merciful to His servants. Despite His ability to hasten their punishment for their rejection of Him, He does not withhold His mercy from them. Allah repeats this pairing in Surah al-Shuʿaraʾ in different contexts, highlighting His strength when people rebel against Him, but reminding us of His mercy in repeatedly sending reminders to the misguided as well as saving His righteous servants. Another misconception cleared by the pairing of Allah’s names is the total nature of His forgiveness and love. When it comes to human beings, a person may forgive you or show you mercy, and still not like you. Allah, however, tells us: “And He is the Forgiving (al-Ghafur), the Affectionate (al-Wadud).”[^25] *Wudd* is an affectionate and tender love;[^26] it is a love that is expressed without implying need or dependence on creation. Allah thus reassures us that He both forgives us and loves us.[^27] This placates any fears that Allah may not return to loving someone after their repentance, despite having forgiven them.[^28] On the contrary, Allah *loves* those who repent (Qur’an 2:222). He invites us to return to Him and then reminds us of His love: “And ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful (Rahim) and Affectionate (Wadud).”[^29] The pairing of Rahim and Wadud teaches us that Allah is intensely affectionate towards those who seek nearness to Him through repentance;[^30] it is not a compassion expressed out of pity or obligation, nor is it devoid of love. Furthermore, unlike divine love, some forms of human love can be destructive. A parent, out of love for their child, can spoil them to such a degree that the child never learns to discern between the harmful and hurtful, and never develops a capacity for self-discipline. This is a kind of parental love that, however intense or sincere, ultimately harms the child. Part of the meaning of *rahma*—mercy—is that its expression brings about benefit and wards off harm.[^31] A parent may take a smartphone away from a child to the dismay of that child, but it is in their best interests. Outwardly, it might not seem “kind” (particularly not for the screaming child!), but every rational person knows that it is done out of care—hence, it is truly, and not only superficially, merciful. Allah tells us He is Rahimun Wadud to underline that His mercy and love are expressed in a way that brings us true benefit and spares us from all forms of harm, both physical and metaphysical, in this life and the next. Another name frequently paired with others is al-Shakur (the Appreciative). It is an inherently reassuring name, reminding us that He is constantly appreciative of any good that we do, no matter how small or overlooked by others, and rewards us disproportionately for those deeds. The Prophet ﷺ taught us, “Do not belittle any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.”[^32] Our appreciation for al-Shakur is enhanced when this name is paired with others, helping address our subtle insecurities. Allah tells us in the Qur’an, > It is that of which Allah gives good tidings to His servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say, \[O Muhammad\], “I do not ask you for it \[i.e., this message\] any payment \[but\] only goodwill through \[i.e., due to\] kinship.” And whoever commits a good deed We will increase for him good therein. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Appreciative.[^33] This verse appears in the context of Allah inviting people to believe and submit, and comparing the fate of the believers to those who stubbornly deny the Truth.  We are reminded that the Prophet ﷺ is not asking for anything from us, but rather it is Allah who rewards us for our good. The verse ends with Allah declaring Himself both Forgiving (Ghafur) and Appreciative (Shakur): He forgives sins, no matter how grave—including the worst sin, the sin of *shirk*[^34]—whenever people repent from them, and He repays the humblest of good deeds with a great reward.[^35] Knowing only that He is al-Shakur may leave some of us wondering whether we are included in this appreciation, since we fall short so often. We may think, “What is the point of doing good when I am so bad?” Indeed, *people* may write us off and discount our good deeds when they become aware of our bad ones. Yet Allah reassures us: When we turn back to Him, He forgives us *and* He accepts and rewards even the smallest of our good deeds. The Prophet ﷺ once told the story of a prostitute who encountered a panting dog by a well: “Thirst had nearly killed \[the dog\], so she took off her sock, tied it to her veil, and drew up some water. Allah forgave her for that.”[^36] Her sins did not overshadow Allah’s appreciation for her empathy and sincerity; He forgave her and rewarded her. This reminds us that nothing is lost with Him. In fact, Allah guarantees it. He says: “And whoever volunteers good—then indeed, Allah is Appreciative (Shakir) and Knowing (ʿAlim).”[^37] How many times have we done good that went unnoticed by people? How many times have we harbored good intentions only to be disparaged by those who misconstrued our actions? But Allah knows. He knows our hearts and our actions; He appreciates the good, no matter how small or hidden.[^38] Indeed, this is why the Prophet ﷺ tells us in numerous hadiths about seemingly insignificant deeds appreciated by al-Shakur. He ﷺ gave the example of man who was walking down the road when he stumbled upon a thorny branch in his path: “He moved it aside; Allah appreciated his deed and forgave him.”[^39] In another hadith, “I have seen a man enjoying himself in Paradise due to a tree on the road he cut down that used to harm people.”[^40] These were actions that probably no one saw, but they were sincere. These men saw something harming people, and without fanfare, they removed it. They themselves might not have placed much weight on their actions. But Allah is Appreciative and All-Knowing; He knew not only of these men’s acts, but of the state of their hearts. So great was Allah’s appreciation (and mercy) that for these simple actions, He forgave them and granted them Paradise. These reflections are but a glimpse into the beauty of the pairings of His names at the end of the Qur’an’s verses. Through these pairings, Allah deepens our understanding of who He is, brings clarity to His verses as a whole, and reassures the reader. The more we reflect, the more Allah bestows upon us understanding, if He wills. --- ## Sequence of the pairings Much as the pairing of names at the end of any given verse conveys special meanings, the sequence in which those names appear is ordered according to divine logic. These orderings show that the Qur’an is to be read with the soul, intellect, and heart in mind. The sequence of a pairing may inform us about how to think of a matter, or it may reflect the order of a matter that was being discussed. In Surah al-Aʿraf, Allah says, “And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is All-Hearing and All-Knowing.”[^41] Al-Razi interprets this sequence as reassuring us that He hears us as we verbally seek refuge, but also reminding us that seeking refuge with the tongue alone is insufficient. The heart must be present,[^42] as Allah both hears what is uttered (al-Samiʿ) and knows the inner workings of our conscience (al-ʿAlim). A further layer of meaning is suggested by al-Saʿdi, who says that Allah hears your seeking refuge in Him and knows your intentions, your weakness, and the strength of your recourse to Him, so He protects you from Satan’s temptations and safeguards you from his whispers.[^43] Another frequent pairing is al-ʿAlim al-Hakim (the All-Knowing, the Most Wise), demonstrating to us that Allah knows all and is also wise—and indeed, how many people have knowledge, but no wisdom? Yet the order is reversed in other verses (al-Hakim al-ʿAlim). It may be that the context in the first case calls for knowledge and then wisdom, while the second calls for wisdom and then knowledge.[^44] For instance, in Surah al-Baqara, the angels asked Allah why He would create human beings who would sow corruption on earth and cause bloodshed. Allah responded by saying, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”[^45] After Allah taught Adam the names,[^46] He asked the angels whether they knew those same names. “Exalted are You,” they responded. “We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise.”[^47] Here the order of the pairing emphasizes the angels’ acknowledgment of Allah’s all-encompassing knowledge—precisely what they had implicitly questioned when they asked Allah about His creation of humanity—and their own comparative ignorance. Addressing Allah as al-Hakim further affirms that He does not command nor create except with wisdom and purpose.[^48] This context lets us know that the creation of Adam was intentional, undertaken with divine wisdom, and ultimately good. In Surah al-Dhariyat, Prophet Abraham (as) was informed by the angels that he would have a child, despite his wife’s infertility. Upon hearing this, his wife was shocked and incredulous. The angels responded, “Thus has said your Lord; indeed, He is the Wise, the Knowing.”[^49] The angels mention wisdom first, assuring Prophet Abraham and his wife that Allah is the One who places things in their proper place (i.e., this was not a mistake, and indeed was for a greater purpose). The angels then mention that Allah encompasses everything in knowledge—He knew that Abraham’s wife was barren, just as He was not ignorant of any other detail that could seemingly stymie His command—and so they should submit to His decision, and thank Him for this blessing.[^50] These are all subtle nuances that exhibit the depth of the Qur’an for those who reflect. --- ## An exercise in contemplating the pairing of the names Let us take some verses in the Qur’an that conclude with a pair of Allah’s names and ponder over them together. In Surah al-Hujurat, there are three consecutive verses that mention Allah’s names at the end. Allah says, > O you who have attained faith, avoid making too many assumptions—indeed, some assumptions are sinful. And do not spy on one another nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it. So be mindful of Allah; indeed, Allah is **Granting and Accepting of repentance, Bestowing of mercy**. > O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and made you into races and tribes, that you may know one another; indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah are the most mindful \[of Him\] among you; indeed, **Allah is All-Knowing, All-Acquainted**. > The nomadic Arabs said, “We have attained faith.” Say, “You have not attained faith; rather say, ‘We have become Muslims,’ for faith has not yet entered into your hearts. But if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish any of your deeds; indeed, Allah is **Oft-Forgiving, Bestowing of mercy**.”[^51] **The first step to having a cohesive understanding is to contextualize these verses within the chapter as a whole**. Prior to these verses, Allah had already called upon the believers four times (“O you who believe”)—a form of direct address that Ibn ʿAshur says is meant to alert the listener to the importance of what is about to be said. Allah proceeds to teach the believers how to treat one another and calls them to one brotherhood (Qur’an 49:10). The first verse we are discussing here (Qur’an 49:12) continues with this theme, and calls upon those who believe to warn them against certain behaviors.[^52] **The second step is to ponder the meanings of the verses themselves**. The prohibitions mentioned in verse 12 (negative assumptions, spying, backbiting) are subtle. They are thus easier to overlook and harder to avoid.[^53]  Addressing us as “O you who believe” reminds us to live up to who we are: believers. The verse then juxtaposes this aspirational ideal against the reprehensible actions—(negative) assumptions (*dhann*), spying (*tajassus*), and backbiting (*ghiba*)—that are not befitting a believer. Allah says to “avoid making too many assumptions” because “some assumptions are sinful.” Negative assumptions can have at least two consequences. The first, seemingly more benign, is that the assumption, even when one does not act upon it, leads one to unfairly attribute negative qualities to someone who may not have them.[^54] The second, which is more nefarious, is that the negative assumption compels one to verify it through spying, stalking, and the general invasion of another’s privacy. This nosiness opens the door to gossip and speculation. If the suspicion in question is verified, it leads to backbiting: mentioning someone in a way he or she dislikes, even when it is truthful.[^55] Allah employs repulsive imagery to convey the ugliness of these actions. He asks, “Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it!” Allah then commands us to have *taqwa* (God-consciousness), the antidote and prophylactic to this type of thinking, and ends with reminding us that He is al-Tawwab al-Rahim (Accepting of repentance, Bestowing of mercy). **The third step is to reflect upon the relationship between the paired names and the verse as a whole.** Why is Allah mentioning these two names in particular, and why here? What am I meant to learn about Allah as it relates to the overall message of this verse? Believers who read this verse may find that they are guilty of falling into these sins. They may want to embark on the path to God-consciousness, but feel ashamed. They may realize the gravity of their sin, and assume that Allah now rejects them. Yet Allah reminds us that He is al-Tawwab al-Rahim. Al-Tawwab is He who repeatedly inspires and accepts the return of those who are far from returning, and al-Rahim is He who, in His eternal mercy and kindness, does not punish those who repent and in fact accepts them in their totality.[^56] Imagine being told this after committing the very acts we are warned against? It becomes a source of hope, and an encouragement to turn back to Allah. We can now apply this framework to the rest of the verses in this sequence. Again, the following verse reads: > O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and made you into races and tribes, that you may know one another; indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah are the most mindful \[of Him\] among you; indeed, **Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aquainted**. Here we observe a transition from a believer’s responsibilities to others to an individual’s responsibility to herself.[^57] Allah now addresses humanity as a whole, as the twin vices of self-adulation and tribalism were rampant in the pre-Islamic period.[^58] This verse reminds us that we all have the same origin, and that we all came from one male and one female. We come from different nations and tribes so that we may know, rather than reject, one another. Still, human beings inevitably compete in terms of lineage and nation, and so Allah in this verse reminds people that the most honorable in the sight of God is in fact *not* the one with the most “prestigious” lineage, but rather the most righteous (*atqakum*)—a direct follow-up on the call for *taqwa* in the previous verse.[^59] The verse concludes: “He is al-ʿAlim al-Khabir.” In general, al-ʿAlim is the All-Knowing, without limits. In this specific context, however, al-ʿAlīm is He who knows what is outward, whereas al-Khabir is He who knows what is within; al-ʿAlim is He who knows what is open, and al-Khabir is He who knows what is hidden.[^60] Together, these names convey God’s all-encompassing knowledge. Al-ʿAlim al-Khabir knows all realities, external and internal. Allah thus reminds people that He knows who is truly God-conscious and who simply exhibits outward nobility, and He will reward each with what they deserve.[^61] This verse calls on us to observe the state of our hearts, and to revise the importance we attribute to what we think gives us status and prestige. True honor lies in the *taqwa* of our hearts, to which only al-ʿAlim al-Khabir is privy. After Allah informs us that He is al-ʿAlim al-Khabir—and thus knows intimately the state of our hearts—He immediately proceeds to rebuff the nomadic Arabs who had declared, “We believe.” Belief (*iman*) is primarily an internal act that then manifests externally, and includes trust in Allah. The Arabs’ declaration that “we have believed (*amanna*)” implies full belief and everything that entails. The Prophet ﷺ is instructed to tell them to instead say, “We have submitted (*aslamna*),” since true, complete faith had not yet entered their hearts. Allah then guides them to the cure for this weakness of faith: With total obedience to God and His Messenger, their faith will be established,[^62] and their good deeds would not be diminished in the least.[^63] This third verse concludes by reminding us that Allah is “al-Ghafur al-Rahim” (Oft-Forgiving, Bestowing of mercy). Those with incomplete faith, who may have outwardly declared what they did not in fact believe in their hearts, are reminded that Allah is abundant in His forgiveness, and that all can be overlooked and forgiven. The reminder that Allah forgives is an invitation to seek forgiveness and mend one’s ways. In fact, not only does al-Ghafur forgive what has passed, but al-Rahim also bestows His blessings and mercy upon you.[^64] Al-Rahim may come after al-Ghafur because mercy is the root of forgiveness; i.e., Allah forgives because of His intense mercy and care for people, as mercy is broader than forgiveness.[^65] --- ## Conclusion Understanding the Qur’an requires contemplation. It guides us to what is best;[^66] it is light,[^67] mercy, and healing.[^68] How could it not be when it tells us about Allah? Whoever begins this journey to knowing Allah and reflecting upon His words, and immerses themselves in it, “is in an expedited Paradise \[here on earth\], before the Paradise of the Hereafter, and in immediate bliss.”[^69] Allah concludes many verses in the Qur’an with pairings of His names. He pairs His names deliberately, as they open up a new dimension in understanding Him. Rather than skim over these pairings, we should carefully ponder their meanings. Why is Allah mentioning these particular names, in this particular order, at the end of this particular verse? How can I come closer to Allah through knowing Him in this way? These are just some of the questions we can ask upon encountering a pairing of Allah’s names. Remember that every word in the Qur’an has been given its best place, for the express purpose of clarifying reality and guiding us to Allah. When we approach the Qur’an with its divine intentionality in mind, we open ourselves to its richness and ensure that we are always connecting to Him. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7392; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2677. [^2]: Qur’an 7:180. [^3]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāʾiʿ al-fawāʾid* (Dār Kitāb al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 3:1–6. [^4]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāʾiʿ al-fawāʾid*, 1:164. [^5]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1924, authentic according to al-Tirmidhī. [^6]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/7/180](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/7/180&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282687926&usg=AOvVaw2Mpn4HXoKNcioVYjvtp8qy). [^7]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāʾiʿ al-fawāʾid*, 1:161. [^8]: Abū Ḥāmid Ghazālī, *Jawāhir al-Qurʼān*, ed. Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā Qabbānī (Dār Iḥyāʼ al-ʻUlūm, 1986), 1:42. [^9]: This refers to names that are paired together but are also independent names, for example: al-ʿAlīm (All-Knowing) al-Ḥakīm (Most-Wise). Al-ʿAlīm and al-Ḥakīm are independent names and also appear together in the Qur’an. There are other names that are called *al-asmāʾ al-muzdawaja* (coupled names), such as al-Qābiḍ al-Bāsiṭ (the Witholder, the Expander), which are considered one name and must not be separated. [^10]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāʾiʿ al-fawāʾid*, 1:161. [^11]: For example, Allah says, “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing” (42:11). One might think that they “share” hearing and seeing with Allah, but this verse corrects that assumption. Since there is nothing like Him, His Hearing and Seeing are completely unique and perfect, even though the words “hearing” and “seeing” are also applied to imperfect creatures. [^12]: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bahādur al-Zarkashī, *al-Burhān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyya, 1376/1957), 1:53. [^13]: *Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī*, [https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/106/2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/106/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282691784&usg=AOvVaw30v_NXb_cmM_3XPc4ULW3Z). [^14]: *Tafsīr al-Qurtubī*, [https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/106/2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/106/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282692304&usg=AOvVaw1qnCGFb9KQnEhb3IxWvJYg). [^15]: Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr* (al-Dār al-Tūnisiyya li-l-Nashr, 1984), 1:76. [^16]: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Rūmānī, “*al-Nukat fī iʿjāz al-Qurʾān*,” in *Khatm al-āyāt bi asmāʾ al-ḥusnā wa dalālatuha*, ed. ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān al-ʿUbayd (Dār al-ʿAṣima, 1418 AH), 22. This is called “*tamkīn*” in Qur’anic sciences. See Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* (Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1419/1999), 196. [^17]: Qur’an 11:87. [^18]: ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān al-ʿUbayd ed., *Khatm al-āyāt bi asmāʾ al-ḥusnā wa dalālatuha* (Dār al-ʿAṣima, 1418 AH), 23, quoting al-Zarkashī. Also in al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 196. [^19]: Al-ʿUbayd, *Khatm al-āyāt*, 56. [^20]: Amir Ali al-Haddad, *Iḥṣāʾ mā iqtarana min al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā fī al-Qur’ān al-karīm*, 2nd ed. (n.p., 1436/2015), 15. [^21]: Al-Haddad, *Iḥṣāʿ*, 78. [^22]: ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Badr, *Fiqh al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā* (Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 1441 AH), 51–52. [^23]: Qur’an 26:9: “And your Lord is certainly the Almighty \[al-ʿAzīz\], Most Merciful \[al-Raḥīm\].” [^24]: *Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī*, [https://tafsir.app/tabari/26/9](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/tabari/26/9&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282710558&usg=AOvVaw3ugWWIRD73p5B0x5ia3Rhn). [^25]: Qur’an 85:14. [^26]: *The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic*, 4th ed., 1240. [^27]: Māhir Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā: Jalālahā wa laṭāʾif iqtirānihā wa thamarātihā fī ḍawʾ al-Kitāb wal-sunna*, 3rd ed. (al-Imām al-Dhahabī, 2014), 57. See also “The Meaning of Allah’s Name al-Wadūd: Seeking the Love of Allah,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, July 30, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-wadud-seeking-the-love-of-allah](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-wadud-seeking-the-love-of-allah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282712072&usg=AOvVaw2RDgNp1kKhFw7aga6sN7fx). [^28]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/85/14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/85/14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282712877&usg=AOvVaw0Kab6XrgGWdOIIjtxLz2LE). [^29]: Qur’an 11:90. [^30]: Ibn ʿAshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/11/90](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/11/90&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282713400&usg=AOvVaw1hlg-wB42d-WcaeC0T62yT). [^31]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 37. [^32]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2626. [^33]: Qur’an 42:23. [^34]: Associating idols with God; see Zohair Abdul-Rahman, “Why is Shirk the Greatest Sin of All?,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, July 25, 2022, ​​[https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-is-shirk-the-greatest-sin-of-all](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-is-shirk-the-greatest-sin-of-all&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282708669&usg=AOvVaw2b6hy0GgLkvELj6xLBAuhP). [^35]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/42/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/42/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282714429&usg=AOvVaw2QnHCKUVmgr6AB592x6iHu). [^36]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3321; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2245. [^37]: Qur’an 2:158. [^38]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 189. [^39]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2340; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1914. [^40]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1914. [^41]: Qur’an 7:200. [^42]: Al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/7/200](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/7/200&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282695432&usg=AOvVaw0GQaBWc5dHw8G0JgLs7gKc). [^43]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/7/200](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/7/200&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282695926&usg=AOvVaw3Dho4hydnH8uiXp9EaZkj_). [^44]: Al-ʿUbayd, *Khatm al-āyāt*, 55. [^45]: Qur’an 2:30. [^46]: Qur’an 2:31. [^47]: Qur’an 2:32. [^48]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/2/32](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/2/32&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282697180&usg=AOvVaw2kjbU-SujQ98l8MzwNCfMl). [^49]: Qur’an 51:30. [^50]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/51/30](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/51/30&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282697786&usg=AOvVaw3W_Tcux7BvmenrNHzFvLxx); Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/51/30](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/51/30&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282698177&usg=AOvVaw0ws1IYO2vOJZSavmZXvavf). [^51]: Qur’an 49:12–14. [^52]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/12](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/12&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282698719&usg=AOvVaw3_TIuPHDceCSzslkOmFxf_). [^53]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*. [^54]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*. Imam Nawawī was of the opinion that it was even haram to entertain bad assumptions about others. He said, “Know that bad assumptions are forbidden the same as words, for just as it is forbidden to speak about another person in an evil manner, it is forbidden to speak to yourself that way and to cultivate bad assumptions.” Al-Nawawī, *Ḥilyat al-abrār wa shiʿār al-akhyār fī talkhīṣ al-daʿawāt wal-adhkār al-mustaḥabba fī al-layl wal-nahār* (Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1425/2004), 47, trans.  Justin Parrott, [https://www.abuaminaelias.com/held-accountable-thoughts/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/held-accountable-thoughts/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282701158&usg=AOvVaw3xt1UfBj42LVD7BPztNByo) (translation adapted). [^55]: Abū Hurayra reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Do you know what backbiting is?” The companions said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” The Prophet said, “To mention your brother in a way he dislikes.” It was said, “What if it is true about him?” The Prophet said, “If what you say about him is true, it is backbiting. If it is not true, it is slander.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2589. [^56]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 148–49. [^57]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/12](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/12&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282703343&usg=AOvVaw2zu09FmY322ydPgv82X07H). [^58]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/13](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/13&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282703909&usg=AOvVaw01BWRbr9avM8phuUqmm3Ya). [^59]: The Prophet ﷺ emphasizes this, stating that “whoever is slow to good deeds will not be hastened by his lineage” (*Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2699). [^60]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 220. [^61]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/49/13](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/49/13&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282705200&usg=AOvVaw0XTZoNE6rtpuJRLYodTQfG). [^62]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282705774&usg=AOvVaw3757QTtID0x7b2yhL6EX9o). [^63]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282716819&usg=AOvVaw003xWYgg9NslPbbpuFNw7E). [^64]: Al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/49/14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/49/14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282706296&usg=AOvVaw2kQ_cOFMrUMr74GMQCUzLL). [^65]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/49/14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1765471282706883&usg=AOvVaw2PMDs4q70eBPn0JlNqtx2y). [^66]: Qur’an 2:185, 39:28, and others. [^67]: Qur’an 5:15. [^68]: Qur’an 10:57. [^69]: Ibn al-Qayyim, in Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 26. ## Summary To Allah belong the most beautiful names, and He has instructed us to call upon Him through them, as He says: "To Allah belong the best names, so call upon Him with them." This calling encompasses both supplication in the specific sense and worship in the broader sense, for the word *duʿa* in the Qur'an bears both meanings according to context. To call upon Allah through His names is not merely to invoke them with the tongue, but to embody their meanings and to live in the light of the knowledge they impart. Worshipping Allah through His name al-Rahim, for instance, entails showing mercy to creation, as the Prophet ﷺ said: "The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you." The Prophet ﷺ also taught that Allah possesses ninety-nine names, and "whoever preserves them will enter Paradise"—and this preservation is not merely memorization but comprehension and application. Knowing Allah's names therefore demands understanding, not rote recitation alone. As al-Razi observed, "Supplicating to Allah with His names is not possible unless one knows the meanings of the names." Each name carries a distinct meaning, even where meanings overlap, allowing every servant—regardless of circumstance or emotional state—to draw near to Allah in a manner suited to their need. Yet the linguistic definition of a name is only the foundation, not the totality, of this knowledge. Just as one cannot cultivate a deep relationship with a person on the basis of a single line of description, so too must the servant progress from definition to experiential knowledge (*maʿrifa*). Al-Ghazali, in agreement with many scholars, declared: "The science of highest nobility is the experiential knowledge of Allah Almighty, for all other branches of knowledge are sought for its sake, while it is not sought for anything else." The Qur'an itself provides the means for this deeper knowledge, for every word within it is deliberately placed to guide us to Allah. The verses contextualize His names, situate them in relation to one another, and reveal how they manifest in our lives. Among the notable features of the Qur'an is the pairing of names (*muqtarina*) at the conclusion of verses, as well as the particular sequence in which they appear—both of which contain divine wisdom and an intimate awareness of human psychology. This attentiveness is necessary because human language and imagination are bounded by lived experience. The word "king" may evoke a tyrant to one person and a just ruler to another; the quality of "mercy" may strike one as weakness and another as strength. The danger arises when we inadvertently impose these human limits upon Allah's attributes. The pairing of names guards against such anthropomorphism, affirming that Allah is al-Quddus—the Holy, free from every blemish and infinitely beyond human inadequacy. The conclusions of verses, termed *al-fawasil*, carry significance both in eloquence and in meaning. Al-Zarkashi defined the rhetorical period (*fasila*) as "the final word of a verse, like the rhyme in poetry or the paired word in rhymed prose." Al-Qurtubi noted that these endings beautify rhythmic speech, without which "one could not distinguish verse from prose," warning that failing to pause upon them diminishes the recitation. Ibn ʿAshur likewise observed that pausing at them moves the souls of listeners through the beauty of their symmetry. Beyond eloquence, these endings bring clarity to the entire verse. In Surah Hud, when the people of Shuʿayb mockingly called him "such a tolerant (*halim*), sensible (*rashid*) man," the verse first mentioned their worship and then their management of wealth; the concluding pairing mirrors this, for *hilm* complements worship (obligatory upon reaching puberty) and *rushd* complements the proper handling of wealth. Such congruence is extracted only through contemplation of both the words and their arrangement. The pairing of Allah's names opens new dimensions in the servant's relationship with his Lord. First, complementary names illuminate the expansive scope of their meanings, as "al-Ghafur al-Rahim" (recurring seventy-one times) and "al-Samiʿ al-Basir" (recurring forty-five times) demonstrate that Allah not only forgives but shows mercy, not only hears but sees. Second, pairings preempt doubts that may arise in our minds. His name al-ʿAziz is joined with al-Hakim, assuring us that His might is never hasty or transgressing but always exercised with perfect wisdom. In Surah al-Shuʿaraʾ, al-ʿAziz is coupled with al-Rahim; al-Tabari explained that none can escape His power once He decrees punishment, yet He is merciful to those who repent. Al-Razi noted that the Almighty is mentioned first to dispel any notion that Allah shows mercy to rebels merely out of inability to punish them—rather, He is All-Powerful yet chooses mercy. The pairing of names also clarifies the completeness of Allah's love and forgiveness. Whereas a human being may forgive without affection, Allah declares Himself "the Forgiving (al-Ghafur), the Affectionate (al-Wadud)." *Wudd* is a tender love expressed without need or dependence upon creation. He further says: "Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful (Rahim) and Affectionate (Wadud)"—reassuring the repentant that Allah returns to loving them, for He loves those who repent (Qur'an 2:222). Unlike some destructive human love that spoils and harms, Allah's mercy always brings genuine benefit and wards off harm, in this life and the next. Similarly, the name al-Shakur (the Appreciative) reassures us that Allah values even the smallest good. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Do not belittle any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face." Allah declares Himself "Forgiving and Appreciative," forgiving even the gravest sin—*shirk*—upon repentance, and rewarding the humblest deed. The Prophet ﷺ related the account of a woman forgiven for giving water to a thirsty dog, the man forgiven for removing a thorny branch, and the man granted Paradise for cutting down a tree that harmed passersby—deeds unseen by people but known to al-Shakur, al-ʿAlim. The sequence of the paired names likewise carries divine wisdom. In Surah al-Aʿraf, upon the command to seek refuge from Satan, Allah is described as "All-Hearing and All-Knowing." Al-Razi explained that He hears our spoken refuge, while al-ʿAlim reminds us that the tongue alone is insufficient—the heart must be present. Al-Saʿdi added that Allah knows our weakness and the sincerity of our recourse, and so protects us. The pairing al-ʿAlim al-Hakim appears in one order in some verses and reversed in others, according to context. When the angels questioned the creation of humankind, Allah responded, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know," and after teaching Adam the names, the angels acknowledged, "It is You who is the Knowing, the Wise"—the order emphasizing His encompassing knowledge which they had implicitly questioned, and affirming that Adam's creation was purposeful. In Surah al-Dhariyat, when the angels foretold a child to Abraham despite his wife's barrenness, they said, "He is the Wise, the Knowing"—placing wisdom first to affirm that this was no error but a purposeful decree, followed by knowledge that encompassed even her infertility. A sustained example appears in three consecutive verses of Surah al-Hujurat. The first prohibits suspicion, spying, and backbiting, likening backbiting to eating the flesh of one's dead brother, then closing with al-Tawwab al-Rahim—offering hope to those who fall into these subtle sins that Allah accepts their return and shows mercy in totality. The second addresses all humanity, affirming common origin and declaring that nobility lies in *taqwa*, not lineage, concluding with al-ʿAlim al-Khabir—the One who knows the outward and the hidden, and thus discerns true God-consciousness from mere outward nobility. The third rebuffs the nomadic Arabs who claimed belief, instructing them to say "we have submitted," for faith had not yet entered their hearts, and concludes with al-Ghafur al-Rahim—al-Rahim following al-Ghafur because mercy is the root of forgiveness, being broader than it. Thus understanding the Qur'an requires contemplation, for it is guidance, light, mercy, and healing. Whoever immerses himself in knowing Allah through His words is, as has been said, "in an expedited Paradise before the Paradise of the Hereafter." Upon encountering each pairing, the servant should ask why these particular names appear in this particular order at this particular place, and how he may draw nearer to Allah through such knowledge—for every word of the Qur'an has been given its best place to clarify reality and guide us to Him. ## Key Takeaways 1. Preserving Allah’s ninety-nine names means more than memorizing them; it means understanding their meanings and living by them. Supplication through a name is noblest once its meaning is grasped, although linguistic definitions are merely the starting point. Deeper knowledge of Allah involves experiential maʿrifa, cultivated by reflecting on His names in revelation and recognizing their effects in one’s life and in the lived encounter with His mercy and care. 2. Pairing Allah’s names at the close of verses can reveal dimensions of meaning that a name stated alone does not convey. Complementary pairings like al-Ghafur al-Rahim (the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful) expand the scope of each quality, while others preempt doubt: al-ʿAziz al-Hakim (the Almighty, the Most Wise) affirms that divine might is never without wisdom, and al-Ghafur al-Wadud assures the repentant that Allah not only forgives but loves those who return to Him. 3. The order of paired names is itself meaningful, calibrated to the verse’s context. After the angels question the wisdom of creating humanity and Allah demonstrates knowledge they do not possess, they acknowledge Him as al-ʿAlīm al-Ḥakīm, foregrounding the divine knowledge highlighted by the episode.; and when they announce a son to the incredulous wife of Prophet Abraham, they say al-Hakim al-ʿAlim, placing wisdom first to assure them the decree is purposeful. Engaging such pairings rewards situating the verse in its chapter, pondering its words, and reflecting on how the names and their sequence answer the concern at hand. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why does Allah pair His names together in the Qur’an? Allah often closes verses with two of His names rather than one, and this pairing is deliberate. Pairing related names broadens our sense of what each one means. When forgiveness and mercy appear together (al-Ghafur al-Rahim, which recurs seventy-one times), we learn that Allah does not only pardon wrongdoing but also cares for the person who committed it. Pairing also answers doubts before they form. His name al-ʿAziz (the Almighty) is often joined with al-Hakim (the Most Wise), because power without wisdom can turn reckless, but Allah’s might is always exercised with perfect wisdom. The two names together correct misconceptions we might form when imagining divine attributes through the limitations of human experience. Reflecting on why a particular pair appears, and in what order, opens a fuller understanding of who Allah is. ### Does “preserving” Allah’s ninety-nine names mean just memorizing them? The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever preserves Allah’s ninety-nine names will enter Paradise. Scholars have understood ‘preserving’ (iḥṣāʾ) in several complementary ways, including memorizing the names, understanding them, calling upon Allah through them, and living in accordance with what they teach us about Him. Worship through His names includes living in accordance with what knowledge of those names requires–for example, knowledge of Allah’s mercy should encourage us to show appropriate mercy to others. Memorizing a name is only the starting point, like a one-line description of someone you have not yet met. Real knowledge comes from reflecting on the name, seeing how it works in your life, and turning to Allah through it. This is why scholars treated knowing Allah through His names as the highest form of knowledge. ### How can Allah be both al-ʿAziz (the Almighty) and al-Rahim (the Merciful)? These two names might seem to pull in opposite directions, since overwhelming power and tender mercy rarely sit together among people. The Qur’an pairs them repeatedly, especially in Surah al-Shuʿaraʾ, to show they are not in tension. None can escape Allah’s power once He decrees a punishment, yet He remains merciful toward those who turn back to Him in repentance. The order matters too. Allah names Himself the Almighty before the Merciful so that no one imagines He spares rebellious people only because He is unable to punish them. He establishes first that His power is unmatched, then affirms that He still extends mercy to His servants despite their defiance, repeatedly sending them reminders and saving the righteous. The pairing reassures us that divine mercy is never a sign of weakness, and divine power is never without compassion. ### Why does the order in which Allah’s paired names appear matter? The sequence of Allah’s names at the end of a verse carries meaning, not just the names themselves. Sometimes the order tracks the order of what was being discussed. In one verse Allah is called al-Samiʿ (the All-Hearing) then al-ʿAlim (the All-Knowing), reassuring us that He hears us seek refuge in Him with our tongues while also knowing what is in our hearts, a reminder that words alone are not enough. The same qualities of knowledge and wisdom can appear in either order depending on context. When the angels questioned the creation of humanity, they acknowledged Allah as the Knowing and the Wise, conceding the very limits of their own knowledge. When angels gave glad tidings of a child to an elderly couple, they named Allah the Wise then the Knowing, assuring them this was no mistake but a purposeful decree. Noticing the order invites us to ask why Allah presented Himself this way, and what it teaches us. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-yaqeen-institute-approaches-ai-integrating-technology-with-islamic-ethics # How Yaqeen Institute Approaches AI: Integrating Technology with Islamic Ethics **Authors:** Dr. Mohamed AbuTaleb, Ibtihal Aboussad, Kenan Alkiek **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Jurisprudence (fiqh), Technology **Tags:** Perspective **Published:** December 1, 2025 **Updated:** July 1, 2026 Artificial intelligence (AI) represents both a profound challenge and a monumental opportunity for Yaqeen Institute when advancing its mission of dismantling doubts, nurturing conviction, and inspiring contribution. As AI rapidly transforms how knowledge is generated, shared, and experienced, Muslims cannot afford to be either uncritically enthusiastic or passively withdrawn. With ChatGPT reaching nearly a billion people every week,[^1] AI now plays an ever-growing role in influencing the intellectual lives and moral debates of humanity. It demands our urgent attention. If we approach it thoughtfully, AI can strengthen our research, personalize learning, and open new creative avenues for storytelling and service to the *ummah*. Just as we at Yaqeen set out to combat Islamophobia on Google in 2016, we now have the chance to ensure our voice and values are present in the next wave of technology. However, like every major technological shift, its potential comes with real risks: both spiritual and societal. Our goal is to engage this technology with purpose, leveraging it where it brings clear benefit and being vigilant about minimizing its harm. This blog outlines how we use AI internally and externally, the safeguards we have established, and our commitment to adapt as both the technology and the scholarly wisdom concerning it continue to evolve. A broader Islamic framework for AI ethics is explored in our forthcoming publication, “Toward an Islamic Ethics and *Fiqh* of Artificial Intelligence*.*”[^2] --- ## Why Muslims must lead in AI Artificial intelligence has rapidly transitioned from theoretical research to practical applications across nearly every sector of society, including the dissemination and consumption of Islamic knowledge. This technology is not going away. For institutions serving the Muslim community, we believe that understanding this shift is essential. Recent history shows the costs of delayed engagement with new technologies. Social media platforms developed without much Muslim involvement, resulting in algorithms that shaped narratives about Islam, restricted our content, and influenced how Muslims access religious knowledge. Surveillance and policing technologies were similarly developed and deployed with Muslims as primary targets. Beyond these social and cultural harms, the stakes for the global *ummah* are even higher. AI is already reshaping economies and military capabilities, areas where Muslim nations risk deepening dependence if they remain consumers rather than contributors. Sadly, we have already seen sinister applications of AI-based targeting in Gaza and other parts of our *ummah*.[^3] Timing is critical. Unlike previous technological revolutions, where Muslim institutions responded after systems were entrenched, we are still in the formative stages of AI. This presents an important opportunity as AI inevitably begins to shape how religious questions are answered and how our communities interact with information systems. As such, if we fail to understand and shape this technology, others will define how it represents and impacts our communities. Islam offers a distinct ethical framework that the world sorely needs. While secular frameworks often focus on regulation after harm occurs (and are largely influenced by material concerns), Islamic ethics begin with accountability before Allah and attend to long-term benefit to all. Early engagement allows us to establish principled frameworks for adoption while we can, instead of passively inheriting systems and practices shaped by others, then struggling to mitigate the harms once they arise. ### Is it Islamically permissible to use AI? Like any tool, it depends on how we use it. As a tool, AI can be used for its intended purpose, misused outside of its appropriate application, or abused with malicious intent. Therefore, the Islamic ruling on artificial intelligence is one of conditional permissibility. Contemporary scholars view it as permissible by default but subject to strict ethical guidelines and Islamic guardrails.[^4] --- ## How Yaqeen uses AI AI can take on work that is not feasible for humans to manage at scale. It can sift through hundreds of research papers in seconds, generating helpful summaries and FAQs based on our work. It can tailor content to the reader in real time, thus reaching people in the moments when it can have the greatest impact. At Yaqeen, we want AI to serve a clear and simple purpose: to make our teams more effective and focused on what matters most. AI should help scholars and creatives spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time engaging deeply with ideas that move people toward truth. ### Internal applications We are actively exploring and testing different ways of using AI, always with careful oversight. For instance, we’ve learned that AI can support the practical work that keeps Yaqeen running smoothly. One such example is accelerating routine administrative tasks, like summarizing meeting notes or formatting citations. In research, AI can act like an assistant that helps scholars work more efficiently. It can search through the growing corpus of classical Islamic texts to support deeper studies. For writers and editors, it can assist with refining drafts, adjusting tone, or simplifying language for different audiences. AI can also expand creative potential, acting as a sounding board for exploration or generating imagery and animation. ### External applications Just as AI can facilitate some of Yaqeen’s internal work, it can also help us serve our readers and viewers more meaningfully. These tools make it easier for people to find and engage with reliable Islamic knowledge that meets them where they are. One of the key ways this happens is through AQSA, Yaqeen’s AI assistant. AQSA helps users search across our library, answering common questions with referenced information drawn directly from verified Yaqeen research. It is designed to help visitors explore topics more efficiently, whether they are looking for a quick answer or a deeper study. AQSA does not provide rulings or personal religious advice. It simply helps users navigate our content with ease. AI also enables a more personalized experience. It helps us recommend the right content at the right time, seeking to tailor recommendations to the individual and increase impact. One person might benefit more from watching a quick video, while others might prefer longer-form academic material. This technology enables us to adapt our work into new formats, transforming in-depth research into an infographic or short video that preserves the same substance in a more broadly accessible form. We’re also able to reach diverse audiences, such as those who speak different languages or those who prefer various learning modalities. In addition to this, we’re exploring how to make verified Islamic content more visible in the tools people already use, ensuring that when someone asks questions about Islam on platforms like ChatGPT or Claude, they’re met with reliable information rooted in orthodox scholarship. --- ## Ethical risks and guardrails Over the past year at Yaqeen, we have become more deliberate in how we engage with digital tools. That commitment led us to begin auditing the platforms we rely on for complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We have already transitioned away from two platforms and continue reassessing every partnership through the same ethical lens. The following sections outline the key issues we are actively considering. ### Data privacy In a time when personal data is often treated as a commodity, we see it as an *amana* (trust). Our sole purpose for collecting analytics is to serve you better—to understand how to deliver the right content to the right person at the right moment. We believe that privacy is your right and are transparent about how we use the information provided through our website and mobile platforms,[^5] following established privacy standards. You can modify or erase your data at any time and we never sell your data to third parties. For personalization, all data is anonymized within our systems, and the information is used solely to improve experience and accessibility. ### Islamic noncompliance and AI slop AI can make work faster, but it can also make it careless. The same tools that help generate ideas and information can just as easily produce content that sounds convincing but is fabricated, inaccurate, or misleading. These systems learn from massive datasets built largely from the internet, reflecting the cultural assumptions and biases of those who created them. Because most of that data is Western and secular in origin, AI often carries blind spots about Islam and Muslims. Some models, for instance, have even failed to acknowledge real-world injustices, such as the persecution of Uyghur Muslims. AI’s polished tone can give the false impression of neutrality and authority, making its errors easy to trust. When applied to Islamic content, these flaws become far more serious. A model can misquote a hadith or strip a ruling of its context while sounding eloquent and confident. The harm here is not just academic; it touches faith and public understanding of Islam itself. At Yaqeen, the responsibility for truth always lies with people. AI can support our teams by speeding up work, but it does not make decisions or carry moral weight. Like a doctor using technology to diagnose patients more accurately or reach more people, the technology may assist, but the responsibility still lies with the doctor. Our team is responsible for verifying and assessing any AI-generated content before using it in any capacity. That accountability is reinforced through the Ihsan Assurance team, a group of Yaqeen scholars who examine every piece of content before publication. They ensure that each publication meets our standards of citation accuracy and scholarly rigor, aligns with Islamic principles, and reflects Yaqeen’s distinctive mission. ### Authorship attribution AI can produce content that looks and sounds like it was written by a person, making it harder to tell who is really behind the words. In Islamic scholarship, this matters deeply. Authorship is not just about producing material; it reflects intention and accountability before Allah. Passing off machine-generated work as human erodes trust and blurs responsibility for the content being taught or shared. At Yaqeen, every author takes full ownership of their work. AI may assist with tasks such as research support or editorial refinement, but the content and conclusions always come from the individual scholar or writer. This responsibility is positively affirmed by the author during the submission process. In multimedia production, the same standard applies. Yaqeen does not use AI to create realistic depictions of living people or imitate their voices (i.e., deepfakes). When AI-generated visuals are used, they are limited to artistic or contextual applications, such as background footage, where the use is clear and transparent. ### Copyright issues AI models are trained on vast amounts of copyrighted material without the explicit permission, credit, or compensation of the original human creators, whose livelihoods and intellectual property rights can then be undermined by the very systems their work made possible. Islamic ethics place a high value on fairness and the protection of property. We acknowledge that this raises important questions and creates a tension that cannot be fully resolved by our own practices alone, as true resolution requires systemic change in how AI companies operate. We are proceeding according to a conservative standard among peer practitioners in the field, and we will continue to review and refine our practices as guidance on these matters evolves. While legal debates about AI and copyright are still unfolding, our approach remains rooted in restraint. Our use of AI is limited to design and creative assistance, not as a source of content taken from others. In the emerging area of AI as a tool for Islamic research, we restrict our use to open-source datasets, such as al-Maktaba al-Shamela and OpenITI, and not the private work of any individual, while requiring authors to cite all sources clearly. ### Devaluation of human scholarship and spiritual disconnection As AI grows more capable, there is a legitimate fear that it could weaken the depth, reflection, and intellectual rigor that defines authentic Islamic scholarship. In the Islamic tradition, knowledge has never been an exercise in processing information; it is a moral and spiritual pursuit rooted in sincerity and realized through meaningful application. Knowledge should draw us closer to Allah. AI can process large amounts of information, but it cannot sense intention or emotion. It cannot understand personal context or grasp how a word of truth may guide one heart differently from another. When two men separately asked ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas whether someone who killed a believer could be forgiven, he gave two different answers. To the man he suspected was planning a murder, he said no, hoping to deter him. To the man who had already killed and sought forgiveness, he said yes, to encourage repentance.[^6] Imagine outsourcing this to a machine—such nuance and intuition would be lost entirely. At Yaqeen, we have clear boundaries. Our audience-facing AI helps people interact with our existing research and content, but it does not issue rulings or provide personal religious advice. It is not an AI mufti. Our scholars and editors remain fully responsible for every publication. The editorial team upholds standards of rigor in every publication we release. AI is treated as a tool that supports research, writing, and design, but it never substitutes scholarly thought or human insight that comes from years of study and reflection. Internally, Yaqeen invests in its people. *Tarbiya* sessions and mentorship promote the growth of scholars in both skill and spirituality. This foundation protects against overreliance on technology by strengthening the very thing AI can never replicate, the human heart. ### Environmental stewardship Among all the ethical challenges tied to artificial intelligence, its environmental cost may be the hardest to address. Every digital interaction depends on physical infrastructure that consumes energy and water. While data centers have powered the internet for decades, the growth of AI has increased their presence and multiplied the demand for electricity and cooling resources. These costs are largely invisible to the user but tangible for the planet and for the communities that host these facilities. As *khulafaʾ* (vicegerents) on earth, humans are entrusted to preserve harmony within creation: to use its resources sustainably and justly, never to hoard or destroy what Allah has provided. At the same time, complete abstinence from these systems is not realistic for any online institution. The same data centers that power AI also deliver every platform and video that helps Yaqeen reach audiences around the world. Withdrawing entirely would mean we are unable to access the very spaces people engage in today. AI is also not a single technology, but rather a broad spectrum of systems with largely different impacts. The tool that filters spam or recommends a video operates on a small scale, while training a large model like GPT-5 demands vast energy and resources. Treating all AIs as equal energy consumers obscures these differences. Islamic ethics call for discernment, evaluating each use by its necessity, benefit, and potential harm. Our task, therefore, is not to reject technology but to engage it responsibly, adopting what is necessary and beneficial while remaining conscious of its costs and guided by Islamic principles of balance and stewardship. For Yaqeen, this means engaging with generative AI only where it serves a clear and beneficial purpose. Our direct environmental footprint is small, yet our potential for positive influence, through education and scholarship, is far greater. We aim to advance Islamic awareness on environmental stewardship, building on our earlier research.[^7] This will also include upcoming work to develop *fiqh*\-based guidance and practical steps for responsible technology use. As always, we are committed to continued betterment, adapting and advancing our approach in light of emerging Islamic scholarship. --- ## Conclusion AI is already shaping how Islamic knowledge is accessed and impacting Muslim communities globally, and this influence is only set to deepen. Our framework at Yaqeen reflects a commitment to leading rather than reacting; our goal is not to resist technology by default, nor to embrace it without question, but to adopt it thoughtfully in a way that amplifies our mission. Both the technology and our understanding of its implications will continue to evolve. AI systems will grow more capable, new applications will emerge, and Islamic scholarly discourse on these matters will deepen. This blog represents our current approach using the best available knowledge today. It is not a final word. We remain committed to adapting our practices as Islamic guidance develops, as *fiqh* councils issue rulings, and as AI technologies themselves transform. We invite our Yaqeen community to engage critically with this topic. If you notice ways our AI offerings fall short of the principles outlined here, or if you have concerns about how AI is shaping the broader Islamic knowledge ecosystem, please get in touch with our team at [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/contact-us](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/contact-us&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240261302&usg=AOvVaw0ScVAqZRVUsAqqukBQo92H). --- ## Notes [^1]: Rebecca Bellan, “Sam Altman Says ChatGPT Has Hit 800M Weekly Active Users,” *TechCrunch*, October 6, 2025, [https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/06/sam-altman-says-chatgpt-has-hit-800m-weekly-active-users/.](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/06/sam-altman-says-chatgpt-has-hit-800m-weekly-active-users/.) [^2]: Mohamed AbuTaleb, Hidayath Ansari, Kenan Alkiek, Suleiman Hani, and Umer Khan, “Toward an Islamic Ethics (*Fiqh*) of Artificial Intelligence,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research (forthcoming). [^3]: [Bethan McKernan](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/bethan-mckernan&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240264691&usg=AOvVaw3sk79mMc1uh91E0COQdlh9), “‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets,” *The Guardian*, April 3, 2024, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes.) [^4]: Wakālat al-Anbāʾ as-Saʿūdiyyah (Saudi Press Agency). “عام / المجمع الفقهي الإسلامي يصدر قرارات وبيانات في عددٍ من القضايا والمستجدات في ختام دورته الـ 23” \[General / The Islamic Fiqh Academy Issues Resolutions and Statements on a Number of Issues and Developments at the Conclusion of its 23rd Session\], *Saudi Press Agency*, April 23, 2024, [https://www.spa.gov.sa/N2088120](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.spa.gov.sa/N2088120&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240266455&usg=AOvVaw2EMCSFImzkwdhPasoZxt9V). [^5]: “Privacy Policy,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, November 5, 2025, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/privacy-policy](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/privacy-policy&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240262074&usg=AOvVaw2aEpSe4uGru5sly9pTLApk); “Donor Privacy Policy,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, November 5, 2025, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/donor-privacy-policy](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/donor-privacy-policy&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240262397&usg=AOvVaw0n9vrxKDJtpDCG9R5bXLFT). [^6]: *Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shayba,* no. 27182. Ibn Ḥajar graded the hadith as *ḥasan*. Sufyān al-Thawrī used it as evidence that the ruling (*fatw*a) can be tailored to the individual’s situation and intent to prevent a sin or to encourage a person who already committed a sin to repent. [^7]: Afsan Redwan, “When the Earth Speaks Against Us: Environmental Ethics in Islam,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, September 20, 2018, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/when-the-earth-speaks-against-us-environmental-ethics-in-islam](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/when-the-earth-speaks-against-us-environmental-ethics-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240262994&usg=AOvVaw0oxHof34MtnSGGGmryuIL4); Rhamis Kent, “Saving Truth and Beauty: The Destruction of Nature and the Islamic Solution,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, August 29, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/saving-truth-and-beauty-the-destruction-of-nature-and-the-islamic-solution](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/saving-truth-and-beauty-the-destruction-of-nature-and-the-islamic-solution&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764623240263549&usg=AOvVaw26M5wILDse8rUSKefbHeFj). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-politics-of-representation-what-mamdanis-victory-means-for-muslims-in-america-and-beyond # The Politics of Representation: What Mamdani’s Victory Means for Muslims in America and Beyond | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Islam in the West, Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology **Published:** December 1, 2025 **Updated:** December 2, 2025 As the right-wing tabloid [NY Post](https://nypost.com/2025/11/05/us-news/new-york-posts-cover-on-zohran-mamdani-election-sold-out-in-nyc-and-already-being-resold-on-e-bay/) would have you believe, the [Green-Red Alliance](https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/opinion/red-green-alliance-will-wreak-anti-jewish-havoc-first-at-the-dem-convention-then-on-campuses/) has succeeded in infiltrating US politics and is poised to impose Sharia Socialism on the hapless people of New York City, with Zohran Mamdani as the Communist Caliph in Chief. Others are hailing Mamdani’s victory as a fundamental shift in US politics, even a [fulfillment](https://globalmuslimlife.substack.com/p/from-malcolm-x-to-mamdani-125-years?source=queue) of [Malcolm X’s](https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/malcolm-x-mamdani-quest-justice-cannot-be-killed) legacy. In a heady fervor that is reminiscent of [Obama’s](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/us/politics/05text-obama.html) electoral triumph in 2008, it seems that for Muslims, “our time has come.” Or has it? Below is a rumination on what Mamdani’s victory means and doesn’t mean. --- ## 1\. Nothing will ever be the same Remember, if you can, the prospect of Palestinian liberation on October 6th, 2023. As Israel “[mowed the lawn](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2025.2506162)” in Gaza at regular intervals, the euphemistically named “[peace process](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/11/1/the-madrid-conference-and-the-sham-peace-process)”—which Edward Said [rightly labeled](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n20/edward-said/the-morning-after) an instrument of surrender—ensured the [slow but inevitable](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/6/6/edward-saids-spectre-and-the-end-of-oslo) annexation of the West Bank. The [right to return](https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2018/11/181106114236864.html) having essentially been abandoned by the Oslo Accords, Israel pursued a strategy of slow-drip genocide and ethnic cleansing as it simultaneously built soft power through political, economic, and cultural normalization. Every time you saw an Israeli contestant in [Eurovision](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yl89jp538o) or [Maccabi Haifa](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/21/police-intelligence-on-extreme-maccabi-fans-with-history-of-violence-led-to-villa-park-ban) in the Champions League you could almost forget that Israel was an apartheid state or that the Nakba ever happened. Almost. With the Palestinian Authority eagerly serving as Israel’s enforcer—playing the role of Qarun to a tee—the final piece was Trump’s [Abraham Accords](https://al-shabaka.org/commentaries/arab-normalization-and-the-palestinian-struggle-for-liberation/), which seemed to doom Palestinian resistance and the dream of Palestinian liberation not to a spectacular defeat, but to irrelevance. The well-heeled Arab client states and their dictators [played](https://www.euronews.com/2025/06/12/egypt-blocks-activists-from-march-to-gaza-to-draw-attention-to-humanitarian-crisis) their [part](https://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-jordan-israel-iran-war-united-states/a-72977996), ready to [negotiate](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Israeli-Saudi-peace-deal) with the occupier behind the backs of Palestinians, at least as much as they thought their subjects would [tolerate](https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-saudi-crown-prince-said-he-fears-assassination-over-israel-normalization/). Even Norman Finkelstein [gave up](https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/emptying-gaza-w-norman-finkelstein). Two years later, support for Israel is *the* wedge issue reconfiguring both the political left and right in the United States. Zionist propaganda suddenly doesn’t seem to work despite the [inordinate amount of money](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2025-11-09/ty-article-magazine/.premium/losing-the-republican-base-israel-pours-millions-to-target-evangelicals-and-churchgoers/0000019a-540e-db4c-a5fb-dfafea590000) dumped into it, the strings of normalization are being cut one at a time, and Arab dictators, under renewed pressure, are hesitating and hedging. To complete the sense of whiplash, none other than Laura Loomer is calling to [end aid to Israel](https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1987871173569368376), in her own patently deranged way. On top of all this, the energy generated against Israel’s actions over the last two years shook New York City’s political machinery—infamous for its support of Israel—to the core. Mamdani’s march to victory rode this wave, enabled by his electrifying charisma, his uncanny ability to connect with local immigrant communities, and his contagious message of hope. Whether Mamdani intended it or not, whether he is a willing participant or not, his election is a small part of the ongoing ummatic struggle for dignity and self-determination which has been carried forward for generations by courageous and faithful scholars, leaders, and the people of Palestine. Things are moving fast; it seems like history is being made every month. The dominoes keep falling one after another. We are still living in the wave generated by the strength and resilience of Gaza, and no one knows exactly how high the water will rise. --- ## 2\. Zionism lost, mostly Mamdani’s victory both symbolizes and accelerates the fallout for Zionism and the collapse of US support of the Jewish-supremacist state occupying Palestine. Zionist billionaire Bill Ackman pledged back in June to [throw his fortune behind anyone](https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/bill-ackman-bankroll-nyc-mayoral-candidate-defeat-zohran-mamdani/) who could defeat Mamdani, inviting other members of the 1% to join him. He fulfilled his promise and then some. All told, over [$40 million](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/nx-s1-5600718/wall-street-zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-mayor) was [spent](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2025/10/24/anyone-but-mamdani-these-billionaires-are-spending-big-to-stop-him-from-becoming-nycs-mayor/) in an attempt to steal the New York mayoral election from the person who would ultimately prevail as the people’s choice. It wasn’t just moneyed interests that were involved in the conspiracy; it was specifically the Zionist contingent, which blew every dogwhistle and rang every alarm bell it could find to signal that Mamdani’s victory would pose [an existential](https://jewishmajority.org/a-rabbinic-call-to-action) [threat](https://nypost.com/2025/05/20/us-news/zhoran-mamdani-spews-antisemitic-tropes-falsely-claims-taxpayers-foot-the-bill-for-ny-pols-israel-trips/) to [Israel](https://www.jta.org/2025/10/22/politics/650-us-rabbis-sign-letter-opposing-zohran-mamdani-and-the-political-normalization-of-anti-zionism) and even [Jews themselves](https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/r1e76zpreg). All that money and effort has gone up in smoke. Perhaps worse for the Zionist movement is the fact that the [extremely public](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/blakeflayton/status/1937868357086171320?t%3D-_xummWJf-S9Oebi2zeu2Q%26s%3D07&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322149828&usg=AOvVaw2-Oz-3h3E2_ULtbTvAw4f0) and [unhinged](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/BriannaWu/status/1982344096380342625&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322150039&usg=AOvVaw0gDlECyleZ3dx5ZKWyQI51) manner in which they conducted themselves during the election deepened Americans’ suspicion that Israel and Zionists *do* have too much influence and control over US politics, despite their [resolute attempts to dismiss](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/zohran-mamdani-and-the-rhetoric-of-red-lines/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322150765&usg=AOvVaw10vBkbqqnTDOmUS-pzwih3) this [naked fact](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D74ZA-GdeQP4&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322150919&usg=AOvVaw3ZFAY5i0AVmXnOEqapTCZg) as an [antisemitic conspiracy](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/Zionist-Occupied-Government&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322151103&usg=AOvVaw07ZoK7gcoYEnl3EQ_AnUvd). All this means that Zionism continues to hemorrhage credibility and cannot be taken seriously anymore as the putatively innocuous desire for [Jewish](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://awiderbridge.org/zionism/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322151612&usg=AOvVaw1N5zkLWksHKqa7vRAeyf2U) “[self-determination](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://awiderbridge.org/zionism/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322151756&usg=AOvVaw3Lqvm_2rzUFkxWLzLMfSzG)” in their “[traditional homeland](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/zionism&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322151929&usg=AOvVaw0enlAoCSvOQ3b4HDB6kinW).”  Zionism has exposed itself throughout this election, throughout the Gaza Holocaust, and indeed throughout its entire lifespan as a [psychotic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/israel-constantly-stretches-the-ceasefire-rules-because-thats-what-israelis-do-81b755dffa28&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322152385&usg=AOvVaw2KEe4t2IlbUMZSoSO5W_uJ), supremacist, genocidal movement that holds nothing sacred but itself and follows no rules but its own. The absolute drubbing that Mamdani’s opponents received on election day means that Zionism’s influence and thus support is seriously vulnerable, another fact that Zionists are loath to admit but increasingly forced to in an attempt to rally its stalwarts. Politicians—being transactional, opportunist creatures by default—could potentially abandon Israel entirely if association with the Zionist lobby [continues to trend negative](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5559354-seth-moulton-aipac-contributions/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322153523&usg=AOvVaw3ve6PcJ0BLtE45vmMY36Mi), a reality that even the disgraced [Alan Dershowitz recently admitted](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syr4ogljze&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322153762&usg=AOvVaw2W1m9ewHb38cFrM5NprqIY). Zionism *is* a sinking ship, but is the collapse inevitable? Not so fast; there were other elections that took place on November 4th, and Zionism did not resoundingly lose from coast to coast. The anti-Zionist [Omar Fateh lost his bid for mayor of Minneapolis](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkmfl00fjzx&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322154513&usg=AOvVaw0kIeVT_2rJwg0TpoeTDOQm), much to the relief of Zionists. The victories of centrist Democrats Mikie Sherrill (NJ) and Abigail Spanberger (VA) are no cause for great celebration; both women appear cautious and calculated on Palestine, earning them [failing](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ajpaction.org/democratic-scorecard/mikie-sherrill/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322155053&usg=AOvVaw2fd65WSHEu5Bu9zUt1L-4t) [grades](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ajpaction.org/democratic-scorecard/abigail-spanberger/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322155214&usg=AOvVaw2iIVE4sQsJntC6eDCQLDxE) from pro-Palestinian groups like AJP Action as well as [criticism](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jewishinsider.com/2025/08/sam-rasoul-abigail-spanberger-anti-israel-rhetoric-virginia-democrat/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322155520&usg=AOvVaw37dvOcQryHrs9_hiCLL2Hb) from [Zionist](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-nj-governors-race-democrat-beats-gop-rival-whose-aide-spurned-money-from-jews/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322155765&usg=AOvVaw1h706tsYT-3dPhGSdhe9gS) [groups](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jewishlink.news/rep-mikie-sherrill-is-failing-the-test-on-israel-and-antisemitism/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322155951&usg=AOvVaw3vrNLUjSX4L-ziJ0-Rc06B). In other words, the cracks are showing but the dam hasn’t broken yet. This sets up a showdown of enormous significance in the coming 2026 midterm primaries. Opposing Zionist candidates with pro-Palestinian ones will be a top priority for Muslims, and the results will either pull the plug on Zionist influence or else give it a lifeline. --- ## 3\. Substance over symbol (insha'Allah) The next major takeaway from the NYC mayoral race was the resonance of Mamdani’s laser-focus on tangible issues such as affordability despite his opponents’ best efforts to shift to more symbolic terrain. While Cuomo, Adams, and Sliwa relied on vilifying Mamdani alternatively as [ISIS](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/i/trending/1985748958107279503&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322157788&usg=AOvVaw2c0GFghT3fmcCxTDMzX0Qz)’s or [Stalin](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/opinion/kasparov-in-the-ussr-i-saw-how-mamdanis-socialism-can-destroy-a-country/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322158006&usg=AOvVaw0mRLHs6EIyIxGJU2ISP4l0)’s preferred candidate, Mamdani discussed [rent freezes, expanding public transportation, and food security](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/nycs-new-mayor-what-zohran-mamdanis-win-means-for-your-rent-commute-and-city-owned-grocery-stores-110525&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322158413&usg=AOvVaw0v4AyQGzIM_1b-7wWF5bd2). “There isn’t a moment where we didn’t notice the Islamophobia,” Zara Rahim, a senior adviser on Mamdani’s campaign, [told](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/what-zohran-mamdanis-bid-for-mayor-reveals-about-being-muslim-in-america&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322158886&usg=AOvVaw0NiL75nw2urIbJCYQG3Vit) The New Yorker’s Rozina Ali. “But we have extensive message disciplining. We will talk about affordability until your ears bleed.” When it was clear that no one could beat Mamdani outright, his opponents resorted to sabotage, [planting misinformation](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-truth-about-zohran-mamdani/a-74616614&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322159692&usg=AOvVaw0jKQm70GN7uD62jY7jNwDb) about his position on prostitution, even assuming the role of mufti by [calling it haram](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/andrew-cuomo-bigotry-mamdani/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322160017&usg=AOvVaw3dkv-2yd_rUOxZauk5XYO5) in an attempt to keep Muslim voters home. However, the politics of fear and cynicism were obliterated by simply having a vision—even if flawed and deeply contested—as well as speaking to almost universal pain points that New Yorkers from virtually every background feel. Mamdani’s opponents never really offered an alternative vision, instead relying on [catastrophic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/23/andrew-cuomo-suggests-mamdani-would-cheer-future-terror-attack-00620620&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322161064&usg=AOvVaw0RKuIYOO-a1tpVU5_2Vxf7) [doomsday scenarios](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyc-mayor-adams-backs-cuomo-citing-mamdanis-stance-on-call-to-globalize-the-intifada/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322161270&usg=AOvVaw1RDdMYKe75OrOWQ2lFjJ9c) of what would happen if Mamdani won. The fact that scare tactics lost out to substance is encouraging. In the heyday of legacy media, the symbolic register and fear-mongering were virtually all people were exposed to, asserting a monopoly on determining what “the issues” were and what people should care about or be scandalized by. Now, social media provides an opportunity for disrupting that monopoly by accessing audiences directly. Even with shadow-banning and algorithm manipulation, the speed of internet culture and the money to be made on virality keep the people one step ahead of the gatekeepers. This shift from legacy to social media was at play during one of the most memorable moments of the campaign, when [Mamdani refused to say he would visit Israel](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.instagram.com/reels/DKjnZmtPcGE/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322162859&usg=AOvVaw1ts5jYkxuIku8uMncIR8Lb) or even answer which nation he would visit first as the new mayor, instead stressing his intent to stay local and focus on New Yorkers. In previous eras the affected indignation of the debate moderators would be echoed in the traditional mass media, who would dutifully return to the narrative over and over, signaling to the audience that a scandal was afoot. In today’s more democratized media landscape, the disingenuous nature of the question and the questioner was highlighted all across social media, aligning people even further with the anti-establishment dimensions of Mamdani’s campaign. The power of substance over symbol is also a poignant reminder for Muslims specifically. Muslims are on a short list of groups who have been most targeted by coordinated smear campaigns and propaganda. [Drop Site News](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-israel-reputation-survey-research-mark-penn-stagwell&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322164554&usg=AOvVaw04jmpCo38EsuA4X3-Cqqi3) has [leaked](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DPlW9ry-QRck&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322164712&usg=AOvVaw3cDxLpMmji_nHBFxPd-grf) that Israel has data to back up what we already knew anecdotally—that tying Islam and Muslims to terrorism is the single most effective messaging to claw back sympathy for Israel… or at least terminate the political will to stand in their way. As Caitlin Johnstone has said, “[Zionists push Islamophobia because it’s easier than getting people to like Israel](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/zionists-push-islamophobia-because?utm_source%3Dsubstack%26utm_medium%3Demail&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322165533&usg=AOvVaw3D-51aJSeRuAAGuBF9dtyp).” Muslims must respond by not just exposing the misinformation, which is important, but also by providing substance to their communities and society at large. That includes articulating a vision of shared flourishing that resonates with the pain points of the large swath of the population. With [SNAP benefits being cut](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/12/snap-benefits-government-shutdown-negotiations.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322166390&usg=AOvVaw2M7D1bck_O-XAzUo-1OgBN) and a dysfunctional healthcare system plunging people into [crippling debt](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/scheinman-institute/blog/john-august-healthcare/healthcare-insights-how-medical-debt-crushing-100-million-americans&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322166729&usg=AOvVaw2mV7tOwrlgKseJBO2ADlzp), Muslims should rise to fill these gaps in solidarity and with mutual aid. At a national scale, our vision must be bipartisan or non-partisan, perhaps something combining Ian Carroll’s idea of “Team God”—a nonpartisan movement of faith-based, morality-minded people—with the growing calls for the left to abandon its misadventure into the culture wars and [get back to focusing on socioeconomic issues](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://unherd.com/2024/03/the-american-left-abandoned-unions/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322167614&usg=AOvVaw3aa5Cyn4vdBxZ-x5lm5vCF). Of course, in addition to having and articulating a compelling vision, we have to roll up our sleeves and do the work. --- ## 4\. Representation as narcotic Finally, Muslims should note that Mamdani’s platform is firmly rooted in the progressive left, including stances on gender and sexuality that do not line up with Islamic teachings. But politics is rarely a clean match with our ideals, and communities often end up backing candidates who can at least prevent imminent harm or move the needle in their favor. Nonetheless, we should remember that Mamdani’s victory satisfies the aesthetic representation of many Muslims—which does have *some* value—but not the representation of universal Islamic values and principles that observant Muslims hold dear. Muslims need to be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the Obama era, in which Obama’s aesthetic appeal laundered his surveillance apparatus and war crimes, crimes which earned him the moniker [the King of Drones](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/obama-legacy/drone-program-strikes.html). Aesthetic representation loses its meaning when it is conscripted to perpetuate evil. Intersectional oppression is still oppression. Overidentification with Mamdani will similarly lead to disappointment, disillusionment, and ultimately disempowerment. We must hold Mamdani accountable and oppose him concerning what we disagree with, not keep quiet because he is “one of our own.” Allah says, "O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives" (Qur’an 4:135). The goal is not to simply get more Muslims into office or positions of power. We don’t want Muslims in power who are going to normalize evil. Neither power nor representation are ends in themselves; they are means by which a vision is achieved and values are institutionalized. For all we know, Mamdani might end up betraying the principles that generated his impressive grassroots support. According to some activists, [he already has](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/politics/mamdani-business-leaders-meeting-new-york&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1764622322173097&usg=AOvVaw0gt-SifFsWCUAOjAwJ7JPM). Knowing that Mamdani is not our savior, but a metric of our community’s growing political power and organization, should take the sting out of that possibility. Regardless, this should not deprive us of a moment of joy. Allah outlines an instructive scenario in the beginning of Surah al-Rum, "The Byzantines have been defeated in the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will be victorious within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice" (Qur’an 30:2–4). The Byzantines were no friend to the Muslims… in fact, the two sides engaged in periodic warfare over the course of four centuries. But at the particular time in which the above verses were revealed, Persia was the bigger and more immediate threat. While the enemy of our enemy might not be our friend, we are allowed to celebrate their victory and what it means for the advancement of our own cause. Perhaps Mamdani will divest New York City from Israel and arrest Netanyahu at JFK international airport, perhaps he won’t. Either way, Muslims must keep it moving. The ongoing ummatic struggle—grounded in steadfastness, principled resistance, and justice—this is what should define the moral narrative we align ourselves with. And unlike the supremacist logic of Zionism, our struggle and our vision is not predicated upon the eradication or subjugation of others; rather, it is based on divinely-bestowed values that facilitate the true flourishing of all. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/prophetic-solutions-for-financial-uncertainty-cultivating-baraka-resilience-and-peace-of-heart # Prophetic Solutions for Financial Uncertainty: Cultivating Baraka, Resilience, and Peace of Heart **Authors:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar, Anna Birawi **Topics:** Faith, Social Justice **Tags:** Analysis, Prophetic Cure **Published:** November 20, 2025 **Updated:** July 1, 2026 ## Living through economic whiplash Last winter, after his usual nine-to-five job, a young father in Michigan found himself taking on extra work driving for food delivery apps late into the night. Prices had climbed, his rent had doubled, and he was still trying to keep his kids warm in a drafty apartment. “I’m doing everything right,” he said, “but it feels like the ground keeps shifting under me.” For many households across the United States, paychecks no longer stretch as far as they once did, and many find themselves moonlighting as a part of the ever-growing gig economy. Groceries cost more, rent keeps rising, and every headline about inflation, layoffs, or government shutdowns seems to tighten the chest a little more. The weight of uncertainty is present in daily life. Economic turbulence is now one of the defining realities of our time. Financial crises, market instability, and even government shutdowns have become familiar events with global consequences. When economies slow, individuals and families feel it directly, through job loss, shrinking income, mounting debt, delayed payments, and growing anxiety about the future. For those who rely on public programs or government support, instability can be especially distressing. Temporary shutdowns pause wages for public employees, suspend food and housing assistance, and erode safety nets that many depend on. Research consistently shows that these disruptions heighten both financial strain and psychological distress, especially among families already near the poverty line.[^1]Beyond lost income, such hardship often weighs heavily on mental and physical health, increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and exhaustion.[^2] Yet amid this uncertainty, Islam offers not distant ideals but steady companionship. The Qur’an and Sunnah provide a moral and spiritual framework that grounds believers in turbulent times: We learn how trust in Allah, gratitude, generosity, and community care can transform anxiety into resilience and hardship into *baraka.* --- ## Recognizing the nature of rizq: Effort and trust For anyone watching their savings dwindle or waiting for a paycheck that never arrives, it can be difficult to believe that sustenance is already written for you. Yet the foundation of Islamic guidance on financial hardship begins with this truth: *rizq*, our provision, comes from Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “If the son of Adam were to flee from his provision as he flees from death, his provision would surely reach him just as death will reach him.”[^3] This teaching dismantles the illusion that our livelihoods are entirely self-made. Modern economies often place productivity and personal control at the center of success, but Islam situates provision within divine wisdom. The Qur’an reminds us that Allah “extends provision for whom He wills and restricts it” (Q. 30:37). Recognizing that *rizq* ultimately rests in Allah’s hands reframes how we respond to hardship. Instead of viewing financial struggle as personal failure, we begin to see it as part of a divine rhythm—seasons of ease and difficulty through which our patience, humility, and gratitude are refined. This awareness steadies the heart: We keep striving, but we stop believing that every fluctuation in our bank account defines our worth or our future.[^4] This understanding is not a call to passivity but to purposeful effort. The believer is commanded to work, seek lawful income, and plan responsibly, while also acknowledging that results belong to the One who provides. This equilibrium between striving and trust cultivates serenity in times of instability. The Prophet ﷺ described this balance through the concept of *[tawakkul](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/in-hardship-and-in-ease-how-to-rely-on-god&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890476828&usg=AOvVaw0E-P75ffXe9bMaXbr9IqSK)*: reliance upon Allah that coexists with intentional effort. Interestingly, modern psychology now affirms that such trust—accepting what is beyond one’s control—reduces anxiety and strengthens resilience in uncertain times. --- ## The inner economy of contentment Many of us know the quiet fear that bills won’t be paid or that security could vanish overnight. For some, that fear has already become reality. Jobs lost, savings gone, assistance delayed. These moments of scarcity can feel unbearable, yet they also strip away illusions about what truly sustains us. They expose how fragile worldly measures of success are and how dependent our peace of mind can become on numbers in a bank account. The Prophet ﷺ spoke directly to this struggle when he said, “Whoever makes the world his greatest concern, Allah will place poverty between his eyes and will scatter his affairs, and he will receive nothing of this world except what was decreed for him. But whoever makes the Hereafter his intention, Allah will gather his affairs, place richness in his heart, and the world will come to him unwillingly.”[^5] This hadith holds both spiritual and psychological truth. Financial fear can create the illusion of constant scarcity, even when our basic needs are met. Behavioral research calls this the *scarcity mindset*: a state where worry over resources narrows attention and drains emotional energy.[^6] Islam does not dismiss that fear but gently redirects it. When deprivation exposes how little control we truly have, faith offers a new way of seeing: What we lack in possession can be replaced with clarity, resilience, and purpose.[^7] The Prophet ﷺ also said, “Richness does not mean having many possessions, but richness is the richness of the soul.”[^8] He prayed, “O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad sufficient for their needs.”[^9] These words remind us that prosperity in Islam is not about abundance, but about sufficiency—having enough to live with dignity and gratitude. Modern research echoes this timeless principle: Once basic needs are met, additional wealth brings diminishing returns to happiness.[^10] For those in genuine hardship, this is not a call to romanticize poverty or accept injustice. Islam commands believers and societies alike to fight inequity and to support one another through *zakat*, *sadaqa*, and compassionate institutions. Yet faith also reveals something within hardship itself: When scarcity narrows our options, it can illuminate how much less we actually need to survive, and how much strength, creativity, and generosity still remains in the world. The Qur’an counsels, “Eat and drink, but do not be excessive. Indeed, He does not love those who commit excess” (Q. 7:31). In times of ease, this verse restrains indulgence; in times of struggle, it dignifies simplicity. True contentment (*qanaʿa*) is not denial of need but acceptance that what Allah has decreed, however limited, still carries wisdom and mercy. By reframing richness as spiritual steadiness rather than surplus, Islam restores hope to those navigating financial difficulty. It reminds us that even when our means are tight, our worth is not reduced; our provision may narrow, but Allah’s care does not. --- ## Kinship, gratitude, and giving The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever would like his provision to be increased and his lifespan extended should uphold the ties of kinship.”[^11] This teaching reminds us that material blessings are intimately tied to social responsibility. Wealth and well-being are not sustained in isolation but flourish through connection, care, and compassion. Economic hardship can make people feel isolated, exhausted, or unsure of where to turn. Yet Islam calls us toward community, encouraging us to reach out and support one another even in difficult times. Modern research confirms this wisdom: Individuals with strong family and social networks recover more quickly from financial losses and show greater emotional resilience.[^12] [Gratitude](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-divine-gift-of-gratitude-the-secret-of-happiness-in-the-modern-world&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890481003&usg=AOvVaw0HoEMFEOrhTlwSxg46SYkW) and generosity, too, have measurable benefits for mental health, fostering a sense of purpose, contentment, and hope. The Prophet ﷺ also said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that takes.”[^13] Giving is not a depletion of resources; it is a source of empowerment.[^14] Studies on charitable spending show that even modest acts of sharing increase happiness and reduce anxiety, including among those with limited means.[^15] Periods of economic instability, often accompanied by austerity measures, reduced public benefits, or interruptions in government programs, can leave many families particularly vulnerable. Research from North America and Europe shows that cuts to welfare and delays in social assistance increase food insecurity, heighten depression, and in some cases, contribute to preventable tragedies.[^16] The Prophetic model anticipated such vulnerabilities, institutionalizing compassion through zakat, *sadaqa*, and *[waqf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/reviving-the-waqf-tradition-moral-imagination-and-the-structural-causes-of-poverty&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890482262&usg=AOvVaw2kMOOX9cHW5WR_hT8toujn)*. The Qur’an commands, “Cooperate in righteousness and piety” (Q. 5:2), transforming empathy into collective action. As a Muslim community, we are encouraged to both give and receive help through trusted institutions—whether local zakat funds, community *waqf* initiatives, or national relief platforms. Through gratitude, generosity, and kinship, believers cultivate *baraka*: the quiet, sustaining blessing that brings sufficiency to limited means. The Qur’an says, “And when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe’” (Q. 14:7). These virtues strengthen individual hearts while nurturing the entire community, creating stability even in times of hardship.[^17] When formal systems fall short, these principles empower believers to uphold justice through direct aid, advocacy, and mutual care. Consider the recent story of a local masjid that was one of the only institutions that responded to a mother in need of formula for her baby.[^18] Moments like these remind us of both how fragile life can be and how transformative even a single act of mercy is. Small gestures, like a neighbor sharing a meal, a friend offering financial guidance, or a community member checking in, multiply into ripples of care that sustain lives. Faith in this sense is both personal and communal. It teaches patience in the face of hardship while inspiring believers to lighten the burdens of others. Economic difficulty, then, is not solely an individual test but a shared moral responsibility that binds hearts together through compassion and service. By upholding kinship, expressing gratitude, and practicing generosity, we participate in a living, breathing network of care. While this might seem paradoxical, the collective benefit of these measures strengthens both the soul and the community, and brings lasting *baraka* even amid scarcity. --- ## Faithful economics in uncertain times Financial instability is part of the human story. Markets rise and fall, currencies weaken, and institutions falter. Yet the believer’s confidence remains anchored in the constancy of divine mercy. The Qur’an promises, “Whoever places his trust in Allah, He is sufficient for him” (Q. 65:3). The Prophetic model offers not only guidance for enduring hardship but a vision for transforming it. Believers are called to work with integrity, maintain family ties, give in charity, and live with moderation and gratitude. Through these practices, they cultivate both practical resilience and spiritual depth. Even when worldly safety nets unravel, the mercy of Allah continues to hold. Faith does not erase uncertainty, it teaches us how to stand within it, with trust, balance, and hope that every test carries the seed of *baraka*. --- ## Notes [^1]: Marianne Bitler and Hilary Hoynes, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? The Safety Net and Poverty in the Great Recession,” *Journal of Labor Economics* 34, no. S1 (2016), [https://www.doi.org/10.1086/683096](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.doi.org/10.1086/683096&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890485965&usg=AOvVaw0omY_L9dhRulde9_SNJWAt); Emily C. Dore  et al., “The Long-Term Health Effects of Welfare Reform,” *Social Science and Medicine* 371 (2025), [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117878](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117878&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890486215&usg=AOvVaw1zK-fhan1kLyUke5t51uP1). [^2]: Kien H. Ng et al., “The Global Economic Crisis: Effects on Mental Health and What Can Be Done,” *Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine* 106, no. 6 (2013): 211–14, [https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076813481770](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076813481770&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890486549&usg=AOvVaw2ccFOf28KedpvRX5BpUs8l); Marco Angrisani et al., “The Effect of Housing Wealth Losses on Spending in the Great Recession,” *Economic Inquiry* 57, no. 2 (2019): 972–96, [https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12753](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12753&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890486811&usg=AOvVaw0csjITVmaWghEjBZ3qwbo-). [^3]: *Ḥilyat al-awliyā’*, no. 7/90. Graded *ḥasan* (fair) according to al-Albānī. [^4]: See: Anna Birawi, “What Are We Worth? Redefining Muslim Value with Dignity and Honor,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, February 11, 2025, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/what-are-we-worth-redefining-muslim-value-with-dignity-and-honor-blog](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/what-are-we-worth-redefining-muslim-value-with-dignity-and-honor-blog&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890485577&usg=AOvVaw2LFw1YqWJafjKH50msNFqF). [^5]: *Sunan Ibn Māja,* no. 4105. [^6]: Anandi Mani et al., “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function,” *Science* 341, no. 6149 (2013): 976–80, [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238041](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238041&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890490076&usg=AOvVaw35918Ir7ePPVg9ZZwdTYie). [^7]: Read: Osman Umarji, “Psychology of Wealth: An Islamic Perspective on Personal Finance,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, July 1, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/psychology-of-wealth-an-islamic-perspective-on-personal-finance](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/psychology-of-wealth-an-islamic-perspective-on-personal-finance&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890489810&usg=AOvVaw3tvKFl__Z47WlYO6XNFM5B). [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6446; *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 1051. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6460. [^10]: Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, “High Income Improves Evaluation of Life but Not Emotional Well-Being,” *PNAS* 107, no. 38 (2010): 16489–93, [https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011492107](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011492107&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890488846&usg=AOvVaw3sqm_xvDJPZx0A5kr2p3SR). [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5986; *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2557. [^12]: Julianne Holt-Lunstad et al., “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review,” *PLOS Medicine* 7, no. 7 (2010), [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890487887&usg=AOvVaw3aO14aImXu5NiRvhwwQCDu). [^13]: *Riyāḍ al-ṣāliḥīn*, no. 296. [^14]: The Prophet said, “Charity does not decrease wealth, no one forgives another except that Allah increases his honor, and no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah raises his status” (*Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2588). [^15]: Elizabeth W. Dunn et al., “Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness,” *Science* 319, no. 5870 (2008): 1687–88, [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150952](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150952&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890488252&usg=AOvVaw1sA3blZjWvNjHHYptiBTwW); Garam Kim et al., “Prosocial Spending Encourages Happiness: A Replication of the Only Experiment Reported in Dunn, Aknin, and Norton,” *PLOS ONE* 17, no. 9 (2022), [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272434](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272434&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890488552&usg=AOvVaw0SMZXNLsua5_ObiMUQCczK). [^16]: Ben Barr et al., “Suicides Associated with the 2008–10 Economic Recession in England: Time Trend Analysis,” *BMJ* 345 (2012), [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e5142](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e5142&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890489441&usg=AOvVaw0q-zN5O_p-IGU7bbhIgymO). [^17]: For more, watch: Mufti Abdul Rahman, “Expanding and Blessing Your Wealth,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, April 19, 2020, [https://youtu.be/19r0DidFNlY?si=w8ljxa8B301frXaY](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://youtu.be/19r0DidFNlY?si%3Dw8ljxa8B301frXaY&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890490338&usg=AOvVaw0_x7R8UcUWNHtBWqiA96nJ). [^18]: Marni Rose McFall, “Woman Asks Churches If They Will Feed Starving Baby—The Response is Shocking,” *Newsweek*, November 10, 2025, [https://www.newsweek.com/nikalie-monroe-church-call-experiment-starving-child-poverty-snap-benefits-11022815](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newsweek.com/nikalie-monroe-church-call-experiment-starving-child-poverty-snap-benefits-11022815&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890490710&usg=AOvVaw38cFq5YKQ52CxA_fqWWVIl); Jen Cardone, “Viral TikTok Experiment Highlights Charlotte Mosque’s Generosity,” *Queen City News*, November 11, 2025, [https://www.qcnews.com/charlotte/viral-tiktok-experiment-highlights-charlotte-mosques-generosity/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.qcnews.com/charlotte/viral-tiktok-experiment-highlights-charlotte-mosques-generosity/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1763656890491012&usg=AOvVaw18VuYdbVcOgRo-TIEohJbb). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/love-and-hate-for-gods-sake-revisiting-the-doctrine-of-al-wala-wal-bara # Love and Hate for God’s Sake: Revisiting the Doctrine of al-Wala’ wal-Bara’ **Author:** Dr. Hatem al-Haj **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Publication, Self-Improvement **Published:** November 7, 2025 **Updated:** June 10, 2026 *In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful* Properly reconciling commitment to God and compassion for man is among the most pressing needs of today’s world. It is no secret that Muslims’ relationship with the “other” (including fellow believers of other theological orientations) has become such a major trial for many*—*particularly those hailing from the Western world[^1]*—*that it risks eroding the sweetness of their faith, or even pushing them away from it. The Islamic doctrine of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*, often translated as loyalty and disavowal, has the power to remedy this conflict—if and when accurately defined. The equilibrium it achieves between obedience to God and compassion to mankind attests to Islam’s inherently balanced moral philosophy. This paper is the first in a series of papers that unpack the concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*, beginning with an exposition of Islam’s ethos of “love” and “hate” as established in its revealed scriptures and scholastic tradition. Subsequent papers will go on to explore, in detail, how this concept should inform our actions towards and understanding of “others” on an individual and global scale. I pray that this endeavor helps to illustrate the coherence of Islam’s ethical framework, and the unique way it balances different virtues. --- ## How should al-wala’ wal-bara’ be defined? *Walaʾ* (or *al-walaʾ*) is commonly translated as loyalty or allegiance. At its core, *al-walaʾ* is about proximity (closeness) to something or someone. It connotes support, friendship, and love.[^2] *Baraʾ* (or *al-baraʾ*) is commonly translated as disavowal or disassociation. It has the same root as *bariʾ* (being innocent of) and *baraʾa* (to recover, as from an illness).[^3] This etymology helps us understand some of the term’s meanings. Essentially, *al-baraʾ* is about disassociating oneself from someone or something undesirable. It does not necessarily entail hostility or dislike. *Al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is sometimes (liberally) translated as “love and hate,” following from the idea that love and hate are the basis of loyalty and disavowal. In the context of Islam, the concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* can be understood as both loyalty to what pleases Allah (loving for His sake) and disassociation from what displeases Him (hating for His sake). God is at the center of existence and our consciousness, and therefore it’s natural to love what He loves and to hate what He hates—to seek that which reflects His divine qualities, and to eschew that which does not. An integral aspect of *tawhid* (Islamic monotheism) is the decentering of the ego. If God is the Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Good, then even our feelings should be mindful of Him and accord with His pleasure. Different derivations of the terms *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ—*as well as the concept of loving and hating for God’s sake*—*are established throughout the Qur’an.[^4] Two of the most well-known verses in this regard are, > You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who \[viciously\][^5] oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred.[^6] > O you who have believed, do not take as allies those who have taken your religion in ridicule and amusement among the ones who were given the Scripture before you, nor the disbelievers. And fear Allah, if you should \[truly\] be believers.[^7] *Al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ* is also suggested by the authenticated speech of the Prophet ﷺ. “Be kind to your \[pagan\] mother,”[^8] he ﷺ instructed, and in a different instance he affirmed, “There is a reward for serving any living being.”[^9] The Prophet ﷺ also said, “Whoever loves for Allah, hates for Allah, gives for Allah, and withholds for Allah has perfected their faith.”[^10] The concept of *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ,* in its original iteration, makes piety the primary object of the believer’s loyalty—not race, ethnicity, kinship, nationality, language, class, or politics. It proclaims goodness as the ultimate differentiator. Allah says, > O humankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.[^11] As for color and language, they are simply signs of the Lord’s magnificence. Allah says, “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and colors. Indeed, in these are signs for those of knowledge.”[^12] In essence, *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ* weakens all tribal prejudices without invalidating other types of human affiliation—such as kinship or nationality—and seamlessly weaves them together into a harmonious worldview. It does this by establishing Islam as the most noble source of affiliation, but not one that operates outside the larger framework of God’s pervasive mercy and the singular Adamic origins of the human family. That is why Muslims who prioritize religion are not as divided by other factors, such as ethnicity[^13] or political ideology, let alone matters as trivial as one’s favorite sports team. The genocide in Gaza is a significant case in point. Not only has it sparked a revival of the Muslim *ummah*’s collective consciousness, it has reoriented bloc voting habits across the US and UK around ummatic concerns.[^14] The doctrine of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* even serves, as will be discussed later, to purge religious bigotry by treating human consciousness as both a transcendent ego and a bundle of intentional acts. It calls every Muslim to ally themselves with goodness, regardless of its agent, because our ultimate allegiance to God signifies an ultimate allegiance to goodness. The terms *al-walaʾ* and *al-baraʾ* each have over twenty usages. Their polysemic nature, as well as the potential vastness of their applications across all areas of relational life, makes their disambiguation and contextualization exceedingly important. We need not be philosophers of language like Ludwig Wittgenstein to grasp that language derives much of its meaning from its contextual use, and thus using an expression in a “language game” where it does not belong necessitates its misinterpretation.[^15] If context is required to comprehend a word’s intended meaning even within a single language, then context is evermore consequential when translating from one language, and indeed one worldview, to another. This not only complicates communicating the concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* to non-Muslims, but even to Muslims, unless we make a conscious effort to engage with and reconstruct the worldview of the Prophet ﷺ and the righteous predecessors. Therefore, careful analysis of the pertinent scriptural and historical accounts is essential for a proper understanding of our tradition, even if it is vast and varied. Moreover, given the perpetual [renewal of](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/shariah-in-todays-world-renewing-islamic-discourse&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003641544&usg=AOvVaw0MjTtsBFDr8QBCWciSaRUR) *[ijtih](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/shariah-in-todays-world-renewing-islamic-discourse&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003641662&usg=AOvVaw36PNNAS8KHmw1QXXNkYokp)[a](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/shariah-in-todays-world-renewing-islamic-discourse&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003641737&usg=AOvVaw352GuwfLEG27ODCMsDGauH)[d](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/shariah-in-todays-world-renewing-islamic-discourse&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003641867&usg=AOvVaw0konFSqVXer5tG0DiT-DHX)*, we should expect that, unlike matters of creed, the rulings of proper conduct between people of different theological orientations and religious affiliations will vary across time and space. --- ## Is the concept of al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ exclusive to Islam? The notion of loving and hating for the sake of God is not alien to other religious traditions. For example, while some Christians claim that unconditional love is the ethos of their religion, Christian pastors of different backgrounds have amassed hundreds of Biblical verses that suggest otherwise. A simple online search for “Does God love everyone?” is sufficient to demonstrate this point,[^16] but some examples include: > And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and *therefore I* ***abhorred*** *them*.[^17] > The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou ***hatest*** all workers of iniquity.[^18] > > All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for *there I* ***hated*** *them*: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, ***I will love them no more***: all their princes are revolters.[^19] Many Christian pastors have exhorted their congregations to try to align their feelings with both God’s pleasure *and* displeasure*,* with both His love *and* His hate. In an article that asks *Does God Love Everyone?*, Pastor Nick Bibile writes, > If we tell the unbelievers that God intimately loves them, repentance is not needed, as God loves them anyway! But they say, “God loves the sinners but hates the sin.” If Jesus died for every single individual, then why is it that many are going to hell? Why is that the death of Jesus cannot save everyone in hell? Did he fail his mission, or did he come to save his people from their sins? (Matt. 1:21) > John 3:36 \[says:\] He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him… Some say, God loves the sinner but hates the sin. It does not say that in scripture, but the scripture says just the opposite. Ps. 7:11 \[says:\] God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.[^20] Evidently, notwithstanding the appeal to differing scriptural sources, there is little semantic difference between the concepts presented by Pastor Bibile and those presented by many Muslim preachers. Another tangible example of this similarity can be found in the acclaimed saying of Prophet Jesus (as): “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”[^21] This instruction strongly resonates with the Islamic ethic of forgiving our oppressors, as Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Reconcile with those who cut you off, give to those who deprive you, and forgive those who wrong you.”[^22] Neither prophet preached loving sinners unconditionally. Christians must look to how Jesus (as) “loved” the Pharisees and fraudulent money changers, and how he will “love them” in the Second Coming. The Greek word used by the Gospel writers, *agape* (love/goodwill), is distinct from other types of love like *eros* (romance) or *philia* (fraternity).[^23] In other words, the kind of love reserved for sinners is one of goodwill and prayer rather than one of unconditional acceptance. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ epitomized this type of love when he prayed for the pagans of al-Taʾif after they set their children on him with taunts and stones, filling his shoes with blood and chasing him out of the city. He epitomized such love again when he prayed for the pagans of Quraysh after they had wounded him by Mount Uhud, broken his tooth, and killed his beloved uncle and companions. However, some Christians fail to distinguish between the many dimensions of love and thus introduce tension between the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament. Jesus (as), rather than being a great messenger of God who came to remind us of the spiritual and moral underpinnings of the law while upholding it, instead becomes a denier of the law. This mild version of Marcionism—which holds the “benevolent God” of the Gospel to be different from the “malevolent creator” God of the Old Testament—is offensive to the very concept of a monotheistic God, His divinity, and His Messenger. Marcionism errs in its inability to reconcile the rigor of the Old Testament with the beauty of the New Testament. Both emanate from the same divine source, which across history manifested itself in differing forms in accordance with the various dispositions and needs of different peoples at different times. In the final revelation, however, these qualities were brought into a perfect balance, fitting for all peoples and all times. The God of majesty who sent Moses is the same God of beauty who sent Jesus and the God of perfection who sent Muhammad.[^24] Emphasizing one of God’s divine attributes or just one of a prophet’s noble traits does not negate the others. Proper reconciliation is a requirement of a balanced, unfragmented conception of the Divine—one offered by the Islamic understanding of God’s attributes and His Messenger. One may ask if setting “unconditional love”[^25] as a cardinal moral value encourages people to be more compassionate. It seems highly unlikely. In the history of Christianity, the promotion of an ethic of absolute love did not yield a utopia of peace and plenty. Instead, it subdued the masses and emboldened the tyrants. It did not stop imperial, national, or religious wars. It did not stop the atrocities committed by the inquisitors, the Crusaders, and the colonizers.[^26] To love all the children of Adam is a morally admirable principle expected of any believer in the Adamic origin of humanity. However, to claim that we must love both the good- and evil-doers indiscriminately, and love even the most criminal aggressors as they commit their acts of aggression, is dim, empty rhetoric that cannot be substantiated or concretized. Such rhetoric represents an inexcusable failure to provide a coherent and actionable strategy for cultivating human fraternity. --- ## How can hate be sanctioned by a benevolent God? The Arabic term *bughḍ/baghḍāʾ*, used in scripture to convey the concept of disavowal, is often translated as “hate.” Although “dislike” may be a more politically correct term, given that in the modern West all “hate” is perceived as evil and immoral,[^27] “hate” appears to be the best of the imperfect translations for *bughḍ*. This has been a source of consternation for some due to hate, befittingly, being a hated concept—it is not a psychological state that is inherently gratifying to possess. In fact, we often deem as evil the very act of hating.[^28] Moreover, both Islamic and Christian scriptures, in many passages, seem to echo this disdain for “hate.” Given the apparent social and scriptural aversion to hate, how can it be sanctioned by the ultimate good; i.e., God? It’s important to consider from the outset that while some acts do have intrinsic qualities that render them either *hasan* (beautiful) or *qabih* (ugly), God acts and commands for wisdoms that we may not completely comprehend. This is the stronger, more centrist position within Sunni theology. God wills and commands what is good and wise in itself; in those instances where an otherwise intrinsically *qabih* act is ordained, a deeper wisdom, sometimes largely beyond our comprehension, must be contained within the command. Such was the case, for instance, when God commanded Abraham to slaughter his son (peace be upon them both) to test their submission.[^29] Imam Ibn al-Qayyim wrote, > The Sharia is based on wisdom and the pursuit of the welfare of humanity, in both this fleeting life and in the life to come. It is entirely just, wise, beneficial, and merciful. Anything that veers from justice to injustice, from mercy to its opposite, from wisdom to foolishness, and from the welfare of humanity to its harm, is not part of the Sharia, even if it has been included therein by misinterpretation.[^30] Whenever interpreting a command for what appears to be a *qabih* act, we as Muslims must try to align our feelings with God’s will and pleasure. God may decree something that He hates for a wisdom only He can fully see, but we are obligated to accept both His chosen decree (creative will) and His command (legislative will). In the best of all possible worlds, hated commands exist for a divine wisdom of which we may only catch a glimpse. From these glimpses we may come to appreciate hatred as a shield against evil and its doers. Research has shown that “hate is a protective emotional response to perceived evil.”[^31] When we hate an evil, we immediately erect a barrier between ourselves and the evil in question—a barrier that deters us from engaging in it, possessing it, nearing it, or affiliating with it. Imam Ibn Taymiyya said, > The performance of commandments arises from the power of will, desire, and love, and the avoidance of prohibitions arises from the power of hate, anger, and aversion. Ordaining good is based on love and inclination, and forbidding evil is based on hate and dislike. So is the encouragement of good and discouragement of evil. People get dissuaded from \[carrying out\] oppression by the deterring power of anger \[of the oppressed\]; thereby, justice and equity are established in order and distribution.[^32] Ultimately, it is hate that will stimulate avoidance; in hating what God hates, we are more likely to keep distant from it. Given the superior wisdom of God as al-Hakim (the Most Wise) and our complete trust in Him, all that He hates is deemed evil or bad for humanity. As such, our hatred of evil not only signifies our love for Allah, but is itself an act of self-preservation. There is thus nothing more detrimental to the individual or society than maintaining a neutral, noncommittal attitude towards its evils and vices. Without the layer of protection that hatred of such things affords, the Muslim risks further exposure to the dangers of desire and temptation. --- ## Should we hate the sin but love the sinner? Developing our hatred of evil without slipping into its more destructive tendencies depends on two pillars: (1) the cultivation of virtue and (2) the exposition of proper and detailed answers to the what, why, and how questions about hate and its objects. It is the endeavor of this series to unpack the second pillar, beginning in this paper by exploring the proper objects of our divinely-motivated love and hate, and dismantling any biases that may exist in our understanding and application of it. Should the Muslim hate evil or its perpetrators? Sins or the sinners? Disbelief or the disbelievers? When we’re told to forgive and pray for those who’ve wronged us, are we expected to love our transgressors? For the most part, Qur’anic and Prophetic references to disavowal target the sin rather than the sinners themselves. Our Messenger ﷺ was told by Allah, > And if they disobey you, then say, “Indeed, I am disassociated from what you are doing.”[^33] > And if they deny you \[O Muhammad\], then say, “For me are my deeds and for you are your deeds. You are disassociated from what I do, and I am disassociated from what you do.”[^34] As Lot (as) told his people, “I am indeed of those who hate your conduct.”[^35] Abu Qilaba (ra) reported that Abu al-Dardaʾ (ra) passed by a man who had committed a sin. \[Some people\] were insulting the man, so  \[Abu al-Dardaʾ\] said, “What if he fell into a well, would you have not brought him out?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Then, do not insult your brother and thank God who protected you \[from sin\].” They said, “Don’t you hate him?” He said, “I only hate his action, so if he quits, he is my brother.”[^36] It was also reported by Abu Nu‘aym in *Ḥilyat al-awliyā’* that Ibrahim ibn Ad-ham (ra) said, > I was passing through some cities, and I saw two people among the ascetics who travel through the land. One of them said to the other, “O brother, what did the people who love Allah inherit from their Beloved?” The other said, “They inherited insight from the light of Allah the Exalted and empathy for those who disobey Him.” I said, “How can he have empathy for people who oppose their beloved?” He looked at me and said, “He abhorred their \[sinful\] deeds and had empathy for them that through admonition they may abandon their \[sinful\] deeds, and he felt empathy that their bodies might be burned in Hellfire. **The believer is not truly a believer until he loves for people what he loves for himself**.” [^37] A notable exception to the moral position articulated in these reports—the hatred of sin but not the sinner—is to be found in two Qur’anic verses. The first was revealed in the context of Hajj: “And \[it is\] an announcement from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that Allah is disassociated from the disbelievers, and \[so is\] His Messenger.”[^38] The second records Ibrahim’s response to the tyranny and recalcitrant disbelief of his people: “Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah.”[^39] The nature of loving and hating for the sake of Allah is expectedly a very intricate endeavor, with some meaning and clarity lost (or distorted) in translation*—*not only from one language to another but, quite significantly, from one worldview to another. Consider, for example, how we define human consciousness, and the implications this definition has on the correct objects of our hate. On the one hand, some hold that all human thought and perception stems from a transcendental and unitary ego. Demonstrating this, Abu Hurayra said, “The Prophet ﷺ came across me in one of the streets of Medina and at that time I was *junub* (in a state of major ritual impurity). So, I slipped away from him and went to take a \[ritually purifying\] bath. On my return, the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘O Abu Hurayra, where have you been?’ I replied, ‘I was *junub*, so I disliked sitting in your company.’ The Prophet ﷺ exclaimed, **‘*Subhan Allah*! A believer never becomes impure.’**”[^40] In other words, even if Abu Hurayra was, at that moment, in a state of ritual impurity, the Prophet ﷺ was pointing out to him that it is the state of the transcendental ego at the core of his being that truly matters. On the other hand, some hold that we are a bundle or continuum of qualities that are renewed by every intentional act we do. As the Prophet  ﷺ said, “The one who commits an act of illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer at the time of committing illegal sexual intercourse, a thief is not a believer at the time of committing theft, and a drinker \[of alcoholic drink\] is not a believer at the time of drinking. Yet, \[the gate of\] repentance is open thereafter.”[^41] Both conceptions of human consciousness are true in their own way. There is clearly a difference between the action and the individual who performs it, and thus not everyone who practices an innovation, for instance, is called an innovator. Furthermore, an individual may be excused due to ignorance, error, or forgetfulness. Yet an act cannot be totally divorced from its doer. It cannot be said that a man should hate theft but love thieves. As Muslims, we must wish salvation for everyone regardless of what they do. However, the unqualified and mutually exclusive use of the terms love and hate are incoherent and unattainable. Imam Ibn Taymiyya wrote that a man may be loved and hated simultaneously—loved in some respects and hated in others. We cannot demand that a father love the person who raped and then burnt his ten-year-old daughter, just as we cannot ask ourselves to love murderers, liars, or thieves, when such descriptions are the denominators. We may still love something else about an individual criminal, and we might still love for them repentance and guidance. However, to say that we love murderers and rapists is a moral anathema. If hate is meant to protect us from evil and the evil-doers,[^42] abstracting an act of evil from its perpetrator will not achieve that protection. After all, in reality, there is no evil that exists independently of those who (would) do that particular evil. Even a Platonic realist would not say that; to Plato, evil was a privation of good. As such, maintaining an absolute binary between who or what we should love and hate is fallacious. This extends to the identity of the sinner, for a Muslim cannot limit his disavowal to sins committed by non-Muslims. When Khalid ibn al-Walid committed an error, the Prophet ﷺ said, **“O Allah, I disavow before you what Khalid has done,”** and he repeated it twice.[^43] So, why are we so uncomfortable about the possibility of hating a person? The answer is to be found in the contemporary conflation of hate with harm. When people hear the phrase “hate for the sake of God,” they typically interpret it as a command to harm other people. Hate, however, is as subtle and nuanced a concept as love, and must too be understood within its correct religious ecosystem. The multidimensional nature of hatred becomes immediately evident when we consider the extensive discussions in Islamic literature about hating one’s own self—an idea that exposes as unfounded the equation of hate with harm. The self-hatred prescribed by Allah is the hatred of lovers who want the best for themselves and humanity. In *Madārij al-sālikīn*, Ibn al-Qayyim quotes one of the righteous predecessors as saying, “You will not have proper understanding until you hate all people for Allah’s sake, then turn to yourself and hate that the most.”[^44] Ibn al-Qayyim explains that this hatred of both self and other flows from our recognition of the disparity between Allah’s perfect graciousness and our human wickedness. In reminding ourselves of His vast all-encompassing mercy, we inspire ourselves to work for our own salvation and the salvation of others. Similarly, (religious) hatred of sinners is simply the expression of lovers who want the best for humanity. Imagine a teenager who steals in order to purchase drugs. His mother, in her pain and anger, may truly hate his conduct and even hate him for harming himself and his family, but her hatred is fueled by her love for him and her desire to see him safe, healthy, and free from harm. This mother’s hatred for her sinning son, far from equating to harm, is the hatred of a lover who longs only for the well-being of her beloved child. As Imam Ibn Taymiyya (ra) wrote, “It is incumbent that the one who punishes people for their sins does that out of goodwill and mercy for them, like the parent when they discipline their child and the physician when they treat their patient, for the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘I am to you like a parent.’”[^45] When the Prophet ﷺ supplicated for the destruction of certain Arab tribes that were killing and oppressing the believers, Allah revealed to him, **“Not for you, \[O Muhammad, but for Allah\], is the decision whether He should \[cut them down\] or forgive them or punish them, for indeed, they are wrongdoers.”**[^46] The Prophet ﷺ stopped supplicating against the oppressors, but continued to supplicate for the oppressed. Religious hatred in Islam is a nuanced concept that doesn’t conform to the ideological binaries of secular morality and society. *Al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* entails worshiping Allah by loving what He loves to varying, non-exclusive degrees, and hating what He hates to varying, non-exclusive degrees. It is a hatred of sinners, not in themselves because we continue to wish them guidance, but insofar as they represent and embody sin. It is also a hatred that allows space for love to coexist. A righteous person hates gossip and gossipers, but does he hate his gossiping mother, who treats him with the utmost kindness and compassion? Looking at the human being as a contradictory bundle of actions and convictions, the answer is not black and white. The son will hate his mother for her ugly habits, but he’ll also love her for her beautiful virtues, and he’ll continue to want the best for her. That is what is understood by the principle of “loving the Muslim in proportion to the good he exhibits and hating him in proportion to the evil he exhibits.”[^47] Loyalty and disavowal are essentially about taking the side of good against evil and truth against falsehood. While severing the act from the actor is not always possible, our prioritization of either depends on the circumstances—such as the person’s emotional or spiritual state, proximity to falsehood, and so forth. It’s always wise to stress the dislike of the act, not the actor, to people who are unable to grasp the nuances of these distinctions. When urged to choose between a default of love or hate, the choice is clear: the default should be love of the human family. --- ## Can a Muslim truly love a non-Muslim? Given the hatred we should direct towards sins and sinners, as well as the clear Qur’anic exhortations to disassociate from those who revel in disbelief, one might come to the conclusion that although we may wish the best for non-Muslims, our love for them can never transcend mere goodwill to blossom into true friendship. However, when we look at the *sirah* of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and consider human nature, we find that such a conclusion is entirely unwarranted. In fact,  loving non-Muslim family and friends is unavoidable and very often desirable. There is no clearer manifestation of the Prophet’s love for non-Muslims than in his love for his uncle, Abu Talib. Allah addressed His Messenger ﷺ and said, **“Indeed, \[O Muhammad\], you do not guide whom you love…”**[^48] Most *tafsir* scholars hold that “whom you love” refers to Abu Talib. Even if not referencing Abu Talib in particular, the verse clearly indicates that there were those loved by the Prophet ﷺ who had not been guided. In any case, the Prophet’s love of Abu Talib was beyond doubt. Abu Talib cared for the Prophet ﷺ and supported him in ways that no one else did or could. He afforded him protection and assistance through his most difficult trials. As such, it is only natural that the Prophet ﷺ would have loved Abu Talib well beyond any mere desire for his well-being. So deep was his love for his uncle that he also loved whoever Abu Talib loved. The Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Talib’s son, ʿAqil, who was late to accepting Islam, **“O Abu Yazid, I love you for two things: the kinship between us, and because of my uncle’s \[Abu Talib’s\] love of you.”**[^49] The Islamic conception of marriage, especially the legality of marriage to women from the People of the Book, further evinces the permissibility of loving non-Muslims. Allah says about marriage, “**And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates, that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy.”**[^50] It would be completely unrealistic to expect or demand that a man not love his compassionate wife because she is not Muslim. Moreover, it would contradict the very essence of marriage as portrayed in the aforementioned verse. So natural and likely is the development of deep love, affection, and mercy between spouses that Ibn ʿAbbās prohibited marriage to women belonging to the abode of war (*dar al-ḥarb*), even if they were from the People of the Book.[^51] We could even go so far as to argue that loving benevolent people is irresistible. In al-Busti’s famous ode, *al-Nūnīya*, his first advice was, > أَحْسِنْ إلى النَّاسِ تَسْتَعبِدْ قلوبَهم          فطالما استعبدَ الإنسانَ إِحسانُ > > Be kind to people, and you’ll find their heart’s captivity has ensued. For with the shackles of kindness, humanity’s spirit has always been subdued.[^52] Such an intense kind of love cannot be condemned by a religion that burdens no soul beyond its capacity, let alone by a religion that teaches gratitude. Imam Ibn Taymiyya (ra) said, “Instinctual passion, which is natural love and hate, is blameworthy not in itself, but when acted upon \[in defiance of divine guidance\].”[^53] What, then, when we consider loving groups of non-Muslims? For instance, can Muslims love Christians? The dilemma here is that the denominator by which we categorize this group of people, as with all other religious groups, is a creed or practice opposed to the very essence of Islamic belief. To say that Muslims love “Christians” in particular is to imply that we love them for their belief in, for example, the Trinity—something Muslims consider a betrayal of Christ’s legacy—or for their disbelief in the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ, a disbelief that Muslims would, in fact, consider worthy of the religious hatred previously discussed. Despite this, far from not loving individuals who identify as Christian, the more correct and semantically appropriate answer is that we love our human family, our neighbors, and our compatriots, including those of other faiths. We love and value the kindness of non-Muslims who support our cause and stand by us in solidarity. We love our non-Muslim neighbors who show nothing but care and consideration towards us. As we have seen, it is entirely permissible to foster a natural love of anyone with a good nature, so long as the manifestations of this love remain within the boundaries set by Allah. --- ## How can human prejudices affect our interpretation of al-wala’ wal-bara’? Spinning the truth and telling lies for personal gain are among the many abominations which bruise our moral and spiritual integrity. The victims of self-serving lies are the transcendent truths and values we claim to espouse and, ultimately, the religion we claim to cherish. Islam is a religion of balance, and it fully recognizes the competing values of this world and offers the most perfect equilibrium in response. Islam’s balanced concern for truth, righteousness, and justice on one hand, and empathy, peace, and civility on the other, allows for movement in both directions. People who are focused on one value alone will tend to show an unwavering commitment to that particular value. In this vein, unfortunately, the notion of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is not spared from our flawed and biased interpretations. On one side, there is warranted concern about the catastrophic consequences of a misconstrued and politicized conception of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ.* The existence of groups like ISIS serve as a stark reminder of the destruction caused by extreme human prejudices. Furthermore, while ISIS may be at the far end of the spectrum—using *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* to justify horrific violence—limiting discussion of the problem to a single group (particularly that one) is an easy way to avoid any introspection that might cause us discomfort. In fact, there are many ways in which *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is misunderstood and misapplied, departing from a holistic understanding and practice of this concept. These distortions, driven by preconceived, unfounded conceptions of the self and others, are causing immeasurable harm. *Al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* has been implicitly and explicitly weaponized by many Muslims against the religious “other,” be they non-Muslims or Muslims of a different theological, ideological, or political persuasion. Chauvinistic self-righteousness and a severe lack of introspection have driven these misunderstandings*.* The religion that was sent as a mercy for all humanity is, ironically, being pressed into the service of insularity, intolerance, and, in some cases, hostility. This phenomenon is ubiquitous, far beyond the behavior of any one group. The very concept of a unified *ummah*—while firmly founded—has been misrepresented, reducing the religion of God to a political or ethnic identity. This is the inverse relationship between fanaticism and rationality. The cultish zealotry of some adherents to sects, intellectual schools (*madhahib*), Sufi orders (*turuq*), and various movements continue to damage the Muslim mind and degrade civil discourse among the constituents of our *ummah*. Many intellectual endeavors have become ungodly pursuits of confirmation of bias, not discovery of truth. The mind is trained to ignore the evidence, subvert it, or circumvent it. It becomes desensitized to some of the most known and obvious logical fallacies. We thus devastate our most prized mental faculties for the sake of vain victories. Beyond Muslims themselves, another force that stifles open and objective discussion of this subject is the fear-mongering of mainstream media. Its propagandistic machinery has effectively framed *al-wal**aʾ* *wal-bar**aʾ* as the hallmark of Muslim terrorists. Consequently, the concept has been falsely restricted to one particular group. Consider this excerpt from Tom Quiggin on the ideology of al-Qaeda: > *Al-Wala’ Wal Bara’ (al-Qaeda’s View):* Al-Qaeda fosters an atmosphere of “us versus them” using the term *Al-Wala’ Wal-Bara’*. *Al-Wala’* means “those to whom they are loyal” or simply, “their friends.” *Al-Bara’* refers to those whom they hate or their enemies. This concept becomes their tool to categorize people into friends and enemies. Those they hate are the enemy and those they like, or agree with, are their friends. Their enemies are non-Muslims and many Muslims as well. > *Al-Wala’ Wal Bara’ (Islamic Scholars’ View):* There is not, nor should there be, an “us versus them” mentality in either \[*sic*\] Islam or in humanity. All human beings are creatures of God and we therefore must show respect to each other. This implies a multi-racial, multi-religious society. Islam must be seen as a *rahmah* (blessing) to the universe.[^54] Quiggin is clearly not an Islamophobe. He is trying to demonstrate how deviant the views of al-Qaeda are from mainstream Islamic scholarship, the latter of which he fairly represents. Yet the dismissal of the concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* by the scholar he quotes here is fraught with inconsistencies and omissions. Some contemporary scholars hold that “the concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is relatively unknown outside the Salafi world,”[^55] and is especially unfamiliar to “traditional” scholars. The thesis that *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is a Salafi concoction[^56] is supported by many researchers,[^57] and while many of them mean well, such a claim is reductionist at best. There will be no attempt here to exonerate many Salafis from peddling an un-nuanced and sometimes perverted form of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*. However, any suggestion that the concept is exclusive to or invented by them, or that all Salafis have some uniform understanding of it, is indefensible.[^58] Ironically, it is the epistemic clarity that Salafis often have and their emphasis on scripture that may prove most effective in correcting misconceptions about this doctrine, once proper clarification and contextualization have been provided. The erroneous attribution of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* to extreme Salafis has cultivated a certain paranoia within the Muslim community. Even the mildest iteration of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* is now seen as risking association with the most radical among us. Some scholars, motivated by a fear of offending non-Muslims or guilt by ideological association, seem to avoid engagement with *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* or dismiss it in its entirety. Further still, due to their commendable interest in civility, national security, and world peace, some Muslims want to see the whole concept of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* not just reformed, but abolished. The most impassioned members of our community, in turn, especially our youth, proceed to disregard the good counsel of many scholars whom they perceive as ashamed of traditional understandings of this doctrine. Ultimately, despite good intentions, quoting a few verses of the Qur’an or hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ about justice and kindness toward others will not make the other—more difficult to explain—texts disappear. Whenever we interpret some traditions to the exclusion of others, we weave a narrative that does not address potentially incongruent scriptural imports. Until we harmonize all the pertinent reports, we will not develop a coherent synthesis that authentically reflects the tradition, resonates with the preferred epistemic worldview of these youth, and most importantly, aligns with the truth. Given the pervasive human prejudices associated with *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ,* one can hardly engage in a level-headed discussion about the subject. People are ready to categorize and condemn interlocutors on the flimsiest of bases, including just a preface to, or title of, their works on the topic. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, you can be accused of both laxity and extremism. Despite this, we cannot and should not avoid the discussion altogether, because not only are we obligated to convey the Truth candidly, we risk major damage by remaining silent. There is incalculable harm in repeating a phrase like *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* against the backdrop of a skewed interpretation, just as there is incalculable harm—in a classic case of the pendulum effect—in its denial as categorically un-Islamic. The loss of moderation in addressing this issue will lead many to extremism on one side or the other. Prioritizing religion, therefore, is not simply about rearranging our prejudices; it is about purging those prejudices and providing in their stead a coherent source of primal affiliation that accords with the will of God. Finally, it may also be instructive to recognize that the phrase *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* was born of prejudice—first coined by the Kharijites and leveled against their fellow Muslims. Driven by their fanaticism and divisive persuasions, the Kharijites weaponized the concept to undermine the peace and order of the community. Hence, Sunni scholars initially considered it a reprehensible innovation. Salama ibn Kuhayl narrates: > I was once among a group of the *tabiʿin* (*lit*. successors: second-generation Muslims) which included Abu al-Bakhtari, Maysara, Abu Salih, Ḍaḥḥāk al-Mishraqī, and Bukayr al-Ṭāʾī, and they agreed that *irjāʾ* is an innovation, *walāya* is an innovation, *barāʾa* is an innovation, and *shahāda*[^59] is an innovation.[^60] Similarly, Imam Ahmad (ra) is reported to have said, “*Walāya* is an innovation and *barāʾa* is an innovation; those who say, ‘We ally with so-and-so and disavow so-and-so.’ Such a statement is an innovation, so beware of it.”[^61] These are authentic reports from the *tabiʿin* and the Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah, and similar statements can be traced with less certainty as far back as some companions, like Abu Saʿid al-Khudri (ra) and ʿAli (ra).[^62] Given this, why then did Sunni scholars seek to rehabilitate this term rather than just discard it altogether? Overwhelmingly, it is because different derivations of *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ*, as well as the concept of loving and hating for God’s sake, are established throughout the Qur’an and the verbatim speech of the Prophet ﷺ. As such, they are deemed incontrovertible Islamic truths.[^63] --- ## How have colonialism, conflict, and Zionism affected interfaith perceptions of the “other”? The history of the Crusades and colonialism, alongside their modern-day legacies and manifestations across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, plays an instrumental role in our emotive-intellectual conception of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*. As discussed, we are all prone to prejudice. Some of us may not recognize the degree to which interfaith tensions stem from history and politics—from the showdown between the caliphate and Christendom, or even between Carthage and Rome—rather than scripture and theology. After all, Muslims were to rejoice in the Romans’ victory over the pagan Persians, despite the major theological disagreements between Islam and Christianity (Qur’an 30:3–5),[^64] because the Byzantines, as People of the Book, worship the same God of Abraham that Muslims do. Their worldview and values were closer to those of the Muslims than the Persians and, most importantly, more closely aligned with the divine scheme, of which the original Gospel is a fundamental part. An impartial reconsideration of these “ratios” may reveal that it was not primarily the adherence of others to their respective creeds, but their hostilities against Islam and its people, that warranted some of the  prejudice or hostility a person finds, and continues to find, in Muslim discourse about the “other.” Richard Bulliet, former director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, notes that “scarcely any of the unattractive strictures and intolerant attitudes manifested by some Muslim groups lack parallels among some Christian and Jewish groups, or among some post-religious Western secularists, for that matter.”[^65] Contemporary conflicts across the Middle East have corroded interfaith relations that had historically been less tense than they were in the West. Muslims and Jews have not always gotten along, but their relationship has, for most of their shared history, been much better than that between Christians and Jews. Muslims never visited crusades, inquisitions, or holocausts on the Jewish people. In fact, it is well known that throughout the Middle Ages, Jews fared much better in Andalusia, Egypt, and Iraq than they did in Europe. After all, from a theological perspective, there is no religion on the face of the planet that is closer to Islam than Judaism.[^66] However, many influential rabbis today conflate Zionism and Judaism when they teach would-be soldiers of the Israeli army that the genocide of Palestinians is among the Biblical commandments.[^67] Shahak Israel, an Israeli Jew, writes, > I had personally witnessed an ultra-religious Jew refuse to allow his phone to be used on the Sabbath in order to call an ambulance for a non-Jew who happened to have collapsed in his Jerusalem neighborhood. Instead of simply publishing the incident in the press, I asked for a meeting with the members of the Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem, which is composed of rabbis nominated by the State of Israel. I asked them whether such behavior was consistent with their interpretation of the Jewish religion. They answered that the Jew in question had behaved correctly, indeed piously, and backed their statement by referring me to a passage in an authoritative compendium of Talmudic laws, written in this century.[^68] Top rabbis cite the Talmud and claim that Muslims in Palestine, like all gentiles, were “born only… to serve the People of Israel.”[^69] The same “revered halachic scholar” also says, “With gentiles, it will be like any person—they need to die, but \[God\] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money.”[^70] The late Rabbi Meir Kahane was not an exception among Israeli rabbis; in fact his ideology still thrives alongside many others of a similar nature.[^71] On the other side, the reactive language of Muslim extremists can at times be very aggressive, but rarely as arrogant, and the openness and courage of those Jewish and Muslim people who confront such extremism within their ranks must be honored. The conflict in the Middle East has poisoned the relationship between Muslims and Jews not only in the region, but in many places around the world. It has also subsumed some Western Christians, particularly Christian Zionists, who use the most offensive and aggressive language against Islam, Muslims, and most hurtfully, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Although fanatical Christian groups like the Phineas Priests, Christian Identity, or Army of God may be committing fewer and lesser acts of physical aggression in the West, perhaps because they rely on their governments in Eastern lands to do so, their Islamophobic rhetoric is espoused by many mainstream churchgoers. Consequently and inescapably, Muslim emotions towards and perceptions of the non-Muslim “other” are inflamed by never-ending military, political, and cultural incursions widely perceived as post-colonial pursuits of domination. Far from being limited to the painful collective memories and oppressive legacies of the Crusades and colonialism, Muslims in the East and West grapple with the reality that there are many radical non-Muslims who continue to wish and enact harm against them simply by virtue of their faith. Among the most brazen examples is the West’s blind support for the Israeli occupation and genocide of a predominantly Muslim nation. This is a major cause of grief among contemporary Muslims and a driving force of the anger and hatred they feel toward those perpetrating and supporting this genocide.[^72] Adding to this increasing sense of danger are modern and postmodern secular ideologies that threaten the Islamic way of life. Post-colonial Muslims are thus caught trying to navigate their way across the bridge to modernity without losing their religion. Although the agitation that results from such a threat to traditional religion, whether real or perceived, is not limited to Muslims, our agitation is expectedly greater given both the drastic rise in Islamophobia (disguised as a global war on terror) and our exclusion from the levers of political, cultural, and social power as minorities in the West. Humans also possess multiple identities, with our religious identity being one of the most influential in our lives. When this identity is threatened, it often leads to its hypertrophy, sometimes at the expense of others.[^73] Despite the clear and undeniable aggression faced by the Muslim community at large, it would be completely irrational to absolve Muslims of all guilt. Defeated nations often have many social and intellectual ills, as both the cause and effect of their defeat. We have Muslim preachers and activists who spread misguided beliefs about *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* and we have secular Muslims who, in order to avoid looking like sell-outs, chastise the West, sometimes unfairly, for its hegemony and imperialism. We have tyrannical regimes that justify their existence by claiming to be a buffer between the radical “Islamists”[^74] and the West, keeping resentment of the West alive among Muslims and the fear of an Islamist swarm alive in the West. All of this occurs against the backdrop of a selective reading of our history and the history of other nations—a selectivity bias that may have been excusable during certain phases of the national struggles for independence, but not anymore. Impassioned, hyperbolic speech becomes more prevalent during times of decline. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to condemn the practice of embellishing falsehood by resorting to rhetorical devices. He rebuked someone for this and said, “Do you rhyme like the rhymes of the \[disbelieving\] Bedouins?”[^75] Little action and much talk have become emblematic of our contemporary reality, and speech and action are usually inversely related. The spiritual decline of our *ummah* after the passing of the righteous generations has made disingenuity and grandstanding rampant. In such an atmosphere, relations between different groups can be expected to suffer. A true Islamic renaissance will bring about reconciliation, not further inflammation. Projecting blame onto others incessantly is a psychological and social disorder, and a sign of intellectual timidity and incoherence. It is also the easiest way for people to avoid introspection and self-reckoning. The Qur’an teaches us otherwise in many verses, including the following: > O you who have believed, upon you is \[responsibility for\] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allah is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.[^76] > > And whatever strikes you of disaster—it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much.[^77] When a cumulative intertextual reading of revelation is not applied; when scholarly statements are misperceived as infallible universal truths; when ideologues benefit from propagating half-truths to dehumanize their enemies; and when people seek to defend Islam without sufficient knowledge of it or the sociopolitical landscape within which they operate, the atmosphere is ripe for extreme interpretations of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*. An honest exposition of these concepts that is consistent with scripture, respectful of the tradition, and sensitive to contemporary realities is thus not only advisable, but absolutely necessary. --- ## Notes [^1]: The use of the terms “the West/Western/Occidental” and “the East/Eastern/Oriental” is problematic in several ways, including their geographical inaccuracy. However, I use them in this paper because Western is the most commonly used term to describe a certain civilization and it has an understandable referent in our times*—*known and understood to its patrons and adversaries alike. Although other terms like “Eurocentric” may be more politically correct in certain circles, they are not error proof either. For example, the patrons of the “Western” way of life do not see Russia as a Western nation, while the “Eurocentric” theorists sympathize with its Europeanness. [^2]: Aḥmad ibn Fāris al-Qazwīnī, *Mu**ʾ**jam maqāyīs al-lugha*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām M. Hārūn (Dār al-Fikr, 1979), 6:141. See also W. E. Lane’s *Arabic–English Lexicon* (n.p., 1863–93). [^3]: Al-Qazwīnī, *Mu‘jam maqāyīs al-lugha*, 1:236. [^4]: The next paper in this series will cover, in detail, the scriptural occasions that make up the constituent parts that constitute and elucidate *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ.* [^5]: The reason behind this insertion will become apparent in the forthcoming section, “Can a Muslim truly love a non-Muslim?” [^6]: Qur’an 58:22. [^7]: Qur’an 5:57. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ a**l-Bukhārī*, no. 5979 (bk. 78, hadith 10). [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6009 (bk. 78, hadith 40), agreed upon. [^10]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4681. Graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic) by al-Albānī. [^11]: Qur’an 49:13. [^12]: Qur’an 30:22. [^13]: The Muslim American community is one of the most racially diverse religious groups in the US. See: Michael Lipka, “The Most and Least Racially Diverse U.S. Religious Groups,” Pew Research Center, July 27, 2015, [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/07/27/the-most-and-least-racially-diverse-u-s-religious-groups/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/07/27/the-most-and-least-racially-diverse-u-s-religious-groups/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003716529&usg=AOvVaw1Z6RswWiiS8CnbQGix6WB5) and “Who Are American Muslims?”, ISPU, [https://www.ispu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Who-Are-American-Muslims.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ispu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Who-Are-American-Muslims.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003716728&usg=AOvVaw39Vs7g_MW9N9XI1n6jG9oC). [^14]: For more on this topic, see: Osman Umarji, “Gaza’s Rise: Inspiring the Muslim Ummah’s Collective Consciousness and Religiosity,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, January 8, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/gazas-rise-inspiring-the-muslim-ummahs-collective-consciousness-and-religiosity](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/gazas-rise-inspiring-the-muslim-ummahs-collective-consciousness-and-religiosity&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003715286&usg=AOvVaw1XCNF1vWrWxMiEO2MPQluH); Osman Umarji and Youssef Chouhoud, “American Muslims and the 2024 Election: Why American Muslims Are Rethinking Political Alliances,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, October 4, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/american-muslims-and-the-2024-election-why-american-muslims-are-rethinking-political-alliances](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/american-muslims-and-the-2024-election-why-american-muslims-are-rethinking-political-alliances&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003715718&usg=AOvVaw07ro9juWX7d6I-rsbsIQHT); and Youssef Chouhoud and Osman Umarji, “Just How Much Does Gaza Matter to American Muslim Voters?,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, October 31, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/just-how-much-does-gaza-matter-to-american-muslim-voters](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/just-how-much-does-gaza-matter-to-american-muslim-voters&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003716058&usg=AOvVaw0SVBJXlWsnM3_BZAG4FL-H). [^15]: See Arif Ahmed, ed., *Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations*, Cambridge Critical Guides (Cambridge University Press, 2010), 24, Kindle; see also Michael A. Peters, “Language-Games Philosophy: Language-Games as Rationality and Method,” *Educational Philosophy and Theory*, September 21, 2020, [http://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1821190](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1821190&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003712675&usg=AOvVaw3bgya9uXCmMgKZYRXh-n-A). [^16]: See Samuel Osborne, “‘[Violence More Common’ in Bible than Quran, Text Analysis Reveals](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/violence-more-common-bible-quran-text-analysis-reveals-a6863381.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003704481&usg=AOvVaw18hFk4YHGLcFO57piEx36x),” *Independent*, February 9, 2016, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/violence-more-common-bible-quran-text-analysis-reveals-a6863381.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/violence-more-common-bible-quran-text-analysis-reveals-a6863381.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003704868&usg=AOvVaw0h68ALbUe0RzHwFDArQpC5). [^17]: Lev. 20:23. [^18]: Ps. 5:5. [^19]: Hosea 9:15. [^20]: Nick Bibile, “Does God Love Everyone, and Did Jesus Die for Everyone?,” Sounddoctrine.net, accessed April 23, 2021, [http://www.sounddoctrine.net/Nick/Does\_God\_Loves\_Everyone.htm](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.sounddoctrine.net/Nick/Does_God_Loves_Everyone.htm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003697794&usg=AOvVaw3tGrsC7EDxX8HAjxni5KI_). Reposted onto Facebook: Gary Ruff, “Does God Love Everyone, and Did Jesus Die for Everyone? By Nick Bibile,” Facebook, July 30, 2016, [https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheologyDiscussionGroup/posts/1209742179057943/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheologyDiscussionGroup/posts/1209742179057943/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003698130&usg=AOvVaw3B3fFtcf9xWHIm166IPYmc). The quote included in this paper was edited slightly for clarity. [^21]: As in Matt. 5:45. [^22]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17452, graded *ḥasan* (fairly authentic) by al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^23]: Carl L. W. Grimm, Joseph H. Thayer, and Christian G. Wilke, *A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti* (Harper, 1887), 4. [^24]: Aḥmad ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm ibn Taymiyya, *al-Jawāb al-ṣaḥīḥ li man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ*, 2nd ed. (Dār al-‘Āṣima, 1419/1999), 5:86. [^25]: The term “unconditional love” has been recently widely used by Christians, although it is not found in the Bible nor has it ever been used by the church fathers. This is why it is still a controversial term. [^26]: While there may have been some positive effects of imperial expansion, they do not wash away the inequities committed by the expansionists. All great civilizations had their shares of sin, to various degrees, and we must all own up to them. [^27]: Carmen Merrick, “Hating Evil: Understanding the Role of Evil in Interpersonal Hate” (PhD diss., University of Arkansas, 2019), 1. [^28]: Merrick, “Hating Evil,” 1. [^29]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmū‘ al-fatāwā*, 2nd ed., ed. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim al-Najdī (Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, n.d.), 8:431. [^30]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *I‘lām al-muwaqqi‘īn* (Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1991), 3:11. [^31]: Merrick, “Hating Evil,” 1. [^32]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmū‘ al-fatāwā*, 15:436. [^33]: Qur’an 26:216. [^34]: Qur’an 10:41. [^35]: Qur’an 26:168. [^36]: See the “Chapter on Insulting the Sinners” in Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām al-Ṣanʿānī, *Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razz**ā**q* (Dār al-Taʾṣīl, 1437), 10:232. While Abu Qilāba did not meet Abu al-Dardāʾ, he met his wife (*raḍiya Allāhu ʾanhum)*. The chain is still disconnected, but the report is widely accepted: its meaning is in harmony with the preceding verses, and it was at least approvingly relayed by a scholar from the second generation. [^37]: Abu Nuʿaym Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Aṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ*, 2:271. Translation adapted from Abu Amina Elias, “Ibrahim on Love: Hate the Sin, Compassion for Sinners,” Daily Hadith Online, July 11, 2021, [https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2012/07/08/love-sinner-hate-sin/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2012/07/08/love-sinner-hate-sin/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003710142&usg=AOvVaw0U0DASnEeLYWpUklGYL6Wv). [^38]: Qur’an 9:3. [^39]: Qur’an 60:4. [^40]: *Ṣa**ḥīḥ* *al Bukhār**ī*, no. 283 (bk. 5, hadith 35). [^41]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukh**ā**r**ī* no. 6810 (bk. 86, hadith 39). [^42]: Merrick, “Hating Evil,” 1. [^43]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7189 (bk. 93, hadith 51). [^44]: Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij al-sālikīn,* ed. Muḥammad al-Baghdādī (Dār al-Kitāb al-‘Arabī, 1416/1996), 1:437. [^45]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Minh**ā**j al-sunna al-nabawiyya,* ed. Muḥammad Rashād Sālim (Jāmi‘at al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd, 1406/1986), 5:237. [^46]: Qur’an 3:128. [^47]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmū‘ al-fatāwā*, 28:209. [^48]: Qur’an 28:56. [^49]: *Majma’ al-zawā’id*. Al-Haythamī commented, “*Mursal* \[a hadith where the *tābiʿī*  narrating it has omitted the name of the *ṣaḥābī* from whom it was narrated\], and its narrators are trustworthy.” Al-Dhahabī noted, “Narrated from different routes as *mursal*. These routes corroborate each other to make the report acceptable.” [^50]: Qur’an 30:21. [^51]: Al-Qurṭubi, *al-Jāmi‘ li aḥkām al-Qur’ān*, 3:69. [^52]: ‘Ali ibn Muḥammad al-Bustī, *Qaṣīdat ‘unwān al-ḥikam* (Maktab al-Maṭbū‘āt al-Islāmiyya, 1984), 36. [^53]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmū‘ al-fatāwā*, 28:132. [^54]: Tom Quiggin, “Understanding Al-Qaeda’s Ideology for Counter-Narrative Work,” *Perspectives on Terrorism* 3, no. 2 (August 2009): 22–23 (with minimal adaptation), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26298403](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26298403&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003710486&usg=AOvVaw1VDBg4JE3rovSZu9qPvMLQ). [^55]: Mohamed Bin Ali, “The Islamic Doctrine of Al-Wala’ wal Bara’ (Loyalty and Disavowal) in Modern Salafism” (PhD diss., University of Exeter, 2012), 22. [^56]: *Salafī* is the adjective of *salaf* (predecessor, forebear). In Islamic discourse, *al-salaf* usually refers to the pious predecessors: the earliest generations of the righteous followers of Islam. Today, people who call themselves Salafi proclaim by that attribution that the way of the *salaf* is the example to be followed in all religious matters. [^57]: See, e.g., Sabine Damir-Geilsdorf, Mira Menzfeld, and Yasmina Hedider, “Interpretations of Al-Wala’ Wa-l-Bara’ in Everyday Lives of Salafis in Germany,” *Religions* 10, no. 2 (2019): 124, [https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10020124](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10020124&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003711072&usg=AOvVaw37v_jXxVlbe23WsaZsFU7S) and Uriya Shavit, “The Polemic on *al-wala’ wa’l-bara’* (Loyalty and Disavowal): Crystallization and Refutation of an Islamic Concept,” *Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies* 36, no. 3 (Spring 2013): 24–49, [https://doi.org/10.1353/jsa.2013.0010](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1353/jsa.2013.0010&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003711423&usg=AOvVaw2upUQXGOO7f9pEFrSi9XMh). [^58]: At least, the Salafism of the late Sh. Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā, which had an extensive influence on contemporary Muslim discourse, did not support an extreme iteration of this concept, and was, in fact, more conciliatory with the religious “other” than were/are many other Salafi and non-Salafi persuasions. The same may be said about the late Salafism of the prominent Najdi Hanbali scholar Salman Alodeh (al-‘Awda). [^59]: *Irjā’* is a concept that makes belief in the truthfulness of the message the only requirement of faith; *walāya* is another morphological form of *walā’*; *barā’a* is another morphological form of *barā’*; *shahāda* is the practice of conclusively declaring someone’s abode in the hereafter. [^60]: ‘Abdullāh ibn Aḥmad al-Shaybānī, *al-Sunna*, ed. Muḥammad ibn Sa‘īd al-Qaḥṭānī (Dār Ibn al-Qayyim, 1986), 1:327. [^61]: Ibn al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn Abī Ya‘lā, *Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila*, ed. Muḥammad Ḥāmid al-Fiqi (al-Sunna al-Muḥammadiyya, n.d.), 1:35. [^62]: Al-Shaybānī, *al-Sunna*, 1:318. [^63]: Across the pre-modern Islamic literature—particularly in the disciplines of *fiqh* (especially in chapters on *muʿāmalāt*), *siyāsah sharʿiyyah*, *aḥkām al-sulṭāniyyah*, *ḥisbah*, *qaḍāʾ*, and the regulations governing *ahl al-dhimmah*—one finds extensive discussions of practical *barāʾ* (disavowal or dissociation in conduct). May God have mercy on Imām al-Ghazālī, who said: “As for hatred of the unbelievers and the wicked, disapproval of them, and detesting them — the evidences for this in the Qur’an and the Prophetic reports are beyond enumeration.” (Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī*, Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn*, vol. 4 , Dār al-Maʿrifah \[1982\] p. 352.) [^64]: Early Muslims referred to the Eastern Romans or Byzantines as “Romans.” Throughout this series of papers, this is the intended sense of “Roman,” unless otherwise mentioned or clear from the context. [^65]: Richard Bulliet, *The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization* (Columbia University Press, 2004), 12, Kindle. [^66]: The exception would be a truly unitarian Christian group that upholds the Mosaic law. For more on the historic relationship between Muslims and Jews, see “Is Islam Antisemitic? Analyzing the Hadith About Jews, the Dajjal and the End of Times Prophecy,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, March 28, 2017, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/is-islam-antisemitic-analyzing-the-hadith-about-jews-the-dajjal-and-the-end-of-times-prophecy](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/is-islam-antisemitic-analyzing-the-hadith-about-jews-the-dajjal-and-the-end-of-times-prophecy&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003700558&usg=AOvVaw0-Cjw1kWyhQKW3--oJ7FNT) and Ovamir Anjum, “The ‘Constitution’ of Medina: Translation, Commentary, and Meaning Today,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, February 4, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-constitution-of-medina-translation-commentary-and-meaning-today](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-constitution-of-medina-translation-commentary-and-meaning-today&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003700927&usg=AOvVaw0ZTbB111sOrJ7U8iiqenWl). [^67]: Yossi Gurvitz, “Influential Rabbi Teaches Would-be Israeli Soldiers: Genocide Is a Mitzvah,” *Mondoweiss*, April 17, 2018, [https://mondoweiss.net/2018/04/influential-soldiers-genocide/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mondoweiss.net/2018/04/influential-soldiers-genocide/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003701292&usg=AOvVaw272-g-3DlbTgtNVhX7dInv). [^68]: Israel Shahak, *Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years* (Pluto Press, 2008), 1, Kindle. [^69]: Lazar Berman et al., “5 of Ovadia Yosef’s Most Controversial Quotations,” *The Times of Israel*, October 9, 2013, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-of-ovadia-yosefs-most-controversial-quotations/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-of-ovadia-yosefs-most-controversial-quotations/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003701867&usg=AOvVaw2Nm_yOL7sfM9aQ4Q8k-fTs). [^70]: Berman et al., “Ovadia Yosef’s Most Controversial Quotations.” [^71]: Josef Federman and Joseph Krauss, “Radical Rabbi’s Followers Rise in Israel Amid New Violence,” *AP News*, May 13, 2021, [https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-violence-religion-476098be2dc365468c1f7a91237900df](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-violence-religion-476098be2dc365468c1f7a91237900df&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003702361&usg=AOvVaw1XF1TauQ2hNEGQgkBUMZdm). [^72]: See John Pilger, “Palestine Is Still the Issue,” johnpilger.com, accessed April 24, 2021, [http://johnpilger.com/videos/palestine-is-still-the-issue](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://johnpilger.com/videos/palestine-is-still-the-issue&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762535003702679&usg=AOvVaw3N1q9oMVJIuTpfybWinFL1). [^73]: For a detailed exposition of this phenomenon, see Amin Maalouf, *In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong*, trans. Barbara Bray (Arcade, 2001). [^74]: The term “Islamist” has been used and misused by many Muslims and non-Muslims, signifying different things in different contexts. Some intend by it a revivalist ideology seeking to reform Muslim communities through Islamic values. Others intend to “Islamize society” through exercise of state power, grassroots political activism, or military insurgency. All Islamists in the widest sense of the word believe that (1) Islam should be allowed to inform the collective conscience of Muslim communities and should not be eliminated from the public space; (2) Islam should be allowed to bring about more unity among Muslim communities, although there is no uniform understanding of the nature of that unity; and (3) Islam is a missionary religion, and it has something to offer the world, not only Muslim societies, as an alternative religion or at least as an inspiring (or challenging) thesis or worldview. [^75]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1682a (bk. 28, hadith 52). [^76]: Qur’an 5:105. [^77]: Qur’an 42:30. ## Summary In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. The doctrine of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*, often rendered as loyalty and disavowal, stands as one of the most misunderstood yet essential principles for the believer navigating a relationship with the "other." Correctly defined, it possesses the power to reconcile the believer's commitment to God with genuine compassion toward mankind, thereby illustrating the balanced moral philosophy inherent to Islam. This exposition, the first in a series, seeks to establish Islam's ethos of loving and hating for the sake of Allah as rooted in revealed scripture and the scholastic tradition, before later exploring how this principle should shape our dealings with others. At its root, *walaʾ* signifies proximity, closeness, support, friendship, and love, while *baraʾ*—sharing its root with *bariʾ* (innocence) and *baraʾa* (recovery from illness)—denotes disassociation from what is undesirable, though not necessarily hostility or dislike. In an Islamic frame, the doctrine means loving what pleases Allah and disassociating from what displeases Him. Since an integral aspect of *tawhid* is the decentering of the ego, it is only natural that the believer's very feelings should accord with the pleasure of Allah, the Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Good. This is affirmed throughout the Qur'an. Allah says, "You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who [viciously] oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred," and He warns, "O you who have believed, do not take as allies those who have taken your religion in ridicule and amusement." The Prophet ﷺ affirmed the same in his authenticated words: "Whoever loves for Allah, hates for Allah, gives for Allah, and withholds for Allah has perfected their faith." Yet this same Prophet ﷺ instructed a believer to "Be kind to your [pagan] mother," and taught that "There is a reward for serving any living being." In its original form, this doctrine makes piety, not race, ethnicity, kinship, nationality, or politics, the primary object of the believer's loyalty. Allah proclaims, "O humankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you." Diversity of color and tongue are but signs of the Lord's magnificence, for "of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and colors." Thus the doctrine weakens tribal prejudice without invalidating kinship or nationality, weaving them into a harmonious worldview grounded in God's pervasive mercy and the single Adamic origin of humanity. It even serves to purge religious bigotry, calling every Muslim to ally with goodness regardless of its agent, for allegiance to God is allegiance to goodness itself. Because the terms *al-walaʾ* and *al-baraʾ* each carry over twenty usages, their polysemous nature makes disambiguation and contextualization exceedingly important, for meaning is derived from context, and translation across worldviews compounds the difficulty. Furthermore, given the perpetual renewal of *ijtihad*, unlike matters of creed, rulings concerning conduct between people of differing theological orientations will vary across time and place. The notion of loving and hating for God's sake is not unique to Islam. Certain Christian pastors, appealing to Biblical passages such as the Psalms—"thou hatest all workers of iniquity"—have argued against the idea of unconditional divine love. Pastor Nick Bibile, for instance, contests the popular claim that "God loves the sinner but hates the sin," citing that "God is angry with the wicked every day." Similarly, the saying attributed to Jesus (as), "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," resonates with the Prophetic instruction to "Reconcile with those who cut you off, give to those who deprive you, and forgive those who wrong you." Neither prophet preached unconditional love of sinners; the Greek *agape* denotes goodwill and prayer rather than uncritical acceptance. The Prophet ﷺ embodied this when he prayed for the pagans of al-Taʾif who had bloodied him, and again for Quraysh after Uhud. Those who conflate love's many dimensions fall into a mild Marcionism, wrongly opposing the God of the Old Testament to the God of the New; yet the God of majesty who sent Moses is the same God of beauty who sent Jesus and the God of perfection who sent Muhammad ﷺ. As for how hate can be sanctioned by a benevolent God, one must recall the stronger, centrist position of Sunni theology: though some acts possess intrinsic beauty (*hasan*) or ugliness (*qabih*), God commands for wisdoms we may not fully grasp, as when He commanded Abraham to slaughter his son. Ibn al-Qayyim affirmed that the *Sharia* "is entirely just, wise, beneficial, and merciful." Hate itself functions as a protective barrier against evil. Ibn Taymiyya observed that "forbidding evil is based on hate and dislike," and that the deterring power of anger establishes justice. Since Allah is *al-Hakim*, all that He hates is harmful to humanity, so hating evil is both love of Allah and an act of self-preservation. For the most part, Qur'anic and Prophetic disavowal targets the sin, not the sinner. Allah instructed His Messenger ﷺ to say, "Indeed, I am disassociated from what you are doing." Lot (as) declared himself "of those who hate your conduct." Abu al-Dardaʾ, seeing a sinner insulted, said, "I only hate his action, so if he quits, he is my brother." Yet two Qur'anic verses form a notable exception, directing disavowal at the disbelievers themselves—the announcement at the greater pilgrimage that "Allah is disassociated from the disbelievers," and Ibrahim's declaration, "Indeed, we are disassociated from you." The matter is intricate, bound up with how we conceive human consciousness: the Prophet ﷺ taught both that "A believer never becomes impure," pointing to the transcendent ego, and that "The one who commits an act of illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer at the time of committing it," pointing to the bundle of intentional acts. Both are true. An act cannot be wholly divorced from its doer; one cannot coherently claim to hate theft yet love thieves. Ibn Taymiyya held that a person may be simultaneously loved in some respects and hated in others. Disavowal is not limited to non-Muslims either, for when Khalid ibn al-Walid erred, the Prophet ﷺ said, "O Allah, I disavow before you what Khalid has done." The discomfort surrounding hate arises from conflating it with harm. Yet Islamic literature discusses hating one's own self; a righteous predecessor cited by Ibn al-Qayyim said, "you hate all people for Allah's sake, then turn to yourself and hate that the most"—the hatred of a lover desiring salvation. Ibn Taymiyya likened the one who punishes to a merciful parent or physician, invoking the Prophet's ﷺ words, "I am to you like a parent." When the Prophet ﷺ supplicated against oppressive tribes, Allah revealed, "Not for you is the decision," and he ceased. Thus religious hatred allows love to coexist, following the principle of "loving the Muslim in proportion to the good he exhibits and hating him in proportion to the evil he exhibits," with love of the human family as the default. Can a Muslim truly love a non-Muslim? The Sirah answers plainly. The Prophet ﷺ loved his uncle Abu Talib, concerning whom most exegetes understood the verse, "Indeed, you do not guide whom you love." He told ʿAqil, "I love you for two things: the kinship between us, and because of my uncle's love of you." The legality of marrying women of the People of the Book, alongside the verse that Allah "placed between you affection and mercy," further confirms this, so much so that Ibn ʿAbbas prohibited marriage to such women from the abode of war. Al-Busti advised, "Be kind to people, and you'll find their heart's captivity has ensued." Ibn Taymiyya clarified that natural love and hate are blameworthy only when acted upon against divine guidance. Concerning groups such as Christians, the semantically precise answer is that we love our human family, neighbors, and compatriots of other faiths, so long as its manifestations remain within Allah's bounds. Human prejudice, however, distorts this doctrine grievously. Groups like ISIS weaponize it to justify atrocity, yet confining the problem to them alone evades needed introspection. Many Muslims have weaponized it against non-Muslims and against Muslims of differing persuasions, reducing a universal mercy to insular hostility and the *ummah* to a political or ethnic identity. Fanaticism among sects, *madhahib*, and *turuq* corrodes the Muslim mind. Media fear-mongering has falsely branded the concept the hallmark of terrorists. The claim that it is a mere Salafi invention is reductionist at best, and the resulting paranoia has led some scholars to avoid or wholly dismiss it, while impassioned youth disregard those they perceive as ashamed of the tradition. Quoting a few verses on kindness will not make the more difficult texts vanish; only harmonizing all reports yields a coherent synthesis. Indeed, the phrase itself was born of Kharijite prejudice, and the *tabiʿin*—including Abu al-Bakhtari, Maysara, and others—alongside Imam Ahmad, considered *walaya* and *baraʾa* innovations to be avoided. Yet Sunni scholars rehabilitated the concept because its derivations are firmly established in the Qur'an and authentic Sunnah, rendering them incontrovertible. History further shapes these perceptions. Much interfaith tension stems from politics and conflict rather than theology; Muslims were told to rejoice at the Romans' victory over the Persians (Qur'an 30:3–5) since the Byzantines worshipped the God of Abraham. Bulliet noted that scarcely any intolerant attitude among some Muslim groups "lack parallels among some Christian and Jewish groups." Historically Jews fared far better under Muslim rule in Andalusia, Egypt, and Iraq than in Europe, for no religion is theologically closer to Islam than Judaism. Yet today many rabbis conflate Zionism with Judaism; Shahak Israel recounted rabbis deeming it pious to withhold aid from a dying non-Jew, and others teaching that gentiles were "born only to serve the People of Israel." Western Christian Zionists likewise employ offensive rhetoric against the Prophet ﷺ. Contemporary Muslim emotions are inflamed by post-colonial domination, Islamophobia disguised as a war on terror, and above all the West's blind support for the occupation and genocide of a predominantly Muslim nation, which has revived the *ummah*'s collective consciousness. Nonetheless, Muslims cannot be absolved of all fault, for defeated nations carry many ills. Misguided preachers, secular apologists, and tyrannical regimes all perpetuate distortion. Impassioned, hyperbolic speech flourishes in decline; the Prophet ﷺ rebuked ornate falsehood, asking, "Do you rhyme like the rhymes of the Bedouins?" The Qur'an calls instead to introspection: "upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves," and "whatever strikes you of disaster—it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much." Where cumulative reading of revelation is abandoned and half-truths dehumanize enemies, extreme interpretations flourish. An honest exposition, faithful to scripture, respectful of tradition, and sensitive to present realities, is therefore not merely advisable but absolutely necessary. ## Key Takeaways 1. The Islamic doctrine of *al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ*, often translated as loyalty and disavowal, express the Qur’anic ethic of aligning one’s attachments with what pleases Allah. *Al-walaʾ* denotes closeness, support, and love. *Al-baraʾ* means distancing oneself from what is false or harmful, without implying harm towards it. 2. The concept of *al-walaʾ* *wal-baraʾ,* in its original iteration, makes piety the primary object of the believer’s loyalty—not race, ethnicity, kinship, nationality, language, class, or politics. It calls believers to shape their loyalties and aversions around divine values. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever loves for Allah, hates for Allah, gives for Allah, and withholds for Allah has perfected their faith.” (*Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4681) 3. Religious ‘hatred’ in Islam is a nuanced concept that doesn’t conform to the ideological binaries of secular morality and society. *Al-walaʾ wal-baraʾ* entails worshiping Allah by loving what He loves to varying, non-exclusive degrees, and hating what He hates to varying, non-exclusive degrees. We love one another in proportion to the good we exhibit and hate one another in proportion to the evil we exhibit. In this sense, love and hate are able to coexist. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does al-walaʾ wa-l-baraʾ mean? *Al-walaʾ wa-l-baraʾ* is often translated as loyalty and disavowal. *Walaʾ* refers to closeness, support, friendship, and love toward someone or something. *Baraʾ* comes from the same root as innocence and recovery, and refers to disassociating oneself from something undesirable. *Baraʾ* does not automatically entail hostility or dislike; it is closer to distancing oneself from what one wants no part in. In Islamic usage, the two together describe loving what pleases Allah and disassociating from what displeases Him. The idea flows directly from *tawhid*: If Allah is the Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Good, then a believer’s affections should align with His pleasure rather than being centered on the ego. This makes piety, rather than race, ethnicity, kinship, nationality, language, class, or politics, the primary axis of a Muslim’s loyalty. Goodness becomes the ultimate differentiator. Importantly, the doctrine does not erase other forms of affiliation such as family or nationality. It weaves them into a worldview where Allah is the highest point of orientation, and where Muslims can ally themselves with goodness wherever it appears precisely because their ultimate allegiance to God is an allegiance to goodness itself. ### How does Islam reconcile devotion to God with compassion for others? The reconciliation lies in understanding what loyalty and disavowal actually require. The disavowal a Muslim is called to feel is closer to a protective response that pushes a person away from what is harmful. When a believer disassociates from an evil, they erect an internal barrier against engaging in it, possessing it, or affiliating with it. Just as love draws a person toward what is good, this kind of aversion draws them away from what is destructive. A society that maintains a noncommittal attitude toward its vices leaves itself exposed to them. Disliking corruption, oppression, abuse, and falsehood is therefore not a malfunction of mercy but a safeguard rooted in it. Even strong religious aversion toward a person is the kind a loving mother feels when her child steals to buy drugs: It is fueled by love and the desire for the beloved’s well-being, not by cruelty. A righteous person can dislike gossip without ceasing to love a gossiping mother who treats them with kindness. The same person can be loved for their virtues and disliked for their vices at the same time, in different respects. Compassion for the human family remains the default, while clarity about right and wrong remains intact. ### Is the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” actually accurate in Islam? It captures part of the truth but oversimplifies it. Qur’anic and Prophetic texts overwhelmingly direct disavowal toward sins rather than the people committing them. One of the companions famously rebuked others who were insulting a man who had sinned, saying that he hated only the action, and that if the man quit the sin, he was his brother. Wishing salvation and guidance for every human being is a fundamental Islamic value. At the same time, separating an act completely from its doer is not always coherent. A person cannot meaningfully say they hate theft but love thieves, or hate cruelty but love cruel people, when those traits are defining features. Even the Prophet ﷺ said openly, “O Allah, I disavow before You what Khalid has done,” about one of his own most beloved companions. The most accurate position is that human beings are loved in proportion to the good they exhibit and disliked in proportion to the evil they exhibit. A person can be both loved and disliked at once, in different respects. When in doubt, the default leans toward love of the human family while keeping clarity about the wrongness of the action. ### Can a Muslim genuinely love a non-Muslim friend or family member? Yes, and the Prophet’s own life makes this unmistakable. His love for his uncle Abu Talib, who never accepted Islam, was so deep that the Qur’an addressed it directly: “Indeed, you do not guide whom you love” (Qur’an 28:56). The Prophet ﷺ also told Abu Talib’s son ʿAqil, who came late to Islam, that he loved him both for their kinship and because his uncle had loved him. Islamic law itself permits a Muslim man to marry a woman from the People of the Book, and the Qur’an describes marriage as a relationship in which Allah places affection and mercy between spouses. It would contradict the very nature of marriage to expect a husband not to love a compassionate wife because she is not Muslim. Beyond family, Muslims are encouraged to love their neighbors, compatriots, and any human being whose kindness, character, or solidarity earns that affection. Natural love for benevolent people is not only permitted but, in many cases, unavoidable. What matters is that the outward expressions of love remain within what Allah has made permissible. ### Why has al-walaʾ wa-l-baraʾ been so frequently misunderstood, and how should it be approached today? The concept sits at an intersection where prejudice in either direction causes real harm. On one side, some Muslims have used a politicized and unnuanced version of the doctrine to mistreat fellow Muslims of different theological or political persuasions, or to withhold basic kindness from non-Muslim neighbors who deserve nothing but care. Chauvinism and a lack of self-examination distort what the tradition actually teaches. On the other side, some have responded to these distortions by trying to abolish the concept altogether or reduce it to vague platitudes. This swing of the pendulum is its own problem. Quoting only the verses about kindness while ignoring more challenging texts leaves serious questions unanswered, and thoughtful Muslims, especially the young, often see through such selective treatment. The healthy path runs between both extremes. Love of the human family should be the default. Disavowal should be reserved for what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ actually disavowed. Aversion to wrongdoing should never be conflated with cruelty toward people. And the full body of scripture should be engaged honestly, since coherence and clarity are what produce genuine conviction. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-and-climate-change-the-prophetic-cure-to-eco-anxiety # Islam and Climate Change: The Prophetic Cure to Eco-Anxiety **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** Environment, Islamic Ethics, Nature & Science **Tags:** Analysis, Ethics, Natural Disasters, Prophetic Cure **Published:** November 4, 2025 **Updated:** July 1, 2026 A global survey published in *The Lancet Planetary Health* in 2021 reported that among more than 10,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 across multiple countries, sixty percent described themselves as very worried about climate change, and nearly half said their anxiety affects their daily functioning.[^1] Compared to the threat that climate change poses to our physical health, from heat-related injuries to the spread of tropical diseases, its mental health consequences are far less researched. But emerging studies reveal a mounting toll, especially among young people. Survivors of weather-related disasters report high rates of PTSD, depression, sleep disruption, and learning difficulties. For example, nearly three-quarters of the child and adolescent population in Pakistan experienced learning challenges following the devastating floods of 2010 and again in 2022.[^2] More recently, communities in North America have also suffered from unprecedented flooding, underscoring the compounding burden of climate-related disasters. For young people especially, climate anxiety often manifests as panic attacks, insomnia, obsessive thinking, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. Many feel abandoned by those in power. This younger generation struggles with what experts call the “intergenerational injustice” of inheriting the fallout of choices made by those before them. Islam offers a framework for navigating this crisis that is both spiritual and practical. It is constituted by an ethical combination of restraint, hope, and solidarity. This approach is much needed in recent times with the rise in climate change denialism. Allah says: “Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what people’s hands have earned, so He may let them taste part of what they have done, that perhaps they will return” (Qur’an 30:41). This verse speaks implicitly to the current crisis.[^3] Climate change can be considered a form of corruption born of human excess, and yet denialism persists in the face of mounting evidence. The Qur’an reminds us that such corruption is both a sign and a warning, meant to provoke humanity to change course before further destruction occurs. --- ## Restraint against overconsumption The Prophet ﷺ told us not to waste water, “even if you were on the bank of an abundantly-flowing river.”[^4] Abundance does not give us license for excess. Even in contexts where resources appear limitless, restraint is part of faith. For those of us living in the wealthier parts of the world, this hadith calls on us to rethink our consumption. Islam teaches that even restraint is an act of worship and entails accountability before Allah. ​​The Qur’an makes this principle explicit in relation to eating and drinking: “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess” (Qur’an 7:31). Similarly, in financial matters Allah says: “Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful” (Qur’an 17:27). Together, these verses remind us that overconsumption in any form is not simply unwise but spiritually blameworthy. This framework becomes especially urgent when considering modern food systems. Meat production, for example, has significant environmental impacts. It increases greenhouse gas emissions through methane and carbon dioxide, contributes to deforestation, degrades land used for grazing and feed crops, exhausts freshwater resources, and causes water and air pollution. These impacts highlight how everyday choices, particularly in wealthier societies where meat is consumed in abundance, can disproportionately harm the environment. The call to moderation in food consumption is not only a spiritual safeguard but a practical necessity in preserving creation. Sayyiduna ʿAli bin Abi Talib (ra) once said: “What is above sufficiency is *israf* (extravagance).”[^5] This wisdom shows that restraint is not about deprivation but about recognizing the boundary between need and indulgence. Living within the limits of sufficiency nurtures gratitude, reduces waste, and aligns with the Qur’anic ethic of balance. It is important to remember that just because something is accessible does not mean it is free of cost. The same restraint that applies to food and water extends to modern technologies. Artificial intelligence, for instance, comes with a significant environmental footprint, requiring vast amounts of energy and water for data centers. This means that every choice to consume more, even digitally, carries consequences. Abundance in access should never make us forget responsibility in stewardship. Restraint is essential, but it is only an initial step. It is simply the absence of action; how, then, should we actually act? --- ## Planting hope Perhaps the most powerful Prophetic guidance for our moment of climate despair is the hadith: “If the Hour comes while you have a sapling in your hand, then if you can plant it before it \[the Hour\] comes, plant it.”[^6] At first glance, this seems illogical: Why plant a tree when the world is ending? But the Prophet ﷺ was teaching a deeper principle: that believers must never allow fear of futility to immobilize them. Even in the face of ultimate destruction, action rooted in goodness for the sake of Allah retains its value. This lesson aligns with modern research on climate change anxiety (CCA). A recent mixed-methods study of emerging adults in the United States found that climate anxiety is strongly associated with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Yet the study also found that engaging in collective action, working alongside others to address climate change, buffered against the mental health burden of climate anxiety. Individual action, in contrast, often felt insignificant and failed to reduce symptoms.[^7] The Qur’an itself commands this ethic of collective action: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression” (Qur’an 5:2). In the face of climate anxiety, this verse reminds us that strength comes from solidarity. Working together not only amplifies impact but also strengthens hearts, lessening the sense of isolation that fuels despair. The hadith of the sapling reflects this dynamic perfectly. Planting a tree is not a solitary act. Its benefits are not limited to humans, and could benefit ecosystems and species one might have never considered. It embodies a vision of continuity that extends beyond ourselves, reminding us that what may feel like a small gesture can help restore agency, build community, and provide a counterweight to despair. Planting, in this sense, is both literal and symbolic: we plant acts of goodness whose fruits could be reaped long after we are gone. Importantly, even when the situation seems hopeless (i.e., world-ending), the act itself has weight before Allah; He grows and rewards our efforts, whether in this life or next. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized this in another narration: “No Muslim plants a tree or sows a seed and then a bird, or a human, or an animal eats from it but that it is charity for him.”[^8] With this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ shows us that the benefits of a single seed extends in countless directions, becoming a source of charity and reward long after the initial act of planting. The tree continues to testify to the believer’s goodness through every life it sustains, whether human or animal. The Prophet ﷺ reinforced this ethic when he said: “Do not belittle any act of good, even if it is meeting your brother with a smile.”[^9] No act is too small to matter. From planting a seed to reducing waste to advocating for climate justice, each contribution done for Allah’s sake is meaningful in Allah’s sight, even if it feels minor in worldly terms. --- ## Stewardship and solidarity The climate crisis cannot be disentangled from global conflict. Wars amplify environmental destruction through burning fields, demolished infrastructure, poisoned water systems, and mass displacement. This reality deepens the urgency of our advocacy for brothers and sisters in places like Gaza and Sudan, where people face not only the brutality of war but also the compounded devastation of environmental collapse. It is important to recognize that while these conflicts may appear to occur in faraway lands, their environmental impacts do not respect national borders. The destruction of agricultural land, pollution of water, and release of toxins into the atmosphere all contribute to global ecological harm. This means that complacency is ill advised. To turn away from these crises is to ignore the fact that their consequences reverberate across the planet, worsening the climate anxieties that affect us all. The believers are cast as caretakers not only of the earth: “It is He who has made you successors upon the earth and raised some of you above others in degrees \[of rank\] that He may try you through what He has given you” (Qur’an 6:165),[^10] but also of each other: The Prophet ﷺ says, “The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth.”[^11] Stewardship over the land and stewardship over human beings are one and the same. Caring for the environment is not only about protecting soil, water, and air, but also about protecting the lives, dignity, and future of those who inhabit the earth. To neglect one is to neglect the other. The Qur’an further calls us to collective responsibility: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression” (Qur’an 5:2). Solidarity in the face of climate change means linking our concern for environmental stewardship with our commitment to justice for oppressed peoples. By working together for both the earth and its people, we honor the fullness of our role as *khulafaʾ*: successors and caretakers entrusted with this world. --- ## Prophetic hope in an age of anxiety Climate anxiety is real, and its effects on young people are profound. Yet the Prophetic tradition gives us both a vocabulary and a roadmap for confronting it: restraint in abundance, hope through action, solidarity in the face of injustice, and trust in Allah’s wisdom. The sapling in our hands may feel small, but it carries the promise of shade, sustenance, and renewal for generations to come. Acting in this spirit is not just an environmental ethic but a spiritual path: one that transforms despair into worship, anxiety into hope, and a sapling into a tree of life. --- ## Notes [^1]: Caroline Hickman et al., “Climate Anxiety in Children and Young People and their Beliefs about Government Responses to Climate Change: A Global Survey,” *The Lancet Planetary Health* 5, no. 12 (2021): e863–e873, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196\(21\)00278-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762280486433516&usg=AOvVaw0FrGecDNQVd8wgs5_-lhkY). [^2]: Jaime Saavedra and Lynne Sherburne-Benz, “Pakistan’s Floods are Deepening its Learning Crisis,” World Bank, September 28, 2022, [https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/pakistans-floods-are-deepening-its-learning-crisis](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/pakistans-floods-are-deepening-its-learning-crisis&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762280486434186&usg=AOvVaw00l4X_G7LB9JGpGCwxdjmJ). [^3]: Al-Qurṭubī mentions that one of the meanings of “corruption” is “drought, scarcity of vegetation, and the loss of blessing.” See *Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī*, [https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/30/41](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/qurtubi/30/41&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762280486436947&usg=AOvVaw3jb_4T-S8TTwta1jmhTcLG). [^4]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 7065, graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic) by Aḥmad Shākir. [^5]: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Āmidī, *Ghurar al-ḥikam wa durar al-kalim*, ed. Muṣṭafā al-Dirāyatī, 1st ed. (Maktab al-Iʿlām al-Islāmī, 1987), 359. [^6]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 12902. This narration is *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic) according to al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^7]: Sarah E. O. Schwartz et al., “Climate Change Anxiety and Mental Health: Environmental Activism as Buffer,” *Current Psychology* 42 (2023): 16708–16721, [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02735-6](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02735-6?utm_source%3Dchatgpt.com&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762280486435776&usg=AOvVaw3Wq-sd_q1vBBclFak2F1iL). [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2320; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1553. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2626. [^10]: Ibn ʿĀshūr mentions the importance of the stewardship and cultivation of the earth. See *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/33/4](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/33/4&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1762280486437367&usg=AOvVaw3ysXSptD1lwFZlZc553eEb). [^11]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 4995. ## Summary Climate anxiety has become a documented reality of our age, particularly among the young. A global survey published in *The Lancet Planetary Health* in 2021 found that among more than ten thousand people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, sixty percent described themselves as very worried about climate change, and nearly half reported that this anxiety impaired their daily functioning. While the physical harms of climate change—heat-related injuries and the spread of tropical diseases—receive greater attention, its toll upon the mind is less studied yet increasingly evident. Survivors of weather-related disasters report elevated rates of post-traumatic stress, depression, disrupted sleep, and difficulty in learning. Following the floods in Pakistan in 2010 and again in 2022, nearly three-quarters of the child and adolescent population experienced learning challenges, and more recent flooding in North America has added to this burden. Among the young, such anxiety manifests as panic, insomnia, obsessive thought, and a pervading hopelessness, compounded by a sense of what has been termed "intergenerational injustice"—the inheritance of consequences from the decisions of earlier generations. Islam offers a framework for facing this crisis that unites the spiritual and the practical, resting upon restraint, hope, and solidarity. This is especially needed amid the rise of climate change denialism. Allah, the Most High, says: "Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what people's hands have earned, so He may let them taste part of what they have done, that perhaps they will return" (Qur'an 30:41). This verse may be read as speaking to the present crisis, for the damage wrought upon the earth can be regarded as a corruption born of human excess. The Qur'an frames such corruption as both a sign and a warning, meant to move humanity to change its course before further ruin. The first element of this framework is restraint against overconsumption. The Prophet ﷺ instructed us not to waste water, "even if you were on the bank of an abundantly-flowing river." Abundance grants no license for excess; even where resources appear limitless, restraint remains part of faith, and for those who dwell in the wealthier parts of the world, this hadith calls for a rethinking of consumption. Restraint itself is an act of worship carrying accountability before Allah. The Qur'an makes this explicit regarding food and drink: "O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess" (Qur'an 7:31). Likewise in matters of wealth: "Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful" (Qur'an 17:27). Together these verses teach that overconsumption in any form is not merely imprudent but spiritually blameworthy. This principle bears directly upon modern food systems. Meat production, for instance, carries significant environmental consequences: it raises greenhouse gas emissions through methane and carbon dioxide, drives deforestation, degrades land, exhausts freshwater, and pollutes water and air. Such impacts show how everyday choices, especially in wealthier societies where meat is consumed in abundance, may cause disproportionate harm. Sayyiduna ʿAli bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "What is above sufficiency is *israf* (extravagance)." Restraint, then, is not deprivation but the recognition of the boundary between need and indulgence; living within sufficiency nurtures gratitude and accords with the Qur'anic ethic of balance. This same restraint extends to modern technologies, for artificial intelligence too carries an environmental footprint, requiring vast energy and water for its data centres. Abundance in access must never make us forget responsibility in stewardship. Yet restraint is only a first step, being merely the absence of action; the question remains how one should act. Here the Prophetic tradition offers perhaps its most powerful guidance for an age of despair: "If the Hour comes while you have a sapling in your hand, then if you can plant it before it comes, plant it." Though at first this seems illogical, the Prophet ﷺ was teaching that the believer must never allow the fear of futility to paralyse him, for action rooted in goodness for the sake of Allah retains its value even before ultimate destruction. This accords with recent research: a mixed-methods study of emerging adults in the United States found climate anxiety strongly associated with symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, yet also found that collective action—working alongside others—buffered against this burden, while individual action often felt insignificant and failed to reduce symptoms. The Qur'an itself commands this ethic of cooperation: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression" (Qur'an 5:2). Strength arises from solidarity, which amplifies impact and lessens the isolation that feeds despair. The hadith of the sapling reflects this, for planting is no solitary act; its benefits extend beyond humans to ecosystems and creatures unconsidered, embodying a continuity that reaches beyond the self. The Prophet ﷺ said: "No Muslim plants a tree or sows a seed and then a bird, or a human, or an animal eats from it but that it is charity for him." The single seed thus becomes an ongoing charity, testifying to the believer's goodness through every life it sustains. And he ﷺ reinforced this by saying: "Do not belittle any act of good, even if it is meeting your brother with a smile," reminding us that no contribution—from planting a seed to reducing waste to advocating for climate justice—is too small to matter in the sight of Allah. The final element is stewardship joined with solidarity, for the climate crisis cannot be separated from human conflict. Wars magnify environmental destruction through burning fields, demolished infrastructure, poisoned water, and mass displacement, deepening the urgency of advocacy for brothers and sisters in places such as Gaza and Sudan, who face both the brutality of war and the collapse of their environment. Though such conflicts may seem distant, their environmental harms respect no borders, for the destruction of farmland, the pollution of water, and the release of toxins reverberate across the planet, worsening the anxieties that afflict us all. The believer is cast as a caretaker of the earth—"It is He who has made you successors upon the earth and raised some of you above others in degrees that He may try you through what He has given you" (Qur'an 6:165)—and also of fellow human beings, as the Prophet ﷺ said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth." Stewardship over the land and over humanity are one, and to neglect one is to neglect the other. Thus climate anxiety is real, and its effects upon the young are profound, yet the Prophetic tradition furnishes both a vocabulary and a roadmap for facing it: restraint in abundance, hope through action, solidarity against injustice, and trust in the wisdom of Allah. The sapling in one's hand may seem small, yet it carries the promise of shade and sustenance for generations to come. To act in this spirit is a spiritual path that transforms despair into worship, anxiety into hope, and a sapling into a tree of life. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-death-a-prophetic-cure-for-death-anxiety # How to Overcome the Fear of Death: A Prophetic Cure for Death Anxiety | Blog **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** Afterlife, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Prophetic Cure **Published:** October 9, 2025 **Updated:** November 11, 2025 Living with the awareness of death is part of what makes us human. But for many, that awareness is destabilizing, manifesting as fear, avoidance, or [death anxiety](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/facing-our-fear-reflecting-on-modern-societys-death-anxiety). Death anxiety is an intense and persistent fear of one’s death that is often magnified in times of illness, loss, or global uncertainty. For some, the fear of death might be less severe, showing up as a low hum in the background, an uneasiness that something could be taken away at any moment. Despite its centrality to the human condition, many of us lack the language or frameworks to navigate death. While this short article will discuss recent research into death anxiety and related prophetic wisdoms, the lessons can be applied more broadly to a general fear of death that might be more common. The prophetic tradition provides a deeply compassionate and spiritually grounded approach to death. Rather than denying our fear of it, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed it. Rather than treating it as pathology, he offered a reframe rooted in divine mercy, purposeful living, and gratitude. In one of the most moving *hadith qudsi* narrations, the Prophet ﷺ reports that Allah said: > My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask something of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. **I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about seizing the soul of My faithful servant. He hates death and I hate hurting him.**[^1] This hadith offers a stunning theological truth: even those beloved to Allah fear death. And not only is this fear acknowledged, it is reciprocated with divine gentleness. Allah’s “hesitation” is not a shortcoming, but a manifestation of His mercy and love for us. Death anxiety, then, is not a sign of weak faith. It is part of the vulnerability of being human, and it is precisely that vulnerability that Allah responds to with His care. --- ## Contributing factors: Mental health, sickness, and war A 2024 meta-analysis involving over 24,000 people confirmed that individuals with mental health struggles often experience heightened fear of death.[^2] This fear was especially strong in people with anxiety-related conditions, suggesting that death anxiety may lie beneath other symptoms. The researchers emphasized that addressing death anxiety directly could be essential for lasting healing across a wide range of mental health conditions. This burden was most prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. A global review of studies found that roughly half of all people surveyed during the pandemic reported significant death anxiety.[^3] Among patients with COVID-19, people with chronic illnesses, and the elderly, rates were even higher. Even healthcare workers and members of the general population were deeply affected. Strikingly, fear of death increased as the pandemic continued, underscoring how sustained exposure to mortality shapes collective mental health. Witnessing or living through war and genocide also further intensifies this fear. A longitudinal study of university students in Kuwait showed a significant increase in death anxiety following the 1990 Iraqi invasion, particularly among men.[^4] These findings support Templer’s foundational theory that death anxiety is shaped by environmental realities, including war.[^5] In Gaza, accounts from refugees in the Rafah camp describe a daily life shadowed by imminent death. Families reported constant fear, disrupted mourning rituals, and widespread psychological trauma. Despite these immense hardships, many Gazans continue to draw strength from faith, remembrance, and community.[^6] For others, who witness these events from afar, the constant visibility of suffering can awaken a similar fear of mortality and helplessness. In these moments, both individual and collective souls search for grounding. --- ## Gratitude as a prophetic remedy In the prophetic tradition, one of the most effective spiritual and psychological correctives to trials and fear is [gratitude](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-divine-gift-of-gratitude-the-secret-of-happiness-in-the-modern-world) (*shukr*). The Qur’an describes the prophet Ibrahim (as) as “thankful for His favors” (Qur’an 16:121), despite the continuous trials faced by him and his family. The Prophet ﷺ would spend the night in prayer until his feet were swollen, saying, “Should I not be a grateful servant?”[^7] Gratitude reorients the believer not only toward the blessings that remain, but also to those that once were. In his moment of profound hardship, it is said that the prophet Ayub expressed deep gratitude for his past 70 years of good health and wealth.[^8] By focusing on abundance over scarcity—or its likelihood—gratitude reminds the heart that our lives are not arbitrary or abandoned, but deeply held in divine care. Recent studies have also shown that gratitude can meaningfully reduce death anxiety. In one experimental study, older adults who were asked to reflect on events they felt grateful for reported much lower levels of death anxiety than those asked to write about frustrations or neutral experiences.[^9] This effect was not due to general mood improvement. Gratitude appeared to work specifically by helping people see their lives as full, purposeful, and worthy, which eased their fear of mortality. Gratitude works by cultivating optimism. A 2024 study conducted after a major earthquake found that the positive effect of gratitude on reducing death anxiety depended on whether people believed good was still possible.[^10] Gratitude opened the heart, but it was optimism that gave people the ability to see a future beyond fear. There is a deeply human and prophetic moment that reflects this connection. Hayyan Abi al-Nadra recounts visiting Yazid ibn al-Aswad, who was dying. Wathila ibn al-Asqaʿ entered with him and asked Yazid, “What do you expect from Allah?” Yazid replied, “By Allah, I expect good from Allah.” Wathila then gave him glad tidings from the Prophet ﷺ: > Allah said: I am as My servant expects Me. If he expects good, he will have it. If he expects evil, he will have it.[^11] In this powerful moment, optimism is not just a coping strategy. It is a form of faith. To expect good from Allah at the time of death is a spiritual achievement and a psychological shield. Just as Prophet Ayub (as) called out in his time of hardship, “Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful” (Qur’an 21:83), optimism is a way of dying while trusting fully in divine mercy. Gratitude nurtures this expectation of good. It helps the believer remember that their life has been touched by grace, even in hardship. It prepares the soul to meet its Lord with hope, not despair. Another prophetic teaching emphasizes this need and the recognition that allows such work to happen. The Prophet ﷺ said: > There are two blessings which many people waste: health and free time.[^12] Psychologists have found that regrets and unfinished goals (that may result from neglect) often worsen death anxiety. This hadith becomes a call to be present, intentional, and grateful for the blessings Allah has given us. To use health and time well is not just productive, it is spiritually protective. When we know that we have done the very best we can in our efforts to reach our objectives, we are able to meet death with readiness rather than regret. We are grateful for the opportunities Allah provided and for the awareness and ability to make use of them, knowing that no sincere effort to please Him will go unnoticed (Qu’ran 53:39–41). --- ## Knowing our ultimate destination The believer also draws comfort from something deeper than gratitude and optimism alone—the certainty that death is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life. The Prophet ﷺ taught his companions not only how to live, but also how to die. In his final moments, he repeated with calm assurance: “With the Highest Companion (*al-Rafīq al-Aʿlā*)”.[^13] This was not a resignation, but a reunion. The Qur’an reassures the faithful in Surah Fussilat: > Indeed, those who have said, “Our Lord is Allah,” and then remained steadfast, the angels will descend upon them, \[saying,\] “Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.” > > (Qur’an 41:30–32) The Prophet  ﷺ also described the moment of death as an opportunity for reciprocal yearning, where the creation meets their Creator: “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.” It was said to him: “O Prophet of Allah, all of us hate death and are averse to it.” He said: “It is not like this. Rather, when a believer is given the glad tidings of the mercy of Allah, His pleasure, and His Paradise, \[then\] he loves to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet him.”[^14] These teachings are far from empty platitudes and theoretical exercises. They are deeply relevant, grounding us in the truth that is to come. Death is a doorway, not a disappearance to fear. For the believer, instead of being the end of life, it is the beginning of reunion, fulfillment, and eternal rest. --- ## Conclusion The prophetic way is not to suppress the fear of death, but to transform it. Gratitude centers the heart in meaning. Optimism directs the soul toward mercy. And Allah, in His tenderness, meets the anxious heart not with punishment, but with hesitation, care, and love. In a time when death anxiety is rising, whether due to illness, trauma, or witnessing global suffering, this prophetic wisdom offers a spiritual and psychological refuge. To be grateful. To be hopeful. And to know that even in death, we are not alone. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6502. [^2]: Rachel. E. Menzies, et al., “From Dread to Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Death Anxiety on Mental Illness Symptoms,” *Clinical Psychology Review* (2024): 113:102490. [^3]: Indrajit Patra, et al., “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Death Anxiety During COVID-19 Pandemic,” *Omega (Westport)* 91, no. 3 (2025): 1079–1097. [^4]: Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek,  “Does War Affect Death Anxiety Level? Seven Readings of Measurements Before and After the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait,” *Omega* 49, no. 4 (2004): 287–297. [^5]: Donald I. Templer, “The Construction and Validation of a Death Anxiety Scale,” *Journal of General Psychology* 82, no. 2 (1970): 165–177. [^6]: Bilal Hamamra, et al., “The Anxiety of Death and the Loss of Loved Ones During Genocide in Gaza,” *Omega – Journal of Death and Dying*, advanced online publication (2025). [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2819. [^8]: Wahb ibn Munabbih, as cited in Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm*, commentary on Surah Ṣād (38:41–44). [^9]: Rosanna W. L. Lau and Sheung-Tak Cheng, “Gratitude Lessens Death Anxiety,” *European Journal of Ageing* 8, no. 3 (2011): 169–175. [^10]: Reem Al Boukhary, et al. “The Effect of Gratitude on Death Anxiety is Fully Mediated by Optimism in Lebanese Adults Following the 2023 Earthquake,” *BMC Psychology* 12, no. 2 (2024). [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 641. Graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic) by al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^12]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6412. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4437; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2444. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 157. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/marriage-and-gender-roles-in-islam-beyond-rights-and-duties # Marriage and Gender Roles in Islam: Beyond Rights and Duties **Author:** Dr. Tesneem Alkiek **Topics:** Family & Community, Marriage **Tags:** Gender and Islam, Paper, Publication, Women in Islam **Published:** October 2, 2025 **Updated:** June 4, 2026 ## Introduction Over the past two centuries, Muslim societies confronted what often felt like insurmountable trials: from colonial domination and military defeat to political fragmentation and institutional decay. And yet, even as the Western world began to stagger under the recoil of the very ideologies it violently imposed, Muslim societies remained remarkably resilient in one vital domain: the family. Muslim homes buckled down to weather waves of religious and intellectual onslaught. Marriage was not merely a social arrangement but a space for cultivating moral values and sustaining quiet resistance. But the storm has now caught up with us too, straining one of our last outposts of stability. Muslims have found themselves in the crosshairs of a hegemonic culture that often devalues or distorts marriage and family life. Dominant narratives, inspired by individualism, feminism, and capitalism—to name just a few—cast marriage as a lifestyle choice, desirable to some but unnecessary for the moral legitimacy of intimate relationships. Gender is fluid, roles are uncertain, and fulfillment is measured by the extent of one’s autonomy rather than the strength of one’s family unit. The result? Rising loneliness, collapsing birth rates, and growing alienation between men and women. Many young Muslims are unsure what a healthy marriage looks like—or whether it’s worth pursuing at all. The pressures of modern life have only intensified these challenges, placing added strain on both spouses. Ironically, modern technologies designed to make life easier (think laundry machines, stoves, microwaves) have often led to higher expectations. The rise of online influencers has further fueled this trend, curating glimpses into seemingly perfect homes and relationships that present often unattainable standards, distorting reality and fostering dissatisfaction with the ordinary. Meals that were once simple have become elaborate, often requiring scrupulous dedication and extensive nutritional planning to execute. Where owning a few items of clothing was once the norm, full and varied wardrobes are now expected. It was once sufficient to sweep your home and call it a day. Now, cleanliness involves complicated rituals of vacuuming, mopping, and sanitizing. Parenting too is more demanding than ever. Children are now financially dependent for decades due to extended schooling and rising educational costs. Today, parents are not merely expected to feed and protect their children but to manage their lives in micro-detail, juggling school schedules, extracurriculars, and personal development. At the same time, modern economies demand longer work hours and often require both spouses to work, all while the communal support once provided by extended family—the proverbial village—has become increasingly rare. Without grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors readily available to share in childcare and household responsibilities, couples are left to shoulder these burdens largely on their own. Needless to say, our conditions have changed significantly from those of previous generations, and not necessarily for the better. Like much of the world, the Muslim community has been grappling with how modernity has fundamentally reshaped family life. This reshaping has led to deep structural changes that cannot simply be reversed, and these changes necessarily shift how we think and talk about our roles and expectations. What follows is not a prescriptive guide, but an invitation to reflect more carefully on the questions we bring to marriage. While Islamic law provides a clear and perfect foundation, it was never intended to prescribe every detail of married life or other non-ritual social interactions. Healthy marriages have been sustained and guided by Islamic virtues, such as kindness, trust, forbearance, and mercy. Culture, social context, and lived experience have also always shaped how those legal principles are interpreted and applied. Scholars, after all, coined the maxim: “Custom carries legal weight.” The added problem, however, is that in the West, it is unclear what counts as “custom” because we often lack a shared cultural framework to shape and negotiate our expectations for marriage. In premodern, more homogeneous cultures, marital expectations were largely dictated by shared customs, making it easier for couples to align with an established status quo and have similar expectations. In contrast, modern societies are heterogeneous, with no single cultural framework that both spouses automatically acknowledge or adhere to. This diversity means that couples must actively negotiate their roles, often drawing from different, and at times conflicting, influences. Those living in the West (or influenced by Western ideals) encounter a wide array of ways that marriages can be structured. Your Pakistani immigrant neighbors might be surprised that your parents or in-laws live separately. Childhood friends from Virginia might pity you as a wife if you do not have a career. And your Arab grandparents might raise an eyebrow if they see you, as a husband, changing diapers. Beyond these local contrasts, the globalized digital world exposes people to countless models of marriage and pushes them to compare and idealize arrangements that may not align with their local realities. Add to this the volatile online debates about gender norms, and it’s easy to feel utterly confused. In the absence of a shared framework for navigating modern marital challenges, Muslims have been seeking clarity through a range of strategies. Some turn to the Islamic legal tradition to define not only the rights and duties of spouses, but also guidelines for behavior and character. Others treat inherited cultural norms as inherently Islamic and therefore obligatory. Still others borrow selectively from contemporary discourse, reframing liberal or conservative concepts in Islamic language. Think about how some recast “toxic” masculinity as “*jahili*” masculinity, emphasizing the Prophet’s emotional sensitivity and domestic involvement, often to the exclusion of other traits. Or how others invoke *fitra*, our innate nature, to insist that gendered roles are divinely fixed and non-negotiable.[^1] Many of these efforts are rooted in sincere attempts to revive prophetic models, but they inadvertently impose narrow boundaries on what a marriage can look like. The beauty of the Islamic tradition lies in its clarity on what is permissible and what is not, while leaving ample room for relationships to be shaped by individual temperaments, social realities, and cultural contexts. To meaningfully engage the Islamic dimensions of marriage today, we must consider not only the legal tradition, but also the powerful influence of culture and how profoundly modern life has reshaped the very paradigm of marriage. Only then can we recalibrate our expectations and build relationships that are both faithful to our tradition and responsive to our realities. To chart this path forward, I begin with a brief reflection on marriage in the Qur’an and Sunnah. I then turn to the two rights and responsibilities that scholars unanimously upheld in marriage. From there, I explore why healthy marriages must balance law and ethics. Drawing from the Prophetic example and beyond, I conclude with a glimpse into the many ways Muslims have practiced marriage, reminding us that faithful relationships can take many forms and inviting us to adapt our own. --- ## Marriage in the Qur’an and Sunnah: An ethical framework Marriage in Islam evokes what so many long for: a companion to share the ups and downs of life, love and tranquility, and the opportunity to grow a family.[^2] There is nothing like marriage, the Prophet ﷺ noted, for two who love one another.[^3] Anyone who can marry should, because it fulfills one’s desires and guards their chastity.[^4] Sexual intercourse does not just become lawful, but praiseworthy and a form of worship: “Fulfilling your desires with your spouse counts as an act of charity.”[^5] Even in the most private of acts, Islam infuses meaning and reward. The best of you, the Prophet declared, are those who are best to their families.[^6] Treat your women well, he commanded in other instances, and when approaching them for intimacy, do so lovingly.[^7] The mundane aspects of married life are not overlooked either. The Prophet taught, “A dinar you spend in the cause of Allah, a dinar you spend freeing a slave, a dinar you give in charity, and a dinar you spend on your family—the greatest of them in reward is the one you spend on your family.”[^8] In intimacy, as in all aspects of life, excellence (*ihsan*) is the standard. At the heart of Islamic marital ethics is a directive that resounds throughout the Qur’an and Sunnah: to treat one another *bil-maʿruf*. While often translated as “with kindness,” *maʿruf* more precisely refers to what is commonly recognized as good within a given society.[^9] This ethic goes beyond the bare fulfillment of obligations. It calls for behavior that reflects socially and culturally intelligible standards of respect and care. It reveals Islam’s profound sensitivity to context—that successful marriages are not built solely on legal rights and duties, but also on shared norms and cultural wisdom. Marriage is, in God’s own words, a sign that calls us to His remembrance and a locus of serenity and solace.[^10] Believers are instructed not only to live with their spouses *bil-maʿruf* but also, if necessary, to part from them in the same spirit.[^11] Even in hardship, Islam calls believers to rise to a higher ethic: “If you dislike them, perhaps you dislike something in which God has placed much good.”[^12] The Prophet ﷺ echoed this sentiment: “A believing man should not resent a believing woman. If he dislikes one trait in her, he will be pleased with another.”[^13] When the demands of marriage were overwhelming, the Prophet’s counsel to his own daughter—to make *dhikr* a nightly habit—remains as relevant as ever, grounding the relationship in spiritual renewal.[^14] Taken together, these verses and hadith capture a vision of marriage rich with emotional nuance and spiritual depth. They serve as a reminder that while marriage is a legal contract, it is foremost a sacred trust (*mithaq ghaliz*) entered into in the name of God, invoking divine oversight and accountability.[^15] It is not simply a private arrangement, but a public bond with communal significance. Its terms can be deeply symbolic: *mahr* may reflect substantial wealth or, in exceptional cases, something as modest and meaningful as teaching verses of the Qur’an. These layers of meaning remind us that marriage in Islam is rooted in mercy, mutual care, and the pursuit of divine pleasure. --- ## Marriage in the legal tradition: A minimal contractual framework In contrast to the rich moral texture of the scriptural tradition, Islamic laws on marriage can often feel like a compass rather than a blueprint. Tasked with defining what was legally actionable—what could or could not be enforced in a court of law—juristic focus was on establishing rights, duties, and limits, not prescribing the emotional or spiritual core of a successful marriage. Recognizing this gap, scholars often composed ethical treatises alongside legal manuals, reflecting on what a marriage rooted in *ihsan* should look like. These writings, shaped by the customs and social values of their time, offered a more expansive vision of marital life, one concerned with what spouses should strive for, not just what they must fulfill. In light of this, the legal tradition remains essential as the foundation of minimum standards and rights from which we can begin to build marriages that are responsive to our contemporary realities. The concept of *qiwama*, often translated as male guardianship or headship, has shaped the framework of Muslim marriages. Rooted in Qur’anic language—“Men are *qawwamun* over women”—*qiwama* conveys responsibility, protection, and authority.[^16] Scholars interpreted this verse to mean that men are entrusted with the financial, physical, and moral responsibility of maintaining their families.[^17] A man’s responsibility for financially supporting his family is rooted in a number of sources. The Qur’an, in multiple instances, states that the father must provide for his family according to what is customarily fair⁠ (*al-maʿruf*).[^18] The Prophet ﷺ also emphasized a husband’s duty to provide for his wife, saying: “Feed them from what you eat, clothe them with \[the quality of\] what you wear, do not strike them, and do not revile them.”[^19] In a well-documented incident, Hind bint ʿUtba complained to the Prophet about her husband Abu Sufyan’s lack of financial support. The Prophet permitted her to take from his wealth what was necessary for herself and her children in a reasonable manner⁠ (*al-maʿruf*).[^20] A husband has two primary financial obligations to his wife that were legally upheld. The first is *mahr,* the dower due to the wife at the time of marriage.[^21] The second is *nafaqa*, the ongoing financial support that a husband must provide his wife and, eventually, their children. As for the *mahr,* most jurists agreed there was no upper limit. Imams Ahmad and al-Shafiʿi also rejected the need for a fixed minimum, so long as the gift had value. Imams Malik and Abu Hanifa, by contrast, set minimum thresholds (ranging from three to forty dirhams), drawing on social norms around marriage during their time.[^22] Most jurists allowed delayed *mahr* with the wife’s consent, but all agreed it became obligatory if the husband intended to consummate the marriage.[^23] In parallel, scholars unanimously agreed that a husband is obligated to financially support his wife throughout their marriage and her waiting period (ʿ*idda*) if the marriage ends.[^24] However, a wife deemed *nashiz*—typically referring to one who leaves the home without her husband’s permission (e.g., moves back in with her parents) or persistently refuses intimacy without valid reason—was often held by jurists to forfeit her right to maintenance.[^25] The obligation to provide remained in cases where a wife was ill or otherwise unable to engage in intimacy, since the legal condition in these scenarios was her availability (*tamkin*), not intercourse itself.[^26] As for what *nafaqa* includes, scholars generally agreed that it encompasses housing, food, and clothing, and related essentials. Its quantity and quality was determined by custom and the socioeconomic status of both spouses.[^27] While the Shafiʿis set specific benchmarks, the Hanafis, Malikis, and Hanbalis insisted that maintenance must reflect prevailing social norms.[^28] This approach was grounded in repeated Qur’anic injunctions to provide *bil-maʿruf*. Debates extended to whether *nafaqa* must be provided as tangible goods or cash, its frequency (daily vs. as needed), and whether it must cover healthcare or travel expenses like hajj.[^29] In every case, custom was central to determining the appropriate standard. Given its importance, jurists took neglect of *nafaqa* seriously. The Malikis, Shafiʿis, and Hanbalis allowed a wife to seek judicial divorce for persistent failure to provide.[^30] The Hanafis, preferring reconciliation, permitted her to take out a loan in her husband’s name to meet her needs.[^31] This was also the expectation if he traveled or went missing. Yet scholars were cautious not to define neglect based on temporary hardship, drawing on the verse: “If it is difficult for someone to repay a debt, postpone it until a time of ease.”[^32] If the neglect was habitual, however, legal action was justified. A husband’s guardianship, in turn, was understood to carry a measure of authority in the home, often described as his “right to obedience.” Several hadiths counsel wives to obey their husbands.⁠ The Prophet stated, “If a woman prays her five (daily prayers), fasts her month (Ramadan), guards her chastity, and obeys her husband, she will enter Paradise from whichever gate she wishes.⁠”[^33] When asked which women are the best, he replied: “The one who pleases him when he looks at her, obeys him when he commands, and does not act contrary to his wishes regarding herself or his wealth.”[^34] In other narrations, the Prophet ﷺ discouraged a wife from performing non-obligatory fasts without her husband’s permission.[^35] So what exactly does obedience entail? Scholars diverged. Some argued that a wife is obligated to obey in all areas of life, so long as they are not sinful. Others restricted obedience to matters that were culturally expected in marriage. The Hanafi jurist Ibn Nujaym, for instance, in debating whether a husband can compel his wife to engage in jihad*,* asserted that a woman need only comply with her husband’s requests in matters related to marriage.[^36] While the nature and extent of the obedience may have been debated, all scholars agreed that a wife’s main legal obligation was to be sexually available for her husband.[^37] This is sourced back to a number of hadith, such as: “If a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses, and he spends the night angry with her, the angels curse her until morning.”[^38] In another, the Prophet ﷺ further emphasized this right, stating: “When a man calls his wife to intimacy, she should come to him, even if she is at the oven.”[^39] It was for this reason that a wife was not to fast voluntarily or leave the home without her husband’s permission, as these acts might hinder his access to intimacy.[^40] The Islamic legal tradition introduced critical limitations to the obligation of sexual availability. A wife is exempt from intercourse during menstruation and obligatory fasting, and is not obligated if she is ill or fears harm for herself.[^41] These exceptions underscore that, while sexual availability was acknowledged as a central marital obligation, it was neither unconditional nor meant to compromise a woman’s well-being. At the same time, while the hadiths that emphasize a wife’s sexual responsiveness do not endorse physical coercion, they stress a broader marital ethic—one that warns against weaponizing intimacy.[^42] Ibn Hajar, the preeminent hadith scholar, explained that the hadith regarding the angels cursing refers to a wife who withholds intimacy without any valid reason.[^43] Just as a husband’s neglect in providing for his wife can sow resentment, a wife’s withholding of intimacy out of spite can fracture the relationship.[^44] Both undermine the spirit of mutual care and reciprocity that lies at the heart of a healthy marriage. As the Andalusian hadith commentator al-Muhallab bin Abi Sufra (d. 435 AH) observed, deliberately neglecting obligations towards your spouse, whether physical or financial, risks incurring divine displeasure.[^45] --- ## Blending law and ethics: A holistic framework Any meaningful discussion of Islamic marriage must begin with a clear recognition that legal rulings do not always capture the full moral vision of the tradition: what is legally permissible is not always morally virtuous and what is morally repugnant is not always legally forbidden. As such, both legal and ethical principles are necessary components of a healthy marital framework. The former provides a foundation for the minimum standards and rights we are obligated to uphold (setting exceptional circumstances aside) and the latter ensures these rights (and the marriage as a whole) are enshrined in Allah’s vision of marriage as a space for mercy, compassion, comfort, companionship, tranquility, and reward. While Islamic law outlines the structural foundations of marriage—its rights, duties, and enforceable terms—it is Islamic ethics that breathe life into those legal frameworks. The Qur’an and Sunnah consistently call believers to fulfill their obligations with excellence (*ihsan*). In the domain of marriage, this synergy between law and ethics forms a holistic vision—one where the legal minimum is never the moral ceiling. Take, for instance, the obligation of *nafaqa*. Legally, this is defined as providing food, clothing, and shelter according to prevailing social norms. But the Prophet ﷺ expanded this technical requirement into a spiritual act, saying the greatest dinar spent in the cause of Allah is the one you spend on your family.[^46] This ethical framing is especially important when considering how classical rulings translate into contemporary realities. For example, many premodern jurists did not include a wife’s medical expenses within the husband’s financial obligations, limiting *nafaqa* to essentials such as food, clothing, and shelter. This reasoning was tied to a time when medical care was rare, inexpensive, and often non-institutional. Moreover, women typically belonged to robust extended family networks, where fathers, brothers, and uncles played an active role in a woman’s financial well-being and protection, providing additional layers of support when needed. Today, however, family structures and economic systems have changed dramatically. In many cases, a wife may have little to no independent income, lack access to healthcare benefits, and no longer have extended family to turn to for help. In such situations, the ethical responsibility of a husband extends well beyond the classical legal minimum. Providing for a spouse’s medical care is no longer an act of generosity—it is a moral necessity, deeply aligned with the Qur’anic ethos of treating your spouse according to *maʿruf.* By the same token, Islamic ethics also encourages spouses to consider the moral weight of their financial expectations. Just as it would be inadequate today for a husband to limit his provision to the bare minimum of food and clothing, it may be equally unrealistic—especially in debt-heavy, consumer-driven economies—to expect him to shoulder the full financial burden of an inflated standard of living alone. In many parts of the world, dual-income households have become a practical necessity. In such arrangements, if both spouses are employed and facing financial hardship, it is praiseworthy for a wife to be mindful of the family’s broader financial reality and contribute where she is able. When both partners engage one another with this level of attentiveness, marriage becomes more than a contract. It becomes a sacred partnership, grounded in the ethical ideals Islam envisions for a flourishing family life. Building on this framing, where Islamic law assigns the husband financial responsibility for his household, Islamic ethics charges him with its moral leadership and well-being. His authority is not arbitrary or aggressive, but purposeful—a form of stewardship accountable to Allah and exercised through justice, care, and foresight. A husband who thoughtfully consults his wife embodies Prophetic character and the Qur’anic ideal of *shura*, fostering unity and respect. In turn, a wife who follows her husband’s lead with grace and trust, while openly communicating her perspectives, contributes to a home built on harmony and emotional intelligence. Together, they exemplify a partnership rooted in compassion, understanding, and purpose—hallmarks of a marriage inspired by Islamic ethics. ​This same space of trust is where spouses meet one another’s sexual needs. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized gentleness in all matters,[^47] and urged husbands to be mindful of their wives’ emotional state before intimacy.[^48] On the basis of such reports, scholars devoted sections on the etiquettes of marital intimacy (*adab al-jimaʿ*) within their broader works of proper conduct.[^49] In practice, this may mean recognizing emotional or mental health challenges that affect intimacy, and responding not with blame or entitlement, but with care. A husband who approaches his wife’s postpartum struggles with patience and empathy honors the deeper moral calling to be a source of stability and comfort in her times of vulnerability. Likewise, a wife who pleases her husband intimately even when she herself may not feel inclined exemplifies noble traits of selflessness and devotion. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “The best of you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best among you to my family.”[^50] This hadith sets a benchmark for behavior rooted in love, attentiveness, and generosity. Whether through active participation in parenting, offering emotional presence, or simply lightening one another’s daily burdens, spouses honor the spiritual dignity of their relationship when they strive to be the best to their families. In such cases, *ihsan* and *maʿruf* guide spouses to recognize the unspoken but vital elements that sustain a healthy relationship. Together, these examples show that Islamic law provides the minimum standard, but it is only when combined with Islamic ethics that flourishing relationships can be cultivated. When either operates in isolation, marriages will be deficient and dysfunctional. The legal system defines what one *must* do, while the ethical system invites believers toward what they *ought* to do in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure. When ethics and law are integrated, marriage becomes a space for grace, growth, and divine reward. The task for Muslim couples today is not to blindly replicate medieval or modern models of marriage, but to uphold the spirit of Qur’anic and Prophetic guidance while adapting to new realities. Our world demands a marital partnership that acknowledges shifting economic conditions, recognizes the importance of shared parenting, and values emotional intelligence as much as financial provision. The legal rulings of the past were never meant to be rigid molds into which all marriages must fit, but rather foundations upon which to build functional and fulfilling relationships. We live in a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace, where the needs of men and women are evolving, and where the demands of family life are more complex than ever before. The key is to engage in thoughtful, principled discussions about what marriage should look like today: rooted in Islamic values and responsive to contemporary realities. To that end, this final section offers examples of how Muslim marriages embodied varied practices and dynamics, illustrating the flexibility and resilience we, too, can embrace today. --- ## Lived realities Across generations, beginning with the Prophet ﷺ, Muslim marriages took a wide range of forms. Below, I explore a few dimensions of that reality: the home, work, interpersonal dynamics, intimacy, and the *mahr* (dower)—all of which defy simplistic generalizations. Lived experience often reshaped even the most established expectations, bending them to the contours of custom and circumstance. ### Home In many societies, women bore the primary responsibility for household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Numerous reports reflect this pattern during the time of the Prophet: companions often returned home inquiring whether their wives had prepared food for the Prophet ﷺ or his guests,[^51] and on multiple occasions, the Prophet ﷺ himself returned with visitors and asked his wives to serve them.[^52] When Jabir bin ʿAbdullah told the Prophet ﷺ that he had married an older, more experienced woman to help care for his younger siblings, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed the wisdom of this decision, indicating that such roles were both expected and appreciated within the family structure.[^53] Among the many examples, two stand out for highlighting how women’s domestic responsibilities were affirmed with the promise of great reward. Fatima (rA), the daughter of the Prophet, was overwhelmed by the toll of grinding grain and household labor. When she approached her father for help, the Prophet ﷺ offered a practical solution: he recommended she and ʿAli (rA) divide responsibilities, with ʿAli taking charge of tasks outside the home and Fatima managing those within.[^54] For many scholars, this incident reflected a prescriptive model of gendered labor; for others, it represented a contextually appropriate arrangement.[^55] In either case, it affirmed the virtue of domestic labor. Similarly, Asmaʾ bint Yazid voiced her frustration to the Prophet ﷺ. Men, she observed, were able to more easily pursue lofty acts of worship like attending funerals, going on pilgrimage, and engaging in jihad while women often remained at home, consumed by family responsibilities. The Prophet praised her insight and assured her that a woman in her position would receive the same reward for her sacrifices.[^56] Yet the burden of household labor did not fall on women alone. The Prophet ﷺ is famously described as being “in the service of his family,” mending his clothes and performing household tasks.[^57] When asked to describe the Prophet’s home life, ʿAʾisha responded matter-of-factly: “He did what men usually do in their homes”—he patched his sandals, mended clothes, sewed, milked the animals, swept the house, and saw to his own needs.[^58] Her description implies not a one-time gesture of help, but regular participation. As al-Muhallab observed, the Prophet’s conduct was not just a sign of humility, but a model of behavior he intended for both men and women to follow.[^59] ### Finances Men were the default financial providers for their families. Wealthy companions like ʿAbd al-Rahman bin ʿAwf took pride in sustaining their households along with the broader community through acts of charity. Others, such as Abu Bakr, while more modest in wealth, remained consistent in meeting his family’s needs and was known for his personal sacrifices, including spending his entire fortune in support of the Prophet during critical moments. Even rulers were not exempt from this ethic. As caliphs, ʿUmar bin al-Khattab and ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAziz were both known to keep meticulous accounts of state expenditures and take deliberate care to provide for their families without indulging in extravagance. Later figures such as Imam Abu Hanifa took up side businesses to support their dependents while dedicating themselves to scholarship. Biographical texts, like Ibn Saʿd’s *Tabaqat* and al-Dhahabi’s *Siyar*, record many early scholars engaging in professions such as trading, textile production, and craftsmanship to maintain financial independence and fulfill their familial obligations. While not expected to be primary providers, women, too, were financial actors, supporting their families and contributing generously to charitable causes. In one well-known instance, Zaynab, the wife of ʿAbdullah bin Masʿud, asked the Prophet ﷺ whether she could give her zakat to her husband, who was struggling financially. The Prophet reassured her that she would be rewarded twice—once for fulfilling her obligation, and again for supporting her household.[^60] Umm Salama also sought the Prophet’s permission to spend her wealth on her children, and he assured her that she would be rewarded for it.[^61] In another case, Asmaʾ, the aunt of Jabir bin ʿAbdullah, requested permission to cultivate her palm trees after her divorce. The Prophet ﷺ not only allowed it, but encouraged her, praising her intent to use her earnings for charity and righteous deeds.[^62] In premodern societies, family survival depended on everyone contributing according to their means and capacity.[^63] Work was often embedded within the social fabric of extended households and neighborhoods, and included farming, textile production, trade, and education—areas in which women were particularly active. Even domestic tasks such as cooking and childcare were not isolated duties but part of a broader ecosystem of mutual support among extended families and neighbors. This dynamic was especially visible during the Mamluk period (13th–16th centuries), when urban life in cities like Cairo, Damascus, and Jerusalem saw widespread wage labor. Many women, regardless of marital status, were employed as midwives, peddlers, hairdressers, and textile workers including spinners, embroiderers, and weavers.[^64] Even women from elite, scholarly families like ʿAʾisha bint Muhammad (d. 736/1336) in Damascus supported herself by working a loom.[^65] Likewise, Dayfa bint ʿUmar (d. 728/1328) whose husband was chronically ill, assumed full financial responsibility for their household. Even after his recovery, she continued to manage their affairs and, following his death, raised their children independently on her earnings.[^66] Elite men and women across the Islamic world also played a public financial role through charitable endowments.[^67] They established schools, mosques, hospitals, and other institutions, often using their personal wealth. These acts of patronage reflected not only their piety and social standing but also the broader Islamic ethic of shared responsibility: financial stewardship was a virtue upheld by both men and women in service of their families and societies. ### Dower The practice of dower (*mahr*) in Muslim marriages offers another example of both legal consistency and cultural flexibility. The Qur’an mandates *mahr* as a required gift from the husband to the wife, yet the form, timing, and amount of that gift have historically varied in accordance with local customs and individual circumstances. One well-known Prophetic precedent illustrates this range. When a man approached the Prophet ﷺ seeking to marry but lacking any material means, the Prophet asked whether he had memorized any parts of the Qur’an. Upon confirming that he had, the Prophet declared, “I marry her to you for what you know of the Qur’an.”[^68] This moment became foundational in demonstrating that *mahr* could be educational or service-based, so long as it held recognized value. Classical jurists across the legal schools upheld this principle, even as they debated minimum amounts, acceptable forms, and enforceability. These rulings often reflected the social and economic realities of their time. In the Mamluk period, for instance, the structure and payment of *mahr* became increasingly diverse. Before the end of the 13th century, husbands typically fulfilled their financial obligations by purchasing necessities like food and clothing directly for their wives. By the early 14th century, however, a shift occurred: some husbands began to provide maintenance through regular cash stipends. By the 15th century, such cash payments had become a widespread and normalized form of *nafaqa* (marital support⁠).[^69] Marriage contracts during this era also reveal a wide array of practices concerning the timing of the *mahr*. Some agreements stipulated immediate, full payment at the time of marriage. Others divided the payment into annual installments or deferred the amount entirely, rendering it a debt payable upon the wife’s demand. These contractual variations underscore that while *mahr* is a legal requirement, it was negotiated through mutual agreement, social norms, and the practical needs of each couple.[^70] ### Intimacy While the legal tradition often foregrounds a husband’s right to intimacy, from the time of the Prophet ﷺ, sexual satisfaction was recognized as a right of wives as well. A telling example comes from the household of Abu al-Dardaʾ.[^71] When Salman al-Farisi visited and found Abu al-Dardaʾ’s wife in a visibly neglected state, she explained that her husband had “no need for this world.” Abu al-Dardaʾ’s excessive fasting, night prayer, and asceticism had left little room for marital companionship. Salman reminded him that one’s spouse has rights and they must be honored. When they brought the matter to the Prophet ﷺ, he affirmed Salman’s counsel, underscoring that even the pursuit of piety must not come at the cost of intimacy and care within marriage. In another instance, a woman approached ʿUmar bin al-Khattab during his caliphate to complain about her husband.[^72] She described him as constantly engaged in prayer and fasting. ʿUmar, interpreting this as a compliment, praised the man’s piety. But one of the companions present, Kaʿb bin Sur, saw what ʿUmar had missed: the woman was not lauding her husband’s devotion—she was lamenting that his spiritual routine left no space for intimacy. Recognizing his oversight, ʿUmar appointed Kaʿb to arbitrate between them. Perhaps the most poignant example comes from ʿUmar’s nighttime patrols. During one of his rounds in Medina, he overheard a woman reciting verses of poetry expressing longing for her absent husband, who had been away on a military expedition.[^73] Concerned, ʿUmar investigated and consulted his daughter Hafsa, asking how long a woman could reasonably remain without intimacy. Her answer—six months—prompted ʿUmar to institute a policy limiting the duration of military deployment, ensuring that spouses were not separated indefinitely. Later jurists like Ibn Taymiyya noted that this timeframe was an approximation and a woman’s sexual needs should be assessed according to her particular circumstances.[^74] Or as al-Buhuti framed it: Just as marriage helps a man guard against the harm of unchecked desire, it serves the same purpose for a woman—which is why sexual intimacy is a mutual right.[^75] ### Dynamics Even in the Prophet’s time, notable differences in marital dynamics existed across regions. Meccan women were generally more reserved and deferential toward their husbands, while Medinan women were known for their assertiveness. When ʿUmar bin al-Khattab expressed concern over the boldness of Medinan women—who, in his view, challenged the deference he was accustomed to—the Prophet ﷺ simply smiled, signaling that Islam accommodated a spectrum of marital interaction rather than mandating a singular model.[^76] This flexibility continued into the caliphate of ʿUmar himself. On one occasion, a man came to seek his counsel about difficulties with his wife, only to overhear ʿUmar raising his voice inside his own home. Embarrassed, the man turned to leave. When ʿUmar emerged and asked why he had come, the man sheepishly confessed he had come to complain about his wife, but seeing that even the Caliph faced similar challenges, he thought better of it. ʿUmar, in turn, advised him to be patient and overlook his wife’s faults in light of all that women do to support and sustain their households.[^77] The Prophet’s own household further exemplified this ethos. His wives voiced their frustrations openly and, at times, even gave him the silent treatment. Their assertiveness was so striking that ʿUmar once remarked in astonishment, “Do you not fear Allah’s wrath?”—not merely because they were speaking back to their husband, but because they were addressing the Messenger of God.[^78] In a well-known exchange, Abu Bakr came to visit the Prophet ﷺ, only to hear ʿAʾisha raising her voice at the Messenger of God.[^79] Appalled by her boldness, Abu Bakr chastised her, but the Prophet ﷺ did not—reflecting a broad range of acceptable behavior and norms. At the same time, we find various examples of female companions who were very deferential to their husbands. Asmaʾ bint Abi Bakr was known for her remarkable dedication to serving her husband, often going to great lengths to fulfill her responsibilities. On one occasion, the Prophet ﷺ encountered her carrying a heavy load of date stones on her head, so he offered her a ride on his mount. She shyly declined out of consideration for her husband al-Zubayr, who was known for his protective jealousy.[^80] In another instance, Umm Sulaym, the mother of Anas bin Malik, displayed remarkable composure after the death of her young son.[^81] Only after serving her husband dinner and spending the night intimately with him did she gently inform him of their child’s passing. The Prophet, upon hearing the news, prayed for blessings in their lineage. --- ## Conclusion Any honest conversation about marriage today must account for the broader systemic forces that have redefined what family life now entails. Government policies, market demands, and ideological shifts have engineered the family structure in ways that are neither neutral nor accidental. Many families are no longer supported by extended kin networks, community institutions, or religious infrastructures as they once were. Instead, they are increasingly isolated, often forced to rely on two incomes to survive, to outsource the moral and intellectual development of children to the state, and to navigate emotional and spiritual needs in an economy that monetizes every available ounce of human energy. For some Muslims, the desire to revive “traditional” gender roles (often understood as a household with a male breadwinner and a stay-at-home wife) reflects a longing to resist these forces—to push back against a system that seems designed to erode the very conditions necessary for healthy, God-conscious families. While this impulse is often grounded in faith, it is not always sufficient. Fixating on rigid roles or idealized models of the past, divorced from the historical contexts that sustained them, does not adequately address the complex realities families face today. To thrive as a Muslim community, we need to deliberate on strategic, collective efforts to counter the social and economic stressors that undermine marriage. Maintaining strong marriages is crucial—not just for the values they uphold and the rights they protect, such as unity, respect, commitment, lawful intimacy, inheritance, and lineage, but for what they represent. Marriage cultivates the ability to follow, to sacrifice, to think collectively, and to take risks for the greater good. It serves as a microcosm of the broader *umma* in that weak marriages often reflect deeper fractures within society itself. Without rebuilding the communal and familial support systems that once cushioned the effects of marital breakdown, divorce will continue to be deeply destabilizing. The goal, then, is to foster resilient marriages that can adapt to evolving social and economic realities. Many marriages today endure when spouses divide their responsibilities between public and private spheres. Others work effectively when both partners share and shift responsibilities as needed. Some families rely on dual incomes to survive, while others prioritize one parent staying home. What ultimately matters is that we organize our marriages and households in ways that, despite modern pressures threatening family cohesion, protect and preserve them. While we might not be able to reengineer our societies overnight, we can begin by reframing our mindset. Anyone who is married knows that responsibilities are rarely split neatly in half. Circumstances, whether cultural, financial, or personal, often demand that one partner take on more than what is strictly required in Islam. There is so much value in reorienting perspectives and thinking: what would it mean to approach even the most mundane tasks with the intention of pleasing Allah? A chore taken up for the sake of harmony, for the sake of the family, or even just to get through the day can also be an act of worship. This doesn’t mean one should never ask for help or remain silent about unmet needs. But there is untapped strength in knowing that one’s effort, even if unrecognized by a spouse, is appreciated by al-Shakur. The Prophet ﷺ promised that no one makes a sacrifice for the sake of Allah except that He will replace it with something better. That “better” might take many forms: peace of heart, the flourishing of your children, an unexpected job opportunity—and, in all cases, reward in the Hereafter. So if your marriage is not harmful, but simply hard, know that your endurance may be among your most beloved deeds to Allah. In a time when family structures are unraveling and loneliness is widespread, your quiet striving may be the thread that holds a community together and the reason you are raised in rank by the One who sees it all. --- ## Notes [^1]: See, for example, Feyda Sayan-Cengiz, “‘Make Masculinity Great Again’: Politics of Marriage and Neoconservatism in Turkey’s Islamic-Oriented Self-Help Discourse,” *Turkish Studies* 25, no. 2 (2022): 280–300, [https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2023.2171869](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2023.2171869&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940123735&usg=AOvVaw0r4OgAk8FDksf0gbPELSk3). [^2]: Qur’an 7:189, 16:72, 30:21. [^3]: *Sunan Ibn Māja,* no. 1847. [^4]: Qur’an 24:32. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1006. [^6]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī,* no. 3895. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* nos. 1468a, 6042. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim,* no. 995. [^9]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī, *al-Qawāʿid al-ḥassān li tafsīr al-Qurʾān* (Maktabat al-Rushd, 1999), 63. [^10]: Qur’an 30:21. [^11]: Qur’an 2:231. [^12]: Qur’an 4:19. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no 1469. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5362. [^15]: Qur’an 4:21. [^16]: Qur’an 4:34. [^17]: See, for example, Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*, ed. Maḥmūd Shākir, 24 vols. (Dār al-Tarbiya wa-l-Turāth, n.d.), 8:290ff, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/43/4374%23p1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940161401&usg=AOvVaw2wLjwHPGEy8h--62qvUvph)[https://shamela.ws/book/43/4374#p1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/43/4374%23p1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940161622&usg=AOvVaw2sAsz-ghVVL2rzcVwKwodD); al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li aḥkām al-Qurʾān,* eds. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī and Ibrāhīm Aṭfayyish, 20 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyya, 1964), 5:168, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/20855/1838&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940162171&usg=AOvVaw3Mg3jsg19m4-rcEtggVfwd)[https://shamela.ws/book/20855/1838](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/20855/1838&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940162434&usg=AOvVaw3ng2AnmQ1_SY0PC6EyQZEo); Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm,* ed. Ḥikmat bin Bashīr, 7 vols. (Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 2010), 3:94, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/1503/1300&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940162848&usg=AOvVaw38eGPOQ43rg4-pfduAvKoM)[https://shamela.ws/book/1503/1300](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/1503/1300&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940162986&usg=AOvVaw1OwIVh4OIRMP3p6_NlunED). [^18]: Qur’an 2:228, 2:233, 65:7. [^19]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd,* no. 2137; *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2057. [^20]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7161. [^21]: Qur’an 4:4, 4:25; Muḥammad bin Rushd al-Ḥafīd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, ed. Muḥammad Ṣubḥī Ḥasan Ḥallāq, 4 vols. (Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, 1995), 3:37. [^22]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:38. [^23]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:44. [^24]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:103–4. [^25]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:105; Yaḥya bin Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn wa ʿumdat al-muftīn,* ed. Zuhayr al-Shāwīs, 12 vols. (al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1991), 9:59–60. [^26]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:105; al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 5:134–36. [^27]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:104; al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 5:153; see also Ibn Baṭṭāl’s commentary in Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-bārī bi sharḥ al-Bukhārī,* ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī and Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb, 13 vols. (al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1970), 9:513. [^28]: Al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 5:145ff. [^29]: Al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 5:154ff. [^30]: Ibn Rushd, *Bidāyat al-mujtahid*, 3:98. [^31]: Al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 5:160; al-Ṣadr al-Shahīd, *Sharḥ Adab al-qāḍī li-l-Khaṣṣāf*, ed. Muḥiyy al-Dīn al-Sarḥān, 4 vols. (Maṭbaʿat al-Irshād, 1978), 4:249; Ibn al-Humām, *Sharḥ Fatḥ al-qadīr ʿalā al-Hidāya sharḥ Bidāya al-mubtadī,* 11 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1970), 4:390. [^32]: Qur’an 2:280. [^33]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: kitāb al-awāmir, bāb dhikr ījāb al-janna li-l-marʾa idhā aṭāʿat zawjahā.* [^34]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī,* no. 3231. [^35]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5195. [^36]: Ibn Nujaym, *al-Baḥr al-rāʾiq sharḥ Kanz al-daqāʾiq,* 8 vols. (Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, n.d.), 5:77. [^37]: Al-Nawawī, for example, states that there are only two things a wife is obligated to do: make herself sexually available to her husband and \[consequently\] remain in his home (*tamkīnuhā zawjahā min nafsihā wa mulāzamat baytih*). Ibn Qudāma and al-Shīrāzī both state, “The object of the marriage contract is sexual intimacy–nothing else is required of her.” See Yaḥyā bin Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ al-Nawawī ʿalā Muslim,* 18 vols. (Dār Ihyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1972), 14:165; Muwaffaq al-Dīn ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī and ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Ḥulū, 15 vols. (Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1997), 10:225–26; Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī, *al-Muhadhdhab fī fiqh al-imām al-Shāfiʿī*, 3 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.), 2:482; al-Kāsānī, *Badāʾiʿ al-ṣanāʾiʿ fī tartīb al-sharāʾīʿ*, 3:613. [^38]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 3237; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 1436. [^39]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1160. [^40]: Al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ al-Nawawī ʿalā Muslim,* 7:115; Jalāl al-Dı̄n al-Maḥallı̄, *Kanz al-rāghibı̄n sharḥ Minhāj al-ṭalibı̄n*, ed. Maḥmūd Ṣāliḥ al-Ḥadı̄dı̄, 2 vols. (Dār al-Minhāj, 2013), 2:430. Al-Maḥallī, a Shafiʿi scholar, explains that a wife leaving the home without her husband’s permission is considered *nāshiz* because a husband has a right to keep her on retainer (*ḥabs*) in exchange for his financial maintenance. Similarly, the Hanbali jurist al-Buhūtī clarifies that it is prohibited for a wife to leave the house without her husband’s permission because his right upon her \[to sexual intimacy\] is obligatory. If she does leave, she forfeits her right to *nafaqa* because she is no longer making herself available for sexual intimacy (*li ʿadam al-tamkīn min al-istimtāʿ*). See Manṣūr bin Yūnus al-Buhūtī, *Kashshāf al-qināʿ ʿan matn al-Iqnāʿ*, ed. Ibrāhīm Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 2003), 2554. [^41]: Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī*, 10:170; al-Buhūtī, *Kashshāf al-qināʿ*, 2543. [^42]: For more on harm in marriage, see Tesneem Alkiek, “Marital Harm Through the Ages: Perspectives from Islamic Scholarship and Practice,” *Hashiya* (forthcoming). [^43]: Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:294. [^44]: The same is also true of their inverses—a wife’s refusal to contribute to the household income when she is employed and the family is struggling financially will sow resentment, and a husband’s neglect or withholding of intimacy out of spite or selfishness will likely fracture the relationship. These scenarios are discussed in further detail in the following sections. [^45]: Ibn Baṭṭāl in Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī,* 9:294. [^46]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 995. [^47]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2594. [^48]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *al-Bukhārī,* no. 5204. Ibn Ḥajar, commenting on this hadith, notes that a reasonable person would not beat his wife and then attempt to engage his wife intimately later that day. “Intercourse or cohabitation is only desirable when there is emotional inclination and a desire for closeness, whereas the one who has been beaten usually feels aversion toward the one who beat them. Thus, this \[hadith\] serves as an implicit condemnation of such behavior.” See Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī,* 9:303. [^49]: For example, Ibn al-Qayyim says, “Among the things that should precede intercourse is caressing the woman, kissing her, and sucking her tongue. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to play with his wives and kiss them.” See Ibn al-Qayyim, *Zād al-maʿad fī hadī khayr al-ʿibād,* 7 vols. (Dār ʿAṭāʾat al-ʿIlm, 2019), 4:363, [https://shamela.ws/book/197](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/197&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940165854&usg=AOvVaw1FhvvHEl-fBabMWXFB-1Hb). For more, see Habeeb Akande, *A Taste of Honey: Sexuality and Erotology in Islam* (Rabaah Publishers, 2015). [^50]: *Jāmiʿ a**l-Tirmidhī*, no. 3895. [^51]: See, for example: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* nos. 668, 4102, 5182, 5391; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,*  nos. 1428, 2054. [^52]: See, for example: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2052; *Sunan Abī Dāwūd,* no. 5040. [^53]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* nos. 4052 and 5367. Commenting on this incident, Ibn Baṭṭāl clarified that while a wife is not legally obligated to care for her husband’s children from a previous marriage, doing so reflects good companionship and moral excellence. See Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī,* 9:513. [^54]: The first part of the hadith that mentions Fatima’s request for help from the Prophet ﷺ is in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 3075 and *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2727. The second part of the hadith in which the Prophet recommends dividing the responsibilities between them is collected in *Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shayba* 16:71, no. 31018, but declared weak (*mursal* *ḍaʿīf*) by the *muḥaqqiq*. Irrespective of its grading, scholars have questioned whether this incident establishes a binding legal precedent. [^55]: See Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī,* 10:226; Ibn al-Mullaqin, *al-Tawḍīḥ li sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ,* ed. Khālid al-Rabbāṭ and Jumʿa Fatḥī, 36 vols. (Dār al-Nawādir, 2008), 25:40–41. [^56]: Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, *al-Nafaqa ʿalā al-ʿiyāl*, ed. Najm ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Khalaf, 2 vols. (Dār Ibn al-Qayyim, 1990), [https://shamela.ws/book/13075/545](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/13075/545&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940146281&usg=AOvVaw3Uic_2Q7CPq7hjELAMk1Au); *Musnad al-Bazzār,* no. 1474. There is some weakness in the chain, but it is supported by other narrations. See Ibn al-Athīr, *Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba*, 7:17–18, [https://shamela.ws/book/1110/3291#p1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/1110/3291%23p1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1759425940146979&usg=AOvVaw26xPxMVq1qS5CkR7c4SmDd). [^57]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5363; *Musnad A**ḥ**mad*, no. 24903. [^58]: *Musnad A**ḥ**mad*, no. 24903; *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān,* nos. 5675, 5677. [^59]: Ibn Baṭṭāl, *Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Yāsir bin Ibrāhīm, 10 vols. (Maktabat al-Rushd, 2003), 7:542. [^60]: This ruling does not apply to a husband, as one’s zakat may not be given to those whose financial maintenance is already an obligatory responsibility (e.g., wife and dependent children). [^61]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5369. [^62]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1483. [^63]: For more, see Stephanie Coontz, *Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage* (Penguin Books, 2006). [^64]: Yossef Rapoport, *Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society* (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 32–33. [^65]: Rapoport, *Marriage, Money and Divorce,* 34. [^66]: Rapoport, *Marriage, Money and Divorce,* 35–36. [^67]: See, for example, Minlib Dallh, “Accumulate but Distribute: Islamic Emphasis on the Establishment of *Waqf* (Pious Endowment),” *Religion and Development* 2 (2023): 21–40; Şerife Eroğlu Memiş, “Benefactresses of Waqf and Good Deeds: Charitable Women in Ottoman Jerusalem, 1703–1831,” *Jerusalem Quarterly* no. 72 (2017): 48–57. [^68]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5087. [^69]: Rapoport, *Marriage, Money and Divorce*, 59. [^70]: Rapoport, *Marriage, Money and Divorce*, 53. [^71]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 1968. [^72]: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, *al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifa al-aṣḥāb,* ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī, 4 vols. (Maktaba Nahḍa Miṣr, 1960), 3:1318–19. [^73]: *Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: kitāb al-ṭalāq, bāb ḥaqq al-marʾa ʿalā zawjihā wa fī kam tashtāq.* [^74]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Mustadrak ʿalā majmūʿ fatāwa shaykh al-Islām Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya,* ed. Muḥammad bin Muḥammad Qāsim, 5 vols. (N.p., n.d.), 4:215, 218; *al-Fatāwā al-kubrā,* 5:481. [^75]: Al-Buhūtī, *Khashshāf al-qināʿ,* 2549. [^76]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5191. [^77]: Although this narration/story lacks a sound chain, it has been cited in books of tradition as a source of model behavior. Al-Dhahabī, *al-Kabāʾir* (Dār al-Nadwa al-Jadīda, n.d.), 179. [^78]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5191. [^79]: *Musnad Aḥmad,* no. 18394. Graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic) by al-Arnāʾūṭ. Also reported in *Sunan Abī Dāwūd* (no. 4999), which was graded as *ṣaḥīḥ* *li ghayrihi* (elevated to the level of *ṣaḥīḥ* by corroborating reports) by al-Albānī in *al-Silsila*. [^80]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 5224. [^81]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2144d. ## Summary Marriage in Islam has always been more than a mere social contract; it is, as Allah describes in His Book, a sign among His signs that calls the believer to His remembrance and a locus of serenity and solace. Over the past two centuries, Muslim societies weathered colonial domination, defeat, and institutional decay, yet the family remained one of their last outposts of resilience. Today, however, that stronghold too has been strained by a dominant culture shaped by individualism, feminism, and capitalism, which recasts marriage as a mere lifestyle choice rather than a moral necessity. The consequences are visible in rising loneliness, collapsing birth rates, and growing alienation between men and women, leaving many young Muslims uncertain whether marriage is even worth pursuing. Modern life has intensified these difficulties. Technologies meant to ease burdens have instead inflated expectations, while online influencers curate unattainable images of domestic perfection. Meals, wardrobes, cleaning, and parenting have all grown more demanding, even as economies require longer hours and dual incomes. The proverbial village of extended family that once shared these responsibilities has largely vanished, leaving couples to bear their burdens alone. These deep structural changes cannot simply be reversed, and they necessarily shift how we think and speak about our roles and expectations within marriage. While Islamic law provides a clear and perfect foundation, it was never intended to prescribe every detail of married life. Healthy marriages have always been sustained by Islamic virtues such as kindness, trust, forbearance, and mercy, and shaped by culture, social context, and lived experience. Indeed, the scholars coined the legal maxim, "Custom carries legal weight." Yet in the West, it is often unclear what counts as "custom," for we lack the shared cultural framework that premodern, more homogeneous societies took for granted. In heterogeneous modern societies, couples must actively negotiate their roles, drawing from differing and sometimes conflicting influences. Some Muslims respond by turning to the legal tradition, others by treating inherited cultural norms as inherently Islamic, and still others by reframing liberal or conservative concepts in Islamic language, whether recasting "toxic" masculinity as "jahili" masculinity or invoking fitra to fix gender roles as non-negotiable. Though often sincere, such efforts inadvertently impose narrow limits on what a marriage may look like, when in truth the beauty of the tradition lies in its clarity on the permissible and the forbidden while leaving ample room for temperament, circumstance, and culture. The scriptural sources present marriage as an ethical framework rich in emotional and spiritual depth. The Prophet ﷺ noted that there is nothing like marriage for two who love one another, and he encouraged those able to marry to do so, for it fulfills desire and guards chastity. Even intimacy becomes an act of worship, for he taught that "fulfilling your desires with your spouse counts as an act of charity." He declared, "The best of you are those who are best to their families," and commanded that women be treated well. The mundane too is dignified, for he said that among a dinar spent in Allah's cause, freeing a slave, or given in charity, "the greatest in reward is the one you spend on your family." At the heart of this vision is the repeated Qur'anic directive to treat one another bil-maʿruf, which more precisely means what is commonly recognized as good within a given society, revealing Islam's sensitivity to context. Believers are told to live with their spouses in this spirit, and to part in it if necessary, being reminded, "If you dislike them, perhaps you dislike something in which God has placed much good." The Prophet ﷺ likewise said, "A believing man should not resent a believing woman; if he dislikes one trait in her, he will be pleased with another." Marriage is thus a sacred trust, a mithaq ghaliz, entered in the name of God. The legal tradition, by contrast, functions more like a compass than a blueprint, for the jurists concerned themselves with what could be enforced in court rather than the emotional or spiritual core of marriage. For this reason many scholars composed ethical treatises alongside legal manuals. The concept of qiwama, rooted in the verse "Men are qawwamun over women," was understood by scholars to entrust men with the financial, physical, and moral responsibility of the family. The Qur'an repeatedly commands the father to provide according to what is customarily fair, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Feed them from what you eat, clothe them with what you wear, do not strike them, and do not revile them." When Hind bint ʿUtba complained of Abu Sufyan's stinginess, he permitted her to take what was reasonable for herself and her children. A husband owes his wife two enforceable financial obligations: the mahr and ongoing nafaqa. Regarding the mahr, most jurists set no upper limit; Imams Ahmad and al-Shafiʿi rejected any fixed minimum so long as the gift had value, while Imams Malik and Abu Hanifa set thresholds of three to forty dirhams based on the social norms of their time. As for nafaqa, scholars unanimously held it obligatory throughout the marriage and the ʿidda, though a wife deemed nashiz was often held to forfeit maintenance, while an ill wife retained it since the condition was her availability (tamkin), not intercourse itself. Its extent was governed by custom: the Shafiʿis set benchmarks while the Hanafis, Malikis, and Hanbalis insisted it reflect prevailing norms, grounded in the repeated Qur'anic command to provide bil-maʿruf. For persistent neglect, the Malikis, Shafiʿis, and Hanbalis allowed judicial divorce, while the Hanafis preferred reconciliation and permitted a loan in the husband's name, all while cautioning against penalizing mere temporary hardship, citing, "If it is difficult for someone to repay a debt, postpone it until a time of ease." In turn, guardianship carried a measure of authority described as the husband's right to obedience, supported by narrations counseling wives to obey. Yet scholars diverged on its scope: some obliged obedience in all lawful matters, while others, such as the Hanafi jurist Ibn Nujaym, restricted it to matters related to marriage. All agreed, however, that the wife's central legal obligation was sexual availability, citing reports such as the angels cursing a wife who refuses her husband, and his command that she come "even if she is at the oven." The tradition nonetheless introduced firm limits: she is exempt during menstruation, obligatory fasting, illness, or fear of harm. Ibn Hajar explained that the hadith of the cursing angels concerns a wife who withholds without valid reason, and al-Muhallab bin Abi Sufra observed that deliberately neglecting one's obligations, whether physical or financial, risks divine displeasure. A holistic vision therefore blends law and ethics, for what is legally permissible is not always morally virtuous, and the legal minimum is never the moral ceiling. The classical exclusion of medical expenses from nafaqa reflected an age when care was cheap and extended families provided support; today, when a wife may lack income, healthcare, and kin, the ethical responsibility extends beyond the classical minimum as a demand of maʿruf. By the same measure, in debt-heavy economies it may be praiseworthy for an able wife to contribute where she can. Where law assigns the husband provision, ethics charges him with moral leadership accountable to Allah, exercised through shura and justice rather than aggression. This same trust governs intimacy, upon which scholars wrote sections on adab al-jimaʿ, urging gentleness and mindfulness of a wife's emotional state, while a wife's responsiveness reflects selflessness and devotion. The standard remains the Prophet's words, "The best of you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best among you to my family." Lived experience confirms this flexibility. Women often bore primary domestic responsibility, as when the Prophet ﷺ advised Fatima and ʿAli to divide labor within and outside the home, and assured Asmaʾ bint Yazid of reward equal to men's public acts of worship. Yet the Prophet ﷺ himself mended clothes, milked animals, and swept his home; ʿAʾisha said "he did what men usually do in their homes," which al-Muhallab took as a model for all. Men were the default providers, from ʿAbd al-Rahman bin ʿAwf to Abu Hanifa, yet women too were financial actors: the Prophet told Zaynab bint Masʿud she would be doubly rewarded for supporting her husband, and during the Mamluk period women worked as midwives, weavers, and even, like Dayfa bint ʿUmar, sole providers. The mahr likewise varied, as when the Prophet married a man to a woman "for what you know of the Qur'an," and later contracts diversified in form and timing. Intimacy was recognized as the wife's right as well: Salman corrected Abu al-Dardaʾ's excessive asceticism with the Prophet's approval, ʿUmar appointed Kaʿb bin Sur to arbitrate a similar complaint, and after consulting Hafsa he limited military deployments, a timeframe Ibn Taymiyya deemed approximate and al-Buhuti affirmed as a mutual right. Marital dynamics ranged widely, from the assertiveness of Medinan women that made the Prophet ﷺ smile, to the deference of Asmaʾ bint Abi Bakr and the composure of Umm Sulaym. The task today is not to blindly replicate medieval or modern models, but to uphold the spirit of Qur'anic and Prophetic guidance while adapting to new realities, recognizing the systemic forces that have reshaped family life. The desire to revive rigid "traditional" roles, though often grounded in faith, is not always sufficient when divorced from the contexts that once sustained them. What matters is organizing our households to protect them amid modern pressures, whether through divided or shared responsibilities, single or dual incomes. Beyond structures, we can reframe our mindset, approaching even mundane tasks with the intention of pleasing Allah, knowing that effort unrecognized by a spouse is still appreciated by al-Shakur. The Prophet ﷺ promised that no one sacrifices for Allah's sake except that He replaces it with something better, whether peace of heart, flourishing children, or reward in the Hereafter. So if a marriage is not harmful but merely hard, one's endurance may be among the most beloved of deeds, and in an age of unraveling families and widespread loneliness, such quiet striving may be the very thread that holds a community together. ## Key Takeaways 1. Modern economic and social structures have altered the conditions of family life. Recognizing these shifts helps explain why some aspects of marriage today are more demanding than in previous generations. 2. Islamic law outlines core rights and responsibilities in marriage. But beyond legal minimums, roles and responsibilities have always been negotiated based on personal needs and customary norms. 3. What is legally permissible is not always the most morally virtuous. A healthy marriage requires attention to both law and ethics. 4. Marriage in Islam is an act of worship. When approached with sincerity and sacrifice, even mundane acts—like chores or financial support—become pathways to divine reward and spiritual growth. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### My husband and I cannot agree on who should do what at home. What does Islam actually say about dividing responsibilities? Islamic law establishes that a husband is obligated to financially provide for his wife and household, and that a wife’s primary legal obligation is to be available to her husband within the marriage, while also recognizing limits, harm considerations, and the broader ethical framework of mutual care. Beyond that, the division of household labor was never rigidly prescribed. The Prophet ﷺ himself is described as being “in the service of his family,” mending his own clothes, sweeping, and milking animals. When Aisha was asked about his home life, she said simply that he did what men usually do in their homes—patching sandals, sewing, and seeing to his own needs. Scholars noted that this was not a one-time gesture of humility but a regular pattern he intended as a model. The classical scholars coined a maxim for good reason: “Custom carries legal weight.” What that means practically is that how responsibilities are organized within your home is legitimately shaped by your circumstances, your culture, and what you and your spouse work out together, so long as the minimum rights of each partner are honored. ### Is it wrong for a Muslim wife to work, especially if her husband can provide for the family? A wife has no Islamic legal obligation to work or contribute financially to the household; that obligation rests with the husband. But the history of Muslim women working is as old as the tradition itself. Zaynab, the wife of ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud, gave her zakat earnings to her financially struggling husband, and the Prophet ﷺ told her she would receive a double reward: once for the charity and once for supporting her household. Asmaʾ, after her divorce, asked the Prophet’s permission to cultivate her palm trees for income and charity, and he ﷺ encouraged her. During the Mamluk period, women from elite scholarly families worked looms; others were midwives, traders, and teachers. The question is not whether it is permissible for a wife to work—it clearly is. The question is what your family needs, what you both agree to, and whether the arrangement honors the spirit of mutual care that Islam asks of both spouses. ### I feel like my marriage is just about fulfilling obligations. How do I make it feel like more than that? The legal framework of marriage was always intended to be the floor, never the ceiling. Islamic law tells us the minimum we must do; Islamic ethics invites us toward what we ought to do for the sake of Allah’s pleasure. The Prophet ﷺ described the dinar spent on one’s family as the greatest dinar spent in His cause. He declared: “The best of you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best among you to my family.” This means that parenting, providing, lightening your spouse’s burden, showing up emotionally, and even doing the dishes can all be acts of worship when approached with the intention of *ihsan* (excellence). The mundane is not separate from the sacred in a Muslim marriage. It is precisely where the sacred is practiced, day after day, in ways that may go unrecognized by your spouse but are never unseen by al-Shakur, the One who appreciates every effort. ### What if I feel like I am giving more than my spouse and am becoming resentful? The Islamic tradition speaks with unusual honesty here. Scholars observed that a husband who neglects his financial obligations will sow resentment, just as a wife who withholds intimacy out of spite will fracture the relationship. Both undermine the spirit of reciprocity at the heart of a healthy marriage. The tradition does not ask you to pretend your needs do not exist or to never raise them. Communication, voicing unmet needs, and seeking resolution are all part of what it means to live together *bi-l-maʿruf* (with recognized goodness). What the tradition also offers, for those moments when effort goes unrecognized, is a reorientation: The Prophet ﷺ promised that no sacrifice made for the sake of Allah goes without compensation. That compensation may come as peace of heart, the flourishing of your children, or reward in the hereafter. Your endurance, when the marriage is hard but not harmful, may be among your most beloved deeds to Allah. ### Modern life makes marriage so much harder than it used to be. Is this just something we have to accept? The pressures are real and they are not accidental. Modern economies demand longer work hours, extended family networks have largely dissolved, children require more intensive parenting than ever before, and rising costs often make a single income unworkable. These structural shifts cannot simply be reversed by willing them away or romanticizing the past. What the tradition offers is not a rigid template from another era but a set of values resilient enough to be applied across changing conditions: kindness, trust, forbearance, mercy, and the intention to please Allah in every role you fill. When spouses approach even ordinary tasks with that intention, what could feel like a burden becomes worship. This does not mean staying silent about unmet needs or carrying everything alone. It means that in a time when family structures are unraveling and loneliness is widespread, the quiet striving of a Muslim couple to hold their home together may be the thread that holds a community together—and the reason Allah raises them both in rank. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/we-wont-back-down-when-righteous-anger-becomes-a-moral-duty # We Won’t Back Down: When Righteous Anger Becomes a Moral Duty | Blog **Author:** Dr. Hatem al-Haj **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Ethics, Gaza, Justice in Islam, Palestine, Racism **Published:** September 23, 2025 **Updated:** November 6, 2025 There are images that should never fade from our memory. Images that demand moral reckoning and spiritual resilience. The sight of Palestinian mothers and fathers holding the bodies of their children wounded, slain, or starving to death. The brutal bombing of medics and hospitals. The deliberate withholding of food and aid. Children executed in cold blood. An entire people forced to endure day after day of systematic humiliation. These are not accidents of war. They are part of a deliberate strategy to secure and normalize settler colonialism, to sustain the occupation of lands not rightfully held, and to enforce a ruthless structure of apartheid that mocks every human conscience. In these times, anger is not a flaw—it is an essential virtue. --- ## The fear of anger The greatest fear of an oppressor is not merely weapons or political pressure, but on a more foundational level, their greatest fear is an awakened, righteous anger. One that cannot be easily pacified or neutralized. The goal of sustained oppression is not only to dominate, but to exhaust. To numb the soul. To erode resolve. To make people indifferent to the very abuses that once stirred outrage. But we cannot let that happen. Imam Ibn Taymiyya captured this insight with striking clarity. He wrote, > People are not restrained from oppression except by **the repelling force of anger**; through that, justice and equity are upheld.[^1] This concept of *quwwa ghadabiyya dafʿiyya*—the repelling force of righteous anger—is a necessary moral force that protects justice and deters tyranny. Without it, oppression goes unchallenged, and justice remains a theoretical ideal rather than a lived reality. Without it, tyrants reign unopposed. --- ## Reconciling with the Prophetic ethic Understandably, some may ask: did not the Prophet ﷺ advise against anger? A well-known narration recounts a man who came seeking the Prophet’s advice. The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Do not become angry.” When the man repeated his request, the Prophet continued to give the same reply: “Do not become angry.”[^2] At first glance, this might seem contradictory to any call for sustained anger. But the Prophet ﷺ did not prohibit anger in its entirety. Rather, he ﷺ warned against the kind of anger that dominates and conquers one’s character. The impulsive, self-serving anger that clouds judgment, leads to injustice, or transforms into despair. In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ clarified, “The strong one is not the one who overcomes others in wrestling, but the one who controls himself when angry.”[^3] The emphasis, then, is not on eradicating anger but on mastering it. The Qur’an itself describes Allah’s anger toward injustice and transgression,[^4] and the Prophet ﷺ displayed righteous anger when the sanctities of Allah were violated.[^5] Anger, in its correct form, is not only natural—it is noble. It is purposeful anger, disciplined anger, an anger that aligns itself with the universal laws of God and is conscious and considerate of the equations of power in the world. --- ## Resisting injustice with integrity [Righteous anger](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/hadith-17-righteous-anger-40-hadiths-on-social-justice) is not wild or erratic. It is measured and principled, able to resist humiliation and the normalization of evil. It opposes degradation without becoming degrading. It defies cruelty without becoming cruel. It refuses to normalize oppression or grow numb to its persistence. This form of anger is strategic. It does not rush blindly into confrontation, but neither does it accept perpetual retreat. It understands timing. It preserves its strength. It sustains hope over the long term. And, ultimately, it knows that resistance takes many forms. Sometimes, that resistance must be overt and defiant, and premature confrontations may be forced upon parts of the *ummah* in certain circumstances and places. Other times, we must prepare. Our anger may be perceived as quiet but it is deliberate—learning, organizing, educating. For a student, that might mean excelling in their studies as a foundation for future leadership. For a parent, it may mean raising children who will never accept such evil and humiliation as normal. All of this is part of a long, patient struggle for dignity and justice. We want an anger that builds a resistance resilient enough to weather the years, patient enough to wait for its moment, and wise enough to ensure that when it rises, it prevails, and it does not rise as another oppressor. And so, perhaps the greatest danger is not anger itself, but anger that becomes distorted. We are reminded by the wisdom of Imam al-Shafiʿi, who said, “Whoever is provoked to anger and does not become angry is a donkey; and whoever is sought for reconciliation and refuses it is a devil.”[^6] To feel no anger in the face of oppression is to surrender one’s humanity. But at the same time, to refuse reconciliation when justice has been served is to descend into cruelty. There is a balance to be struck—between principled resistance and the preservation of one’s own moral integrity. Forgiveness, too, must be rightly placed. To forgive an active oppressor who continues to harm with impunity is not virtue—it is the acceptance of evil and the surrender of dignity masquerading as piety. --- ## A final reflection In these trying times, it is not enough to feel outrage. We cannot let our *fitra*—our God-given compass—be dulled by the endless scroll of headlines. Outrage must be channeled into something enduring. Something that leads not only to defiance but to revival. We need anger that is rooted in our faith, guided by our ethics, and directed toward a world where dignity is not a privilege, but a right for all. We cannot let our efforts for Palestine fade or our souls exhaust to the point of inaction. We must manifest the oppressors’ greatest fear and nurture a righteous anger that is a force for good—a path toward dignity, justice, and triumph in this life, and salvation in the next. --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā,* 15:435. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6116. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6114. [^4]: For example, Allah says, “And \[remember\] when you said, ‘O Moses! We cannot endure the same meal \[every day\]. So \[just\] call upon your Lord on our behalf, He will bring forth for us some of what the earth produces of herbs, cucumbers, garlic, lentils, and onions.’ Moses scolded \[them\], ‘Do you exchange what is better for what is worse? \[You can\] go down to any village and you will find what you have asked for.’ They were stricken with disgrace and misery, and they invited the anger of Allah for rejecting Allah’s signs and unjustly killing the prophets. This is \[a fair reward\] for their disobedience and violations” (Qur’an 2:61). He also says, “They will be stricken with disgrace wherever they go, unless they are protected by a covenant with Allah or a treaty with the people. They have invited the anger of Allah and have been branded with misery for rejecting Allah’s revelations and murdering \[His\] prophets unjustly. This is \[a fair reward\] for their disobedience and violations” (Qur’an 3:112). [^5]: For example, “Whenever Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so, but if it was sinful to do so, he would not approach it. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ never took revenge \[over anybody\] for his own sake, but \[he did\] only when Allah’s boundaries were violated, in which case he would take revenge for Allah’s sake.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3560. [^6]: Imam al-Shafiʿi, *Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ, Abū Nuʿaym,* 9:143. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/faith-and-politics-in-the-west-when-absence-is-the-right-move # Faith and Politics in the West: When Absence is the Right Move | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Islam in the West, Politics & Practical Theology **Published:** September 16, 2025 **Updated:** January 23, 2026 ## Sharif Hussein and the British betrayal When Sharif Hussein of Mecca joined forces with the British during the First World War, he imagined he was securing a noble future for the Arabs. The British promised him independence if he would revolt against the Ottomans, and Hussein obliged, launching the Arab Revolt with great fanfare. But while he was raising the banner of Arab freedom, the British were secretly dividing the region with the French through the Sykes–Picot Agreement and issuing the Balfour Declaration that would pave the way for dispossession in Palestine. In the end, Hussein’s rebellion unwittingly assisted in delivering Arab lands into colonialist hands. His story is not simply one of being betrayed by a sly enemy, it is also a story of how ostensibly sincere but ultimately naïve—even delusional—action can lead to disastrous consequences. --- ## Are all tables worth sitting at? In our American Muslim discourse, “civic engagement” has acquired a halo. It is presented as an inherent good, as if the way to end the genocide abroad and protect the Muslim community domestically is simply a function of attending interfaith luncheons and political roundtables. The phrase “having a seat at the table” is repeated so often that it has become a kind of mantra. But are all tables worth sitting at? Depending on which table we are sitting at, our presence could actually hinder influence rather than achieve it. When we show up in spaces not because our voice is valued, but because our image is desired—complete with kufi or hijab—our presence is at best banal tokenization, at worst a prop to launder reputations and whitewash crimes. Faith gatherings in particular are not just sites of dialogue, mutual understanding, and bridge-building. Too often, they are PR stunts hatched by oppressive regimes, simultaneously rituals and exercises of soft power. Our attendance becomes the photo-op they need, an avenue of plausible deniability, while their inhuman and evil policies remain unchanged. Our presence in such instances is not speaking truth to power; rather, it inoculates evil forces from the critique that they have malicious intent. “How could we?” their rehearsed retort goes, “when we have great partnerships with Muslim leaders.” What, after all, do imams and Muslim leaders really have to offer at such gatherings? We don’t have money to give. We don’t represent powerful lobbies. We don’t command armies or monopolize the media. What we do have is moral authority and the credibility that comes with it. Imams and Muslim religious leaders in general must understand that whenever we receive an invitation, it is our moral authority and credibility that our hosts are after. Furthermore, we should be savvy enough to suspect that invitations are very deliberate and calculated; government agencies, political institutions, and interfaith councils choose their mascots, preferring a friendly, unsuspecting face. State agencies can and do co-opt minority communities, a reality that we have to reckon with and take into consideration when sizing up invitations and partnerships. As religious leaders we do a tremendous disservice to our positions and the trust vested in us when we don’t even properly vet the organizations that are inviting us, the speakers who will appear alongside us, or take a minute to calculate the cost of showing up in certain spaces. I do not exaggerate when I surmise that most religious leaders accept invitations almost entirely based on the availability on their calendars. Simply put, the integrity of our community is damaged when we allow ourselves to be trotted out at such events as symbolic cover. --- ## Loyalty, solidarity, and red lines In the Qur’an, Allah articulates a vision of principled, not naive, engagement. It is true that Allah tells us: > O mankind, We created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. (Qur’an 49:13) Generally, we are expected to engage with and learn from one another. However, this general expectation does not apply to situations where engagement lends legitimacy to or facilitates oppression and injustice. If the Qur’anic injunction to “cooperate in righteousness and piety” is used to justify our civic engagement, we must not forget the rest of the verse: > but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty. (Qur’an 5:2) We must refuse “engagement” that in reality constitutes cooperation in sin and aggression. At the very least, this must be the default position unless there is clear, concrete, and compelling rationale otherwise (discussed below). Surah al-Mumtahina offers concise lessons on the limits of engagement. We are told to take Prophet Ibrahim (as) as our example and are immediately shown the limits of his engagement: > There has already been for you an excellent pattern in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people, “Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone” except for the saying of Ibrahim to his father, “I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I have not \[power to do\] for you anything against Allah. Our Lord, upon You we have relied, and to You we have returned, and to You is the destination.” (Qur’an 60:4) What is truly remarkable about Surah al-Mumtahina is that immediately after demonstrating Ibrahim’s disassociation, Allah tells us that friendship and enmity are temporary, conditional states that may change: > Perhaps Allah will put, between you and those to whom you have been enemies among them, affection. And Allah is competent, and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Qur’an 60:7) Placing this verse after the example of Ibrahim seems to imply that making an adversary into a friend is not done through fawning or meekness, but rather by drawing clear boundaries and knowing when to walk away. Engagement—in order to be ethical, effective, and dignified—must have boundaries. Uncritical engagement lacks dignity and might indicate an underlying inferiority complex or need for validation. Allah blames this attitude in the Qur’an, identifying it as one found in the hypocrites, > Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment—those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor \[through power\]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (Qur’an 4:138–139) Coming back to Surah al-Mumtahina, Allah gives us crystal clear boundaries, > Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion—\[forbids\] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers. (Qur’an 60:9) The Prophet ﷺ modeled engagement with clear red lines. The Charter of Medina united Muslims, Jews, and other groups under one civic pact—but it had conditions, and when those conditions were violated there were dire consequences. Treaties with the enemy are permissible, no one disputes this; yet the Treaty of Hudaybiyya also had conditions, the violation of which had clear consequences that were swiftly enacted. It would be a useful exercise to ask some of those justifying their own questionable civic and political engagements: when have you actually walked away or refused a meeting, a stage, or a platform? What are your conditions, what are your specific red lines? If those questions are met with deafening silence—or worse, vague deflection—the community has a right to doubt the efficacy and even the dignity of that leader’s engagement. This includes pointing to general juristic axioms that are known to all, such as the removal of harm, choosing the lesser of two harms when they conflict, preventing harm taking precedence over bringing benefits, etc. There is little to no disagreement among the jurists about these axioms in theory, but this is not what is being questioned. What is up for scrutiny is the application of these axioms in real-world situations. When certain leaders consistently fail to include relevant factors in their application of these axioms—factors such as government agencies’ stated goal of co-opting minority groups and organizations—the seemingly legitimate but ultimately unethical results cannot be brushed aside as “just *ijtihad*.” There must be a process of evaluation, and when necessary, contrition and even apologies to the community for well-intended missteps that brought harm to the community. --- ## The abuse of Hudaybiyya It has become common in American Muslim circles to invoke Hudaybiyya whenever and wherever the quality of our civic engagement is questioned. “See,” we are told, “the Prophet ﷺ himself accepted unfavorable terms for the sake of a greater good.” This is a regrettable abuse of the story of Hudaybiyya and its lessons. Hudaybiyya was not a lesson in meeting the enemy halfway, nor can it be used to justify engagement no matter what. For one thing, it was a lesson in substance over symbolism. While the terms of the treaty looked lopsided on paper, with the Quraysh refusing even to allow “Muhammad, Messenger of Allah” to be written in the document, in reality the substance of the deal was very favorable for the believers and their interests at the time. Even the seemingly unfair double standard of having to send apostates to Mecca but not allowing converts to leave Mecca for Medina favored the Muslims by ridding them of subversive elements and planting sympathetic elements within Mecca, which they would soon conquer. Beyond the substance of the treaty, Hudaybiyya would not have been possible if the Muslims had not first created the leverage needed to negotiate from a position of strength. This was done in two ways. First, by daring to make a pilgrimage deep into enemy territory, the Muslims put the Quraysh in an impossible position. Had the Quraysh slaughtered the Muslims—as they surely would have liked to do—it would have jeopardized their political legitimacy, which rested squarely on their facilitation of the pilgrimage. Attacking the Muslims would have been tantamount to politicizing the pilgrimage, something that no Arab tribe would stand for, as they would then have to wonder if their own pilgrimage rites were secure should they happen to run afoul of the Quraysh. At the same time, the Quraysh couldn’t simply let the Muslims perform their pilgrimage in front of the Meccan population, which would have functioned as an incredible advertisement for Islam. It was for this reason that the Quraysh insisted in the Treaty of Hudaybiyya that the Muslims return home and postpone their pilgrimage to the following year to an agreed upon period of three days when the Quraysh would evacuate the city of Mecca. Besides the daring pilgrimage itself, the Muslims established leverage by having clear, inviolable red lines, demonstrated by a key event in the *sirah* known as Bayʿat al-Ridwan. Bayʿat al-Ridwan occurred before the Treaty of Hudaybiyya and was prompted by rumors of ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan (ra), their emissary, being murdered by the Quraysh. Despite being dressed in pilgrims’ garb and unequipped for war, the Muslims gathered under a tree to take an oath that if ʿUthman had indeed been murdered, they would fight the Quraysh to the death then and there, prepared or not. Of that oath Allah said, > Certainly was Allah pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you, \[O Muhammad\], under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity upon them and rewarded them with an imminent conquest. (Qur’an 48:18) By drawing clear boundaries, the Muslims demonstrated the immense strength of their faith, to which was added the metaphysical strength of having gained Allah’s approval. It was from this very strength that they were then able to negotiate the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, once it became clear that ʿUthman had not been murdered. Without such strength, compromise is, in fact, capitulation. When some of our leaders today point to Hudaybiyya to justify every type of engagement under the sun, we should point to Bayʿat al-Ridwan. Have you made your Bayʿat al-Ridwan? What are your red lines? Without Bayʿat al-Ridwan, Hudaybiyya would not have been possible. Unfortunately, I fear that if our community were in a situation similar to the one the companions were in before Hudaybiyya but instead our emissary had, in fact, been killed by our enemies, some of our leaders would only call us to more and more “engagement” rather than draw boundaries and take a stand like Bayʿat al-Ridwan. To me, this signals a subtle heresy that has been unwittingly internalized by leaders calling to “engage” no matter what: the internalized belief that Islam itself actually constitutes a security threat, or that extremism is the root problem (to which “moderate” imams are the solution) rather than Western foreign policy. This warrants an entire discussion in a separate article. --- ## Good intentions are not enough It is important to emphasize that sincerity does not guarantee effective nor strategic engagement. I have been careful in this piece to only address scenarios and phenomena where the sincerity of everyone involved is beyond question. But sincerity alone does not prevent misjudgment, nor should it shut down valid criticism. It is entirely possible that a particular Muslim leader might excel in his duties as imam as well as in personal piety, *akhlaq*, and spiritual insight while still being terrible at politics and strategic engagement. We can take a lesson from the story of Hatib ibn Abi Baltaʿah (ra). He was a companion of the Prophet ﷺ, sincere in his faith, a veteran of Badr, yet he made a serious strategic error leading up to the Conquest of Mecca. By sending a letter to Quraysh warning them of the Prophet’s movements, he endangered the Muslim community. His intentions were not malicious—he was trying to protect his family in Mecca. But good intentions did not erase the danger of his actions. Tellingly, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab asked for permission to execute him. While the Prophet ﷺ denied ʿUmar the request and forgave Hatib, he also didn’t upbraid ʿUmar for a lack of *adab* or for being divisive. The reaction of ʿUmar and the Prophet ﷺ indicate that while we remain forgiving and forbearing, taking people’s intentions into consideration, our leaders and representatives must be held accountable, even if they are sincere. A photo with a genocider or a handshake with a normalizer are not acts of intelligent engagement if they come at the cost of our credibility and violate the solidarity due to believers across the globe. Hatib’s misstep was an isolated incident. What, then, about contemporary Muslim leaders who have a decade or more of questionable or even brazenly problematic engagements? At what point are we allowed to scrutinize the results of a leader’s engagement without being accused of delving into his intentions or seeking to tarnish his reputation? To dismiss such criticism as the work of woke keyboard warriors or to equate it to calling for isolation—no engagement at all—is irresponsible. Much of the confusion comes from an acute lack of transparency. Organizations are required to file reports and expected to issue statements indicating clearly where they stand on certain issues. Imams choosing to involve themselves in civic engagement should do the same. Failing this, the community should not be blamed for suspecting or criticizing leaders if they only have problematic photo-ops and a list of questionable actions to decipher an imam’s positions and strategy. Indeed, it is a Prophetic quality to go out of one’s way to anticipate and clarify potential doubts. In a well known story, the Prophet ﷺ was accompanying one of his wives at night when two companions appeared at a distance. When they noticed the Prophet ﷺ and his wife, they changed direction in an attempt to avoid them. In response, the Prophet ﷺ called them over to clarify who he was with and why.[^1] In another example, the Prophet ﷺ refused to take action against the hypocrites because he expected such an action would cause doubt and unwarranted suspicion.[^2] Calls for accountability are not akin to a witch hunt, a smear campaign, or advocating for imams and Muslim religious leaders to just stick to the mosque. It is simply a recognition that civic engagement as a targeted minority is a minefield that is not suited for everyone. If any given imam is going to choose to involve himself in this work, he should expect scrutiny and offer transparency, since such a leader doesn’t just represent himself in those spaces, he represents all of us. There is also no shame in acknowledging one’s limitations and adjusting one’s sphere of activity accordingly. Even among the companions there was specialization and the recognition that despite their righteousness and piety, certain companions were not fit for certain tasks. The Prophet’s exchange with Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (ra) is instructive here: > Abu Dharr reported: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me as a leader?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, struck my chest with his hand, then he said, “O Abu Dharr, you are weak and it is a position of public trust. Verily, on the Day of Resurrection it will only result in regret, except for one who takes it by right and fulfills its duties.” And the Prophet said, “I love for you what I love for myself. Do not command even two people, and do not manage the property of an orphan.”[^3] We need our imams to rise to the moment, but only those who are built for the work. --- ## A call to purposeful absence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W2h070z090 Imam Tom breaks down what Muslims need today: knowing when to engage, when to walk away, and how power can use our presence to legitimize injustice. Islam calls us neither to isolation nor to engage at all costs and in all circumstances. Rather, it calls us to purposeful presence—and, when necessary, to purposeful absence. Civic engagement, in order to uplift our community, further our interests, and above all please Allah, must have red lines that are never crossed. If they are crossed, the minimum consequence is withholding our presence as religious leaders, refusing to give moral cover or credibility to our adversaries. To refuse the table, to decline the invitation, to leave the chair empty—that can sometimes speak louder than any speech we deliver once seated. Purposeful absence sends a message: our moral authority is not for sale. Our faith is not a prop. Our loyalty to the truth and to each other is not negotiable. The Prophet ﷺ taught us when to engage, and he taught us when to disengage. To imitate his sunnah in America today means not just rushing to every table we are offered, but having the courage to say: this table is not worthy of us. Let us not forget Malcolm’s words: “Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner. You must be eating some of what’s on that plate.”[^4] In the end, our community’s dignity will not be measured by the number of rooms we were invited into, but by the integrity we preserved in the rooms we chose to avoid. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2035. [^2]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4905. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1825. [^4]: Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet” (speech, Congress of Racial Equality, Cleveland OH, April 3, 1964). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/virtues-of-surah-al-baqara-healing-and-protection-in-the-qurans-longest-chapter # Virtues of Surah al-Baqara: Healing and Protection in the Qur’an’s Longest Chapter **Author:** Sh. Suleiman Hani **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication, Quranic Reflections, Quranic Themes, Quranic Virtues **Published:** August 29, 2025 **Updated:** April 2, 2026 ## Introduction One night, standing underneath the vast stretch of the starry sky, Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr found himself reciting Surah al-Baqara. His horse, tied beside him, suddenly grew agitated. When Ibn Ḥuḍayr paused his recitation, the horse fell silent. He resumed his recitation, only for the horse to again become visibly distressed. He stopped, and again so did his horse’s agitation. For one final time he tried to continue his recitation, but to no avail—his horse was unsettled and worked up, and his son, Yahya, was too close for comfort. Ibn Ḥuḍayr, fearing that the horse might trample his son, bent down and scooped him up. When he stood and looked up towards the sky, his eyes fell upon an unfathomable sight. He blinked, stared, and blinked again. He couldn’t see the sky. The next morning, Ibn Ḥuḍayr informed the Prophet ﷺ of the strange incident. “Recite, O Ibn Ḥuḍayr!” declared the Prophet ﷺ. “Recite, O Ibn Ḥuḍayr!” He replied, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! My son, Yahya, was near the horse and I was afraid that it might trample him, so I looked towards the sky, and went to him. When I looked at the sky, I saw something like a cloud containing what looked like lamps, so I went out in order not to see it.” The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Do you know what that was?” “No,” replied Ibn Ḥuḍayr. “Those were angels who came near to you for your voice,” said the Prophet ﷺ. “If you had kept on reciting till dawn, it would have remained there till morning when people would have seen it, as it would not have disappeared.”[^1] Few terrestrial beings are worthy of such celestial visitation. It is those who recite the speech of God, who partake of its blessings and wrap themselves in its protections, who enjoy this honor. This is the power of Allah’s speech—it joins heaven and earth, such that the inhabitants of the former become the guests of the latter. Ibn Ḥuḍayr’s encounter highlights both the spiritual impact and theological significance of reciting the Qur’an, and so it perfectly exemplifies the objective of this series of papers on the virtues of the Qur’an. The recitation of the Qur’an carries immense everyday benefit, in ways we can perceive and ways we cannot. While we will not always be graced with the visible presence of angels whenever we recite, our recitation will always bring us into contact with the unseen world. The profound impact of the Qur’an is such that it touches not just the human heart, but every level of reality. The angels could hear Ibn Ḥuḍayr’s recitation and were drawn to its beauty, manifesting as a celestial presence, described as lamps in a cloud. This story helps demonstrate why one of the most uplifting and motivational branches of the sciences of the Qur’an (*ʿulum al-Qurʾan*) is the *fadaʾil* (virtues) of specific chapters (sing. *surah*) and verses (sing. *ayah*), as well as the general virtues of the entire Qur’an. Many Muslims may know about the verses that should be recited for spiritual healing (*ruqya*), or the *surah* that will serve as a protection in the grave, or the *surah*s that offer shade on the Day of Resurrection.[^2] These examples, however, hardly cover the inexhaustible virtues of Allah’s Word. ***For a comprehensive introduction to the virtues (*fadaʾil*) of Qur’anic chapters and verses, readers are encouraged to consult the [first paper in this series](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/surah-al-fatihas-benefits-and-virtues-the-greatest-surah-in-the-quran), on Surah al-Fatiha.*** Through understanding these virtues, believers deepen their connection with Allah’s Word and transform the Qur’an into a trusted companion for both the worldly life and the Hereafter. This paper examines the authenticated virtues of Surah al-Baqara, drawing from the compilation *Special Virtues of the Qur’an’s Chapters and Verses* (*al-Jāmiʿ al-mukhtaṣar li-faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar*).[^3] A virtue here refers to any special trait mentioned in authentic reports, whether a unique reward for recitation, protection from harm, or the Prophet’s ﷺ particular attachment to or frequent recitation of specific passages. --- ## Surah al-Baqara Surah al-Baqara is the longest chapter of the Qur’an. The one who takes this *surah* as a companion will find increased blessings (*baraka*) in life, protection from evil, a healing and a cure, increased acceptance of one’s supplicatory prayers (*du*ʿ*a*), tranquility and peace, a source of protection and intercession in the afterlife, and a pathway to Paradise. Surah al-Baqara, which was revealed in Medina, contains the greatest and most powerful verse to be revealed,[^4] the longest verse of the Qur’an,[^5] two verses that were revealed from beneath the Throne during the Prophet’s night journey and ascension to heaven (al-Israʾ wa al-Miʿraj),[^6] likely the final verse to be revealed,[^7] references to Allah the Almighty in over one hundred verses, numerous historical incidents and stories of the prophets,[^8] the verse to be recited when starting the first of seven circuits for minor or major pilgrimage (*ʿumrah* or Hajj) at the mountains of al-Safa and al-Marwa,[^9] explicit references to the tenets of faith (*i**man*),[^10] and laws (*ahkam*) utilized in everyday life on an individual, family, and societal level. It is no surprise, then, that companion ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud (d. 32/652, rA) reportedly said, “Everything has a peak and the peak of the Qur’an is al-Baqara.”[^11] --- ## Names of Surah al-Baqara In his seminal work *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr*, where he articulates the overarching aims (*maqasid*) of each chapter of the Qur’an,[^12] eminent exegete Ibn ʿAshur (d. 1393/1973) foregrounds the famous description of Surah al-Baqara as “the canopy of the Qur’an” (*fusṭāṭ al-Qurʾan*), a title that captures its extensive range of themes and styles, its remarkable comprehensiveness, and diversity of content.[^13] Al-Qurtubi similarly cites the saying of the hadith narrator Khalid ibn Maʿdān (d. 103/721) that Surah al-Baqara is the “canopy” (*fusṭāṭ*) of the Qur’an due to its magnificence, beauty, and abundance of rulings and admonitions.[^14] Al-Shawkani (d. 1250/1834) adds that this reputation stems from the *surah*’s extensive legal rulings (*ahkam*) and its distinction as the longest chapter of the Qur’an, thus encompassing a broad spectrum of guidance.[^15] A few scholars believed the *surah* was given this name by the Prophet ﷺ himself. “Fusṭāṭ al-Qur’an” is just one of at least four names bestowed upon this *surah*: **1\. Surah al-Baqara (The Chapter of the Cow):** The most well-known name of the *surah*, derived from the narrative of the cow (*al-baqara*) and the Israelites in verses 67–73. This name reflects the *surah*’s emphasis on moral lessons and the importance of obedience to divine commands. **2. Fusṭāṭ al-Qur’an (The Canopy of the Qur’an):** This term signifies the *surah*’s comprehensive treatment of articles of creed (*ʿaqida*), legal rulings (*ahkam*), and spiritual guidance (*huda*). **3.** **Sanām al-Qur’an** **(The Peak of the Qur’an):** This title—taken from the famous saying of Ibn Masʿud—emphasizes the *surah*’s elevated status and comprehensive guidance.[^16] **4.** **Al-Zahraʾ** **(The Radiant):** This name is shared with Surah Aal ʿImran. In *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Recite the two radiant ones: al-Baqara and Aal ʿImran…”[^17] While these names honor the virtues of Surah al-Baqara, some scholars view certain titles, such as al-Zahraʾ and Sanām al-Qurʾan, as descriptive attributes rather than formal names. Still, like the multiple names given to Surah al-Fatiha, these appellations highlight the central place of Surah al-Baqara within the Islamic tradition, its role as a doctrinal canopy—a concept that will be explained later in this paper—and its enduring impact on the spiritual life of the Muslim community. --- ## Themes and objectives of Surah al-Baqara Ibn ʿAshur notes that Surah al-Baqara categorizes humanity into groups—believers, disbelievers, hypocrites, and the People of the Book—thereby illustrating the varied responses to divine guidance.[^18] Per jurist and theologian Ibn Taymiyya, this classification reflects the conditions in Medina, where believers, overt disbelievers, and hypocrites all coexisted after the Prophet’s ﷺ migration.[^19] It is within this context of contestation that Surah al-Baqara affirms the foundational truths of Islam—what Ibn Taymiyya identifies as the *surah*’s establishment of three core tenets of faith (*usul al-din*): the oneness of Allah (*tawhid*), the truth of the Prophetic message, and the reality of the hereafter.[^20] Surah al-Baqara pairs this overarching theological framework with comprehensive rulings (*ahkam*) on worship, social conduct, family relations, financial transactions, and criminal law.[^21] It thus establishes the sound creed of submission while showing how faith is to be translated into practice—and in so doing prepares the Muslim community for carrying the divine trust, following the way of Prophet Ibrahim (as). Given that Surah al-Baqara is rigorously historical and comparative in its approach, one of its central narrative motifs is the history of the Children of Israel. By recounting their errors and resistance to prophetic guidance, the *surah* warns the Muslim community against similar pitfalls. Ibn Taymiyya comments that because the Prophet ﷺ encountered Jewish tribes in Medina, Surah al-Baqara references Jews more frequently (as opposed to Surah Aal ʿImran, which more often references Christians).[^22] This historical engagement also models the Prophet’s ﷺ approach to *daʿwah* (inviting others to Islam), beginning with those closest to him—first the pagans who were closest to him in Mecca, then the Jews who were closest in Medina, and later the Christians addressed in Surah Aal ʿImran.[^23] Moreover, the *surah* challenges objections from various opponents—disbelievers, the People of the Book, and idolaters—to the newly established Islamic law, the change of the direction of prayer (*qibla*), and the claim that Islam continues the pure monotheism of Ibrahim. Surah al-Baqara thus situates the Muslim community within a divine narrative of guidance and transformation, culminating in a concluding supplication that summarizes its central teachings and earnestly seeks Allah’s mercy and guidance.[^24] From its first verse to the last, the *surah* retains a resolute focus on the true nature of belief (*iman*).[^25] Having introduced the themes and objectives of Surah al-Baqara as outlined by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn ʿAshur, we can now better appreciate why the virtues (*fadaʾil*) of Surah al-Baqara are emphasized in various narrations. --- ## Virtues of Surah al-Baqara Abu Umāma said he heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say, “Recite the Qur’an, for on the Day of Resurrection it will come as an intercessor for those who recite it. Recite the two bright ones, al-Baqara and Surah Aal ʿImran, for on the Day of Resurrection they will come as two clouds or two shades, or two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading for those who recite them. Recite Surah al-Baqara, for to take recourse to it is a blessing and to give it up is a cause of grief, and magicians cannot confront it.”[^26] This narration presents the Qur’an as an active intercessor on the Day of Judgment. Within the great symphony of divine words, Surah al-Baqara and Aal ʿImran are singled out as “the two bright ones.” Their imagery as clouds or birdlike formations in ordered ranks conjures a sense of both refuge and advocacy. These metaphors invoke Surah al-Baqara’s exalted status as the “canopy of the Qur’an.” Just as a canopy provides shelter and shade, the *surah* provides moral, legal, and doctrinal guidance, serving as a sanctuary for the believer in a chaotic world. On the Day of Resurrection, these verses that once shaped ethical behavior and fortified faith will become pleas on the believer’s behalf, reflecting the *surah*’s core ethos: those who embrace divine guidance find that guidance testifies for them when they are most in need. Al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān (d. 50/670, rA) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘The Qur’an will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, along with its companions who used to act by it, at the front being Surah al-Baqara and Aal-ʿImran.’ He \[the Messenger ﷺ\] likened them \[the two *surah*s\] to three things which I did not forget. He said they will be like two clouds, or two black canopies with light between them, or like two flocks of birds in ranks pleading for one who recited them.”[^27] This second narration reinforces the eschatological dimension of the *surah*. Surah al-Baqara and Aal ʿImran lead the Qur’an’s “companions”—those who not only recited but acted upon it—on the Day of Judgment. This emphasizes a critical interplay between mere familiarity with the text and transformative adherence to its teachings. Both Surah al-Baqara and Aal ʿImran lay out foundational aspects of faith, law, and moral rectitude, and al-Baqara, in particular, affirms Allah’s Oneness, authenticates the Prophetic mission, and establishes criteria for navigating life’s ethical complexities. To truly engage with Surah al-Baqara, one must move beyond passive recitation. Engagement demands wrestling with its exhortations, absorbing its legal provisions, and reorienting one’s heart toward divine unity and sincere obedience. Those who do so discover that the *surah* becomes their advocate, a living companion that rises to defend them, symbolizing the internalization of divine guidance. Moreover, Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not turn your households into graveyards. Indeed, the devils flee from a household that has Surah al-Baqara recited in it.”[^28] Here, the recitation of Surah al-Baqara is not depicted as a shield in the distant future, but as one now, in the present. The Qur’an sanctifies the immediate environment of the believer—a home without it is without life, dead in its silence, just as a home resuscitated by its recitation is released from the devils. The *surah*’s comprehensive guidance—its laws governing worship, family life, economic transactions, and ethical behavior—translates into a tangible spiritual atmosphere. When the *surah* is regularly recited, its words shape the tenor of everyday existence, infusing living spaces with spiritual vitality and moral clarity. Weaving these three narrations with the themes of Surah al-Baqara reveals a cohesive spiritual, moral, and social guidance under one great canopy. This chapter asserts fundamental theological convictions by affirming Allah’s singular sovereignty and the truth of the Prophetic message (Qur’an 2:23–24), and it highlights the Qur’an’s role as guidance for the righteous (2:2). It addresses human relationships and ethical norms, encouraging kindness to parents, orphans, and the needy (2:83), as well as justice and mercy in interpersonal dealings (2:177). The *surah* also revisits the experiences of earlier communities, notably the Children of Israel, to warn against heedlessness and the dire consequences of rejecting divine guidance (2:40–61). Its comprehensive scope encompasses devotional acts such as prayer (2:3) and fasting (2:183), lawful commerce and the prohibition of interest (2:275), and governance of personal and family affairs (2:180–182, 2:221–242). Internalizing these teachings, as suggested by the narrations that extol the virtues of reciting and living by Surah al-Baqara, not only enriches one’s spiritual life but also shapes a believer’s social environment and eternal prospects, firmly grounding the individual and the community in divine guidance. Surah al-Baqara, for its companion—i.e., the one who acts upon it and habitually recites it—is a source of *baraka*. *Baraka*, in the Islamic worldview, is a type of divine blessing in someone or something that increases its goodness. It can transform a small quantity into something sufficient and beneficial beyond expectation. A modest home infused with *baraka* may feel both ample and comforting for its inhabitants, while a more spacious home devoid of *baraka* could feel cramped and unsatisfying. Similarly, a vessel partially filled with water might, through the grace of *baraka*, quench the thirst of multiple individuals, whereas an entire container lacking such blessings might fail to meet even a single person’s needs. Time with blessings, likewise, may yield far more meaningful work and spiritual growth than longer periods devoid of it. It may seem paradoxical that Surah al-Baqara—renowned for being the lengthiest chapter of the Qur’an—is synonymous with amplifying blessings, including the enrichment of time. From a purely empirical standpoint, the notion of *baraka* defies measurement, elusive to scientific examination or rational metrics. Yet, choosing not to recite Surah al-Baqara, despite the ability to do so, can lead to a loss and regret reminiscent of the hadith’s warning. In another version of the first narration presented in this section, Muʿawiya (rA) explains that the term *baṭala* is used as a description of magicians who engage with deceit and falsehood (*bāṭil*).[^29] Yet, *baṭala* also alludes to those ensnared by laziness and unwilling to invest sincere effort for this *surah*’s virtues.[^30] Thus, the *surah* stands as a fortress, not only against spiritual corruption but also against the laziness that prevents one from seeking divine bounty. In a world where individuals often invest heavily in quick fixes and productivity shortcuts, the profound blessings Allah grants for sincere acts of worship can go unnoticed. Reflecting on the virtues of Surah al-Baqara reveals its profound significance: it is a reservoir of *baraka*, a shield of protection, and a fountain of divine reward. Two elements, in particular, underscore its elevated status: the inclusion of Ayat al-Kursi and the *surah*’s final two verses. Together, these passages exemplify the spiritual power and transformative potential that lie at the heart of Surah al-Baqara. --- ## Ayat al-Kursi (The Verse of the Footstool)[^31] The verse (*ayah*) described by the Prophet ﷺ as the greatest *ayah* of the Qur’an, Ayat al-Kursi (the Verse of the Footstool)*,* references the power of Allah, His names and attributes, His perfection, and His status as the One Lord deserving of all worship. This *ayah* is a powerful remedy for any human with an inkling of pride, reminding us of the fragility of mankind and our constant need for relief, rest, and reliance upon the Everlasting, the Ever-Living. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said: “Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said: ‘O Abu al-Mundhir, which verse from the Book of Allah is the greatest, according to you?’ I said: ‘Allah and His Messenger ﷺ know best.’ He again said: ‘Abu al-Mundhir, which verse from the Book of Allah is the greatest, according to you?’ I said: ‘*Allah, there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal*’ \[i.e., Ayat al-Kursi\]. Thereupon he touched me on my chest and said: ‘Rejoice in your knowledge, O Abu al-Mundhir!’”[^32] Commenting on this narration, Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277) writes: “Scholars have stated that Ayat al-Kursi is distinguished as the greatest \[verse\] because it encompasses the fundamental principles of the divine names and attributes \[of Allah\]: divinity (*uluhiyya*), oneness (*wahdaniyya*), life (*haya*), knowledge (*ʿilm*), dominion (*mulk*), power (*qudra*), and will (*irāda*). These seven are the foundational principles of the divine names and attributes.”[^33] Abu Hurayra reported: “Allah’s Messenger ﷺ assigned me to guard the charity funds of Ramadan. Then, someone began stealing from the supplies. I caught him and said, ‘I will take you to Allah’s Messenger!’… That person said \[to me\], ‘Please don’t take me to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, and I will tell you some words by which Allah will benefit you. When you go to bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi, and a guardian from Allah will be \[with you\], protecting you throughout the night. Satan will not come near you until dawn.’ When the Prophet ﷺ heard about the incident he said to me, ‘He told you the truth, though he is a liar. It was a devil.’”[^34] One of the many reasons that the Prophet ﷺ refers to this verse as the greatest *ayah* in the Qur’an may be found in the use of specific names and attributes of Allah the Almighty, since the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah’s most magnificent name, which when used to implore Him, He responds, is found in three *surah*s: al-Baqara, Aal ʿImran, and Taha (meaning \[Allah’s name\] al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūm).”[^35] As Imam al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) writes, these paired names are the ultimate expression of majesty, for “the meaning of al-Qayyūm is the One who exists by Himself and sustains everything else. His existence does not depend on anything, whereas the existence of all things depends on Him.”[^36] Just as al-Fatiha, the greatest *surah*, must be recited in every prayer, it is recommended that the greatest verse, Ayat al-Kursi, be recited after every mandatory prayer. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever reads Ayat al-Kursi at the end of \[i.e., after\] each mandatory prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Paradise except death.”[^37] This powerful *ayah* combines for its frequent reciter a fortress and protection against evil and harm, a source of spiritual renewal upon mindful recitation, a reward of Paradise, and accepted prayers. ### A brief reflection on the Kursi and the Throne (ʿArsh) The Throne (*ʿArsh*) holds a central place in Islamic theology, symbolizing Allah’s supreme authority, majesty, and sovereignty. In a hadith, the Prophet ﷺ was asked about the origins of existence. He replied: “There was Allah, and nothing existed before Him, and His Throne was on the water. Then He created the heavens and the earth, and He wrote all things in the Preserved Tablet.”[^38] The Throne predates the creation of the seven heavens and sits above them, surpassing them all in vastness and magnificence. In an authentic narration, the Prophet ﷺ said: “I have been permitted to tell you about one of the angels who carry the Throne: The distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is like that of seven hundred years of travel.”[^39] This hadith not only conveys the colossal size of the Throne but also highlights the extraordinary might of the angels bearing it. These angels are entirely devoted to the worship and obedience of Allah, demonstrating their unique role in the divine order. The significance of the Throne is further emphasized in another narration from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “In Paradise, there are one hundred levels that Allah has prepared for the fighters who strive for the sake of Allah (*mujahidin*). \[The distance\] between each two levels is like the distance between the heavens and the earth. When you ask of Allah, ask Him for al-Firdaws, for it is in the central part of Paradise and is the highest part of Paradise. Above it is the Throne of the Most Merciful, and from it spring forth the rivers of Paradise.”[^40] The Throne’s proximity to al-Firdaws, the highest and most honored level of Paradise, is what inspired Ibn al-Qayyim’s statement, “The Throne is the roof of creation.”[^41] In his work,[^42] Ibn Abi al-ʿIzz al-Hanafi (d. 792/1390) discusses the *ʿArsh* as the most significant created entity indicating Allah’s ultimate dominion. According to al-Tabari,[^43] the *ʿArsh* is situated above the heavens and the *Kursi*, establishing a hierarchical cosmology in which the *ʿArsh* represents the most exalted level of Allah’s power over His creation. Thus, the *ʿ**Arsh* (Throne) is referenced in many verses of the Qur’an, as in “And He is the Lord of the Great *‘Arsh* (Throne)”[^44] and other verses,[^45] whereas the *Kursi* is a distinct creation. According to eminent exegete Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1373), the *Kursi* is a vast creation that demonstrates Allah’s sovereignty and control over the entire universe.[^46] He also reports that Ibn ʿAbbas narrates: “The *Kursi* is the place of the Feet, and \[as for\] the *ʿArsh* (Throne)—no one knows its size except Allah, the Most High.”[^47] It was also reported from Ibn ʿAbbas: “The *Kursi* is the footstool, and no one can comprehend how great it is except Allah. The heavens and the earth in comparison to the *Kursi* are like seven coins set in a shield.”[^48] This saying of Ibn ʿAbbas aligns with the verse of the *Kursi* itself, since Allah says, “His (Allah’s) *Kursi* extends over the heavens and the earth.”[^49] Similarly, Abu Musa al-Ashʿari (rA) said: “The *Kursi* is the place for the two Feet, and it creaks as a saddle creaks.”[^50] Undoubtedly, these statements are expressed and accepted in a manner befitting Allah’s majesty, as “nothing resembles Him.”[^51] On the other hand, Imam al-Tabari leans towards the interpretation that the *Kursi* represents Allah’s knowledge, citing a conflicting narration of Ibn ʿAbbas, where he states: > It \[the *Kursi*\] is His knowledge. This is indicated by the statement of Allah, Exalted is He: “And its preservation does not tire Him” (Qur’an 2:255). This affirms that it refers to His knowledge, as Allah informs us that preserving what He knows and encompasses of what is in the heavens and the earth does not burden Him. Similarly, He mentions His angels who say in their supplication: “Our Lord, You have encompassed all things in mercy and knowledge” (Qur’an 40:7). Allah, Exalted is He, thus informs us that His knowledge encompasses all things. Likewise, His statement: “His *Kursi* extends over the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 2:255) aligns with this meaning.[^52] Furthermore, al-Tabari opines that the root meaning of *Kursi* is knowledge, and that it is for this reason that a paper containing written knowledge is called a “*kurrāsa*” (notebook). Similarly, scholars are referred to as “*al-karāsī*” because they are relied upon for knowledge and understanding.[^53] The scholars who hold the view that the *Kursi* is a physical entity rather than Allah’s knowledge argue that the evidence used for the figurative position—the statement of ‘Ibn Abbas that the *Kursi* is knowledge—is weak and contradicts the many narrations that are authentic, both by Ibn ʿAbbas and other companions. Moreover, they assert, Allah the Exalted refers to physical characteristics of the ʿ*Arsh*. For instance, Allah says: “And eight \[angels\] will bear the *ʿArsh* (Throne) of your Lord on the Day of Resurrection,”[^54] and He says, “the Possessor or the Owner of the Throne.”[^55] Going back to a hadith mentioned previously in this paper, there is also the famous Prophetic command, “So if you ask Allah for Paradise, then ask Him for the highest degree of Paradise \[al-Firdaws\] because it is the central part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and above it is the Throne (*ʿArsh*) of the Most Merciful.”[^56] It is also reported that the Prophet ﷺ himself said: “The seven heavens compared to the *Kursi* are just like a ring thrown into a desert, and the size of the Throne (*ʿArsh*) compared to the *Kursi* is like the size of that desert compared to the size of that ring.”[^57] Finally, the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have mentioned that people will be resurrected for Judgment Day after being unconscious, and that they, upon gaining consciousness, will see Musa (as) standing and holding the side of the Throne.[^58] These narrations indicate that the Throne is a physical reality, though we are unable to comprehend its essence. As such, many scholars find it difficult to reinterpret the Throne (*ʿArsh*) or the *Kursi* to indicate knowledge or sovereignty. For instance, Ibn Taymiyya held that both the *Kursi* and the *ʿArsh* are real entities, with the *ʿArsh* being among the greatest of Allah’s creations.[^59] Ibn Taymiyya opposed allegorizing these terms, advocating for an understanding in line with the literal meanings unless there is strong evidence to interpret otherwise. He emphasized the distinction between the two, stating that the *Kursi* is beneath the *ʿArsh* and that both are part of Allah’s created universe, but Allah Himself is above His creation in a manner that befits His majesty. Ultimately, for both groups of scholars, the understanding of these concepts is “without how” (*bila kayf*): we accept these concepts without understanding the “how” of their reality because our minds cannot truly grasp them.[^60] ### From theology to action Understanding the divine Throne (*Kursi*) and the Footstool (*ʿArsh*) as two of Allah’s powerful creations adds profound depth to the recitation of Ayat al-Kursi. When the believer contemplates these majestic creations, it reinforces an awareness of Allah’s immense power, sovereignty, and knowledge, which are central themes in the verse itself. This theological understanding enriches the reciter’s spiritual experience in several ways. 1\. The verse states, “To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth” (*lahu mā fī al-samāwāti wa mā fī al-arḍ*).[^61] By recognizing that both the *Kursi*, which extends over the heavens and the earth, and the *ʿArsh*, the greatest of all creations, fall under Allah’s dominion, the believer is reminded of Allah’s ultimate authority over all things. This realization helps the reciter internalize the meaning of Allah’s sovereignty in their personal life. They are not just reciting abstract words, but affirming their submission to the One who controls the entire universe, including these awe-inspiring creations. 2\. The fact that Allah is beyond His creation, not confined by the limits of the *Kursi* or even the *ʿArsh*, underscores the concept of *tanzīh—*declaring Allah free from imperfection and beyond any resemblance to His creation. Reflecting on the immensity of the *Kursi* and *ʿArsh* should evoke in the believer a sense of profound humility and reverence, much as contemplating the vastness of the heavens and earth humbles one in the face of their Creator. This reflection fosters not only awe but also a deeper trust in Allah (*tawakkul*), reassuring the believer that nothing in the created world can rival His power or authority. All the while he maintains an attitude of “without how” (*bila kayf*), affirming these realities without delving into the “how.” 3\. In numerous hadiths, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the mercy of Allah in connection to the *‘Arsh*, as in: “When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His book with Him upon the Throne: Verily, My mercy prevails over My wrath.”[^62] Allah’s mercy encompasses all creation, including the *Kursi* and the *ʿArsh*, and reflecting on this reality through the recitation of Ayat al-Kursi allows the reciter to feel more connected to Allah’s encompassing mercy, knowing that just as His *Kursi* and *ʿArsh* symbolize power and authority, they also represent His limitless mercy available to the believer. --- ## The last two verses of Surah al-Baqara Al-Nuʿman ibn Bashir (d. 65/684, rA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah inscribed a book two thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, from which the last two verses of Surah al-Baqara were revealed. If they are recited for three nights in a home, no devil will come near it.”[^63] During the Prophet’s ﷺ Night Journey (Miʿraj), it was reported by ʿAbdullah ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given three things: “He was given the five daily prayers, he was given the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqara \[i.e., Qur’an 2:285–286\], and \[he was given\] forgiveness of serious sins for those among his *ummah* who do not associate partners with Allah.”[^64] Some scholars interpret “he was given” to mean that the Prophet ﷺ directly received these verses without the mediation of Angel Gabriel (Jibril), treating it as an exceptional event.[^65] Others maintain that “he was given” in this hadith refers to the glad tidings and news of these forthcoming verses, but that the revelation (*wahy*) actually came down in Medina based on authentic reports.[^66] Recited by countless Muslims worldwide every day, these concluding verses of al-Baqara are so important in Islam, that ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (rA) said, “I did not think that any reasonable person could sleep without reciting the last verses of Surah al-Baqara, and they are indeed treasures from beneath the Throne.”[^67] About this nighttime practice, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever reads the last two verses from Surah al-Baqara at night, they will be sufficient for him.”[^68]  Interpreting the term “sufficient,” Imam al-Nawawi suggested that these verses suffice as a substitute for lengthy night prayers.[^69] Others said the verses protect against devils, and still others said they protect against harmful animals. Imam al-Nawawi concludes that these verses likely encompass all these benefits (and more).[^70] Likewise, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim opined that the verses sufficed as a protection against all forms of harm.[^71] Synthesizing these perspectives reveals the breadth of these verses’ power: spiritual elevation, protection, and sufficiency in worship. One can readily understand why ʿAli (rA) admonished anyone who neglected to recite them before sleeping. ### The story behind the final verses Abu Hurayra reported an incident after the following verse (Qur’an 2:284) was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “To Allah \[alone\] belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the Earth. Whether you reveal what is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. He forgives whoever He wills, and punishes whoever He wills. And Allah is Most Capable of everything.” The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ considered the verses heavy (because of the indication that the believers will be accountable for what is in their hearts). They came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and sat down on their knees and said: “Messenger of Allah, we were assigned some duties which were within our power to perform, such as prayer, fasting, struggling \[in the cause of Allah\], charity. Then this \[the above-mentioned\] verse was revealed to you and it is beyond our power to live up to it.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do you intend to say what the people of \[the\] two books \[i.e., Jews and Christians\] said before you: ‘We hear and disobey?’ You should rather say: ‘We hear and we obey, \[we seek\] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return.’” And they said: “We hear and we obey, \[we seek\] Your forgiveness, our Lord! And to You is the return.” When the people recited it and it became easy on their tongues, then Allah revealed: > The Messenger \[firmly\] believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. They \[all\] believe in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. \[They proclaim,\] “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and obey. \[We seek\] Your forgiveness, our Lord! And to You \[alone\] is the final return.”[^72] When they did that, Allah abrogated[^73] this verse (in terms of the ruling that one is accountable for what is in their hearts), and He revealed: > Allah does not burden a soul with more than it can bear. All good will be for its own benefit, and all evil will be to its own loss. \[The believers pray,\] “Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake... > > Our Lord! Do not place a burden on us like the one You placed on those before us… > > Our Lord! Do not burden us with what we cannot bear... > > Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our \[only\] Guardian. So grant us victory over the disbelieving people.”[^74] In the story cited above, the narration ends with an indication of Allah’s acceptance of these pleas. The acceptance of the supplicatory prayer (*duʿa*) at the end of this powerful *surah* has two potential meanings. The first is that it specifically pertains to the believers specifically referenced in the passage. Ibn Taymiyya notes a second interpretation: that this is a universally accepted *duʿa* for the entire *ummah*, although it does not guarantee that every individual is included in it.[^75] Some people may not overcome the burdens they carry, others may not be forgiven due to their turning away from Allah and Islam, and yet others may not achieve victory over the oppressors among the disbelievers. This reality does not diminish the importance of praying for one’s personal acceptance and for the general welfare of the *ummah* worldwide. As Ibn Taymiyya notes, the request “do not give us a burden we cannot bear**”** in these verses can be understood in two ways.[^76] Some interpret it as referring to divine decree (*qadr*), implying that a person is not tested beyond their capacity, whether it be with unbearable poverty, illness, or emotional challenges like fear or love. This does not imply a lack of trials, but that the individual has the potential to pass those tests with the means that Allah has commanded them to seek in moments of hardship. Other scholars interpret this burden in a legislative context, such as a commandment that may be too difficult for the *ummah* to implement. This latter concept is known as assigning obligations that cannot be fulfilled (*taklīf bi mā lā yuṭāq*), a theological and legal concept centered on whether Allah imposes duties beyond human ability. Rooted in both Qur’anic injunctions and the principles of Islamic jurisprudence and theology, the dominant position across mainstream Sunni, Shiʿi, and rationalist (e.g., Muʿtazili) schools is that Allah does not demand the impossible from His creation, with this verse above (2:286) serving as the foundational guarantee. It is generally concluded that while Allah’s power is absolute, His perfection includes not enacting *taklīf bi mā lā yuṭāq*, thereby ensuring that moral responsibility remains coherent, attainable, and reflective of divine justice and mercy. In sum, the refusal of Islam’s classical tradition to accept any notion of impossible moral demands affirms a fundamental theological principle: divine law is always commensurate with human capacity. As for the *duʿa* in the verse, “do not give us a burden we cannot bear,” that particular supplication is clearly accepted by Allah, and the validity of this latter interpretation as a *duʿa* is supported by other verses where Allah states His intent for ease (*yusr*) rather than hardship (ʿ*usr*) in His legislation, such as in the context of rulings for Ramadan.[^77] Ultimately, in the realm of Islamic jurisprudence, the principle that divine law should be within human reach supports various legal maxims related to hardship and dispensation (*rukhṣa*).[^78] These two verses conclude with powerful phrases of *du*ʿ*a* that combine the best of this life and the next. The one looking for protection throughout the night, as well as for a vast reward, cannot afford to neglect the recitation of these verses in prayer, or one’s bed, before sleeping, as well as teaching one’s family and children this precious habit, particularly at an early age. The practice of reciting these verses daily helps the believer to exemplify the mantra, “We hear and we obey.” --- ## Conclusion Ultimately, these narrations emphasize that engagement with Surah al-Baqara is not to be confined to intellectual comprehension or ritualistic recitation. Rather, it demands spiritual internalization and practical implementation. Approaching this *surah* is akin to stepping under a grand, all-encompassing canopy. Within this shelter, one finds mercy, guidance, and moral order. Over time, the *surah* becomes a companion—interceding when human deeds stand vulnerable to divine scrutiny—and a guardian, repelling evil forces in the here and now. Rooted in Allah’s eternal speech, Surah al-Baqara’s multifaceted guidance thus becomes both a source of immediate protection and a blueprint for eternal success, embodying the Qur’an’s transformative power in the believer’s journey toward Allah’s pleasure. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5018. [^2]: This ties into the broader discussion on whether some Qur’anic verses have greater merit than others, a topic explored in depth in Yousef Wahb’s article, “Are Some Qur’anic Verses More Meritorious than Others?” (Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, June 7, 2024). [^3]: The new compilation, titled in English *Special Virtues of the Qur’an’s Chapters and Verse*s, is published on [sunnah.com/virtues](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://sunnah.com/virtues&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1756509475046883&usg=AOvVaw1_DSqUtNV0cNgbhQKgooqB) (accessed September 10, 2024). In compiling the virtues of certain verses and chapters of the Qur’an, I have adhered to a methodology that primarily relies on rigorously authenticated (*ṣaḥīḥ*) and fairly authentic (*ḥasan*) prophetic reports. The authentication of these reports is based on the evaluations of leading hadith scholars such as the compilers themselves, Imam al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasaʾi, among others. When citing narrations from collections that are not inherently *ṣaḥīḥ* and *ḥasan*,  the verdicts of diverse hadith scholars were relied upon depending on the narration, such as al-Albani, Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ, and Ahmad Shakir, who have rigorously authenticated individual hadiths. Additionally, I have consulted and cross-referenced works dedicated to the topic of *faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar* (virtues of the verses and chapters) to ensure comprehensive coverage. Among the dozens of key works referenced are: Muḥammad ibn Rizq ibn Tarhūnī, *Mawsūʿat faḍāʾil suwar wa āyāt al-Qurʾān* (Encyclopedia of the virtues of the chapters and verses of the Qur’an) (Dār Ibn al-Qayyim, 2006); Fakhr al-Dīn ibn al-Zubayr ibn ʿAlī al-Muḥasī, *al-Durar min ṣaḥīḥ faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar* (Ministry of Information and Culture, 2004); and Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Saqqāf, *al-Kitāb al-jāmiʿ li-faḍāʾil suwar al-Qur’ān al-Karīm*: *al-Aḥādīth allatī waradat fī faḍāʾil al-suwar wa-l-āyāt* (Aal al-Bayt Royal Foundation for Islamic Thought, 2007). In cases where hadith authenticity has been disputed, I have personally conducted *isnād* analysis, with the support and review of scholars and researchers. This has allowed me to clarify the status of some narrations that may have been the subject of debate, particularly those that could be classified as *ḥasan li-ghayrih* (strengthened by other reports). While the overwhelming majority of narrations included in this work are directly attributed to the Prophet ﷺ (*marfūʿ*), I have also included a small number of reports from the companions (*mawqūf*). These reports are deemed reliable and beneficial, especially in the context of their understanding of Qur’anic virtues.. [^4]: Qur’an 2:255. [^5]: Qur’an 2:282. [^6]: Qur’an 2:285–86. [^7]: Qur’an 2:281. There are various opinions regarding the last verse to be revealed. Al-Suyuti references several narrations, including Surah al-Baqara, 2:281 and 2:282. The only report mentioning a specific timeframe is related to Qur’an 2:281, where it was narrated that the Prophet ﷺ lived for nine nights after its revelation before passing away. See: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān,* ed. Markaz al-Dirāsāt al-Qurʾāniyya, 7 vols.  (Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2005), 101–3. Ibn Hajar also states, “The most correct of opinions regarding the final revelation is \[2:281\].” Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 8:317. [^8]: Such as Prophets Adam, Abraham (Ibrahim), Ishmael (Ismaʿil), Isaac (Ishaq), Jacob (Ya’qub), Moses (Musa), Aaron (Harun), David (Dawud), Solomon (Sulayman), and Jesus (ʿIsa), peace be upon them all. [^9]: Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out to al-Safa and said, ‘We will start with that with which Allah started.’ Then he recited the verse: ‘Verily, \[the hills of\] al-Safa and al-Marwa are of the symbols of Allah…’ (Qur’an 2:158).” See *Sunan an-Nasāʾī*, no. 2970; graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic); see footnote 3 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^10]: Belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the afterlife, and divine decree (*qadr*). [^11]: *Sunan al-Dārimī*, no. 2179; *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 786. [^12]: Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr* (Dār Saḥnūn, 1997). [^13]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr*, 201. [^14]: Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, 148. [^15]: See: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Shawkānī, *Tuḥfat al-dhākirīn biʿiddat al-ḥiṣn wa-l-ḥaṣīn* (Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n..d.), 399. [^16]: *Sunan al-Dārimī*, no. 2179. [^17]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 804. [^18]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr*, 201. [^19]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Qāsim, 37 vols. (Dār al-Wafāʾ, n.d.), 28:433. It is for this reason that Allah referenced these groups in the beginning of the *surah*, with four verses about believers, two about disbelievers, and thirteen about the hypocrites, mirroring the reality on the ground and emphasizing the importance of understanding these distinct spiritual states. [^20]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 27:274. [^21]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr*, 201–2. [^22]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥman ʿUmayra, 7 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2014), 130. [^23]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 131. [^24]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīr*, 201–2. [^25]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 146. [^26]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 804. [^27]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 805. [^28]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 780. [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 804. [^30]: Mūsa Shahīn Lashīn, *Fatḥ al-munʿim sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* (Dār al-Shurūq, 2002). [^31]: This refers to Surah al-Baqara, verse 255 (Qur’an 2:255). [^32]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 810. [^33]: Al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ al-Nawawī ‘alā Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, *kitāb ṣalāt al-musāfirīn wa-qaṣrihā*, *bāb faḍl Sūrat al-Kahf wa Āyat al-Kursī*. [^34]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5010. [^35]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 3856; *al-Ṭabarānī*, no. 7925; *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa*, no. 746. This hadith has been graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic); see footnote 3 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^36]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Jawāhir al-Qurʾān*, 3rd ed., ed. Muḥammad al-Qabbānī (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm, 1990), 74. [^37]: *Sunan an-Nasāʾī al-kubrā*, no. 9848; *al-Ṭabarānī*, no. 7532; graded *ḥasan* (fairly authentic). See footnote 3 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^38]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7418. [^39]: *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no. 4727. See also *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 193. [^40]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2790. [^41]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Zād al-maʿād*, 4:203. [^42]: Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz, *Sharḥ al-ʿaqīdat al-Ṭaḥāwiyya*, ed. Aḥmad Shākir (Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1997). [^43]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*. [^44]: Qur’an 9:129. [^45]: See: Qur’an 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, 13:2, 23:86, 23:116, 27:26, 20:5, 25:59, 32:4, 39:75, 40:15, 57:4, 69:17, 85:15. [^46]: See his commentary on 2:255 in *Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm*, 1:310. [^47]: Narrated by Ibn Khuzayma in *al-Tawḥīd*, no. 154. It was also narrated by Ibn Abi Shayba in *al-ʿArsh,* 21, al-Dārimī in *al-Radd ʿalā al-Marīsī*, ʿAbdullah b. Ahmad in *al-Sunnah*, and al-Ḥākim in *al-Mustadrak* (2/282). Al-Ḥākim graded it as *ṣaḥīḥ* according to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and al-Dhahabi agreed. It was also classified as *ṣaḥīḥ* by al-Albani in *Mukhtaṣar al-ʿUlū*, 102, and Ahmad Shakir in *ʿUmdat al-tafsīr* (2/163). See: Ibn Khuzayma, *Kitāb al-tawḥīd*, ed. Muḥammad Khālid al-Sayyid (Maktabat al-Rushd, 1983); ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī, *Al-Radd ʿalā al-Marīsī*, ed. Ibrāhīm al-Duwaysh (Dār al-Minhāj, 2004); ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Sunnah*, ed. Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Qaḥṭānī (Dār al-Rāyah, 1986); Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, *Mukhtaṣar al-ʿUlū lil-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī*, ed. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Munajjid (Maktabat al-Islāmī, 1991); Aḥmad Shākir, *ʿUmdat al-tafsīr ʿan al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr*, ed. Ṣafī al-Raḥmān al-Mubārakfūrī (Dār al-Wafāʾ, 1993). [^48]: Reported by Ibn Abi Shayba, *Kitāb al-ʿArsh*, (Jāmiʿ al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya), 20. Also reported in *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 361. [^49]: Qur’an 2:255. [^50]: Narrated by Ibn Abi Shayba in *al-ʿArsh* (no. 60), and its *isnād* was classified as rigorously authenticated (*ṣaḥīḥ*) in Ibn Hajar’s *Fatḥ* (8:47) and by al-Albani in *Mukhtaṣar al-ʿuluw*, pp. 123–24. [^51]: Qur’an 42:11. According to the Athari school, which emphasizes a literal affirmation of scriptural descriptions of divine attributes while firmly upholding divine transcendence, statements such as “The *Kursi* is the place for the two Feet” are accepted as part of the revealed tradition without inquiry into their modality (*bilā kayf*). Atharis caution against excessive allegorization, maintaining that while such expressions may appear anthropomorphic, they do not imply spatial limitation or corporeality. Instead, these texts are affirmed as they appear, with the understanding that Allah’s essence remains beyond human comprehension and is not confined to any physical locus. Meanwhile, Ashʿari theologians—though employing a different hermeneutical approach—similarly uphold divine transcendence (*tanzīh*) and reject any literalist anthropomorphic interpretation, often allowing for figurative readings as a means of emphasizing Allah’s majesty. [^52]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān* (Dār al-Fikr, n.d.), 2:16. [^53]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*, 2:16. [^54]: Qur’an 69:17. [^55]: Qur’an 85:15. [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2790. [^57]: *Al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa*, no. 109. Graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic); see footnote 3 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^58]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 2411. [^59]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 6:584. In the cited passage, Ibn Taymiyya elucidates, “The Throne (*ʿArsh*) is affirmed by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations of the *ummah* and its scholars. Similarly, the Footstool (*Kursi*) is established by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the majority of the early generations. It has been reported from some of them that ‘His *Kursi*’ refers to His knowledge. However, this is a weak opinion, because Allah’s knowledge encompasses everything, as He said: ‘Our Lord! You have encompassed everything in mercy and knowledge’ \[Qur’an 40:7\]… So, if it were said that His knowledge encompasses the heavens and the earth, this meaning would not be correct, especially since Allah says: ‘And their preservation does not exhaust Him’ \[Qur’an 2:255\], meaning that it does not weigh Him down nor burden Him. This is more befitting and suitable \[to say\] about Allah’s power, not His knowledge. The transmitted reports indicate this, but the verses and hadith regarding the *ʿArsh* are even more numerous, clear, and mass-transmitted \[*mutawātir*\]. And some of them \[i.e., scholars\] have stated: ‘The *Kursi* is the \[same as the\] *ʿArsh*,” but the majority hold that they are two distinct entities.’” [^60]: Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279/892) said: “More than one of the people of knowledge said about this hadith and other similar hadiths that discuss the attributes of Allah and the descending of the Lord, Glorified be He, every night to the lowest heaven; they said: ‘The narrations are confirmed, believed in, not imagined, and it is not to be said: How?’ Malik, Sufyan ibn ʿUyayna, and ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubarak have been reported as saying: ‘Take these hadiths as they are “without how” (*bilā kayf*).’ This is the view of the people of knowledge from the Sunni orthodoxy (*Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿa*).” See: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 662. [^61]: Qur’an 2:255. [^62]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3194, and *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2751. [^63]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2882; graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic); see footnote 3 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^64]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 173. [^65]: This is the opinion attributed to some of the second generation of Muslims, known as “successors” (*tabiʿin*), including al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Sirin, and Mujahid; See: al-Qāḍī Abū Bakr ibn al-‘Arabī al-Mālikī, *Aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, 3 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.). [^66]: This opinion is attributed to many scholars; See: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Sindī, *Ḥāshiyat al-Sindī ʿalā Sunan al-Nasāʾī* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.), 224; and al-Qārī, *Mirqāt*, 9:3772. [^67]: *Sunan al-Dārimī*, no. 3289; see also al-Nawawi in *al-Adhkār*, 220. He attributed it to the report of Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud and said that this report is sound, according to the conditions of Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim. [^68]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5009. [^69]: Similarly, Ibn Hajar states: “\[It\] was explicitly reported by ʿAsim from ʿAlqama from Ibn Masʿud, ‘Whoever recites \[the two verses at\] the end of Surah al-Baqara, it will be sufficient for him instead of standing in prayer for one night.’” See Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 8:672. [^70]: Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, 11 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.), 6:92. [^71]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Al-Wābil al-ṣayyib*, 3rd ed., ed. Sayyid Ibrahim (Dar al-Hadith, 1991), 91. [^72]: See Qur’an 2:285. [^73]: Abrogation, or *naskh*, refers to the abrogation of a verse in terms of its recitation or ruling, where the latter is the predominant type in the opinions of most scholars of Qur’anic sciences. In this case, the hadith is referring to an abrogation of the initial ruling that people will be held accountable for what is in their hearts. For more on the topic of abrogation, see Yaqeen’s article, [Abrogated Rulings in the Qur’an: Discerning their Divine Wisdom](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/abrogated-rulings-in-the-quran-discerning-their-divine-wisdom&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1756509475035051&usg=AOvVaw1Fyai2FF0boAf7MITynAs1). [^74]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 125; Qur’an 2:286. [^75]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 232. [^76]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 236. [^77]: Such as in the context of Ramadan and those for whom fasting is waived due to travel or illness: “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and \[wants\] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that \[to\] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” Qur’an 2:185. [^78]: When a particular command becomes unreasonably difficult or impossible due to circumstances beyond human control, legal scholars generally hold that the obligation is either lifted or modified to a bearable form. For instance, if standing in prayer becomes impossible due to illness, the obligation adjusts to sitting or lying down. This practical application further illustrates the centrality of human capacity in determining the scope of divine law. ## Summary Standing beneath the vast canopy of the night sky, the Companion Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr once recited Sūrah al-Baqara while his horse was tethered nearby. Each time he recited, the animal grew agitated, and each time he paused, it settled. Fearing that his son Yaḥyā, who lay close by, might be trampled, he lifted the boy and looked upward, only to behold a wondrous sight resembling a cloud filled with lamps. When he related this to the Prophet ﷺ the following morning, the Prophet ﷺ urged him, “Recite, O Ibn Ḥuḍayr!” and explained, “Those were angels who came near to you for your voice. If you had kept on reciting till dawn, it would have remained there till morning when people would have seen it.” This incident, preserved in the authentic collections, illustrates the profound spiritual reality of Qur’anic recitation—that the speech of Allah touches not only the human heart but every level of creation, drawing the inhabitants of the heavens toward those who recite it upon the earth. This encounter serves as an entryway into the study of one of the most uplifting branches of the sciences of the Qur’an: the virtues (faḍāʾil) of specific chapters and verses, as well as of the Qur’an as a whole. A virtue in this context refers to any special quality established in authentic reports, whether a unique reward for recitation, a form of protection from harm, or the Prophet’s ﷺ particular attachment to certain passages. Sūrah al-Baqara, the longest chapter of the Qur’an, stands foremost among these. The believer who takes it as a companion—reciting it habitually and acting upon it—finds in it increased blessing (baraka), protection from evil, healing, greater acceptance of supplication, tranquility, intercession in the Hereafter, and a pathway to Paradise. Revealed in Medina, Sūrah al-Baqara contains the greatest verse of the Qur’an, its longest verse, its two closing verses said to have descended from beneath the Throne during the Prophet’s ascension, and likely its final revealed verse. Its magnificence led the Companion ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (d. 32/652) to say, “Everything has a peak, and the peak of the Qur’an is al-Baqara.” The sūrah bears several names. It is best known as al-Baqara after the narrative of the cow and the Israelites in verses 67–73. Ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393/1973) highlights its famous title Fusṭāṭ al-Qurʾān, “the canopy of the Qur’an,” a description echoed by al-Qurṭubī who cites the ḥadīth narrator Khālid ibn Maʿdān (d. 103/721), noting its magnificence and abundance of rulings, and by al-Shawkānī (d. 1250/1834), who attributes this to its extensive legal content and its length. It is also called Sanām al-Qurʾān, its peak, from the words of Ibn Masʿūd, and al-Zahrāʾ, the Radiant, a name it shares with Āl ʿImrān, for the Prophet ﷺ said in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, “Recite the two radiant ones: al-Baqara and Āl ʿImrān.” Some scholars regard certain of these as descriptive attributes rather than formal names. Ibn ʿĀshūr observes that the sūrah divides humanity into believers, disbelievers, hypocrites, and the People of the Book, illustrating the varied responses to divine guidance. Ibn Taymiyya explains that this reflects the conditions of Medina after the migration, where all these groups coexisted, and that the sūrah establishes three foundations of religion (uṣūl al-dīn): the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd), the truth of the Prophetic message, and the reality of the Hereafter. Alongside this framework, it lays out comprehensive rulings on worship, family, financial dealings, and criminal law, thereby joining sound creed with practical application in the way of the Prophet Ibrāhīm (as). Ibn Taymiyya further notes that the sūrah references the Jews more often—owing to the Prophet’s ﷺ encounters with the Jewish tribes of Medina—while Āl ʿImrān addresses the Christians more frequently. The virtues of the sūrah are affirmed in several narrations. Abū Umāma reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Recite the two bright ones, al-Baqara and Āl ʿImrān, for on the Day of Resurrection they will come as two clouds or two shades, or two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading for those who recite them. Recite Sūrah al-Baqara, for to take recourse to it is a blessing and to give it up is a cause of grief, and magicians cannot confront it.” Al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān (d. 50/670) reported a similar image of the two sūrahs leading “its companions who used to act by it.” Both narrations emphasize that reciters must move beyond passive recitation to transformative adherence. Regarding the home, Abū Hurayra reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not turn your households into graveyards. Indeed, the devils flee from a household that has Sūrah al-Baqara recited in it.” In one version of the first narration, Muʿāwiya explained that the term baṭala describes both magicians who traffic in falsehood (bāṭil) and those overcome by laziness who fail to seek the sūrah’s virtues. The baraka it brings—a divine increase in goodness that defies measurement—may enrich even one’s time. Two passages especially elevate the sūrah. The first is Āyat al-Kursī, which the Prophet ﷺ named the greatest verse of the Qur’an. When he asked Ubayy ibn Kaʿb which verse was greatest and Ubayy answered with Āyat al-Kursī, the Prophet ﷺ struck his chest and said, “Rejoice in your knowledge, O Abū al-Mundhir.” Imam al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) explained that its greatness lies in its gathering of the foundational divine names and attributes—divinity, oneness, life, knowledge, dominion, power, and will. The devil who stole from the Ramadan charity confessed to Abū Hurayra that reciting it before sleep brings a guardian and repels Satan until dawn, and the Prophet ﷺ confirmed, “He told you the truth, though he is a liar.” Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) noted that al-Qayyūm is “the One who exists by Himself and sustains everything else.” The Prophet ﷺ also taught that whoever recites it after every obligatory prayer, “nothing prevents him from entering Paradise except death.” The verse mentions the Kursī, distinct from the ʿArsh (Throne). Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) relates from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Kursī is the place of the Feet, its vastness known only to Allah, the heavens and earth beside it like seven coins in a shield. Al-Ṭabarī, however, inclined toward the view, citing another report from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Kursī signifies Allah’s knowledge. Those affirming it as a physical creation regard the figurative report as weak against the many authentic narrations and the Qur’an’s references to bearing the Throne. Ibn Taymiyya held both to be real created entities, the Kursī beneath the ʿArsh, opposing allegorization. For both groups, these realities are affirmed “without how” (bilā kayf), for “nothing resembles Him.” The second passage is the closing two verses. Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (d. 65/684) reported that Allah inscribed them two thousand years before creation and that a home in which they are recited for three nights is safe from devils. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever reads the last two verses from Sūrah al-Baqara at night, they will be sufficient for him,” which al-Nawawī understood as sufficiency in worship, protection, or both. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib called them “treasures from beneath the Throne.” Abū Hurayra narrated that when the Companions found verse 2:284 heavy, fearing accountability for the heart, they said, “We hear and obey,” whereupon Allah revealed the concluding verses and lifted the burden, declaring, “Allah does not burden a soul with more than it can bear.” Ibn Taymiyya explained this in terms of both divine decree and legislation, affirming the principle that Allah does not impose the impossible (taklīf bi mā lā yuṭāq). These narrations affirm that Sūrah al-Baqara is not merely to be comprehended or recited, but internalized and lived. It becomes a canopy of mercy and guidance, an intercessor when deeds are weighed, and a guardian against evil in this life, embodying the mantra of the believers: “We hear and we obey.” ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the virtues of Surah al-Baqarah? Surah al-Baqarah holds an unparalleled rank among the chapters of the Qur'an. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Taking recourse to it is a blessing and abandoning it causes grief.' (*Sahih Muslim*) It will intercede for those who recited it on the Day of Judgment, appearing like two clouds or two flocks of birds standing in their defense. Ibn Taymiyya identified the chapter as establishing the three foundational pillars of Islamic creed: the oneness of Allah (*tawḥīd*), the truthfulness of the Prophet ﷺ, and the reality of the Hereafter—making it not only a source of blessing but a complete theological foundation. ### Why is Ayat al-Kursi considered the greatest verse in the Qur'an? The Prophet ﷺ confirmed that Ayat al-Kursi (Qur'an 2:255) is 'the greatest verse in the Qur'an.' (*Sahih Muslim*) The verse encapsulates seven foundational divine attributes in a single passage: absolute divinity, perfect oneness, eternal life, all-encompassing knowledge, unrestricted dominion, supreme power, and complete will. No slumber or sleep overtakes Allah; His Footstool extends over the heavens and the earth. Reciting it after every obligatory prayer is among the greatest acts connecting a believer to divine protection, and the Prophet ﷺ stated that whoever recites it upon sleeping will be protected by Allah through the night. ### Does reciting Surah al-Baqarah protect the home from evil? Yes. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Do not make your homes into graves. Indeed, the devil flees from the house in which Surah al-Baqarah is recited.' (*Sahih Muslim*) This narration establishes that the home should be a place of living worship, not merely a dwelling. Regular recitation of the chapter creates a spiritual environment that repels satanic influence. The Prophet ﷺ further stated that whoever recites the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah at night, they suffice him (*Sahih al-Bukhari*)—a narration scholars have explained to mean they provide sufficient protection and reward for the night. ### What is the significance of the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah? The final two verses (Qur'an 2:285–286) hold extraordinary merit. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites them at night will be sufficed. (*Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 5009) These verses affirm the complete faith of the believers, their submission to Allah's messengers without distinction, and end with a supplication that no soul be burdened beyond its capacity—a divine reassurance. The Prophet ﷺ also reported that these verses were among the treasures granted to him from beneath the Throne of Allah on the night of his ascension (*al-Isrāʾ*), a distinction shared by no other verses, underscoring their unique spiritual weight. ### What lessons does Surah al-Baqarah draw from the story of the Children of Israel? A substantial portion of Surah al-Baqarah recounts the history of the Children of Israel—their covenant with Allah, their repeated violations, and their spiritual complacency—not to condemn them but to warn the Muslim community against repeating the same patterns. The surah presents their story as a mirror: communities that receive divine guidance, neglect it, and prioritize worldly interests over revealed obligations face spiritual deterioration. This historical-pedagogical function was intentional; the Qur'an addresses the Muslim community directly after each episode, calling believers to uphold their covenant with sincerity and to avoid the gradualism through which communities of faith can drift from their divine mission. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/dont-give-up-on-gaza-how-knowing-allah-sustains-hope-and-resistance # Don’t Give Up on Gaza: How Knowing Allah Sustains Hope and Resistance | Blog **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Allah, Divine Decree, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology **Published:** August 7, 2025 **Updated:** September 3, 2026 It has been almost three years since the genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza began—carried out by a murderous and unrelenting occupier, broadcast to the world. Israel has deliberately starved and bombarded 2 million besieged men, women, and children while much of the world stands back to watch.[^1] Brave attempts to break the blockade have been met with detention and violence,[^2] and those in power who are able to stop the carnage either show Israel outright support or are content with mild words of disapproval. Although people of conscience continue to be dismayed and more and more of the public are waking up to the reality of this horrific rampage, something within us has shifted. Our efforts have yet to yield any tangible results, and those who speak out continue to be repressed and attacked.[^3] Many of us have resigned to the feeling that our actions have no real impact because the issue is so much bigger than what any of us are able to affect. The heartbreak has caused our spirits to be broken. So much of the raw anger we saw in the beginning has turned into numbness. Determination into despair. Action into quiet murmurs. --- ## Sincerity and persistence In life, it’s easy to believe and work for an outcome when things go our way. When our *duʿa*s are swiftly answered and our efforts yield immediate fruit. But who among us will continue to strive with the same energy and resolve when victory does not come on our timeline? Who will continue to cry out to Al-Fattāḥ (the Opener) when every door seems bolted shut? Who will trust in Al-Rabb—the Lord of all—when all worldly forces seem to overpower us? Sometimes, as believers, we unknowingly fall into spiritual entitlement. *We believe. We struggle for justice. We speak the truth. Therefore, we deserve to see victory now.* But Allah reminds us, > Do you think you will be admitted into Paradise without being tested like those before you? They were afflicted with suffering and adversity and were so \[violently\] shaken that \[even\] the Messenger and the believers with him cried out, “When will Allah’s help come?” Indeed, Allah’s help is \[always\] near. (Qur’an 2:214) Prolonged perseverance against oppression is a hallmark of history. Jerusalem was under Crusader control for almost 100 years until Salahuddin liberated it in 1187. European colonialism, marked by its numerous genocides, massacres, and crimes against indigenous populations, spanned three centuries, leaving [consequences](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/how-colonialism-hijacked-the-muslim-wor-focal-point-with-imam-tom-facchine) that persist until today. Yet wherever oppressive systems were overturned, by the will of Allah, it was because the people did not stop—they persevered. One of the signs of a true believer is in their sincerity and persistence—we are in it for the long haul and we see beyond the immediate setbacks. In the story of Saul (Talut) and Goliath (Jalut) in the Qur’an, a group of people, weary from oppression, asked their prophet for a leader so they could fight in the path of Allah (Qur’an 2:246). They claimed they were ready, “How could we refuse to fight in the cause of Allah, while we were driven out of our homes and \[separated from\] our children?” (Qur’an 2:246). But at every test, they withdrew. They doubted. They dropped off, until only a handful remained. Yet how could only a handful defeat the mighty army of Goliath? > How many times has a small force overcome a mighty one by the permission of Allah? And Allah is with the steadfast. (Qur’an 2:249) A small group can defeat a mighty army because **Allah is with the steadfast**. Not those who are discouraged by failures, setbacks, and resistance, or those who turn away due to the enormity of the task, or those who simply watch from the sidelines. Allah is with the steadfast. And what was the outcome? > So they defeated them by Allah’s Will… (Qur’an 2:251) While Goliath’s army stood powerful and the army of Saul lost the majority of its people along the way, those who remained with Saul were unwavering in their commitment. They persisted. They knew what they were up against, but they also knew that Allah was more powerful than Goliath. They knew that nothing they did went to waste, even in the absence of a worldly victory. They had certainty that Allah was with them—because He was, and He always is. --- ## Heartbreak to hope For many, the pain is just too much. Day after day, witnessing dead children and wailing parents and feeling the guilt of not knowing what else to do, we can often spiral into emotional paralysis. But that guilt and that pain have to [move us forward](https://reflectingon.life/articles/gaza-grief-and-freedom-from-fear), not hold us back. The latter is from Shaytan. We have to know that there will be an end, and our brothers and sisters who have passed are at [peace with their Lord](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/divine-justice-is-already-happening-the-other-side). Every cry of pain, every drop of blood, every hungry stomach, and every tear that fell will be accounted for. We work for an end to the carnage today with certainty there will be justice, whether in this world or the next. The ability to see beyond this world is a gift. To see Allah before we see anything else. To believe in the promise of Allah to His faithful servants and to be certain that every action is meaningful. Allah is the Rabb who owns all of creation, the One who sustains this world moment by moment, and the One who will hold us all to account on the Day of Judgment. He is the Master who governs the universe and the One who arranges all matters perfectly, even when we cannot see the full picture. If you see your Rabb before all else, you will understand that every effort matters. You’ll know that Allah is above whatever prevails in this world and you will have certainty that Allah’s control is above their control. Our test is whether we will be materialists and only see the immediate, or whether we believe in and work towards the ideal that we want to establish. So as Muslims, we cannot stop speaking and reminding. We must renew our resolve and continue to build and join movements for the liberation of our brothers and sisters. We must not belittle the boycott efforts.[^4] We must support and stand side-by-side with those [brave individuals](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/microsoft-fired-her-for-defending-palestine-ibtihal-aboussad-gaza-diaries) who are risking everything.[^5] We must support and encourage each other through this. And we must wake up at night, every night, and [pray](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/tahajjud-fuel-for-the-self-and-society). In the story of Saul and Goliath, the mention of Prophet Dawud (David) only appears at the end. Allah says, “and David killed Goliath” (Qur’an 2:251). It is as though Allah only chooses to mention David at the end so that our focus is less on his personality and more on the general characteristics of those few who persisted. While one would assume that it would be Saul who would defeat Goliath, since he appears as the protagonist of the story, it was actually a young David who assumed this honor and who was part of the small, steadfast group. If your determination is for Allah, you have a grand intention for His sake, and you persevere, Allah Al-Rabb will carry your intention, whether in this life or the next. Those “small” things you do are not small at all, but rather weigh heavy on Allah’s scale, helping to move the needle in this world, by the will of Allah. So who will *we* be in the story of Saul and Goliath? Will we be of the people who dropped off when we experienced inconvenience, struggle, and even heartbreak, or will we persevere until the end? --- ## Notes [^1]: See “Gaza: Evidence points to Israel’s continued use of starvation to inflict genocide against Palestinians,” Amnesty International, July 3, 2025, [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/gaza-evidence-points-to-israels-continued-use-of-starvation-to-inflict-genocide-against-palestinians/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/gaza-evidence-points-to-israels-continued-use-of-starvation-to-inflict-genocide-against-palestinians/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454883189&usg=AOvVaw29A8qqFT_9uF0kgkauxhl3) and “Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, the U.N. says,” *The Associated Press*, July 23, 2025, [https://www.npr.org/2025/07/23/nx-s1-5477365/israel-gaza-aid-casualties](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.npr.org/2025/07/23/nx-s1-5477365/israel-gaza-aid-casualties&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454883480&usg=AOvVaw0HlbhB1Tlm7cr6Onozfj4q). [^2]: Jaroslav Lukiv, “Israel intercepts Gaza-bound activist boat carrying food aid,” *BBC*, July 27, 2025, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24zpdqvpyzo](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24zpdqvpyzo&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454883787&usg=AOvVaw06uxr3ArOufd6uVRtnKFYL). [^3]: See “UK: Palestine Action ban ‘disturbing’ misuse of UK counter-terrorism legislation, Türk warns,” United Nations, July 25, 2025, [https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/uk-palestine-action-ban-disturbing-misuse-uk-counter-terrorism-legislation](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/uk-palestine-action-ban-disturbing-misuse-uk-counter-terrorism-legislation&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454884215&usg=AOvVaw3mwIizqDDu5qLntX_a2Mx2); Melissa Hellmann, “They staged protests for Palestine. The consequences have been life-changing,” *The Guardian*, April 26, 2025, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/university-student-protesters-discipline](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/university-student-protesters-discipline&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454884511&usg=AOvVaw0PbBKF3SrW-H6Wq6JY1e4b). [^4]: See the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions list here: [https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454885163&usg=AOvVaw3-4xdBWSrDT-pMKxwYryK7). [^5]: See “USA/Israel/Palestine: Immediately rescind sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese,” ICJ, July 16, 2025, [https://www.icj.org/usa-israel-palestine-immediately-rescind-sanctions-against-un-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.icj.org/usa-israel-palestine-immediately-rescind-sanctions-against-un-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1754581454884957&usg=AOvVaw3apquK4mstUFSWizrftYV-). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/thinking-about-making-hijra-what-muslims-in-the-west-should-consider-today # Thinking about Making Hijra? What Muslims in the West Should Consider Today | Blog **Author:** Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Blog, Hijra, LGBTQ, Mental Health, Palestine **Published:** July 30, 2025 **Updated:** September 24, 2025 The deterioration of values in the Western world has left many Western Muslims worried about their future in these societies. From forcing the LGBTQ agenda into schools and entertainment to the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment, some of us wonder if we should look for more suitable places to raise our families. Although many of these concerns already existed prior to October 7th, the genocide against our Palestinian brothers and sisters has laid bare the violent hypocrisy of many Western governments—especially the American empire—and many more Muslims are seriously reconsidering their commitment to living in societies that are directly involved or complicit in the genocide and destruction of the Muslim world. Ultimately, what is on the minds of many of us today is whether or not to make *hijra*. In this piece, I will attempt to provide a perspective to navigating this challenging question. --- ## The migration of the heart and body The concept of *hijra,* or migration for the sake of Allah, is profound and fundamental to faith. We see this in how the Prophet ﷺ referred to his companions who migrated with him from Mecca to Medina as the *muhajirun*—a term of respect and honor. The most famous hadith in Islam about intentions is also rooted in the concept of *hijra.* The Prophet ﷺ said, > Indeed, actions are by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended. Whoever migrated to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is for Allah and His Messenger. Whoever migrated to get something in the world or to marry a woman, his migration is for that to which he migrated.[^1] Although people typically think of *hijra* as physically moving from one land to another, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the great scholar of Islam, explained that *hijra* is of two types: (1) The physical migration of the body from one land to another and (2) the migration of the heart to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Ibn al-Qayyim emphatically proclaimed that the migration of the heart is the true *hijra*, as it is the foundation that precedes any physical *hijra*.[^2] Physical migration is thus a manifestation of the heart’s migration, but what does it mean for the heart to make *hijra*? Ibn al-Qayyim elaborated that the migration of the heart requires migrating from one psychological state to another, including: - The heart’s migration from loving others to loving Allah alone. - The heart’s migration from serving others to serving Allah alone. - The heart’s migration from relying on others to relying on Allah alone. - The heart’s migration from submitting to others to submitting to Allah alone. Ibn al-Qayyim found it odd that a person discusses physical migration at length yet ignores the migration of the heart. He considered the migration of the heart to be an obligation for everyone, whereas the migration of the body only applies in certain contexts. The Prophet ﷺ succinctly highlighted the centrality of the migration of the heart when he said, “The \[true\] *muhajir* (migrant) is the one who abandons all that Allah has forbidden.”[^3] Although the migration of the heart is more central than the migration of the body, where we reside has a tremendous effect on the state of our hearts. Our beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and personality are all influenced by the culture of the land we reside in. This is a general principle of life, and no human being is immune from this. Because of this, the state of one’s heart naturally will influence where the body wants to reside, and where the body resides will naturally affect the heart. Thus, there may be a bidirectional influence between one’s spiritual state and geographic location. Reflecting this principle is the hadith of the man who killed a hundred people and was advised to migrate to a land with righteous people and to leave the land of the wicked.[^4] Many parents understand this intuitively, as those who are considering taking their children to the Muslim world hope the cultural geography positively influences their religiosity. Despite living in non-Muslim lands, many Western Muslims have found their hearts migrating to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Much of these positive results can be attributed to the establishment of masjids, Islamic schools, seminaries, community centers, and research institutes in the West, which have required tremendous sacrifice and effort. However, despite the gradual improvements in Western Islamic institutions over time, the limited quantity and/or quality of these institutions leave many Muslims searching for better holistic opportunities for their families. Moreover, the negative effects of the dominant culture are perceived by many as an overwhelmingly pervasive force, too threatening to their faith and Islamic values. Adding to this disenfranchisement is the ongoing genocide in Palestine and destruction of the surrounding region, coupled with the awareness that our governments are the financial and material backbone of this evil. As we understand that our taxes and our labor at certain corporations are directly supporting the destruction of Muslim lands, many Muslims—whose hearts are migrating to Allah and His Messenger—are having serious concerns about residing in the West and are considering physical migration. Despite our moral repugnance with many Western societies, in today’s world, there is no ideal Islamic state, and it appears to be a daunting challenge to find a land suitable for migration. There is no country in the world that a Muslim can walk into, wave their *ummah* passport,[^5] find gainful employment, and start life without confronting a number of challenges. Many Western Muslims also perceive the Muslim world as being far too plagued by economic, political, and social problems. So, what do we do? --- ## Assessing your situation There are a diversity of legal opinions on the matter of *hijra*, the details of which go beyond the scope of this article. However, in summary, many legal opinions state that if a Muslim is able to practice his religion openly and does not fear for his religion while living in a non-Muslim land, then it is not obligatory to make *hijra*.[^6] I find it useful to think about the spectrum of rulings regarding *hijra* as ranging from obligatory (*wajib*) to forbidden (*haram*) depending on a person’s life circumstances.[^7] Thus, the conversation of whether to make physical *hijra* or not needs to begin with an honest assessment of one’s personal situation. Wherever we reside, we have to assess if that area is healthy for our faith. It’s important to ask ourselves tough questions and answer them with integrity and sincerity, keeping Allah at the forefront of our minds. Some of these tough questions might include: - Is there a thriving Muslim community in my locality? - Are there appropriate Islamic resources available for me and my children? - Is the broader cultural environment safe and suitable for my family? - Am I actively engaged in calling people to Islam in my locality? - Am I able to find halal sources of income where I live? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then *hijra* may not be necessary, although it may still be personally desirable. If the answer to all of these questions is “no,” *hijra* might be recommended or even obligatory. If the answer to some of these questions is “no,” one may consider whether they have the time and ability to support the development of a vibrant Muslim community or contribute to the development of necessary community resources. However, if the community is not suitable and the individual does not have the capacity to create a solution, then *hijra* becomes something worthy of serious consideration. Migration thus takes on all five of the possible rulings in Islamic law: it may be mandatory (*wajib*) for those who cannot practice their faith and are losing it altogether, it may be recommended (*mustahabb*) for those who are able to practice their faith but fear losing it for themselves or their children, it is permissible (*mubah*, lit. neutral) for those who can practice the religion but prefer to be in a wider Muslim environment, and it may even be disliked (*makruh*) or forbidden (*haram*) for those in circumstances that warrant they stay where they are (e.g., where leaving would lead to an abandoning of responsibility towards family). Each individual has their own life and family circumstances to consider that affect the priority and ruling of *hijra* in their respective case. Each person’s perception is ultimately subjective, and what is deemed a suitable environment to one may be unsuitable to another. Consulting people of knowledge is also recommended, as it helps ensure a more unbiased and scholarly opinion. At the heart of the matter is the need to be honest—with ourselves and with Allah. Saying the environment is suitable when one’s children are losing their faith and halal income is hard to find is disingenuous. Ultimately, each of us has to answer to Allah. As the Qur’an states, > Indeed, those whom the angels take \[in death\] while wronging themselves—\[the angels\] will say, “In what \[condition\] were you?” They will say, “We were oppressed in the land.” The angels will say, “Was not the earth of Allah spacious \[enough\] for you to emigrate therein?” For those, their refuge is Hell—and evil it is as a destination. Except for the oppressed among men, women, and children who cannot devise a plan, nor are they directed to a way. For those it is expected that Allah will pardon them, and Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving. (Qur'an 4:97–99) --- ## Assessing your options After determining that migration is the best course of action, the focus then shifts to practical and logistical matters. Although many people only consider *hijra* as migrating to a Muslim country, it is worth considering other cities within your own country that may suffice your needs. For example, if someone is living in a city without many Islamic resources, one might consider moving to a city with a sizable Muslim population and adequate resources.[^8] This option is especially important to consider for people whose life circumstances necessitate staying in a particular country. Another option could be finding another non-Muslim country that is more accepting of Muslims and suitable for practicing Islam, similar to how the companions sought refuge in Abyssinia. For those whose hearts are set on finding a Muslim land, a cursory glance at the Muslim world shows that there will be obstacles and challenges in store for anyone interested in *hijra*. Many of these challenges are due to the nation-state model and immigration laws in most countries. However, just because there are challenges doesn’t mean migration is impossible. Unfortunately, the modern world has made many people risk-averse and intolerant of uncertainty.[^9] People want certainty that the outcome of *hijra* will be exactly what they are seeking, which is impossible to attain. Unfortunately, this uncertainty often paralyzes us from action. Consequently, the first obstacle to overcome when considering *hijra* is our own spiritual and mental anxieties. No one can predict what the future holds, and we are only asked to strive for the sake of Allah. If migration is for the sake of Allah, it is rewarded—regardless of the outcome. Nevertheless, naturally, we should mentally prepare for setbacks and challenges, as this is part of any new experience in life, especially one as large as migration. The challenges we face may be psychological, social, economic, or legal. For example, people may have to cope with culture shock, language barriers, loneliness in a new land, difficulty finding employment, and more. Legal challenges related to immigration are also fairly common, with most countries not easily providing stable, long-term residency to immigrants. Thus, planning and due diligence are necessary to improve the probability of a successful *hijra*.[^10] This includes mentally preparing ourselves and our families, investigating economic opportunities in advance, and looking into the various residency options available. Regardless of what challenges lie ahead, we should find solace and motivation in the words of Allah when He says, > And whoever migrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many \[alternative\] locations and abundance. And whoever leaves his home as a migrant to Allah and His Messenger and then death overtakes him, his reward has already become incumbent upon Allah. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful. (Qur'an 4:100) --- ## Potential benefits of making hijra People might wonder why a Muslim in the West would consider making *hijra*, especially when thinking about the challenges of relocating to a foreign land. Furthermore, if only considering an individual’s personal educational and economic opportunities at the present moment, it might seem even more odd to consider leaving the West. However, when thinking long-term and stepping out of a solely individualistic and materialistic perspective, we’re better positioned to appreciate that there are many potential benefits to *hijra*. First, one of the major benefits of making *hijra* to a Muslim country is the ability to become more *ummah-*centric in one’s thinking and worldview and less Americentric or Eurocentric. Unfortunately, it has become very common for people residing in the West to develop a sense of exceptionalism that is un-Islamic. This sense of superiority may be the result of internalizing Western values and perceiving a Western lifestyle as superior to all other ways of being. Furthermore, it may also be the result of internalizing the negative propaganda that labels the Muslim world as backwards and uncivilized. Residing with Muslims in indigenous Muslim lands has the potential to eradicate these misconceptions and bring about the realization that people can thrive in other parts of the world. Living amongst the believers may help connect one’s heart to the affairs of the *ummah,* allowing us to think about the Muslim world from a more global perspective. Another benefit to making *hijra*, especially for those who have attained desirable professional skills from the West, is to engage in reverse brain drain—where highly educated individuals return to developing Muslim countries after gaining skills in Western countries. In the case of *hijra*, highly educated Muslims can provide expert knowledge to the Muslim world, especially in the fields of science and technology. In an increasingly technology dependent age, channeling this knowledge to the Muslim world is a powerful way to give back to the *ummah* and accelerate our independence from Western corporations and governments. Thus, the Muslim who makes *hijra* with this mindset is able to see themselves as contributing to the betterment of the Muslim world. Furthermore, and a lot closer to home, are the spiritual benefits of *hijra*. Hearing the *adhan* five times a day and being able to regularly pray in the masjid are incredible blessings that are far more difficult to realize in the West. Furthermore, simply living amongst fellow believers typically makes it easier to follow Islamic guidelines around gender interactions, dress code, and dietary laws. There are also particular Islamic values that are commonly practiced which are less common in the West, such as generosity, hospitality, and caring for children and elders. In addition to this, an underappreciated consequence of residing in the West for many Muslims and their children is becoming disconnected from one’s heritage language and the Arabic language. The loss of language cuts us off from communicating with non-English speaking Muslims (in some instances our own families), and from accessing information available in those languages. Languages spoken in the Muslim world contain much of our shared culture and history, and proficiency in these languages can help one better understand themselves, their family, and the *ummah* at large. Finally, another benefit of interacting with Muslims from other cultural backgrounds is that we become more interculturally competent. The ability to understand and respect each other across various types of cultural barriers is a valuable skill in an increasingly interconnected world. Intercultural competencies include gaining better communication skills, becoming more flexible in dealing with others, significant personal growth and self-awareness, and improved negotiation and problem-solving skills. --- ## Common concerns when making hijra Many people are overwhelmed by the thought of leaving the place they have known for their entire life and moving to a new place forever. However, it may be best to not think about *hijra* as an absolute decision that is permanent. Rather, it may be best to consider *hijra* as a step in the journey of life that is uncertain and full of surprises. As each person has different life circumstances, one might consider *hijra* as the best decision to make today, and be flexible to a number of different, potential long-term scenarios, all of which may contain goodness. It is possible that one loves the place they migrate to, and they may never look back—as has been the case with many people, who cannot imagine leaving the new Muslim land they now call home. It is also possible that the first place is not ideal, and someone finds themself trying a few different places before settling on a destination that is best for their family and faith. For others, the *hijra* may be for a limited number of years, in which they and their family absorb the language and desired values, before returning back to their home country due to family or other circumstances. Finally, someone may spend time in Muslim lands but realize that their situation was ultimately better in their home country and move back after some time abroad. Regardless of the specific outcome, there is goodness in all scenarios because it is the effort and sincerity that matters most—our sincere resolve to put our families in the best place to thrive, prioritizing their religious well-being first and their worldly needs second. Whether you find a more desirable land, or come back due to particular circumstances, what is important is your sincere ability to turn to Allah and say, “Oh Allah, I was willing to go across the world for your sake, and I accept where you have destined for me to be.” Many people either don’t feel ready to make *hijra* or aren’t convinced they need to. Others, however, are convinced it’s necessary as soon as possible. As a result, you often see strong, polarized views—some firmly on “Team *Hijra,*” while others stand just as strongly with “Team Stay in the West.” However, I believe it is reasonable to think outside of these binaries of permanently leaving or permanently staying, especially for those in circumstances that make it difficult to migrate. It is clear that America and many other Western nations are on the decline. However, it is less clear how rapid the decline may accelerate in the coming generations. In this sense, although we cannot predict the future, we can plan for the unpredictable. As such, I recommend Western Muslims, especially those unconvinced about *hijra*, to consider traveling to the Muslim world as regularly as is possible (given everyone’s individual circumstances), with the intention of preparing ourselves and our children for a future where migration may be more desirable or necessary. This may take the form of spending summer or winter breaks abroad, allowing one’s family to slowly acclimate to life in Muslim lands. It is important to experience life as a local and not merely as a tourist on these trips, allowing for a more realistic understanding of life there. This also allows one to investigate long-term residential options, economic and educational opportunities, and the overall suitability of various countries. Ultimately, this choice affords one the luxury of maintaining the status quo while being fully prepared to leave if circumstances dictate. It also allows one’s family to develop a deeper affinity for the *ummah* and the Muslim world. --- ## Final thoughts *Hijra* is not a silver bullet to life’s problems. While *hijra* may be an important step for some, it doesn’t automatically resolve every issue one might face. No matter where we reside, we will be tested in some aspects of life. As such, it is important not to have unrealistic expectations that living in the modern Muslim world will be like living under the caliphates of the rightly guided *sahaba*. However, just because the Muslim world is not perfect (it never was and never will be), does not mean it does not have potential and is not worth considering. One will likely find many things preferable in the Muslim world to the West and, vice versa, many things far more frustrating in the Muslim world than in the West. Tempering expectations is an important part of finding contentment. Additionally, it is important to remember that for those who hold citizenship in Western countries, the decision to migrate is not absolute and if the move does not succeed for any reason, returning to your home country will likely always be an option that remains open—ultimately making *hijra* a risk much lower than many people imagine. Many of our parents came to the West in search of a better life. They left their families seeking better educational and economic opportunities, and—in many cases—more religious freedoms. They did their best to set up masjids and other Islamic institutions for future generations. Amazingly, they made their decisions without the internet and had a high degree of risk tolerance for the unknown. They could not have predicted the circumstances that their children and grandchildren find themselves in decades later. Each person must think about what is best for themselves, their families, their future generations, and the *ummah*. There is no doubt that leaving family and friends behind weighs heavy on us. If one is planning on making *hijra*, they should talk to family well in advance and help them understand their motivations. Just as they or their parents may have left for a reason, we too have the autonomy to leave seeking betterment for our faith, children, and *ummah*. In all cases, it is best to have their blessings. For those actively engaged in *daʿwah* in the West, the decision to make *hijra* or stay is agonizing. The weighing of priorities based on Islamic values, such as the importance of *daʿwah* to Muslims and non-Muslims versus seeking a better environment for one’s family, is no easy task. It seems there is no perfect answer, as we will never know the alternative to whatever decision we make. Praying *istikhara* and seeking Allah’s help to make the best decision is therefore a must. Ultimately, we have to remind ourselves that we are merely traveling through this world. Regardless of where we reside and raise our families, this *dunya* is not permanent. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler along a path.”[^11] If we live by this Prophetic advice, we will inshaAllah find contentment migrating—physically or psychologically—on any path that leads us closer to Allah and His Messenger. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 54; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1907. [^2]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *The Spiritual Journey to Allah and His Messenger*: *Al-Risālat al-Tabūkīyya*, ed. 2, trans. Muḥammad Muṣṭafā al-Jibālī (Al-Kitaab & As-Sunnah Publishing, 2007). [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 10. [^4]: The full hadith can be found in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3470. [^5]: See Mohammed Ashour, “Visionary Ummatic Futures – Mohammed Ashour | Ummatics Conference 2024,” Ummatics, YouTube video, September 7, 2024, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ9lHNDP9\_E](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DWJ9lHNDP9_E&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108987383&usg=AOvVaw3IiguCDjtJELrpYvkg0LbF). [^6]: See “Hijrah recommended, not obligatory, if Islam can be practised openly in land of unbelief,” Islam Web, February 26, 2015, [https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/279451/hijrah-recommended-not-obligatory-if-islam-can-be-practised-openly-in-land-of-unbelief](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/279451/hijrah-recommended-not-obligatory-if-islam-can-be-practised-openly-in-land-of-unbelief&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108987970&usg=AOvVaw39Y4zG7hH1AZWl8m7gv1w_). [^7]: See Salah Al-Sawy, “Hijrah (Migration),” Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America, December 23, 2008,  [https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/77221/hijrah-migration](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/77221/hijrah-migration&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108988363&usg=AOvVaw0wAaVoI1yaiQWLEPIlI6oA). [^8]: For example, in the American context, there are many cities throughout the country with substantial Muslim populations and institutions. Collectively, if the American Muslim population focused on living in and developing the institutions in these cities, it would be easier to procure the necessary funding and talent for these institutions to thrive. Otherwise, both talent and wealth are scattered and we are left with communities struggling to find capital and human resources. [^9]: Osman Umarji and Hassan Elwan, “Embracing Uncertainty: How to Feel Emotionally Stable in a Pandemic,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, March 30, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/embracing-uncertainty-how-to-feel-emotionally-stable-in-a-pandemic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/embracing-uncertainty-how-to-feel-emotionally-stable-in-a-pandemic&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108988916&usg=AOvVaw0EWfcXkW_D9ulQoPCCuWlH). [^10]: There are websites dedicated to helping people plan for *hijra*. For example, [www.makehijrah.com](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://makehijrah.com&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108989167&usg=AOvVaw0Z9feopYqlwjsWozt1pPIU)  has many resources and even provides an assessment to help determine how prepared someone is to make *hijra*. Another website is [www.hijrahtest.com](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hijrahtest.com/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1753819108989402&usg=AOvVaw32LMrpoBfhiUtwEkA2Td83). [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6416. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/when-scrolling-breeds-despair-a-prophetic-cure-to-comparison-culture # When Scrolling Breeds Despair: A Prophetic Cure to Comparison Culture | Blog **Author:** Dr. Jibran Khokhar **Topics:** General Psychology, Nature & Science, Psychology & Mental Health, Technology **Tags:** Gratitude (Shukr), Prophetic Cure **Published:** July 10, 2025 **Updated:** December 30, 2025 In a world of endless scrolling and curated perfection, it’s easy to forget that real life is rarely as pristine as the photos suggest. Social media platforms have evolved into highlight reels, showcasing polished moments, filtered bodies, and carefully edited success stories. The more we scroll, the more we compare; the more we compare, the more we despair. But this struggle isn’t new, even if its digital form is. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, in his timeless wisdom, offered a solution that not only centers us spiritually but also protects our mental and emotional well-being. He ﷺ said, > “Look at those who are lower than you and do not look at those who are above you, for that is more likely to prevent you from belittling the favors Allah has bestowed upon you.”[^1] This Prophetic advice is more than moral encouragement; it’s a therapeutic, psychologically sound antidote to the damaging effects of upward social comparison, or at least, in the case of social media, what we are led to believe is “upward.” Contemporary psychology confirms what the Prophet ﷺ warned against over 1,400 years ago: constantly measuring ourselves against others can significantly damage our emotional and psychological health. In a widely cited study, researchers Chou and Edge found that Facebook users who spent more time on the platform were more likely to believe that others were living happier, more successful lives than themselves, which in turn led to lower life satisfaction.[^2] Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are designed to hold your attention by showcasing polished, visually curated content, because in the world of attention economy, the longer you stay, the more profit they make. This design amplifies upward comparisons by repeatedly exposing users to idealized portrayals of others’ lives. In similar research, Vogel and her team reported that those who engaged more with social media had lower self-esteem and worse self-perceptions, especially when they compared themselves to others online.[^3] These comparisons, often centered on physical appearance, material possessions, or perceived happiness, distort our sense of reality and erode our ability to appreciate our own blessings. A 2023 meta-analysis by McComb and colleagues confirmed these findings on a larger scale, synthesizing data from 48 studies involving over 7,600 participants. They found that seeing people who appear better off on social media can make people feel worse about themselves, hurting their mental health and overall sense of well-being.[^4] These negative effects were especially pronounced for body image and self-esteem, showing the psychological vulnerability of users constantly exposed to “idealized” portrayals of others online. Psychologists refer to this dynamic as the “contrast effect,” where individuals view themselves more negatively when exposed to others who appear more successful or attractive. What’s even more concerning is that this exposure is relentless and often unconscious. Rather than inspiring self-improvement, upward social comparison tends to provoke discouragement, envy, and a sense that one’s own life is falling short.[^5] What makes the Prophet’s guidance so remarkable is how it addresses this emotional and spiritual misalignment at its core. Rather than withdraw from the world, the Prophetic method asks us to reorient our perspective. Instead of gazing upward at those with more, he ﷺ taught us to look to those with less, not to breed pity or a sense of superiority, but to ignite sincere gratitude. This shift helps anchor us in the blessings we already possess. In fact, these “downward” social comparisons on Instagram have been shown to have the opposite effect of “upward” comparisons, with body self-esteem scores increasing after downward comparisons,[^6] highlighting the timeless wisdom of the words of the Prophet ﷺ. Furthermore, in a randomized control trial, downward social comparisons proved effective in *preventing* body dissatisfaction in women,[^7] in line with the Prophetic model of preventing harm. The Prophet ﷺ also said, “Whoever among you wakes up secure in his home, healthy in his body, and has food for the day, it is as if the whole world has been gathered for him.” [^8] A safe home, good health, and food for the day are enormous blessings and are the foundation of well-being. But in the constant noise of social media, these simple yet profound gifts are often drowned out. Comparison blinds us to what we already have. The Prophetic solution, on the other hand, invites us to see again, clearly, humbly, and gratefully. It’s also important to remember that Islam does not discourage ambition. Our faith encourages excellence, growth, and striving for both worldly and spiritual elevation. But when the fuel behind our striving is envy, and when our benchmarks are shaped by unrealistic portrayals, we risk a life of constant dissatisfaction. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized that true contentment comes from the heart: “Wealth is not in having many possessions, but wealth is in contentment of the soul.”[^9] This contentment is not passive resignation but an active spiritual state, one that must be cultivated, especially in the digital age. Practicing *digital contentment* means being intentional about what we expose ourselves to online. It means unfollowing accounts that trigger comparison, curating a digital space that encourages gratitude, and resisting the urge to seek validation through likes of our carefully selected portrayals. Just as we guard our hearts from toxic or questionable environments in the physical world, we must do the same in our virtual lives. Protecting our internal peace begins with curbing external noise. The Prophet ﷺ also warned us directly about envy and the spiritual harm it causes. He said, > “Beware of envy, for indeed envy consumes good deeds just as fire consumes wood or grass.”[^10] If we are to protect our hearts and minds from this corrosion, we must be deliberate. One of the first steps is reclaiming our attention. Social media isn’t inherently wrong, but it can quickly become harmful when it shapes our sense of self or worth. Even short breaks from these platforms have been shown to improve self-esteem and overall life satisfaction, especially among youth and women.[^11] The Prophetic method also emphasizes the cultivation of *shukr* (thankfulness), and avoiding comparison that leads to ingratitude. Looking toward those with less is not about comparison for the sake of pride, but about rediscovering perspective. When we center our gaze on the gifts already in our lives, we grow less obsessed with what we lack and more appreciative of what we’ve been given. Equally important is surrounding ourselves with company and content that nourish our hearts and ground us in remembrance. When we root our self-worth in our relationship with the Divine rather than in digital validation, we begin to experience a more enduring form of peace. The digital world, by its carefully curated nature, is a delusion. What we think is better often turns out to be far more “filtered” than it seems. So in a world that constantly tempts us to look upward, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gently reminds us to look downward, and in doing so, to finally see how blessed we’ve been all along. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2963. [^2]: Hui-Tzu Grace Chou and Nicholas Edge, “‘They Are Happier and Having Better Lives than I Am’: The Impact of Using Facebook on Perceptions of Others’ Lives,” *Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking* 15, no. 2 (2012): 117–121, [https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0324](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0324&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698413276&usg=AOvVaw0mg5WwfQrU-BIUJFeq8Irp). [^3]: Erin A. Vogel, Jason P. Rose, Lindsay R. Roberts, and Katheryn Eckles, “Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem,” *Psychology of Popular Media Culture* 3, no. 4 (2014): 206–222, [https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698413989&usg=AOvVaw1dpSrM-DTFGgw7Yn6EKn50). [^4]: Carly A. McComb, Eric J. Vanman, and Stephanie J. Tobin, “A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Social Media Exposure to Upward Comparison Targets on Self-Evaluations and Emotions,” Media Psychology 26, no. 5 (2023): 612–635, [https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2023.2180647](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2023.2180647&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698418053&usg=AOvVaw3FV2VHWg8CiLH7zQ9TPyu2). [^5]: Dan Bates, “The 2 Faces of Social Comparison,” *Psychology Today*, September 22, 2024, [https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/mental-health-nerd/202409/the-2-faces-of-social-comparison](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/mental-health-nerd/202409/the-2-faces-of-social-comparison&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698415859&usg=AOvVaw0lJ5pMrX1pp15N6NcacK19). [^6]: Jacqui Taylor and Georgina Armes, “Social Comparison on Instagram, and its Relationship with Self-Esteem and Body-Esteem,” *Discover Psychology* 4, no. 126 (2024), [https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-024-00241-3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-024-00241-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698416526&usg=AOvVaw2XZyf3KfIqoV7Y8aCS576P). [^7]: Ann-Marie Lew, Traci Mann, Hector Myers, Shelley Taylor, and Julienne Bower, “Thin-Ideal Media and Women’s Body Dissatisfaction: Prevention using Downward Social Comparisons on Non-Appearance Dimensions,” *Sex Roles* 57 (2007): 543–556, [https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9274-5](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9274-5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1752145698417402&usg=AOvVaw1fmo-f05Pvl7WZhPk-FCYU). [^8]: *Sunan a**l-Tirmidhī*, no. 2346, graded *ḥasan* (fairly authentic) by al-Tirmidhī. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6446. [^10]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4903, graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (highly authentic) by al-Suyūṭī. [^11]: McComb et al., “A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Social Media Exposure to Upward Comparison Targets on Self-Evaluations and Emotions.” --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/surah-al-fatihas-benefits-and-virtues-the-greatest-surah-in-the-quran # Surah al-Fatiha’s Benefits and Virtues: The Greatest Surah in the Qur’an **Author:** Sh. Suleiman Hani **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication, Quranic Reflections, Quranic Themes, Quranic Virtues **Published:** May 9, 2025 **Updated:** September 8, 2026 ## Introduction The Prophet ﷺ was sitting with the archangel Jibril when it happened. A sound—clear and loud and yet inexplicable—roared down from above. The Prophet ﷺ looked around, but his angelic companion simply lifted his head and announced: “A gate has just opened in heaven. It has never been opened before.” No sooner had Jibril uttered these words to the Prophet ﷺ than a figure appeared in their presence. Jibril said, regarding the visitor: “This is an angel who has just come down to earth. He has never come down before.” The angel, this first-time visitor newly descended through a newly-opened gate in the heavens, greeted the two blessed beings before him—one human, one angel. “Rejoice with two lights given to you,” he said, addressing the Prophet ﷺ. “They were not given to any prophet before you: the opening (*fātiḥa*) of the Book \[i.e., the Qur’an\], and the closing \[verses\] of Surah al-Baqara. Never will you recite a word from them without being granted your supplications (*du‘a’*).” As with all matters of the unseen, this moment cannot be truly captured by language, transcending our physical and experiential understanding. Yet, what we are able to grasp is the momentous honor that was bestowed upon Allah’s Beloved ﷺ—and, in turn, his followers—by the exclusive and unprecedented opening of a gate to one of the seven heavens,[^1] through which the elevated virtues (*faḍāʾil*) of the Qur’anic passages specified by the angel—the opening of the Book and the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqara—were declared. “The opening of the Book,” of course, refers to none other than Surah al-Fatiha—the one *surah* (chapter) whose verses we recite in every *rakʿa* of every prayer. Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Baqara are, of course, among many other **surah**s of the Qur’an that possess exceptional virtues. In fact, the virtues of each of the **surah**s and *ayah*s (verses) of the Qur’an is one of the most uplifting and motivational branches of the Sciences of the Qur’an (*ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān*). Many Muslims know about the *ayah*s that should be recited for spiritual healing (*ruqya*), or the **surah** that will serve as a protection in the grave, or those that offer shade on the Day of Resurrection.[^2] However, these examples are but a drop in the vast sea of the Qur’an’s inexhaustible virtues. The benefits of studying the virtues of the Qur’an are many. The more one studies particular **surah**s and *ayah*s, the more one fosters a profound bond with them, and in turn with Allah ﷻ. The process of building this connection naturally introduces discipline and consistency into the life of a believer. Regular recitation strengthens one’s spiritual connection, building a habit of seeking solace, guidance, and companionship through the Qur’an. Making a habit of reciting and consulting the Qur’an naturally facilitates its memorization, making it easier to commit additional verses to memory over time. Eventually, this consistency transforms the Qur’an into a trusted companion—one that provides emotional comfort during times of difficulty and reinforces the essential teachings, concepts, and laws that inform a believer’s understanding of faith and their responsibilities. The Qur’an thus becomes a means of earning reward in both this life and the Hereafter. Beyond these general benefits, the companion of the Qur’an also enjoys the reward, blessings, and protections furnished by specific **surah**s and *ayah*s, such as protection in this life (e.g., Ayat al-Kursi), in the grave (e.g., Surah al-Mulk), and on the Day of Judgment (e.g., Surah al-Baqara). Surah al-Kawthar (Qur’an 108) reminds believers of Allah’s abundant gifts, while verses like Ayat al-Kursi emphasize His constant protection. Recognizing these divine favors fosters gratitude within the heart of the believer, deepening their appreciation for Allah’s guidance and provisions. In turn, with this gratitude comes increased *tawakkul* (reliance upon Allah) that believers are encouraged to combine with proactive measures for protection and success. For instance, Surah al-Falaq (Qur’an 113) and Surah al-Nas (Qur’an 114) exemplify this principle by serving as spiritual remedies for protection against harm, while reinforcing the importance of trusting in Allah’s ultimate control and mercy. Furthermore, while the Qur’an is in Arabic, we hope the reward and benefits of these chapters and verses extend equally to those who sincerely strive to read them via transliteration (not to be confused with translation). This applies as well to the believing woman who, even during her menses, recites the Qur’an from memory or an electronic device, underscoring the universal call to connect to the Book of Allah throughout the year.[^3] What follows is the first of a series of papers exploring the virtues of various chapters and verses of the Qur’an, offering a commentary that intertwines their theological and spiritual dimensions, with the aim of anchoring these divine passages in our hearts and implementing them in our lives. This series covers many authenticated narrations about different **surah**s and *ayah*s, extracted from a compilation I authored in English and Arabic, titled *Special Virtues of the Qur’an’s Chapters and Verses* (*al-Jāmi*ʿ *al-mukhtaṣar li-faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar*).[^4] A virtue, in this case, refers to a special trait of the **surah** or *ayah* mentioned in an authentic report, such as a special reward or protection for the one who recites a particular **surah** or *ayah*, or something that was recited at a particular frequency by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or was beloved to him. We begin this series with the momentous Surah al-Fatiha, a light in which we should rejoice. --- ## Surah al-Fatiha The sailor oftentimes needs a simple but clear source of guidance, a piercing light that shines as far as necessary to reach the safe shores of salvation. While the rest of the Qur’an certainly helps the lost seeker of truth, the opening chapter, Surah al-Fatiha, suffices as the ultimate compass of salvation, helping its travelers attain the pleasure of Allah, moral guidance in this life, and a blissful eternal destination. Surah al-Fatiha is the greatest *surah* in the Qur’an, the foundation of Islam, the summary of truth, a healing for illnesses, a comfort for worries, a protection, and a fortress. Al-Fatiha, an unrivaled divine revelation to the final nation, is recited at least seventeen times a day by Muslims praying their five obligatory prayers, a consistent conversation with the Creator and a prescription for the hearts of creation. --- ## Names of Surah al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha has many names reflecting its virtues and themes. Al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273) mentions twelve in his *tafsir*, listed below with the integrated views of al-Tabari (d. 310/923):[^5] **1. Al-Salah (The Prayer):** As mentioned in the hadith, “I have divided the prayer (*salah*)  between Myself and My servant.”[^6] **2\. Al-Hamd (The Praise):** Because it includes the praise (*ḥamd*) of Allah. **3\. Fatihat al-Kitab (The Opening of the Book):** It is the opening (*fāṭihā*) of the Qur’an and ritual prayers. Al-Tabari adds that it serves as an introduction to what follows in the Qur’an, in both writing and recitation, thus acting as a prelude to the subsequent *surah*s. **4\. Umm al-Kitab (Essence of the Book):** There is some disagreement, but most scholars accept this name, as it encapsulates the core meanings of the Qur’an. Companion Anas b. Malik (d. 93/713, rA) and successor (*tabiʿi*) Ibn Sirin (d. 110/729), however, believe this name refers (exclusively) to the Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ (Preserved Tablet), based on the verse: “It is in Umm al-Kitab.”[^7] **5\. Umm al-Qur’an** **(****Essence** **of the Qur’an):** This name is also associated with some scholarly debate, but most accept it due to clear evidence, such as the narration from al-Tirmidhi,[^8] as well as others where the Prophet ﷺ said: “*Alḥamdulillahi* *R**abb al-ʿālamīn* is Umm al-Qur’an, Umm al-Kitab, and the seven oft-repeated verses.”[^9] Al-Tabari explains that al-Fatiha is called Umm al-Qur’an because it precedes all other *surah*s in both recitation and writing. He further elaborates that the Arabs would call anything that encompasses or leads other things “*u**mm*,” literally meaning “mother,” especially when it is comprehensive or serves as an introduction to what follows.[^10] **6\. Al-Mathani (The Oft-Repeated) or Al-Sabʿ al-Mathani (the Oft-Repeated Seven \[Verses\]):** It is recited in every unit of prayer. **7\. Al-Qur’an al-ʿAzim (The Great Qur’an):** It contains the essence of all Qur’anic knowledge. **8\. Al-Ruqya (The Healing):** Proven by a narration, which will be expanded upon later in this paper, where the Prophet ﷺ asked how a man knew that al-Fatiha could be used for *ruqya* (healing).[^11] **9.** **Al-Shifaʾ (The Cure):** This is proven by the same narration as for the name al-Ruqya. **10\. Al-Asas (The Foundation):** Refers to its centrality in faith. **11\. Al-Wafiya (The Complete One):** According to exegete and hadith master Sufyan b. ʿUyayna (d. 198/813), it must be recited in full, unlike other chapters which can be split in prayer. **12\. Al-Kafiya (The Sufficient):** Yahya b. Abi Kathir said it suffices in place of other *surah*s, but no other *surah* suffices in place of al-Fatiha. In summary, the multiple names attributed to Surah al-Fatiha each highlight a distinct facet of its profound significance. They speak to its role as the essence and opening of the Qur’an, the indispensable foundation of ritual prayer, and a wellspring of guidance, praise, healing, and comprehension. Al-Fatiha’s names reflect its position as a spiritual prelude, teacher, and companion, directing believers to the core of the faith, encapsulating the Qur’an’s comprehensive message, and offering solace and remedy for both heart and body. Thus, this single *surah* stands at the heart of Islamic devotion and understanding, a unique chapter of revelation that guides, nurtures, and protects the faithful in every aspect of their religious lives. --- ## Virtues of Surah al-Fatiha Having become acquainted with some of the core meanings of Surah al-Fatiha above, this section will now present four main virtues of the *surah*, each established in authentic reports, alongside commentary and analysis to further elucidate their significance. First, Surah al-Fatiha is affirmed as the greatest *surah* of the Qur’an, surpassing all others in its spiritual depth and theological clarity. Second, its revelation was unprecedented, bestowed as a divine gift exclusively upon the *ummah* of the Prophet ﷺ, elevating its status far beyond what any previous community had received. Third, no ritual prayer (*salah*) is considered valid without its recitation,[^12] making it an indispensable component of daily worship and the spiritual rhythm of the believer’s life. Finally, Surah al-Fatiha functions as a cure and treatment for illnesses, both physical and spiritual, embodying the Qur’an’s holistic nature and reinforcing the believer’s reliance on Allah’s mercy and guidance. Each of these four virtues will be explored in detail, drawing upon authentic texts and scholarly interpretations. ### The greatest surah The companion Abu Saʿid Rāfiʿ b. al-Muʿallā (d. 2/624, rA) reported, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Shall I teach you the greatest *surah* in the Qur’an before you leave the mosque?’ Then, he ﷺ took me by the hand, and when we were about to step out, I reminded him of his promise to teach me the greatest *surah* in the Qur’an. He ﷺ said, ‘It is *Alḥamdulillahi Rabb al-ʿālamīn* \[i.e., Surah al-Fatiha\] which is al-Sabʿ al-Mathani \[i.e., the seven oft-repeated *ayah*s\] and the Great Qur’an which is given to me.’”[^13] Eminent hadith scholar Ibn Hajr al-ʿAsqalani (d. 852/1449) said: “There is a difference of scholarly opinion concerning the reason why it was called *mathānī*. It was said that it is because it is repeated (*tuthannā*) in every *rakʿa*; or because Allah ﷻ is praised (*yuthnā*) in them; or because it was given exclusively to this *ummah* and was not sent down to those who came before it.”[^14] As for why al-Fatiha is the greatest *surah* in the Qur’an, one may better understand its great status by studying its virtues, interpretation (*tafsir*), and reflections (*tadabbur*). One example of understanding its status is to observe the opening *ayah*s of the *surah* and their impact on the believers’ hearts and everyday lives. In its opening verses, Surah al-Fatiha includes an expression of ultimate praise (*alhamdulillah*), serving as a reminder that the believer who desires nearness to Allah and the path of guidance must establish gratitude in his heart and on his tongue. *Alhamdulillah* was the first expression of Adam (as),[^15] and it was a command to Noah (as) when he was saved (“Say *alhamdulillah* who saved us”).[^16] It is a sacred expression that has reverberated through the ages, articulated by prophets and messengers across the expanse of time and circumstance,[^17] embodying the eternal truth of Allah’s greatness. And as the gates of Paradise open to welcome the souls of the believers, it is *alhamdulillah* that resounds in elation, a celestial expression of gratitude towards the One who kept His promise, ushering them into a realm of everlasting bliss (“Praise be to the One who fulfilled His promise to us”).[^18] The opening of al-Fatiha unveils a profound truth linked to its great virtues: that the universe in its entirety, spanning the majestic realms of angels, the world of jinn, and other myriad forms of creation, is intrinsically aligned in praise of Allah. This objective truth transcends the seen and unseen, declaring that every corner of existence owes its reverence to Allah. Yet, it is the beings endowed with the gift of free will—humans and jinn—who are called to consciously embrace this truth, to submit to Allah with a heart full of devotion and a soul exemplifying true gratitude. This act of willing submission is not just an acknowledgment of truth but a journey towards the ultimate pleasure of the Creator. Similarly, Jabir b. ʿAbd Allah (d. 74/697, rA) reports that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The best supplication is to declare all praise is due to Allah.”[^19] On another occasion, he ﷺ said, “The words loved most by Allah are, ‘*Subḥān Allah wa bi-ḥamdih* (Glory be to Allah and praise is due to Him).’”[^20] Likewise, *alhamdulillah* is part of various supplications throughout the day, from the time of waking up to the moments before sleeping.[^21] ### An unprecedented revelation It was narrated that Ubayy b. Kaʿb (d. 30/649, rA) said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Allah ﷻ did not reveal in the Torah (Tawra) or the Gospels (Injil) anything like The Essence of the Qur’an \[i.e., al-Fatiha\], which \[consists of\] the seven oft-recited \[verses\], and \[Allah said\] it is divided between Myself and My slave will have what he asked for.’”[^22] By highlighting Surah al-Fatiha’s superiority over any passage in any previous revelation, this hadith situates it at the theological heart of the Islamic canon. This hadith indicates that Allah the Exalted—the One whose revelations reached countless human beings before us—honored the final Messenger and final *ummah* with a revelation never given to a previous nation. Furthermore, the Prophet’s ﷺ statement points us toward the *surah*’s role as a divine key, uniquely positioned at the opening of the Qur’an and presiding over every act of ritual prayer. It unlocks the acceptance of prayer (“and my slave will have what he/she asked for”).[^23] Going back to the opening story of this paper,[^24] the angel’s reference to the passages as “two lights” (*nūrān*) must be understood in the context of the Qur’an’s use of “light” as a metaphor for divine guidance, illumination, and clarity. As Allah asks us, “Can those who had been dead, to whom We gave life and a light with which they can walk among people, be compared to those in complete darkness from which they can never emerge?”[^25] Here, “light” indicates the divine guidance that transforms a spiritually dormant soul into one illuminated by faith. Surah al-Fatiha, as the introduction to the Qur’an, encapsulates this very transformation: it begins by praising the Lord of all worlds, establishes His attributes, and culminates in a direct, urgent plea for guidance (*hidāya*) to the straight path. In so doing, it lays the foundations of the believer’s worldview, linking the authority of Allah to the believer’s daily quest for moral and spiritual direction. The Qur’an in general is described as a clear light,[^26] and an escape from darkness into light,[^27] and it is the speech (*kalām*) of Allah al-Nūr (The Light): “Allah is the Light (*Nūr*) of the heavens and the earth...”[^28] Such imagery is invoked in our supplicatory prayer (*duʿaʾ*) in the night prayer (*tahajjud*): “O Allah to You is praise, You are the Light of the heavens and the earth…”[^29] Surah al-Fatiha, the pinnacle of the plea to which believers collectively respond with “*āmīn,*” is a prayer for continuous guidance along the straight path, a path illuminated by the singular light of the divine in a world of many darknesses. This request articulates the believer’s fundamental theological and spiritual dependence on Allah, acknowledging the necessity of His aid and pleasure for navigating the complexities of faith and practice. Correspondingly, the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqara serve as a comprehensive *duʿa*ʾ for forgiveness, protection from human frailty and error, and unwavering reliance on the Almighty. The conclusion of the hadith indicates the “acceptance” of supplications without specification. The most common scholarly interpretation is that this refers in particular to the acceptance of the *duʿaʾ* expressed in those Qur’anic passages, such as for guidance, security, and forgiveness.[^30] Yet it could also encompass the fulfillment of one’s wider needs, both in this life and the hereafter.[^31] In either case, this divine promise of acceptance from Allah points to the power of revelation itself, as the spoken words of the Creator become a conduit for mercy (*raḥma*), blessings (*baraka*), guidance, and an accepted response. As the opening chapter of the Qur’an, the seven oft-repeated verses, Surah al-Fatiha is the perfect embodiment of guidance and a microcosm of the Sharia’s entire framework. It encompasses the core elements of belief (*ʿaqīda*), worship (*ʿibāda*), ethical laws (*aḥkām*), acknowledgment of the unseen (*ghayb*), and reliance upon Allah alone. The *surah* is described as Umm al-Qurʾan (the Essence of the Qur’an) precisely because it gathers into a few lines the grand themes that the rest of the Book unfolds in detail. Its verses orient the believer toward gratitude and reverence for, and absolute dependence on, Allah’s mercy and direction—the foundational dispositions expressed in all the other obligations and teachings of Islam. ### No salah (prayer) is valid without Surah al-Fatiha Because of its unique standing, no ritual prayer (*salah*) is valid without the recitation of al-Fatiha. The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, “The prayer is not valid for the one who does not recite the Fatiha (lit. opening chapter) of the Book.”[^32] The greatest ritual worship Muslims engage in is *salah* (prayer), a foundational pillar amongst the five pillars of Islam. It is the first of deeds the believer will be questioned about on the Day of Resurrection, underscoring its monumental importance in the journey of a believer.[^33] It forms a divine link between the creation and the Creator. That this one *surah* is mandated for every prayer speaks volumes of its indispensable role in nurturing the believer’s growth, fortifying their conviction, and anchoring them firmly on the path of truth and guidance. Al-Fatiha is not only a chapter to be recited on the tongue; it is the first part of the Qur’an every new Muslim learns, and it is impossible to practice Islam properly, once a person has embraced it, without al-Fatiha. To embrace al-Fatiha is to embrace Islam; it is to stand before Allah with a heart full of devotion, a mind attuned to His wisdom, and a soul yearning for His closeness. It is the echo of every prayer, and the foundation of every plea for steadfast guidance. The elevated role of al-Fatiha in prayer is further clarified through a non-Qur’anic divine revelation expressed in the Prophet’s words (*ḥadīth qudsī)* reported by Abu Hurayra (d. 59/679, rA), wherein Allah responds to each verse of the *surah* as the servant recites it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: > Allah the Exalted said: “I have divided the prayer into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks. When the servant says: ‘Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all worlds,’ Allah the Most High says: ‘My servant has praised Me.’ > > And when he \[the servant\] says: ‘The Most Compassionate, the Merciful,’ Allah the Most High says: ‘My servant has lauded Me.’ > > And when he \[the servant\] says: ‘Master of the Day of Judgment,’ He remarks: ‘My servant has glorified Me.’ And sometimes He would say: ‘My servant entrusted \[his affairs\] to Me.’ > > And when he \[the worshiper\] says: ‘You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help,’ He \[Allah\] says: ‘This is between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for.’ Then, when he \[the worshiper\] says: ‘Guide us along the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed, not those You are displeased with or those who are astray,’ He \[Allah\] says: ‘This is for My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for.’”[^34] This divine commentary transforms prayer into a dynamic exchange rather than a one-sided recitation. Each utterance of al-Fatiha is simultaneously a proclamation of belief, a request for guidance, and an intimate conversation with the Creator. Al-Fatiha thus aligns worship, praise, and supplication into a single devotional act, one that is constantly validated and answered by Allah Himself. Scholars like Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) illuminate this dynamic. He notes that the believer who recites al-Fatiha combines sincere praise and glorification of Allah with humble petition for guidance. The *surah* seamlessly shifts from praising the Divine to humbly seeking His aid, culminating in the request for the most precious of blessings: correct guidance in life’s moral and spiritual journey.[^35] Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) identifies in al-Fatiha what he deems the greatest and most beneficial of supplications: > **إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ** > > It is You we worship and You we ask for help (*iyyāka naʿbud wa iyyāka nastaʿīn*).[^36] There’s something profoundly moving about the realization that *ihdinā al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm* (Guide us along the straight path) are the words of Allah, and yet He places them on our tongues to enunciate the most important supplication, that of continuous guidance along the straight path. Rather than leaving believers to articulate their own pleas for guidance, Allah graciously provides the exact words that, when recited sincerely, serve as a direct conduit for divine light. Indeed, the process of recitation itself becomes an instrument of guidance (*hidāya*) and healing (*shifāʾ*), drawing humanity from layers of spiritual darkness into the embrace of divine enlightenment. The Qur’an itself begins with *du*ʿ*aʾ* in al-Fatiha and reminds us to keep asking of Allah, to demonstrate our need for Him, to truly rely upon Him, and to direct our entire hearts’ worship toward Him. The Qur’an, although primarily a recitation, also begins and ends with *du*ʿ*aʾ* (in its final two chapters),[^37] as though reminding the believers not to neglect the essence of worship. Moreover, al-Fatiha holds a singular status as the only *surah* required in every unit of prayer (*rakʿa*), transforming each instance of *salah* into a direct encounter with Allah through supplication. Its recitation concludes with the communal utterance of “*āmīn*,” a moment in which earthly worshippers align their voices with the angels. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “When the imam says *āmīn*, then say *āmīn* as the angels do. Whoever’s *āmīn* coincides with that of the angels will have his past sins forgiven.”[^38] This unique status, marked by both obligatory presence and a climactic “*āmīn*,” sets al-Fatiha apart from all other *surah*s. It becomes the rhythmic heartbeat of Muslim devotional life, ensuring that no believer drifts far from the very source of divine guidance and forgiveness. ### A cure for illnesses Companion Abu Saʿid al-Khudri (d. 74/693, rA) said: “We were once on a journey and we made camp. A servant girl came and said, ‘The leader of the tribe has been stung, and our men are away. Is there any among you who can perform *ruqya* (healing)?’ A man stood up to go with her, someone we did not previously suspect of knowing any *ruqya*, and he recited over him, whereupon the leader recovered. He \[the leader\] then ordered that he be given thirty sheep (as a gift), and he gave us milk to drink. When the man returned, we said to him, ‘Did you really know how to perform *ruqya*, or did you do this on a whim?’ He replied, ‘No, I only recited Umm al-Kitab.’ We said, ‘Do not do anything \[with the reward\] until we reach—or ask—the Prophet ﷺ.’ When we arrived in Medina, we mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ, and he said, ‘And how did he know it was a healing? Distribute \[the sheep\] and allot a share for me as well.’”[^39] Although the companions used it for a physical healing in the aforementioned incident, Surah al-Fatiha is undoubtedly a spiritual healing and a psychological remedy. Ibn al-Qayyim writes: > With regard to it referring to well-being for hearts \[spiritual well-being\], it is absolutely effective. The cause of hearts becoming sick and ailing is based on two things: corruption of knowledge and corruption of intention. From these two result two lethal illnesses, namely misguidance and anger. Misguidance results from corruption of knowledge (or lack of sound knowledge), and anger results from corruption of intention (or lack of sound intention). These two diseases are the main causes for the undermining of all spiritual well-being. Guidance to the straight path guarantees healing from the sickness of misguidance, hence asking for this guidance is the most important and most obligatory supplication that each person must offer every day and night, in every prayer, because it is so essential and because the person’s need for the guidance that is sought is so great; nothing else can take the place of this request.[^40] As for the man who was stung by a scorpion and healed by Allah through the recitation of al-Fatiha as a *ruqya*, Ibn al-Qayyim highlights an important point: “\[The healing\] was effective despite the fact that al-Fatiha was recited over someone who was not the best candidate for this treatment—either because this tribe was not Muslim, or because they were stingy and mean—so what if the person had been a good candidate for that?”[^41] Then he said: “I used to suffer from severe pains, to the extent that I could hardly move, during *ṭawāf* and at other times. I began to recite al-Fatiha into my hands and wipe them over the site of the pain, and it was as if the pain was a small stone that dropped off. I tried that many times. And I used to take a cup of Zamzam water and recite al-Fatiha over it several times and then drink it, and I found a great deal of benefit and strength in that, that I never got from any other medicine.”[^42] --- ## Conclusion Ultimately, Surah al-Fatiha is a guide to all that is good, and it answers some of humanity’s most primordial questions: Who is our Creator? How do we worship Him? How should we call upon Him? Ibn al-Qayyim summarizes Surah al-Fatiha when he writes: “The Opening of the Book, the Essence of the Qur’an, the seven oft-recited verses, the complete healing, the beneficial remedy, the perfect *ruqya*, the key to independence of means and success, the preserver of strength, that wards off worry, distress, fear and grief, is for the one who appreciates its value and gives it its due, and tries to apply it in the proper manner to treat his sickness, and knows how to seek healing and treat sickness with it.”[^43] Certain seasons and moments of the year are endowed with extraordinary virtue and the promise of magnified rewards, such as the great month of Ramadan, the sacred month of Muharram, the profound Night of Qadr, the blessed first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijja, the motivational last ten nights of Ramadan, the contemplative Day of ʿArafa, the significant Day of ʿAshuraʾ, and so forth. Similarly, amongst the chapters of the Qur’an, Surah al-Fatiha has been bestowed with immense honor by the Lord of the Worlds. Those who study its meanings, reflect upon its recitation, and recite with heartfelt sincerity, will experience a sweetness of faith with each recitation. While not exhaustive, the reports surveyed in this piece serve as an introduction for those yearning to deepen their engagement with the Qur’an, to internalize it, to benefit from it, and to seek the magnificent reward, protection, and blessings associated with specific verses and chapters. Ultimately, whatever capacity one finds to bond with the Qur’an, let that connection be nurtured consistently, for it will serve as a timeless guidance in this life and “as an intercessor on the Day of Judgment for its companion.”[^44] --- ## Notes [^1]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 806 for the narration of this incident. [^2]: This ties into the broader discussion on whether some Qur’anic verses have greater merit than others, a topic explored in depth in Yousef Wahb’s article, “Are Some Qur’anic Verses More Meritorious than Others?” (Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, June 7, 2024, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/are-some-quranic-verses-more-virtuous-than-others-reconciling-diverse-scholarly-views](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/are-some-quranic-verses-more-virtuous-than-others-reconciling-diverse-scholarly-views&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1746822224639853&usg=AOvVaw0s1CBst0Tcas66f5fI7kp7)). Wahb addresses the conceptual understanding of the superiority of certain verses, adding to our comprehension of how specific *ayah*s carry distinct theological and spiritual weight. [^3]: In the various jurisprudential schools of thought in Sunni Islam, there are differing opinions about whether or not it is permissible for a woman on her menses to recite the Qur’an. It is permissible for a menstruating woman to recite the Qur’an according to the Maliki and Ẓāhirī schools, and it is a view narrated from al-Shafiʿi, and one narration from Imam Ahmad. It was also the opinion asserted by al-Tabari, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim, and others. Even among the schools that prohibit it, such as in the Hanafi and Shafiʿi schools, an exception is made for chapters and verses that are intended to be protective in nature, like *duʿaʾ*, such as for Ayat al-Kursi, the last two verses of al-Baqara, and the last three chapters of the Qur’an. See: *al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya*, 45 vols (Dār al-Ṣafwa, 1993), 18:321–22. [^4]: The new compilation, titled in English *Special Virtues of the Qur’an’s Chapters and Verse*s, is published on [sunnah.com/virtues](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://sunnah.com/virtues&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1746822224633655&usg=AOvVaw07mQ7_eAiY1eDarC7mEn30) (accessed September 10, 2024). In compiling the virtues of certain verses and chapters of the Qur’an, I have adhered to a methodology that primarily relies on rigorously authenticated (*ṣaḥīḥ*) and fairly authentic (*ḥasan*) prophetic reports. The authentication of these reports is based on the evaluations of leading hadith scholars such as the compilers themselves, Imam al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasaʾi, among others. When citing narrations from collections that are not inherently *ṣaḥīḥ* and *ḥasan*,  the verdicts of diverse hadith scholars were relied upon depending on the narration, such as al-Albani, Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ, and Ahmad Shakir, who have rigorously authenticated individual hadiths. Additionally, I have consulted and cross-referenced works dedicated to the topic of *faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar* (virtues of the verses and chapters) to ensure comprehensive coverage. Among the dozens of key works referenced are: Muḥammad b. Rizq b. Tarhūnī, *Mawsūʿat faḍāʾil suwar wa āyāt al-Qurʾān* (Encyclopedia of the virtues of the chapters and verses of the Qur’an) (Dār Ibn al-Qayyim, 2006); Fakhr al-Dīn b. al-Zubayr b. ʿAlī al-Muḥasī, *al-Durar min ṣaḥīḥ faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar* (Ministry of Information and Culture, 2004); and Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Saqqāf, *al-Kitāb al-jāmiʿ li-faḍāʾil suwar al-Qur’ān al-Karīm*: *al-Aḥādīth allatī waradat fī faḍāʾil al-suwar wa-l-āyāt* (Aal al-Bayt Royal Foundation for Islamic Thought, 2007). [^5]: See: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī and Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsh (Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyya, 1964), 109–11; Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī taʾwīl al-Qur’ān*, ed. Maḥmūd Muḥammad Shākir (Dār al-Maʿārif, 2001), 107–9. [^6]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 395a. [^7]: See Qur’an 43:4. [^8]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3125. [^9]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 1457, and a similar variation is found in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4704. [^10]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmi*ʿ *al-bayān*, 107–8. [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5007. [^12]: There is a well-known juristic difference among the schools of Islamic law regarding the obligation of the congregant (*al-ma’mūm*) to recite Surah al-Fatiha in a congregational prayer when the imam recites aloud. The Hanafis, Malikis, and Hanbalis—along with the early view of Imam al-Shafiʿi—hold that the congregant is not required to recite al-Fatiha in audible prayers. This is also the opinion of the majority of the early generations (*al-salaf*). They cite as evidence the Qur’anic verse: “When the Qur’an is recited, listen to it attentively and be silent, so that you may be shown mercy” (Qur’an 7:204), about which Imam Ahmad said, “People unanimously agree that this verse refers to prayer.” They also cite the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ashʿari (rA), in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “When you pray, straighten your rows. Then let one of you lead the prayer. When he pronounces the *takbīr*, pronounce the *takbīr* after him; and when he recites, remain silent.” (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and others). As for the silent prayers or units (*rak’a*) of prayer, there is a difference of opinion regarding the congregant. It is obligatory for the congregant to recite Surah al-Fatiha in silent (non-audible) prayers, and this is the position of the Shafiʿi school, the chosen view of Ibn al-ʿArabi (from among the Malikis), and it is also held by Ibn Hazm, al-Sanʿani, al-Shawkānī, and many contemporary scholars. They cite as evidence the aforementioned narration, “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.” The Prophet ﷺ here negates the validity of the prayer for anyone who fails to recite Surah al-Fatiha, without restricting any particular circumstance of the one praying. The Arabic relative pronoun *man* (“whoever”) connotes a general meaning, applying to anyone—whether a congregant, an imam, or someone praying alone—who does not recite al-Fatiha. They also argue that the Prophet’s ﷺ command to recite Surah al-Fatiha is general in all prayers and under all circumstances, except in prayers where the imam’s recitation is audible and the congregants are obligated to remain silent. Therefore, for silent prayers, this general directive remains in effect. See: *al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya*, 45 vols (Dār al-Ṣafwa, 1993), 25:288. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4474. [^14]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb et al., 1st ed., 13 vols. (al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1960), 761. [^15]: This refers to when Adam (as) sneezed, as reported in the hadith *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3367. Graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic); see footnote 4 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^16]: Qur’an 23:28. [^17]: Such as with Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) (as), who said “All praise is for Allah who has blessed me with Ishmael (Ismaʿil) and Isaac (Ishaq) in my old age…” (Qur’an 14:39), as well as Prophets David (Dawud) and Solomon (Sulayman) in Qur’an 27:15. [^18]: Qur’an 39:74. Two other expressions of praise are mentioned in the Qur’an for the people of Paradise: Qur’an 35:34 and Qur’an 7:43. The words “*alhamdulillah (al-ḥamdu li-Allāh)*” in that form are found twenty-one times in the Qur’an. [^19]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3383. Graded *ḥasan* (fairly authentic); see footnote 4 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^20]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2731b. [^21]: Such as: “Praise be to Allah who sufficed me and gave me shelter; praise be to Allah who fed me and gave me drink; praise be to Allah who favored me generously. Oh Allah, I ask You by Your *ʿizza* \[might or honor\] to save me from the Hellfire.” Recorded by al-Bayhaqi, al-Ḥākim, and others. Also classified as *ṣaḥīḥ* in al-Albani’s *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa*, no. 3444. [^22]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3125; graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (rigorously authentic); see footnote 4 regarding the methodology employed to grade hadiths in this paper. [^23]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 395. [^24]: ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbbas (rA) reported that while the angel Jibril was sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he heard a sound above him. He lifted his head, and said, “This is a gate which has been opened in heaven today. It was never opened before.” Then an angel descended through it, he \[Jibril\] said, “This is an angel who has come down to earth. He never came down before.” He \[the angel\] sent greetings and said, “Rejoice with two lights given to you. Such lights were not given to any prophet before you. These \[lights\] are: Fatihat al-Kitab \[Surah al-Fatiha\], and the concluding verses of Surah al-Baqara. You will never recite a word from them without being granted \[your supplicatory prayer (duʿaʾ)\].” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 806. [^25]: Qur’an 6:122. [^26]: Qur’an 4:174. [^27]: Qur’an 14:1. [^28]: Qur’an 24:35. [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7499. [^30]: ʿAlī b. Sulṭān al-Qārī, *Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ*, 9 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, 2002), 4:1464. [^31]: Al-Qārī, *Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ*, 4:1464. [^32]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 394. [^33]: As in the hadith, “The first action for which a servant \[of Allah\] will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers…” *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 413, graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) by al-Albani. [^34]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 395. [^35]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 3rd ed., ed. Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim Billāh al-Baghdādī, 2 vols. (Dar al-Kitab al-’Arabi,1996), 1:31. [^36]: Qur’an 1:5; Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 1:78. [^37]: This refers to the *duʿaʾ* found in Surah al-Falaq (Qur’an 113) and Surah al-Nas (Qur’an 114). [^38]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6039; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 410a; *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 927. [^39]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5007. [^40]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 1:52–53. [^41]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 1:55. [^42]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 1:58. [^43]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Zād al-maʿād fī hady khayr al-ʿibād*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ and ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Arnāʾūṭ, 4 vols. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1998), 4:318. [^44]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 804. ## Summary In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon His final Messenger ﷺ. Among the treasures of the Qur'an lies the study of the special virtues (faḍāʾil) of its chapters and verses, a branch of the Sciences of the Qur'an (ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān) that both uplifts and motivates the believer. This begins with a striking narration in which the Prophet ﷺ, seated with the angel Jibrīl, heard a sound from above. Jibrīl announced that a gate had opened in heaven that had never opened before, and an angel descended who had never descended before. That angel gave glad tidings of "two lights" given to the Prophet ﷺ and to no prophet before him: the opening (fātiḥa) of the Book and the concluding verses of Sūrah al-Baqara, with the promise that no word of them would be recited without one's supplications being granted. This momentous honor sets the stage for reflecting upon Sūrah al-Fātiḥa, the very chapter recited in every rakʿa of every prayer. The benefits of studying the virtues of the Qur'an are many. The more one studies particular chapters and verses, the more one fosters a deep bond with them, and in turn with Allah ﷻ, introducing discipline, consistency, and ease of memorization into the believer's life. Beyond these general benefits, the companion of the Qur'an enjoys specific rewards, blessings, and protections: protection in this life, as with Āyat al-Kursī; protection in the grave, as with Sūrah al-Mulk; and protection on the Day of Judgment, as with Sūrah al-Baqara. Sūrah al-Kawthar reminds believers of Allah's abundant gifts, while Sūrah al-Falaq and Sūrah al-Nās serve as spiritual remedies against harm, reinforcing trust (tawakkul) in Allah combined with proactive measures. Though the Qur'an is in Arabic, it is hoped that its reward extends to those who sincerely strive to read it via transliteration, and this extends as well to the believing woman reciting from memory or an electronic device during her menses. The virtues surveyed here are drawn from authenticated narrations compiled in a work titled Special Virtues of the Qur'an's Chapters and Verses (al-Jāmiʿ al-mukhtaṣar li-faḍāʾil al-āyāt wa-l-suwar), where a virtue means a special trait mentioned in an authentic report. Sūrah al-Fātiḥa stands as the greatest chapter of the Qur'an, the foundation of Islam, a summary of truth, a healing, a comfort, and a fortress, recited at least seventeen times daily in the obligatory prayers. Its many names reflect its virtues. Al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) mentions twelve in his tafsīr, integrated with the views of al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923): al-Ṣalāh (The Prayer), from the ḥadīth "I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant"; al-Ḥamd (The Praise); Fātiḥat al-Kitāb (The Opening of the Book), which al-Ṭabarī explains serves as an introduction to what follows; Umm al-Kitāb (Essence of the Book), which most scholars accept, though Anas b. Mālik (d. 93/713) and Ibn Sīrīn (d. 110/729) held that this name refers exclusively to the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ); Umm al-Qurʾān, accepted by most based on a narration in al-Tirmidhī; al-Mathānī or al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī (the Oft-Repeated Seven); al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (The Great Qur'an); al-Ruqya (The Healing); al-Shifāʾ (The Cure); al-Asās (The Foundation); al-Wāfiya (The Complete One), so named by Sufyān b. ʿUyayna (d. 198/813) because it must be recited in full; and al-Kāfiya (The Sufficient), as Yaḥyā b. Abī Kathīr noted that it suffices in place of other chapters but none suffices in its place. Four principal virtues, each established in authentic reports, deepen our appreciation of this chapter. The first is that it is the greatest chapter of the Qur'an. Abū Saʿīd Rāfiʿ b. al-Muʿallā (d. 2/624) reported that the Prophet ﷺ promised to teach him the greatest chapter before he left the mosque, and identified it as "Alḥamdulillāhi Rabb al-ʿālamīn… which is al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī and the Great Qur'an." Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449) noted the scholarly difference over why it is called mathānī: because it is repeated in every rakʿa, or because Allah is praised within it, or because it was given exclusively to this ummah. Its greatness is grasped through reflecting on its opening praise, alḥamdulillāh, which was the first expression of Ādam (as) and a command to Nūḥ (as) upon his salvation, and which resounds as the gates of Paradise open for the believers. Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh (d. 74/697) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, "The best supplication is to declare all praise is due to Allah," and that the words most beloved to Allah are "Subḥān Allāh wa bi-ḥamdih." The second virtue is that its revelation was unprecedented. Ubayy b. Kaʿb (d. 30/649) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said Allah revealed nothing like it in the Torah or the Gospel, and that "it is divided between Myself and My servant, and My servant will have what he asked for." The angel's description of the two passages as "two lights" (nūrān) is understood through the Qur'an's use of light as a metaphor for divine guidance, as in the verse contrasting one given life and light to walk among people with one in darkness. Sūrah al-Fātiḥa embodies this transformation, moving from praise of the Lord of all worlds to an urgent plea for guidance (hidāya) to the straight path, while the closing verses of al-Baqara serve as a comprehensive supplication for forgiveness and protection. The promise of "acceptance" is most commonly interpreted by scholars as the acceptance of the supplications within these passages, though it may encompass one's wider needs in this life and the next. As Umm al-Qurʾān, al-Fātiḥa gathers the grand themes of belief, worship, ethical rulings, the unseen, and reliance upon Allah alone. The third virtue is that no prayer is valid without it, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "The prayer is not valid for the one who does not recite the Fātiḥa of the Book." This is clarified by the ḥadīth qudsī reported by Abū Hurayra (d. 59/679), in which Allah responds to each verse as the servant recites it, dividing the prayer into two halves and promising the servant what he asks. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) observed how the chapter shifts seamlessly from praise to petition, and Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) identified "iyyāka naʿbud wa iyyāka nastaʿīn" as the greatest and most beneficial of supplications. The recitation concludes with "āmīn," of which the Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever's āmīn coincides with that of the angels will have his past sins forgiven." The fourth virtue is that it is a cure for illnesses. Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (d. 74/693) reported the incident of a companion who recited "Umm al-Kitāb" over a tribal leader who had been stung, whereupon he recovered; the Prophet ﷺ affirmed this, asking, "And how did he know it was a healing?" and approving the reward. Ibn al-Qayyim explained that al-Fātiḥa heals the hearts, for the sickness of hearts stems from corruption of knowledge, yielding misguidance, and corruption of intention, yielding anger; the plea for guidance to the straight path is the remedy for misguidance and the most essential of supplications. He further recounted healing his own severe pains by reciting al-Fātiḥa into his hands and over Zamzam water, finding benefit he never obtained from any medicine. In sum, Sūrah al-Fātiḥa answers humanity's most primordial questions concerning its Creator, His worship, and how He is called upon. Ibn al-Qayyim described it as "the complete healing, the beneficial remedy, the perfect ruqya… for the one who appreciates its value and gives it its due." Just as certain seasons such as Ramaḍān, the Night of Qadr, and the Day of ʿArafa are endowed with magnified reward, so too is al-Fātiḥa honored among the chapters. Whatever capacity one finds to bond with the Qur'an, let it be nurtured consistently, for it will serve as guidance in this life and "as an intercessor on the Day of Judgment for its companion." ## Key Takeaways 1. Surah al-Fatiha holds a status unmatched by any other chapter of the Qur’an. Its descent was a singular heavenly event: an angel who had never before come to earth descended through a gate that had never before opened. He told the Prophet ﷺ to rejoice in two lights given to no prophet before him, the opening of the Book and the closing verses of Surah al-Baqara. Its many names each capture a facet of this significance, naming it the Prayer, the Praise, the Essence of the Qur’an, the Oft-Repeated Seven, the Foundation, and the Cure. 2. The greatness of al-Fatiha is perceived through its meanings. It opens with *alhamdulillah*, the first word of Adam and the cry of the believers as they enter Paradise, reminding the worshipper that nearness to Allah begins with gratitude. It then moves from praise of the Lord of all worlds to an urgent plea for guidance along the straight path, gathering into a few lines the core elements of belief, worship, ethics, and reliance upon Allah alone. 3. No prayer is valid without al-Fatiha, and a ḥadīth qudsī narration illuminates its unique role in prayer: Allah divides the surah between Himself and His servant, responding to each verse as it is spoken, so that prayer becomes a living exchange rather than a one-sided recitation. The surah is also a cure for illness of both body and soul. Its deepest healing addresses the two diseases of the heart, the misguidance born of corrupted knowledge and the anger born of corrupted intention, for which the plea to be guided along the straight path is the remedy. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why is Surah al-Fatiha called the greatest surah in the Qur’an? The Prophet ﷺ called Surah al-Fatiha the greatest surah in the Qur’an, describing it as the seven oft-repeated verses and the Great Qur’an. Its greatness becomes clearer through its meaning and role. In just seven short verses it gathers the core themes the rest of the Qur’an explains in detail, which is why it is called the Essence of the Qur’an (Umm al-Qur’an). It opens with praise of Allah, affirms His lordship and mercy, declares that worship and reliance belong to Him alone, and ends with a plea for guidance to the straight path. This makes it a summary of belief, worship, and the believer’s dependence on Allah. It is also the one surah recited in every unit of every prayer, at least seventeen times a day. No previous nation was given anything like it. Studying its meanings and reciting it sincerely is described as a source of guidance and healing, which is part of why it holds such an elevated status. ### Can Surah al-Fatiha be used for healing (ruqya)? Yes. One of the names of Surah al-Fatiha is al-Ruqya (the Healing), and this is rooted in an authentic incident. A group of companions were traveling when a tribal leader was stung. One companion recited al-Fatiha over him, and the man recovered. When they later mentioned it to the Prophet ﷺ, he affirmed the practice and even asked for a share of the gift they had received, confirming that al-Fatiha was correctly used as a means of healing. Ibn al-Qayyim also reports personally reciting it over water or over a place of pain and finding relief. The healing is understood as coming from Allah through His words, joined with sincere reliance on Him. ### What does it mean that Allah “divided the prayer” between Himself and His servant? This comes from a *hadith qudsi* in which Allah says He has divided the prayer into two halves between Himself and His servant, and that the servant will receive what they ask for. The Prophet ﷺ explained it verse by verse. When the worshipper says “All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds,” Allah responds that His servant has praised Him. With each line of al-Fatiha that follows, Allah replies in turn, until the final plea, “Guide us to the straight path,” which Allah says belongs to the servant, who will be granted their request. This shows that reciting al-Fatiha in prayer is not a one-way recitation but a living conversation with Allah. The opening verses center on praise of Allah; “You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help” stands between Allah and His servant; and the concluding petition for guidance is for the servant. Understanding this turns each prayer into a direct and answered exchange between a person and their Creator. ### What are the different names of Surah al-Fatiha? Surah al-Fatiha is known by many names, and early scholars listed around twelve. Each points to a different aspect of its meaning and role. Some describe its place in the Qur’an, such as Fatihat al-Kitab (the Opening of the Book) and Umm al-Qur’an (the Essence of the Qur’an), since it opens the Book and gathers its central themes. Others describe its role in worship, such as al-Salah (the Prayer), drawn from the hadith in which Allah says He divided the prayer between Himself and His servant, and al-Sabʿ al-Mathani (the Seven Oft Repeated Verses), since it is recited in every unit of prayer. Still others point to its benefit, such as al-Ruqya (the Healing) and al-Shifaʾ (the Cure). Names like al-Asas (the Foundation), al-Wafiya (the Complete), and al-Kafiya (the Sufficient) reflect that it is central to faith and must be recited in full. It is also called al-Hamd (the Praise) and al-Qur’an al-ʿAzim (the Great Qur’an). Together, these names capture how this single surah guides, anchors, and heals the believer. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/secrets-of-surah-al-fatihah-how-divine-language-provides-a-moral-compass # Secrets of Surah al-Fatihah: How Divine Language Provides a Moral Compass | Blog **Author:** Dr. Nazir Khan **Topics:** Epistemology, Quran **Published:** April 18, 2025 **Updated:** July 10, 2025 In order to reconnect our hearts with the Qur’an and improve our concentration in *ṣalāh*, one of the most valuable activities is to reflect deeply on the meanings of Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, the greatest chapter in the Qur’an. It is the opening to the Qur’an for a reason; it contains the keys to receiving the guidance and message of the Qur’an. Despite the fact that this *sūrah* is so frequently recited, there are countless profound gems that are contained within its verses. Ibn Taymiyya says, “A person may recite a *sūrah* multiple times—even Sūrah al-Fātiḥah—and yet, in the midst of his recitation, more of its meanings may become apparent to him that never occurred to him before, as if it had just been revealed at that very moment. He thus believes in these meanings, and his knowledge and actions increase. This is something experienced by everyone who recites the Qur’an with contemplation (*tadabbur*), unlike the one who recites it heedlessly.”[^1] This brief blog will review a few of the profound gems related to this *sūrah* extracted from the works of *tafsīr*. In seven short verses, we will see how every single word has been perfectly selected to convey the greatest moral lessons. This material is summarized and simplified from the author’s *The Straight Path: How Sūrah al-Fātiḥah addresses modern ideologies*, which the reader can [refer to for further details](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/books/the-straight-path-how-surah-al-fatiha-addresses-modern-ideologies&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1744994797305327&usg=AOvVaw1TUxUIAV6qKwQ5aQn0wOLU). --- ## Secret 1: Praise entails ultimate love. *Alḥamdulillah* (All praise belongs to Allah) means affirming that all goodness comes from Allah and that He is perfect in every way. With this statement, we are expressing our ultimate love and gratitude to Allah. While the word *ḥamd* (praise) encompasses *shukr* (thankfulness), it also goes beyond it, as one praises Allah not only for His blessings but also because of His beautiful names and attributes. It encompasses *thanāʾ* (another word for praise) but also further emphasizes actions of the heart: making sure that Allah is more dear and beloved to us than anything else. So it functions like a diagnostic scan of our soul by inviting us to examine whether we fulfill its meaning. --- ## Secret 2: Praise of Allah does not depend on us. The phrase *alḥamdulillāh* is expressed as a statement of fact but it also serves as an instruction. It is significant to note that the chapter does not express this in the imperative form, either ‘praise God’ (*iḥmadū Allah*) or ‘Say: praise belongs to God’ (*qul alḥamdulillah*), but simply makes the declaration directly. It shows us that praising the Creator is the most natural human impulse. It also makes the verse not dependent on human action in order to be fulfilled. It is always true; praise belongs to our Creator whether we choose to recognize it or not. Moreover, by expressing the sentence with a noun rather than a verb (e.g., “We praise Allah”), it is not trapped within a time period. --- ## Secret 3: Know your Rabb, know your purpose. When we declare that Allah is our *Rabb* (Lord), what does that entail? As Imam Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī explains, linguistically, the word entails the Master to be obeyed (*al-Sayyid al-muṭāʿ*), the Owner (*al-Mālik*), and the One who sets a matter right (*al-Muṣliḥ lil-shayʾ*).[^2] The first meaning entails that we earnestly strive to obey His guidance, the second reminds us that everything we possess is really entrusted to us by Him, and the third reminds us that He created us to fulfill a purpose and gives us the guidance to achieve true virtue. Our *Rabb* provides us with the best guidance to nurture our souls just as He takes care of everything in the universe. If we truly internalize this meaning, we will see how Islam offers a complete worldview and the path to lead the most ethical and virtuous life. --- ## Secret 4: Everything is a sign of Allah and whoever has Allah has everything. In the phrase “*Rabb al-ʿālamīn*” (Lord of the Worlds) we have the Arabic word *ʿālamīn*. It encompasses everything in existence besides Allah, including all the species of creation existing in every time period, encompassing both the seen and unseen realms. It is linguistically derived from *ʿalāmah* (sign) because everything in creation serves as a sign of God. Imam Abū Ḥafṣ al-Nasafī explains that grammatically the word *Rabb* has been connected via the genitive construct (*iḍāfah*) to “*al-ʿālamīn*” as if to say, “How magnificent am I that all creation belongs to Me, and how magnificent are My beloved servants that I am theirs!”[^3] --- ## Secret 5: Allah’s love is even greater than a mother’s love for her child. The chapter emphasizes Allah’s attribute of *raḥmah* (mercy), meaning that He is compassionate, benevolent, caring, loving, merciful, and kind. The word is linguistically linked to the word *raḥim* (womb), which emphasizes the profound nature of the compassion of Allah towards His creation, greater than a mother’s love and care for her child.[^4] --- ## Secret 6: Allah’s justice is perfect. The verse “Master of the Day of Judgment” reminds us of the day on which God’s perfect justice will be fully manifest. On that Day, God will say: > I am the true King (*al-Malik*), I am the true Judge (*al-Dayyān*); it is not fitting for anyone from the people of Paradise to enter Paradise, nor for anyone from the people of Hell to enter Hell, until I judge any grievance of his, even if it be as little as a slap.[^5] This is the perfect justice and absolute accountability that Islam teaches, such that in the court of Divine Justice there will be retribution for even the slightest infraction against the rights of another. --- ## Secret 7: The grammatical shift and the psychological shift. From the Islamic perspective, acquiring sound knowledge of God and His divine attributes is the basis for knowing how to live in this world and pursue ethical conduct. We see this mirrored in al-Fātiḥah. There is a grammatical shift from speaking about Allah to speaking directly to Allah: “Praise be to Allah” to “You alone do we worship” (*iyyāka naʿbudu*). This shows that one is prepared to converse with God directly after acquiring a sound understanding of His attributes of perfection. --- ## Secret 8: All the categories of tawḥīd are in Sūrah al-Fātiḥah. In addition to teaching the etiquettes of worship and supplication, the categories of *tawḥīd* (monotheism) are also found in the opening verses of al-Fātiḥah. One finds *tawḥīd* *al-rubūbiyyah* (oneness of Allah’s Lordship) in the description of God as the *Rabb*, the sole Lord and Creator of the universe, *tawḥīd* *al-asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt* (oneness of Allah’s divine names and attributes) in the verses describing His uniquely great mercy as well as His sovereignty on Judgment Day, and *tawḥīd* *al-ulūhiyya* (oneness of Allah’s exclusive right to be worshiped) in describing our worship of Him alone. --- ## Secret 9: All the emotions of worship are contained in this chapter. All the emotions of worship are found within this chapter. Ibn al-Qayyim says, “The heart in its journey towards Allah is like a bird: love is its head, and fear and hope are its wings.”[^6] The first verse *Alḥamdulillah* entails love, since it is an integral part of the meaning of *al-ḥamd*. The second verse entails hope, by reminding us of the vast and immense mercy of Allah indicated by the divine names *al-Raḥmān* and *al-Raḥīm*. The third verse entails fear, as we remember that we will be accountable before Allah on the Day of Judgment and under His complete sovereignty and justice. Moreover, love is revisited in the verse “You alone do we worship,” hope is revisited in the verse, “The path of those upon whom you have bestowed your favor,” and fear is revisited in the verse “Not the path of those who have incurred anger nor gone astray.” --- ## Secret 10: All the ingredients to success are contained in one verse. The self-help industry constantly churns out content for people seeking the secrets to a successful life. The truth is that the success of anything is connected to fulfilling its purpose, and therefore, without knowing the purpose of our existence, there is no way to talk about what success means. In al-Fātiḥah, we are reminded of the very purpose for which we have been created when we recite, “You alone do we worship,” acknowledging that our success is fundamentally tied to building our relationship with God and striving to embody the virtues that we learn from His revelation. --- ## Secret 11: The priority is always Allah. Many scholars note that by saying, “**You alone** do we worship” (***Iyyāka*** *naʿbud*) instead of “We worship none **but you**,” (*naʿbudu iyyak*) there is a profound lesson. The most important feature of our worship must be that it is offered exclusively for Allah, so He is mentioned first. This emphasizes *ikhlāṣ* (sincerity). We must not become conceited by our own actions nor allow our actions to become contaminated by seeking the approval of others. Whatever we do is solely for Allah’s sake. Even if no one in the world pays attention to your deeds or acknowledges them, so long as they are pleasing to Allah, that is all that matters. What a beautiful reminder in an age where everyone is clamoring for attention, likes, and followers on social media. --- ## Secret 12: The greatest thing you can ask for is guidance, and guidance has multiple levels. Sūrah al-Fātiḥah is a *duʿāʾ* (supplication). It contains a simple request to Allah for the most important thing that anyone can ever ask for: guidance. In this verse, guidance includes being shown the truth (*hidāyat al-irshād*) and being granted the ability and will to accept and follow the truth (*hidāyat al-tawfīq*). In fact, were the verse to be worded with a preposition, such as *ihdinā ilā al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm* (guide us *towards* the straight path) or *ihdinā li-l-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm* (guide us *to* the straight path), it would not have emphasized the importance of divine providence in following the path (*hidāyat al-tawfīq*). Because it is a supplication to God for His divine guidance, it contains a humble acknowledgment that we are always in need of His aid in enabling us to accept the truth when it is shown to us. --- ## Secret 13: The straight path is not just an idea; it is real and people have walked it. Who are those whom Allah has favored? Scholars often note that this is answered in the Qur’an itself: the prophets, the *ṣiddīqīn* (people of truth), the martyrs, and the righteous (Qur’an 4:69). The fact that this path has been traversed before shows that it is real and achievable. It is a path that the prophets and the righteous before us have already walked. --- ## Secret 14: Guidance is a gift from Allah, while Divine Anger is due to our sins. When mentioning God’s favor, the verb is directly attributed to God (“You have favored”). In contrast, anger has not been attributed to God directly through use of a pronoun (i.e., the verse in Arabic does not say “those with whom *You* are angry”). There is an eloquent nuance behind this distinction. Guidance is a gift from Him that we can never claim to deserve, while punishment is the result of our sins and neglect of all the opportunities He provides for us to repent. It also shows that evil actions earn not only divine anger but the wrath of creation as well. --- ## Secret 15: Allah doesn’t send anyone astray until they choose misguidance for themselves. The word used in this verse to indicate the second path of error is *al-ḍāllīn*, which refers to those who are lost and have gone astray. Scholars observe that the word is mentioned in the active participle form (*al-ḍāllīn:* those who *have gone* astray) rather than the passive form (*al-muḍallīn:* those who *have been sent* astray) to clarify that misguidance is earned by the deliberate choices of those who disregard Allah’s message. --- ## Secret 16: The importance of knowledge and action. Scholars of Islam explained that there are two paths of error mentioned at the end of the *sūrah*: those who earn anger and those who go astray. The former entails those who have knowledge but fail to act upon it, while the latter entails those who act without knowledge. So this links back to the importance of both knowledge and action in Islam. We must always continue to increase our knowledge and also apply the knowledge that we have learned. --- ## Secret 17: There are two lists in this sūrah and they perfectly match. The *sūrah* mentions five divine names in the first half and then five human actions in the second half, and both lists have a beautiful connection between them. It is as if one is saying, “We worship You alone because You are Allah, we seek Your help because You are the *Rabb*, we seek Your guidance because You are *al-Raḥmān*, we ask You to grant us steadfastness in following it because You are *al-Raḥīm*, and we ask You to make us among those who will receive Your favor and not to make us among the misguided because You are the Master who will judge us all on the Day of Recompense.” --- ## Secret 18: We must work together as an ummah. In this chapter, the very notion of individualism is dismissed. We have a collective identity as Muslims and we see it emphasized throughout the *sūrah*: “You alone do *we* worship and from You alone do *we* ask for help, guide *us* on the straight path.” As Muslims, we know that we must think about the benefit of the *ummah* as a whole. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, affection and fellow-feeling is that of one body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches, because of sleeplessness and fever.”[^7] --- ## Secret 19: The sūrah corrects our understanding of fate and free will. One of the issues that often confounds people is that of fate and free will. If God determines our actions, then we have no free will, they think. This chapter corrects these misapprehensions and provides us with clear foundations. We see that this chapter affirms that we choose to worship Allah when we recite *iyyāka naʿbudu* (You alone do we worship). Yet, at the same time, it also reminds us that we cannot make this choice without assistance from Allah when we recite *wa iyyāka nastaʿīn* (from You alone do we ask for help). --- ## Secret 20: The sūrah contains a ring structure. The *sūrah* comes full circle: its start matches its end and forms a series of concentric rings. ![The ring structure of Surah al-Fatihah](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-ring-structure-of-Surah-al-Fatihah-624x1024.png) --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwa* (Mansoura: Dār al-Wafāʾ li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa-l-Nashr, 1998), 7:236–237. [^2]: Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān*, ed. al-Turkī (Cairo: Dār Hajar, 2001), 1:142–143. [^3]: See al-Nasafī, *al-Taysīr fī al-tafsīr* (Istanbul: Dār al-Lubāb, 2019), 1:109–10. [^4]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5988; *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 4297. [^5]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 16042; *Mustadrak al-Ḥākim*, no. 3690. [^6]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2019), 2:188. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 6011 and *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2586a. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-jabbar-the-compeller-and-mender-of-broken-hearts # The Meaning of Allah's Name Al-Jabbar: The Compeller and Mender of Broken Hearts **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Mental Health, Paper, Publication **Published:** March 29, 2025 **Updated:** September 6, 2026 She sat there for days, paralyzed by shock, having witnessed her dreams get shattered forever—or so she thought. A short time later, al-Jabbār had mended her broken heart and recreated for her an even better dream in its place. Their tears streamed as they stared at the x-rays of his mangled bones. The physicians told them the accident would render him immobile for life. Not only did al-Jabbār fix the “unfixable,” but they were now preparing to watch him at the Paralympic finals. Many gave up trying. Others even stopped waiting. Palestine had been forgotten, but now victory is visible on the horizon. After a hundred years of carnage, from above His throne, al-Jabbār decided that He would finally break the tyranny. Allah’s name al-Jabbār [appears only once](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-get-closer-to-allah-exploring-the-sequence-of-allahs-names-in-surah-al-hashr#jabbar-subheading) in the Qur’an (59:23), though its meanings preexist within every person’s *fiṭra* (original pure nature), awaiting the spark of revelation to activate their potency. I pray that this paper effectively captures some of those sparks from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and thereby causes the flames of faith to surge within us like never before. --- ## The meaning of al-Jabbār Allah’s name al-Jabbār captures the incontestability of God’s great power and how it manifests in ways both grand and graceful. Embedded in this divine name are two eternal declarations: when Allah wishes to heal or restore, nothing poses a hindrance, and when He wishes to settle a score, nothing stifles His dominance. Traditionally, Arabs used the term *jabbār* in reference to mighty individuals, tall trees, and bone healers.[^1] Imagine a colossus towering over all like a massive tree, a giant possessed of the power to ameliorate or annihilate—just as the *jabīra* (bone splint) sits over fractured bones, forcing them into a stronger fusion. Of course, since imperfections are inconceivable of God, we find Imam al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) qualifying al-Jabbār, when it pertains to Allah, as, “He who rectifies the affairs of His creation, and drives them towards their own welfare.”[^2] Similarly, Shaykh al-Saʿdī (d. 1957) writes, > Al-Jabbār can mean the Compeller (al-Qahhār), and the Most High (al-Aʿlā) who is established upon the throne and possesses all sovereignty, and also the Most Affectionate (al-Raʾūf). He mends (*jabr*) the broken and enriches the poor, and rehabilitates (*jabr*) the sick and those afflicted. He also reinvigorates (*jabr*) the hearts of those broken before His greatness, humbled by His perfection, hopeful of His bounty and favors—through what He pours on their hearts of love, experiences of intimacy \[with Him\], divine disclosures, guidance, direction, and grace.[^3] Neither accident nor sentiment drives our scholars to define Allah’s name al-Jabbār with an ethos of  “compassion over compulsion.” Rather, it is their recognition that “when Allah finished the creation, He etched in His Book that is with Him above His throne: My mercy prevails over My anger.”[^4] When Allah introduces Himself as al-Raḥmān (Most Compassionate) al-Raḥīm (Most Merciful), before [Māliki](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/mercy-and-might-on-judgment-day-allahs-name-maliki-yawn-al-din&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1743185742776568&usg=AOvVaw15KavicZWlJ9luPEWsjuYe) [Yawm al-Dīn](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/mercy-and-might-on-judgment-day-allahs-name-maliki-yawn-al-din) (Owner of the Day of Recompense), in the greatest *sūrah* of the Qur’an (al-Fātiḥa), how could they falter in consistently differentiating between al-Jabbār and any other *jabbār* besides Him? The word “algebra” is a latinization of *al-jabr*, and the etymological origins of this term have a wonderful relevance to Allah’s name al-Jabbār. Before algebra sparked the revolutionary birth of technological algorithms, and before it paved the way for groundbreaking advancements across physics and chemistry, it was first a set of mathematical formulas compiled by al-Khawārizmī (d. 236/850), a Persian Muslim polymath, in *al-Kitāb al-Mukhtaṣar fī Ḥisāb al-Jabr wa al-Muqābala* (The Compendium of Algebraic Calculations and Equations). Judges presiding over complex estate divisions and astronomers of the Islamic renaissance probing the frontiers of the dark universe now had an effective operating system in the *Book of Jabr* to “make whole” the partial numbers we call fractions, and “compensate” for the missing variables that riddled them. Likewise, no matter how deep the void, or how complex the equation, al-Jabbār is always ready to make us whole again. Perhaps He restores what we lost, or replaces it with something superior. Perhaps He releases some dopamine into our bloodstream from a sip of coffee, or a child’s smile, or a stranger’s kindness. His “formulas” are numberless, and that is what makes al-Jabbār unique in His Oneness. It has also been reported from Ibn ʿAbbās (rA) that angel Jibrīl’s name means “the servant of the Lord,”[^5] whereby *jibr* (from *jabr*) refers to being subjected to another’s power, and *īl* refers to *ilāh* (god). In other words, even the mightiest of angels, the archangel Gabriel himself, is but another powerless slave of al-Jabbār. In summary, al-Jabbār is the Compeller whose wishes are behind every event and action in His creation, but also the Mender whose transcendence does not detract from His curative and restorative involvement with His creation. --- ## Al-Jabbār and the nature of man Al-Jabbār (the Compeller) did not allow His creations to choose their ancestry, nor their placement in history, nor their economic prosperity, nor their genetic pedigree. That is part of what makes Him al-Jabbār, that He alone decided these matters. Simultaneously, the sublime goodwill behind these determinations—which is, in part, indiscernible to us—echoes His name al-Jabbār (the Mender), albeit from a different angle. He did not leave us face down like the wild beasts, but instead “created the human in the best stature.”[^6] He diversified the embryogenic process, without which no distinction or variety of beauty could be appreciated; “He is the One who shaped you \[in the wombs\], perfecting your \[spectrum of\] forms.”[^7] Hence, by not endowing others with the power to create, al-Jabbār ensured that the decisions surrounding them remain supremely wise, supremely compassionate. Allah (the Most High) said, “Say \[to them, O Prophet\], ‘Even if you were to possess the \[infinite\] treasures of my Lord’s mercy, then you would certainly withhold \[them\] fearing they would run out—for humankind is ever stingy!’”[^8] It is difficult to overstate the profundity of this verse at a time when the secular age has yielded—as Charles Taylor extensively argues—a “felt flatness” to modern life, spawned by our relentless obsession with control and choice.[^9] The symptoms of this mental malady may manifest in chasing physical beauty at all costs (cosmetics, wardrobes, medical procedures) or panting after riches unabated (unethical investments, deceptive marketing, neglect of family). These are no harmless fantasies; people suffer immensely when they attempt to play God, for it strips them of the very joy of being human. Nowadays, many tragically aspire, consciously or not, to mastery of their own destiny. This god-complex—this conviction that they can fully shape their circumstances—is precisely what makes unfavorable outcomes so psychologically unbearable for them. But when believers submit to al-Jabbār, they become content with His decrees. They are able to perceive how what He “imposed” on them was actually a surer path to their eternal peace and salvation. As for disbelievers, in the Qur’an Allah often casts them as suspicious of His judgments. For instance, when they rejected God’s election of Muhammad ﷺ, it was on the premise that his lack of wealth and status made him unsuitable for such prestige. In response, Allah said, “Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord? We \[alone\] have distributed their livelihood and raised some of them over others for their interdependence, and the mercy of your Lord far surpasses whatever \[wealth\] they amass.”[^10] While the wisdoms behind this subdivision of livelihoods are innumerable, people’s inability to force *their* way what al-Jabbār has sent *elsewhere* is worthiest of mention here. It was reported that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA) was once asked, “How can it be that intelligent people are \[often\] poor?” He said, “A man is allocated intelligence as part of his *rizq* (provisions).”[^11] In other words, while one may logically expect a direct correlation between intelligence and financial prosperity, Allah has insisted that some receive more of the former and others more of the latter. Of course, our knowledge of this divinely-ordained distribution of resources should only serve to underline Allah’s title al-Jabbār, not inspire complacency in the pursuit of beneficial knowledge and wholesome earnings. --- ## Al-Jabbār and free will Many people wonder to what extent their actions are really theirs if all might and power belong solely to God. Contrary to popular belief, this is an inquiry into the nature of causality, not into God’s omnipotence. Even atheists may be deterministic, deeming every human act the inevitable outcome of a recursive chain of earlier causes. However, we should question how equipped we are to even assess the dynamics of “our world.” Quantum physicists were astonished when they first  stumbled upon wave-particle duality—the conundrum of energy and matter impersonating one another—and now, a century later, the mysteries of the quantum realm have become no less impenetrable. This suffices to highlight how uncertain we remain regarding the givens of our physical world, and hence *a fortiori* the irrationality of expecting to fully comprehend the metaphysics behind how al-Jabbār seamlessly reconciles His will and ours. Nearly a century after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, a theological school known as the Jabrites (or *Jabriyya*) emerged. They upheld an extreme doctrine of divine compulsion, maintaining that since only God has any real power, we must categorically deny any notion of human agency. Sunni theologians, past and present, have rejected this false dichotomy between destiny and “free will,” and refuted the supposedly inherent conflict between God’s absolute sovereignty and His flawless equity. The heterodox Jabrite position was not only unprecedented among the earliest scholars, but also implicitly impugned the perfect nature of God. After all, forcing upon someone a particular behavior is weakness, and holding them accountable for what was forced upon them is unfairness. As for al-Jabbār, of His might is that people do what He desires without His coercion, and of His fairness is that He grants them sufficient individual agency to qualify for accountability. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) writes, > The differences between this *jabr* \[of Allah\] and the *jabr* of created beings are many. Firstly, a created being is incapable of making another desire a certain action. As for the Lord (the Exalted), He is capable of making His servant that way. Secondly, a created being may compel others in a manner that renders him unfair and transgressive, while the Lord is more just; He never wrongs any of His creation, rather His will for them always transpires fairly and graciously.[^12] There is timeless wisdom in the Prophet ﷺ cautioning us, “When destiny is discussed, restrain yourselves.”[^13] His injunction grounds the believers,  guarding them from assuming the finite human mind can ever fully comprehend the infinite realm of God. As Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/687, rA) said, “Destiny is the secret of Allah, so do not \[try to\] uncover it.”[^14] Does God interfere with our agency? Certainly, only al-Jabbār—by definition—has absolute free will. The will of people is subordinate to the will of Allah, and so their will can only manifest when it aligns with His. However, the will of Allah would never undermine human agency in unwise or unfair ways, and the Qur’an often invokes the theme of reciprocation to illustrate this truth. For instance, Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) says, “So when they \[persistently\] deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate.”[^15] Elsewhere, “And We will turn their hearts and eyes away \[from the truth\] as they refused to believe in it the first time, leaving them to wander aimlessly in their defiance.”[^16] Only those who dismissed the demonstrable truth of Islam had their hearts “forced” shut, as a just penalty for ignoring His signs. Al-Jabbār may also intervene to facilitate positive ends for the sincere, such as kindling within them an eagerness for virtue, revulsion at immorality, or peace with a painful reality. The Sunnah even teaches us to invite this into our lives through the *istikhāra* prayer. Therein, we ask Allah, > وإنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أنَّ هذا الأمْرَ شَرٌّ لي في دِينِي ومعاشِي وعَاقِبَةِ أمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي واصْرِفْنِي عنْه، واقْدُرْ لي الخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ، ثُمَّ أرْضِنِي > > …and if \[You\] know this decision is not good for my religion, life, and afterlife, then turn it away from me, *turn me away from it*, decree for me whatever the good may be, and then *make me content* \[with it\].[^17] So many people have experienced a sudden unexplainable change of heart on matters they once abhorred or adored; the Muslim knows that the explanation is al-Jabbār. Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 162/778, rA) was once asked, “How did you come to know your Lord?” He said, “By the breaking of \[my\] resolve and the unraveling of \[my\] drive.”[^18] He likely meant that, just as al-Jabbār has demotivated me from some acts of good (as a punishment for my sins), He has also dulled my attraction to what would have proven detrimental to my livelihood or religiosity. --- ## Al-Jabbār and our broken hearts Life’s emotional blows are vicious and incessant, and thus Allah does not describe Himself as al-Jābir (the Mender) but rather as al-Jabbār (the Perpetual Mender). This linguistic subtlety reminds us that the name “al-Jabbār” is more about Him *constantly healing* us than His *ability to heal* us, if He so chooses. This may explain why it was customary for the Prophet ﷺ to whisper between the two prostrations, اللَّهمَّ اغفرِ لي وارحمْني واجبُرْني واهدِني وارزُقْني O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, mend (*ijbur*) me, guide me, and provide for me.[^19] As if we are always broken or nearly so, the Sunnah teaches us to recite this plea to al-Jabbār in every prayer, guiding our thoughts from the repair of our rarely broken bones to the repair of our frequently broken hearts. Al-Jabbār heals our emotional and psychological wounds time and again. He forces a smile back onto our faces even before the dilemma is resolved. He silences the negative self-talk with which we badger ourselves, releasing us from our insecurities about the past and anxieties about the future. How do addicts reform and shake off their sense of inadequacy? How do adults emerge from an abusive childhood with empathy? How do those tortured around the clock in prisons sleep restfully? It is al-Jabbār, the one who can “unlock” His compassion in the unlikeliest of places. Allah (Most High) said, “Whatever mercy Allah opens up for people, none can withhold it. And whatever He withholds, none but Him can release it. For He is the Almighty, All-Wise.”[^20] The resilience needed to withstand the tempest of life would seem impossible for anyone, and yet we find the firmest believers in al-Jabbār—despite the toughest tests—enjoying a tranquility and optimism that appears indomitable. Meanwhile, the less firmly faithful are emotionally shattered by far lighter circumstances. When Abū Salama (rA) migrated to Medina with the Prophet ﷺ, his wife’s tribe forcefully prevented her from accompanying him. His tribe then came to Umm Salama (rA) and ripped “their grandson” away from her, dislocating the infant’s arm in the process. For an entire year, she stared with tear-filled eyes into the barren desert, in the direction of Medina, longing for a reunion that she knew only Allah could bring about. Sure enough, al-Jabbār then “compelled” the heart of her cousin—a pagan—to melt in sympathy for her, and he successfully negotiated the return of her child and her relocation to Medina. When Abū Salama (rA) was martyred shortly thereafter from an injury at the Battle of Uḥud, Umm Salama (rA) said, “I recalled him teaching me to say, ‘O Allah, reward me for my affliction and replace me with something better.’ I said to myself, ‘And who could possibly be better than Abū Salama?’… Ultimately, I still said it, and then Allah replaced him with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself.”[^21] Enshrined in this authentic account is the profound realization that the ways al-Jabbār compensates for loss are not confined to our limited imaginations. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350, rA) writes, > From the perfect kindness of our Lord (the Exalted) is that He causes the servant to taste the bitterness of the break before the sweetness of the mend (*jabr*), and acquaints him with the magnitude of His favor upon him by afflicting him with its opposite. For instance, when He (the Glorified and Exalted) wanted to perfect the bliss of Paradise for Adam, He caused him to taste the bitterness of exiting it, and the toil of this worldly realm whose ease and hardship are entangled together. Hence, He does not break His believing servant except to mend him, nor deprive him except to provide for him, nor afflict him except to relieve him, nor put him to death except to grant him life, nor frustrate him with this world except to stir his interest in the hereafter, nor try him with people’s harshness except to bring him back to Him.[^22] Elsewhere, he deepens our familiarity with al-Jabbār so we may further adore Him, saying, > Whoever deeply ponders His wisdom (the Glorified), gentleness, and kindness with His servants and devotees, particularly in how He breaks and then mends them (*jabr*) after the breakage—such as when He breaks the servant by \[allowing him to\] sin and thereby humiliates him, then mends him by accepting his repentance and forgiving him; or when He breaks him through various trials and tragedies, then mends him with relief and comfort—this opens for this person a massive door to becoming acquainted with Him, loving Him, realizing that He is more compassionate with His servants than a mother with her child, and that this breakage is itself a form of His mercy, kindness, and gentleness. He (Allah) knows better than His servant what benefits him (the servant), but due to the servant’s weak insight and \[shallow\] knowledge of his Lord’s names and attributes, he can hardly detect that, nor attain the pleasure of the Ultimate Beloved, nor the joy and exhilaration of drawing near to Him and climbing in rank before Him, except over this bridge of brokenness and desperation.[^23] --- ## Al-Jabbār and the ummah None other than an infant from among the slaves, found in a floating basket, would become the downfall of the dictator who kept his people in bondage, and none other than a child with a speech impediment would become the spokesperson of his great nation. These were but two of al-Jabbār’s gifts for Prophet Moses (Mūsā) (as) and his *ummah*. Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came into a world of brutality and barbarity, but Allah decreed he deliver his community from darkness as the orphan who would adopt the world. Such accounts crystallize al-Jabbār’s ability to revive an entire universe via the most unassuming people.  Indeed, during the end times, the descendant of the Prophet ﷺ who will emerge to lead this *ummah* will initially deem himself unfit for such a task—and then “Allah will rectify him in a single night.”[^24] While Muslims should never idle in wait for a savior, they must also never waver in believing that Allah can revitalize this *ummah* via the remotest means—including its enemies. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah may certainly support this religion at the hands of a wicked man.”[^25] Thus is the incredible power of al-Jabbār, who, at the most opportune time, converts the resources amassed against Him into a *jabr* (compelling force) leveled against the wicked. Allah (Most High) says,[^26] \[QRN-8-36\] The periods of weakness faced by this *ummah* should never be misperceived as low points in its history. While tragic, they are the periods that prove a believer’s conviction in al-Jabbār. Not only can He turn the efforts of His enemies against them, but He has promised to honor some of His truest servants with being vehicles of His *jabr* (restoration) for the *ummah*. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah sends for this *ummah*, at the turn of every century, those who renew its religion for it.”[^27] In fact, al-Jabbār affords every individual the potential for global impact. Consider the Israelite man who committed one hundred murders. He resolved to reform himself, and so he departed his hometown for a more pious place. Death befell him en route, so “Allah inspired \[the wicked town\] to move away and \[the pious town\] to move closer. Then He instructed \[the angels\] to measure \[the distance\] between them. As a result, he \[the man\] was found closer to \[the pious town\] by a handspan, and so he was forgiven.”[^28] Dumbfounded by the generosity of our Lord, I often find myself rechecking the wording of this highly authentic hadith, almost like a madman paranoid that his treasure will be stolen. This remorseful killer, dropped dead too close to the land of his dark past, needed a miracle—and so al-Jabbār “mended” the shortfall. If al-Jabbār could “force” the earth to shift for a single individual sincerely seeking redemption, one can only imagine the multiplied “force” of believers migrating in droves  from the lifestyles that displease Him. --- ## Al-Jabbār and the powerful on earth The *Titanic* (1912), famously hailed as “a ship even God could not sink,” ended its maiden voyage on the ocean floor. The *Challenger* (1986), a NASA space shuttle, exploded just seventy-three seconds after launch.[^29] After failing to swat away a fly, the powerful caliph Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr (d. 159/775) complained to Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765, rA), “Why did Allah create the fly?” Imam al-Ṣādiq replied, “To humble the *jabbār*s (tyrants) with it.”[^30] Similarly, it is reported that Nimrod, the sadistic king confronted by Abraham (Ibrāhim) (as), was felled by a tiny mosquito that slipped up his nasal passage.[^31] Allah shatters our illusions of greatness about others, ensuring we never conflate them with *al-Jabbār.* When the people of Córdoba suffered a severe drought, even the sultan himself (al-Nāṣir al-ʿAbbāsī, d. 350/961) joined the masses for a joint prayer. Clad in coarse clothing, he wept profusely, pleaded with Allah for forgiveness, and exhibited his brokenness before the Almighty. He said, “My forelock is in Your hands,”—meaning I am powerless before you—“...so do not punish the people because of me, for not an iota of me will escape you.” When news of this reached the saintly judge of Córdoba, Mundhir b. Saʿīd al-Ballūṭī (d. 355/966, rA), his face lit up with joy, certain that relief was imminent. He said, “When the *jabbār* of the earth shows humility, the Jabbār of the heavens bestows mercy.” It was not long thereafter that rain poured from the sky.[^32] Hārūn al-Rāshid (d. 194/809), arguably the most powerful ʿAbbāsid ruler, once asked for a drink of water. Before he could lift it to his lips, Ibn al-Sammāk (d. 183/799, rA) interjected, “Not so fast, O commander of the believers. If this sip \[of water\] were withheld from you, how much would you purchase it for?” Hārūn al-Rāshid said, “Half my kingdom.” After he drank, the Imam asked, “If you were prevented from releasing (urinating) it, how much would you pay to release it from your body?” He replied, “My entire kingdom.” The great scholar and ascetic said, “A kingdom worth no more than a drink of water or a single urination certainly does not deserve being competed for.”[^33] Upon hearing this Hārūn wept, fearing he may have been guilty of power grabs during his reign. However, throughout his largely righteous reign, he would weep at his grave (pre-dug to remind him of the inevitable) and say, “O You whose kingdom never vanishes, show mercy to the one whose kingdom has vanished.”[^34] Indeed, the most powerful men can barely control their bowels, let alone stave off death, and the best of them are those cognizant that only Allah is al-Jabbār. As for the irredeemably arrogant and tyrannical, they march unwittingly toward the snares of a perfectly just, divinely orchestrated ambush. Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 598/1201, rA) writes, > I have reflected at length on a profound phenomenon: that He, the Mighty and Majestic, delays \[punishment\] as though He neglects them. Thus, you witness the hands of the defiant unleashed, as if nothing could prevent \[them\]. Then, as the violations escalate and the intellect offers no deterrent, He seizes them as \[only\] al-Jabbār can. This delay is but a test—for the patient to remain steadfast and for the tyrant to be led further astray, until the former is rewarded for endurance and the latter repaid for his wickedness. Even in this, there is immeasurable forbearance. But ultimately, when He does seize \[them\], He does so with such a punishment that every single crime is accounted for severely or in a single crushing blow.[^35] The respite that Allah grants to the greatest transgressors—one that showcases the faith of the believers and honors some with martyrdom—is but the rope with which they will hang themselves. They are propelled down that ruthless path because Allah has fated them to the severest punishment, all while keeping them from realizing their impending doom. With lesser oppressors, al-Jabbār may punish them in this world for spiritually therapeutic ends: to atone for their *jabbār*\-ish conduct in this life before the hereafter. Muhammad Ali (d. 2016) was one of the most charismatic personas of the twentieth century, and he often celebrated himself as the “greatest” boxer of all time. Yet, in his final years, [he would say](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2002/jan/17/boxing), with a trembling body and quivering tongue, “God gave me this illness (Parkinson’s Disease) to remind me that I’m not Number One—He is.” Many are similarly brought to humility as their lives conclude, paying a worldly reparation for their sins in lieu of a lengthy sentence in the Hellfire. As Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) said, “Greatness and pride are exclusively Mine. Whoever challenges Me in either—I toss him into the Hellfire.”[^36] In an alternate wording, “I break him.”[^37] --- ## Al-Jabbār on the Last Day Ibn ʿUmar (rA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Al-Jabbār will take His heavens and earths in His hand,” proceeding to open and close his own hand, “and then He will say, ‘I am al-Jabbār (the Compeller)! I am al-Malik (the King)! Where are the *jabbār* (tyrants) and where are the arrogant?!”’ Ibn ʿUmar (rA) continued, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ began to sway left and right until I saw the pulpit beneath him shaking from its base and said to myself, ‘Will it actually collapse with the Messenger of Allah?’”[^38] He ﷺ was shaken to his core whenever recalling how al-Jabbār will manifest His immense power on the Last Day. On that day, every boastful bully and haughty hegemon will witness their delusions of grandeur crumble as they sense the Hellfire drawing near. As Allah says, “Once it \[Hell\] sees them from a distance, they will hear it fuming and roaring.”[^39] It sees them before they see it, because as the Prophet ﷺ said, “A neck will emerge from the Hellfire on the Day of Resurrection, and \[its head\] will have two eyes with which it sees, two ears with which it hears, and a tongue with which it speaks. It will say, ‘I have been assigned three \[targets\]: every stubborn *jabbār* (tyrant), everyone that claims there is another god alongside Allah, and the image-makers.’”[^40] Only on this Day will these three classes of people discover where true power lies —the tyrants who abused their power, polytheists who claimed other than God had similar power, and artists who risked confusing humankind about Allah’s unique creative power.[^41] The Prophet ﷺ also warned that on the Day of Resurrection, the *jabbār* will be reduced to the size of ants and trampled by the people, then driven into Hell and forced to ingest the bodily secretions of those imprisoned therein.[^42] Thus will be their disgrace; stomped on from above for exalting themselves in life, heedless of the Qur’anic command, “And do not strut on the earth arrogantly. Surely, you will never puncture the earth \[with your stride\] nor will you ever reach the mountains in height.”[^43] As for the boiling bodily fluids they will be forced to drink, other narrations classify them as “the mud of insanity.”[^44] Their intense thirst will leave them no choice, and consuming it will drive them mad—a perfectly fitting end for those once intoxicated by their “power.” As Allah (Most High) described the Last Day, > ...and every stubborn *jabbār* was doomed. Awaiting them is Hell, where they will be given oozing pus to drink. They will gulp it but hardly be able to swallow it. Death will come to them from every direction, but they will not die, and ahead of them is a massive torment.[^45] --- ## Devotion to al-Jabbār When this sublime name takes root in the hearts of the believers, it causes them  to bloom in extraordinary ways. Below are some ways through which we can evaluate and strengthen our deep conviction in al-Jabbār. ### 1\. Flee for cover under His name When you race from one hospital to another, or await justice from one government or another, part your lips and pronounce from your heart, “O Jabbār! Only You can fix this!” It would be ingratitude to ignore whatever viable means Allah has provided us for pursuing our needs, but it would be far worse to be distracted by those means from their Maker. Would He have named Himself al-Jabbār if He did not want the desperate to scream it in the face of every harm? Were the challenges He embedded in our lives intended as anything but an invitation to knock on His door? Imagine you were honored with a palace invite personally extended by a righteous sultan, but upon your arrival you ignored him for chats with his butlers. The absurdity of such behavior is exceeded only by people who fixate on anything but al-Jabbār in their moments of greatest distress. In search of wholeness, repair, and healing we must call out to al-Jabbār, the only One with the might to fix any situation. In his bestseller, *Because You Are Allah*, Dr. ʿAlī al-Fīfī writes that he had a university student who stuttered heavily whenever he spoke. He advised the student to chant the supplication of Moses (as) in every prostration, “My Lord, expand my chest, ease my task, and untie the knot from my tongue, so they can understand my words.”[^46] A year later, he reencountered the young man and was elated to find that al-Jabbār had rendered his stutter a thing of the past.[^47] Al-Mutanabbī (d. 354/965), widely considered the greatest Arabic poet of his time, wrote addressing his patron, > O you to whom I flee for everything I wish, > And with whom I seek refuge from every scare. > People can never mend (*jabr*) a bone you break, > Nor refracture any bone you repair (*jābir*). Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328, rA) criticized al-Mutanabbī for these couplets, arguing that such adulation befits only Allah, and should not be adulterated in the swamp of romance. Interestingly, some students of Ibn Taymiyya think they may or may not have heard him admit to whispering these couplets to Allah in his prostrations.[^48] No status or strength that we possess can save us without the permission and aid of al-Jabbār. So, when fleeing from the *jabbār* of this world, flee to al-Jabbār, the true Compeller and Mender. Prophet Abraham (as) resigned to prayer when Nimrod “the *jabbār*” abducted his wife, Sarah, until she strolled back into the house unharmed.[^49] When al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728, rA) learned that al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf (d. 96/714) had brutally executed Saʿīd b. Jubayr (d. 96/714, rA), al-Ḥasan said, “O Allah; O breaker of every *jabbār*, break al-Ḥajjāj.” Within days, worms infected the abdomen of al-Ḥajjāj and killed him.[^50] The tumult of life can dull and distort anyone’s [god-image](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/belief-in-divine-love-discovering-spiritual-attachment-styles), and so our daily supplications repeatedly reattach us to al-Jabbār. In addition to the “mend (*ijbur*) me” supplication mentioned previously, the Prophet ﷺ would also repeat in his bowing and prostrations, > سُبْحَانَ ذِي الْجَبَرُوتِ وَالْمَلَكُوتِ وَالْكِبْرِيَاءِ وَالْعَظَمَةِ > > Glorified is the Owner of all might (*jabarūt*), dominion, glory, and greatness.[^51] By consciously reacquainting ourselves with al-Jabbār in our daily supplications, we foster a relationship with Him that conditions us to take cover under this name *instinctually* in times of need. ### 2\. Ascend as an instrument of Allah’s jabr We established earlier that the Arabs would describe a towering tree as *jabbār*, and hence the name al-Jabbār points to Him being the Most High. Much as a tree reaches deep into the ground, His highness does not hinder His nearness—in His loftiness, He knows our fears and hears our wants. However, His highness also offers an opportunity for human transcendence. Life’s ultimate purpose is devotion to al-ʿAlī (the Most High), to be awarded His company forever in *ʿillīyīn* (the highest gardens of Paradise), for undertaking the arduous upward climb to “higher” ideals in this transient earthly existence. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah loves lofty pursuits and hates shallow ones.”[^52] In another authentic tradition, “When you ask Allah for Paradise, ask Him for al-Firdaws, for it is the pinnacle of Paradise, the central-most region in Paradise, the place from which the rivers of Paradise emerge, and above it is the throne of the Most Merciful.”[^53] Every moral virtue stems from the perfection of God, and human beings are given the unique opportunity to mirror Him as best as an imperfect created being can. Ibn al-Qayyim says, “Whoever aligns with Allah in one of His attributes, it leads him to Allah with its reins, admits him upon his Lord, brings him near to Him and His mercy, and makes him beloved \[to Allah\].”[^54] Just as Allah is All-Knowing and loves the knowledgeable, Most Beautiful and loves beauty, and Most Strong and loves the [strong believer](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves-strength-episode-12) more than the weak believer, He is also al-Jabbār. He loves those who embrace being an instrument of His restorative *jabr*, striving to ascend to higher ideals. Life is but a sprawl of routes up our proverbial mountainside, in the traversal of which we compete, in light of Allah’s names and qualities. The following two sections will take us on two *jabr*\-specific tracks among those routes. #### Bandage the wounded hearts He sent you The Qur’an is filled with the motif of emotional *jabr*—emotional restoration. When some of the Prophet’s Companions could not afford steeds of war, they felt humiliated that they would not be joining their brethren in fighting on the path of Allah. At that moment, al-Jabbār revealed from above the seven heavens verses that soothed the pain of these brave souls and memorialized their sincerity. Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) said, “Nor \[is there any blame\] on those who, when they came to you for mounts, you said, ‘I cannot find anything to carry you on,’ and so they left with eyes overflowing with tears out of grief that they had nothing to spend.”[^55] Elsewhere, Allah (the Most High) said, “O Prophet, tell the captives in your custody, ‘If Allah finds goodness in your hearts, He will give you better than what has been taken from you, and forgive you. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’”[^56] It is difficult to fathom the emotional relief this would have provided both the captives, now helpless in the hands of their foes, and the Muslims, their wounds still bleeding and the bodies of their kin slain by these very captives still warm. The Prophet ﷺ understood better than anyone that such verses were meant to cultivate within believers a capacity for emotional *jabr* in even the most difficult circumstances, and even when seemingly against their self-interest, and hence he was the first to model this great virtue. To the resourceless warriors, he ﷺ said: “There is not a single mountain pass or valley we have crossed except that some of those who stayed back in Medina have in fact been with us \[in reward\]—those hindered by their circumstances.”[^57] With captives, he ﷺ stressed that they not be tortured, nor receive inferior meals. Abū ʿAzīz (rA), captured at the Battle of Badr, said, “They would reserve the bread just for me, and only eat dates, due to the strict orders of Allah’s Messenger.”[^58] Such benevolence must have influenced his later decision to embrace Islam. The early Muslims were keen to tread the path of their Prophet ﷺ in this regard. “The most beloved act to Allah is giving joy to a Muslim”[^59]—such enjoinders had them rushing to bring good news to people or helping them forget their grief. “Do not stare at someone suffering leprosy”[^60]—such instructions made them wary of alienating others or disregarding their feelings. When the Prophet’s wife, ʿĀʾisha (rA), got her menses en route to Mecca and could no longer perform *ʿumrah*, the Prophet ﷺ took a moment away from the 100,000 pilgrims following him to reassure her, saying, “This is something Allah has destined for every daughter of Adam.”[^61] When she dropped a cherished necklace of hers during a battle expedition, he ﷺ attempted to recover it for her while the entire army waited.[^62] When, upon ascending his new pulpit, he and the people heard the weeping of the tree stump on which he ﷺ had once stood, he interrupted his sermon to hug it until it quieted.[^63] Thus was the prophetic example of emotional *jabr.* The early Muslims knew they could never match this gold standard, but they also knew that even the attempt to do so would elevate them in God’s eyes like few things ever could. Sufyān al-Thawrī (rA) is widely reported to have said,, “I have not seen an act of devotion greater or more important than *jabr al-khawāṭir* (emotional consolation).” #### Lighten the burdens of others gracefully Emotional *jabr* includes bringing solace to those hurting but may also take the form of gracefully preventing the onset of distress in the first place. For example, the Qur’an teaches us to include in our charity those whose [shame](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/haya-more-than-just-modesty) keeps them from begging (2:273). Islam also distinguishes between the poor and needy, encouraging us to seek out eligible recipients of charity beyond the most visibly desperate sectors of society. The Prophet ﷺ said, > The needy person is not he who paces between people \[for assistance\] and can be sent away \[satisfied with\] a morsel or two, or a date or two. Rather, the needy is he who does not have enough to sustain him, nor receives any charity, due to going unnoticed and refusing to beg people \[for help\].[^64] Another form of emotional *jabr* is the graceful delivery of charity. People are not just discomforted by asking for help, but also by receiving it publicly. This is solved by the Qur’an (as well as the Sunnah) encouraging discretion in charity (2:271). Early Muslims would purchase what they did not need, or overpay for an item, to spare the seller from the embarrassment of receiving charity. Righteous women would ask their poor neighbors for cooking ingredients of which they themselves had no shortage, solely to offset any hesitation their neighbors might feel in asking for their actual needs. One of the most illustrious displays of this discreet *jabr* was the philanthropy of ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn (d. 94/712, rA), the great grandson of the Prophet ﷺ. Only after his death did people realize the extent of his generosity. As they washed him for burial, some noticed the calluses on his body and inquired about them. It was then that the people of Medina learned that he would carry rough sacks of flour on his back and secretly deliver them to one hundred poor families in the city under the curtain of night. Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī (d. 150/767) added that ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn (rA) would say of these nightly missions, “Secret charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord.”[^65] It is no wonder why this blessed soul was dubbed Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (the Pride of the Devotees) during his lifetime. He toiled to prevent the hunger of his entire neighborhood while it slept, perfectly exemplifying the teaching that “no believer sleeps satiated while his nextdoor neighbors are hungry.”[^66] ### 3\. Avoid tyranny in its subtler forms Being an instrument of Allah’s *jabr* is a great virtue, but embodying other aspects of *jabr* can be a grave vice. Oppressive behavior sits at the heart of these condemnable forms of *jabr*. Such oppression is not limited to the tyranny perpetrated by a ruler, but rather extends to any usurpation of others’ rights. Hence, we find Prophet John (Yaḥyā) (as) grateful that Allah spared him from being a “defiant *jabbār*” with his parents—kindness being their right—and instead infused him with *ḥanān* (affection) for all people.[^67] We find Jesus (ʿĪsā) (as)  divinely inspired to miraculously utter from the cradle, “And \[Allah made me\] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched *jabbār*  (tyrant).”[^68] In other words, unlike the tyrants who demand the never-ending service of their subjects but only serve them in turn when begged and beseeched, Allah favored ʿĪsā (as) with unremitting service to his mother. Similarly immortalized in the Qur’an is the image of Prophet Joseph (Yūsuf) (as) in his royal garb rising to seat “his parents upon \[his\] throne.”[^69] In these are timeless warnings that only a *jabbār* brazenly dismisses their parents’ calls, or remains behind a corporate desk when they knock, or sits while elders stand. In fact, when the Prophet ﷺ saw people standing as he led them in prayer from a seated position due to his illness, he cautioned, “You nearly did like the Persians and Romans; they stand around their emperor while he sits.”[^70] When al-Miswar b. Makhrama (rA) hesitated to call the Prophet ﷺ out from his home, his father reassured him, “My dear son, he is not some *jabbār*.” To his dismay, the Prophet ﷺ not only obliged, but even had a gift prepared for them.[^71] In stark contrast to the self-absorbed *jabbār*, the prophetic example is one of agreeability and availability. He ﷺ never engaged in vain argumentation like the egotists, nor was he ever preoccupied with frivolous living like the hedonists. It was enough of an honor for him ﷺ to be the servant of al-Jabbār, as it was frightening enough for him to know that Hellfire-bound are “every last prideful *jaʿẓarī* (harsh and flamboyant person) and *jawwāẓ* (gluttonous ingrate).”[^72] Hostility and belligerency are other symptoms of the *jabbār* virus. In one hadith, “Through forbearance, a man may certainly reach the rank of he who is dedicated to prayer and fasting, and a man may be written \[with Allah\] as a *jabbār* though he leads nothing but his household.”[^73] Whether this manifests as physical assaults or verbal abuse, it is the excessive appetite for control which renders many people intolerant of nonconforming views and unleashes the “tiny tyrant” lurking within them. It gives us great pause to hear Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) say, “We know best what \[falsehoods\] they say, and you \[O Prophet\] are not there as a *jabbār* (a compeller to faith) over them. So \[just\] remind with the Qur’an those who fear My warning.”[^74] If belief in the Qur’an cannot be forced, then neither can any other truth; if the Prophet ﷺ could not coerce others into faith, then neither can we. This is not indifference to falsehood, but rather acceptance that an overbearing approach is counterproductive to persuading others of almost anything. ### 4\. Stabilize your guidance only through al-Jabbār No created being is capable of drawing closer to al-Jabbār (the Most High) except by the rope He extends down to them (Qur’an 3:103). Internalizing this reality keeps the believer from ever loosening their grip, lest they suffer a fatal fall. As one poet famously said, > Every breakage—Allah can compensate (*jabr*) for it, > But no compensation (*jubrān*) is there for a broken religion. While we can never repay the gift of guidance, we can demonstrate our gratitude by regarding no expression of appreciation as too great. As Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) said to the Prophet ﷺ, “And do not consider that you have ever conferred some great favor \[upon God\].”[^75] Conversely, when some Arabs converted to Islam and immediately boasted of their righteousness, the Qur’anic corrective came sharp and fast: “They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, ‘Do not consider your Islam a favor to me. Rather, it is Allah who will have done you a favor by guiding you to the faith—if you are indeed faithful.’”[^76] Similarly, in the context of charitable giving, Allah (the Most High) says, “O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities with reminders \[of it\] or annoyance \[of the recipient\]...”[^77] The term *mann*, which occurs in each of the aforementioned verses, means to remind others of your favors in a brash way. The people of *mann* have forgotten that they are not the owners of their wealth or their guidance, and that their faith and their fortunes would have long faded if not for al-Jabbār. Let that be our final reflection on this great name of Allah. It is not the Qur’an we memorize that “keeps” us religious, nor the “Islamic facts” in our head, nor the eloquence of our tongues and pens, nor the outward religiosity that people see—rather, it is al-Jabbār. Only al-Jabbār purges the selfish agenda of every pure soul, causing as several of the greatest early scholars said, “We learned this knowledge for other than Allah, but then Allah refused that it be for anyone but Him.” Only al-Jabbār expunges the doubts and desires from our chests, those which every day threaten to swarm our hearts and whose incursion is always imminent. Only al-Jabbār keeps us from unraveling, like the multitudes who went astray throughout history despite their oceans of knowledge and intensity of worship, “...this is how Allah seals the heart of every arrogant *jabbār* (tyrant).”[^78] Just as only al-Jabbār preserves our eyesight, only He keeps our insight from blurring, our faith from flickering, and our steps from drifting off the Straight Path. As Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) said, “Ask \[them, O Prophet\], ‘Imagine if Allah were to take away your hearing or sight, or if He were to seal your hearts—who else other than Allah could restore it?’”[^79] This hints at why, more frequently than any other supplication, the Prophet ﷺ would repeat, > يا مُقلِّبَ القلوبِ ثبِّت قلبي على دينِكَ > > O Turner of Hearts, anchor my heart upon Your religion.[^80] --- ## A parting prayer With Your aid, O Allah, we vow to recall that al-Jabbār only “breaks” the sincere to rebuild them stronger than before, so long as they flee to Him in times of difficulty. We vow to ignore Satan when he whispers that we are hypocrites for remembering al-Jabbār when we are troubled. We vow to keep faith that al-Jabbār will reverse every injustice, whether this reversal comes in this world or the next. We vow to defuse people’s conflicts before they rend the fabric of their family and society. We vow to revitalize the Muslim *ummah* with breezes of hope whenever around it the smoke of despair thickens. We vow not to laugh while others weep, nor sleep warm while forgetting those shivering under the frigid blanket of winter, nor strut around in life unmindful of those buried beneath our feet, whom we will join once al-Jabbār decides it is our time. May we reflect every glimmer of *jabr* that shone in our Prophet ﷺ, and avoid whatever distances us from his legendary piety and humility. --- ## Notes [^1]: Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Makram Ibn Manẓūr, *Lisān al-ʿArab*, 15 vols. (Dār Ṣādir, 1414/1993), 4:113-117. [^2]: Abu Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān*, 30 vols. (Dār al-Tarbiyah wa al-Turāth), 23:304. [^3]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Nāṣir al-Saʿdī, *Fatḥ al-Raḥīm al-Malik al-ʿAllām fī ʿilm al-‘aqāʾid wa al-tawḥīd wa al-akhlāq wa al-aḥkām al-mustanbaṭa min al-Qurʾān* (Dār al-Faḍīla, 2009), 35-36, adapted. [^4]: Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī, *al-Jāmiʿ al-musnad al-ṣaḥīḥ* (Dār al-Taʾṣīl, 2012), nos. 7549, 7550. [^5]: Ibn Manẓūr, *Lisān al-‘Arab*, 4:114. [^6]: Qur’an 95:4, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^7]: Qur’an 64:3, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^8]: Qur’an 17:100, *The Clear Quran*. [^9]: Charles Taylor, *A Secular Age* (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007), 309, 364, 415, 681, 734. [^10]: Qur’an 43:32, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^11]: Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*, 4 vols. (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1982), 3:373. [^12]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr Ibn al-Qayyim, *Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl fī masāʾil al-qaḍāʾ wa al-qadar wa al-ḥikma wa al-taʿlīl* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1978), 129. [^13]: Abū al-Qāsim Sulaymān b. Aḥmad al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kābīr* (Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, n.d.), no. 1427, 10448; authenticated by al-Albānī in *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa* (no. 34). [^14]: Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-ʿAlāʾ b. Abī al-ʿIzz, *Sharḥ al-‘aqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya*, 2 vols. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1997), 1:321. [^15]: Qur’an 61:5, *The Clear Quran*. [^16]: Qur’an 6:110, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^17]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6390. [^18]: Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyā’*, 10 vols. (Maṭba‘at al-Saʿāda, 1974), 7:52. [^19]: Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad b. ‘Īsā al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī* (Maktabat wa Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī, 1975), no. 284, deemed as *ḥasan* (good) by some scholars such as al-Nawawī in his *al-Adhkār* and *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) by al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī*; variant wordings also found in *Musnad Aḥmad*, *Sunan Abī D**ā**wūd*, and *Sunan Ibn Mājah*. [^20]: Qur’an 35:2, *The Clear Quran*. [^21]: Muslim b. Ḥajjāj al-Qushayrī, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī), no. 918. [^22]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Mūṣilī, *Mukhtaṣar al-ṣawāʿiq al-mursala ʿalā al-jahmiyya wa al-muʿaṭṭila* (Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2001), 306. [^23]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr Ibn al-Qayyim, *Miftāḥ dār al-sa‘ādah wa manshūr wilāyat al-‘ilm wal-irādah*, 2 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah, 1998), 1:24. [^24]: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yazīd Ibn Mājah, *Sunan Ibn Mājah* (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya), no. 4085. Graded as good (*ḥasan*) by al-Albānī. [^25]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *al-Bukhārī*, nos. 3073, 6614. [^26]: Qur’an 8:36, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^27]: Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān b. al-Ashʿath al-Sijistānī, *Sunan Abī Dāwūd* (Dār al-Risāla, 2009), no. 4291; authenticated by al-Sakhāwī in *al-Maqāṣid al-ḥasanah* (no. 149) and al-Albānī in *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa* (no. 599). [^28]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *al-Bukhārī*, no. 3468; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2766. [^29]: See: *Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster* by Allan J. McDonald with James R. Hansen (University Press of Florida, 2018). [^30]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿUthmān al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, 23 vols. (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1985), 7:202. [^31]: ʿImād al-Dīn Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm*, 8 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al- ‘Ilmiyya, 1998), 1:526. [^32]: ʿImād al-Dīn Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāya wa al-nihāyah*, 15 vols. (Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1988), 11:327. [^33]: Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī, *Tārīkh al-khulafāʾ* (Maktabat Nizār Muṣṭafā al-Bāz, 2004), 216. [^34]: Al-Suyūṭī, *Tārīkh al-khulafā’*, 230. [^35]: Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ‘Alī Ibn al-Jawzī, *Ṣayd al-khāṭir* (Dār al-Qalam, 2004), 159. [^36]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, nos. 4174, 4175. Graded as authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. [^37]: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim, *al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-ṣaḥīḥayn* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1990), no. 203. [^38]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, nos. 198, 4275. Graded as authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī; variant wordings also exist in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* and *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*. [^39]: Qur’an 25:12, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^40]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2574. Graded as authentic (*ṣāḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. [^41]: See fatwa on making images by jurist Dr. Hatem al-Haj: [https://www.drhatemalhaj.com/qa/?p=5501](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.drhatemalhaj.com/qa/?p%3D5501&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1743185742818909&usg=AOvVaw2GYKpivDZV8dkIM18togUr). [^42]: Abū ‘Abd Allāh Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Zuhd* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1999), no. 121. [^43]: Qur’an 17:37, author’s translation. [^44]: For example, see *Sunan al-**Tirmidhī*, no. 2492. Graded as good (*ḥasan*) by al-Albānī. [^45]: Qur’an 14:15–17, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^46]: Qur’an 20:25-28, author’s translation. [^47]: ʿAlī Jābir al-Fīfī, *Li-Annak Allāh* (Dār al-Ḥaḍāra li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2018), 126. [^48]: Ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāya wal-nihāya*, 11:259. [^49]: Ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāya wal-nihāya*, 1:151–152. [^50]: Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī Ibn al-Jawzī, *al-Muntaẓam fi tārīkh al-mulūk wa al-umam*, 19 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1992), 7:9. [^51]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 873. Graded as authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. [^52]: Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in *al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ*, no. 6906 and Ibn ʿAsākir in *Tārīkh Dimashq*, no. 4596. Graded as authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. [^53]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7423. [^54]: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr Ibn al-Qayyim, *al-Jawāb al-kāfī liman sa’ala ‘an al-dawā’ al-shāfī* (Dār al-Ma‘rifah, 1997), 67. [^55]: Qur’an 9:92, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^56]: Qur’an 8:70, *The Clear Quran*. [^57]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2856. [^58]: Abu al-Fidāʿ Ismā‘īl Ibn Kathīr, *Kitāb al-sīrah min al-bidāya wa al-nihāya*, 4 vols. (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1976), 2:475. [^59]: *A**l-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr*, no. 13646; authenticated by al-Albānī in *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa* (no. 906). [^60]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 3543. Graded as authentic (*ṣāḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. [^61]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 298. [^62]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 334. [^63]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, nos. 3583, 3584, 3585. [^64]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1491; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1039. [^65]: Al-Aṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ*, 3:135–36. [^66]: Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, *al-Sunan al-kubrā* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003), no. 19668; authenticated by al-Albānī in *al-Silsila al-ṣaḥīḥa* (no. 149). [^67]: See: Qur’an 19:13–14. [^68]: Qur’an 19:32, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^69]: Qur’an 12:100, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^70]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 413. [^71]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5864; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1058. [^72]: Abū ‘Abdillāh Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal al-Shaybānī, *Musnad al-imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal*, 50 vols. (Mu’assasat al-Risāla, 2016), nos. 17585, 18728. Graded  authentic (*ṣāḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī; variant wording also exists in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*. [^73]: Zakī al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Aẓīm b. ‘Abdul-Qawī al-Mundhirī, *al-Targhīb wa al-tarhīb min al-ḥadīth al-sharīf*, 4 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.), 3:281; classified as weak by al-Albānī in *Ḍaʿīf al-jāmiʿ* (no. 1453). Note: While the traceability of this report is disputed, it can still help provide a wider conceptualization of where the qualities of a *jabbār* may manifest, namely even in the domestic space of the family home. [^74]: Qur’an 50:45, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^75]: Qur’an 74:6, author’s translation. [^76]: Qur’an 49:17, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^77]: Qur’an 2:264, *Saheeh International* (with slight adaptation). [^78]: Qur’an 40:35, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^79]: Qur’an 6:46, *The Clear Quran* (with slight adaptation). [^80]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3522. Graded as authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by al-Albānī. ## Summary **The Divine Name al-Jabbār: A Reflection on God's Power and Mending** Among the beautiful names of Allah is *al-Jabbār*, a name which occurs only once in the entire Qur'an, in the verse: "He is Allah… the Compeller (*al-Jabbār*), the Supreme" (Qur'an 59:23). Though mentioned but once, its meanings are said to lie latent within the *fiṭra*—the original, pure nature of every human being—awaiting the light of revelation to awaken them. This noble name captures the incontestability of God's great power and the way it manifests in modes both grand and gentle. Embedded within it are two eternal truths: when Allah wishes to heal or restore, nothing can hinder Him, and when He wishes to settle a score, nothing can withstand His dominance. The Arabs of old used the word *jabbār* for mighty individuals, towering trees, and bone-setters. One may picture a colossus rising above all like a great tree, possessed of the power both to mend and to overwhelm—just as the *jabīra*, or bone splint, presses upon fractured bones and forces them into a stronger union. Yet since imperfection is inconceivable of God, our scholars carefully qualified this name in its divine sense. Imam al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) defined *al-Jabbār* as "He who rectifies the affairs of His creation, and drives them towards their own welfare." Shaykh al-Saʿdī (d. 1957) likewise explained that *al-Jabbār* may mean the Compeller (*al-Qahhār*), the Most High (*al-Aʿlā*) established upon the throne, and also the Most Affectionate (*al-Raʾūf*): He who mends the broken, enriches the poor, restores the afflicted, and reinvigorates the hearts of those humbled before His greatness through the love, intimacy, guidance, and grace He pours upon them. That our scholars lean toward "compassion over compulsion" in defining this name is not born of sentiment but of a firm principle: as Allah decreed, "My mercy prevails over My anger." Indeed, when Allah introduces Himself in the greatest *sūrah*, al-Fātiḥa, as *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm* before *Māliki Yawm al-Dīn*, this ordering guides us always to distinguish *al-Jabbār* from any tyrannical *jabbār* among creation. It is worth noting that the word "algebra" derives from *al-jabr*, first compiled by the Muslim polymath al-Khawārizmī (d. 236/850) in his celebrated work on calculation—a science that "makes whole" fractions and "compensates" for missing variables. So too does *al-Jabbār* make us whole, whether by restoring what we lost or replacing it with something superior. It has also been reported from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) that the name of the angel Jibrīl signifies "the servant of the Lord," reminding us that even the mightiest of angels is but a powerless slave of *al-Jabbār*. Concerning the nature of man, *al-Jabbār* alone determined our ancestry, our place in history, our provision, and our lineage—and this is part of what makes Him the Compeller. Yet the goodness behind these decrees echoes His name as the Mender, for He "created the human in the best stature" and "shaped you [in the wombs], perfecting your forms." By withholding from creation the power to create, He ensured all decisions remain supremely wise and compassionate, for as He says, humankind, were it to possess His treasures, would withhold them out of stinginess (Qur'an 17:100). Those who aspire to master their own destiny—a kind of god-complex—find unfavorable outcomes unbearable, whereas those who submit to *al-Jabbār* find contentment. When the disbelievers rejected the Prophet ﷺ for his lack of wealth, Allah answered, "Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord?" (Qur'an 43:32). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) once explained that intelligence itself is part of one's *rizq*—though this must never breed complacency in seeking beneficial knowledge and lawful earnings. On the question of free will, this is truly an inquiry into causality rather than into God's omnipotence, and given how little we grasp even of the physical world, we ought to recognize how much more the metaphysics of divine and human will exceed our comprehension. Nearly a century after the Prophet ﷺ, the Jabriyya arose, denying human agency entirely—a position rejected by Sunni scholars past and present, for compelling someone and then punishing them would be both weakness and injustice, impossible for God. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) explained that the *jabr* of Allah differs from that of creation: Allah can make His servant desire an action, and He never wrongs anyone. The Prophet ﷺ warned, "When destiny is discussed, restrain yourselves," and Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/687) said, "Destiny is the secret of Allah." Allah "caused their hearts to deviate" only after they persistently deviated (Qur'an 61:5), showing His justice. Believers are taught to seek His intervention through *istikhāra*. Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 162/778) said he came to know his Lord "by the breaking of my resolve." Because life's blows are ceaseless, Allah is *al-Jabbār* (the Perpetual Mender), not merely *al-Jābir*. Thus the Prophet ﷺ would supplicate between prostrations, "O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, mend me, guide me, and provide for me." Allah says, "Whatever mercy Allah opens up for people, none can withhold it" (Qur'an 35:2). When Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) lost her husband, she recalled his teaching to say, "O Allah, reward me for my affliction and replace me with something better"—and Allah replaced him with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself. Ibn al-Qayyim beautifully observed that Allah causes His servant to taste the bitterness of the break before the sweetness of the mend, breaking the believer only to mend him, depriving him only to provide, and that this very brokenness is a bridge to knowing and loving Him. Regarding the *ummah*, *al-Jabbār* revives entire nations through the most unassuming people—an infant in a basket became Pharaoh's downfall, and an orphan became the one to "adopt the world." The Prophet ﷺ said "Allah may certainly support this religion at the hands of a wicked man," and that Allah sends at the turn of every century one who renews the religion. Even the man who murdered one hundred souls, dying while migrating to a righteous land, was forgiven when Allah caused the earth itself to shift so he lay a handspan closer to it. As for the powerful, Allah humbles them with the smallest of creatures. Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765) told the caliph al-Manṣūr that the fly was created "to humble the tyrants." When the ruler of Córdoba prayed humbly for rain, saying "My forelock is in Your hands," the judge Mundhir al-Ballūṭī (d. 355/966) rejoiced, saying, "When the *jabbār* of the earth shows humility, the *Jabbār* of the heavens bestows mercy." Ibn al-Sammāk (d. 183/799) reminded Hārūn al-Rāshid that his kingdom was worth no more than a drink of water. Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 598/1201) reflected that Allah delays the tyrant's punishment only to seize him as *al-Jabbār* can. Allah declares, "Greatness and pride are exclusively Mine." On the Last Day, as Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated, *al-Jabbār* will seize the heavens and earth and proclaim, "Where are the tyrants and the arrogant?"—so shaking the Prophet ﷺ that the pulpit trembled. The tyrants, polytheists, and image-makers will be sought out by Hell, and the arrogant reduced to the size of ants, trampled and given "the mud of insanity" to drink, for "every stubborn *jabbār* was doomed" (Qur'an 14:15–17). Devotion to this name demands that we flee to Him alone in distress, calling "O *Jabbār*! Only You can fix this!" Dr. ʿAlī al-Fīfī recounts a stuttering student healed after reciting Mūsā's supplication, "My Lord, expand my chest… untie the knot from my tongue" (Qur'an 20:25–28). Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728) prayed against the tyrant al-Ḥajjāj, "O breaker of every *jabbār*, break al-Ḥajjāj." We are likewise called to become instruments of His *jabr*—to console broken hearts, as Allah consoled the weeping Companions who could find no mounts (Qur'an 9:92), and as the Prophet ﷺ comforted ʿĀʾisha and even embraced the weeping tree stump. Sufyān al-Thawrī said he knew no act greater than *jabr al-khawāṭir*, consoling hearts. We should lighten burdens discreetly, as ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 94/712) secretly fed a hundred families by night. We must shun the subtler tyranny condemned in Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā (peace be upon them), who were spared being a "wretched *jabbār*" toward their parents, and avoid coercion in faith, for Allah told His Prophet, "you are not there as a *jabbār* over them" (Qur'an 50:45). Finally, we must recognize that only *al-Jabbār* stabilizes our guidance, never boasting of our Islam as a favor to Him (Qur'an 49:17). Thus the Prophet ﷺ most often prayed, "O Turner of Hearts, anchor my heart upon Your religion." ## Key Takeaways 1. Allah’s name al-Jabbār appears only once in the Qur’an, and it means more than the Compeller. It draws on the Arabic root for the bonesetter’s splint that presses a fracture into a stronger union, so the name holds two truths at once: When Allah wills to heal, nothing hinders Him, and when He wills to settle a score, nothing withstands Him. Scholars stress that Allah’s compelling power is inseparable from His perfection, justice, wisdom, and mercy, while also recognizing  His decree that His mercy prevails over His anger. 2. Ibn al-Qayyim reflects that the experience of brokenness can become occasions through which Allah’s restorative mercy becomes especially apparent, and that believers may come to recognize blessings through the contrast between loss and relief. As the perpetual Mender, al-Jabbar heals the heart continually, which is why the name takes an intensive form rather than the simpler *al-jābir*. The break itself is part of the mending, for Allah lets the servant taste loss before the sweetness of repair, breaking the believer only to restore him. When Umm Salama lost her husband and could imagine no one better, the loss was answered with marriage to the Prophet ﷺ himself. 3. The same name that consoles the broken also warns the powerful, for al-Jabbār shares a root with *jabbār*, meaning tyrant, and no earthly tyrant escapes Him. Divine respite should not be mistaken for impunity; rulers can be humbled by the smallest of creatures, and oppressors ultimately remain accountable to Allah.  Because absolute compelling power belongs to Allah alone, believers must reject human tyranny and instead participate in restorative jabr by consoling and assisting wounded hearts. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does Allah’s name al-Jabbār mean? Al-Jabbār carries two connected meanings. It points to Allah’s unstoppable power, the Compeller whose will stands behind every event, and to Allah as the Mender who restores what is broken. In Arabic, *jabbār* was used for mighty figures, towering trees, and bonesetters, drawing on the image of a splint that presses a fractured bone back into a stronger union. Scholars stress that when the word describes Allah, it is free of any flaw, so it means the One who sets right the affairs of His creation and steers them toward their own good. This is why al-Jabbār is understood through compassion rather than harshness. Allah mends the broken, enriches the poor, restores the sick, and revives hearts humbled before Him. The name appears only once in the Qur’an, in Surah al-Ḥashr (59:23), yet its meanings speak to something every person senses in moments of loss and repair. In short, al-Jabbār is both the Compeller whose power nothing resists and the Mender whose greatness never distances Him from healing His creation. ### Does al-Jabbār mean Allah is a tyrant? No. The Arabic word *jabbār* is used for a human tyrant in a blameworthy sense, but when it is one of Allah’s names it means something entirely different. A human tyrant forces others out of arrogance and often unjustly, while Allah’s compelling power is always joined with wisdom and mercy. Scholars point out that Allah described Himself as the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful before mentioning His power and judgment, and that He decreed that His mercy prevails over His anger. So His might never works against His justice or care. In fact, the Qur’an condemns the human *jabbār*, the arrogant oppressor, and even praises prophets for being spared that trait toward their parents. The same word therefore points in opposite directions depending on who it describes. For a created being, being a *jabbār* is a vice of pride and oppression. For Allah, al-Jabbār is the perfection of power joined to compassion, the One who both governs all things and mends what is broken. ### How does al-Jabbār mend broken hearts? One of the meanings of al-Jabbār is the Mender, and Allah is not called al-Jābir, the one who mends once, but al-Jabbār, the One who mends constantly. Hardship comes to a person over and over, and Allah heals emotional and psychological wounds each time. He can return a smile to a face even before a problem is solved, quiet harsh self-talk, and ease anxiety about the past and future. This is why the Prophet ﷺ would say between the two prostrations, “O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, mend me, guide me, and provide for me,” a plea recited in every prayer. Scholars observed that Allah often lets a person taste the bitterness of a break before the sweetness of repair, so that hardship itself becomes a doorway to knowing and loving Him. One example is a woman who lost her husband and, holding to a prayer he had taught her, asked Allah to reward her and replace her loss with something better, after which Allah granted her a far greater blessing. ### If Allah controls everything, do humans have free will? Mainstream Sunni theology rejects the idea that human beings have no meaningful agency. People genuinely choose and are morally responsible for their actions, while their power and will remain dependent upon and encompassed by Allah’s power. How divine decree and human will relate at the deepest metaphysical level is not something Islamic theology claims the human mind can fully comprehend. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/between-pharaohs-riviera-and-the-divine-promise-gaza-as-a-metaphor-for-the-muslim-soul-in-ramadan-blog # Between Pharaoh’s Riviera and the Divine Promise: Gaza as a Metaphor for the Muslim Soul in Ramadan | Blog **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** Allah, Contemporary Ideologies, Faith, General Psychology, Politics & Practical Theology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog, Palestine, Ramadan, Self-Improvement **Published:** February 28, 2025 The modern world is relentless in its assault on the Muslim soul. Political tyranny, the unchecked deception of technology, and the fleeting luxuries of modern consumerism conspire to dull its edges, to rob it of its clarity, and to enslave it in ways more insidious than chains. The world’s tyrants do not merely seek to subjugate bodies; they seek to break spirits, to reshape desires, to replace the hunger for the Divine with an appetite for power, distraction, and indulgence. It is an old battle, yet every generation faces it anew. Pharaoh (the tyrant who ruled by dividing people, enslaving some, fooling others), Haman (his engineer, whom he hired to build a structure tall enough in his mind to challenge God), and Qarun (an obscenely rich man from among the Israelites) still walk among us. The political tyrants demand our obedience, punishing those who refuse. The engineers of deception—today’s Haman—bombard us with distractions, with media designed to manipulate, with a digital fog that distances us from God and, hence, from the reality of our own condition. And Qarun lures us with the promise of decadence, of comfort, of an existence freed from sacrifice and struggle—so long as we accept the status quo and Pharaoh’s tyranny, so long as we surrender. This is the battlefield of the modern Muslim soul. And in the chaos, Ramadan arrives like an army of light—a divine intervention to rescue us from our own heedlessness. Ramadan is the training ground of resistance, the season of clarity, bringing with it the chance to break free. When we reject food and drink, we learn that we do not live for pleasure. When we abandon distractions and stand in prayer, we reclaim our focus. When we give, rather than hoard, we undo the grip of wealth on our hearts. As we engage in this struggle, trying to welcome Ramadan as imperfect and unprepared hosts, confronting the ruins left by years of heedlessness—the debris of lost time and the erosion of sincerity—we find ourselves reflecting on Gaza. Recent events have intensified this reflection. US President Donald Trump proposed a plan to “take over” Gaza, forcibly displacing its inhabitants to transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” This proposal has been widely condemned as a form of ethnic cleansing, illegal under international law. Navi Pillay, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stated that such forced displacement amounts to ethnic cleansing and is a war crime. This plan exemplifies the trio of modern oppressors: political tyranny seeking to erase a people, technological manipulation aiming to reshape narratives, and the lure of luxury attempting to justify moral bankruptcy. The sanctity of Palestine is deeply rooted in Islamic tradition. The Qur’an refers to it as [a blessed and holy land](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/why-is-gaza-important-honoring-a-land-of-ribat), and numerous hadiths emphasize its significance. However, those who view it merely as rubble see an opportunity for real estate development, aiming to transform sacred land into playgrounds for the elite, reminiscent of Pharaoh’s opulent desires. Gaza, true, is in ruins. Gaza, too, has been bombarded by tyrants who wish to see it submit, suffocated by technology weaponized against it, and betrayed by those who should have stood by its side. But Gaza does not surrender. Nor must I. If Gaza still clings to the promise of Allah, how can I not? If Gaza refuses to accept the finality of its destruction, how can I lose hope in my own rebuilding? The sacred rubble of Gaza reminds me that destruction is not the end. It is only the beginning of another renewal. Ramadan is a time of not only spiritual conquest, but also of physical battles, of world-making struggle for God. Many watershed battles in Islam occurred in this blessed month: the Battle of Badr, Opening of Mecca, Battle of Ḥaṭṭin, and Battle of ʿAin Jalut, to name a few. Pharaoh’s voice echoes through history. His claim is always the same: Power is mine. Wealth is mine. Control is mine. What can your God give you that I have not already placed at your feet? > And Pharaoh proclaimed among his people, saying, “O my people, does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers flowing beneath me? Do you not see?” (Qur’an 43:51) And so, the tyrants of today speak in his tongue. They look upon Gaza, upon the land of Palestine, and they see not a place of sanctity but of opportunity—a pile of rubble waiting to be swept away, an obstacle to be cleared for luxury apartments, beachfront resorts, and casinos for the pharaonic elite. They see a people who must either bow or be buried. But Gaza does not bow. Every tyrant, from Pharaoh to the modern world’s imperial powers, [follows the same blueprint](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine). First, they offer the carrot—a tempting promise of comfort, acceptance, prosperity, if only one submits. If only one accepts their order, their dominion, their rewriting of truth. *“Why resist?” they whisper. “Why suffer? Look at the rivers that flow beneath us, at the power we hold in our hands. Trade your dignity for security, your faith for favor, and you can join us.”* And when that fails, the stick follows. Starvation. Siege. Bombardment. The grinding cruelty of occupation. The threat of annihilation, sharpened and wielded against a people whose only crime is refusing to disappear. This is the tactic used to ethnically cleanse Gaza—first the bribe, then the bullet. Yet, Gaza stands. Gaza rejects the carrot, just as it defies the stick. Gaza refuses to be bought, refuses to be broken. In a world that believes submission is survival, Gaza has chosen dignity over life itself. And just as Gaza resists the external tyrants, the believer is called to resist the inner pharaoh, the one who whispers of power, of self-indulgence, of pleasure without consequence. The true jihad—the struggle against the self—is fought every day, against the same forces that try to conquer nations. The tyrants of the world today do not seek only to dominate our lands; they seek to conquer the Muslim soul itself—to subdue it with fear, to distract it with entertainment, to corrupt it with the love of wealth and power. And the two are inextricably connected. Sometimes, the conquest of the land and its sacred places is followed by the conquest of the soul; at other times, the soul is crushed first, and the land follows. Those who fail to recognize this have already lost. --- ## The three great temptations > And We did certainly send Moses with Our signs and a clear authority. To Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun, but they said: “A magician, a liar!”(Qur’an 40:23-24) The oppression of the weak does not happen in isolation. Pharaoh—the emblem of brute force—never works alone. He requires enablers, systems of oppression, and collaborators from within. In the Qur’an, Moses’ greatest opponents were not just Pharaoh, the tyrant-king, but also Haman—the architect of power—and Qarun—the billionaire who betrayed his people. Each represents a force that seeks to enslave the Muslim soul: ### Pharaoh: The tyrant and the fear of power Pharaoh rules through fear. He is the dictator, the oppressor, the ruler who demands submission, not only of the body but of the mind. He dictates reality itself, rewriting history, criminalizing truth, making falsehood the law of the land. The believer’s greatest test in the face of Pharaoh is courage. To refuse to be silenced. To say “no” when everyone else bows. [To speak the truth](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza), even if it costs everything. This, in the words of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ, is the noblest jihad. ### Haman: The engineer of deception and the distraction of technology Pharaoh commanded, but Haman built. He was the mastermind, the one who used his craft to solidify Pharaoh’s rule. He was ordered to construct the great tower, a structure meant not only to showcase power but to reach the heavens—to play god. > And Pharaoh said, “O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways, the ways into the heavens, and look at the God of Moses, but indeed, I think he is a liar.” (Qur’an 40:36-37) Haman represents more than just an ancient minister—he is the symbol of how technology, knowledge, and engineering can be weaponized by tyrants. Today, Haman does not build towers of stone; he builds digital towers, algorithmic prisons, echo chambers of deception. He fills the world with distractions, keeps the mind occupied with endless entertainment, shapes perception through media, enslaves the heart to screens so that it no longer longs for the remembrance of Allah. The believer’s test in the face of Haman is focus**.** To reclaim the heart, to break free from the distractions, to use technology as a tool, not a master. ### Qarun: The billionaire traitor and the temptation of wealth > Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Moses, but he oppressed them. And We had given him treasures whose keys would burden a band of strong men. (Qur’an 28:76) Qarun was not an outsider; he was one of Moses’ own people. Yet, when given the choice between his faith and his fortune, he chose his fortune. Qarun is the one who sees his wealth as a sign of his superiority, who believes that material success is a blessing for him alone, rather than a responsibility. In every age, the *ummah* has suffered not only from external enemies but from those within—the Qaruns who sell their faith for wealth, who align with the oppressors, who see the suffering of their people as the price of doing business. The believer’s test in the face of Qarun is *zuhd* (detachment). To see wealth not as an end but as a means. To reject luxury that corrupts the soul. To give rather than hoard. --- ## Ramadan: A time of resistance and renewal In this struggle, Ramadan offers a path to renewal. It is an opportunity to detach from the trifecta of tyranny, to cleanse the soul, and to reaffirm our commitment to justice and faith. Just as Gaza resists external oppression, we are called to resist the internal forces that seek to corrupt our souls. The sacred rubble of Gaza serves as a powerful metaphor. Despite relentless attempts to erase its identity and spirit, Gaza stands firm, embodying resilience and unwavering faith. This resilience inspires us to confront the debris within our own souls, to rebuild, and to resist the temptations and oppressions of the modern world. In embracing the lessons of Gaza and the spirit of Ramadan, we find the strength to overcome the trio of tyranny, to purify our souls, and to transform both our inner and outer worlds in pursuit of divine gardens promised to the steadfast. Ramadan is not just a month of fasting; it is a training ground for *jihād al-nafs* (the struggle against the self). - When we deny ourselves food and drink, we break the hold of Qarun’s temptation. We remind ourselves that we do not live to consume. - When we reduce our distractions, turn away from excess entertainment, and focus on the Qur’an, we resist Haman’s digital empire. - When we stand in prayer, reciting the words of Allah, bowing to none but Him, we defy Pharaoh himself. Gaza does not choose its struggle—it has no choice. But we do. Every Ramadan is a chance to align ourselves with those who resist, to cleanse our souls from the tyranny of Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun, to renew our faith so that when the test comes, we do not falter. Gaza is proof against every excuse we make for our own submission. Proof that even in the face of total siege, one can still say “No.” Proof that dignity is not conditional on comfort. Proof that the pharaohs of today can still be defied. > How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient. (Qur’an 2:249) To look at the people of Gaza is to see the Muslim soul in its purest form—tested, tormented, but unyielding. The question is: Will we resist as they have resisted? Or will we take the carrot and call it wisdom? --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/jealousy-for-faith-and-the-ummah-developing-a-gheerah-mindset-blog # Jealousy for Faith and the Ummah: Developing a Gheerah Mindset | Blog **Author:** Dr. Samir Sweida-Metwally **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Blog, Palestine **Published:** February 13, 2025 **Updated:** February 27, 2025 ## Introduction Marked by the relentless atrocities committed by Israel with critical backing and material support from its allies in the West—particularly the US, Germany, and the UK—the ongoing genocide in Palestine has sparked a global wave of protests and calls for boycotts.[^1] From the streets of Morocco, Jordan, Yemen and the UK, to student encampments in the US, these actions have reinvigorated discussions about the efficacy of social action and the role of Muslims in advocating for justice. However, while these efforts are critical, they should not be purely reactive measures. Instead, they must form part of a framework that places love for, and active solidarity with, fellow Muslims at its heart. Though the essence of this message applies to all oppressed peoples, my focus here is on Muslims. This blog offers a framework that prompts Muslims to anchor their actions within an Islamic paradigm—whether social, economic, political, public, or private. At the heart of this paradigm is the Islamic concept of *gheerah*, traditionally understood as protective jealousy in a marital context, but when expanded, offers a powerful lens through which Muslims can approach all aspects of life. By adopting a *gheerah* mindset, we can move beyond being reactive to external events and instead live purposefully, in line with the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ. This mindset not only safeguards our dignity (*ʿizza*) but also ensures that our actions consistently reflect the principles of our faith, leading to a more intentional, virtuous, and meaningful life. --- ## Understanding gheerah *Gheerah* is often translated as protective jealousy or zeal. In Islamic teachings, *gheerah* is understood as a virtue that reflects a sense of responsibility and protectiveness, often of a man toward his spouse. The term is often translated to “jealousy,” but while this word is typically viewed negatively or as a product of toxic masculinity in English, in the Islamic sense, it can express a positive emotion, signifying protective care rather than possessive control. Theologian and jurisconsult, Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “A servant’s *gheerah* over their beloved is of two types: praiseworthy *gheerah* which Allah loves, and blameworthy *gheerah*, which Allah dislikes.”[^2] Praiseworthy *gheerah*, Ibn al-Qayyim explains, is a feeling or state where one is concerned about something or someone for a legitimate reason. There are several hadiths in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* where the Prophet ﷺ teaches us about the concept of *gheerah*. For example, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah has a sense of *gheerah*, and Allah’s sense of *gheerah* is provoked when a believer does something which Allah has prohibited.”[^3] In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said: “While I was sleeping, I saw myself in Paradise, and behold, a woman was performing ablution by the side of a palace. I asked, ‘For whom is this palace?’ They replied, ‘For ʿUmar.’ Then I remembered the *gheerah* of ʿUmar and returned immediately.”[^4] From these hadiths, we understand that *gheerah* is not limited to marital jealousy, as is most commonly understood. Rather, it encompasses a broader spectrum of moral responsibilities and fraternal empathy. From the first hadith, we can deduce that thinking of Allah’s *gheerah* should guide Muslims’ actions and inspire them to avoid acts of disobedience (*maʿāṣī*). In the second, we see how *gheerah* is used to guide the actions of the Prophet ﷺ to avoid doing something that might hurt his companion’s feelings or make him uncomfortable. To be clear, the Prophet ﷺ is protected from sin (*maʿṣūm*). Here, *gheerah* is used not as a frame of reference to distinguish sin from righteousness, but as a way of empathizing with a fellow Muslim and caring for their sensibilities. Both these hadiths thus indicate how *gheerah* is not merely an abstract concept but can be used as a practical framework through which to measure different choices and decide on the best course of action. As such, *gheerah* can be extended beyond the confines of marital jealousy, without taking away from its importance within that context. Practically speaking, we can think of *gheerah* as a protective concern that extends beyond oneself to encompass faith, family, and the *ummah*. --- ## 5 types of gheerah Extending beyond the understanding of protective jealousy in the marital context, the concept of *gheerah* can be conceptualized in various ways to apply to different areas of a Muslim’s life. While these aspects are inherently interconnected, I separate them here in the interest of clarity. 1\. ***Gheerah* for Allah:** This can be understood as safeguarding the unique and Almighty status of Allah and the sanctity of His Qur’an. In essence, it involves a complete rejection of polytheism (*shirk*) and anything that associates partners with Allah. In a practical sense and rooted in the Qur’anic injunction below, it also involves not associating with those who mock or speak ill of Allah: > He has already revealed to you in the Book that when you hear Allah’s revelations being denied or ridiculed, then do not sit in that company unless they engage in a different topic, or else you will be like them. Surely Allah will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell.[^5] 2\. ***Gheerah* for the Prophet ﷺ:** This can be understood as a protective jealousy that does not want to see the beloved of Allah ﷺ defamed, insulted, hurt, slandered, or purposely misquoted in any way. It is the anger and pain a Muslim feels when yet another Islamophobe insults the character of the honest and trustworthy one (*al-ṣādiq al-amīn*) ﷺ. This *gheerah* is cultivated by developing a deep attachment to the Sunnah and prophetic biography (*sīrah*) and moving away from the “it’s just a sunnah” mindset that justifies neglecting practices that are not obligatory (*farḍ*). 3\. ***Gheerah* for faith:** This can be understood as jealousy over the religion (*dīn*) to protect it from attacks, misrepresentation, and deviations. It is the urge to preserve the purity of Islamic teachings and practices from those who seek to disseminate perverse teachings that contravene the clear teachings of the Qur’an, hadith, and the consensus (*ijmāʿ*) of Muslim scholars. 4\. ***Gheerah* for one’s family:** This refers to the protective jealousy that a man has over his family. 5\. ***Gheerah* for the *ummah*:** This is the jealousy related to not wanting something bad to befall your sister and brother in Islam, either by your hands or someone else’s. It is the manifestation of the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ described the Muslim community as being like a single body “so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness and fever with it.”[^6] --- ## Developing a gheerah mindset A mindset rooted in *gheerah* is one that exalts the Muslim identity with *ʿizza*. It embodies honor, self-respect, and a steadfast commitment to one’s faith. In contrast, rejecting this mindset can lead to a state of humiliation. A *gheerah* mindset emphasizes the Prophet’s ﷺ teaching that bonds between Muslims are sacred. In essence, this mindset advocates for a life that upholds the dignity of Islam and its principles, reflecting a deep sense of loyalty and protective care for one’s faith and its followers. In what follows, I will delve into what it means to cultivate a *gheerah* mindset from both external and internal perspectives. The goal is not to provide an exhaustive list of dos and don’ts, as that would miss the essence of adopting such a mindset. Instead, the focus is on outlining the thought processes behind a *gheerah* mindset, enabling us to apply it across diverse situations, choices, and challenges. --- ## External ways to foster a gheerah mindset A fundamental aspect of embodying a *gheerah* mindset is making a conscious decision not to support individuals or entities that insult the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and take delight in doing so. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized the importance of loving him above all else, stating: “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children, and all mankind.”[^7] This attitude should also include rejecting those who oppress his followers, as he ﷺ reminds us that the sanctity of the Muslims, their wealth, and their blood is equal to that of the day of Hajj.[^8] Despite this, many Muslims actively contribute to the very systems that disparage the Prophet ﷺ, belittle Islamic beliefs, and harm his followers. For example, despite its well-documented history of mocking Islam and discriminating against Muslims—projecting caricatures of the Prophet ﷺ on government buildings,[^9] banning hijab (most recently in relation to Muslim French female athletes at the Olympics),[^10] and vilifying mainstream Islamic practices[^11]—France remains a popular destination for Muslim travelers. In 2023, it ranked 13th among non-OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) destinations for Muslims in the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI).[^12] This is not an insignificant statistic, especially when we consider that Muslim travelers are projected to spend USD 225 billion by 2028.[^13] It is troubling that while French Muslims are leaving France to be able to escape discrimination and practice their faith more freely,[^14] other Muslims visit the same place for leisure and entertainment. Similarly, the UK and Germany—both active partners in the genocide against Palestinians—attract significant numbers of Muslim travelers. The UK has supplied armaments, political cover, and military intelligence that facilitate Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza.[^15] Germany, as the second-largest supplier of weapons used against Palestinians after the United States,[^16] has not only sought to shield Netanyahu and Gallant from ICC arrest warrants[^17] but has also been accused of exhibiting “raging Islamophobia”[^18] and producing content reminiscent of Nazi propaganda to demonize visible Muslims,[^19] while simultaneously suppressing expressions of Palestinian solidarity.[^20] Furthermore, like France, it enforces bans preventing Muslim women who wear the hijab from pursuing certain professions.[^21] Despite this, both countries remain top destinations for Muslim travelers, ranking 2nd and 7th, respectively, among non-OIC countries in the GMTI 2023.[^22] Why should Muslims support the economies of countries that openly ridicule their beliefs and actively participate in the genocide of their fellow Muslims? These examples show us that it is crucial to reevaluate our choices, with each decision being made with careful consideration of various factors, particularly the impact on one’s spiritual development and broader benefits to the *ummah*. The clearest case for boycotting these countries in terms of travel pertains to purely optional leisure activities, where travel is unnecessary and where alternatives exist that are more in line with a *gheerah* mindset. As for companies, many businesses, such as McDonald’s, Caterpillar, Adidas, and Starbucks, are already being boycotted for their perceived support of genocide or marginalization of Palestinians. These efforts should continue, and additional companies added to the list. For instance, Tesla, which opened a showroom in East Turkistan (aka Xinjiang)—the site of the Uyghur genocide—should also be targeted for boycotts. It is also worth noting that the company’s CEO has expressed support for Germany’s anti-Muslim party AfD,[^23] the British anti-Islam activist Yaxley-Lennon,[^24] and backed Israel during its relentless bombardment of Gaza.[^25] However, a *gheerah* mindset goes beyond simply reevaluating consumption habits and calls for us to think more deeply and substantively about our approach. This means not only refraining from purchasing products made in certain countries or by certain companies, and avoiding traveling to specific places, but also refraining from looking up to (privately or publicly) people, countries, and companies that are actively disparaging our faith and harming the *ummah*. It might seem that individual boycotts won’t have a significant impact on these entities’ financial standing. However, the essence of a *gheerah* mindset goes far beyond economic impact (important as that is) or a reactive strategy triggered only in response to events. It is about having a level of self-respect and dignity that prevents a Muslim from supporting those who insult the Prophet ﷺ, denigrate Islam, or oppress fellow Muslims. To put this into perspective, consider a personal scenario: would you ingratiate yourself with or give money to someone who insults your parents and mocks them in the most offensive manner? Certainly not. If some relatives from the tribe of Quraysh, including non-Muslims, stood by the Prophet ﷺ and his followers during the three-year boycott out of tribal loyalty, can we, as Muslims bound by the much stronger bond of faith, not change our mindset to abandon anyone who debases us, oppresses fellow Muslims, and insults our beloved ﷺ, who will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment? --- ## Internal ways to foster a gheerah mindset Establishing a strong foundation in our *dīn* is essential for cultivating a *gheerah* mindset. While we do not need to become experts in Islamic jurisprudence, acquiring knowledge is one of the most reliable ways to deepen our love for Allah and strengthen our faith (*imān*). As a Muslim’s knowledge of Islam grows, so too does their recognition of its perfection, and consequently, their *gheerah* over it. For example, the more you learn about the *sīrah* and the details of the struggles faced by the Prophet ﷺ, as well as the principles he upheld and the circumstances of revelation (*asbāb al-nuzūl*), the stronger your attachment becomes to him ﷺ and the commands of the *dīn*. Learning the *dīn* also shields us from confusion and doubt, both of which can weaken our faith (*īmān*). *Alhamdulillah*, there are many high-quality and reliable Islamic institutions where one can study the *dīn* (even remotely) in English so there is no excuse not to learn at least the individual religious obligations (*farḍ ʿayn*). Learning Islamic history is also a useful way for building a confident Muslim identity, especially in these turbulent times when Muslim suffering seems to be ubiquitous. Learning history is not about proving our worth by showcasing Muslim scientific contributions. Instead, understanding our history helps us correct the distorted, overly romanticized belief—shared by some Muslims—of a unified and idyllic caliphate that existed until the fall of the Ottomans. By doing so, we gain a realistic understanding of our rich tradition, with all its ups and downs. Knowing about the many brutal struggles that befell our predecessors and the sacrifices they made can inspire hope and motivate us to do the right thing, showing us that despite harsh persecution—inflicted by both internal and external oppressors—Muslims around the world have overwhelmingly held firm to their *dīn*.[^26] Our history serves as a reminder to stay strong and as an encouragement not to despair in the face of the innumerable injustices inflicted upon the *ummah*, in particular as we witness the livestream of the genocide in Palestine. It also reminds us that, by divine design, we are part of a broader narrative, each playing a specific role in the *ummah*’s story and at the time assigned to us by Allah. Finally, we must also take steps to cultivate a *gheerah* mindset in our children, ensuring that they grow up with an awareness of global injustices, such as the struggles in Palestine, Kashmir, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, the persecution of the Uyghurs and the Rohingya, and the suffering in Congo, to name a few. They need to understand that humanity and the *ummah*’s pain is their pain and that their aspirations should go beyond mere material success. While the information shared should be age-appropriate, it should not be superficial or sporadic. Remember, Imam ʿAlī (rA, d. 40/661) was only ten years old when he embraced Islam and the companion Usāma b. Zayd (rA, d. 54/674) was around 18 when he led an army against the Byzantines. One practical way to instill a *gheerah* mindset in our children is to consciously moderate holidays, shopping, and celebrations—even during Eid—in light of ongoing tragedies like the genocide in Palestine, explaining the reasons for these actions to them. On the other hand, it also involves finding joy in and celebrating the achievements of the *ummah*, such as the liberation of Syria from oppression and tyranny. Ultimately, cultivating a *gheerah* mindset in our children can only be effectively achieved if they see us as proud Muslims who have *gheerah* for their fellow believers and whose aims in life extend beyond accumulating possessions. They need to see that our yearly achievements are about more than just growing our bank balance and enjoying nice vacations. Their priorities need to extend beyond the shallow excitement of their next birthday, their upcoming graduation celebrations, or acquiring the latest Apple gadget. We will not raise an *ummah* capable of paving the way for producing leaders like Ṣalāḥuddīn if our daily actions consistently convey to our children that success is defined by material gains and entertaining ‘experiences.’ Instead, we must instill in our children a deeper sense of honor and self-respect, and for them to embody this, they need to see us living with *ʿizza*, making positive contributions to the wellbeing of the *ummah* and wider society. While contribution can take many forms—protesting, financial support to humanitarian organizations, advocacy, boycotting—perhaps the most important and accessible action we can all take is to make sincere *duʿāʾ* for this *ummah* at the most opportune times. For example, waking up with our children for the night vigil prayer (*tahajjud*) to specifically pray for the oppressed displays solidarity through action rather than just words and nurtures a generation that understands their *dīn* through a deep connection to the struggles of the *ummah*. --- ## Concluding remarks The genocide in Palestine has made it clear that our *ʿizza*—let alone the value of Muslim life—will not be preserved or protected by so-called Western leftist ‘allies,’ a ‘liberal’ system, or political leaders (Muslim or otherwise). This is a reminder to us all that our ultimate reliance should not be on material powers, but on Allah. This reality is a powerful echo of the words of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA, d. 23/644): “We are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam, so whenever we seek to be honored through something other than it, Allah will bring us humiliation.”[^27] The cultivation of a *gheerah* mindset—a protective concern that extends beyond personal interests to include faith and the broader Muslim community—is thus vital for the strength and dignity of the *ummah*. It’s about living with a deep sense of *ʿizza* that permeates every aspect of our lives—from the choices we make as consumers when doing our weekly grocery shopping to where we decide to vacation, study, and work, to the values we instill in our children and how we think about our life more generally. This mindset requires us to rise above the allure of materialism and superficial success, anchoring our actions in love for Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, the global Muslim community, and wider humanity. Indeed, it should be a serious concern if our intellectual and spiritual mindsets, as well as our day-to-day lives, have not changed despite the horrors we have witnessed over the past 16 months. Ultimately, the question is not whether Islam will triumph—it surely will. The real question is whether we will be among those who earn the reward for standing up for what is right, for defending the honor of our *dīn*, and for nurturing a generation that is deeply connected to the struggles and triumphs of the *ummah*, so that we are among those whom the Prophet ﷺ alluded to when he said: “Whoever defends the honor of their (Muslim) brother/sister, Allah will secure their face against the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.”[^28] Let us take this responsibility seriously, knowing that our efforts today will shape the *ummah*’s leaders of tomorrow. And Allah knows best. --- ## Notes [^1]: That Israel’s actions constitute genocide has been affirmed by thirty-seven independent UN Human Rights experts (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2024, [https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2024/10/international-order-breaking-down-gaza-un-experts-mark-one-year-genocidal](https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2024/10/international-order-breaking-down-gaza-un-experts-mark-one-year-genocidal)). In their statement, titled “The International Order Is Breaking Down in Gaza,” these experts mark one year of genocidal attacks on Palestinians. For a comprehensive analysis, refer to the United Nations 2024 report by Francesca Albanese, *Anatomy of a Genocide*, presented to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/55/73). Additionally, leading international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International (*“You Feel Like You Are Subhuman”: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza*, 2024, [https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/)), the University Network for Human Rights (*Genocide in Gaza*, 2024, [https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/projects/genocide-in-gaza](https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/projects/genocide-in-gaza)), and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (*Statement on Why We Call the Israeli Attack on Gaza Genocide*, 2023, [https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new-page/statement-on-why-we-call-the-israeli-attack-on-gaza-genocide](https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new-page/statement-on-why-we-call-the-israeli-attack-on-gaza-genocide)), have echoed similar findings. Renowned individuals such as Aryeh Neier, founder of Human Rights Watch and a Holocaust survivor, have also accused Israel of genocide (for details, see “Human Rights Watch Founder Accuses Israel of Genocide,” BBC, 2024, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j1rk0c](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j1rk0c&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208029613&usg=AOvVaw1AmhqwR6Vv0v8f19YcyH8m)). Holocaust and Genocide Studies scholars have further reinforced this conclusion, with analyses like Raz Segal’s 2023 *A Textbook Case of Genocide* ([https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208029835&usg=AOvVaw2UNjDM23cByij8_rq8T_k7)) and Omer Bartov’s reflections as a former IDF soldier and genocide historian in *The Guardian* ([https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/13/israel-gaza-historian-omer-bartov](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/13/israel-gaza-historian-omer-bartov&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208030113&usg=AOvVaw3x1JxDzlUq4MxsvOUPBg2t)). See also Mehdi Hasan’s interview with Omer Bartov ([https://zeteo.com/p/that-is-genocide-israeli-american?utm\_source=substack&utm\_medium=email](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://zeteo.com/p/that-is-genocide-israeli-american?utm_source%3Dsubstack%26utm_medium%3Demail&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208030327&usg=AOvVaw0aDGKW4-s8KbM3Zw6bdwSn)). Collectively, these voices—from UN experts to leading academics and human rights organizations—paint a harrowing picture of the situation in Gaza as a clear case of genocide. South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice (*South Africa v. Israel*, 2023, [https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208030636&usg=AOvVaw3DtEKT7oNxxWfFqLLONsVG)) also provides a thorough account of evidence substantiating the crime of genocide. [^2]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn wa nuzhat al-mushtāqīn*, ed. Muḥammad ʿUzayr Shams (Dār ʿAṭāʾāt al-ʿIlm, 2019), 414. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5223. [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7025. [^5]: Qur’an 4:140. [^6]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6011. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 15. [^8]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3087, graded as *ḥasan* (good) by Imam al-Tirmidhī. [^9]: Morgan Hekking, “Govt Buildings in France Display Caricatures of Prophet Muhammad,” Morocco World News, October 25, 2020, [https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/10/323673/govt-buildings-in-france-display-caricatures-of-prophet-muhammad](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/10/323673/govt-buildings-in-france-display-caricatures-of-prophet-muhammad&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208025082&usg=AOvVaw3vSbS_PlIh0vWoFCIyVr-v). [^10]: “France: Hijab bans in sports are discriminatory and must be reversed, say experts,” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, October 28, 2024, [https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/france-hijab-bans-sports-are-discriminatory-and-must-be-reversed-say-experts](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/france-hijab-bans-sports-are-discriminatory-and-must-be-reversed-say-experts&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208032880&usg=AOvVaw2bUZe7JQ0U09Kv4ap55aWE). [^11]: Christina Lienen and Samir Sweida-Metwally, “French Islamophobia: How Orthopraxy Is Conceptualized as a Public Peril,” *Religions* 16, no. 1 (2025): 64, [https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010064](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010064&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208032478&usg=AOvVaw1qyqZoCL1aWfbkoDyR_459). [^12]: “Global Muslim Travel Index 2023,” Mastercard CrescentRating, June 2023, [https://mastercardcontentexchange.com/news/media/hhnem3l2/mastercard-crescentrating-gmti-2023-report-1st-june-2023v2.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mastercardcontentexchange.com/news/media/hhnem3l2/mastercard-crescentrating-gmti-2023-report-1st-june-2023v2.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208025560&usg=AOvVaw2wmRX2l0Tsz8P2yGKKQLSo). [^13]: “Global Muslim Travel Index 2023.” [^14]: Olivier Esteves, “France, You Love It but Leave It: The Silent Flight of French Muslims,” *Modern and Contemporary France* 31, no. 2 (2023): 243–57, [https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2022.2147913](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2022.2147913&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208025944&usg=AOvVaw21KXauDEsyucFirsyO5X64). [^15]: Matt Kennard, “Britain Has Flown 50 Spy Missions Over Gaza in Support of Israel,” Declassified UK, January 18, 2024, ​​[https://www.declassifieduk.org/britain-has-flown-50-spy-missions-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.declassifieduk.org/britain-has-flown-50-spy-missions-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208026924&usg=AOvVaw2hv5lzKW5I9tKvy2gztZwt). [^16]: “European Arms Imports Nearly Double, US and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, March 11, 2024, [https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2024/european-arms-imports-nearly-double-us-and-french-exports-rise-and-russian-exports-fall-sharply](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2024/european-arms-imports-nearly-double-us-and-french-exports-rise-and-russian-exports-fall-sharply&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208027295&usg=AOvVaw1UJJ0fE54iGpNMfHfXQ8p5). [^17]: “Situation in Palestine, Public Observations Pursuant to Rule 103(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence,” International Criminal Court, August 6, 2024, [www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/0902ebd18092376e.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/0902ebd18092376e.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208027623&usg=AOvVaw2hpJmRD00TDSV8Ay0zpFMN). [^18]: Farid Hafez, “What’s Behind Germany’s Raging Islamophobia?,” Aljazeera, September 18, 2024, [https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/9/18/whats-behind-germanys-raging-islamophobia](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/9/18/whats-behind-germanys-raging-islamophobia&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208028631&usg=AOvVaw08O2XDt-ZytJU_7Pj3EjgR). [^19]: James Jackson (@derJamesJackson), “It really looks like Nazi propaganda \[image\],”  X, September 2, 2024, 9:25 a.m., [https://x.com/derJamesJackson/status/1830613103396143612](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/derJamesJackson/status/1830613103396143612&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208028922&usg=AOvVaw0nF4RZPcGn0sBQbXG2jjbP). [^20]: Hebh Jamal, “‘State repression’: Inside Germany's far-reaching anti-Palestinian crackdown,” New Arab, November 16, 2023, [https://www.newarab.com/analysis/inside-germanys-far-reaching-anti-palestinian-crackdown](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newarab.com/analysis/inside-germanys-far-reaching-anti-palestinian-crackdown&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208032054&usg=AOvVaw1iOyN5YyCla_uzgN_S_H_2). [^21]: “IV. State Bans on Religious Symbols in Public Employment” in *Discrimination in the Name of Neutrality*, Human Rights Watch, February 26, 2009, [https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/02/26/discrimination-name-neutrality/headscarf-bans-teachers-and-civil-servants-germany#:~:text=Eight%20of%20the%2016%20federal,%20 religious%20 clothing%20and%20 symbols](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/02/26/discrimination-name-neutrality/headscarf-bans-teachers-and-civil-servants-germany%23:~:text%3DEight%2520of%2520the%252016%2520federal,of%2520religious%2520clothing%2520and%2520symbols&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208028100&usg=AOvVaw23kVH4cUh2EEbDvy8COLwZ). [^22]: “Global Muslim Travel Index 2023.” [^23]: Christopher F. Schuetze and Mark Landler, “Musk Expresses Support for Far-Right Party in Germany’s Election,” New York Times, December 20, 2024, [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/world/europe/elon-musk-afd-germany.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/world/europe/elon-musk-afd-germany.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208030996&usg=AOvVaw36YELL_d3J9PrdfT2pQZaJ). [^24]: “Who is Tommy Robinson and why is Elon Musk throwing his weight behind him?,” Aljazeera, January 3, 2025, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/3/who-is-tommy-robinson-and-why-is-elon-musk-throwing-his-weight-behind-him](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/3/who-is-tommy-robinson-and-why-is-elon-musk-throwing-his-weight-behind-him&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208031291&usg=AOvVaw0nVyT8l7qv5X5C2Ha357cv). [^25]: “Elon Musk’s Israel trip: What was the purpose, what did he tell Netanyahu?,” Aljazeera, November 28, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/elon-musks-israel-trip-what-was-the-purpose-what-did-he-tell-netanyahu](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/elon-musks-israel-trip-what-was-the-purpose-what-did-he-tell-netanyahu&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208031592&usg=AOvVaw3OSTxAWu4UI5ly0vmcSeel). [^26]: “The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity,” Pew Research Center, August 9, 2012, [https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739473208026312&usg=AOvVaw2ZGHVm2WtkaBXX81T37DWa). [^27]: Al-Ḥākim al-Naysapūrī, *al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn*, 207. Al-Albānī graded this *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic). [^28]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1931, graded as *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) by al-Albānī; *Riyāḍ al-ṣāliḥīn*, no. 1528. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-are-we-worth-redefining-muslim-value-with-dignity-and-honor-blog # What Are We Worth? Redefining Muslim Value with Dignity and Honor | Blog **Author:** Anna Birawi **Topics:** General Psychology, Identity, Politics & Practical Theology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog **Published:** February 11, 2025 Abdur-rahman is my local North African bus driver. He drives Londoners from A to B, Sunday to Thursday, every week, earning just enough for a small flat, food for his family, and a bit left over to send his daughter to the swimming club after school. Malik, my neighbor, is an electrical engineer turned serial entrepreneur. One day he quit his day job to develop a cleaning formula for sneakers, hit it big time white labeling for Nike, Adidas, and other major brands, and now spends his time investing in start-ups and giving motivational speeches. These days, talk of “added value” circulates all facets of contemporary public life. Like saleable products in a capitalist system, more and more of us strive to embody something that is unique, extraordinary, and leaves its recipients indebted. What skills, experience, and achievements can I bring to the table? How do I bring value to the world in a way that others don’t? How can I break the mold? Living as minorities in the Western world and largely descending from migrant families from the Global South, Western Muslims have a double hurdle to jump to prove their value in today’s world. With far-right groups rising in prominence and power across Europe and North America, talk of a Muslim deficiency in value is an increasingly dominant narrative employed to peddle anti-immigration, racist, and Islamophobic sentiments. From Trump’s notorious “Muslim Ban” that perpetuated the “welfare dependency” and “national security” arguments as tools to discredit Muslim immigrants, to UK media outlets’ sensationalist stories in the wake of terror attacks that frame Muslim immigrants—especially those from working-class communities—as a drain on the UK’s resources, Western political campaigns are rife with portrayals of Muslims and immigrants as looming threats to safety and economy. This blog adopts an alternative approach to perceiving Muslim worth in the world. Without setting aside the importance of the worldly contributions Muslims have achieved and have the potential to achieve, it proposes we take heed of the dangers of centralizing a specifically secular, capitalist perception of value and instead redirect our focus to the true essence of value that awaits us in the eternal afterlife. As the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If the world were as worthy to Allah as the wing of a mosquito, an unbeliever would not even be given a sip of water.”[^1] Conversely, Allah has prepared eternal reward for the pious believers, no matter how poor, humble, or seemingly “under-achieving”. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Shall I not tell you about the inhabitants of Paradise? The weak and the meek among you, yet if they were to swear an oath by Allah, He would fulfill it for them.”[^2] --- ## Centralizing Muslim achievement In today’s age, value has largely become synonymous with economic prosperity and status. As such, we’re viewed as societal assets or liabilities based upon what we are seen to achieve, or our level of innovation, or our intellectual contribution to the advancement of a capitalist society. We’ve all heard the popular chicken-soup-for-the-soul stories, those motivational tales of individuals who rise from humble beginnings, often facing significant challenges, only to achieve great wealth. Perhaps the most well-known rags to riches story in popular culture is that of Oprah Winfrey, who went from a difficult and impoverished childhood to becoming one of the most successful and influential media moguls in the world. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc, is another success story. In his Stanford University commencement address (2005), he recounts how, after being ousted from Apple, he felt lost and uncertain, but later regained his sense of purpose when becoming even more successful with companies like Pixar and NeXT. Understandably, in this climate, the natural position for Muslims to push back from is one that seeks to prove our value. What better way to counter accusations that deny our valuable contribution to society than by highlighting our achievements? From public praise of Muslim athletes and the Muhammad Alis of our *ummah* to books, articles, and LinkedIn profiles detailing the scientific, mathematical, and technological achievements of Muslims, an incredulous light is shone on those within our communities who have excelled exceptionally, often beyond “normal” measure. A quick search on Google will provide an array of sources outlining the value that Muslims have brought to the world, including Islam’s contribution to planetary health, the Islamic Golden Age, and the top 500 most influential Muslims. Intuitively, this seems like a good strategy to quell the agitators, reassure doubting Muslims that our communities are valuable, and teach our young ones to be proud of their Muslim heritage. But, while the value that Islam and Muslims have brought to the world is, of course, undeniable, the problem comes when we begin to hinge the validation of our very existence and right to dignity and fair treatment upon the exceptional “added value” our community boasts. --- ## A lack of accolades shouldn’t reflect value As Muslims, we are duty-bound to strive for excellence in all our actions, to be of service to humanity, and to improve the state of our families, societies, and the world at large in whatever way possible. Faithful contribution is at the heart of what Islamic teachings inspire us to pursue and it often comes with worldly benefits and successes. But, by focusing too much on proving our value through our contributions and society’s idea of success, we end up reinforcing the dehumanization of Muslims that those in power use to control and oppress us. When we only elevate the wealthy, prosperous, overachievers among us, we unwittingly take attention away from those who play vital, low-key roles in keeping our communities running. This then reinforces the distinction between those of us who are acceptably (and temporarily) pleasing to society and those who are "underachieving" and thus, at best, burdensome or, at worst, threatening. Our anti-Islamophobia and fight to prove our worth suddenly becomes classist, propping up the abasing, dehumanizing narrative of those in power. The surgeon and basketball player become a lot more valuable than the postman or stay-at-home mom—a notion so unfamiliar to the principles of the Prophet ﷺ who asked about the cleaner of the mosque after noticing her absence. Upon hearing of her death, he asked why he hadn’t been informed and insisted on visiting her grave and praying her *janāzah*.[^3] In reality, the majority of our *ummah* are, by capitalist standards, not exceptionally valuable. Like Abdur-rahman, most of us live in the shadows of fame. Many of us make just enough money to sustain our families but have very little time or privilege to pioneer ground-breaking contributions to wider society. We run corner shops, work in factories, and raise children. Further still, many of us are heavily dependent upon state welfare, large numbers don’t finish higher education, and many even break the law. Muslims, like all of humankind, are liable to transgress. Indeed, even Adam (as), the first of Allah’s creation and prophets, transgressed when he disobeyed God’s command in a single act of *ghaflah* (forgetfulness) (Qur’an 20:115). By tying our worth to economic achievement, status, and recognition, we set the Muslim community up for failure. This demonizes the majority of the *ummah* and assigns us fragile expiry-dates, making Muslim value something elitist, volatile, and superficial. --- ## Innate dignity: Honored as humankind Contrary to the measure of value assigned by society and despite our limitations and flaws, all humans are valuable in the eyes of Allah, standing as the “apex of God’s creation” (*ashraf al-makhlūqāt)*.[^4] Implicit in the Qur’anic narrative is the idea that humans have been blessed and honored by Allah above all creation and granted an innate and superior value that makes them valuable in the eyes of Allah simply because they are human, regardless of what they achieve. This concept of human dignity (*karama al-insān)* appears throughout the Qur’an when Allah exalts *al-insān* (mankind) *or banī Ādam* (descendants of Adam)*,* and is exemplified when Allah says, “Indeed, We have dignified the children of Adam, carried them on land and sea, granted them good and lawful provisions, and privileged them far above many of Our creatures.”[^5] From this verse, the verbs *karramnā* (we have dignified or conferred special favors upon) and *faḍḍalnā* (we privileged or preferred) show the high regard that Allah holds for humanity.[^6] We have been afforded special provisions, with agriculture and livestock at our disposal: “He is the One Who sends down rain from the sky, from which you drink and by which plants grow for your cattle to graze. With it He produces for you \[various\] crops, olives, palm trees, grapevines, and every type of fruit. Surely, in this is a sign for those who reflect,”[^7] and “And He is the One Who has subjected the sea, so from it you may eat tender seafood and extract ornaments to wear. And you see the ships plowing their way through it, so you may seek His bounty and give thanks \[to Him\].”[^8] Allah has created all humans “in the best shape” (Qur’an 95:4) and made us stewards on the earth (Qur’an 2:30 and 38:26). This concept of universal human dignity is also further amplified throughout the *sīrah*. For example, it was narrated that “a funeral procession passed in front of the Prophet ﷺ, and he stood up. When he was told that it was the coffin of a Jew, he said, ‘Is it not a human soul?’”[^9] Allah gifted humanity honor and value as human beings and due to our collective descent from Prophet Adam (as). We have been honored by Allah, placed in high esteem above all other creation, and have a noble potential for moral excellence. We have blameworthy attributes, a propensity to err, and we routinely underperform, but, just like the unconditional love a parent has for their child, we are valuable not because of what we achieve, but simply because we exist as humans. At its core, human value is not dependent upon our ability to make scientific discoveries, run FTSE 100 companies, or win gold medals. Our value comes from Allah because we are human, giving everyone the right to be treated with dignity and respect without condition. --- ## Acquired dignity: Honored as believers Although our value is not measured by the worldly success we achieve, acts of service still carry with them added value insofar as they are pleasing to Allah. True to the Islamic worldview and the importance of faithful contribution, humankind also has the potential to scale in rank of value through *belief* and *good deeds*. We have the opportunity to “ascend up the spiritual ladder” through “dignity and honor that is obtained by virtue of a Muslim’s efforts.”[^10] Allah says in the Qur’an, “But honor, power and glory belong to Allah, and to His Messenger, **and to the believers**, but the hypocrites know not.”[^11] ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA) said, “We are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam. And whenever we seek to be honored through other than it, Allah will bring us humiliation.”[^12] The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever belittles the authority of Allah on the earth, Allah will belittle him,”[^13] and the Qur’an repeatedly references those who “believe and do good,” calling such people “the best of created beings.”[^14] We all have the ability to be of greater value by obeying Allah and His Messenger. In fact, Allah tells us that believers have the potential to elevate to the level of the angels who are unable to disobey Him. Our added value is, therefore, precisely what brings us closer to Allah. Contrary to the Christian notion of salvation—which depends wholly on humanity’s necessary and sufficient need for Christ’s rescue—human value, honor, and dignity come by virtue of Allah’s grace to humankind *and* by virtue of our efforts to believe, do good, obey Him, and overcome the lower parts of our *nafs*. Islam empowers us to take responsibility for our own affairs, and as believers, Allah permits and seals our efforts towards good through His mercy and grace. True value comes from whatever brings us closer to Allah, not necessarily what brings us economic prosperity, fame, or accolades. In the mundane, neglected, and most humbling of tasks we gain stature in front of our Lord, and although we don’t depend on worldly successes to motivate our actions, what brings us closer to Allah is always what is of most benefit to society, even though most people may not perceive its effect. My mother-in-law, who stayed at home and cared for her son with disabilities, Muhammad, for the 12 years of his life, brought physical and emotional benefits to him, and spiritual growth and gratitude to herself. Even the mere presence of a righteous Muslim has the potential to be of benefit, as we see in the case of Prophet Lut (as) whose presence among his people may have delayed his community’s punishment, “But Allah would never punish them while you \[O Prophet\] were in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.”[^15] --- ## Redefining value Contrary to society’s notions of value, Muslim value is both *divinely guaranteed* as part of humanity and *acquired* through faith and obedience to Allah. What makes us have added value is not our economic contribution, status in society, or exceptional achievements. Rather, what makes us have added value is our belief in Allah and our endeavor to be pleasing to Him through righteous good deeds. Sometimes, righteous actions may lead to what wider society sees as valuable, but this is a gracious side effect, not the ultimate source of value. When the Prophet ﷺ saw a warrior among the Companions celebrating at the expense of the weak for victory in a battle, he said, “Are you given victory and sustenance except due to your weak?”[^16] The Prophet ﷺ has thus taught us that Muslims flourish when the humblest among us are honored. Reducing our worth to acceptable societal output is a deeply flawed and harmful endeavor. So, while we strive to be of added value to the world in accord with Allah’s guidance, we must, first and foremost, hold firm in the knowledge that our value ultimately comes from Him and through our potential to ascend in rank through righteous obedience. Although our value is not defined by our secular, worldly accomplishments, we gain in distinction by virtue of the good deeds we do on earth—as determined by Allah. Allah says, “O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may \[get to\] know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.”[^17] When we let our accomplishments decide our value and how we should be treated, it works against us because it overlooks the value that God has already given us. By focusing only on these arbitrary and changing standards, we end up outcasting people in our community who may not meet them. Instead, we should honor all Muslims, whether they’re in the limelight or in the shadows—Abdur-rahman *and* Malik—because our value is not determined by societal norms. Rather, we are all valued in the sight of Allah and it is only our *righteous* actions that allow us to ascend. Abdur-rahman, my local North African bus driver, can be seen leaning out of his window smiling, chatting, and fist-pumping grumpy Londoners—his big white beard and huge grin making the worst of us perk up. Every day, Abdur-rahman makes sure school kids, city-workers, and elderly pensioners get to where they need to be. School, the office, hospital appointments. He ignores the rude comments, the terrorist jokes, and the poor imitations of his Algerian accent, replying only with laughter and polite conversation. He arranges his breaks around prayer. Abdur-rahman is underappreciated, but his God-given value deserves amplification. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2320, graded *ḥasan* (good) by Imam al-Tirmidhī. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4918. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 458. [^4]: Shabbir Akhtar, “A Path Straightened Out: Perspectives on Human Nature in the Qur’an,” Yaqeen, October 22, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-path-straightened-out-perspectives-on-human-nature-in-the-quran](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-path-straightened-out-perspectives-on-human-nature-in-the-quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1739294751128569&usg=AOvVaw1LnGBMI0GqeDMpa1VbY0m0). [^5]: Qur’an 17:70. [^6]: Shabbir Akhtar, “A Path Straightened Out: Perspectives on Human Nature in the Qur’an,” 2020. [^7]: Qur’an 16:10-11. [^8]: Qur’an 16:14. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1312, 1313*.* [^11]: Mohamed Bin Ali, “Delineating the Concept of Human Dignity in the Quran: *Karamah Al-insan* as an Antidote to Religious Conflicts and Violence,” *Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal* 9, no. 1 (2022): 220-235. [^11]: Qur’an 63:9. [^12]: Al-Ḥākim al-Naysapūrī, *al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn*, 207. This was graded *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) by al-Albānī. [^13]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2224, graded *ḥasan* (good) by al-Tirmidhī. [^14]: Qur’an 98:7; Shabbir Akhtar, “A Path Straightened Out: Perspectives on Human Nature in the Qur’an,” 2020. [^15]: Qur’an 8:33. [^16]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2896. [^17]: Qur’an 49:13. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/exploring-islamophobia-a-snapshot-of-current-research-blog # Exploring Islamophobia: A Snapshot of Current Research | Blog **Author:** Anna Birawi **Topics:** Faith, Islamophobia, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog **Published:** February 3, 2025 **Updated:** February 28, 2025 ## Introduction Islamophobia, broadly understood as a prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims, has emerged as a significant global phenomenon with profound consequences for Muslim communities worldwide. In recent decades, it has also garnered much scholarly attention. This short literature review briefly synthesizes existing research on Islamophobia, presenting prominent themes of exploration: its definitions, historical roots, diverse manifestations across various contexts, and impact on the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of Muslims. Most critically, it highlights several key research gaps and proposes potential avenues for future exploration that align with Yaqeen Institute’s focus on producing faith-building content. --- ## Defining Islamophobia: A Contested Terrain Much research focuses on defining Islamophobia and the significant challenge that this presents, as the term itself is subject to ongoing debate and contestation (Sayyid, 2014; Beydoun, 2016; Mondon and Winter, 2017). While a widely accepted, universally applicable definition remains elusive, many scholars agree that Islamophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes, prejudices, and discriminatory practices directed towards Muslims and Islam (Jaber, 2022; Shufaq, 2023). These can manifest as fear or threat perception associated with Islam and Muslims, prejudicial attitudes, and discriminatory actions (Kathawalla et al., 2024). Some researchers emphasize the role of stereotypes and misunderstandings in shaping Islamophobic sentiments (Shufaq, 2023), while others highlight the intersectional nature of Islamophobia, recognizing its links to racism, xenophobia, and other forms of prejudice (Sayyid, 2014; Lauwers, 2019). The conceptualization of Islamophobia as a form of racism is also gaining traction (Lauwers, 2019), and thus it is often referred to as anti-Muslim racism (Elahi and Khan, 1997). Furthermore, a strong current of scholars argue that Islamophobia is not merely a matter of individual prejudice but is embedded in institutional structures and political processes (Bazian, 2018; Husain, 2020; Runnymede Trust, 2024). The lack of a single, universally agreed-upon definition underscores the complexity of the phenomenon and the need for further research to refine and clarify the conceptual boundaries of Islamophobia. Many Muslim researchers are highlighting the negative consequences of a hyper-focus on the definition, meaning, and validity of Islamophobia as a concept, citing semantic diversion from the lived realities of Muslims as the main pitfall. Abstract debates over its definition and parameters often distract from the reality that Muslims are frequently judged based on assumptions about their beliefs, behavior, and politics—many of which lead to negative and harmful consequences in their lives (Runnymede Trust, 2024). This highlights an area of possible saturation and the need to redirect research back to mitigating the tangible effects of Islamophobia on Muslim communities, and particularly their faith. This is reinforced by the fact that despite the challenges in defining the phenomenon, the overwhelming consensus among researchers is that Islamophobia constitutes a significant form of discrimination with demonstrably negative consequences for Muslim communities. --- ## Historical Roots and Contemporary Manifestations Another main body of research focuses on the historical roots of Islamophobia, highlighting its complexity and deep intertwinement with broader historical power dynamics (Shufaq, 2023). Orientalist discourse, with its depiction of the “Orient” as exotic, backward, and inherently threatening to the “West,” has played a significant role in shaping negative perceptions of Islam and Muslims (Benlahcene, 2021; Thompson, 2013). Colonial encounters further fuelled these prejudices, reinforcing existing stereotypes and creating new ones (Benlahcene, 2021; Hunter, 2022). The events of September 11, 2001, marked a turning point, significantly escalating Islamophobic sentiments globally (Samari et al., 2018; Bazian, 2018). The subsequent “War on Terror” and associated security policies further contributed to the stigmatization of Muslims and the rise of anti-Muslim discrimination (Ali and Whitham, 2020; Khan et al., 2024; Atnashev, 2016). However, it is important to note that Islamophobia is not solely a post-9/11 phenomenon (Lopez, 2011; Hunter, 2022); its roots extend far back in history, shaped by a complex interplay of religious, political, and cultural factors (Benlahcene, 2021; Lean, 2017). A growing body of research centers on the contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia, exposing its diversity in encompassing hate speech, hate crimes, biased media representations, and discrimination in employment, housing, and education (Jaber, 2022; Khan et al., 2024; Noviati et al., 2024; Atkins, 2024; Saeed, 2016). These manifestations are not isolated incidents; they are often interconnected and reinforce each other, creating a climate of fear and insecurity for Muslim communities (Jaber, 2022). Scholars have delved into the securitization of Islam, examining how Islamic beliefs, practices, and Muslim communities are increasingly framed as security threats in both political discourse and policy (Eroukhmanoff, 2019; Hussain and Bagguley, 2012). This process, driven by post-9/11 geopolitics and the “War on Terror,” links Islam to issues of national security, often portraying Muslims as potential risks to social stability (Moulin, 2017; Fekete, 2004). Scholars argue that this securitization contributes to the marginalization and criminalization of Muslim identities, reinforcing Islamophobic stereotypes and justifying discriminatory practices (Abbas, 2021). Research in this area highlights the intersection of security policies, media representations, and the broader societal impact on Muslims, stressing the need for a critical understanding of how these narratives shape public perception and policy. Other studies set out to explore the relationship between secularism and race in social structures when theorizing Islamophobia (Sadequee, 2025). Research in this area often takes on decolonial perspectives, seeking to expose the historical legacies of colonialism and Orientalism, and the role of political opportunism in fueling anti-Muslim sentiment (Benlahcene, 2021; Hunter, 2022; Runnymede Trust, 2024). A possible area of neglect has been the reliance on and perpetration of Islamophobia by the Zionist lobby, as well as its role in the early history of Zionist ideology. --- ## Islamophobia in Specific Contexts Empirical research on Islamophobia has shown that the manifestation and impact of Islamophobia vary considerably across different national and regional contexts (Coyne, 2017; Shukri and Farhana, 2018). Studies have examined Islamophobia in Western countries (Jaber, 2022; Samari et al., 2018; Love, 2009; Saada, 2024; Khan et al., 2024; Noviati et al., 2024; Lean, 2017), focusing on the roles of media representations (Khan et al., 2024; Noviati et al., 2024; Cockbain, 2020; Lean, 2017), government policies (Ali and Whitham, 2020), and social attitudes (Coyne, 2017; Lean, 2017). Research in the United States has highlighted the intersectionality of race and Islamophobia (Love, 2009; Considine, 2017), exploring how racial bias exacerbates anti-Muslim discrimination (Love, 2009). In Europe, studies have analyzed the influence of far-right political movements, the impact of security measures on Muslim communities (Atnashev, 2016), and even the politics of the psy-disciplines in times of Islamophobia (Younis, 2022). Comparative studies have also examined the differences in how Islamophobia manifests in various regions of Canada (Coyne, 2017), revealing the influence of provincial political cultures on the expression of anti-Muslim prejudice (Coyne, 2017). Research in non-Western contexts, such as China (Stroup, 2023), Indonesia (Shukri and Farhana, 2018), and India (Khan et al., 2024), has demonstrated that Islamophobia is not confined to the West, and that internal factors, such as rising conservatism and political polarization, can contribute to the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment (Shukri and Farhana, 2018; Khan et al., 2024). These comparative analyses reveal the complex and context-specific nature of Islamophobia, emphasizing the importance of considering local factors when studying and addressing this phenomenon (Shukri and Farhana, 2018). The diversity of contexts in which Islamophobia manifests highlights the need for tailored interventions that account for the specific socio-political dynamics at play in each setting. --- ## The Impact of Islamophobia: Mental Health, Social Cohesion, and Political Participation The consequences of Islamophobia are far-reaching, affecting the mental and physical health of Muslim individuals and communities (Samari et al., 2018; Saada, 2024; Abu Khalaf et al., 2022; Atkins, 2024). Studies have documented the negative impacts of discrimination on mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Samari et al., 2018; Abu Khalaf et al., 2022). Islamophobia also undermines social cohesion by fostering distrust and alienation between Muslim and non-Muslim communities (Husain, 2020; Lean, 2017). The experience of discrimination can lead to social withdrawal, reduced civic engagement, and feelings of exclusion (Saada, 2024; Abu Khalaf et al, 2022; Atkins, 2024). A common claim in this literature is that Islamophobia is structurally and institutionally embedded, resulting in a multifaceted social exclusion of Muslims across Western societies (Kozarik, 2022). Furthermore, Islamophobia can restrict political participation, discouraging Muslims from engaging in political processes and advocating for their rights (Husain, 2020). The cumulative effect of these impacts can have significant social and economic consequences for Muslim communities (Jaber, 2022). The substantial negative impacts on mental health, social cohesion, and political participation highlight the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to address Islamophobia and promote social justice (Samari et al., 2018; Abu Khalaf et al., 2022). Further research is needed to fully understand the long-term consequences of Islamophobia and to develop effective interventions to mitigate its harmful effects. --- ## The Impact of Islamophobia: Faith Formation Far less attention has been given to how Islamophobia affects the faith development of Muslim individuals. Some scholarship has begun to analyze the effects of Muslims internalizing Islamophobic tropes. Issues that present include shifts in religious interpretations (more assertive or defensive), weakened sense of Muslim identity, doubts in faith, and intra-community conflict (Suleiman, 2017; Gil-Benumeya, 2023; Merchant, 2016).  The constant barrage of negative stereotypes and representations can cultivate *internalized Islamophobia*, where individuals begin to question their own beliefs and values (Suleiman, 2017). This phenomenon is particularly acute among young Muslims (Suleiman, 2017; Shufaq, 2023), who are more susceptible to societal pressures and peer influence. The constant exposure to negative portrayals of Islam can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, and doubt regarding their religious identity (Suleiman, 2017). This erosion of religious confidence can manifest in various ways, such as decreased participation in religious practices, a weakening of the connection to their faith community, and a pervasive sense of insecurity (Shufaq, 2023).  Furthermore, the internalization of Islamophobic narratives can lead to self-censorship and a reluctance to openly express one’s faith, further isolating individuals and hindering their spiritual growth. However, the experience of discrimination can also paradoxically strengthen religious identity, fostering a sense of collective solidarity and resilience within the Muslim community (Barkdull et al., 2016; Ali, 2021). This reactive identity formation, where individuals reaffirm their faith in response to adversity, is a complex and often powerful response to marginalization. The study of religious identity formation, specifically resilience, within the context of Islamophobia thus presents an opportunity for exploration, as a nuanced understanding of these multifaceted and often contradictory responses is needed. --- ## How Can Yaqeen Contribute? While significant progress has been made in understanding the multifaceted nature of Islamophobia, its historical roots, contemporary manifestations, and profound impacts on individuals and communities, several critical research gaps remain. In particular, and relevant to Yaqeen’s objectives, is the absence of **faith-driven research** that not only focuses on the intersection of Islamophobia and faith development but centers Islamic ethical, theological, and legal frameworks in the process. Yaqeen addresses many areas that can be broadly applied to the topic of Islamophobia, including papers that address doubts surrounding violence and war in Islam as well as those that strengthen conviction in Allah’s protection and guidance. However, we currently have a limited number of resources addressing the topic of Islamophobia directly and through the lens of Qur’anic and prophetic wisdoms. Our current publications mirror much of the pre-existing literature and are largely confined to diagnostic approaches that seek to explain and identify the phenomenon in society, focusing on the social and political definitions and ramifications. We seek to fill this gap, offering novel research that draws from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and rich history of Islamic scholarship to strengthen the faith and conviction of Muslims in times of Islamophobia. **Want to contribute to Yaqeen’s research in this field? Check out our [Call for Papers on Islamophobia](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/call-for-papers-islamophobia-structural-roots-and-prophetic-response-yaqeen-institute). For more Yaqeen resources on this topic, [click here](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/politics-practical-theology/islamophobia).** --- ## Bibliography Abbas, Tahir. “Intersecting Globalization, Islamophobia, Radicalization, and Securitization in Islam and security in the West.” In *Islam and Security in the West*, edited by Stephan Bonino and Roberta Ricucci. Springer Nature Link, 2021. Abu Khalaf, Nadin, Ashley B. Woolweaver, Roslyn Reynoso Marmolejos, Grace A. Little, Katheryn Burnett, and Dorothy L. Espelage. “The Impact of Islamophobia on Muslim Students: A Systematic Review of the Literature.” *School Psychology Review* 52, no. 2 (2022): 206-223. Ali, Hadeel. “The Experiences and Mental Health Impact of Islamophobia on Muslim Americans Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study.” Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2021. [https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1886](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1886&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1738601042158979&usg=AOvVaw2kf4wU0hlCrj_A5_0Z8nsU). Ali, Nadya and Ben Whitham. “Racial Capitalism, Islamophobia, and Austerity.” *International Political Sociology* 15, no. 2 (2020): 190-211. Atkins, Tia. “The Impact of Islamic Extremist Terrorist Attacks on the British Muslim Community.” *International Journal of European Studies* 8, no. 1 (2024): 1-8. Atnashev, Vadim. “Impact of Islamophobia and Human Rights: Violations to the Radicalization of Muslim Communities.” *Middle East Review of Public Administration* 2, no. 1 (2016): 91-107. Barkdull, Carenlee, Khadija Khaja, Irene Queiro-Tajalli, Amy Swart, Dianne Cunningham, and Sheila Dennis. “Experiences of Muslims in four Western countries post—9/11.” *Journal of Women & Social Work* 26, no. 2 (2011): 139-153. Bazian, Hatem. “Islamophobia, Clash of Civilizations, and Forging a Post-Cold War Order!” *Religions* 9, no. 9 (2018): 282-294. Benlahcene, Badrane. “Orientalism as a Cultural Root of Western Islamophobia.” *Islamic Thought and Civilization (JITC)* 11, no. 2 (2021): 69-86. Beydoun, Khaled. “Islamophobia: Toward a Legal Definition and Framework.” *Columbia Law Review* 116 (2016). Considine, Craig. “The Racialization of Islam in the United States: Islamophobia, Hate Crimes, and Flying while Brown.” *Religions* 8, no. 9 (2017): 165-183. Coyne, Shannon. “Discrimination within Political Cultures: Contrasting Islamophobia in Canadian Regions.” *Political Science Undergraduate Review* 2, no. 2 (2017): 5-13. Elahi, Farah, and Omar Khan. “ Islamophobia: Still A Challenge For Us All.” Runnymede*,* 2017. [https://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/islamophobia-still-a-challenge-for-us-all](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/islamophobia-still-a-challenge-for-us-all&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1738601042160993&usg=AOvVaw1yiD46ajnJ682fJol-oX8b). Eroukhmanoff, Clara. *The securitisation of Islam: Covert Racism and Affect in the United States post-9/11*. Manchester University Press, 2019. Fekete, Liz. “Anti-Muslim Racism and the European Security State.” *Race & Class* 46, no. 1 (2004): 3-29. Gil-Benumeya, Daniel. “The Consent of the Oppressed: An Analysis of Internalized Racism and Islamophobia among Muslims in Spain.” *Sociological Perspectives* 66, no. 6 (2023): 1146-1164. Hunter, Mary. “Islamophobia and Anti-Pakistani Sentiment: European Origins, Developments and Preventative Strategies.” *IPRI Journal* XXII, no.1 (2022): 45-71. Husain, Sara Cheikh. “Muslim Community Organizations’ Perceptions of Islamophobia: Towards an Informed Countering Response.” *Religions* 11, no. 10 (2020): 485-508. Hussain, Yasmin, and Paul Bagguley. “Securitised citizens: Islamophobia, racism and the 7/7 London bombings.” *The Sociological Review* 60, no. 4 (2012): 715-734. Jaber, Nihaya. “Islamophobia: Definition, History, and Aspects.” *Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam* 5, no. 2 (2022): 327-338. Kathawalla, Ummul-Kiram, Quratulain Gulamhussein, Fei Bi Chan, Amy Riegelman, and Moin Syed. “Conceptualization and Measurement of Islamophobia: A Systematic Review.” *Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy* 24, no. 3 (2024): 832-924. Khan, Muhammad Riaz, Zuhana Mohamed Zin, and Wan Farah Wani Binti Wan Fakhruddin. “Media Representations of Islam and Muslims in Global Contexts (2002-2022): A Systematic Literature Review.” *Studies in Media and Communication* 13, no. 1 (2024): 284-300. Khan, Robina, Maryam Siddique, and Zafar Abbas. “The Rise of Islamophobia in India: Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom of Indian Muslims.” *Global Legal Studies Review* IX, no. II (2024): 21-29. Lauwers, Anna Sophie. “Is Islamophobia (Always) Racism?” *Critical Philosophy of Race* 7, no. 2 (2019): 306-332. Lean, Nathan. *The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Hatred of Muslims*. Pluto Press, 2017. Lopez, Fernando Bravo. “Towards a Definition of Islamophobia: Approximations of the Early Twentieth Century.” *Ethnic and Racial Studies* 34, no. 4 (2010): 556-573. Love, Erik. “Confronting Islamophobia in the United States: Framing Civil Rights Activism Among Middle Eastern Americans.” *Patterns of Prejudice* 43, no. 3-4 (2009): 401-425. Merchant, Natasha H. “Responses to Islam in the Classroom: A Case of Muslim Girls from Minority Communities of Interpretation.” *International Journal of Multicultural Education* 18, no. 1 (2016): 183-199. Mondon, Aurelien, and Aaron Winter. “Articulations of Islamophobia: From the Extreme to the Mainstream?” *Ethnic and Racial Studies* 40, no. 13 (2016): 2151-2179. Noviati, Cora Elly, Octora Permata, Encik Lukmanul Hakim, and Gatot Iriyanto. “Islamophobia in Multicultural America: Media Narratives, Challenges, and Muslim Responses.” *Kawanua International Journal of Multicultural Studies* 5, no. 1 (2024): 139-158. Runnymede Trust.“Islamophobia: the intensification of racism against Muslim communities in the UK.” Runnymede, 2024. [https://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/islamophobia-the-intensification-of-racism-against-muslim-communities-in-the-uk](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/islamophobia-the-intensification-of-racism-against-muslim-communities-in-the-uk&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1738601042164349&usg=AOvVaw2P4w22h0ghj7UMvzPHR0U1). Saada, Najwan. “Teaching Against Islamophobia: Educational Interventions.” *Multicultural Perspectives* 26, no. 1 (2024): 14-26. Sadequee, Sharmin., ed. *Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia*. University of Alberta Press, 2025. Saeed, Tania. *Islamophobia and Securitization: Religion, Ethnicity and the Female Voice*. Palgrave, 2016. Samari, Goleen, Héctor E. Alcal, and Mienah Z. Sharif. “Islamophobia, Health, and Public Health: A Systematic Literature Review.” *American Public Health Association* 108, no. 6 (2018): e1-e9. Sayyid, S. 2014. “A Measure of Islamophobia.” *Pluto Journals* 2, no. 1 (2014): 10-25. Shufaq, Ayesha. “Developing the Conceptual Framework for Islamophobia: A Comprehensive Literature Review.” *Spring Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences* 2, no. 10 (2023): 60-68. Shukri, Mohamad, and Syaza Farhana. “Islamophobia in the most populous Muslim majority country: a case study of Indonesia.” *International Conference on Religion, Culture and Governance in the Contemporary World (ICRCG 2018)*, 3rd-4th October 2018, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished). Suleiman, Omar. “Internalized Islamophobia: Exploring the Faith and Identity Crisis of American Muslim Youth.” *Islamophobia Studies Journal* 4, no. 1 (2017). Thompson, Philip. “Allen’s Islamophobia and the British news media: a critical evaluation of Islamophobia as a concept and its application to the written news media in Britain between 2001 and 2008.” Master’s Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. 2013. [https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/354/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/354/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1738601042166461&usg=AOvVaw3pPVNOqh5fzDFeHNs1mF1n). Younis, Tarek. *T**he Muslim, State and Mind: Psychology in Times of Islamophobia*. Sage Publications Ltd, 2022. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/who-are-the-chosen-ones-the-qurans-correction-of-the-bible-on-the-election-of-the-children-of-israel # Who Are the Chosen Ones? The Qur’an’s Correction of the Bible on the Election of the Children of Israel **Author:** Dr. Louay Fatoohi **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Da'wah in Islam, Publication **Published:** December 27, 2024 **Updated:** September 6, 2026 ## Introduction The chosenness of the Children of Israel by God occupies a central role in Judaism as it is the main theme in the history and theology of its Scripture.[^1] The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) starts with an account of creation that quickly moves to focus on the creation of mankind. One fifth of the way into its first book, Genesis, it moves to focus on Abraham and then his descendants, in particular those from his grandson, Jacob (Israel). The book is effectively a history of the Israelites in which all other peoples are supporting actors. Even God is depicted as being focused on the Israelites more than anyone and anything else. This ethnos is presented as *the chosen people of God* and the center of His plans and actions. While early Christians did not hold one view of how the Hebrew Bible related to Jesus’s message, it was accepted as God’s word. Christianity inherited the Biblical concept of the chosen people of God but reworked it to meet its theological needs, presenting the Church as the new chosen people. The Qur’an confirms that the Children of Israel were chosen and preferred by Allah over other peoples, but it explains this differently from its presentation in Judaism and later adaptation in Christianity. Muslim scholars have agreed that the Qur’an does not present the chosenness of the Israelites as perpetual over all nations. Yet when it comes to the exact meaning of this chosenness, scholars have often spoken about it in general terms, citing various divine favors referred to in various verses. Such *general* and *broad* statements do not clearly explain the *specific* concept of “chosenness” as they do not distinguish between different Qur’anic terms. Studies of the various forms of chosenness in the Qur’an often conflate different, albeit related, terms and concepts.[^2] Translating those already-conflated Qur’anic terms into another language adds another layer of misconception, making the distortion of meanings considerably harder to spot. This article will try to show that distinguishing between different Qur’anic terms clarifies the exact meaning of the chosenness of the Israelites and related concepts. The result is a simple, coherent, and compelling explanation that corrects the Jewish and Christian misunderstandings of the meaning of God’s choosing of the Israelites. --- ## The incoherent chosenness of the Israelites in the Bible The Hebrew Bible mentions several covenants that God had with people. The first of these is the covenant He made through Noah with all creatures that never again would a flood destroy the whole of the earth and those living on it. He set the rainbow as a reminder of this covenant.[^3] In the second covenant, God promised Abraham to make his descendants His chosen people. It is first mentioned when God instructed the seventy-five-year-old Abraham to leave Haran, believed to be today’s Harran in southeastern Turkey, and go to Canaan, which He told him He would give to his offspring.[^4] From then on, God’s promise to Abraham is mentioned repeatedly, as in this speech by God to the ninety-nine-year-old Abraham: > I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God… As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.[^5] The Bible later clarifies that it is only Abraham’s descendants through his son Isaac[^6] and grandson Jacob,[^7] who is later called Israel, whom God chose as His people. The Bible describes the uniqueness of God’s election of the Israelites and His relationship with them in exclusive language that effectively makes Him more of a god of His chosen people than the rest of the creation. Here are a few illustrative statistics from its second book, Exodus, which starts with the Israelites being numerous but enslaved by the Egyptians. In Exodus, the expression “the God of” occurs twenty-seven times, all referring to Israelites: - The God of the Hebrews: 6 - The God of Israel: 4 - The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: 3 x 3 = 9 - The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: 1 - The God of your ancestors: 3 - The God of their ancestors: 1 - The God of your father: 1 - The God of my father: 2 There is not a single instance in which God is referred to as also the God of the Egyptians or anyone else. Similarly, Exodus reports God using the expression “my people” to exclusively refer to the Israelites no less than twenty-seven times. So, the various forms of the phrases “the God of” and “my people” in reference to Israel occur as many as fifty-four times in Exodus alone. This tribal image of God significantly conflicts with also presenting Him as the only Lord of everyone and everything.[^8] Western scholars also agree that the Israelites once believed that each tribal nation had its own god. This is traceable to at least as early as Julius Wellhausen in the second half of the nineteenth century.[^9] The early Israelites “did not think of YHWH as the only God, but as the mightiest among the gods. His power, though, was restricted to the land of Israel.”[^10] The Israelites are also said to have worshipped more than one god.[^11] The Qur’an, however, explains the presence of polytheistic and monotheistic language in the Bible differently. The Israelites’ religion as taught by the Patriarchs was always monotheistic, acknowledging only one God and calling the Israelites and people in general to worship Him. The polytheistic passages in the Bible are extraneous to what Abraham and later prophets taught, representing reflections, distortions, and historical episodes by some misguided Israelites over the centuries. For instance, the Qur’an records that post-exodus Israelites asked Moses to make for them an idol to worship similar to idols other peoples worshipped[^12] and later, when Moses was receiving the tablets, they made a calf out of their ornaments and worshipped it.[^13] These episodes are parts of the history of the Israelites but had nothing to do with Moses’ teachings. Western scholars also look at the concept of election as a product of polytheism, as various ancient nations, including the Israelites, each claimed to have been elected by its god. Early in the twentieth century, Powis Smith suggested a god-nation election relationship was meant to give the elected nation authority over other nations. But as disasters continued to inflict Israel, they could not maintain the myth of world supremacy. The Israelite prophets then developed the common god-nation election to place Israel not as the world ruler but as its spiritual teacher and savior. Rather counterintuitively, Smith argued that the long editorial process through which the Old Testament went ensured that its doctrine of election was ethically and spiritually superior to similar ancient doctrines.[^14] More recently, Reuven Firestone stated that when the early Israelites became monotheistic and believed their god to be the One God, the chosenness that they once had with their tribal god became chosenness by the universal God. Rather than *a* chosen people by *their god*, they became *the* chosen people by *the one God*.[^15] As it offers its own explanation of the Bible’s accommodation of monotheistic and polytheistic passages, the Qur’an gives a completely different picture of the election of the Israelites, as we shall see later. In making the chosenness of the Israelites the focus of its history and theology, the Bible has two related fundamental problems: it does not provide a meaningful explanation of this chosenness nor does it give a logical justification for it. The following is a typical passage in which chosenness is confirmed but no explanation or justification is given: > For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.[^16] The Bible is unclear as to what making the Israelites God’s chosen people means. The awarding of the Mosaic Law cannot be the explanation because the election predates it by centuries. Indeed, being given the Torah is seen as a result of being God’s chosen. The offering of the Torah to Israel was itself an act of divine love for the elected.[^17] What about the unique granting of the holy land? This could have been a meaningful explanation if this was a case of a feudal landlord giving a group of his servants a piece of land, but it would be absurd to suggest that this could even partially explain the eternal chosenness of a group of human beings by the Divine.[^18] The Bible’s focus on a land in this world, though, is consistent with its ignorance of life after death.[^19] The holy land itself is repeatedly praised for its worldly benefits, such as its produce.[^20] Even piety and righteousness are presented as needed in order to benefit in this world. The Bible is even more averse to providing a justification for the election, making this divine act arbitrary. The following is one passage, in which God addresses the Israelites through Moses, that captures this silence: > When the LORD your God thrusts them out before you, *do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness* that the LORD has brought me in to occupy this land”; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. It is *not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart* that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the LORD made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know, then, that the LORD your God is *not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness*; for *you are a stubborn people*. Remember and do not forget how *you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; you have been rebellious against the LORD from the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place*.[^21] The Bible mentions the evil of the Canaanite nations as the reason for removing them from the land. Yet it *repeatedly and expressly* reminds the Israelites that they did not deserve God’s decision to replace the Canaanites with them. The passage seems set to explain giving the land to the Israelites, only to end up stressing that there is no justification, condemning the Israelites instead. Usually, the Abrahamic covenant, when his descendants were first declared chosen, is seen as unconditional by Biblical scholars, while the Sinaitic (Mosaic) covenant, when the Law was given to Moses, is considered conditional. The Bible stipulates that the covenant depends on the Israelites’ obedience to God, using terms such as “commandments,” “statutes,” “decrees,” and “ordinances”: > If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the LORD your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors.[^22] Yet paradoxically, there is nothing that the Israelites could do, no matter how evil in God’s sight, that would make them “unchosen.” This is why God’s commitment to the Israelites is also described as *everlasting*. The Israelites might sin and get punished by God but they would never lose their status as His chosen. We may draw a timeline of the Israelites’ alternating prosperity and punishment throughout history, but there is no corresponding timeline of chosenness and “unchosenness.” For example, after the destruction of the northern and southern kingdoms and the taking of their inhabitants into exile, Jeremiah prophesied that God would end the suffering and return the exiled home: > Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they shall take possession of it.[^23] Significantly, “the God of Israel” still refers to the punished people who had lost the holy land as *His people*. Triumphant or defeated, rewarded or punished, the Israelites remain God’s chosen people at all times.[^24] No matter how good any other nation is, it remains unchosen. Christianity changed this Biblical doctrine, as we will see later. The Bible’s concept of election, as well as the promised land, is unclear.[^25] The relevant texts are incoherent, so it is not possible to make sense of the concept. But its comparative claim is clear: the Israelites are “the most blessed of peoples.”[^26] They are better than other peoples and more loved by God. They are God’s privileged people. However, the Bible fails to *explain* or *justify* God’s unique election of the Israelites. The genesis of this confused and paradoxical chosenness is its ethnic nature. God understandably loved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for their righteousness, yet He inexplicably chose *all the descendants* of *one* of those three *individuals* as His people, “And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them,”[^27] fully aware that they would be a disobedient people throughout history. This chosenness is described as a “covenant” and does place commitments on the Israelites, yet in reality it is more of a one-sided commitment by God as it is unconditionally everlasting. The writers of the Bible could not deny that the history of the Israelites is one of persistent disobedience and numerous national calamities, which are linked to their rebellion against God, but they were not going to compromise their ethnocentric message either. The Israelites were chosen not because of their righteousness or any particular virtue but because of their ethnicity, the Bible unambiguously states. The inevitable outcome was an incoherent and paradoxical election. This is one Biblical contradiction that the Qur’an explains and corrects. --- ## The chosenness of Israel in Western scholarship This section presents a quick review of how Western scholarship has dealt with this core Biblical concept. I will make references to early Judaism, but I will discuss the Christian adoption and adaptation of this notion later. Jewish, Christian, and secular scholars of all persuasions acknowledge that the Bible’s presentation of the election of Israel is at least challenging, if not incoherent, as I have already shown. Leaving aside secondary issues, for now, the fundamental claim that God, the *Lord of all creation*, prefers one *ethnic* group over all other ethnicities and human groupings is intrinsically problematic. This already difficult concept is made even more counterintuitive by the Bible’s insistence that the Israelites were not given this status on merit but sola gratia.[^28] Many Jewish and Christian scholars have settled for *God’s love* as the explanation for His choosing of the Israelites.[^29] This love is “mysterious,” as Kaminsky describes it, because it is “inexplicable.”[^30] Sanders has noted that God’s love for the Israelites is a constant theme in Tannaitic literature while stressing that this is not much of an explanation.[^31] Similarly, Novak notes that claiming that God loved/chose the Israelites because He loved/chose them is tautological.[^32] The unmerited election is explained by unmerited love. The question of why God loved Israel has no answer; hence, the election of Israel remains a mystery. Divine love is called upon to *explain* Israel’s election, only to end up being *another special favor* from God that cries for an explanation, “those whom the king loves are greater than those who love the king.”[^33] A similar attempt at an explanation makes the election of the Israelites a fulfillment of the promise God made to their forefathers.[^34] One Jewish scholar has advised that, when studying this mystery, we should “avoid an answer that does too much.”[^35] Ironically, this *explanation by mystery* is common in books and papers that use the full power of human reasoning to develop sophisticated, defensive, rational arguments of Biblical theology, including the notion of the election of the Israelites. This may satisfy those who identify with the ancient Israelites (Jews) and those who believe that they are the new Israel (Christians), as this theological doctrine is profitable to them. For the rest of us, including those Jews and Christians who do not believe in the inerrancy of Biblical theology or that it is wholly inspired,[^36] this love-election circular thinking that confirms Israel’s uniqueness by stressing the arbitrariness of God’s decision is wholly unsatisfactory. God is not irrational and does not engender incomprehensibility or reward incomprehension. Outsourcing the explanation to the *mystery of divine love* buries rather than addresses the serious problems in the concept of the chosenness of Israel. An inexplicable and unjustifiable ethnic election is an affront to divine justice and God’s equal Lordship of all nations, as David Cline explains in these critical observations: > There is no doubt that the Pentateuch represents God as the God of the Hebrews—God of the Hebrews, that is, in a way he is not God of the Egyptians or Hittites, for example (even if he is God of those nations in any sense at all). This is all right if you happen to be an Israelite and have no dealings with Hittites. You know all you need to know, which is that Yahweh is your God. But if you happen to be a Hittite, or even a twentieth-century reader of the Pentateuch, how congenial is it to encounter in its pages a deity who is bound in this way to just one nation: the nation claims that he is their peculiar deity, and he professes that he has chosen them as his own peculiar people? What is the sense in this arrangement, what rationale is offered for it—especially since the Pentateuch itself regards God as the creator of the whole world? And above all, for our present consideration of God in the Pentateuch, what does this exclusivity say about the character of the deity represented here? The Pentateuch itself sees no problem here, nothing to be excused or justified; if anything, it makes a point out of there being no rationale for the choice of Israel as the people of God. But it does not occur to it that the very idea that there should be just one nation that is the chosen people—leaving the rest of humanity unchosen—is itself problematic. The time-honoured language, and the sense of fitness that creeps over us through long acquaintance with the idea, should not be allowed to soften the sense of shock to the modern conscience (religiously formed or otherwise) that such an example of nationalistic ideology must deliver. Nor should we blur the contours of this distinct figuration of God in the Pentateuch with some pacific harmonization or identification of this God with the universal deity of the Christian religion—or, for that matter, patronize the God of the Pentateuch by excusing the myopia of his vision as a necessary stage in the progress of religion.[^37] Opponents of this kind of commonsense scrutiny often argue that it is misguided because it applies Enlightenment values to Biblical theology. The problem with critiquing election in this way, in the words of one Jewish scholar, is that the “Biblical text might not be compatible with the now pervasive liberal, democratic, multicultural ethic.”[^38] Another Christian scholar acknowledged that Israel’s special status causes discomfort to the modern interpreter[^39] but goes further by noting that even the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob do not prove that God’s election of them was more than a caprice. The assumption that God’s choice must be fair, he argues, seems to “import a modern concern into the text.”[^40] Pioneering rationalists, such as Spinoza (d. 1677 CE) and Kant (d. 1804 CE), are accused of marginalizing election by pointing out its contradiction with Enlightenment universalistic ideas, in particular monotheism.[^41] The application of Enlightenment universalism to the particularistic election of Israel could have been accused of being illegitimate anachronism had Judaism not been a living religion and the Bible not treated today as sacred Scripture. But the often vehement defense of this Biblical concept in modern scholarship is not undertaken in the context of discussing an ancient religion that once was. Indeed, Spinoza did not reject that the Israelites were chosen by God, but he argued for a particular interpretation of that election and that it had ceased.[^42] Blaming the Enlightenment for questioning the rationality of the chosenness of the Israelites is a misleading defense. Rabbinic literature shows that early Jewish scholars also grappled with the illusive meaning and justification of this concept.[^43] They tried to show that “it was not odd of God to choose the Jews.” They came up with three answers: 1) God offered the covenant (and the commandments attached to it) to all, but only Israel accepted it; 2) God chose Israel because of some merit found either in the Patriarchs or in the exodus generation or on the condition of future obedience; 3) there is no reason beyond God’s own will.[^44] The latter was a last-resort position they were forced to take only when a reasoned answer was not possible. On the other hand, the great twelfth-century Jewish theologian Maimonides almost completely ignored the chosenness of the Israelites. It does not feature in his *Thirteen Principles* and *Mishneh Torah* (The Laws of the Foundations of the Torah) and it appears probably only once in his other writings.[^45] He denied that the Israelites had any inherent, essential characteristic that distinguished them from other nations, arguing that they were made a holy nation by having been taught the Torah.[^46] Yet, as already noted, the Torah followed, rather than preceded or caused, the election. Maimonides probably found the Biblical portrayal of the election of Israel irrational and indefensible, so he acknowledged this foundational Biblical theme only in passing and tried to rationalize it. His solution might well be a response to the teachings of the Qur’an on the election of the Israelites, so its context might be Jewish-Muslim polemics.[^47] Furthermore, God’s choosing of the Israelites is not a purely divine matter that is not subject to reasoning, like why He created the universe or why He did so at a particular point. It is not even only a matter between God and that one nation because the choosing of the Israelites meant the "unchoosing" of all other peoples. Even those who defend the chosenness of Israel concede that the choosing is not inconsequential for the unchosen.[^48] Indeed, it has been noted that the privilege of chosenness could be detrimental to the unchosen. Unconstrained chosenness could portray the Jews as a *herrenvolk* (master race) and the only possible relationship Gentiles can have with them is to “accept Jewish sovereignty and dominance, be it political or only ‘religious.’” It could lead to “a practical program of coercive dominance,”[^49] as seen in Zionism. Lohr agrees with critics like Clines that “a God of favourites is dangerous.”[^50] Kaminsky accepts that the treatment of the Canaanites was genocidal but he rejects the assumption that “ancient Israel’s treatment of the Canaanites was paradigmatic for her treatment of other outsiders.”[^51] While it is true that the belief in the chosenness of Israel does not have to lead to coercive dominance and genocide, the history of the modern state of Israel shows just how easy it is for this to happen. It suffices to refer to Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and the genocidal language repeatedly used by Israeli officials when referring to the Palestinians, including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to the slaughter of the Amalekites in the Bible. One approach to ameliorating the problem of election theology has been to play down the implied inferiority of the unchosen. Kaminsky came up with the creative solution of suggesting that the Bible differentiates between two groups of unchosen, “non-elect” and “anti-elect.” Those who suffered the worst consequences of being unchosen, such as the Canaanites, are assigned the label “anti-elect.” They are “generally seen as beyond the pale of divine mercy and doomed for destruction.” The non-elect, on the other hand, “have a place within the divine economy even while they retain a different status than Israel, the elect of God.”[^52] Kaminsky goes on to reassuringly note, “In much of the Hebrew Bible (as well as in much of rabbinic thought), being non-elect is in no way equivalent to being damned.”[^53] Lohr finds this distinction between non-elect and anti-elect useful for reading Deuteronomy.[^54] However, he confines the importance of non-elect nations to treat “God’s elect with blessing, not disdain.” They “appear to be able to respond to God appropriately while remaining outside of God’s people.”[^55] Another question that has occupied scholars is whether the election of Israel is conditional or not. Thornhill argues that many scholars, including Jewish Second Temple authors, saw the covenant as involving both conditional and unconditional elements, which “resonates with the Old Testament itself.”[^56] Sanders disagrees, as does Novak,[^57] noting that the Tannaitic literature supports the opposite view: > Although God would punish disobedience and although intentional rejection of God’s right to command implied rejection of the covenant, the Rabbis did not have the view that God’s covenant with Israel was conditional on obedience in the sense that the covenantal promises would be revoked by God because of Israel’s sin. The covenant is, in this sense, unconditional, although it clearly implies the obligation to obey.[^58] Kaminsky suggests that the shock of the exile was reflected in post-exilic texts in the Bible that stress conditional covenantal theology.[^59] The conditional-unconditional question of the election of Israel is thus an intrinsic conflict within the Bible reflecting the historical development of its texts. Spinoza, for instance, used the Bible to show that “God did not choose the Hebrews forever.”[^60] As the covenant was unconditional, rabbis believed that God would never cancel it even when faced with disobedience.[^61] Kaminsky notes, “The vast bulk of relevant texts in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament affirm that God’s promises to Israel are unbreakable and persist in perpetuity.”[^62] The election of the Israelites, specifically, is irrevocable in the Hebrew Bible. Although the covenant repeatedly seems on the verge of dissolution, it is always renewed; it is never ended.[^63] This quick overview shows that huge efforts have been invested by Jewish and Christian theologians to address the internal inconsistencies of the concept of the chosenness of Israel in the Bible and its conflict with basic values, such as justice. One scholar who describes himself as a Christian and a Gentile ends his book on the subject with an honest question: > The criticisms of Schwartz,[^64] Clines, and others—that a God of favorites is dangerous—may well hold true. But what might be the alternative? I am not altogether sure, but the Bible implies that the God of Israel is a God who takes risks and is deeply involved in the matters of humanity.[^65] The Bible’s version of history and theology is not without an alternative. The Qur’an provides one. --- ## The Abrahamic covenant in the Qur’an The Qur’an does confirm that the Israelites were chosen by Allah but, unlike the Bible, it gives a clear and coherent meaning of the election. Indeed, the Qur’an’s correction of the Biblical narrative starts with Allah’s promise to Abraham, which is the equivalent of the Abrahamic covenant in the Bible: > And when Abraham was tried by his Lord with commands and he fulfilled them, He said, “Indeed, I will make you a leader for people.” He \[Abraham\] said, “And of my descendants?” He \[Allah\] said, “My covenant does not include the wrongdoers.”[^66] Allah confirmed that He was going to make Abraham an imam (a spiritual leader) for people because he fulfilled his obligations. Abraham asked for this favor to be extended to *some* of his descendants as he was wise enough to know such a favor may be conferred on *certain individuals*, but never on a *whole nation*. Allah answered Abraham’s prayer and confirmed that only righteous individuals of his descendants would be granted this favor. Furthermore, Abraham did not ask for the favor to be confined to only one line of his descendants. There is so much to say about the Abrahamic covenant in the Qur’an,[^67] but I would just like to shed light on one Qur’anic subtlety that is particularly relevant to this article. In the Bible, God’s covenant with Abraham includes the repeated promise to make his descendants a huge nation, “like the dust of the earth”[^68] and “numerous as the stars of heaven.”[^69] This is another form of glorification of the ethnic group that is the focus of Biblical theology and history. This aspect of the covenant is so significant that God changed Abraham’s name accordingly: > You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.[^70] This claim is not explicitly addressed in the Qur’an but it is implicitly and eloquently rejected. When Abraham destroyed the idols of his people, this is how they identified him: > They said, “We heard a young man mention them called Abraham.”[^71] Significantly, this is the only place in the Qur’an where the phrase *yuqālu lahu* (called) is mentioned before someone’s name. Otherwise redundant, this very unusual expression clearly indicates that Abraham was his name when he was a young man living with his father. It was not a new name he acquired late in his life, as the Bible claims. This subtle observation is further confirmed by the fact that the Qur’an does mention Jacob’s second name, Israel, so it would have mentioned Abraham’s supposed earlier name. Interestingly, while the Bible claims that God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because his lineage would be numerous, this etymology is not Hebrew. The *Jewish Encyclopedia* states that “the form ‘Abraham’ yields no sense in Hebrew, and is probably only a graphic variation of ‘Abram.’”[^72] Similarly, the *Catholic Encyclopedia* describes the Biblical meaning as “popular word play, and the real meaning is unknown.”[^73] Some Muslim scholars have reported the Biblical etymology while others have derived it from the Arabic or Chaldean *ab raḥīm/rāḥim* (merciful father).[^74] Some Western scholars also have suggested it is Arabic.[^75] It should be noted, though, that the name Ibrāhīm in the Qur’an is a diptote (*mamnūʿ min al-ṣarf*)—i.e., treated as a foreign name—although this could be due to it being ancient and unfamiliar to the Arabs then. These are all speculations but what is certain is that the Biblical etymology, which is linked to its claim that the name was changed, is incorrect. --- ## Qur’anic coherence versus Biblical incoherence In analyzing the meaning of the chosenness of the Israelites in the Qur’an, this article employs the established hermeneutical method: *the Qur’an interprets itself*. This principle was hinted at in a sermon by ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661).[^76] The earliest exegetical work in which I have seen a mention of it in some form is the commentary of al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1143), who states that “the best meanings \[of verses\] are those that the Qur’an points to.”[^77] Sohaib Saeed Bhutta has traced the earliest *direct* reference to this hermeneutical principle to Ibn Taymiyya’s (d. 728/1328) *Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr*.[^78] This interpretive methodology is possible because the Qur’an has one Author, ensuring its coherence. Conversely, even a remotely similar hermeneutical principle for the Bible does not exist because it is a set of diverse books that were written and edited by many unknown individuals over centuries. Some of the editorial work aimed for harmonization but no effort could have made it anywhere near one textual unit. As noted by John Barton, the Bible is not a monolith but “the record of a dialogue among authors and transmitters of tradition, and contains commentary in many of its books on many others.”[^79] To quote Shabbir Akhtar’s succinct comparison: > The Quran, unlike the Bible, is not the heterogeneous work of many hands, in several genres, in a trio of languages, in varied geographical locales, stretching over millennia, surviving only in uncertain and fragmentary forms. It is a unified canon, “revealed” in just over two decades, addressed to a man fully known to his contemporaries and to subsequent history, a man living in only two geographical locations in the same country. It was written in one language, the language of the recipient and of the first audience, a living language that is still widely spoken.[^80] The Bible repeatedly contradicts itself, so it cannot interpret itself. This is one cause of the unbridgeable gap between Jewish and Christian theologies and their respective Scriptures.[^81] As rightly noted by Barton: > Islam perhaps is the ideal type of book religion, and by comparison with it, Judaism and Christianity stand at a considerable distance from their central holy text.[^82] Because the Bible is incongruous, extracting a clear concept from it often necessitates ignoring parts of it. While the Qur’an interprets itself, the Bible obfuscates itself. The incoherence, and, consequently, irresolvable tension, that shrouds the chosenness of the Israelites in the Bible is one manifestation of this fact. --- ## Qur’anic terminology The Qur’an uses five different terms to describe Allah’s favors to the Israelites, including choosing them, listed here in their denominal forms: - *ʿAhd* (covenant) - *Mīthāq* (solemn covenant) - *Ikhtiyār* (choosing) - *Tafḍīl* (preferring) - *Niʿma* (favor) Citing various verses, I will explain how these terms are precisely used in the Qur’an to tell us much about the Israelites. But here is a brief broad overview first. Lexicographers usually consider the terms *mīthāq* and *ʿahd* synonymous,[^83] as both terms refer to commitments that a party has made under an agreement with one or more other parties. But while *mīthāq* is very close to *ʿahd*, it has the connotation of additional confirmation,[^84] so something like “sworn covenant” or “sealed covenant.” Also, when used to refer to a *ʿahd* that Allah has with a group of people, *mīthāq* stresses the obligations of the people under the terms of that covenant, which is why it is repeatedly used in the Qur’an in the formula *Allah took the* mīthāq *from*. I will translate *mīthāq* as “solemn covenant.”[^85] In addition to being used once to refer to choosing the Israelites, the verb *ikhtār* is also used once to describe Allah’s choosing of Moses to be a prophet[^86] and another time for His absolute freedom to choose to create and give creatures what He wants.[^87] It is not used exclusively for Allah’s actions, as it is also used to describe Moses’ choosing of seventy men for his appointment with Allah.[^88] In the seventeen times in which it appears in verbal form II, *tafḍīl* always describes a divine action of preferring individuals or groups over others. Four of these are for Allah’s preference of the Israelites. While *tafḍīl* is a comparative term, *niʿma* is not. The latter is a general term that is used to describe any favor. Whenever I quote a verse that contains any of these terms, I will mention their romanized forms, along with their translations. This makes the arguments of this article clearer and makes it easier for anyone interested to further study those terms. Before discussing how each of these terms is distinctly used in the Qur’an in the following sections, I would like to make a quick but important observation. The two *main* Qur’anic terms for chosenness by Allah for noble responsibilities and spiritual ranks are *iṣṭifāʾ* and *ijtibāʾ*. For example, these terms describe Allah’s choosing of certain individuals for the elevated position of “prophet.” Significantly, neither of these two terms is used for the Israelites.[^89] --- ## The covenant with the Israelites The first observation to make is that Allah’s keeping of His covenant with the Israelites is conditional on their meeting their covenantal commitments: > O Children of Israel, remember My *niʿma* (favor) that *anʿamtu* (I favored) you and fulfill My *ʿahd* (covenant) so I fulfil your *ʿahd* (covenant), and be afraid of Me.[^90] Unlike the Bible, the Qur’an does not portray Allah as having any unconditional commitment towards the Israelites. He has no eternal commitment that He is self-obligated to keep regardless of how the Israelites behave. For example, He will forgive and admit to paradise only those who keep His covenant: > Allah took a *mīthāq* (solemn covenant) from the Children of Israel, and We delegated from among them twelve leaders. Allah said, “I am with you. If you establish prayer, give alms, believe in My messengers and support them, and loan Allah a goodly loan, I will surely remove from you your misdeeds and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow. But whoever of you disbelieves after that, he has certainly strayed from the plain path.”[^91] The terms of the covenant that the Israelites have to comply with may be compiled from various verses. This is one verse: > When We took a *mīthāq* (solemn covenant) from the Children of Israel that, “Do not worship except Allah; do good to parents and to relatives, orphans, and the needy; speak to people good words; establish prayer; and pay alms.” Then you turned away except a few of you, shunning.[^92] The terms of the covenant that are mentioned here fall under what is usually known in Judaism as the two tables of the law, the first of which governs the relationship with God and the second the relationship with the creation. The equivalents of these in Islam are *ʿibādāt* (acts of worship), which concern the Muslim’s relationship with Allah, and *muʿāmalāt* (interpersonal transactions/dealings), which describe and govern the Muslim’s relationship with the creation in general. Other covenantal terms include following God’s revelation, making it known to people and not concealing it, not treating each other violently or aggressively, and believing in and supporting the messengers that Allah sends: > Take what We have given you firmly and listen.[^94] > > You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it.[^94] > > Do not shed each other’s blood or evict one another from your homes.[^95] > > You believe in My messengers and support them.[^96] The covenant is made up of divine commandments that were revealed to the Israelites in Scripture, hence described as *mīthāq al-kitāb* or “the solemn covenant of the Book.”[^97] In the Qur’an, “Book” is a universal concept that refers to Allah’s Scriptural revelation to prophets. Accordingly, the concept of a Scriptural covenant that contains creedal and behavioral terms should be expected to be found in Islam as well. Indeed, this is the case, as clear in these verses that talk about the followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: > Then is he who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth like one who is blind? Only the people of understanding remember. Those who fulfill the *ʿahd* (covenant) of Allah and do not break the *mīthāq* (solemn covenant).[^98] So the concept of covenant is not unique or specific to the Israelites. Contrary to how it is understood in Judaism and Christianity, it is broader than the chosenness of the Israelites. It is certainly not about a promise of a land, even if a certain land was promised and given to them at some point.[^99] The Qur’an also makes a general statement that inheriting the land is one of His favors to the righteous: > And We have already written in the *Zabūr* after the reminder that the land is inherited by My righteous servants.[^100] Whether “land” here refers to paradise, as most exegetes think, or to the holy land or the earth,[^101] inheriting it is linked to righteousness, not chosenness. What is that election then? --- ## Chosen and preferred over others The Qur’an is unambiguous that Allah chose the Children of Israel over other nations:[^102] > *Ikhtarnāhum* (We chose them), with knowledge, over all peoples.[^103] Choosing the Israelites over other peoples implies preferring them with certain favors, which the Qur’an also explicitly states:[^104] > O Children of Israel, remember My *niʿma* (favor) that *anʿamtu* (I favored) you and that *faḍḍaltukum* (I preferred you) over the peoples.[^105] Muslim exegetes over the centuries have agreed that the *ʿālamīn* (peoples) that the Israelites were chosen over were their contemporaneous nations, not all nations throughout history.[^106] Yet when it comes to explaining this *specific* chosenness, various *general* favors are often cited. One example is in Ibn ʿĀshūr’s interpretation of verse 2:47: > Allah combined in them the kind of good attributes that describe tribes and nations that He did not grant others, which are: noble bloodline, perfect character, sound creed, comprehensive religious law, freedom, bravery, and care from Allah in all of their affairs.[^107] In addition to the fact that attributes such as “perfect character,” “freedom,” and “bravery” are general, not specific, such a statement projects attributes of Israelite individuals on the whole nation. Another example of such a broad interpretation is by al-Bayḍāwī (d. 791/1388): > Allah (exalted is He) gave them knowledge, faith, and good deeds, and He made them prophets and just kings.[^108] Such general interpretations show clear influence by the mention of Allah’s *niʿma* (favor) to the Israelites in 2:47. Yet as already explained, *niʿma* is a general term that, in the case of the Israelites, *includes* chosenness but does not *define* it. Al-Ṭabarī[^109] attributes to the Successor (*tābiʿī*) Abū al-ʿĀliya[^110] the view that the choosing and preferring of the Israelites over other nations refer to the fact that they were given “kingship, messengers, and Books.” The inclusion of kingship in defining chosenness, however, is problematic. First, being self-governing is far from being a distinguishing feature of any nation. Second, while the Israelites were a sovereign nation for parts of their history, they were under direct occupation or a client state of a bigger power for most of their history. Makkī b. Abū Ṭālib[^111] (d. 437/1045) and Ibn Kathīr[^112] (d. 774/1372) avoid this mistake as they restrict preferring the Israelites over other peoples to having prophets and divine Books, while al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272) mentions only having prophets.[^113] These interpretations of verse 2:47 and others that mention kingship are influenced, explicitly or implicitly, by the following verse: > When Moses said to his people, “O my people! Remember the favor of Allah to you as He made among you prophets and made you kings and gave you what He never gave to any of the peoples.”[^114] This verse contains a beautiful subtlety that reveals the precise meaning of the chosenness of the Children of Israel. Having prophets and being sovereign and self-governing both benefited the Israelites. However, when mentioning His favor to the Israelites of having kings, Allah described it as *making the Israelites kings*, while when earlier mentioning the favor of having prophets, He described it as *making prophets among the Israelites*, even though those prophets were also Israelites. This subtle distinction in wording specifies the meaning of Allah’s chosenness of the Israelites and preferring them over other peoples: He made them *the host nation of prophets*. Unlike the kings, who are described as *Israelites*, the Israelite prophets are described as living *among the Israelites*, who were commanded to support them. The Qur’an has an abundance of such amazing subtleties that reveal various historical and theological facts. Comparing Qur’anic statements with their equivalents in the Bible particularly highlights the impressive accuracy of the Qur’an and the precision with which it was worded by its Author. This marvel is even more impressive when the Qur’an offers this superiority silently, presenting it in a subtle manner for readers to discover. The marvelous wording of verse 5:20 is one such example. In the following comparable statements from the Biblical Abrahamic covenant, in the first, God speaks to Abraham about himself, and in the second, He refers to his wife, Sarah: > I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.[^115] > > I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.[^116] The Biblical authors and editors mention that God would make Israelite kings, but they show no interest in or awareness of the role of prophets. Yet there is nothing special about having native kings in the history of nations, whereas hosting prophets is truly unique. This is what “gave you what He never gave to any of the peoples” means and why the verse mentions the favor of having prophets *before* that of having kings. The true meaning of the election of the Israelites as the divine favor of making them the host nation of prophets had been lost by the time the Biblical text was finalized. The exclusive focus on kingship is unsurprising given the obsession of the Bible authors with promoting their ethnic group, making the Bible worldly and ethnocentric. This comparison is one impressive example of how the Qur’an corrects Biblical history and theology. Presuming the Qur’an to be authored by a human cannot account for such subtle precision. The consistency of the Qur’an further shines when other verses that confirm the meaning of the chosenness of the Israelites are noted. I have already mentioned one verse about Allah’s covenant with the Israelites in which He commands them, “believe in My messengers and support them.”[^117] This is another verse confirming that hosting the prophets is at the heart of the covenant: > We took a *mīthāq* (solemn covenant) from the Children of Israel and sent messengers to them.[^118] At some points in history, prophets were sent to the Israelites in successive generations, but this was an exception, not the rule. Being chosen to host the prophets, therefore, must have meant not only believing in and supporting them when they came but also preserving their tradition and legacy for future generations after they were gone. Again, this is exactly what the Qur’an says: > We gave the Children of Israel the Book, wisdom, and prophethood; We provided them with good things; and *faḍḍalnāhum* (We preferred them) over the peoples.[^119] *Preferring the Israelites over other nations meant giving them the responsibility for the custodianship of the prophetic heritage*. They were the guardians of monotheism, divine law, and moral code. They were by no means excellent custodians but they were the only such people. It has been noted that while other monotheistic communities may have existed in the ancient Near East, “Israel was the only community that successfully held on to (monotheism).”[^120] That this guardianship role was for the benefit of all peoples, not only the Israelites, is almost concealed by the Bible authors whose only focus, as of that of the Biblical God, is their ethnos. Yet there are some hidden hints, describing them as being charged with bringing justice[^121] and being a light to the nations.[^122] One passage even links this role of guidance to the covenant: > I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a *covenant to the people, a light to the nations*.[^123] Some Western scholars have tried to highlight the significance of such pericopes, arguing that the chosenness of the Israelites was for a mission to the unchosen nations.[^124] The view is particularly influenced by the Christian belief that the Church superseded Israel as the chosen people of God,[^125] which is discussed later. It has even been claimed that “Israel did not always understand her calling in this universal perspective.”[^126] Support for this view is also sought in Second Temple apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature.[^127] However, it has been claimed that the concept of mission entered Judaism later from other cultures.[^128] Another critic has justifiably noted that while the concept of mission fits “modern categories of what a faith community should be” and “Christian theological notions of mission,” it cannot be derived from the Hebrew Bible.[^129] This objection reflects the predominant representation of the election of Israel in the Bible. Yet Isaiah 42:6 and similar Biblical passages are completely aligned with the portrayal of the chosenness of the Israelites in the Qur’an, which is, to use Western terminology, *corporate election for service*. It is not an individual election like, for example, the election of Abraham or Isaac for the office of prophethood. Each Israelite is free to discharge or not uphold the responsibility of the chosen group, and this response determines whether they are a member or not.[^130] This unique role that was meant to benefit all people is what made the Israelites a resilient nation despite their small size and the many calamities they faced throughout their history. As a side point, Jewish and Christian Zionists over-focus on the success and good fortune of the secular state of Israel in modern history, presenting it as proof of the Biblical claim that the chosenness of the Israelites is forever. This false argument ignores centuries of national ill fortune and disasters that the Israelites experienced. The Qur’an distinguishes the Israelite prophets from the other Israelites because it considers the special spiritual status of prophethood, which Allah conferred on them, as their main identity, not their ethnicity as their main identifier. This is why, for example, Allah addresses or refers to Muhammad ﷺ numerous times as a “messenger” or “prophet” but never an “Arab,” even though He does describe the Qur’an as “Arabic.” Indeed, the only time Muhammad ﷺ is called an “Arab” in the Qur’an is in a dishonest argument that the Qur’an rhetorically attributes to the disbelievers: > Had We made it a non-Arabic Qur’an, they would have said, “If only its verses were detailed? \[How come,\] it is non-Arabic whereas he is an Arab?”[^131] In other words, prophethood became the main identity of every prophet as soon as he was made a prophet. His ethnicity only identified the people he came from but it no longer served as his main identity, i.e., the identity that truly mattered. Prophethood is the spiritual office through which Allah delivered the only true religion, Islam, to all people. Naturally, all prophets were “Muslims” (lit., submitters \[to Allah\]). “Muslim” is another identity, albeit not restricted to prophets, that transcends ethnic, social, and all other identities. It is their only religious and spiritual identity. This is why, for instance, the Qur’an repeatedly states that the prophets were not Jewish or Christian: > Or do you say that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants were Jews or Christians? Say, “Are you more knowing or is Allah?” Who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allah? Allah is not unaware of what you do.[^132] Judaism is monotheistic but is founded on an ethnocentric theology, while Christianity is universal but not strictly monotheistic given its doctrine of the Trinity. Islam, on the other hand, uniquely combines monotheism and universality. Islam is the religion of the one *Rabb al-ʿālamīn* (the Lord of all peoples/worlds). The prophets sent by Allah were, therefore, Muslim, not Jewish or Christian. Islam is the original religion that Allah revealed to people; it never changed. Conversely, Judaism and Christianity are later developments and distortions of the authentic original faith that the Qur’an calls “Islam.” --- ## Killing prophets instead of supporting them The Qur’an and the Bible agree that the Israelites were no different from other nations in disobeying Allah and committing sin. Both Books claim that the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed Allah’s commands. This is another confirmation that the chosenness of the Israelites did not mean they were better than other nations and it refers to their role as the host nation of prophets. The Qur’an mentions historical sins of the Israelites, such as disobeying Moses and worshipping a calf, and sins committed at the time of the revelation of the Qur’an, which include rejecting the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ, concealing parts of their Book, and taking usury. But the crime that highlights their repeat transgressions most is the killing of prophets because it went completely against what Allah had uniquely chosen them for. One indication of the significance of this heinous form of rebellion against Allah is that the Qur’an mentions it as many as nine times.[^133] This serious failing is reported in the Bible as well.[^134] It describes the killing of the priest Zechariah, son of Jehoiada,[^135] who is called a “prophet” in rabbinic writings,[^136] and the prophet Uriah, son of Shemaiah.[^137] It also mentions three times in passing the killing of “prophets” in the plural.[^138] The Bible gives all kinds of trivial details yet it relegates these serious murders to a footnote. This shows how the meaning of chosenness is completely lost in the Bible and how the role of prophets in raising the status of the Israelites is unacknowledged as the privilege is assigned to ethnicity. The New Testament authors, however, do not share this indifference of the Old Testament writers.[^139] Paul[^140] and Stephen the Martyr[^141] highlighted the killing of prophets. More importantly, Jesus mentioned it several times in a highly critical speech: > Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in *shedding the blood of the prophets*.” Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who *murdered the prophets*. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, *some of whom you will kill and crucify*, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.[^142] Jesus goes on to describe Jerusalem as “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.”[^143] One Qur’anic verse links the Israelites’ breaking of the covenant with the killing of prophets:[^144] > \[We cursed them\] for their breaking their *mīthāq* (solemn covenant), their disbelief in the signs of Allah, their killing of the prophets without right, and saying, “Our hearts are covered.”[^145] This connection is aligned with the Qur’an’s portrayal of the chosenness of the Israelites as being the hosting nation of prophets. Interestingly, a similar connection is found in a Biblical passage. After running for his life, the ninth-century BCE prophet Elijah complained to God: > The Israelites have forsaken your *covenant*, thrown down your altars, and *killed your prophets* with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.[^146] While the Bible is confused and incoherent about what the chosenness of the Israelites meant, this pericope alludes to an explanation similar to the Qur’an’s. The Bible has no awareness of the historical meaning of the chosenness of the Israelites, which allows it to underplay the killing of prophets. On the other hand, the Western dogma that the Qur’an is strongly influenced by Jewish and Christian writings and cannot be more reliable than them leaves Western scholars unable to properly explain the prominence the Qur’an gives to the killing of prophets, despite its remarkable mention in Jesus’s relatively short sayings as well.[^147] The Israelites were persistently rebellious against God throughout their history. But their killing of prophets was particularly evil because they were chosen to be the nation that provides support and protection for God’s messengers. --- ## The end of the Israelites’ chosenness For many centuries, the Israelites were chosen by Allah as the host nation of prophets. They were assigned the honorable custodianship of prophetic tradition. Helped throughout history by many righteous men and women among them who followed the teachings of prophets, the nation taught monotheism, divine law, and moral values. Yet despite the support of those wise, pious individuals, the nation as a whole was increasingly failing its duties as the guardian of the prophetic legacy. The failure reached its highest level by the time of the last prophet among the Children of Israel: Jesus. Instead of living up to their historical responsibility of supporting the new prophet, the Jews rejected and even tried to kill him. Rather than protecting and preserving his message, they became responsible for the loss of his teachings and divine Book. Furthermore, their persecution of Jesus and his true early followers also led to the emergence of a new religion that falsely claimed to be Jesus’s teachings. It was largely the work of someone who never saw Jesus and did not believe in him during his lifetime, Saul of Tarsus, or Paul. This could not have happened had the Israelites discharged the responsibility that Allah had chosen them for. As imperfect and failing as they were, the Israelites were still the best keepers of monotheism and the surviving teachings of the prophets. This and their centuries-long chosenness, however, came to a complete and sudden end when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was commissioned by Allah. First, he was sent among the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula, so the Israelites were not the people whose support he needed. Second, he is the last prophet.[^148] Third, he was given a new divine law, so there was no need for the partially preserved prophetic tradition the Israelites had. Fourth, he was given a Book that corrected the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, which human hands had significantly tampered with: > We have revealed to you the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and having authority over it.[^149] Furthermore, as Muhammad ﷺ was the last prophet, Allah promised to protect the Qur’an from being corrupted or lost: > Indeed, it is We who sent down the Remembrance and We surely guard it.[^150] > > Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; it is a revelation from One who is wise and praiseworthy.[^151] The revelation of the first verse of the Qur’an finally ended the chosenness of the Israelites as the host nation of prophets. The universality of the new message and the amazing speed with which it spread to various peoples and places meant that it never needed the support of any one people anyway. The chosenness of the Israelites was a means to an end, so it was over when the goal itself ended. Allah could not have described that chosenness as “everlasting,” as the Bible claims. One other relevant piece of information is found in Abraham’s prayer when he was in Mecca: > Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses, teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify them. Indeed, You are the Mighty, the Wise.[^152] This prayer was answered when Allah made Muhammad ﷺ a messenger.[^153] Significantly, Abraham did not think that prophets could appear only among the Israelites. Also, from a Biblical perspective, the Patriarch who was promised the chosenness of the Israelites is the one who prayed, albeit indirectly, for the end of that chosenness. The Bible does not know of Abraham’s life in Mecca. This is not surprising, as the focus of its ethnocentrism is Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael. --- ## Christian adaptation of the Jewish misunderstanding Christianity emerged in first-century Jewish Palestine. Its believers accepted the Jewish Scripture as the Word of God but added to it Christian writings, such as the Gospels and Paul’s letters. Christians adopted the Old Testament’s image of chosenness as meaning ethnic superiority, but they reworked it in light of the non-ethnic New Testament. The outcome was two new theologies: supersessionism and dispensationalism. Supersessionism was accepted by the overwhelming majority of Christians until the last two centuries. According to this theology, the Church is the new Israel as the chosen people of God. Christians replaced the Jews, or spiritual Israel replaced ethnic Israel,[^154] which is why this understanding is also known as “replacement theology.” A similar term that is at times used is “fulfillment theology,” indicating that Israel was an image of the true chosen people of God that was fulfilled in the Church. The Jewish dichotomy of “Jew and Gentile” was replaced in Christianity by “the church and the world (or those in Christ and those outside Christ).”[^155] Supersessionism is usually divided into “punitive” and “economic.” Punitive supersessionism, which was common among the Church Fathers, understands the replacement of the Jews as the chosen people as a punishment for their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Economic supersessionism, on the other hand, stresses that it was always God’s plan to change His chosen people from an ethnic to a universal group. The Gospels report Jesus’s rejection of the significance of the Israelites’ descent from Abraham, arguing that “God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”[^156] But the main source of supersessionism is Paul who claimed that “not all Israelites truly belong to Israel,” in the same way “not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants” but only those “through Isaac.”[^157] Abraham now is “the ancestor of all who believe,” circumcised (Jews) or uncircumcised (Gentiles).[^158] Paul believed that faith in the crucified Christ defined chosenness by God, thus replacing the Biblical particularistic election with a universalistic one.[^159] Supersessionists also usually find support for this position in the Epistle to the Hebrews,[^160] which quotes the following passage from the Old Testament: > The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.[^161] It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.[^162] Yet while God’s words to Jeremiah talk about a new covenant, it would still be with the Israelites. This passage also enforces the role of the Law, rather than diminishing or even abolishing it as was done in Christianity. Referring to replacing ethnic Israel with the Church, *replacement theology* is effectively the *replacement of a fundamental Biblical theological doctrine with a new, Christian one*. Some supersessionists believe that Israel will experience salvation. Paul’s letter to the Romans is usually quoted to support this view.[^163] Significantly, all supersessionists believe that there is no restoration of Israel.[^164] This is a major difference between supersessionism and dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is usually traced back to the Bible teacher John Nelson Darby (1800–1882). In the early twentieth century, the *Scofield Reference Bible* by Cyrus Scofield (1843–1921) popularized dispensationalism in America. Dispensationalism, which is now very popular and widespread, divides history into distinct periods, or dispensations, in each of which God has a different plan for humanity. It claims that both the Christians and the Jews are chosen by God, which is why it believes in the restoration of Israel and has played a major role in promoting Zionism. The paradoxical chosenness of the Bible is understood in Judaism as meaning that the Jews are *the best* people. Christianity copied this misrepresentation and adapted it for its non-ethnic theology. The claims of supersessionism and dispensationalism that the Church is *the* or *a* new chosen people of God, respectively, are slightly different forms of a fundamental misunderstanding. Christians cannot claim to be chosen by God because they were never tasked with hosting prophets and preserving prophetic heritage. Christianity is mainly based on the teachings of Paul, not Jesus. It is not strictly monotheistic, as it deifies Jesus,[^165] and it does not have a law nor does it follow the Mosaic Law in full. Indeed, the Qur’an admonishes both Jews and Christians for claiming to have a specially close relationship with Allah based on their respective claims as His chosen people: > The Jews and the Christians say, “We are the children of Allah and His beloved.” Say, “Then why does He punish you for your sins?” Rather, you are human beings from among those He has created. He forgives whom He wills and He punishes whom He wills.[^166] They are subject to Allah’s law and judgment like every group and individual. A righteous or sinful Jew or Christian is no more or less so than someone who is not a member of either faith. Corporate election in the Qur’an does not mean individual salvation.[^167] This verse exposes the irresolvable tension in the Jewish concept of chosenness and its Christian adaptations. As noted by Fazlur Rahman, in the Qur’an, “no community may lay claims to be uniquely guided and elected.”[^168] In the last two sections, I will examine two Qur’anic terms that beautifully and succinctly encapsulate the Qur’an’s theology and contrast it with the concepts of election in Judaism and Christianity. --- ## The Qur’an’s “one nation” Reuven Firestone has suggested that Islam claims “chosenness” for its own believers, albeit in a less exclusive manner than Judaism and Christianity do. He states that the Qur’an makes chosenness shared among all monotheists, giving a place for the covenanted chosenness of Judaism and Christianity within Islam.[^169] While differentiating Islam from Judaism and Christianity on chosenness is correct, Firestone’s statement fails to distinguish between “chosenness” and “covenant” in the Qur’an and the Bible and also conflates “chosenness” and “covenant” in the Qur’an. Repeatedly and consistently, explicitly and implicitly, the Qur’an states that Allah does not have preferential treatment for a particular group based on ethnicity or any other discriminatory factor. This is one verse that makes this point completely clear: > O People! Indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.[^170] Righteousness is Allah’s only measure of a human being. This is confirmed in the Qur’an when it describes the followers of Islam, the religion of submission to Allah, throughout history as representing “one nation.” For instance, after mentioning many prophets who lived centuries apart and recounting the stories of some of them, from Abraham to Jesus, Allah goes on to say: > Indeed this is your nation, *ummatan wāḥidatan* (one nation), and I am your Lord, so worship Me.[^171] So the prophets and their true followers are the one nation of Muslims. This connection of faith and good character, transcending place and time, is why the Qur’an states that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his followers are as close to Abraham as those who followed him: > Indeed, the people who have the best claim to Abraham are those who followed him, this prophet, and those who believe. Allah is the ally of the believers.[^172] The verse concludes by specifying “believer” as the attribute that identifies the brothers and sisters that the one nation is made of. This is seen in Allah’s emphasis that the followers of the Prophet ﷺ and the past followers of other prophets will all be judged using the same criteria of having faith and doing good works: > Indeed, those who have believed, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabeans—those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did good deeds will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear for them nor will they grieve.[^173] Islam judges its followers on merit. After mentioning His revelation of the Qur’an, Allah goes on to say that those who inherited the Qur’an—i.e., the followers of Muhammad ﷺ—fall into three categories: > Then we caused those We *iṣṭafaynā* (had chosen) of Our servants to inherit the Book. Among them is he who wrongs himself, among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by permission of Allah. That is the great favor.[^174] The only distinction between the three groups is faith and good deeds. Indeed, the Qur’an repeatedly stresses that every person is judged individually, not based on any group identity: > And all of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.[\[175](#ftnt175)[\]](#ftnt175) Islam has no concept of group salvation or group condemnation. When the Qur’an talks about rewarded and punished groups on the Day of Judgment, a group is a collective reference to the individuals whose respective records in this world entitle them to similar treatment in the next world.[^176] The Qur’an’s *one nation* is made up of all Muslim believers throughout history, that is, the righteous followers of every prophet. It is not based on tribe, race, color, social standing, or any other discriminatory attribute.[^177] It is not a blood connection that the members of this nation share, but they are connected by the combination of faith (*imān*) and good deeds (*ʿamal ṣāliḥ*), which the Qur’an mentions numerous times.[^178] --- ## The Qur’an’s “best nation” The Qur’an also has the concept of “the best nation”: > You have been *khayra ummatin* (the best nation) produced for people, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If the People of the Book had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers but most of them are disobedient.[^179] Exegetes have offered four views in identifying the best nation: the emigrant Muslims (*muhājirūn*), the Muslims who fought at Badr, all the Companions of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and all the followers of the Prophet ﷺ throughout time. In fact, all four views have been attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās.[^180] In explaining the meaning of “the best nation,” ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb is reported to have said to some Muslims, “Whoever does your deeds will be like you.”[^181] This seems to imply that at the time of revelation, “the best nation” described the Companions while also applying to all followers of the Prophet ﷺ.[^182] This inclusive identification of the best nation is the view of many scholars, including al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī,[^183] al-Zajjāj,[^184] Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr,[^185] Ibn ʿAṭiyya,[^186] al-Qurṭubī,[^187] Ibn Kathīr,[^188] and Ibn ʿĀshūr.[^189] The majority belief that the generation of the Prophet ﷺ is the best generation of Muslims should not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the description “the best nation” applies only to them.[^190] There are indications that the best nation is not restricted to the Companions or the early Muslims but includes all followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. First, the term nation is applied to all Muslims, such as in the expression *ummatan wasaṭan* (just nation), which all agree refers to all followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: > And thus We have made you *ummatan wasaṭan* (a just nation) so that you will be witnesses over people and the Messenger will be a witness over you.[^191] Second, when referring to the Companions of the Prophets Muhammad, Abraham, Hūd, or Noah, the Qur’an uses the expression *wal-ladhīna maʿahu* (and those with him).[^192] Third, the broad identification of the best nation as those who believe in Allah and invite people to His way clearly applies to all righteous followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, as stated in ʿUmar’s above saying. The “best nation,” which represents all righteous followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, is, therefore, a *subset* of the “one nation” of all genuine Muslims throughout history. Like the “one nation” of Muslims, the Qur’an’s “best nation” is not a group that is open to some people but closed to others, but it is open to every person. Anyone can join the best nation by following Allah’s commandments. Indeed, after mentioning the best nation, verse 3:110 goes on to make it clear that while the Jews and Christians who are disobedient to Allah do not belong to the best nation, those who obey Him by following the Prophet ﷺ do. History has confirmed the accuracy of the Qur’an’s description of the nation of Muhammad ﷺ as the best nation as his followers have become by far the most successful nation in preserving and spreading the message of the oneness of Allah. The other enduring monotheistic nation, which is the followers of the Prophet Moses, was limited and undermined by the corruption of its original teachings, including making it ethnocentric. Christianity, on the other hand, did not preserve the pure monotheism that Jesus taught. Both faiths have other problems with the scriptures and traditions they follow, as already explained. That the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gifted the world its best nation is the reason why he is the last Messenger. --- ## Conclusion The Hebrew Bible presents the Israelites as God’s exclusive people, whom He loved more than any other nation and has an eternal covenant with. Yet it fails to give a meaningful explanation of this chosenness or justify it. In fact, it paints an incoherent image of this divine chosenness of an ethnic group. Christianity inherited the Jewish paradoxical concept of chosenness, removed its ethnic identity, and applied it to its own followers. In other words, Christianity borrowed a meaningless claim and assigned to it a meaning that suited its needs. As it does with many Jewish and Christian historical and theological matters, the Qur’an corrects the Bible’s presentation of the chosenness of the Israelites and provides a clear, logical, and coherent explanation. It confirms Allah’s choosing (*ikhtiyār*) and preferring (*tafḍīl*) of the Israelites over other peoples, explaining that this collective favor (*niʿma*) meant that Allah chose them as a host nation of prophets and the guardians of prophetic heritage over the centuries. This is one element of His covenant (*ʿahd*) and solemn covenant (*mīthāq*) with them, which also contained creedal and behavioral terms that applied to all Israelites individually. For over two millennia, the Israelites/Jews were the carriers of prophetic heritage, including monotheism and the divine law, albeit imperfect carriers. This responsibility and privilege ended when Muhammad ﷺ was sent as a prophet. The Qur’an explains that the only criterion that Allah uses to differentiate between people is piety. It describes all righteous individuals in history, meaning Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad ﷺ, and all other prophets and their followers, as “one nation” of Muslims. The Book of Allah also calls the “best nation” all those who follow the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, being Allah’s last prophet and the culmination of His line of messengers, and invite people to the way of Allah. --- ## Notes [^1]: While the terms “Israelites” and “Jews” are related and often used interchangeably, they are different. I will use “Israelites” for the ancient ethnic group and “Jews” when referring to them in later times and to their faith. A detailed discussion of the differences and overlap between these terms is outside the scope of this article. [^2]: Umm Hānī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, *al-Iṣṭifāʾ fī al-Qurʾān al-karīm: Dirāsa mawḍuʿiyya* (Maktabat al-Rushd, 2011). [^3]: NRSV, Gen. 9:9–17. [^4]: NRSV, Gen. 12:7. [^5]: NRSV, Gen. 17:6–10. [^6]: NRSV, Gen. 17:19–21. [^7]: NRSV, Gen. 35:12. [^8]: David Clines, *Interested* *P**arties: The* *I**deology of* *W**riters and* *R**eaders of the Hebrew Bible* (Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), 200. [^9]: Julius Wellhausen, “Israel,” in *Encyclopaedia Britannica:* *A* *D**ictionary of* *A**rts,* *S**ciences and* *G**eneral* *L**iterature*, 9th ed. (Adam and Charles Black, 1898), 399. [^10]: Nathan MacDonald, *Deuteronomy and the* *M**eaning of “**M**onotheism”* (Mohr Siebeck, 2012), 26. [^11]: Mark S. Smith, *The* *E**arly* *H**istory of God: Yahweh and the* *O**ther* *D**eities in* *A**ncient Israel* (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2002); MacDonald, *Deuteronomy*. [^12]: Qur’an 7:138. [^13]: Qur’an 7:148–50. [^14]: J. M. Powis Smith, “The Chosen People,” *The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures* 45, no. 2 (1910). [^15]: Reuven Firestone, *Who* *A**re the* *R**eal* *C**hosen* *P**eople? The* *M**eaning of* *C**hosenness in Judaism, Christianity and Islam* (SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2008), 13–30. [^16]: NRSV, Deu. 7:6. [^17]: Joel S. Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob:* *R**eclaiming the* *B**iblical* *C**oncept of* *E**lection* (Abingdon Press, 2007), 88. [^18]: This article’s interest in the related concepts of “holy land” and “promised land” is confined to pointing out that they do not help in providing a meaningful explanation of the chosenness of the Israelites. [^19]: The lone clear reference to life after death in the Hebrew Bible is this, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” NRSV, Dan. 12:2. The Book of Daniel was written no earlier than the second century BCE, so this passing reference has no bearings on the Bible as a whole. [^20]: E.g., NRSV, Deu. 11:10–15. [^21]: NRSV, Deu. 9:4–7 (emphasis mine). [^22]: E.g., NRSV, Deu. 7:12. [^23]: NRSV, Jer 30:2–3. [^24]: David Novak, *The* *E**lection of Israel:* *T**he* *I**dea of the* *C**hosen* *P**eople* (Cambridge University Press, 1995), 123–24. [^25]: Ira Sharkansky, *Governing Israel:* *C**hosen* *P**eople,* *P**romised* *L**and, and* *P**rophetic* *T**radition* (Routledge, 2005), 6–8. [^26]: E.g., NRSV, Deu. 7:14. [^27]: E.g., NRSV, Deu. 4:37. [^28]: Novak, *E**lection of Israel*, 115–16. [^29]: George Foot Moore, *Judaism* *i**n the* *F**irst* *C**enturies of the Christian* *E**ra:* *T**he* *A**ge of Tannaim*, vol. 2 and 3 (Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 95; Jon D. Levenson, *The* *L**ove of God:* *D**ivine* *G**ift,* *H**uman* *G**ratitude, and* *M**utual* *F**aithfulness in Judaism* (Princeton University Press, 2016), 48; Sigurd Grindheim, *The* *C**rux of* *E**lection: Paul**’**s* *C**ritique of the Jewish* *C**onfidence in the Election of Israel* (Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 12, 33. [^30]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 194. [^31]: E. P. Sanders, *Paul and Palestinian Judaism:* *A* *C**omparison of* *P**atterns of* *R**eligion* (Fortress Press, 2017), 101–4. [^32]: Novak, *E**lection of Israel*, 116. [^33]: Sanders, *Paul and Palestinian Judaism*, 101. [^34]: Grindheim, *C**rux of* *E**lection*, 12; Marvin A. Sweeney, “Jewish Biblical Theology,” in *The Hebrew Bible:* *N**ew* *I**nsights and* *S**cholarship*, ed. Frederick E. Greenspahn (New York University Press, 2008), 200. [^35]: Michael Wyschogrod, *The* *B**ody of* *F**aith: God in the* *P**eople Israel* (Harper and Row Publishers, 1989), 58. [^36]: There is a growing discomfort with the concept that the Jews are the elect people of God even among Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative Jews. Kaminsky, *Yet I Loved Jacob*, 194. [^37]: Clines, *Interested* *P**arties*, 200–201. [^38]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 7. [^39]: Joel N. Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen* (Eisenbrauns, 2009), 33. [^40]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 199. [^41]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 3. [^42]: Benedict de Spinoza, *Theological-**P**olitical* *T**reatise*, ed. Jonathan Israel, trans. Michael Silverthorne and Jonathan Israel (Cambridge University Press, 2007), 43–56. [^43]: Levenson, *L**ove of God*, 42–48. [^44]: Sanders, *Paul and Palestinian Judaism*, 87. [^45]: Menachem Kellner, *Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish* *P**eople* (State University of New York Press, 1991), 89–90. [^46]: Kellner, *Maimonides*, 92. [^47]: Maimonides was a Sephardic rabbi who was born in Córdoba, al-Andalus, and later lived in Morocco and Egypt. He was familiar with Islamic thought and was influenced by Muslim philosophers and theologians. [^48]: Wyschogrod, *B**ody of* *F**aith*, 60, 64. [^49]: Novak, *E**lection of Israel*, 247. [^50]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 199. [^51]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 11–12. [^52]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 4. [^53]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 5. [^54]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 198. [^55]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 196–97. [^56]: A. Chadwick Thornhill, *The* *C**hosen* *P**eople:* *E**lection, Paul, and Second Temple Judaism* (InterVarsity Press, 2015), 20. [^57]: Novak, *E**lection of Israel*, 123–24. [^58]: Sanders, *Paul and Palestinian Judaism*, 96–97. [^59]: Kaminsky, *Yet I* *L**oved Jacob*, 88. [^60]: Spinoza, *Theological-**P**olitical* *T**reatise*, 54*.* [^61]: Sanders, *Paul and Palestinian Judaism*, 95; Novak, *E**lection of Israel*, 123–24. [^62]: Joel S. Kaminsky, “Can Election Be Forfeited?,” in *The* *C**all of Abraham:* *E**ssays on the* *E**lection of Israel in* *H**onor of Jon D. Levenson*, ed. Gary A. Anderson and Joel S. Kaminsky (University of Notre Dame Press, 2013), 61. [^63]: Levenson, *L**ove of God*, 58. [^64]: Regina M. Schwartz, *The* *C**urse of Cain:* *T**he* *V**iolent* *L**egacy of* *M**onotheism* (The University of Chicago Press, 1997). [^65]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 199. [^66]: Qur’an 2:124. [^67]: See Louay Fatoohi, “Abraham’s Covenant: A Qur’anic Correction of Biblical History and Theology,” YouTube video, February 6, 2024, [https://youtu.be/uAa6T7iyZK0.](https://youtu.be/uAa6T7iyZK0.) [^68]: NRSV, Gen. 13:16. [^69]: NRSV, Gen. 26:4. [^70]: NRSV, Gen. 17:4–5. [^71]: Qur’an 21:60. [^72]: [https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/360/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/360/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735053229700083&usg=AOvVaw0rd9c_QWqyRZ8nopZhBT7q). [^73]: [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbermann/cathen01.html?term=abraham](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbermann/cathen01.html?term%3Dabraham&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735053229700441&usg=AOvVaw0hqSjRI6FYRi0CEZ1FnzeL). [^74]: ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Ibn ʿAṭiyya, *al-Muḥarrar al-wajīz fī tafsīr al-kitāb al-ʿazīz*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2001), verse 2:124; Muḥammad al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qur’an*, ed. ʿAbd Allah al-Turkī (Muʾssasat al-Risāla, 2006), verse 2:124; Maḥmūd al-Ālūsī, *Rūḥ al-maʿānī*, ed. ʿAlī ʿAṭiyya (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1994), verse 2:124; Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr* (al-Dār al-Tūnisiyya li-l-Nashr, 1984), verse 2:124. [^75]: Metin Teke, “Sarah’s Gāreš and Abraham’s Šellach of Hagar: Expulsion or Apostolic Mission?,” *Journal of Religion and Theology* 6, no. 1 (2024): 27–28. [^76]: ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, *Nahj al-balāgha*, ed. ʿAbd Allah al-Ṭabbāʿ and ʿUmar al-Ṭabbāʿ (Muʾassasat al-Maʿārif, 1990), 337. [^77]: Jār Allah al-Zamakhsharī, *al-Kashshāf*, ed. ʿĀdil ʿAbd al-Mawjūd and ʿAlī Muʿawwaḍ, 6 vols. (Maktabat al-ʿUbaykān, 1998), verse 30:23. [^78]: Sohaib Saeed Bhutta, “Intraquranic Hermeneutics: Theories and Methods in Tafsīr of the Qurʾān through the Qurʾān” (PhD diss., University of London, 2017), 24. [^79]: John Barton, *A* *H**istory of the Bible:* *T**he* *B**ook and* *I**ts* *F**aiths* (Penguin, 2019), 2. [^80]: Shabbir Akhtar, *The Quran and the* *S**ecular* *M**ind:* *A* *P**hilosophy of Islam* (Routledge, 2008), 123. [^81]: In Christianity, the divinity of Jesus is one claim that Scripture not only does not support but also refutes. [^82]: Barton, *A* *H**istory of the Bible*, 3. [^83]: See “ʿ-h-d” entry in Ibn Manẓūr, *Lisān al-ʿArab*, ed. ʿAbd Allah al-Kabīr, Muḥammad Ḥasab Allah, and Hāshim al-Shādhilī (Dār al-Maʿārif, n.d.), 4:3148–51. [^84]: See “w-th-q” entry in Aḥmad Ibn Fāris, *Muʿjam maqāyīs al-lugha*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn (Dār al-Fikr, n.d.); Aḥmad al-Ḥalabī, “w-th-q,” in *ʿUmdat al-ḥuffāẓ fī tafsīr ashraf al-alfāẓ*, ed. Muḥammad ʿUyūn al-Sūd (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996). [^85]: For the use of the terms *mīthāq* and *ʿahd* for other covenants in the Qur’an, see Joseph Lumbard, “Covenant and Covenants in the Qur’an,” *Journal of Qur’anic Studies* 17, no. 2 (2015). [^86]: Qur’an 20:13. [^87]: Qur’an 28:68. [^88]: Qur’an 7:155. [^89]: This is all that needs stating for the purpose of this article. [^90]: Qur’an 2:40. [^91]: Qur’an 5:12. [^92]: Qur’an 2:83. [^93]: Qur’an 2:93. [^94]: Qur’an 3:187. [^95]: Qur’an 2:84. [^96]: Qur’an 5:12. [^97]: Qur’an 7:169. [^98]: Qur’an 13:19–20. [^99]: Qur’an 7:137. [^100]: Qur’an 21:105. [^101]: Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh al-Turkī, 24 vols. (Dār Hajr, 2001), verse 21:105; Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 32 vols. (Dār al-Fikr li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1981), verse 21:105; Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*, verse 21:105. [^102]: Qur’an 44:32. Anti-Jewish sentiments have made some authors claim that preferring the Children of Israel was not over all peoples then, as the Qur’an clearly states, but over specific peoples, such as Pharaoh and his court. ʿAfīf Ṭabbāra, *al-Yahūd fī al-Qur’an* (Dār al-ʿIlm li-l-Malāyīn, 1984), 39. [^103]: Qur’an 44:32. [^104]: Also, Qur’an 45:16, 7:140. [^105]: Qur’an 2:47, 122. [^106]: For instance, this is the understanding of the first generations of Muslims, as reported by al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/922); later scholars, such as Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 604/1207); and modern exegetes, such as Ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393/1973). [^107]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*, verse 2:47. [^108]: Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Bayḍāwī, *Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-taʾwīl*, ed. Muḥammad Ḥallāq and Maḥmūd al-Aṭrash (Dār al-Rāshīd, 2000), verse 2:47. [^109]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ,* verse 2:47*.* [^110]: He embraced Islam as a young man during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and died around the end of the first century of hijra/seventh century CE. [^111]: Abū Muḥammad Makkī b. Abū Ṭālib, *al-Hidāya ilā bulūgh al-nihāya* (Jāmiʿat al-Shāriqa, 2008), verse 2:47. [^112]: ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qur’an al-ʿAẓīm*, 15 vols. (Muʾassasat Qurṭuba, 2000), verse 2:47. [^113]: Al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʿ*, verse 2:47*.* [^114]: Qur’an 5:20. [^115]: NRSV, Gen. 17:6. [^116]: NRSV, Gen. 17:16. [^117]: Qur’an 5:12. [^118]: Qur’an 5:70. [^119]: Qur’an 45:16. [^120]: Firestone, *Who* *A**re the* *R**eal* *C**hosen* *P**eople?*, 21. [^121]: NRSV, Isa. 42:1. [^122]: NRSV, Isa. 49:6. [^123]: NRSV, Isa. 42:6 (emphasis mine). [^124]: Smith, “The Chosen People,” 82. [^125]: Temjen Imchen, “The Election of Israel: A Theological Critique,” *Indian Journal of Theology* 43, no. 1/2 (2001): 26–27. [^126]: Bernhard Anderson, “God, OT View of,” in *The* *I**nterpreter’s* *Di**ctionary of the Bible:* *A**n* *I**llustrated* *E**ncyclopedia* (Abingdon Press, 1196), 429. [^127]: Thornhill, *The* *C**hosen* *P**eople*, 259. [^128]: Firestone, *Who* *A**re the* *R**eal* *C**hosen* *P**eople?*, 115–21. [^129]: Lohr, *Chosen and* *U**nchosen*, 33. [^130]: The concept of corporate election is often conflated with individual election in Jewish and Christian theology, in particular when it is linked to individual salvation. See, for instance, Brian Abasciano, “Clearing Up Misconceptions About Corporate Election,” *Ashland Theological Journal* 41 (2009). [^131]: Qur’an 41:44. [^132]: Qur’an 2:140. Also, Qur’an 3:67. [^133]: Qur’an 2:61, 87, 91; Qur’an 3:21, 112, 181, 183; Qur’an 4:155; Qur’an 5:70. [^134]: Louay Fatoohi, “The Non-Crucifixion Verse: A Historical, Contextual, and Linguistic Analysis,” *American Journal of Islam and Society* 40, no. 1/2 (2023): 62–64. [^135]: NRSV, 2 Chron. 24:17–22. [^136]: The Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 57b. [^137]: NRSV, Jer. 26:20–24. [^138]: NRSV, 1 Kings 18:4, 19:10; Neh. 9:26. [^139]: By the middle of the second century, Bishop Melito of Sardis had called the Tanakh “the Old Testament” and in the following century the Christian writer Tertullian introduced the term “New Testament.” [^140]: NRSV, 1 Thess. 2:15; Rom. 11:3. [^141]: NRSV, Acts 7:52. [^142]: NRSV, Matt. 23:29–36 (emphasis mine); also, Luke 11:46–51. [^143]: NRSV, Matt. 23:37; also, Luke 13:34. [^144]: An implicit link is also found in Qur’an 5:70. [^145]: Qur’an 4:155. [^146]: NRSV, 1 Kings 19:10 (emphasis mine). [^147]: Gabriel Said Reynolds, “On the Qur’ān and the Theme of the Jews as ‘Killers of the Prophets,’” *a**l-Bayan* 10, no. 2 (2012). [^148]: Qur’an 33:40. [^149]: Qur’an 5:48. [^150]: Qur’an 15:9. [^151]: Qur’an 41:42. [^152]: Qur’an 2:129. [^153]: Qur’an 2:151; Qur’an 3:164; Qur’an 62:2. [^154]: Rolf Rendtorff, “A Christian Approach to the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures,” in *Jews, Christians, and the* *T**heology of the Hebrew* *S**criptures*, ed. Alice Ogden Bellis and Joel S. Kaminsky (Society of Biblical Literature, 2000), 147. [^155]: Jon D. Levenson, “Liberation Theology and the Exodus,” in *Jews, Christians, and the* *T**heology of the Hebrew* *S**criptures*, ed. Alice Ogden Bellis and Joel S. Kaminsky (Society of Biblical Literature, 2000), 225. [^156]: NRSV, Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8. [^157]: NRSV, Rom. 9:6–7. [^158]: NRSV, Rom. 4:11–12. [^159]: Craig A. Evans, “Exodus in the New Testament: Patterns of Revelation and Redemption,” in *The Book of Exodus*, ed. Thomas B. Dozeman, Craig A. Evans, and Joel N. Lohr (Brill, 2014), 454–56. [^160]: NRSV, Heb. 8. [^161]: After Solomon, the kingdom split into a northern kingdom, which retained the name Israel, and a southern kingdom named after the tribe of Judah, in which most of the population lived. [^162]: NRSV, Jer. 31:31–33. [^163]: NRSV, Rom. 9–11. [^164]: Michael J. Vlach, “Various Forms of Replacement Theology,” *The Master’s Seminary Journal* 20, no. 1 (2009). [^165]: Qur’an 5:73, 116. [^166]: Qur’an 5:18. [^167]: Spinoza noted that the election of the Jews was due to the form of their society and good fortune. So their election was corporate, not individual. Spinoza, *Theological-Political Treatise*, 46, 49*.* [^168]: Fazlur Rahman, *Major Themes of the Qur’an* (University of Chicago Press, 2009), 165. [^169]: Firestone, *Who Are the Real Chosen People?*, 84. [^170]: Qur’an 49:13. [^171]: Qur’an 21:92, Qur’an 23:52. [^172]: Qur’an 3:68. [^173]: Qur’an 2:62. [^174]: Qur’an 35:32. [^175]: Qur’an 19:95. Also, Qur’an 6:94; Qur’an 19:80. [^176]: For instance, *aṣḥāb al-janna* (the people of paradise) and *aṣḥāb al-nār* (the people of the fire), which are used throughout the Qur’an. See also, *al-sābiqūn* (the forerunners), *aṣḥāb al-yamīn*/*al-maymana* (the people of the right), and *aṣḥāb al-shimāl*/*al-mashʾama* (the people of the left) mentioned in Qur’an 56:8–10, 38, 41, 90–91. [^177]: To quote one Western scholar, “The Qurʾan does not apply the concept of election to its own believing community in the same way that Jews and Christians at the time did… But in the Qurʾan, God guides individuals who believe the Qurʾan’s message and act rightly, no matter what community they belong to.” Michael Wesley Graves, “The Upraised Mountain and Israel’s Election in the Qurʾan and Talmud,” *Comparative Islamic Studies* 11, no. 2 (2018): 168. [^178]: Its most occurrences are in the group description *al-ladhīna āmanū wa ʿamilū al-ṣāliḥāt* (those who believe and do good deeds); e.g., Qur’an 2:25, 82. [^179]: Qur’an 3:110. When certain Companions of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ called on some Jews to embrace Islam, the latter responded by claiming that Judaism was better than the new religion. This incident is given as the cause of the revelation of the verse, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Wāḥidī, *Asbāb al-nuzūl*, ed. Kamāl Zaghlūl (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1991), 121. But, obviously, the verse is talking about a community. [^180]: Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī, *Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr* (Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2002), verse 3:110. [^181]: Al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʿ*, verse 3:110. [^182]: ʿUmar is also reported to have made the contradictory statement that “the best nation” refers to “the earliest of us, not the later ones.” Al-Ḥusayn b. Masʿūd al-Baghawī, *Maʿālim al-tanzīl*, ed. Muḥammad al-Nimr, ʿŪthmān Ḍumayriyya, and Salmān Al-Ḥarash (Dār Ṭība, 1989), verse 3:110. [^183]: Markaz al-Dirāsāt wa al-Maʿlūmāt al-Qurʾāniyya bi-Maʿhad al-Imām al-Shāṭibī, *al-Madkhal ilā mawsūʿat al-tafsīr al-maʾthūr*, ed. Musāʿid Al-Ṭayyār (Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2017), verse 3:110. [^184]: Abū Isḥāq al-Zajjāj, *Maʿānī al-Qurʾān wa iʿrābih*, ed. ʿAbd al-Jalīl Shalabī (ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1988), verse 3:110. [^185]: Al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʿ*, verse 3:110. [^186]: Ibn ʿAṭiyya, *al-Muḥarrir al-wajīz*, verse 3:110. [^187]: Al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʿ*, verse 3:110. [^188]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr*, verse 3:110. Ibn Kathīr recounts a number of hadiths that he stresses support the view that the best nation is applicable to all of the Prophet’s followers. [^189]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*. Ibn ʿĀshūr does not support this interpretation as clearly as the other scholars, but this is the view that he elaborates on. [^190]: The minority view that the first generation of Muslims is not better than all who come later is based on various hadiths that talk about later Muslims who are superior to the early generation, such as, “You are my Companions but my brothers have not come yet.” Aḥmad b. Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī, *al-Mujtabā min al-sunan*, ed. Farīq Bayt al-Afkār al-Dawliyya (Bayt al-Afkār al-Dawaliyya, 1999), 150. In another hadith, having been asked by a Companion whether there are people better than those who embraced Islam on his hand and fought with him, the Prophet ﷺ replied, “Yes; people who come after you who believe in me having not seen me.” ʿAbd Allāh al-Dārimī, *Musnad al-Dārimī*, ed. Ḥusayn al-Dārānī, 4 vols. (Dār al-Mughnī li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2000), 2786. [^191]: Qur’an 2:143. There are hadiths that interpret the expression “just nation” in this verse as denoting all followers of the Prophet ﷺ. Markaz al-Dirāsāt, *al-Madkhal ilā mawsūʿat al-tafsīr al-maʾthūr*. [^192]: Qur’an 48:29; Qur’an 60:4; Qur’an 7:72, 64, respectively. ## Summary The chosenness of the Children of Israel occupies the very heart of Jewish Scripture, whose narrative moves swiftly from creation to Abraham and then to the descendants of Jacob, presenting this ethnos as the centre of God's plans. Yet a careful examination reveals that the Hebrew Bible portrays this election in language so exclusive that God appears more as a tribal deity of one nation than as the Lord of all creation. In the book of Exodus alone, the phrases "the God of" and "my people" refer exclusively to the Israelites as many as fifty-four times, never once acknowledging Him as the God of the Egyptians or of any other people. Such usage sits uneasily with any claim that He is the sole Lord of everyone and everything, and Western scholarship, traceable at least to Julius Wellhausen in the nineteenth century, has long noted that the early Israelites conceived of their deity as the mightiest among gods whose power was confined to their own land, and that they at times worshipped more than one god. The explanation offered by the Qur'an differs entirely. The religion taught by the Patriarchs was always pure monotheism, and the polytheistic passages found in the Bible represent later distortions and historical lapses of misguided Israelites rather than the teachings of the Prophets. The Qur'an records how the post-exodus Israelites asked Moses to fashion for them an idol resembling those of other nations, and how they later took a calf out of their ornaments and worshipped it. These were episodes in their history but had nothing to do with what Moses taught. This stands against the reconstruction of scholars such as Powis Smith and Reuven Firestone, who argued that Israelite chosenness evolved out of a common ancient god-nation election that was refined once the Israelites came to believe in one universal God. A fundamental weakness of the biblical account is that it neither explains nor justifies this election. Deuteronomy declares the Israelites "a people holy to the LORD" and "his treasured possession," yet no rationale is supplied. The gift of the Torah cannot be the explanation, for the election preceded it by centuries and the Law is presented as a consequence of being chosen, not its cause. The granting of the holy land likewise cannot account for an eternal divine election, and the Bible's fixation upon a worldly land accords with its silence concerning the life to come. More strikingly still, the Bible expressly denies that any merit justified the choice, telling the Israelites plainly, "not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart," and reminding them that they were "a stubborn people." Thus, though the Sinaitic covenant is framed conditionally with commandments and ordinances, the election itself is rendered everlasting and unbreakable, so that no sin, however grave, could render them unchosen and no virtue could raise another nation to their status. The root of this incoherence is the ethnic nature of the election: God loved Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for their righteousness, yet inexplicably chose all the descendants of one of them, knowing they would be disobedient. Jewish, Christian and secular scholars alike concede the difficulty. Many, such as Kaminsky, Sanders and Novak, have retreated to divine love as the explanation, yet they admit this is circular and tautological, an "inexplicable" mystery. David Clines observed with candour that a deity bound to a single nation, leaving the rest of humanity unchosen, delivers a shock to the conscience and reflects a nationalistic ideology. Some defenders dismiss such critique as an anachronistic imposition of Enlightenment values, yet this defence is misleading, for the rabbis themselves wrestled with the question and could offer only three answers: that God offered the covenant to all but only Israel accepted, that some merit lay in the Patriarchs or the exodus generation, or that there was no reason beyond God's will. Maimonides, tellingly, almost entirely ignored the doctrine, denying any inherent distinguishing quality in the Israelites and attributing their holiness to the Torah. Scholars have further noted the danger of unconstrained chosenness, which can foster notions of a master race and a programme of coercive dominance, a danger illustrated in the conduct of the modern state of Israel. The Qur'an confirms that the Israelites were chosen, but supplies a clear and coherent meaning grounded in Allah's promise to Abraham. When Abraham fulfilled the commands with which his Lord tried him, Allah said, "Indeed, I will make you a leader for people," and when Abraham asked that this be extended to his descendants, Allah answered, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers" (Q. 2:124). Abraham, in his wisdom, sought this favour only for some of his offspring, knowing it could never fall upon an entire nation, nor did he confine it to a single line. The Qur'an also implicitly refutes the biblical claim that God changed Abraham's name, for it uniquely uses the phrase yuqālu lahu ("called") before his name when he was a young man (Q. 21:60), indicating this was always his name; and indeed the Jewish Encyclopedia itself concedes that "Abraham" yields no sense in Hebrew. In analysing this election, the sound principle that the Qur'an interprets itself is employed, a method hinted at by ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661), alluded to by al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1143), and first stated directly by Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). This is possible because the Qur'an has one Author, whereas the Bible, as John Barton and Shabbir Akhtar note, is the work of many hands across centuries and cannot interpret itself. The Qur'an employs five distinct terms often conflated by scholars and translators: ʿahd (covenant), mīthāq (solemn covenant), ikhtiyār (choosing), tafḍīl (preferring) and niʿma (favour). Notably, the two principal terms for spiritual election, iṣṭifāʾ and ijtibāʾ, used for the choosing of Prophets, are never applied to the Israelites as a whole. Unlike the Bible, the Qur'an makes Allah's fulfilment of His covenant conditional upon the Israelites keeping theirs: "fulfil My covenant so I fulfil your covenant" (Q. 2:40). The terms of this covenant, drawn from various verses, include worshipping Allah alone, kindness to parents and the needy, establishing prayer, giving alms, and believing in and supporting His messengers (Q. 2:83; 5:12). This concept of a scriptural covenant is not unique to the Israelites but applies also to the followers of Muhammad ﷺ (Q. 13:19-20). The precise meaning of the election emerges when Allah says, "We chose them, with knowledge, over all peoples" (Q. 44:32), and "I preferred you over the peoples" (Q. 2:47). Muslim exegetes have agreed that the peoples intended were their contemporaries, not all nations for all time. Yet the exact meaning is illuminated by a subtle wording in the verse in which Moses reminds his people that Allah "made among you prophets and made you kings" (Q. 5:20). While the kings are described as being made from the Israelites, the prophets are described as being made among them: this specifies that their true distinction was to be the host nation of the prophets and the guardians of the prophetic heritage of monotheism, divine law and moral code. This reading is confirmed by "We took a solemn covenant from the Children of Israel and sent messengers to them" (Q. 5:70) and "We gave the Children of Israel the Book, wisdom, and prophethood... and We preferred them over the peoples" (Q. 45:16). The Bible, by contrast, fixates upon kings and shows no awareness of the role of prophets, though faint traces survive, as in Isaiah's "a light to the nations." Because their identity as guardians rested upon service and not ethnicity, each Israelite was free to uphold or forsake it. This also explains why the Qur'an identifies the Prophets by their spiritual office rather than their lineage, and insists that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes were neither Jews nor Christians (Q. 2:140), for all Prophets were Muslims, submitters to the one Lord of all worlds. The gravest betrayal of this trust was the killing of prophets, mentioned nine times in the Qur'an and linked directly to the breaking of the covenant (Q. 4:155). The Bible reports the same crime only in passing, though the New Testament, in the words of Jesus and of Paul and Stephen, and in Elijah's complaint that they had "forsaken your covenant... and killed your prophets," preserves a fuller awareness aligned with the Qur'anic portrayal. This election came to a complete and sudden end with the sending of Muhammad ﷺ, the last of the Prophets, who was raised among the Arabs, given a new law and a preserved Book which Allah promised to guard (Q. 15:9; 41:42), rendering the partial custodianship of the Israelites no longer needed. Fittingly, it was Abraham himself who prayed in Mecca for a messenger to be raised among that people (Q. 2:129). Christianity inherited the Jewish notion of chosenness as ethnic superiority, stripped it of its ethnicity, and applied it to the Church, producing supersessionism and later dispensationalism, resting largely upon the teachings of Paul rather than Jesus. Yet the Qur'an rebukes both communities: "The Jews and the Christians say, 'We are the children of Allah and His beloved.' Say, 'Then why does He punish you for your sins?'" (Q. 5:18). In place of these claims, the Qur'an presents all righteous followers of every prophet as "one nation" (ummatan wāḥidatan) of Muslims (Q. 21:92), judged solely by faith and righteous deeds, for "the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you" (Q. 49:13), and every soul comes to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection. Within this one nation, the followers of Muhammad ﷺ are named "the best nation" (khayra ummatin), raised for people, enjoining right and forbidding wrong (Q. 3:110). Though many scholars hold this described the Companions foremost, ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb explained, "Whoever does your deeds will be like you," and a great number of scholars, including al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, al-Zajjāj, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr and Ibn ʿĀshūr, understood it to embrace all righteous followers of the Prophet ﷺ, an open station attainable by any who obey Allah. Thus the Qur'an corrects the incoherent and ethnocentric election of the Bible with a clear and just criterion: chosenness as service, ended in its former custodians, and salvation measured only by piety. ## Key Takeaways 1. The Hebrew Bible presents the Israelites as a people specifically chosen by God and contains both enduring covenantal language and passages that tie covenantal privilege and blessing to obedience. From the Qur’anic perspective, any interpretation of choseness as inherent ethnic superiority or permanent moral privilege is rejected in favor of accountability before God. 2. The Qur’an confirms that Allah gave the Children of Israel Scripture, judgement, and prophethood and preferred them over other peoples; many classical exegetes understood this preference as relative to the nations of their own time. The article argues from Qur’an 5:20 and related covenant passages that a central dimension of this distinction was their role as the community among whom many prophets were raised and whose prophetic heritage they were charged to uphold. On this reading, their election was a religious vocation and responsibility rather than a claim of inherent ethnic superiority. 3. This corporate role was a responsibility rather than an unconditional guarantee of permanent superiority and concluded with the mission of Muhammad ﷺ as the final Prophet. The Qur’an repeatedly condemns those among the Children of Israel who killed prophets as acts of a grave betrayal of their prophetic trust. More broadly, the Qur’an teaches that a person’s standing before Allah depends on righteousness rather than ancestry—a principle it applies across human history, not only after the coming of Muhammad ﷺ. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does the Qur’an say the Children of Israel were the chosen people? Yes. The Qur’an confirms that Allah chose the Children of Israel and preferred them over other peoples. It states that He chose them “with knowledge, over all peoples,” and reminds them of the favor by which He “preferred \[them\] over the peoples.” Muslim scholars across the centuries have agreed, though, that this preference was over the other nations of their own time, not over all peoples for all of history. The chosenness was also not unconditional or permanent. It depended on the Israelites keeping their covenant with Allah, and it carried a specific meaning rather than a claim that they were simply better than everyone else. The Qur’an gives this historical preference a more specifically prophetic and custodial purpose than the biblical texts do, differing from the Hebrew Bible which connects Israel’s election with covenantal obligations and a vocation as a holy people and “kingdom of priests.”  Understanding that purpose is the key to understanding what the chosenness actually meant. ### What does it mean that the Children of Israel were “chosen” in Islam? According to the Qur’an, being chosen meant that the Children of Israel were made the host nation of the prophets. For many centuries, Allah raised prophets among them and gave them the Book, wisdom, and prophethood, and their role was to believe in these prophets, support them, and preserve their teachings for later generations. In this sense, they were the custodians of the prophetic heritage, entrusted with guarding monotheism, divine law, and moral guidance. There is a subtle detail in the Qur’an worth noting. It says Allah made the Israelites themselves into kings, meaning they had their own rulers and self-governance, but when it speaks of the prophets, it describes them as prophets raised among the Israelites. Many nations have had their own kings, so that was not what set the Israelites apart. Hosting the prophets was their real distinction. This responsibility was meant to benefit all people, not the Israelites alone. Their chosenness was therefore a task, and an honor tied to that task, not a claim of inherent ethnic superiority or a status they held regardless of how they behaved. ### Are the Jews still the chosen people according to Islam? The Qur’an does not present the Children of Israel’s historical preference as an everlasting superiority over all later peoples.  Their role was to host and support the prophets and to preserve their message until the final prophet came. With the coming of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, that role was complete. He was sent among the Arabs rather than the Israelites, although with a message for all of humanity; he was the last prophet, he was given a new divine law, and he was given the Qur’an, which Allah promised to protect from loss or alteration. Once the purpose of the chosenness was fulfilled, the chosenness itself came to an end. This is why the Qur’an does not describe it as everlasting. The article contrasts this with the biblical portrayal, in which the chosenness of the Israelites is presented as an eternal and unconditional covenant. In the Qur’anic account, being chosen was always a means to an end, and it concluded when that end was reached. ### Does Islam teach that any group is God’s chosen people by birth? No. The Qur’an is clear that Allah does not favor any group on the basis of ethnicity, lineage, or any similar factor. It states that people were made into different nations and tribes so that they may know one another, and that the noblest in Allah’s sight is the most righteous. Righteousness is the only measure. The Qur’an describes all the prophets and their sincere followers across history, from Abraham to Jesus and beyond, as a single “one nation” of those who submit to Allah, connected by faith and good deeds rather than by blood. It also speaks of a “best nation,” which refers to the followers of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who believe in Allah and call others to what is right. Both of these are open to anyone who chooses to follow Allah’s guidance, and neither is closed off to any people by birth. Belonging is earned through religious commitment and moral conduct, and every person is judged individually rather than by group identity. ### Is the killing of prophets by the Israelites only mentioned in the Qur’an? No. The Qur’an refers to some of the Israelites killing prophets as many as nine times, but this is not something unique to the Qur’an. The Hebrew Bible reports it too, mentioning the killing of the priest Zechariah, who is called a prophet in rabbinic writings, and the prophet Uriah, along with other references to prophets being killed. The New Testament raises it as well. Jesus spoke of it several times and described Jerusalem as the city that kills the prophets, and it also appears in the words of Paul and Stephen. One biblical passage, the complaint of the prophet Elijah, even links the Israelites forsaking the covenant with killing the prophets, closely echoing how the Qur’an connects the two. Where the Qur’an stands out is in the weight it gives this failing. The chosen role of the Israelites was to host, support, and protect the prophets sent among them, so killing a prophet went directly against the purpose for which they had been chosen. The Qur’an is also clear that they were not uniquely wicked, since every nation disobeys Allah. The emphasis falls on the seriousness of betraying that specific trust. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/blood-soaked-keys-to-jerusalem-why-we-must-stand-with-the-people-of-syria # “Blood Soaked Keys to Jerusalem”: Why We Must Stand With The People of Syria | Blog **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** History, Islam in the West, Islamic Civilization, Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Syria **Published:** December 26, 2024 **Updated:** February 28, 2025 “Who would dare to touch the keys to Jerusalem if they were handed to us soaked in the blood of the children of Idlib?” reads a Palestinian placard days before the resistance took Damascus, marking the fall of the Assad regime on December 7th, 2024, after more than half a century of one of the most brutal dictatorships in the region. This acknowledgment and framing—by a people who, despite confronting a genocide and unparalleled betrayal, still refuse to betray their brothers and sisters in Syria—is the light we need today. This sentiment of ummatic solidarity and principled resistance is exactly what we need before we can even begin to navigate the fraught and confusing situations in the Muslim world today. In this context, we offer some key Islamic reminders and principles to guide us through these troubled times. ![A Palestinian holding a placard reportedly in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0415-1-1024x700.png) A Palestinian holding a placard reportedly in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine *A Palestinian holding a placard reportedly in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine* Today, most Muslims around the world are celebrating the liberation of the people of Syria, simultaneously horrified by the news of old men who were thrown into Assad’s dungeons as teenagers nearly half a century ago, children born in the darkest of prison cells who had never seen the sun or a tree, and women who went through unspeakable torture. Celebrating their liberation is a sign of faith and a mark of humanity, even as we remain deeply concerned about what it means for Palestine and prayerful for the long, arduous journey that lies ahead for the Syrian people. Still, there is much discord, mudslinging, and disagreement surrounding the Syrian issue. When confronting multiple and complex conflicts, it is sometimes tempting to set aside Islamic morality and embrace a popular or merely utilitarian position. However, this is a serious error. Real life is always complex, and if we do not use knowledge and wisdom to sustain Islamic morality in complex situations, we will fall into the arms of fashionable prejudices, opening ourselves up to sectarianism, bigotry, and loss of meaningful faith. How do we reconcile the perception, if not fact, that some of those standing up to the settler-colonial state of Israel have the blood of hundreds of thousands of Syrians on their hands, not to mention the displacement and untold misery of millions? What of those who stood up to the tyranny in Syria but who also have a checkered past? Muslims will inevitably disagree in their political analysis of the facts on the ground, but what are the Islamic moral principles that provide us with guidance in these challenging times? --- ## The war of facts First and foremost, it is crucial to recognize that as new situations arise, people have access to varying sets of facts, shaped by their different networks and social media echo chambers. Hindsight is 20/20, but it is foresight that requires faith, wisdom, and moral principle. We must, therefore, proceed with caution and forgiveness for fellow Muslims. That being said, many seem to have bought into the fallacy that supporting the oppressed Muslims of Syria compromises the Palestinian cause. Yet the intolerable tyranny under which the Syrians have lived for the last half a century—peppered with massacres and a draconian security apparatus, and the devastating effect this has had on life, society, ethics, and even ideas—are facts beyond a shadow of a doubt. Moreover, the genocide in Gaza and occupation of the Holy Land would be inconceivable if the Muslim states were ruled by those accountable to their populations. Those who justify and even cheer on the tyranny in Syria offer a different rationale. Some are ideologically committed to a version of borrowed, washed-up, radical Western, atheistic, and/or ethno-nationalist ideologies, like Ba'athism.[^1] Others believe that a cause that they identify as anti-colonial can justify or overlook any evil. The similarity with the Zionists is uncanny, for they too justify killing off an entire population to save their favored ethnic group. And there are yet others who are blinded by sectarianism. The first reminder we need to navigate these complex narratives is to attend to facts truthfully, regardless of the inevitable differences of interpretation.[^2] In the absence of this, meaningful moral assessment is impossible. People endlessly dispute whether ISIS is a CIA conspiracy, a deviant and misguided terrorist organization, or something else. Nevertheless, no one should doubt their depravity from the perspective of Islamic morality. There is no doubt that what ISIS did and stood for by murdering innocent Sunni and Shiʿa Muslims, as well as non-Muslim minorities, was truly heinous. It is also true that the Syrian people suffered tremendously under Assad’s regime, and that his forces, backed by Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia, have killed many, many times more innocent people than ISIS ever did (the ratio is over 10X).[^3] Equating all Syrian resistance with ISIS or an imperialist plot is no different from Israel justifying its pre-planned genocide by pointing to the attack on October 7th. Both are attempts to manipulate the narrative to justify violence and oppression. We may further ask, if the US is complicit or even directly responsible for the genocide in Gaza, why aren’t Hezbollah and Iran similarly responsible for the atrocities in Syria? Hezbollah was founded in response to the Israeli invasion of and massacres in Lebanon in 1982. Today, one of Hezbollah’s three founders and the only one still alive, Ṣubḥī al-Ṭufaylī sternly denounces Hezbollah’s role in Syria and its subservience to Iran’s political interests.[^4] The Iran apologists, it seems, have given in to the same depraved reasoning that the Zionist apologists use against Palestinians; they dehumanize Syrians and deem all resistance to be ISIS terrorism. Like any other nation-state, Iran is driven by realpolitik—its perception of what it needs for survival at any cost. Just as the diabolical (former) US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declared that the death of half a million Iraqi children was a price worth paying for some imagined US foreign policy goals, Iran apologists seem to imply that the death of half a million Syrians, along with their permanent state of terror and misery under one of the worst tyrannies—even by contemporary Middle Eastern standards—are similarly worth the price. To point out Iran’s and Hezbollah’s horrendous actions in Syria, driven in part by sectarian hatred, is not to single them out as uniquely nefarious actions in a deeply troubled region.[^5] The brutal war on Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, waged by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has claimed the lives of half a million people, with up to 60% of them dying due to indirect causes. This conflict is also driven by nation-state logic, with sectarian prejudice clearly playing some role. Similarly, the Saudi-US backed Iraqi aggression on Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a war that raged on for nearly a decade and claimed nearly a million lives on each side, was predominantly fueled by political self-interest and fed on sectarian fears. Also, still ongoing are the UAE-backed mass atrocities by the rebel forces in Sudan.[^6] --- ## Say no to sectarian falsehoods When looking for answers to complex questions facing us today, it is a tempting but demonstrably false belief that the cause is always a given group that is inherently evil, irredeemable, and the source of the *ummah*’s failure and misery. Among the earliest Muslim leaders to fight back against the Crusaders was a now-largely-forgotten scholar and Qadi of Aleppo by the name of Abū al-Faḍl ibn al-Khashshāb (d. 519/1125). At first, he tried to persuade the Fatimid-allied governor of the city to resist the Crusaders (the Fatimids, recall, were the Ismāʿīlī Shiʿa dynasty in Egypt that played a role in paving the way for the Crusaders). Unsuccessful, he traveled to secure the support of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad in 1100, just one year after the Crusaders from Western Europe had taken the Holy Land of Jerusalem and massacred its Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Reportedly, the local ulama and Sufis of Baghdad joined his plea to the Sunni caliph, but ultimately, no aid was provided. He finally returned and, after the death of the treasonous governor, led the people of Aleppo against the Crusaders of Antioch in 1119. Although at first taunted for trying to lead an army as a man of the turbaned class, he was eventually recognized as something of a hero. Apart from Sultan Kilij Arsalan’s initial victories in Anatolia, this was the first instance of jihad against the Crusaders.[^7] Like al-Ghazali before him and Salah al-Din after him, Ibn al-Khashshāb realized that no progress was possible without Muslim unity. This unity was threatened by the Fatimids in Egypt and, even moreso, the radical branch of the Ismāʿīlī sect known as the Ḥashīshiyyūn—the Assassins. The Ḥashīshiyyūn were partly responsible for the Muslim defenselessness on the eve of the Crusades, as they had assassinated the Muslim leadership of the time only a few years before the Crusaders arrived. Their victims included the Saljuq Sultan Malikshah (d. 485/1092) and Niẓām al-Mulk of Ṭūs (d. 485/1092). The latter was the renowned Persian vizier who was the architect of the Sunni madrasa system and patron of towering scholars like al-Juwaynī (d. 478/1085) and al-Ghazali. A few years later in 1125, they succeeded in assassinating Ibn al-Khashshāb as well. Many other ulama and, eventually, military leaders took up the resistance until Salah al-Din liberated Jerusalem in 1187 and the Mamluk King Baybars (d. 676/1277) expelled the last Crusaders a century later. The most remarkable piece of the story, however, is that Ibn al-Khashshāb was not a Sunni, but a Twelver Shiʿi scholar and leader of his religious community—a fact that was not a rare exception. For example, the Hamdanids of Syria, also Shiʿa, had defended the Syrian frontier against the Byzantines on behalf of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate. Of course, I could have pointed out how some Shiʿa scholars collaborated with the Mongols and played a role in the destruction of the caliphate of Baghdad, or how the Safavids forced Iran’s conversion to Shiʿism, and used these examples to insinuate that sectarian conflict and animosity are inevitable. But such a generalization would be an untruth, one with devastating consequences. Each side can produce lists of charges against the other, citing betrayal and transgression. This is not to suggest that theological differences are immaterial, that all doctrines are equally valid, and that concern for unity and peace must trump our concern for truth and rectitude. Rather, the point is that sectarianism not only blinds, divides, and weakens us as Muslims, but also, even in the realm of religious doctrine, diminishes the possibility of productive dialogue and convergence around truth. All the while, our real enemies bet on our utter inability to unite and act as Muslims, even in the face of a genocide unfolding in broad daylight, picking us off one by one. The point of this snapshot from our history is simple. It is a reminder that sectarianism is not the answer, as it blinds us to the real challenges facing the *ummah*. Shiʿa-Sunni differences have been overcome and managed in the past, and can be again. We owe truth and fairness even to those who deny and oppose Islam, and if such unbelievers are not actively hostile to our faith, the Qur’an encourages charity and benevolence towards them (60:8-9). To Muslims, even those we deeply believe to be in error, we surely owe much more. Those perpetrating the genocide in Gaza counted on Muslim indifference and the utter betrayal of their rulers for impunity, and they almost won. Yet, for a moment, Gaza proved the enemies of Islam wrong. Muslims of nearly every school and stripe came together to protest against the genocidal enemy. If the spirit of Gaza dispersed the dark clouds of sectarianism, the darkness of the mass murder and prolonged tyranny in Syria now threatens to engulf us again. How shall we resist the darkness? --- ## The haven of Islamic principles In these conflicts, we witness complex patterns of behavior and moral dilemmas. The rulers of many Sunni-majority states have explicitly betrayed Palestine, openly legitimated and aided the genocidal entity, and have generally waged unjust wars on Muslim populations for purely self-serving, secular political reasons. In contrast, Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have stood up for the Palestinian people’s resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation and genocide,[^8] earning the admiration of many around the world, Sunnis included. Of course, they have failed to put an end to the genocide, and the true motives of some of these actors deserve scrutiny, especially since they have shown a far greater willingness to exploit religious sectarianism in their realpolitik and organized violence against Sunni populations. Where do we go from this sad state of affairs in which Muslim blood is being spilt everywhere with impunity? The truth is that a Muslim world divided into many secular statelets, each waging war on its Muslim population, is structurally hard-wired for infighting, weakness, dependence on foreign masters, and uniquely prone to what contemporary academics have called “sectarianization”.[^9] Only a bold return to the religion of Allah can solve our problems, not half-hearted shortcuts. In this spirit, let us remind ourselves of a few of the well-known general Islamic principles that show us the light in confusing times. 1. The blood, property, and honor of every Muslim—every individual who testifies to the twin testimony of faith—are equally sacred and inviolable. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized this repeatedly, including in his Final Sermon. The Qur’an underscores the sanctity of all innocent human life (5:32), and in particular, the mutual rights and responsibilities among believers carry a heightened sense of urgency and seriousness. 2. As believers, we must verify facts before acting. We must be especially cautious when a bearer of information has proven to be unreliable, as Allah says, “O you who have believed, if a wicked person comes to you with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful” (49:6). Given that so much of the information that pervades both social and mainstream media is biased and, at times, outright false, the caution advised in this verse becomes an urgent moral imperative. Forming our opinion based on news that confirms our biases, without investigation and caution, and sharing such news, are errors that we all fall into from time to time. Resisting this epistemic injustice is an obligation and a struggle we will be rewarded for. Since individually verifying every piece of information is not possible, nor is it permissible for us to live in ignorance and indifference, we as Muslims must urgently create, support, and rely on professional and even-handed journalistic institutions and practices. 3. Indifference to Muslims’ concerns and conflicts is not an option. When speaking of intra-Muslim conflicts, the Qur’an (49:9) establishes the principle that we cannot be indifferent to conflict between Muslim parties. We must instead make our best effort to identify the wrong and end transgression. It also demands that justice and fairness rather than national, ethnic, or sectarian affiliation be our guides to resolving conflicts.  4. Resisting sectarianism does not mean that truth does not matter, or that all parties are equally just. Nevertheless, theological debates among Muslims should never be, and have never been, truly settled through violence, bigotry, and misinformation. We must still be just to those we believe to be theologically in error. We must also avoid generalization and unfair attribution. Social psychologists point out a “fundamental attribution error,” which is the human tendency to attribute another group’s errors to their essence (or theology, in this case) and our own errors to accident, chance, or environment.[^10] Too often, we have witnessed the greatest harm to Islam caused by those who sublimate their political, financial, or other interests to ultimate religious principles, who politicize doctrinal differences, and create and exploit sectarian hatred for wicked ends. 5. It is possible that a person or a group contains elements of both good and evil; they must be supported in what is good and opposed and resisted in evil. “And cooperate in charity and righteousness and do not cooperate in wickedness and transgression” (Qur’an 5:2). 6. One should not be fooled or misled by the good Allah allows to occur through those who err. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah may help this religion at the hands of a wicked person or a group that has no good in them.”[^11]  7. By the same token, the notion that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is a fallacy. Sometimes Allah neutralizes one transgressor by means of another. The road ahead is not easy, but one thing is clear: it would be a grave error to imagine supporting the rights of the people of Palestine and those of Syria as a zero-sum game. We must not relent in our struggle against the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing being planned for the rest of Palestine. Yet speaking out against the mass murder of the people of Syria by the regime, an absolutist totalitarian tyranny of the worst kind that has been in place for over half a century, and its allies is an equal moral necessity and an Islamic obligation. Let us recall the courageous wisdom of the Palestinian placard with which we opened. Even as we face dispossession, famine, and genocide at the hands of a diabolical foreign occupier and betrayal by the Muslim powers around us, and as we are willing to sacrifice everything we have and our future generations for the Holy Land, we reject any victory that comes at the cost of the blood of Syria’s children. This is the highest ideal of moral clarity and Islamic solidarity, one we can all uphold with pride for the world to see. --- ## Notes [^1]: Baʿathism is a pan-Arabist socialist and anti-imperialist ideology that arose among Syrian and Iraqi secularists in the 1940s and included dictators like Saddam Hussein and the Assad family. [^2]: On Islamic guidance for dealing with the perennial problem of fake news, see [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fake-news-is-nothing-new-misinformation-and-islamic-critical-epistemology](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fake-news-is-nothing-new-misinformation-and-islamic-critical-epistemology&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965547389&usg=AOvVaw3d4UY8OWKZmr1GnkRVEy7V) and [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/finding-truth-in-the-age-of-fake-news-information-literacy-in-islam](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/finding-truth-in-the-age-of-fake-news-information-literacy-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965547497&usg=AOvVaw1sQqCPufm93Qg_XAgb9AOQ) [^3]: The number of deaths related to the regime forces is upwards of 500,000, whereas those linked to ISIS are usually given to be less than 40,000. For detailed reports of human rights violations by all parties in Syria, see reports by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights at  [https://www.syriahr.com/en/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.syriahr.com/en/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965545649&usg=AOvVaw3PLLMdhIzg9O1F5D3U0e1t);  for a news summary: [https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210601-decade-of-syria-war-killed-nearly-500-000-people-new-tally](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210601-decade-of-syria-war-killed-nearly-500-000-people-new-tally&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965545796&usg=AOvVaw3wxBLLhsSsUdBK375rI1fJ). [^4]: Ṣubḥī al-Ṭufaylī, one of the founders of Hezbollah and a leading Lebanese Shiʿa scholar who remains loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini, has repeatedly lamented that Iran has become a Persian nationalist state that exploits sectarianism, and that Hezbollah, under its influence, has killed innocent Sunni civilians and legitimate resistance forces in Iran rather than fighting ISIS. See: [https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/they-exploited-sectarianism-former-hezbollah-leader-tufayli-talks-iran-syria](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/they-exploited-sectarianism-former-hezbollah-leader-tufayli-talks-iran-syria&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965546585&usg=AOvVaw0knSHB6Ygz40ozafb594RU) [^5]: For an excellent report on Iran’s role in Iraq by a courageous Intercept reporter (of Shiʿa background), see, [https://theintercept.com/2020/01/05/secret-iranian-spy-cables-show-how-qassim-suleimani-wielded-his-enormous-power-in-iraq/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://theintercept.com/2020/01/05/secret-iranian-spy-cables-show-how-qassim-suleimani-wielded-his-enormous-power-in-iraq/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965546022&usg=AOvVaw2Yre6ThQNuBup5_x53HoHt) [^6]: See [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2vvjz652j1o](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2vvjz652j1o&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965546161&usg=AOvVaw3EZOpZOivOYZp8UCNWFvBy) [^7]: On Kilij Arsalan’s recently rediscovered gravesite, see [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/grave-sultan-who-defeated-crusaders-uncovered-180976761/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/grave-sultan-who-defeated-crusaders-uncovered-180976761/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965547677&usg=AOvVaw1feQVqE1PLya26YjM3O2ns) [^8]: On resistance and international law, see: Judge Charlesworth, Declaration, ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 2024, para. 23, [https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-10-en.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-10-en.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965546808&usg=AOvVaw1FzMONVQ2C_e7HgI6Zvwkl), UN General Assembly Resolution 2105 (1965), in particular paragraph 10, [https://documents.un.org/doc/resolution/gen/nr0/218/68/pdf/nr021868.pdf?OpenElement](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://documents.un.org/doc/resolution/gen/nr0/218/68/pdf/nr021868.pdf?OpenElement&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965546956&usg=AOvVaw2TeFvrHVP5jaVYGChhphqb) [^9]: See Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel (ed.), *Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East* (Oxford University Press, 2017). [^10]: “The Fundamental Attribution Error: What it is and how to avoid it,” [https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/the-fundamental-attribution-error](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/the-fundamental-attribution-error&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1735071965547199&usg=AOvVaw1Z_mo-cMvQuGX0UR8fKS0D) [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 4517, graded as sound. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/is-the-quran-still-relevant-today-the-timeless-universality-of-quranic-teachings # Is the Qur’an Still Relevant Today? The Timeless Universality of Qur’anic Teachings **Author:** Mohannad Abusarah **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Publication **Published:** November 26, 2024 **Updated:** September 6, 2026 ## Introduction A careful modern reader of the Qur’an is immediately confronted with the following question. The Qur’an was revealed long ago in a very different context. Some verses were revealed in direct response to specific events, addressing particular people and scenarios. Others are concerned with the prophets and nations of the past. How do they continue to be relevant for us in the modern age? On the one hand, there are some who advocate a historicist reading of the Qur’an. The revelation, they insist, is to be interpreted in its historical context. The Qur’an’s teachings and laws are to be seen as restricted to the people it was directly addressing; i.e., the people of Mecca and Medina. While still upholding the divine origin of the Qur’an, such a historicist reading questions the idea that Qur’anic verses are universally applicable across time and space. Some modernists hold that the Qur’an aimed to deliver core values rather than institute specific laws or rituals, and it is these core values that are universal. These core values, furthermore, supposedly correspond to those preached by Western modernity. As such, the explicit laws laid down by the Qur’an can be changed because they were only intended to help our predecessors establish new systems embodying new values, after which they could be shed and superseded by the needs of later Muslims. Muslims through the ages, on the other hand, have believed that Qur’anic teachings are universal and that even specific verses contain teachings and rulings of universal applicability for all times and places. In this article, we substantiate this position, outlining the grounds for Qur’anic universality and addressing common objections and confusions. We show that, notwithstanding the context-specific references, every single human being is the intended audience of every Qur’anic address. --- ## A message for all of humanity The simplest way to establish Qur’anic universality is its own clear insistence. Allah explicitly defines the Qur’an as a message to all of humanity, for all times and all places. 1. **For all the worlds (*ʿālamīn*)**. The revelation is but a reminder for “the worlds” (*al-ʿālamīn*).[^1] This expression is mentioned in the Qur’an on a number of occasions. For instance, “And We have not sent you, except as a mercy to *al-ʿālamīn*,”[^2] and “Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to *al-ʿālamīn* a warner.”[^3] *Al-ʿālamīn* is always used in the Qur’an in an all-encompassing sense, for Allah describes Himself as the “Lord of *al-ʿālamīn*.”[^4] Some early exegetes, including Qatāda, Mujāhid, and al-Ḥasan, explicitly define *al-ʿālamīn* as referring to creation in its entirety.[^5] Likewise, Allah created the innumerable languages and colors of humankind as instructive signs for *al-ʿālamīn*,[^6] beyond any restriction of color, ethnicity, age, or social status. Another variant that points to this idea reads, “This Book is only a reminder and a clear Qur’an to warn *whoever is alive* and justify the word against the disbelievers.”[^7] Since this verse includes all people who are living, it also extends to all subsequent generations who will live in the future.[^8] 2. **For all people (*kāffat al-nās; al-nās jamīʿa*)**. The universality of the Prophet’s message is further affirmed in various verses of the Qur’an as well as in numerous hadith reports. Allah says, “And We have not sent you except comprehensively (*kāffa*) to humankind.”[^9] Ibn ʿAṭīyya (d. 541/1146) in his Qur’anic exegesis (*tafsīr*) states that this verse entails “an announcement that Allah has sent the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to the entirety of the world and that the word *kāffa* means the entire assemblage of humanity.”[^10] In a clear indication that Allah sends His message to all people in all times and places, He says, “And We have sent you, \[O Muhammad\], to humankind as a messenger,”[^11] and “Say, \[O Muhammad\], ‘O humankind, indeed I am the Messenger of God to you all.’”[^12] In one hadith, the Prophet ﷺ tells us that “every messenger was sent particularly to his own people, whereas I have been sent to all the red and the black.”[^13] Among the interpretations of “the red and the black” discussed by Imam al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) are that red symbolizes non-Arabs and black symbolizes Arabs, or that red represents human beings, whereas black represents the jinn. Al-Nawawī concludes that “all these meanings are valid since the Prophet ﷺ was sent to all of them.”[^14] 3. **To men and jinn**. The inclusive scope of the Prophet’s message is displayed by the jinn who embraced Islam. God narrates that the jinn, after hearing about the Prophet’s message, said, “O our people, respond to the Messenger of God and believe in him; God will forgive \[you\] for your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.”[^15] Allah also informed the Prophet ﷺ that “a group of the jinn listened and said, ‘Indeed, we have heard an amazing Qur’an. It guides to the right course, and we have believed in it. And we will never associate with our Lord anyone.’”[^16] Muslim scholarship through the ages took the universality of the Qur’an as an established premise. In his *al-Muwāfaqāt*, Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī (d. 790/1388) states that Islam is for all people equally, and that the Shariah is comprehensive and universal (*kulliyya ʿāmma*) in its scope.[^17] Thus, he insists on not excluding people from ritualistic and legal obligations without valid reason, which had become the practice of some Sufis in his time.[^18] Islamic Shariah, he states, “is not specific for some to the exclusion of others in its communication of the rules based on demand, nor does it selectively burden its subject through the rules.”[^19] **Following the true path of Islam is obligatory for everyone equally regardless of their time, place, or situation. Since Islam is sent for the benefit of all people, he argues, it cannot be sent particularly to some people to the exclusion of others. Otherwise, nothing would guarantee the benefit of all people in the absolute sense.**[^20] --- ## The final revelation The Qur’an establishes its universality in part through its self-awareness or, we might say, its self-historicization. Namely, the Qur’an places itself in a historical progression of prophetic missions, of which its own mission is final and most general. Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ message is but the culmination of a long prophetic chain that includes Arab and non-Arab prophets. Thus Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ, “Say, ‘I am not something original among the messengers.’”[^21] The Qur’anic call to monotheism is old and new, particular and universal, reaching far beyond the Prophet ﷺ and his people to address all mankind—before and after, in every place and at every time. Observe the difference between doctrine (*ʿaqīda*) and law (*sharīʿa*). *ʿAqīda*, the core of which is divine unicity (*tawḥīd*), is historically universal, with each prophet and messenger tasked with pronouncing the same monotheistic message from time immemorial. However, each of those prophets and messengers brought a different shariah, its laws restricted to the time and situation of the people for whom it was revealed. Each shariah was inevitably corrupted by time and human error, necessitating the final and universal revelation of the Qur’an. Allah says, “And We have revealed to you, \[O Muhammad\], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it… To each of you We prescribed a law and a method.”[^22] The Shariah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ therefore abrogates all preceding shariahs, and, at the same time, cannot itself be abrogated.[^23] This Shariah is the last one, by which Allah ends the chain of prophets sent to humanity. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Each prophet was sent only to his nation, but I have been sent to all of humankind.”[^24] Since this is the last shariah that humanity will ever receive, it marks a new era of universal law that must last until the Day of Judgment. As such, no other shariah or ideology, whether preceding the Prophet’s message or constructed thereafter, can replace it. Ibrāhīm al-Lāqqanī’s well-known work on scholastic theology titled *Jawharat al-tawḥīd* (the Jewel of Divine Unification) includes a poetic verse that articulates this truth best: “His \[Prophet Muhammad’s\] Shariah will not be abrogated until time itself is abrogated.”[^25] --- ## How particular rulings reveal universal truths Having established the universality of the Prophet Muhammad’s message and law, we now turn to show how seemingly particular commands in the Qur’an and the *sunna* reveal universal truths. ### Allah’s established ways In the Qur’an, Allah makes reference to His established practices (*sunna*, pl. *sunan*) several times to indicate His unchanging ways of dealing with human beings. We tend to think about the *sunna* in terms of the practice of the Prophet—but what then is the *sunna* of Allah? The root of the Arabic word *sunna* indicates something flowing, proceeding smoothly.[^26] The Qur’an employs ‘Allah’s *sunna*’ to refer to the established patterns in Allah’s dealings with human communities. For instance, “\[That is Our\] established *sunna* for those We had sent before you of Our messengers; and you will not find in Our law (*sunna*) any alteration.”[^27] Commenting on this verse, Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) states, “The Almighty’s law (*sunna*) means His consistent way of treating His pious worshipers and enemies.”[^28] By tracing the mentions of *sunnat Allah* in the Qur’an, we can infer that Allah’s established practice has three prominent characteristics. First, Allah’s *sunna* is fixed, consistent and unalterable; “And you will not find in the practice of God (*sunnat Allah*) any change.”[^29] Consequently, the methods by which Allah dealt with the people of the ancient past were the same as those He used to deal with people during the time of the Prophet ﷺ and which He also uses in His dealing with us today. Second, Allah’s *sunna* is universal. His way of dealing with humans brooks no exception. The Qur’an poses a rhetorical question to its rejectors: “Are you disbelievers better than those \[who came before you\], or have you immunity in the scripture?”[^30] The Qur’an expects its readers to instinctively respond in the negative. Having learned of the unchanging ways of Allah, they should not expect that they will be judged any differently or have any immunity. “Whoever does a wrong will be recompensed for it.”[^31] Third, Allah’s *sunna* is sublime and certain. This characteristic is emphasized by al-Rāzī (d. 605/1210) in his commentary on the verse, “But you will never find in the practice of God any change, and you will never find in the practice of God any alteration.”[^32] Al-Rāzī states that “He paired it \[the term *sunna*\] with Allah, because when the known practice is paired with Allah, it will be glorified and it will be known that its reality is certain and that there is no preventer of it.”[^33] Always remembering that the *sunna* of Allah is the *sunna* of the Creator who is Omniscient, Wise, and Just gives us certainty in the truth and power of His laws. It serves to reassure us that Islam is for our own good and following its guidance will lead to happiness in this life and in the hereafter. ### Learning from the past The Qur’an leaves no doubt that in the stories of the past, there  “is a lesson (ʿ*ibra*) for people of understanding.”[^34] This drawing of lessons, in the words of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328), “means comparing one thing to its counterpart, so that a person realizes that the ruling or outcome for one is the same as the other.”[^35] Put differently, since God does not change his practice (*sunna*), the human being can reason by analogy to predict the consequences of actions before they happen. Stories of the past sensitize us to the universality of corruptive matters, behaviors, and temptations; they direct our attention to the nature of reality—that is, to Allah’s fixed and steady practice—so we may learn from the experiences of those who came before us. The Qur’an uses the term *ʿ**ibra* (lesson) and its derivative *fa-ʿtabirū* (so, take a lesson) to remind us that the Qur’an is a source of invaluable wisdom, inspiration, and counsel.[^36] By getting to know the stories of the past, we come to understand Allah’s established practice and thus are able to take informed action to achieve the pleasure of Allah in this life and the hereafter. For example, recurrent Qur’anic stories about the punishment that befell the peoples who denied their prophets invite deep introspection from the believer, warning of the grave consequences of abandoning Allah and His way. The right path to which previous prophets called is the same path to which Prophet Muhammad ﷺ called, and so we are liable to end up in the same position as the disbelievers if we follow in their footsteps. Thus, these stories, far from serving as merely static and historical accounts, educate their audience in the timelessness of Allah’s established practice. Sūrah Hūd provides a paradigmatic example of the Qur’anic approach to the past. Allah narrates the stories of seven nations to whom He sent seven prophets. Throughout the stories, Allah establishes a contrast between the ways of the believers and those of the disbelievers. In verses 18-24, Allah describes the unjust as those who “averted \[people\] from the way of God and sought to make it \[seem\] deviant.” Despite their efforts, they did “not cause failure \[to God\] on earth, nor did they have besides God any protectors.” They are those “in the Hereafter who will be the greatest losers.” Allah contrasts their destination to that of those “who have believed and done righteous deeds and humbled themselves to their Lord,” emphasizing that “those are the Companions of Paradise; they will abide eternally therein.” The *sūrah* then narrates the stories of ancient nations and their prophets. These stories all share the same pattern; each time, Allah compares the fate of those who obeyed and those who disobeyed. The law of Allah entails that He eventually punishes disbelievers and rewards believers in this world and the hereafter. After narrating the stories of the prophets Nūḥ (Noah), Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Ibrāhīm (Abraham), and Lūṭ (Lot) (as), Allah follows with Prophet Shuʿayb (as) calling to his people, “And O my people, let not \[your\] dissension from me cause you to be struck by something similar to what struck the people of Nūḥ or the people of Hūd or the people of Ṣāliḥ. And the people of Lūṭ are not from you far away.” Allah’s *sunna* is consistent. Prophet Shuʿayb (as) warned his people that Allah’s laws would apply to them, as they applied to those before them. As such, believers reading these verses are also warned that, by Allah’s *sunna*, disbelief ends in punishment and belief ends in glad tidings. After narrating these seven stories of the prophets and their people, Allah explains how these stories exhibit His *sunna* and serve as sources of guidance for the believer. In verse 103, Allah says, “Indeed in that is a sign (*āya*) for those who fear the punishment of the Hereafter.” The word *āya* is usually translated to “sign” and is the more common meaning in the Qur’an. In many verses of the Qur’an, Allah uses the expression “verily, in that is a sign” (*inna fī dhālika la-āya*) following verses that indicate His existence and His power. A similar sense of meaning is present in this verse, with most exegetes interpreting the word *āya* to mean “a lesson” through which Allah teaches us His *sunna* so we may take heed. The exegete Ibn ʿAṭīya (d. 548/1146) combines the two meanings of *āya*, giving the term a unique dimension. He states that in these stories there are lessons and guidance for those who fear the hereafter and fear its punishment, which leads them to think, which leads them to faith in God Almighty.[^37]  By narrating these stories, Allah teaches us a lesson and, at the same time, shows us a sign that guides us to Him. In Sūrah al-Shuʿarāʾ, Allah repeats the expression “*inna fī dhālika la-āya*” eight times. While the first instance in verse 8 refers to producing plants from the earth as a *sign* of Allah’s power and Omnipotence, the seven subsequent mentions use the word *āya* to mean *lesson*, as is the case in Sūrah Hūd. Each mention appears after Allah narrates a story of a prophet. He teaches us that in the story of saving Mūsā (Moses) (as) and the people with him and drowning Pharaoh and his followers, “there is a sign”; in the story of Ibrāhīm (as) and the consequences of idol worship, “there is a sign”; in the story of Nūḥ (as) and the saving of believers and drowning of disbelievers, “there is a sign”; in the story of Hūd (as) in which God destroyed the deniers, “there is a sign”; in the story of Ṣāliḥ (as) and the punishment of the disobedient, “there is a sign”; in the story of Lūṭ (as) and the severe torment of those who refused purity and the salvation of those who kept themselves pure, “there is a sign”; and in the story of Shuʿayb (as) and the punishment of the mockers, “there is a sign.” In affirming the lessons that are contained within each of these stories, Allah shows us that each story is relevant to our own time. The denial and mockery that prophets of the past faced are not merely historical events but experiences that believers have faced throughout the history of humankind. Similarly, another Qur’anic example of lessons from the past connects disbelief and transgression (*ṭughyān*). Since faith in the Islamic tradition is inseparable from action, the Qur’an warns its readers that false beliefs are going to be reflected in one’s actions and attitudes. Transgression is mentioned in the Qur’an several times describing disbelievers who rejected the revelation after seeing clear evidence of its truth.[^38] The term is also mentioned in the context of describing Pharaoh as a tyrant.[^39] Linguistically speaking, the root of the word *ṭughyān* indicates exceeding the limits in a way that leads to injustice.[^40] ‘Exceeding the limits’ manifests in different forms. An egocentric person transgresses their limits as a finite human being. An arrogant person exceeds the limits of what they actually deserve. A tyrant transgresses the limits of their actual autonomy. Thus, the Qur’anic connection between disbelief and *ṭughyān* reminds us of a certain law (*sunna*) that is relevant to our time and place. It teaches us that belief and disbelief do not simply exist in the mind as isolated states, but rather form part of an entire system that manifests in one’s behavior and characteristics. Believing in God and His messenger ﷺ drives a person away from misconceptions and arrogance. When a person cuts ties with the Creator and believes that they do not need God for guidance, they exceed the limits and become *ṭāghiya* (tyrannical or arrogant). The subtle connection between disbelief and tyranny can be read in the saying of Allah, “No! \[But\] indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient.”[^41] --- ## The Qur’an speaks to you Even when we know that the Qur’anic message is universal, it is easy to forget what that means. The great Andalusian scholar Abū al-Ḥasan al-Marākishī (d. 638/1241) illustrates this point by saying: > What prevents most of this *umma* from understanding the Qur’an is the misconception that the stories of ancient people and the reports of the rewarded and punished people are meant only to convey stories and reports. This is not the case. Rather, they are meant to convey lessons (*iʿtibār*) and direct attention to cases that are recurring in this *umma*, that resemble these \[reported\] cases, situations, and traits so one can listen to the whole Qur’an as relevant to this *umma* and its leaders, both the guided and misguided ones. Thus, the gate of understanding opens, the light of knowledge shines, \[the reader\] feels the fear \[of God\] and notices the similarity between the people of the past and the current *umma*. And it was said in the parable ‘I’m talking to you. But listen to me, oh neighbor.’[^42] > > Then, if \[the reader\] witnesses the relevance of the Qur’an to the entirety of the *umma*, thus he is a scholar, the gate of progress opens for him, his ability of understanding progresses until he finds the entirety of the Qur’an that applies to this *umma* also applies to himself regarding his conditions, fluctuations, behaviors, and the crowding of his thoughts. When he realizes that the Qur’an applies to himself, he benefits from hearing all of it and will take a lesson from every verse he hears. Thus, he seeks its relevance to himself and finds it in some way, whether it is for hope or fear, ascending to the highest goals or descending to the lowest levels, so he would be a person of knowledge.[^43] In the same vein, Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), in his magnum opus *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn* (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), lists ten inner actions that one should engage in when reciting the Qur’an. The seventh action is called ‘specification,’ in which the reader should assume “that he is the intended audience of every Qur’anic address.”[^44] When the reader hears “a command or a prohibition, he assumes that he is the one being prohibited or commanded; likewise if he hears a promise or a threat.”[^45] The same attitude should be adopted when a reader encounters a narrative of ancient nations: “If he hears a narrative of the bygone peoples or prophets, he realizes that genial story-telling is not the goal; rather, the goal is for him to take himself to account through it, and to extract from within its folds what he needs from it, for every narrative in the Qur’an is drawn out for a specific benefit with respect to the Prophet ﷺ and his community.”[^46] Al-Ghazālī points out a beautiful analogy. He reminds us that when reading the verse “that by which we grant strength to your heart,”[^47] readers should realize that God is granting strength to their hearts through His narration of the stories of the prophets, of their patience and resolve upon the truth and their trust in the ultimate relief from God. Thus, al-Ghazālī shows us that the fact that this verse is revealed to the prophets entails that it is also “healing, guidance, mercy, and light to the worlds.”[^48]He mentioned examples of verses like: “We have revealed to you a Book in which is your \[honorable\] mention”[^49] and “We have revealed to you the remembrance such that you would clarify to people what has been revealed to them”[^50] to show that “When He \[God\] directs his address to all people, He also intends every individual, so this individual reciter is also intended in what pertains to him and the rest of the people. The reciter should thus always assume he is the intended target.”[^51] Commenting on the verse “And this Qur’an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches,”[^52] al-Ghazālī adduces a fascinating quote by Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī: “It is as if God Almighty speaks directly to whomever the Qur’an reaches.”[^53] This inner action that al-Ghazālī calls ‘specification’ connects Muslims in all times and places to the Qur’an, so they realize that the Qur’an has a specific message for them in the most literal sense of the word. Similarly, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1762) points out that when God tells a story of the ancient people or addresses disbelievers during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, He is directing us to relevant issues in our current time. Dehlawi states that: > In every case, when you read the Noble Qur’an, you ought not to think that the polemic is addressed to a people who have since become extinct, but that there is no test and trial that has existed in the past except that an example of it exists even today as is narrated in the noble hadith: ‘You surely follow the traits of those before you.’ The objective of the Noble Qur’an is to explain the universality of these corruptive matters and not the particularity \[or intricate details\] of events.[^54] Thus, it is narrated that when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came to a verse that spoke of mercy, he stopped and made a supplication, and when he came to a verse that spoke of punishment, he stopped and sought refuge in God.[^55] These emotional reactions show us how we are supposed to read the Qur’an. The Prophet ﷺ understood that these verses addressed him as a reader and are meant to give a lesson to whoever is reading the Qur’an. As the Prophet ﷺ found them relevant to himself, we also should have the same perception.[^56] --- ## Universality of laws The universality of human nature and of Allah’s fixed and consistent *sunna* allow us to see the shared and continued moral realities. However, it can be harder to see how legal rulings (*fiqh*) connect with present times. One might wonder how universal laws are borne from particular instances, or how some Qur’anic rulings could possibly relate to us, given that they were commanded to specific people and for specific contexts. This section clarifies some of the confusion that surrounds the universalization of Qur’anic rulings. ### General meanings and occasions of revelations in the Qur’an In the Qur’an, Allah reveals a body of laws that direct people’s actions in their everyday lives. Some of these rulings do not explicitly address all people; some were revealed for specific individuals, and others were revealed in particular contexts. In all cases, given the universal characteristic of the Qur’an, universally applicable laws have been extracted from these verses using specific tools. One main issue that arises when considering this process is the question of “the generality of the verbal form and the particularity of the occasions of revelation.”[^57] That is, how are we to understand the relation between the general ruling itself and the context in which it was revealed? The majority view is that “the crucial factor is the general meaning, not the specific context”[^58] (*al-ʿibra bi-ʿumūm al-lafẓ lā bi-khuṣūṣ al-sabab*). This means that verses revealed on special occasions are considered in their general meaning, and are not taken as articulating a particular rule that is only relevant to the specific context of revelation.[^59] One verse to which this principle applies is Allah’s proclamation that “Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.”[^60] This verse was revealed when a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said “Messenger of God, I consorted with a woman on the outskirts of Medina, and I got what I wanted from her short of having intercourse with her. Now here I am, so decide what you wish about me.” ʿUmar (rA) said to him, “God has concealed this about you. If only you would have kept it to yourself!” The Prophet ﷺ gave no reply, so the man got up and went away. Then the Prophet ﷺ sent a man after him to summon him, and he recited the verse, “And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.” One of the people asked, “Oh Prophet of God, does this refer to him in particular?” He replied, “No, it refers to all people.”[^61] Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) supports this principle by referring to the practice of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. He points out that it was their common and widespread practice to adjust to new situations during their time by appealing to Qur’anic verses and hadiths that had been revealed on particular occasions in the past.[^62] One example that al-Suyūṭī provides is a report on Ibn ʿAbbās’ understanding of the verse about theft (5:38). Even though the verse was revealed concerning a theft committed by a specific woman, Ibn ʿAbbās indicates the meaning of this verse is to be determined by the generality of its verbal form.[^63] Following this principle, al-Ṭabarī includes a relevant statement in his discussion on the occasion of the revelation of the verse, “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, \[sacrificing on\] stone altars \[to other than God\], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid them that you may be successful.”[^64] After surveying the various narratives of the occasion of revelation, he continues, “exegetes disagreed on the reason this verse had been revealed… we do not have a sound report;, however, whatever the right reason is, the rule in the verse enjoins all morally responsible people, and there is no need from them to know the reason for this verse.”[^65] Al-Ṭabarī emphasizes this principle even more when explicating the meaning of the verse, “And be not excessive (*tusrifū*). Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess (*al-musrifūn*).”[^66] He clarifies that linguistically, *isrāf* means failing to give the right amount, whether by giving too much or too little. After describing these two meanings, al-Ṭabarī states that “the verse had been revealed to the Messenger of God ﷺ for a specific reason, and its rule became general and universal, as it is the case for the majority of Qur’anic verses.”[^67] However, the emphasis on the general meaning of a ruling over the particularity of its occasion of revelation does not render the latter entirely irrelevant or useless. Al-Suyūṭī mentions several benefits of knowing the particular occasion of revelation of verses and pushes back against those who believe that they are only a matter of history. For example, one benefit is to understand the reasoning behind the imposition of a specific law.[^68] Another benefit is “their usefulness in figuring out the meanings of revelations and resolving interpretive puzzles.”[^69] Al-Suyūṭī quotes Ibn Taymiyya, who argues that “knowing the occasion of revelation directs one to a comprehension of the verse; knowing the occasion leads to knowing what is occasioned.”[^70] One example that al-Suyūṭī provides to illustrate this benefit is a narration of Marwān b. al- Ḥakam. Marwān was puzzled by the Qur’anic verse, “And never think that those who rejoice in what they have perpetrated and like to be praised for what they did not do—never think them \[to be\] in safety from the punishment, and for them is a painful punishment.”[^71] Al-Suyūṭī recounts that Marwān said, “If everyone who exalts in what is given and loves to be praised for what he has not done is to be punished, then surely we will all be punished.” In response, Ibn ʿAbbās clarified that this verse was revealed regarding the People of the Book, namely Jews and Christians. The Prophet ﷺ had inquired about a matter, but they concealed the truth from him, instead presenting a distorted version. They made him think that they had told him what he had asked about, and then sought his commendation for it.[^72] Thus the context of revelation assuages Marwān’s concern by restricting this verse’s condemnation to individuals seeking praise for actions that outwardly appear to align with religious teachings but actually contradict them. Another example: Qudāma b. Maẓʿūn and ʿAmr b. Maʿdī Karab reportedly claimed that wine was permissible based on the verse, “There is not upon those who believe and do righteousness \[any\] blame concerning what they have eaten.”[^73] Al-Suyūṭī explains that “they would not have said this if they had known the occasion when this verse was revealed. When wine was made forbidden, some people said, ‘What of those who fought and died in the way of God, and who used to drink wine when it was merely unclean \[and not yet forbidden\]?’ Then this verse was revealed.”[^74] The occasion of revelation makes it clear that the verse does not permit wine, but does pardon those who drank wine before its prohibition. Knowing the occasion of revelation also helps us discern when a verse has not exhausted the topic at hand, per al-Suyūṭī.[^75]  Consider the following verse: “Say, ‘I do not find within that which was revealed to me \[anything\] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine—for indeed, it is impure—or it be \[that slaughtered in\] disobedience, dedicated to other than God.”[^76] Al-Suyūṭī quotes Imam al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820), who explains that the verse was revealed in response to the disbelievers who forbade what Allah had allowed and allowed what Allah had forbidden. The verse lists foods that these specific disbelievers considered permissible in order to oppose their desire and confirm that what they considered permissible is in fact forbidden.[^77] Understanding the occasion of revelation, we realize that the verse does not cover all forbidden foods.[^78] ### General (ʿāmm) and particular (khāṣṣ) phrases One key mechanism for universalizing legal rules relates to the distinction between phrases that are general (*ʿāmm*) and phrases that are particular (*khāṣṣ*). These two categories, devised by Muslim legal theorists, are primarily discussed in the context of command phrases found in the original sources (the Qur’an and hadith). A general phrase or expression is defined by al-Rāzī as “the word that includes all its proper referents,”[^79] meaning that it applies to all people. Examples of such phrases include “*kull*” and “*jamīʿ*” which both mean “all.” However, the scope of a general commandment could be narrowed to a specific group through the tool of specification (*takhṣīṣ*), such that it only applies to men, women, the elderly, etc. For example, the verse, “And \[due\] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House”[^80] does not include minors, based on other proofs from hadith and reason (*ʿaql*).[^81] Specification does not negate the rule’s universality, but rather limits the group of individuals to whom it applies. If a rule obligates men and excludes women, the rule remains universal within the context of this specific group. What then of rules addressing a specific person or responding to a specific occasion—should they be considered universal? When we read that God revealed a verse commanding a specific companion of the Prophet ﷺ to follow a specific rule, should we also follow this rule? When we read that the Prophet ﷺ answered a particular question with a particular ruling, are we to understand that the ruling only applies to the questioner? In his *al-Mustaṣfā*, al-Ghazālī mentions two categories in which Prophetic responses should be considered universal and not only particular to the immediate addressees. In the first category are responses expressed in generic terms. For example, when the Prophet ﷺ was asked about the sea, he responded, “Its water is purifying, and its dead \[animals\] are lawful \[to eat\].”[^82] In this case, we know that this ruling is universal given the generality of the Prophet’s response (i.e., the use of generic terms). The second category involves cases where neither responses nor questions include generic phrases. Al-Ghazālī provides an example: a man once asked the Prophet ﷺ what to do after having sexual intercourse during the fast of Ramadan, and the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to free a slave.[^83] Another example comes from Imam Badr al-Dīn Zarkashī (d. 794/1392). A man came to the Messenger of Allah when he was in al-Jiʿrānah wearing a cloak and perfume. The man said: “O Messenger of Allah! I have entered *iḥrām* for *ʿumrah* and I am as you see.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Take off the cloak and wash off the perfume, and whatever you would do for Hajj, do it for *ʿumrah*.”[^84] In these types of cases, al-Ghazālī clarifies, the response is universalized not by means of the genericity of the linguistic expression (*ʿumūm*) but by means of analogy (*qiyās*).[^85] In such a case, the jurist should investigate the *ʿilla* (lit. *ratio legis* or reason for the law) that triggers the ruling that the Prophet ﷺ made. Al-Ghazālī justifies this principle by citing the hadith, “My judgment on the individual is my judgment on the whole.”[^86] In al-Ghazālī’s example, a jurist should investigate the *ratio legis* that required the man to free a slave and implement this rule whenever and wherever the *ratio legis* occurs, at any time and place. According to al-Shāṭibī, the practice of using analogy to universalize particular Qur’anic commandments and Prophetic utterances goes back to the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Shāṭibī illustrates this by reference to how the companions generalized the particular meaning revealed in Qur’an 33:37, in which Allah abrogates the pre-Islamic tradition of adoption and its consequences. All these attempts, as al-Shāṭibī argues, show that earlier jurists from among the companions, their followers, and those who followed them aimed to show that a particular rule from a case did not remain confined to it.[^87] One final example from the Qur’an is found in the fourth verse of Sūrah al-Māʾidah. It is narrated that two companions, ʿAdiy b. Ḥātim and Zayd b. Muhalhal (rA), asked the Prophet ﷺ, “We are a people who hunt with hounds and falcons, so what is permissible for us from their \[hunt\]?” Then, God revealed the verse that reads, “They ask you, \[O Muhammad\], what has been made lawful for them. Say, ‘Lawful for you are \[all\] good foods and \[game caught by\] what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as God has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of God upon it, and fear God.’ Indeed, God is swift in account.”[^88] Abū Jaʻfar al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) cites several scholars from different generations who debated the meaning of “hunting animals” (*jawāriḥ*), when a hunting animal is considered “trained,” and what exactly becomes lawful after their hunting.[^89] These meanings became the base for a universal Islamic dietary law that applies to all people and is not restricted to those who originally asked the Prophet ﷺ. The Qur’an’s universality entails that rulings were prescribed for specific people on specific occasions during the time of the Prophet ﷺ for the purpose of conveying rulings to the rest of humanity. Through the tools mentioned, scholars, following the approach of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, have endeavored to extract universal rules from particular contexts. --- ## Conclusion > “My son, read the Qur’an as if it were revealed to you.” Decades later, this single piece of advice from his father is what stuck most in the mind of the 20th-century poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. Indeed, it was “the most impactful advice I received in my life.”[^90] The advice of Iqbal’s father was sound. When the Prophet ﷺ, in the Qur’an, is instructed by Allah to declare “And this Qur’an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches,”[^91] he ﷺ is telling us that the Qur’an addresses every single person who hears it. Various scholars, commenting on this verse, cite the Prophet ﷺ as saying, “Whoever the Qur’an reaches is as if I directly read it to him.”[^92] The Qur’an is a revelation that directly speaks to us. It is universal in its application and relevance, as promised by its own verses and  the testimony of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. By viewing themselves as the intended audience of every Qur’anic address, and connecting each address to Allah’s established *sunna,* believers are able to take invaluable lessons from the past stories of the prophets and their nations. We must always understand that rulings prescribed for specific people during the time of the Prophet were prescribed for all of humanity. Thus whenever we approach the Qur’an and reflect upon its verses, we should take ourselves into account. We should read ourselves into every scenario, every story, every ruling. Do we act like the Pharaoh? The Children of Israel? The hypocrites? The believers? Are we honoring Allah’s rulings? The Qur’an is a grace from Allah, enabling people to connect with Him and to feel the consciousness and presence of the Almighty. This experience is accessible to anyone who approaches Allah’s words with a sincere heart. --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 81:27 and Qur’an 38:87. [^2]: Qur’an 21:107. [^3]: Qur’an 25:1. [^4]: Qur’an 1:2. [^5]: Al-Ḥusayn b. Masʿūd al-Baghawī, *Tafsīr al-Baghawī*, eds. Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh al-Nimr et al., 8 vols. (Dār Ṭayba, 1997), 1:52. [^6]: Qur’an 30:22. [^7]: Qur’an 36:69–70. [^8]: See Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-Rāzī, *a**l-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 32 vols. (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1999), 2:321. [^9]: Qur’an 34:28. [^10]: Ibn ʿAṭīyya al-Andalusī, *al-Muḥarrar al-wajīz fī tafsīr al-Kitāb al-ʿAzīz*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām ʿAbd al-Shāfī Muḥammad, 6 vols. (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmmīya, 2001), 4:420. [^11]: Qur’an 4:79. [^12]: Qur’an 7:158. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 521a. [^14]: Yaḥyā b. Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Minhāj Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj**,* ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī, 7 vols. (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1392 AH), 5:5. [^15]: Qur’an 46:31. [^16]: Qur’an 72:1. [^17]: Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā al-Shāṭibī, *The Reconciliation of the Fundamentals of Islamic Law*, tr. Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee (Garnet Press, 2011), 188. [^18]: See Ahmet T. Karamustafa, *Sufism: The Formative Period* (Edinburgh University Press, 2007), 155-166, for a list of these antinomian groups in early Sufism. [^19]: Al-Shāṭibī, *Reconciliation*, 188–89. [^20]: Al-Shāṭibī, *Reconciliation*. [^21]: Qur’an 46:9. [^22]: Qur’an 5:48. [^23]: Ibrāhīm al-Bājūrī, *Tuḥfat al-murīd* (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmmīya, 2004), 151. [^24]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukh**ā**r**ī*, no. 335, no. 438. [^25]: Al-Bājūrī, *Tuḥfat al-murīd*, 150. [^26]: Aḥmad b. Fāris al-Rāzī, *Maqāyīs al-lugha**,* ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 6 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, 1979), 3:60. [^27]: Qur’an 17:77. [^28]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyya, *Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl fī masāʾil al-qaḍāʾ wa al-qadar wa al-ḥikma wa al-taʿlīl* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1978), 199. [^29]: Qur’an 33:26. [^30]: Qur’an 54:43. [^31]: Qur’an 4:123. [^32]: Qur’an 35:43. [^33]: Al-Rāzī, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 26:247. [^34]: Qur’an 12:111. [^35]: Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymīyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, eds. ʿĀmir al-Jazzār and Anwar al-Bāz, 37 vols. (Mujmmaʿ al-Malik Fahd li–l-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 1995), 13:20. [^36]: For example, Qur’an 3:13, 12:111, and 59:2. [^37]: Ibn ʿAṭīyah al-Andalusī, *al-Muḥarrar al-wajīz*, 3:206. [^38]: For example, Qur’an 6:110, 7:186, and 10:11. [^39]: See Qur’an 20:24, 20:34, and 79:17. [^40]: Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl al-Qurʼān*, ed. Maḥmūd Muḥammad Shākir, 30 vols. (Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, n.d.), 1:308. [^41]: Qur’an 96:6–7. [^42]: The Arabic proverb reads “*iyyāki aʿnī wa ismaʿī yā jāra*” and refers to when the speaker is addressing someone indirectly by conveying the desired message to someone else in the vicinity. [^43]: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Andalusī, *Turāth Abī al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarāllī al-Marrākishī fī al-tafsīr*, ed. Muḥammādī ʿAbd al-Salām al-Khayyāṭī (Manshūrāt al-Markaz al-Jāmiʿī l-il-Baḥth al-ʿIlmī, 1977), 126–27. [^44]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*, 4 vols. (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1982), 1:285. [^45]: Al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*. [^46]: Al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*. [^47]: Qur’an 11:120. [^48]: Al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*. [^49]: Qur’an 21:10. [^50]: Qur’an 16:44. [^51]: Al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*. [^52]: Qur’an 6:19. [^53]: Al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*. [^54]: Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, *al-Fawz al-kabīr fī uṣūl al-tafsīr* (The great victory in Qur’anic hermeneutics) (TaHa Publishers, 2014), 40. [^55]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 772. Also see *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no. 873. NB: There is a difference in opinion as to whether it is permitted to make supplication during the recitation of the Qur’an when performing obligatory prayer. [^56]: For more on Qur’anic reflection, see: Yousef Wahb and Mohammad Elshinawy, “Keys to Tadabbur: How to Reflect Deeply on the Qur’an,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, April 22, 2021. [^57]: See Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl,* ed. Muḥammad Sulaymān al-Ashqar, 2 vols. (Muʼassasat al-Risāla, 1997), 2:131–34. [^58]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl*. [^59]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl*, 2:131. [^60]: Qur’an 11:114. [^61]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2763d. [^62]: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* (al-Hayʾa al-Miṣriyya al-ʿĀmma lil-Kitāab, 1974), 1:107. Translated in John Renard, ed., *Islamic Theological Thought Themes: A Primary Source Reader*, trans. David R. Vishanof (University of California Press, 2014), 53–58. [^63]: Renard, *Islamic Theological Thought Themes*, 53. [^64]: Qur’an 5:90. [^65]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*, 10:574. [^66]: Qur’an 6:141. [^67]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*, 12:177. [^68]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān,* 1:107. [^69]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān.* [^70]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān.* [^71]: Qur’an 3:188. [^72]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān,* 1:107. [^73]: Qur’an 5:93. [^74]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān.* [^75]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān.* [^76]: Qur’an 6:145. [^77]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān.* [^78]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*, 108. [^79]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *al-Maḥṣūl fī ʿilm al-uṣūl* (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1997), 2:309. [^80]: Qur’an 3:97. [^81]: For further discussion on *ʿāmm* and *khāṣṣ*, see al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʻilm al-uṣūl*, 2:106–62. [^82]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl*, 2:129. [^83]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 111a. The hadith continues, stating that the Prophet ﷺ offered him other options since the man could not afford to free a slave. [^84]: Badr al-Dīn Zarkashī, *al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ*, ed. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-ʿĀnī et al., 6 vols. (Wizārat al-Awqāf, 1992), 3: 199–200. [^85]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl*, 2:130. [^86]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Mustaṣfā min ʿilm al-uṣūl*. This hadith is considered by hadith scholars to be baseless. See Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī, *al-Maqaṣid al-ḥasana* (Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1985), 312. However, scholars do not reject the principle even if the hadith is rejected, provided that its meaning is sound and aligns with the conception of the universality of revelation. [^87]: Al-Shāṭibī, *Reconciliation of the Fundamentals,* 2:189–90. [^88]: Al-Baghawī, *Tafsīr al-Baghawī*, 3:15. [^89]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-bayān*, 543–71. [^90]: Muhammad Manzur Alam, *Kalam-e-Iqbal mein Qur'ani Ayat-o Ahadith* (Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu, 1995), 43. [^91]: Qur’an 6:19. [^92]: Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Shawkānī, *Fatḥ al-Qadīr* (Dār al-Maʿrifa, 2007), 413. It is also reported that Saʿīd b. Jubair (rA) said, “Whoever the Qur’an reaches is as if he has seen the Prophet.” See Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʻUmar al-Rāzī, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 12:188. ## Summary The Qur'an confronts every thoughtful reader with a pressing question: how can a revelation sent down in a particular time and place, sometimes in response to specific events and concerning bygone prophets and nations, remain relevant to people living in every age? Against this question stand two contrasting responses. Some advocate a historicist reading, insisting that the revelation be confined to the context of those it directly addressed, namely the people of Mecca and Medina. While these voices affirm the Qur'an's divine origin, they doubt that its verses apply universally across time and place. Certain modernists among them hold that the Qur'an intended only to deliver core values rather than fixed laws or rituals, and that these values happen to align with those of Western modernity, so that the explicit rulings of the Qur'an may be discarded once they have served their purpose. This position is presented in order to be refuted, for the enduring conviction of Muslims through the ages has been that the teachings of the Qur'an are universal, and that even verses tied to particular occasions carry rulings binding for all times and places, such that every human being is the intended addressee of every Qur'anic address. The most direct proof of this universality is the Qur'an's own insistence upon it. Allah defines the revelation as a message to all creation, describing His Messenger ﷺ in the words, "And We have not sent you, except as a mercy to al-ʿālamīn," and declaring, "Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to al-ʿālamīn a warner." The term al-ʿālamīn is used throughout the Qur'an in an all-encompassing sense, as when Allah names Himself "Lord of al-ʿālamīn," and early exegetes such as Qatāda, Mujāhid, and al-Ḥasan defined it as creation in its entirety. Another verse reads, "This Book is only a reminder and a clear Qur'an to warn whoever is alive," which by including all the living extends also to every generation yet to come. The scope is further confirmed where Allah says, "And We have not sent you except comprehensively (kāffa) to humankind," which Ibn ʿAṭiyya (d. 541/1146) understood as an announcement that the Prophet ﷺ was sent to the whole assemblage of mankind, and in the command, "Say, [O Muhammad], 'O humankind, indeed I am the Messenger of God to you all.'" In a hadith the Prophet ﷺ said, "Every messenger was sent particularly to his own people, whereas I have been sent to all the red and the black," and Imam al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277), noting varied interpretations of "the red and the black," concluded that all of them are valid since the Prophet ﷺ was sent to all. This scope reaches even the jinn, who declared upon hearing the Qur'an, "Indeed, we have heard an amazing Qur'an. It guides to the right course, and we have believed in it." Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī (d. 790/1388) in his al-Muwāfaqāt affirmed that the Shariah is comprehensive and universal (kulliyya ʿāmma), binding upon everyone equally regardless of time, place, or situation, and rejected excusing any group from its obligations without valid reason. The Qur'an also grounds its universality in its own place within the succession of prophetic missions. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the culmination of a chain of Arab and non-Arab prophets, and so he is instructed, "Say, 'I am not something original among the messengers.'" Here a distinction is drawn between creed (ʿaqīda) and law (sharīʿa). The creed, whose heart is divine oneness (tawḥīd), has been one and the same through all the prophets, while each prophet brought a distinct law suited to his people, which in time was corrupted, necessitating the final revelation. Allah says, "To each of you We prescribed a law and a method." The Shariah of the Prophet ﷺ thus abrogates those before it and cannot itself be abrogated, as expressed in the verse of Ibrāhīm al-Lāqqānī's Jawharat al-tawḥīd: "His Shariah will not be abrogated until time itself is abrogated." Particular commands often disclose universal truths through Allah's established ways (sunan). The Qur'an speaks of the sunna of Allah, His fixed patterns in dealing with human communities, saying, "you will not find in Our law (sunna) any alteration," which Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) explained as His consistent way of treating His pious servants and His enemies. This sunna bears three traits. It is fixed and unalterable, so that His dealings with ancient peoples match His dealings with us. It is universal and admits no exception, as the Qur'an challenges its rejectors, "Are you disbelievers better than those [who came before you], or have you immunity in the scripture?" And it is sublime and certain, a quality al-Rāzī (d. 605/1210) drew from the pairing of sunna with the name of Allah, which glorifies it and establishes its certainty. From this constancy flows the value of learning from the past, for the Qur'an declares that in the earlier stories "is a lesson (ʿibra) for people of understanding." Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) explained that drawing a lesson means comparing one thing to its like, so that one recognizes the shared outcome. The stories of nations who denied their prophets are therefore not mere history but warnings, since the path of the earlier prophets is the same to which the Prophet ﷺ called. Sūrah Hūd offers a model of this approach, recounting seven prophets and contrasting the fate of believers and deniers, with Shuʿayb warning his people not to be struck as the peoples of Nūḥ, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, and Lūṭ were struck. Allah then says, "Indeed in that is a sign (āya) for those who fear the punishment of the Hereafter," and Ibn ʿAṭiyya combined the senses of "sign" and "lesson," seeing in these narratives both guidance and proof leading to faith. In Sūrah al-Shuʿarāʾ the phrase "inna fī dhālika la-āya" recurs eight times, seven of them after prophetic stories, teaching that each carries a lesson relevant to the present. Likewise the Qur'an ties disbelief to transgression (ṭughyān), which linguistically means exceeding proper limits, warning that false belief manifests in conduct, as in the verse, "No! [But] indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient." That the Qur'an speaks directly to its reader was stressed by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Marākishī (d. 638/1241), who held that most of the umma fail to understand the Qur'an because they imagine its stories are only reports, whereas they are meant for taking lessons and recognizing the recurring conditions of this umma and of oneself. Imam al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) in his Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn listed among the inner acts of recitation "specification," in which the reader assumes he is the intended audience of every address, whether command, prohibition, promise, threat, or narrative. He noted that when Allah addresses all people He intends each individual, and cited Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī's saying that it is as though Allah speaks directly to whomever the Qur'an reaches. Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1762) likewise warned against thinking the Qur'an's polemic addresses only extinct peoples, invoking the hadith, "You surely follow the traits of those before you," and affirming that its aim is to explain the universality of corruptive matters. It is narrated that the Prophet ﷺ, on reaching a verse of mercy, would supplicate, and on reaching a verse of punishment, would seek refuge, showing how we too should receive these verses. The universality of legal rulings requires more care, since some were revealed for specific persons or occasions. Here the majority principle is that "the crucial factor is the general meaning, not the specific context" (al-ʿibra bi-ʿumūm al-lafẓ lā bi-khuṣūṣ al-sabab). When a man confessed a sin and the verse "Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds" was recited, and he was asked whether it applied to him alone, the Prophet ﷺ replied, "No, it refers to all people." Imam al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) supported this by the practice of the Companions, including Ibn ʿAbbās's treatment of the verse of theft by its general wording, and al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) affirmed regarding the verse on intoxicants that its rule binds all the morally responsible whatever its occasion. Yet al-Suyūṭī insisted the occasions of revelation retain great benefit, clarifying meanings and resolving difficulties, as when Ibn ʿAbbās settled Marwān's confusion by restricting a verse of censure to the People of the Book, or when it was made clear that a verse did not permit wine but pardoned those who drank before its prohibition. Universalization also rests on the distinction between general (ʿāmm) and particular (khāṣṣ) expressions, the general being, in al-Rāzī's definition, the word that includes all its referents, which specification (takhṣīṣ) may narrow to a group without negating its universality within that group. Al-Ghazālī in al-Mustaṣfā held that Prophetic responses are universal either through generic wording, as in his saying about the sea, "Its water is purifying, and its dead [animals] are lawful," or, where no generic term appears, through analogy (qiyās) upon the ratio legis (ʿilla), as in the man commanded to free a slave after breaking his fast, and the man at al-Jiʿrānah told to remove his cloak and perfume. Al-Ghazālī cited the hadith, "My judgment on the individual is my judgment on the whole." Al-Shāṭibī traced this analogical universalizing to the Companions, and the dietary rules derived from the questions of ʿAdiy b. Ḥātim and Zayd b. Muhalhal on hunting, discussed by al-Ṭabarī, became a law for all. Rulings given to particular persons were thus given for the sake of all humanity. The poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal recalled as the most impactful advice of his life his father's counsel, "My son, read the Qur'an as if it were revealed to you." This accords with Allah's word to the Prophet ﷺ, "And this Qur'an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches," which the Prophet ﷺ glossed, "Whoever the Qur'an reaches is as if I directly read it to him." The Qur'an speaks directly to every listener, universal in application and relevance, so that the believer who sees himself as the addressee of every verse, and who links each to Allah's established sunna, draws lessons from the stories of the prophets and recognizes that rulings once given to particular people were given for all mankind. We should therefore read ourselves into every scenario and ask whether we resemble Pharaoh, the Children of Israel, the hypocrites, or the believers, and whether we honor Allah's rulings, approaching His words with a sincere heart. ## Key Takeaways 1. The Qur’an addresses all of humanity, described as a message for “the worlds” (*al-ʿālamīn*), meaning every person in every time and place is included in its guidance and mercy. 2. The Qur’an’s universality is demonstrated through Allah’s unchanging established practices (*sunnat Allah*) that apply consistently across time, allowing believers to learn timeless lessons from past stories and extract universal laws from particular contexts. 3. Islamic scholarship affirms that the Qur’an’s laws and guidance are comprehensive and timeless, with the principle of generality over particularity (*al-ʿibra bi-ʿumūm al-lafẓ lā bi-khuṣūṣ al-sabab*) ensuring that Qur’anic rulings revealed for specific occasions are understood in their universal meaning. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the Qur’an still relevant today? Yes. The Qur’an repeatedly presents itself as a message for all of humanity, not only for the people who first received it. It calls itself a reminder “to the worlds,” an expression scholars understood to mean all of creation without limit of time, place, ethnicity, or age. Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ to say, “O humankind, indeed I am the Messenger of God to you all,” and the Prophet ﷺ said that while earlier messengers were each sent to their own people, he was sent to all of humankind. One verse describes the Qur’an as a warning “to whoever is alive,” which scholars noted includes every generation still to come. Muslims across the centuries have therefore held that its guidance is universal and timeless. Being the final revelation, meant to last until the Day of Judgment, the Qur’an was never intended as a message for one era that would later expire. Its guidance addresses enduring moral, spiritual, and human concerns that recur across changing historical circumstances, which is why Muslims understand its relevance as extending beyond the society in which it was first revealed. ### Why does the Qur’an keep retelling stories of past prophets and nations? The stories of earlier peoples are not included as history for its own sake. The Qur’an says that in these accounts “is a lesson for people of understanding,” and it repeatedly follows a prophet’s story with the phrase “indeed in that is a sign.” The purpose is for the reader to recognize recurring moral patterns and draw lessons from the consequences described in earlier communities. Because the Qur’an presents Allah’s justice and moral order as consistent, these accounts warn later readers against repeating the same forms of arrogance, denial, and transgression without implying that every society will experience an identical worldly outcome. The same path to which every prophet called is the path of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. A reader who follows in the footsteps of past deniers should therefore take their stories as warnings about the spiritual and ultimate consequences of those attitudes. Scholars explained that these narratives alert us to recurring human failings such as arrogance, denial, and transgression, and to the consequences Allah has always attached to them. Read this way, a story about an ancient nation becomes a mirror for the reader’s own life, offering both warning and encouragement rather than a distant tale. ### How can a Qur’anic ruling revealed for a specific person or occasion apply to all Muslims? Some verses were revealed in response to a particular question, person, or event, which raises the question of whether their rulings bind only those original addressees. A major principle adopted by the majority of legal theorists is that a verse with genuinely general wording is not ordinarily restricted to the particular event that prompted its revelation, although its context and other textual evidence can clarify or limit the scope of that wording. When a man once confessed a sin and a verse was revealed in response, someone asked whether it applied to him alone, and the Prophet ﷺ answered that it applies to all people. The early Muslims followed this approach, applying verses revealed for particular cases to new situations of their own. Scholars developed careful tools to do this, distinguishing general expressions that cover everyone from particular ones, and reasoning by analogy from a specific ruling to every case that shares its underlying cause. Knowing the original occasion still has value, since it can clarify a verse’s meaning and prevent misreadings. The occasion of revelation helps explain what a verse means and how broadly it applies, while the wording, other relevant evidence, established methods of legal reasoning, and its underlying purpose carry the ruling forward beyond the original case. Laws given in specific moments were always meant for all of humanity. ### How can I read the Qur’an so it speaks directly to me? A well-known piece of advice is to read the Qur’an as if it were revealed to you. Some scholars encouraged readers to approach every passage as personally relevant, asking what command, warning, promise, lesson, or example it contains for them even when its original addressee was someone else. When you come across a command or a prohibition, take it as addressed to you. When you meet a promise or a warning, hear it as spoken to you. When you read the story of an earlier people, look for yourself in it rather than treating it as someone else’s history. One classical scholar listed this as an inner act of recitation, noting that when Allah addresses all people, He also intends each individual, so every reader is personally included. The Qur’an itself describes its warning as extending to “whomever it reaches,” and classical scholars used this verse to emphasize that later readers stand within the continuing audience of the revelation. Approached this way, the Qur’an stops feeling like a record of the past and becomes a living address. As you read, ask which qualities, choices, warnings, and examples in the account resembles your own conduct and whether you are honoring Allah’s guidance. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/struggling-to-pray-how-to-wake-up-for-fajr # Struggling to Pray? How to Wake Up for Fajr | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Self-Improvement **Published:** November 26, 2024 **Updated:** September 2, 2026 Unraveling ourselves from the warmth of bed for the dawn prayer (Fajr) can feel like one of the biggest challenges these days. With hectic schedules, late nights, and the ever-tempting snooze button, getting out of bed before the sun has even risen seems nigh on impossible for some. Even with multiple alarms set, many of us still struggle to wake up on time for Fajr prayer. This struggle can lead to feelings of frustration, guilt, and a sense of disconnect from spiritual goals, with the repetitive cycle of setting intentions and failing to follow through delivering blow after blow to our spiritual morale. Although the idea of waking up for Fajr may seem daunting, with the right approach and sincerity of heart, it can become a manageable endeavor—one that has the power to be the most uplifting and blessed part of our day. In this blog, we’ll explore practical tips and techniques based on both Islamic teachings and science to help you wake up for Fajr consistently and start your day with Allah’s blessings. --- ## Strengthening your intention The first and most crucial step in successfully waking up for Fajr is to set a sincere [intention](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-28-god-knows-my-intention-road-to-return&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1732656339303322&usg=AOvVaw3kIFxhf9ZsSe2FKBmhNLQO) (*niyya*). This involves cultivating a heartfelt desire to please Allah and a firm belief in His support to help you achieve that goal. This profound concept was highlighted in one of the most important sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: “Verily, actions are judged by intentions, and every individual will have what they intended.”[^1] However, it is important to clarify that an intention is not just wishful thinking. Rather, an intention means that you have a firm resolve, in this case, to wake up for Fajr and that you will follow that resolve with the necessary actions to fulfill it. Also, an intention should not be done only once. What was initially a pure intention can weaken over time or become mixed with other intentions. Therefore, [sincere](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D3sY8XcTkmDs&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1732656339304133&usg=AOvVaw2YDYoUzZ23CMqmvY7OuVaG) intentions require constant self-reflection and renewal. No matter how difficult it is to wake up, you must constantly struggle against yourself and make a firm intention to wake up for Fajr. Many of us have experienced the anxiety of an impending early-morning exam, a crucial job interview, or a 4 AM flight, where the fear of missing the alarm looms large. But because of the commitments we’ve made, the importance of these events, and the negative consequences of oversleeping, we force ourselves to do everything in our power to ensure we wake up on time. The early morning appointment becomes our main priority. Yet others of us prioritize getting up early for other worldly gains, such as hitting the gym or getting a head start on the day’s emails, because we know the great benefit it will bring to our lives. Similarly, when we set a firm intention to pray Fajr, magnify the significance of the prayer,  and understand its great benefit for our hereafter (*ākhira*), Fajr is transformed from a daunting task to a spiritual commitment in need of fulfillment—one that is ultimately aided by strength and motivation from Allah. --- ## Knowing the immense rewards of Fajr Along with our firm intention we also need a clear understanding of the spiritual rewards and blessings of Fajr and the early morning, which can serve as powerful motivation to wake up for prayer. Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (rA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Whoever observes the *bardān* (i.e., Fajr and the*ʿ*Asr, or afternoon, prayers) will enter paradise.”[^2] Also, ʿUmāra b. Ruwaina (rA) said, “I heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say, ‘Whoever prays before the rising of the sun and before its setting (i.e., the Fajr and ʿAsr prayers) will not enter Hell.’”[^3] It was common among the early generations to stay up after Fajr due to the immense blessings of the early morning. Sakhr b. al-Ghāmidī (rA) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘O Allah, bless my nation in their early mornings.’”[^4] These unparalleled rewards also extend to the *sunnah* prayer preceding Fajr. ʿĀisha (rA) narrated that the Messenger ﷺ said, “The two prayer cycles (sing. *rakʿa*) at dawn are better than this world and what it contains,”[^5] referring here to the *sunnah* prayer preceding Fajr. This *sunnah* prayer is so emphasized that it is the only *sunnah* which can be made up if you miss the obligatory prayer at its proper time. How would our lives transform if we treated every morning as an opportunity to gain all the wealth of this world? If you were offered a ten million dollar contract, but the only condition was that you had to be in the office every day by 6 AM, how many of us would turn the offer down for the sake of more sleep? Here, Allah’s offer far exceeds any we could get in this world—imagine what it would feel like to start every day knowing you’ve gained something better than the whole world and all the wealth that it contains. --- ## Establishing a spiritual routine Beginning and ending your day with worship, like performing ritual ablution  (*wuḍūʾ*) before going to sleep, helps establish a spiritual connection before resting that will aid in your ability to wake up for Fajr. The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, Whenever you go to bed perform ablution like that for the prayer, lie on your right side and say, Du'a before going to sleep اللَّهُمَّ أَسْلَمْتُ وَجْهِي إِلَيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْتُ أَمْرِي إِلَيْكَ، وَأَلْجَأْتُ ظَهْرِي إِلَيْكَ، رَغْبَةً وَرَهْبَةً إِلَيْكَ، لاَ مَلْجَأَ وَلاَ مَنْجَا مِنْكَ إِلَّا إِلَيْكَ، اللَّهُمَّ آمَنْتُ بِكِتَابِكَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْتَ، وَبِنَبِيِّكَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلْتَ‏. Allāhumma aslamt wajhī ilayk, wa fawwaḍt amrī ilayk, wa aljaʾtu dhahrī ilayk raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayk. Lā maljaʾ wa lā manjā minka illā ilayk. Allahumma āmantu bi-kitābika alladhī anzalt wa bi-nabiyyik alladhī arsalt. “O Allah! I surrender to You and entrust all my affairs to You and depend upon You for Your Blessings, with hope and fear of You. There is no fleeing from You, and there is no place of protection and safety except with You. O Allah! I believe in Your Book which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent.” Then if you die on that night, you will die with faith (i.e., on the religion of Islam). Let these words be the last thing you say (before sleep).[^6]  *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 247 Alternatively, or in conjunction with this, you can also recite the Verse of the Throne (*Āyat al-Kursī*) (Qur’an 2:255) on account of the famous hadith that anyone who recites this verse will have a guardian angel to protect them, and Satan will not be able to approach them until the morning.[^7] This ritual of making *wuḍūʾ*, lying on your right side, and then reciting *duʾā*s and Qur’anic verses has multiple rewards. In addition to the remembrance of death and protection from nightmares, going to [sleep](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep15-how-to-sleep-better-habits-to-win-here-and-hereafter&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1732656339308280&usg=AOvVaw2qqKdDqLJdoJ_Ku6n_7vgV) in a state of purification and elevated God-consciousness can make it easier to wake up with a sense of purpose for Fajr. The heart is lighter and more intimately connected to its Creator, establishing a mindset clear of worldly distractions and renewed with spiritual determination to wake up for Fajr. --- ## Realigning your sleep to Fajr A purely practical step to waking up on time for Fajr involves optimizing your sleep by going to bed at a reasonable hour, ensuring enough sleep to be able to wake up and feel refreshed and present in the morning prayer. The Prophet ﷺ recommended avoiding staying up late after the night prayer (ʿIshāʾ) unless for an important reason: “The Prophet used to dislike sleeping before ʿIshāʾ and talking after it.”[^8] [Modern medicine](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yesmd.com/the-benefits-of-going-to-bed-early-and-getting-a-good-nights-sleep/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1732656339309082&usg=AOvVaw3QCcV2NkTelB4SBdgi47dB) supports going to sleep early and keeping a consistent sleep schedule, with benefits ranging from decreased terminal illnesses to decreased stress and improved weight control. A common misconception that we need to address is the idea that we are not responsible for sleeping through the time of Fajr due to the hadith that excuses a sleeping person from moral responsibility. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘The pen is lifted from three people (i.e. their sins are not recorded): a sleeping person until he awakens, a child until he becomes an adult, and an insane person until he regains his sanity.’”[^9] While a person is not held responsible for a prayer missed due to dozing off, there is a distinction between carelessness and neglect, and sleep that is entirely out of our hands. As such, we do in fact remain obligated to take the necessary means to wake up for our religious duties. Here self-awareness is key. If you are aware that staying up past a certain hour will impede you from waking up for Fajr, it is your duty to take the necessary steps to avoid going to sleep late in order to fulfill your obligations. --- ## Dimming the lights, calming the mind One of the most useful ways to start winding down in the evenings and going to sleep earlier is to prepare your environment for sleep by dimming your lights. Allah has designed the regular rise and fall of the sun to align with twenty-four hour rhythms, called circadian rhythms, in virtually all organisms on Earth. This is true down to the cells in your body. However, in our modern lifestyles, constant exposure to bright fluorescent lights at night blocks the circadian rhythm and the production of melatonin (a hormone in the body related to regulating sleep-wake cycles), confusing your body into thinking that it is still daytime. We only harm ourselves when we neglect Allah’s intricately designed system of using the day for pursuing our livelihoods and the night for rest, “Have we not…made your sleep for rest, and made the night as cover, and made the day for livelihood…”[^10] Understanding this may also explain the number of hadiths that indicate that the Companions would sleep immediately after the ʿIshāʾ prayer, and while waiting for the prayer would become sleepy to the point of lightly dozing off. Anas b. Mālik (rA) reported that the Companions of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, in his lifetime, would begin to doze off while waiting for him to start the ʿIshāʾ prayer.[^11] With this in mind, replacing bright bulbs with gentler lights, reducing screen-time, and dimming your lights an hour or two before bedtime will allow your body to begin winding down, signaling that it will soon be time to sleep. --- ## Fueling your body for Fajr Another way to prepare your body for sleep is to avoid heavy meals before bed. When we eat a large meal late at night, our bodies work overtime to digest it, which can leave us feeling sluggish and bloated. Our gastrointestinal tract also remains active, preventing our bodies from fully entering a restful state. Late-night eating can also lead to indigestion or acid reflux, causing discomfort that may keep us tossing and turning through the night. These disruptions can affect our overall sleep quality, which in turn impacts our ability to rise easily for Fajr. To avoid this, try to eat your last meal at least three hours before bedtime. This gives your digestive system enough time to process the food and for your body to naturally wind down. Another important tip is to avoid sugary snacks late in the evening. While a sugary treat might satisfy a late-night craving, it can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels, leading to restlessness. Likewise, caffeine—found in coffee, tea, and many sodas—can remain in your bloodstream for up to ten hours, making it difficult to fall asleep. To ensure a more peaceful night’s rest, try to have that cup of coffee by the early afternoon. Instead of reaching for coffee or sugary snacks, try calming herbal teas like chamomile or peppermint that are known for their relaxing properties. By adjusting your eating habits, you’ll improve your sleep quality and wake up for Fajr feeling refreshed and energized. --- ## Building accountability with a “Fajr buddy” For heavy sleepers, one of the most effective ways to stay consistent with Fajr is to have someone else to help you. In family settings, this is actually a duty. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness”[^12]  and “Enjoin prayer on your family, and be patient in offering them.”[^13] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said: “May Allah have mercy on a man who gets up at night and prays, then he wakes his wife and she prays, and if she refuses he sprinkles water on her face. And may Allah have mercy on a woman who gets up at night and prays, then she wakes her husband and prays, and if he refuses she sprinkles water on his face.”[^14] If waking your spouse and family for the optional night prayer is praised, what then of the obligatory Fajr prayer? For those of us living away from family, it’s useful to have a roommate or friend to lean on for support. Find someone you can call or text for motivation and accountability. One innovative approach that’s becoming popular is the creation of group chats on WhatsApp or Telegram that are used to coordinate group meetings for Fajr prayer in congregation or for daily reminders to get up. --- ## Making Fajr a natural part of your day We can also benefit from the modern science of habit formation. Psychological research reveals that habits are formed in a process known as the cue-routine-reward loop. This theory suggests that all habits share three common features: a cue that triggers the habit, a routine response, and a generated reward. In this case, realizing the rewards of Fajr and making a firm intention to change your schedule are the cues. The routine is the behavior we want to enforce, that is, waking up for the Fajr prayer. Then, the reward, whether increased energy and productivity in this world or realizing the immense rewards in the hereafter, reinforces the routine, making it more likely that you’ll repeat the habit the next time the cue presents itself. Adjusting your internal clock takes time and patience. Consistency in Fajr realigns our body’s circadian rhythms, creating a virtuous cycle that improves our overall sleep quality and energy levels. It may feel challenging at first, but with patience and dedication, the body and mind begin to adjust. Consistency is key when it comes to waking up for Fajr. Like any habit, the more regularly we perform it, the more accustomed our brain will become to that habit. Islam emphasizes the importance of persistence in acts of worship, even if they are small. ʿĀisha (rA) narrated that “The Prophet was asked ‘What deeds are most loved by Allah?’ He said, ‘The most regular constant deeds even if they are few.’”[^15] Waking up for Fajr is more than a routine task—it’s a spiritual commitment that sets the tone for the entire day. While the challenges of modern life may seem overwhelming, following a few practical steps can make a significant difference. By aligning your heart, mind, and habits, you can transform this early morning struggle into a source of immense blessings, helping you grow closer to Allah and achieve greater peace and fulfillment in your life. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 54. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 635. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*,  no. 634. [^4]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1212, graded as *ḥasan* (fairly authentic) by al-Tirmidhī. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 725a. [^6]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 247. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2311. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 568. [^9]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*,  no. 1423, graded as *ḥasan* by Darussalam. [^10]: Qur’an 78:6–11. [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 376. [^12]: Qur’an 5:2. [^13]: Qur’an 20:132. [^14]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 1610. Darussalam graded this hadith as *ḥasan*. [^15]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6465. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/living-with-purpose-the-powerful-meaning-of-the-basmala # Living with Purpose: The Powerful Meaning of the Basmala | Blog **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Published:** November 20, 2024 **Updated:** June 18, 2026 Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, the eminent Successor of the Companions (*tābiʿī*) scholar (d. 110/728), famously remarked, “God has encapsulated the knowledge of all previous scriptures in the Qur’an, and then distilled the knowledge of the Qur’an within \[its opening chapter\] al-Fātiḥa. Whoever grasps its meaning understands the core of all revealed texts.”[^1] In the field of Qur’anic Sciences (*ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*), scholars have noted that the essence of al-Fātiḥa is further encapsulated within the phrase “in the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” (*bi-ʾism Allāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*, also known as the *basmala*) and the essence of the *basmala* is distilled in its initial prepositional letter, *bāʾ*. This *bāʾ* has been a focal point of extensive grammatical and linguistic analysis within traditional Islamic scholarship. Its syntactic function, which indicates a connection to an implied subject (noun) or action (verb), subtly invites reflection on the foundational principle of beginning any endeavor with mindfulness and reliance on the Divine. In the *basmala*, the letter *bāʾ* carries profound significance as it symbolizes attachment (*ilṣāq*), a concept central to the relationship between the servant and the Divine. This attachment underscores the ultimate purpose of life: to draw closer to God. By this understanding, even the smallest component of the *basmala* becomes a powerful emblem of spiritual aspiration. In its verbal structure—understood when the implied word is taken to be a verb, such as “begin”—the *bāʾ* conveys a sense of action and initiation, as if to say “in the Name of God, I begin.” This reading invites reflection on the starting point and purpose of any endeavor, anchoring it in Divine consciousness. It lends a sense of lightness and ease to the servant’s journey, as though the opening of God’s Book was deliberately framed to reflect His infinite tolerance and kindness, gently guiding humanity from the very first step. But what exactly are we meant to begin with the *basmala*? The answer is both simple and profound: every pursuit, every endeavor, every act of obedience. To discern obedience from disobedience, or to distinguish good from evil, we must cultivate a comprehensive worldview—one embodied in the *basmala* and its assertion of acting “in the Name of God.” This worldview echoes the first command revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through Gabriel (Jibrīl), “Recite in the Name of your Lord.”[^2] This command was not merely an instruction to read words but a transformative call to perceive, reflect, and navigate existence through God-consciousness. It urged the Prophet ﷺ—and by extension, humanity—to view life as an interconnected reality where every action, thought, and decision is shaped by Divine awareness. Implicit in this directive is a caution: approaching life in the name of anything other than God risks reducing its meaning, leading to misguidance and misplaced priorities. By centering our intentions on the Divine, the *basmala* becomes a safeguard, a reminder that life’s true purpose lies in aligning with the sacred. The first Divine Name in the *basmala* is Allah, representing His transcendence, sovereignty, and unparalleled power. This Name establishes the framework of absolute dependence on the Creator, who governs all existence. Following Allah are two attributes of mercy, *al-Raḥmān* and *al-Raḥīm*, underscoring that God’s Mercy surpasses even His dominance. According to the prominent exegete Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210), these three Names address distinct groups of people, as mentioned in the verse: “Among them are those who wrong themselves; others follow a middle course; and some, by God’s permission, excel in good deeds.”[^3] Through this interpretive lens, the Name Allah most closely aligns with those who excel in virtue and devotion, *al-Raḥmān* with those who tread a middle path, and *al-Raḥīm* with those who falter but remain within the scope of Divine mercy.[^4] Across the journey of life, we inevitably move through these categories—moments of striving for excellence, periods of moderation, and times of error and repentance. The frequent repetition of these Names in the *basmala* thus resonates deeply, reminding us of God’s encompassing mercy and our potential for redemption, regardless of our current state. This triadic invocation serves as both a reflection of human imperfection and a testament to God’s boundless compassion. Al-Rāzī delves further into the inherent diversity of human souls, describing their unique essences (*māhiyya*, or “what-ness”) and varied inclinations. Some souls are noble, driven by lofty aspirations, while others are ignoble, preoccupied with base desires. Some exhibit mercy and compassion, while others are inclined toward harshness. Certain souls transcend worldly temptations, aspiring toward spiritual growth, while others are captivated by power and material dominance. This spectrum of inclinations, according to al-Rāzī, reflects the inherent nature of each soul—its fundamental structure and predispositions. Al-Rāzī observes that spiritual striving and self-discipline serve to temper these innate tendencies but cannot completely alter them. The goal of discipline is not to eradicate negative traits but to diminish their influence, enabling virtues to take precedence. This idea resonates with the Prophetic saying: “People are mines (*maʿādin*), like gold and silver,” which suggests that each individual possesses unique qualities that can be refined and brought to their fullest potential. Similarly the Prophet likened souls to “mobilized troops,”[^5] emphasizing their tendency to gravitate toward those with similar characteristics. In this framework, souls are naturally drawn toward what they resemble, whether in others or in the Divine attributes. Each of God’s Names embodies a specific quality or meaning, and when a particular quality dominates an individual soul, it forms a profound connection with that Name.[^6] This interplay between the soul’s attributes and the Divine Names highlights the deeply personal and transformative relationship between human nature and God’s qualities, as expressed in the *basmala*. The Names of God in the *basmala* are profoundly intentional, serving as a compass that shapes our worldview, directs our thoughts, illuminates our spiritual path, and sustains our hope. The Name Allah reassures us of His ultimate Guardianship (*wilāya*): “Allah is the Protector of those who believe”;[^7] *al-Raḥmān* affirms His boundless love: “To those who believe and do righteous deeds, the Most Compassionate will bestow love”;[^8] and *al-Raḥīm* underscores His enduring Mercy: “And He is ever Merciful to the believers.”[^9]  By invoking these Names, we acknowledge not only God’s sovereignty but also His intimate involvement in our lives, imbuing our actions with meaning and aligning them with the sacred purpose of seeking His pleasure. When Prophet Nūḥ boarded the ark, he proclaimed: “In the Name of God, whether it moves or comes to rest,”[^10] and through this invocation, he ultimately attained salvation. Similarly, Prophet Sulaimān began his letter to the Queen of Sheba with the words, “It is from Solomon, and it is in the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,”[^11] affirming his authority and securing dominion in both this world and the hereafter. Allah bestows His grace, *al-Raḥmān* pardons the faults of His close servants, and *al-Raḥīm* overlooks their shortcomings. How, then, can anyone who steadfastly adheres to the *basmala—*beginning each action with sincere reliance upon God—be denied His divine care and guidance? --- ## Notes [^1]: Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, *Shuʿab al-īmān*, ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Ḥāmid, 4 vols. (Maktabat al-Rushd li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2003), 4:44, report no. 2155. [^2]: Qur’an 96:1. [^3]: Qur’an 35:32. [^4]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 32 vols. (Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 1:177. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3496. [^6]: Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:162. [^7]: Qur’an 2:257. [^8]: Qur’an 19:96. [^9]: Qur’an 31:43; al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1:177. [^10]: Qur’an 11:41. [^11]: Qur’an 27:30. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/is-voting-haram-the-islamic-ruling-on-elections # Is Voting Haram? The Islamic Ruling on Elections | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Islamophobia, Jurisprudence (fiqh), Politics & Practical Theology, Sharia **Tags:** Justice in Islam, Unpacking the Effects of Islamophobia **Published:** November 5, 2024 With elections nearing in the United States, individuals in the Muslim community are offering their views on who to vote for or whether we should vote at all. Given the backdrop of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the US’s direct role therein, the stakes seem particularly high, and Muslims are contentiously discussing—at a very fundamental level—what it means to build power and craft an appropriate political strategy. Undoubtedly, strengthening Muslim influence hinges on acting in a coordinated fashion. However, there still remains much confusion within the community when it comes to basic rulings on political actions, like voting. Addressing this issue to the satisfaction of our communities is necessary for the effective mobilizing of mass participation in electoral politics. In this vein, this post seeks to deliver clarity to scrupulous Muslims on the status of voting in Islamic law and its potential consequences in the afterlife. --- ## The juristic ruling on voting in Islam Rulings on all subjects in Islam are dependent upon how they are characterized. In short, a scholar begins with conceptual categories that are found in classical Islamic scholarship and then attempts to map contemporary phenomena onto those categories. Ambiguity ensues when a novel matter does not match these received conceptual categories neatly, such as the difficulty in assessing modern commercial contracts which share elements of both rent and sale, two distinct categories in Islamic commercial law. In this case, voting is no different, having been likened to several categories, such as legal testimony (*shahāda*), recommendation (*tazkiyya*), allegiance (*bayʿa*), proxy (*wakāla*), and consultation (*shūra*).[^1] A useful roundup of various scholarly treatments on voting has been written by Dr. Fahad Saleh al-Ajlan, a professor in the Department of Islamic Studies at the College of Education at King Saud University, titled *al-Intikhābāt wa aḥkāmuhā fī al-fiqh al-Islamī*  (Elections and Their Rulings in Islamic Jurisprudence).[^2] Dr. al-Ajlan clarifies that there is no disagreement on the permissibility of voting if it is restricted to *ahl al-ḥal wa al-ʿaqd* (those qualified to elect or depose a caliph on behalf of the Muslim community, such as scholars), as was done by ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb to appoint his successor as caliph. In such a scenario, a focus group of highly eminent and qualified individuals are given equal votes and a simple majority determines the outcome. Where the scholars differ, according to Dr. al-Ajlan, is in two matters: (1) Are general elections valid as a tool of proper Islamic governance? and (2) If we happen to live in a society that is not governed by the Shariah, is it permissible to vote in general elections if our intention is purely to reduce harm and improve the situation of Muslims? In this piece, we focus on Dr. al-Ajlan’s treatment of the second question. In this regard, scholars fall into two camps. The first camp—represented by Sh. Salah al-Sawi, Sh. ʿUmar al-Ashqar, Sh. Ali al-Ghamidi, Sh. Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz, Sh. Muhammad b. ʿUthaymin, and Sh. Muhammad Abu Zahra—holds that participation in  elections for non-Islamic governance is permissible if the intent of voters thereby is to apply Islamic norms as much as possible and change the current system for the better.[^3] Their evidence is that in this context: 1. Voting will likely bring about benefits and avert harm. 2. Voting can potentially bring the system closer in line with Islamic norms, whereas abstaining will keep the system further from Islamic norms. 3. Voting fulfills the duty to reform according to one’s ability. 4. Voting can spread awareness about Islam and protect the rights of Muslims. 5. Voting is the lesser of two evils; having some influence on the political system is better than retreating and having no influence. 6. Gradual change is more pragmatic than abrupt, revolutionary change. Opposing this camp is a group, including Abd al-Ghani al-Rihal, Abd al-Munʾim Halima, Sami al-Dalal, and Muhammad Mufti, who hold that participation in such elections is impermissible, even with the ‘proper’ intention. Their arguments can be summarized as follows: 1. Voting is like an oath of allegiance, indicating approval of the non-Islamic system and perpetuating it. 2. Muslim participation in elections is touted and exploited to legitimize the system. They are tokenized and used as representation, while afforded very little real or meaningful power. 3. Implementing Allah’s rules is an issue of *ʿaqīda* (creed), and  gradualistic approaches are not permitted in *ʿaqīda* issues. 4. A political system based in *kufr* (disbelief) cannot be reformed. 5. Participating in elections alongside secularists demonstrates insufficient “disavowal” (*barāʾ*), an important practice of *ʿaqīda.* 6. Such participation is a waste of time and effort with no real benefits gained. --- ## Reflections The key difference between the two opinions here is that the first camp primarily characterizes voting as a tool and thus an issue of *fiqh* (Islamic law)*,* whereas the second primarily characterizes voting as an expression of approval or allegiance and thus an issue of *ʿaqīda*. This difference of characterization is crucial and determines upon whom the burden of proof lies to necessitate a following. Though one often hears definitive statements like “the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions did not do it, so it is haram,” this sentiment can only be applicable for *ʿaqīda* issues and issues of ritual worship, as opposed to interpersonal transactions (*muʿāmalāt)*, administration (*idāra*), or even politics (*siyāsa*). To say that voting is haram (religiously forbidden) because the Prophet and his Companions didn’t do it assumes that voting is an issue of *ʿaqīda*. Now, for voting to be classified as an issue of *ʿaqīda*, it must necessarily indicate approval of a system that grants undue sovereignty and legislative power—a dubious conclusion to arrive at for several reasons. Granted, if someone goes to the polls believing that man-made laws are better than Allah’s legislation, or that the system they are participating in is more just than the system introduced by the Prophet, this is certainly an act of *kufr* and outside the scope of the scholarly disagreement. However, most people, including most non-Muslims, don’t approach voting with these beliefs or intentions. Many even vote reluctantly, out of a sense of civic duty or in an attempt to lessen harm and avoid falling into the category of those who lose their societal right to complain due to their civic disengagement. Moreover, if all participation in a non-Islamic form of governance were tantamount to *kufr*, regardless of one’s intention, it would contradict well known examples to the contrary that are found in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah. For example, in the Qur’an Allah describes a believer in Pharaoh’s court.[^4] Certainly, Pharaoh’s administration was diametrically opposed to *tawḥīd*, yet this believer’s participation within Pharaoh’s court is not described as blameworthy whatsoever. Another example from within the context of the Shariah would be the Negus of Abyssinia who secretly converted to Islam but continued to rule his non-Muslim subjects, presumably according to laws other than what Allah sent down.[^5] If ruling by other than what Allah sent down was tantamount to *kufr* in all cases, the Prophet would not have instructed the Muslims to pray over the Negus upon his death. Despite this, juristic inference (*istidlāl*) is often employed by those opposed to voting and is taken from the seemingly clear-cut verses below: In Surah al-Māida, Allah says, > And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed—then it is those who are the disbelievers.[^6] In Surah al-Nisāʾ, He also asks, > Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, \[O Muhammad\], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to *ṭāghūt* (false gods), while they were commanded to reject it; and Satan wishes to lead them far astray.[^7] In some instances, the following verse from Surah al-Anʿām is also used, > The decision (*al-ḥukm*) is only for Allah.[^8] From these verses, it is understood that Allah establishes His monopoly over legitimate legislation and that this characteristic is essential to Allah. As a result, whoever is attempting to allow human beings to legislate without authority from Allah is held to be not only sinful, but also as profaning Allah’s very *tawḥīd* (divine unicity) and potentially nullifying their faith, removing them from the fold of Islam. However, such conclusions present several problematic issues because, although the verses appear general and broad in application, they are in reality specified by both scripture and reason. First, the verses cannot possibly mean that all examples of ruling by other than Allah’s law are *kufr*. This is because, in addition to the example of the Negus mentioned earlier, if these verses did in fact carry their general, apparent meaning, then a corrupt judge (*qāḍī*) who accepts bribes and issues verdicts contrary to the truth would, in fact, be guilty of *kufr*—a conclusion not held by any of the scholars of *fiqh*. In reality, these verses were understood by the early Muslim generations (*salaf*) and the scholars to be more specific than they appear. For example, Ibn ʿAbbās stated that whoever disputes what Allah has revealed has committed *kufr*, but whoever affirms it yet fails to implement it is guilty of oppression and disobedience. ʿAṭāʾ stated that the *kufr* referenced in the aforementioned verse (Qur’an 5:44) is not the same as what is typically referred to as *kufr* (*kufr dūn al-kufr*).[^9] Ṭāwūs stated that the *kufr* mentioned here is not the type of *kufr* that removes one from the fold of Islam.[^10] Al-Qurṭubī also said that the same verse was revealed about the disbelievers and applies only to them, rather than the believers.[^11] Regarding the verse in Surah al-Nisāʾ, it is known to have been revealed in the context of someone who had the ability to take his case to the Prophet, but instead chose to take it to someone else—a situation far from analogous to Muslim minorities voting within a non-Muslim political system not of their choosing and with no alternative, accessible form of Islamic governance in place.[^12] In fact, both the verse in Surah al-Māida and the verse in Surah al-Nisāʾ are more aptly applied to situations where someone fails to rule by Islamic norms despite having the authority or opportunity to do so, not situations where there is no choice but the non-Islamic alternative. Second, the aforementioned verses do not imply that any rule not found in the Shariah necessarily equates to a ruling by something other than what Allah revealed. If they did, they would implicate even the Companions, who continued to extend the Shariah to novel situations and circumstances, or their successors who developed institutions and administrative regulations to facilitate their worldly and religious matters. Modern applications of this include school boards, municipal elections, and departments of transportation, where rules are made that are neither found in nor necessarily contradict the Shariah. Third, participation in a system does not necessarily indicate perpetuating it. In fact, quite the contrary, similarly to how Karl Marx understood capitalism as a necessary historical stage that would create the conditions for the forthcoming socialist revolution, participation can be a powerful tool to change a system. Moreover, systems that are coercive in nature go on with or without popular participation.[^13] Believing that withholding participation in elections will accelerate the fall of democracy almost takes Locke’s theory of social contract literally—that governments only have power because we allow them to. Instead, we must realize that he and others like him merely provided a legitimizing discourse for the nascent liberal nation-states. The concept of a social contract, where people agree to accept government authority, is likely better reflected in the *bayʿa* given to the righteous Caliphs than in modern nation-states, which were established almost exclusively through violence. Since even today’s democracies are established by unilateral force, the idea of withdrawing support to weaken them makes little sense. Realistically, if everyone stayed home and refused to vote, would governments acknowledge their illegitimacy and disband or would they find an excuse to continue ruling? History suggests the latter. One could argue that withdrawing support would at least crack the facade of popular consent covering up the unilateral coercion lying beneath, but that is a debate of political strategy, not *fiqh* or *ʿaqīda*. All this is to say that since voting does not seem to be inherently an act of worship, devotion, or creed, it would appear that the default ruling on voting is permissibility. Consequently, there is no need for a precedent among the *salaf* (although one could argue that there is)[^14] and the burden of proof lies on those opposed to voting in a non-Islamic form of governance to demonstrate that it is, in fact, impermissible. In the conclusion of the relevant chapter in Dr. al-Ajlan’s work, he provides his own significant reflection: the aforementioned discussion deals with voting in elections within a *Muslim-majority* society that is not governed by Islamic law, so what about a Muslim minority participating in general elections in a mostly *non-Muslim* society? He opines that participating in such elections would have *greater benefit* and *less harm* than if it were in a Muslim-majority society because there is no risk of giving legitimacy to or expressing approval of a system of government that is against the Shariah.[^15] In fact, he says explicitly that in such a situation “Muslims’ participation does not strengthen their *kufr*.”[^16] --- ## The role of electoral politics Electoral politics is merely one avenue for political change. A mature political disposition eschews treating electoral candidates as saviors and realizes that voting in elections is but one tool among many. Attention to electoral politics should never make people blind to other forms of political engagement that attract less attention, nor should the competitive and personal nature of elections lead people to lose sight of the overarching objectives, causing them to over-affiliate with a personality or a political tribe and give them undue loyalty and impunity. Doing so is disempowering and conceals the ways in which voting as a tool can be used for other purposes, such as drawing attention to and abandoning an elected official or party on account of their poor political behavior. Electoral politics deserves our attention. The last year has shown us that elected officials are positioned to craft deadly policy and marshal the resources to implement it. Going forward, Muslims in the West should dedicate sufficient intellectual and financial resources to grassroots efforts that will steer electoral politics in ways favorable to our *ummah*, including and perhaps beginning with, the end of the genocide in Gaza. --- ## Notes [^1]: Fahad b. Ṣālīḥ b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-ʿAjlān, *al-Intikhābāt wa aḥkāmuhā fī al-fiqh al-Islamī* (Markaz al-Bayān li-l-Buḥūth wa al-Dirāsāt, 1436/2015), 42–58. [^2]: Al-ʿAjlān, *al-Intikhābāt*, 94–104. [^3]: Al-ʿAjlān, *al-Intikhābāt*, 94. [^4]: Qur’an 40:28. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1320; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1774a. [^6]: Qur’an 5:44. [^7]: Qur’an 4:60. [^8]: Qur’an 6:57. [^9]: The word *kufr* has multiple usages in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Sometimes it is used to refer to actions that take one out of the fold of Islam. At other times, it is used to refer to major sins as a strong warning against them, for example in the hadith, “killing a Muslim is *kufr*.” As per the explanation of Ibn *ʿ*Abbās, this verse is using the word *kufr* in the second meaning, not the first. [^10]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsir Ibn Kathīr* (Dar Ibn Ḥazm, 2000), 622. [^11]: Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān* (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2006), 7:497. [^12]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, 502. [^13]: See the last paragraph of Chapter 1 of The Communist Manifesto, [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm%23007&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1730740598907105&usg=AOvVaw3eLYN-VD0STjZElpEkauYm). [^14]: Abd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf is reported to have asked the people of Medina their opinion on whether he should cast his tie-breaking vote for ʿAlī or ʿUthmān. *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7207. [^15]: Al-ʿAjlān, *al-Intikhāb**ā**t*, 103. [^16]: Al-ʿAjlān, *al-Intikhāb**ā**t*, 104. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/just-how-much-does-gaza-matter-to-american-muslim-voters # Just How Much Does Gaza Matter to American Muslim Voters? | Blog **Authors:** Dr. Youssef Chouhoud, Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Islamophobia, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Justice in Islam, Unpacking the Effects of Islamophobia **Published:** October 31, 2024 For over a year, American Muslims have witnessed scenes of carnage broadcast from Gaza on a near-daily basis. At the same time, they have observed scenes of incredible patience and steadfastness from the Palestinians. Bearing witness to such faith-based resilience, while enduring persistent mental anguish at the inability to stop the violence which caused it, cannot help but force a realignment of priorities. In turn, this has led to observed increases in American Muslim religiosity,[^1] as well as momentous changes in political attitudes and preferences.[^2] This current moment is not the first time that American Muslims have shifted their policy focus. Although foreign affairs were of paramount concern for the community in the years after 9/11 during the George W. Bush administration, American Muslims have placed a greater emphasis on domestic policies in recent years, especially after Trump took office. By 2016, some polls found that the economy and civil rights at home had become the top concerns for American Muslim voters.[^3] --- ## Recent trends in American Muslim politics As late as summer 2023, all indications suggested that domestic issues were likely going to remain the top priority for the Muslim community going into the 2024 election. Many of the headlines featuring American Muslims around that time highlighted scenes of protest, much as they do today, but the contexts were dramatically different. As the 2023-2024 school year was set to begin, Muslim parents across the country, from Maryland to Minnesota to Michigan, voiced their objection to LGBTQ curricular content that they deemed inappropriate for their children.[^4] Had the centering of LGBTQ issues that spotlighted Muslims’ socially conservative beliefs continued, it would have likely resulted in the largest vote share for the Republican presidential candidate from the American Muslim community since the 2000 election. Already in 2020, around 30% of Muslims cast a ballot for Donald Trump,[^5] and there was every reason to believe that this tally would grow in line with prevailing trends among other minority groups.[^6] Fast forward to 2024 and the genocide in Gaza has upended the expected political trajectory of American Muslims. This community now appears to prioritize opposition to funding Israeli war crimes over all other issues. The majority of American Muslims surveyed do not perceive either major political party candidate favorably and do not consider either the least bit sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. In his June debate with Biden, Trump said, “Actually, Israel is the one (that wants to keep going), and you should let them go and let them finish the job. He (Biden) doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one.”[^7] Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has similarly repeated AIPAC talking points. At the Democratic National Convention in August, she said, “Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”[^8] Thus, despite American  Muslims’ support for socially conservative initiatives at home, polling data suggests that they do not plan to vote for Donald Trump this year to the same degree as in 2020, let alone the possibility of exceeding it.[^9] Similarly, support for the Democratic candidate is dramatically down relative to prior years.[^10] That the genocide in Gaza matters a great deal for American Muslim voters is a clear given. Just how much it matters—and, in particular, how much it matters relative to other issues—is less clear based on public opinion polls to date. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) published survey findings at the start of the year showing that nearly two-thirds of American Muslims would increase support for a candidate that called for a ceasefire in Gaza.[^11] This figure was even higher in a more recent ISPU study focused on swing states, which also reported that the “War in Gaza” was the top issue for Muslim voters this November.[^12] --- ## What matters to Muslim voters? To better understand where Palestine fits into American Muslim priorities, we polled American Muslims on their policy priorities as part of the recently-fielded 2024 edition of the Muslim American Attitudes Survey (MAAS). Specifically, we asked respondents, “How important are the following political issues to you personally?”  Here was the randomized list of items provided: - Healthcare access - Foreign policy (outside the Middle East) - Foreign policy (within the Middle East) - LGBTQ legislation - Abortion legislation - Immigration policy - Climate change policy Respondents were able to indicate whether they felt an issue was “not at all important,” “slightly important,” “somewhat important,” or “very important.” Figure 1 displays the resulting issue priorities gleaned from this question. Ordered by the percentage of Muslims that felt the issue was “very important,” foreign policy within the Middle East (90%) takes the top spot. However, the second place slot—and its near parity with the number one issue—was somewhat unexpected. A large majority of American Muslims (79%) place great emphasis on healthcare access, a topic rarely discussed in our communities. Around half the sample regarded foreign policy outside the Middle East, immigration policy, and climate change policy as very important (58%, 53%, and 50%, respectively), while around one-third felt that way about abortion legislation (31%), with the lowest percentage of respondents (23%) prioritizing LGBTQ legislation. ![Figure 1. Political Issue Priorities](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image4-1024x739.png) *Figure 1: Political Issue Priorities* While the rank order of issues offers an important perspective, the discourse in the lead-up to the election has not only centered on whether Muslim voters would prioritize Gaza, but also whether they would do so to the extent that it effectively becomes the *only* issue driving their decision in November. Figure 2 offers some insight into this matter. ![Figure 2. Policy Position Non-Negotiables](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image1-1024x739.png) *Figure 2: Policy Position Non-Negotiables* For respondents who stated that a given issue from the list above was “very important” to them, a follow-up question asked them whether any of those issues were “SO important that a candidate MUST hold the same position as you or else you WILL NOT vote for them?” Generally, between 35-50% of respondents regarded issues that were highly important to them as non-negotiable. The one clear exception is foreign policy in the Middle East, with nearly 9-in-10 American Muslims (86.2%) saying that a candidate must hold the same position as them in order to earn their vote. --- ## What influences Muslim voters? While these figures are informative, they still leave us with two core questions: 1) How would American Muslims choose between candidates when the crisis in Gaza is just one of several considerations?; and 2) To what extent do a candidate’s policy stances towards Israel factor into these voters’ calculations? To partially plug these gaps in our knowledge, we embedded an experimental component within the MAAS. Specifically, we ran a conjoint experiment (n=1183), commonly used in marketing to assess the relative importance of a particular component (say, price or some technical feature) for a consumer’s willingness to purchase an item. In this instance, we assessed the voters’ willingness to cast a ballot between two hypothetical congressional candidates while varying the following components: **Candidate race/ethnicity:** White, Middle Eastern, Black **Candidate political party:** Democrat, Republican **Candidate religion:** Atheist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim **Policy: Ban LGBTQ material in K-12 education:** Opposes ban, Supports ban **Policy: Level of climate action needed:** No action, Moderate action, Aggressive action **Policy: US aid to Israel:** Maintain aid, Condition aid, Freeze aid Figure 3 is an example of how these factors were presented to the survey’s respondents: ![Figure 3. Example of conjoint experiment as presented to respondents](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image2-1024x908.png) *Figure 3: Example of conjoint experiment as presented to respondents* The goal with this approach is to mimic the decisions that voters could potentially face and isolate the effect of any one trait or component in driving their ultimate choice. This experimental assessment also gets us closer to revealed preferences (what people would *actually* do in a real world scenario) rather than stated preferences (what people merely *say* they would do). Another notable advantage of conjoint analysis is that it allows researchers to test the impact of multiple variables by having each respondent make several choices between two options (in our case, each respondent chose between two candidates six times). Figure 4 presents the results of the conjoint experiment and highlights one more benefit to this method: clear interpretability. The point estimates denote the change in probability of a given respondent choosing a candidate with that component (whether a personal trait or policy position) relative to a reference component (which are zeroed out in the plot for clarity). The reference for demographics is White for race, Democrat for political party, and Atheist for religion. The reference for policies is that the candidate opposes banning LGBTQ content in schools, takes no action regarding climate change, and maintains aid to Israel. ![Figure 4. Results of the Conjoint Analysis](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image3-1024x801.png) *Figure 4: Results of the Conjoint Analysis* Our first key finding is that demographic traits, by and large, do not significantly move the needle when it comes to American Muslim votes. Respondents were only slightly more likely to pick a candidate who was Middle Eastern (2.5%) or Black (3.7%) relative to one that was White. Similarly, while Atheists had a slight disadvantage relative to Christians (4.5%) and Jews (3.9%), it was only with Muslim candidates that respondents evidenced a meaningfully higher likelihood to choose them (13.5%), all else being equal. Surprisingly, this trend of near parity held even when it came to party affiliation. Republican candidates were only at a slight disadvantage (3.2%) relative to Democrats. However, on the policy front, there was considerably more variation. For example, the issue of curricular content clearly still matters for Muslim voters. Respondents were 12% more likely to vote for someone who supports banning LGBTQ material in K-12 education relative to someone who opposes such a ban. The issue of climate change had a somewhat more muted, though still noticeable, impact on vote choice. Relative to a candidate that does not believe any action needs to be taken to address climate change, a candidate who believes that moderate action is required is 6.9% more likely to be chosen and one who advocates for aggressive action has a nearly 10% edge (9.4%, to be precise). Then, there is the issue of aid to Israel. The results in Figure 4 offer the clearest indication that the genocide in Gaza is the primary consideration when American Muslims cast a ballot. But, just how much does this issue matter? A candidate who wishes to maintain the current aid regime suffers a *severe* penalty, all else being equal. Relative to someone who supports the status quo, American Muslim voters are 30% more likely to cast a ballot for candidates who wish to condition aid to Israel, while those pushing to freeze aid altogether are a whopping 55% more likely to earn the community’s vote. In one respect, the evidence presented in this post confirms the obvious—Gaza matters a lot to American Muslims and will likely drive their vote choice to a considerable degree this November. What these data highlight is just how much foreign policy in the Middle East, especially Gaza, matters above and beyond all other issues. Moreover, given the magnitude of our results, coupled with the findings of our earlier survey highlighting voter intentions, it is clear that a candidate’s foreign policy will weigh heavily on the voting behavior of the American Muslim community—not just this cycle, but likely for the foreseeable future. When push comes to shove, American Muslims vote with the  *ummah* in mind. --- ## Notes [^1]: Osman Umarji, “Gaza’s Rise: Inspiring the Muslim Ummah’s Collective Consciousness and Religiosity,” *Yaqeen*, January 12, 2024, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/gazas-rise-inspiring-the-muslim-ummahs-collective-consciousness-and-religiosity. [^2]: Ibrahim Hooper, “CAIR Swing State Data Shows Muslim Voters Hold Diverse Preferences, Still Up for Grabs in 2024,” CAIR, September 9, 2024, https://www.cair.com/press\_releases/cair-swing-state-data-shows-muslim-voters-hold-diverse-preferences-still-up-for-grabs-in-2024/; Dalia Mogahed, “Exclusive Preview: Winning Muslim Votes: A Policy Priority Analysis in Swing States,” ISPU, July 31, 2024, https://ispu.org/winning-muslim-votes-key-findings/. [^3]: Dalia Mogahed and Fouad Pervez, “American Muslim Poll: Participation, Priorities, and Facing Prejudice in the 2016 Elections,” ISPU, March 2016, https://www.ispu.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/poll2016-1.pdf. [^4]: Nicole Asbury and Katie Shepherd, “Hundreds of Md. parents protest lessons they say offend their faiths,” *Washington Post*, June 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/06/27/muslim-orthodox-lgbtq-books-mcps/; Becky Z. Dernbach, “Muslim parents keep kids home from Ham Lake charter school over LGBTQ picture books,” *Sahan Journal*, October 6, 2023, https://sahanjournal.com/education/davinci-academy-muslim-parents-ham-lake-lgbtq-books/; Jack Dutton, “Dearborn School Board Chaos as Muslim Parents Clash With LGBTQ+ Speakers,” *Newsweek*, October 14, 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/muslim-parents-clash-lgbtq-speakers-michigan-school-board-meeting-1751966. [^5]: “AP VoteCast 2020,” AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, May 2021, https://apnorc.org/projects/ap-votecast-2020-general-elections/. [^6]: Jeffrey M. Jones and Lydia Saad, “Democrats Lose Ground With Black and Hispanic Adults,” Gallup, February 7, 2024, https://news.gallup.com/poll/609776/democrats-lose-ground-black-hispanic-adults.aspx. [^7]: Kanishka Singh, “Trump criticized for ‘Palestinian’ insult in debate with Biden,” *Reuters*, June 28, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-criticized-palestinian-insult-debate-with-biden-2024-06-28/. [^8]: Jaclyn Diaz, “Harris says Israel ‘has right to defend itself,’ Palestinians need ‘dignity, security’,” *NPR*, August 23, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/08/23/g-s1-19232/kamala-harris-israel-gaza-dnc. [^9]: Osman Umarji and Youssef Chouhoud, “American Muslims and the 2024 Election: Why American Muslims Are Rethinking Political Alliances,” *Yaqeen*, October 16, 2024, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/american-muslims-and-the-2024-election-why-american-muslims-are-rethinking-political-alliances. [^10]: Ibid. [^11]: Erum Ikramullah, “Americans More Likely to Increase than Decrease Their Support if Candidate Favors Ceasefire,” ISPU, March 5, 2024, https://ispu.org/ceasefire-poll-2/. [^12]: Dalia Mogahed, “Winning Muslim Votes: A Policy Priority Analysis in Swing States,” ISPU, September 17, 2024, https://ispu.org/winning-muslim-votes-1/. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/american-muslims-and-the-2024-election-why-american-muslims-are-rethinking-political-alliances # American Muslims and the 2024 Election: Why American Muslims Are Rethinking Political Alliances | Blog **Authors:** Dr. Osman Umarji, Dr. Youssef Chouhoud **Topics:** Islamophobia, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Justice in Islam, Unpacking the Effects of Islamophobia **Published:** October 4, 2024 **Updated:** December 30, 2025 *Yaqeen is a 501(c)(3) organization and under IRS guidelines cannot—and does not—endorse any candidate for office. No statement herein may be construed as such. The views expressed in this post are those of the authors alone.* For Muslims, solidarity with Palestine and the Muslim world is an overarching Islamic and ethical imperative. This imperative has influenced American Muslim politics for decades. It may be difficult to imagine now, but in the 2000 presidential election, an estimated 40-70% of American Muslims voted for the Republican nominee, George W. Bush, who narrowly defeated Al Gore.[^1] Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, were seen as better for Muslims on domestic and foreign policy than Gore and Lieberman, including their stances on Palestine. Many Muslims celebrated Bush’s win, with some claiming credit for tipping the scale in his favor in the decisive state of Florida, where the margin of victory was a mere 537 votes (.009%).[^2] Perceived triumph quickly turned into a nightmare when just weeks after the events of 9/11, Bush and the Republican party signed the Patriot Act into law.[^3] It permitted the government to spy on ordinary Americans by monitoring phone calls, emails, bank and credit records, and track internet activity without reason.[^4] The heightened surveillance laws targeted Muslims, suppressing their civil liberties and right to due process. These dangerous domestic policies were coupled with a disastrous foreign policy. Iraq and Afghanistan were invaded, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims were murdered as a direct result. In the 2004 election, the American Muslim community abandoned the Republican Party en masse. Though he didn’t ultimately beat Bush, John Kerry became the first in a long line of Democratic politicians to enjoy widespread Muslim support. The longer the Bush administration waged war on Muslims at home and abroad, the friendlier to Muslim interests the Democrats appeared to be.[^5] The community wedded itself to the Democratic party for the ensuing decades, with estimates of 80-92% voting for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.[^6] To demonstrate how strong the emotional attachment to the Democratic party became, we can look at how differently Muslims perceived both Bush’s and Obama’s efforts to combat terrorism. In a 2007 Pew poll, during Bush’s second term, 26% of Muslims viewed the “U.S-led war on terrorism” as sincere, while 55% said it was insincere. Fast forward four years later to 2011, when Obama was president, and 43% of Muslims said that U.S. efforts to combat terrorism were sincere while 41% said they were not.[^7] Most Americans were unaware of the extent to which the Obama administration engaged in wars and covert drone attacks across multiple countries, in many ways exceeding the Bush administration’s own militarism.[^8] Then, in the 2016 and 2020 elections, between 65-80% of Muslims voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden,[^9] fearing Trump’s proposal at the time to ban immigration from many Muslim-majority countries.[^10] Thus, for the past two decades, American Muslims have consistently supported the Democratic party due to perceptions that the Democrats have Muslim interests closer to heart. In recent years, however, some Muslims have grown disenchanted with this political alliance due to a perceived incongruence between liberal and Islamic values, particularly concerning gender and sexuality. LGBTQ issues have become a major political touchstone for some Muslims, who are especially worried about the effects on their children of being exposed to material they deem objectionable. By May 2023, American Muslim leadership had recognized the gravity of the LGBTQ issue and clarified the normative Islam position on gender and sexuality in the widely circulated “Navigating Differences” document.[^11] Nonetheless, disagreements over social values, including LGBTQ matters, were not enough to sever the relationship between Muslims and Democrats in 2023. As the 2024 presidential election nears, many are wondering where American Muslims stand politically. As is the case with many other political domains, one needs to be wary of questionable sources of information. For example, the NY Post, a right-wing media outlet, claimed that nearly a third of Muslims plan to vote for Trump in the upcoming election, based on a dubious survey commissioned by the unknown Muslim American Leadership Alliance.[^12] Obtaining accurate representative data on Muslim Americans has been incredibly difficult, and the results of any given poll will likely reflect only a particular segment of the community. We surveyed American Muslims between August 27th and September 8th to better understand how they think and behave politically.[^13] Our sample of 1,223 American Muslims is likely not representative of the national Muslim population, but does reflect the beliefs and behaviors of a segment of our community that is religious and college-educated.[^14] What did we find? > **We found that genocide is a red line for American Muslims, and we are currently witnessing a monumental shift away from the Democratic party, remarkably similar to how Muslim voters abandoned the Republican party in 2004. However, a fundamental difference is that rather than jump back on the Republican bandwagon, the community seems to be abandoning both parties.** Over the past year, the American Muslim community has adopted the view that it is not only the Biden administration, but rather politicians on both sides, that fully support and endorse the genocide being perpetrated in Palestine. Joe Biden has been one of the most pro-Israeli presidents in American history, and his support of the genocide in Palestine is a clear red line for the Muslim community. Foreign policy in the Middle East was the single most important issue to our sample, with 90.5% reporting it was “very important” to them personally. Of those who considered this issue “very important,” 86% said they would not vote for a candidate who did not hold the same position as them on the matter. Thus, the overwhelming majority of our sample of American Muslims have made Palestine the singular issue that determines their vote. As the U.S.-funded genocide of Palestinians has bipartisan support, American Muslims have considerably negative views of both the Democratic and Republican candidates for president. Donald Trump was rated unfavorable by 89% of respondents in our survey. Kamala Harris was rated unfavorable by 74%, with only 15% viewing her favorably.[^15] Although Black Muslims viewed her more favorably than other racial groups, they still held her in low regard, with an average favorability of 2.5 on a 5-point scale (between “somewhat unfavorable” and “neither favorable/unfavorable). ![Favorability of Democratic and Republican Candidates](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Favorability-of-Democratic-and-Republican-Candidates-1-1024x532.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Candidate-favorability-by-voter-race-1024x592.png) The low favorability of these candidates is reflected in 2024 presidential voting intentions. In our sample, 69.3% reported voting for Joe Biden in 2020.[^16] However, only 6% had intended to vote for Biden in the upcoming 2024 election prior to him dropping out. After Biden was replaced by Harris, 14% said they intended to vote for Harris if the election was held today. However, of those few who said they plan to vote for Harris, 56% are doing so to oppose Trump’s policies, whereas only 13% are doing so in support of Harris’ policies.[^17] Even Black Muslims, who have typically voted Democrat, are largely abandoning Harris, with less than a third (32%) planning on voting for her.[^18] Thus, although replacing Biden did increase the anticipated Muslim vote for the Democratic candidate, the data shows the drop off in support remains precipitous and demonstrates just how rapidly American Muslims have abandoned the Democratic party. Given that 60% of Muslims approved of how Biden was handling his presidency as recently as 2022, the single greatest factor for American Muslims abandoning the party seems to be the Democratic administration’s support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.[^19] Notably, however, Muslims are not jumping back onto the Republican bandwagon. Only 4% of our respondents planned on voting for Trump.[^20] American Muslims are instead abandoning both traditional parties. The majority (53%) plan to vote for a third-party candidate, such as Jill Stein, Cornel West, or Chase Oliver. Many American Muslims seem aware that their vote may increase the odds of a Trump presidency. By stating their intention to vote for a third-party anti-genocide candidate or abstaining from voting altogether, they appear willing to endure the short-term consequences of a Republican administration considered hostile to Muslims. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/If-the-2024-presidential-election-were-held-today-who-would-you-vote-for-1024x550.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2020-voting-and-2024-voting-intentions-by-party-or-candidate-1024x721.png) Although Gaza has been the red line for American Muslims, their frustration and disillusionment with both parties is not limited to Palestine. We asked our respondents whether they perceived the Democratic or Republican party to be more effective on seven issues. The plurality of American Muslims believed that neither party would be more effective than the other on six of the seven issues we probed, with the only exception being climate change. Thus, from ending the genocide, combating Islamophobia, building a strong economy, immigration, reducing crime, and protecting religious freedoms, American Muslims believe neither of the major parties is very effective on domestic or foreign affairs. ![Perceived effectiveness of the Democratic vs Republican Party](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Perceived-effectiveness-of-the-Democratic-vs-Republican-Party-1-1024x756.png) Many American Muslims have come to the same conclusion that Malcolm X did in 1964 - the Democratic and Republican politicians are insincere and make promises they don’t intend to keep. Malcolm X warned against being politically naive and loyal to parties that do not fight for our causes. “So today our people are disillusioned,” he said. “They’ve become disenchanted. They’ve become dissatisfied. And in their frustrations, they want action.”[^21] His words appear to reflect the sentiments of American Muslims in 2024 as they search for a new strategy and course of action. American Muslims are behaving *ummatically*, acting on the Islamic imperative to stand for justice and with the oppressed. The heartbeat of American Muslims appears to be the cause of Palestine. --- ## Appendix ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Presidential-candidate-favorability-1024x565.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-voting-intentions-by-race-1024x538.png) --- ## Notes [^1]: James Zogby, “How Arab Americans Voted and Why,” James Zogby, December 15, 2000, [https://jameszogby.com/2000/how-arab-americansvoted-and-why](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jameszogby.com/2000/how-arab-americansvoted-and-why&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147644904&usg=AOvVaw2Vcql7Slr90sBJL6YPhYHz). [^2]: Luke Brinker, “Muslims Helped Elect George W. Bush. Now the GOP Front-Runner Wants to Ban Them,” Yahoo! News, December 19, 2015, [https://www.yahoo.com/news/muslims-helped-elect-george-w-213310754.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.yahoo.com/news/muslims-helped-elect-george-w-213310754.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147645464&usg=AOvVaw3Cbt5EikEE0Vj2dKOCBKb8). [^3]: The full name of the act was the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. [^4]: “Surveillance Under the Patriot Act,” ACLU, [https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-surveillance/surveillance-under-patriot-act](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-surveillance/surveillance-under-patriot-act&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147646028&usg=AOvVaw143w9yksHF49gJc1mbFPgg). [^5]: “Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism, Section 5: Political Opinions and Social Values,” Pew Research Center, August 30, 2011, [https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-5-political-opinions-and-social-values](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-5-political-opinions-and-social-values&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147646441&usg=AOvVaw1SelkUXtjJbjoW1r-JOL6i)/. [^6]: “Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation.” [^7]: “Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism, Section 6: Terrorism, Concerns about Extremism & Foreign Policy,” Pew Research Center, August 30, 2011, [https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-6-terrorism-concerns-about-extremism-foreign-policy/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/08/30/section-6-terrorism-concerns-about-extremism-foreign-policy/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147647094&usg=AOvVaw1nW4TqBZ6gA-jJg_EZX2A8). [^8]: Jessica Purkiss and Jack Serle, “Obama’s Covert Drone War in Numbers: Ten Times More Strikes than Bush,” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, January 17, 2017, [https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147647449&usg=AOvVaw1JQV63NjmzU1TdrrYaGu7p). [^9]: “U.S. Muslims Concerned About Their Place in Society, but Continue to Believe in the American Dream,” Pew Research Center, July 26, 2017, [https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/political-and-social-views/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/political-and-social-views/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147647880&usg=AOvVaw1soepgQWXeXVzRXhlKSUop); Ibrahim Hooper, “Breaking News: CAIR Exit Poll Shows American Muslims Vote in Record Numbers, 69% Voted for Biden,” CAIR, Novembe 3, 2020, [https://www.cair.com/press\_releases/breaking-news-cair-exit-poll-shows-american-muslims-vote-in-record-numbers-69-voted-for-biden/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/breaking-news-cair-exit-poll-shows-american-muslims-vote-in-record-numbers-69-voted-for-biden/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147648128&usg=AOvVaw1o_4_WX_RdYaHdS02pIpdt). [^10]: Brian Robert Calfano, Nazita Lajevardi, and Melissa R. Michelson, “Trumped Up Challenges: Limitations, Opportunities, and the Future of Political Research on Muslim Americans,” *Politics, Groups, and Identities* 7, no. 2 (2019): 477–87. [^11]: “Navigating Differences: Clarifying Sexual and Gender Ethics in Islam,” May 23, 2023, [https://navigatingdifferences.com/clarifying-sexual-and-gender-ethics-in-islam/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://navigatingdifferences.com/clarifying-sexual-and-gender-ethics-in-islam/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147649066&usg=AOvVaw2YuAqsA8W7UyEsCWTkGYtH). [^12]: Josh Christenson, “Nearly a Third of Muslim-American Voters Back Trump—Up 7 Points from 2020: Poll,” NY Post, September 6, 2024, [https://nypost.com/2024/09/06/us-news/nearly-a-third-of-muslim-american-voters-back-trump-up-7-points-from-2020-poll/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2024/09/06/us-news/nearly-a-third-of-muslim-american-voters-back-trump-up-7-points-from-2020-poll/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147649542&usg=AOvVaw0COY9zWEhq0P_94tDOq2GE). [^13]: The survey was sent to Yaqeen’s listserv of US emails and shared on WhatsApp on Muslim groups interested in politics. The sample is a non-probability convenience sample. [^14]: The sample was 58% female; 85% of respondents had a college degree; 79% reported praying five times a day. The race of respondents was 49.5% Asian, 18% Middle Eastern/North African, 13% Black, 12% White, 3% Hispanic, and 4% other. [^15]: See complete results in the Appendix. [^16]: A CAIR survey also found 69% of Muslim voters for Biden in the 2020 election. See [https://www.cair.com/press\_releases/breaking-news-cair-exit-poll-shows-american-muslims-vote-in-record-numbers-69-voted-for-biden/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/breaking-news-cair-exit-poll-shows-american-muslims-vote-in-record-numbers-69-voted-for-biden/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147650031&usg=AOvVaw37m9wKBHXr-bhryiUuGwtt). [^17]: We asked respondents who planned to vote for Trump, “Please indicate what is primarily driving your 2024 presidential vote choice. Is it entirely about your support for Trump’s policies, entirely about your opposition to Harris’s policies, or somewhere in between?” (Scale of 1 to 7). A similar question was asked to those who planned to vote for Harris. [^18]: See Appendix A for racial differences in voting intentions. [^19]: “American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Status Report,” ISPU, [https://ispu.org/public-policy/american-muslim-poll-2022/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ispu.org/public-policy/american-muslim-poll-2022/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147650421&usg=AOvVaw2SNkYaiQWEKGaCOrJ_ngp2). [^20]: To reiterate, our sample is likely not representative of the American Muslim population. Other surveys show that Muslims plan to vote for Trump at higher levels. [^21]: Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” speech at King Solomon Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan, April 12, 1964, [https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/mx.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/mx.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1728054147651145&usg=AOvVaw26DjKAhlUOcUPgt2eClmUS). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/five-tips-to-manage-your-anger-in-islam # Five Tips to Manage your Anger in Islam | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Tags:** Self-Improvement **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 Anger is a normal and often healthy emotion in response to problems or threats. When out of control though, anger becomes harmful, and can cause issues in our relationships and affect our well-being. For this reason, a number of Prophetic narrations emphasize control of our anger. Abu Hurayrah (rA) narrated that “a man said to the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Advise me.’ He said, ‘Do not get angry.’ He repeated his question several times and he said (each time) ‘Do not get angry.’” (*Sahih al-Bukhari,* no. 6166) Given that anger is a natural and unavoidable part of human nature, the command here should not be misunderstood as meaning that we must eliminate anger entirely. Indeed, some anger can even be considered [righteous anger](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/hadith-17-righteous-anger-40-hadiths-on-social-justice). Rather, our Prophet is commanding us to not let [our anger overcome](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-15-dont-let-your-anger-overcome-you-guidebook-to-god) us when it does arise. We will now turn to provide five actionable tips from the Prophetic tradition, along with one *du’a*, that can help with anger management and guide us all towards righteousness, *inshAllah*. --- ## Tip 1: Seek refuge with Allah from Satan The Prophet ﷺ said, “If a man gets angry and says, ‘I seek refuge with Allah,’ his anger will go away.” (*Saheeh al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer,* no. 695) This tip is also reflected in another narration: “Two men reviled each other in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. Then the eyes of one of them became red and his jugular veins swelled. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said ‘I know a phrase \[which\] if this \[man\] said \[it\], it would get rid of (the anger) he finds: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil…’” (*Sunan Abi Dawud,* no. 4781) These narrations are also in line with the verse, “If you are tempted by Satan, then seek refuge with Allah. Surely He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” (Qur’an 7:200). This clearly indicates that anger is indeed a form of temptation from Satan; keeping that in mind alone can help some with their anger. The first tip then, repeated in a Qur’anic verse and in more than one Prophetic narration, is to say: > أعوذُ باللهِ مِنَ الشيطانِ الرجيم > > *A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim* > > I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. --- ## Tip 2: Know when to walk away The Prophet ﷺ said, “If any of you becomes angry and he is standing, let him sit down so his anger will go away; if it does not, then let him lie down.” (*Sahih Ibn Hibban,* no. 5688) That is, when angry, change your physical state. If you are standing, sit down. If you are already sitting down, lie down. This helps reduce physical tension and provides a sudden awareness of the body and your breathing patterns. If that still does not work, or you are already lying down, walk away from the person or situation that is making you angry. The physical distance can help you to cool off and gain a clearer perspective. --- ##  Tip 3: Keep silent The Prophet ﷺ said, “If any of you becomes angry, let him keep silent.” (*Musnad Ahmad,* no. 2137) How many of us have said things in anger that we later regretted and had to apologize for? While feelings of anger are often inevitable, we can minimize their negative consequences by allowing our emotions to settle before speaking. Taking this pause helps prevent hasty remarks and their potential fallout. --- ## Tip No. 4: Make wudu The Messenger of Allah ﷺ  said, “Verily, anger comes from Satan, and Satan was created from fire. Fire is extinguished with water, so if you become angry, perform ablution with water.” (*Sunan Abi Dawud,* no. 4784) This hadith suggests that performing *wudu* (ablution) can help us cool down both physically and spiritually. An additional benefit is that we not only calm our emotions but also realign our focus from our immediate frustrations to the broader perspective of the afterlife, our ultimate goal as believers. --- ## Tip No. 5: Remember the reward for controlling anger Abu Darda (rA) narrated, “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, tell me about a deed that will admit me into Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Do not be angry and you will enter Paradise.’” (*al-Mu’jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani,* no. 2353) There are also narrations stating that managing your anger can protect you from punishment. Ibn Umar (rA) reported that “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever restrains his tongue, Allah Almighty will cover his faults. Whoever controls his anger, Allah Almighty will protect him from His punishment. Whoever apologizes to Allah Almighty, He will accept his apology.’” (*Ibn Abī Dunyā,* no. 21) That is, our ability to control our anger in this life has profound significance for our next life. Making managing our anger a constant habit could be the reason that Allah averts punishment from us, or decides to admit us to Paradise. --- ## A du’a to relieve anger In addition to the above tips, whenever you feel yourself on the verge of letting anger get the best of you, say the following [supplication](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DTvtA1FLVGbY&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1726510090949806&usg=AOvVaw3NkkQTaAR9Ll-Pv4v9s_wj). Umm Salamah (rA) narrated: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, will you not teach me a supplication with which I can pray for myself?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Say: Du’a to relieve anger اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي ذَنْبِي، وَأَذْهِبْ غَيْظَ قَلْبِي، وَأَعِذْنِي مِنْ مُضِلاتِ الْفِتَنِ مَا أَحْيَيْتَنَا .                 Allahumma-ghfir li dhanbii, wa adhhib ghayza qalbi, wa a'ithnii min mudillatil-fitn ma ahyaytana. O Allah, the Lord of Muhammad ﷺ, forgive my sins, remove the anger from my heart and protect me from the trials of misguidance as you long as you allow us to live. *Musnad Ahmad,* no. 26576 --- ## Conclusion If you, like many others, struggle to control your anger, know that you are not alone. Anger management requires a great deal of self-control. It is precisely because of the difficulty of controlling anger that “the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Who do you consider to be a fighter among you?’ We said, ‘One who men cannot wrestle down.’ The Prophet said, ‘It is not so. Rather, it is one who controls himself when angry.’” (*Sahih Muslim,* no. 2608) By applying the tips provided here, one can gradually make anger management into a habit. As anger management becomes a habit, it will become easier, and over time, you may find yourself consistently remaining calm and composed in the face of anger. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-become-a-hafiz-inspiration-to-memorize-quran-blog # How to Become a Hafiz: Inspiration to Memorize Qur’an | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Published:** September 10, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 Indeed the words of Allah are truth: > وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍۢ > > And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful? (Qur’an 54:40) Allah repeats the same verse four times in this *surah*. Allah reminds us over and over in the Qur’an, “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.” (Qur’an 2:185) Does this mean the journey to memorize the Qur’an will be easy for everyone? Absolutely not. The Qur’an is from Allah; it won’t reside in a heart preoccupied with the transient and distracting matters of this world. The Qur’an, the very speech of the Creator of the heavens and the earth, cannot be passively absorbed or memorized. > لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍۢ لَّرَأَيْتَهُۥ خَـٰشِعًۭا مُّتَصَدِّعًۭا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَتِلْكَ ٱلْأَمْثَـٰلُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ > > Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have certainly seen it humbled and torn apart in awe of Allah. We set forth such comparisons for people, \[so\] perhaps they may reflect. (Qur’an 59:21) But for the one who embarks on this journey with full commitment, determined to see it through, Allah will indeed make it easy. The Qur’an will flow from the tongue of the sincere one, made effortless by divine grace. The glory, the reward, the benefits of the one who memorizes the Qur’an far surpass the time and effort invested in *hifz*. To commit the Qur’an to memory is not just an act of *ibadah*, but a transformation of the heart and spirit, aligning one’s life with divine guidance and attaining the heights of spiritual fulfillment. --- ## Virtues of becoming a hafiz The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #5027\] A true *hafiz* can be seen by others as being the best, the epitome of virtue: exemplary in manners, diligent with their time, and devout in their worship. The finest among them are intimately connected to the Qur’an through memorization, continuous review, and the noble act of teaching. Their weekly *wird*, nightly *qiyaam*, and commitment to passing down knowledge are not merely tasks to get done, but virtuous endeavors. Imagine if every single physical Qur’an, every *mushaf* on earth, was destroyed. A *hafiz* is the one Allah chooses to use to preserve this book. A *hafiz* could produce the entire Qur’an from memory. A group of *huffaz* who do not speak the same language, could sit together and place every *ayah* correctly in a new *mushaf*. Allah preserves a pure Qur’an through the *huffaz*. Allah also protects the *huffaz* themselves from harm in many subtle ways. The *huffaz*, at the cusp of committing a sin, will be reminded of the *ayah*s they have committed to heart. After a sin, they will feel the weight of remorse bear heavily upon them. The *huffaz*, engrossed in their studies, will allocate time effectively, not having the time to sin. The *huffaz*, with clear learning goals and objectives, will not be distracted by worldly gains. There is honor in those who immerse themselves in the Qur’an. They are the inheritors of the prophets. The Messenger ﷺ said, “The scholars are the successors of the prophets. Verily, the prophets do not pass on gold and silver coins, but rather they only impart knowledge.” \[*Musnad al-Bazzār* 10/68\] In his final moments, our beloved Prophet ﷺ declared that he was leaving behind a treasure: the Qur’an. Reflect upon this—what greater inheritance could one seek than the very word of Allah, described by the Prophet ﷺ as a treasure? \[*Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal*\] By becoming a *hafiz*, you become part of an unbroken chain that stretches back to *‘iq’ra bi-is’mi rabbika alladhī khalaqa’* ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ١ Read! In the name of your Lord, who created. (Qur’an 96:1) --- ## Everlasting benefits of memorizing Qur’an There are countless benefits of becoming a *hafiz* in this world, but the true pleasure is found in the *akhira*. Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “It will be said to the companion of the Qur’an: Recite and ascend as you recited in the world! Verily, your rank is determined by the last verse you recite.” Source: \[*Sunan al-Tirmidhi* #2914\] Imagine standing in front of Allah, the angels, and all of humanity, starting with Surah Fatiha, and raising higher and higher as you recite from your heart the words that Allah sent, the words that changed humanity, the words that would make mountains quiver, the words Allah, Al Wadud, taught our Messenger ﷺ. Imagine, having reached this high rank, you are now to intercede for people you love. There is a weak hadith, “Whoever reads the Holy Qur’an and memorizes it, while he regards what it makes lawful as lawful and its unlawful as forbidden, Allah will admit him into *jannah* and will accept his intercession on behalf of ten such persons of his family who were doomed to the Fire of Hell.” \[*Sunan Tirmidhi*\] Before all of this, the Qur’an already came to your aid. “Fasting and the Qur’an will intercede for a person on the Day of Resurrection. Fasting will say: O Lord, I kept him from his food and desires during the day; let me intercede for him. And the Qur’an will say: I kept him from sleeping during the night; let me intercede for him. And they will be allowed to intercede.” \[*Musnad Ahmad* #6626\] --- ## What happens when you become a hafiz *Huffaz* can be found leading prayers in mosques around the world. Some continue their studies, delving deeper into the vast oceans of Islamic knowledge, pursuing programs in Alimiyyah, Islamic Jurisprudence, and even advanced PhDs in Islamic studies. Others compete in national and international recitation competitions, showcasing the beauty and precision of their memorization. Many become local teachers, beacons of wisdom and spiritual upliftment, creating hubs of learning and devotion centered around the word of Allah. Some explore various forms of Qur’anic recitation, mastering the diverse and melodious *qiraat*, enriching their recitations with beauty and variety. Even if they do none of that, all *huffaz* must remain steadfast in their review of the Qur’an to preserve it in their hearts and minds. It is highly recommended to have a teacher who provides guidance and support, ensuring that one's memorization remains strong and accurate. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be committed to the Qur’an. By the One in whose hand is my soul, it can leave you faster than a camel from its reins.” \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #5033\] This poignant metaphor serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of memory and the diligence required to maintain it. Fearing the loss of memorization is a natural and commendable sentiment, reflecting your sincere reverence for Allah’s words. However, do not let this fear immobilize you. Indeed, many *huffaz* who neglect their review do find that their memorized verses slip away. Yet, with patience, diligence, and earnest *du’a*, what has been lost can be regained. The process of re-memorization, though challenging, is a testament to the enduring power of dedication and Allah’s assistance. In this journey, let your heart be filled with the light of the Qur’an, and let your soul be ever engaged in its recitation and reflection. The divine words are not merely to be stored in memory but to be lived and breathed, shaping your thoughts and actions in every moment. --- ## Overcoming obstacles in your hifz journey If you’re considering this journey of *hifz*, Shaytan may whisper doubts and insecurities: “You will be seen as a role model, but you’ll be a hypocrite.” He will highlight your flaws, making you question your worthiness of the title of *hafiz*. This is one of his strongest deterrents, akin to how he may discourage someone from wearing hijab by suggesting they aren’t devout enough. Indeed, becoming a *hafiz* or wearing the hijab may draw attention, but more importantly, it brings you closer to Allah. The act of engaging deeply with His words is of immeasurable value. The adversary who detests children of Adam, will strive to deter anyone from learning the Qur’an. Shaytan may argue that memorizing such a vast text is beyond you, citing your busy life, family obligations, societal expectations, financial needs, and career responsibilities. Shaytan might suggest that you will succumb to showing off (*riyaa*) if you succeed. Again, this is a tactic to keep you from the tremendous benefits of becoming a *hafiz*. Consider that sin, whether major or minor, may stand as a barrier to your quest in memorizing the Qur’an. A soul entangled in sin cannot readily absorb the light of the Qur’an. > Ibn al-Qayyim reported: When Imam al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, sat in front of Malik and read to him, Malik was impressed by his intelligence, wisdom, and complete understanding. Malik said, “Verily, I see Allah has placed light in your heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of disobedience.” \[*al-Jawāb al-Kāfī* 1/52\] Purify your intentions, let go of sins, and leave the outcomes to Allah. Embrace this journey with a heart full of devotion and a mind focused on Allah. The path of a *hafiz* is one of profound spiritual growth and unparalleled rewards. Each step taken in this journey, despite the whispers of doubt, brings you closer to the Divine and embeds the eternal words of the Qur’an into the very fabric of your being. --- ## What is the reward for becoming a hafiz? The rewards of this endeavor, both in this world and the hereafter, are beyond measure. In this life, the reward is a deep contentment, an unwavering peace that comes from knowing the words of Allah, the divine handbook to life, which guide your every moment. The words of the Qur’an soothe the soul and act as a constant companion through the trials and tribulations of life. No test touches a *hafiz* but he could find the *ayah* needed to overcome it. In the hereafter, the rewards are even more magnificent: high stations of honor, the power to intercede on behalf of loved ones, and a state of eternal happiness, complete and unending. To commit the Qur’an to memory is to secure for oneself a legacy of divine favor and grace. The reward accumulated in the process of becoming a *hafiz* is innumerable. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever recites a letter from Allah's Book receives a reward, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that *Alif Lam Mim* is a letter, but *Alif* is a letter, *Lam* is a letter and *Mim* is a letter.” \[*Jami at-Tirmidhi* #2910\] Every single utterance of a student learning to memorize is a treasure trove of rewards. Each page reviewed, each verse repeated, every letter pronounced—all are counted, written in the book of deeds, handed back to the servant by Allah Himself. These good deeds erase minor sins and illuminate the soul with a radiant spiritual light. In the end, the reward of becoming a *hafiz* is not just the memorization of a text, but the transformation of a life. --- ## How long does it take to memorize the Qur'an? The journey to becoming a *hafiz* is deeply personal and varies greatly, depending on one's abilities and the time devoted to the Qur’an. Some begin at a tender age when the mind is most absorbent. Many parents enroll their young children in full-time programs, enabling them to complete their memorization within three years. Others may take a lifetime, finishing at age seventy. Some young adults pause their secular pursuits, dedicating a few years to intensive study, while children attending part-time programs at masjids or after-school classes may take seven to ten years to achieve their *hifz*. There is no known shortest amount of time. Countless *huffaz* remain unseen, memorizing in humble settings,  progenies basking inside clay homes, rocking themselves as they memorize off black tablets. Around the world, *huffaz* start in the lap of a mother, reciting a word or two before they can even walk. Time will pass us whether we make use of it or not. You have a choice: start today, and in three years, marvel at how much of the Qur’an you have committed to memory and heart. Or remain as you are, and find yourself unchanged, with no progress to reflect upon. The decision is yours alone. --- ## How to memorize the Qur’an There are various methods for memorizing the Qur’an, each catering to different learning styles and different traditional schools. Starting the Journey: - **Last *Juz* to First:** Start with the last *juz* and work your way backward to the beginning. This method encourages students by beginning with *Juz* 30, which many already know parts of, making it easier to start with familiar content and then move on to *Juz* 29, 28, and so on. - **Surah Baqarah First:** Begin with Surah Baqarah, the largest *surah*, which is almost equivalent to memorizing two *ajzaa*. This approach encourages students to tackle the most daunting *surah* first, making the remainder of the memorization journey feel easier by comparison. - **The [Ottoman Method](https://howtomemorisethequran.com/the-ottoman-hifz-method/):** Focus on memorizing the last page of each *juz*, then the second to last page, progressively stacking pages of the Qur’an on top of one another. This method encourages students to “chip away” at each *juz*, allowing them to learn the entire Qur’an simultaneously. Different institutions globally employ various methods to cater to diverse learning styles: **Auditory Learners:** Historically, the oratory tradition has thrived on memorization through listening, and this is how the Qur’an was memorized by the companions. Choose a reciter whose pacing aligns with your natural breath. Begin with *surah*s commonly used in prayer, like Mulk, Rahman, Waqiah, Sajdah, and Kahf, before progressing to more challenging and lengthier *surah*s. This traditional approach involves listening and repeating *surah*s until they are committed to memory. Abu Umamah encouraged this method, saying, “Recite the Qur’an and do not be deceived by depending on the written copies. Verily, Allah will never punish a heart that has preserved the Qur’an.” \[*Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah* 34044\] **Tactile Learners:** Using a traditional beaded string, or *tasbeeh*, read each verse 33 times (or 100 times, depending on the number of beads). Move a bead with each repetition. After completing one round while looking at the text, repeat the process without looking. **Visual Learners:** For native Arabic speakers, and especially younger students, visual aids can enhance memorization. Write verses on a page and draw images or icons to help retain the information. The Qur’an has [a unique storytelling style](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-unique-storytelling-style-of-the-quran) that can be helpful for native Arab speakers to use to strengthen their memorization. Another technique is to rewrite pages of the Qur’an from memory in a journal, which deepens knowledge of *tajweed* and is both rewarding and challenging. **High-Intensity Learners:** Rather than focusing on page or *juz* goals, set time-based goals. Dedicate an intensive period, like a weekend, to solely focus on memorizing the Qur’an, similar to cramming for an exam. Alternatively, allocate a set period, such as four hours every Saturday morning, for intensive study over the course of a year. --- ## Practical Methods A *sabak* is a new portion of memorization. Usually, for a beginning student it is half of a page, and for a more advanced student it is roughly 4 pages. This is traditional at many schools across the world. Finding a suitable *sabak* for your abilities with your teacher is crucial, and each *sabak* must be perfected before moving on to the next. **6446 Method:** - Read a verse 6x while looking at the *mushaf* - Recite the verse 4x without looking - Recite the verse again 4x while looking - Recite it again 6x without looking **10-3 Method:** - Read a verse 10x while looking - Recite the verse 3x without looking - If there’s no mistake, move to the next *ayah*  - Do the same, 10x looking, 3x without looking - Then, combine the previous verse with the new one without looking --- ## Best Time to Memorize the Qur’an The morning, particularly after Fajr, is highly recommended for memorization due to the *barakah* (blessing) at this time. > Sakhr ibn al-Ghamidi reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “O Allah, bless my nation in their early morning.” \[*Sunan al-Tirmidhī* #1212\] *Tahajjud* time, used for reviewing in *qiyaam* prayer, is also beneficial. However, the best time varies for each individual depending on personal schedules and when the home environment is quiet. --- ## Dua for memorizing the Qur’an Even the Prophet ﷺ felt in his heart that he might forget the revelation after it had been sent down but Allah assured him, “We will make you recite so you shall not forget” (Qur’an 87:6). This *ayah* emphasizes that it wasn’t the Prophet ﷺ who enabled the preservation of Qur’an.“The preservation of the entire Qur’an word for word in your memory is not a manifestation of your own power but the result of Allah Almighty’s bounty and grace; otherwise, if Allah so willed, He could cause it to be forgotten.” \[*Tafhim al-Qur’an*\] Allah tells our Prophet ﷺ: Do not rush to recite ˹a revelation of˺ the Quran \[O Prophet\] before it is \[properly\] conveyed to you,1 and pray, “My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” (Qur’an 20:114) Therefore, a popular *du’a* is this one from the Qur’an: وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًۭا *Rabbi zidni ilma* “My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” (Qur’an 20:114) --- ## What is the best age to become a hafiz? It is often advised to begin at a young age when the mind is more receptive to learning. However, we should also remember that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the first revelation at the age of 40. Ultimately, when it comes to the Qur'an, the age factor becomes secondary. The best age to start memorizing is the one you find yourself in right now, regardless of whether you’re young or older. The Qur’an transcends age; its teachings and blessings are timeless and accessible to all who seek them. In embracing this noble pursuit, we are reminded that the journey of becoming a *hafiz* is not merely about memorizing words, but about nurturing a deep connection with Allah’s guidance. It is a journey that enriches the soul, strengthens faith, and brings immeasurable blessings. No matter where you begin, each step taken towards memorization is a step towards Allah. Remember that Allah said, “Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running.” \[Hadith Qudsi; *Sahih Muslim* #2687\] --- ## For further reading: *114 Tips to Help You Finally Memorize the Qur’an* by Suleiman Hani *The Crowning Venture: Inspiration from Women Who Have Memorized the Quran* by Saadia Mian Learn more methods from Qari Mubashir --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/raising-resilient-muslim-youth-strategies-for-building-a-strong-muslim-identity-in-children # Raising Resilient Muslim Youth: Strategies for Building a Strong Muslim Identity in Children **Authors:** Najwa Awad, Sarah Sultan **Topics:** Family & Community, General Psychology, Parenting, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Mental Health, Publication **Published:** September 4, 2024 **Updated:** June 4, 2026 ## I. Case Study *Hanan, a first generation Muslim American whose parents immigrated from the Middle East, remembers her struggles as a teen. She loved her parents and appreciated the struggles they went through to adapt to a new country and raise her and her siblings; however, she struggled with their rigid and strict approach to  parenting. Hanan was rarely given the freedom to spend time with friends, and was not allowed to attend school events. This caused her to develop feelings of resentment towards her parents and their overprotectiveness as she got older. Her parents had a forceful attitude about religious practice, particularly concerning the way Hanan dressed. Whenever she wondered about why she was required to do certain things or prohibited from doing other things, Hanan’s parents would respond with some version of “Because I said so.”* *Hanan went to public schools her whole life and struggled to belong. She always felt that she wasn’t quite “American enough” for her friends nor “Muslim enough” for her parents. When with her family, she prayed and* *wore a hijab**, but at school, she didn’t feel comfortable wearing her hijab or stepping aside to pray. She didn’t feel that she could share this with her parents. No matter who she was with, she felt like she couldn’t be her real self, and had to decide which version of her would be the best fit for each circumstance.* *After getting married and having children, Hanan decided that she didn’t want her children to experience the same confusion she felt growing up. In response to her parents’ overbearing attitude about religion, Hanan shifted toward the opposite end of the spectrum and hesitated to offer explicit directions surrounding faith to her children but also worried that they wouldn’t feel proud of their identity as Muslims unless she addressed it head on. She often wondered: How can I help my children to develop strong Islamic identities so they don’t struggle the same way I did?* --- ## II. Goals of this chapter - What is the importance of establishing a healthy identity in children and how can it affect resilience? - What do the Qur’an and Sunnah teach us about identity? - How can parents foster a strong Muslim identity in children? - What role do I play as a parent in my child’s identity development? - What are concrete everyday actions I can take to help my child develop a strong Islamic core, confidence, and identity as a Muslim? - How can I navigate obstacles that may impact my child’s ability to create a healthy identity? --- ## III. Introduction The development and maintenance of a healthy identity is key to promoting emotional, mental, and spiritual resilience. While identity formation is usually associated with adolescence, in reality it begins early in life and develops in stages. Thus, as Hanan recognized, one must address the question of identity in children’s early and formative years. Children constantly explore questions about who they are and who they will become physically, relationally, socially, emotionally. Our children will face difficulties at every stage in their lives, so prioritizing their identity development is one of the greatest services we as parents can provide to help them weather the inevitable storms, and—even more—grow through them. Psychological research has found that religious identity provides a sense of continuity across time and place, and allows an individual to develop a sense of internal consistency despite the unavoidable changes that time brings to society, relationships, and self.[^1] Societal standards are constantly in flux, so if our children’s sense of self stems solely from their surroundings, confusion is inevitable. Instead, our goal as parents is to help our children forge a durable identity through the stability offered by Allah’s guidance—an identity based on the truth of Islam. The Prophet ﷺ said, “No child is born but that he is upon the natural instinct. His parents make him a Jew, or a Christian, or Magian.”[^2] We are each born upon an innate disposition (*fiṭra*) to worship Allah alone, but the *fiṭra* will only blossom if we take active steps to preserve it. We must allow our children to fulfill their natural hunger for meaning by finding it in their relationship with Allah. “Identity” is a contentious concept,[^3] and theorists have offered a number of competing definitions.[^4] Many psychotherapists understand identity as the way people see themselves, a unique combination of their beliefs, drives, values, and abilities, all of which come together to form an overall image of the self.[^5] To put it simply: Identity is how you reconcile the various parts of yourself into a collective whole. Given that our goal here is to focus on the aspects of the self needed to build resilience, particularly for Muslim children, this is the definition of identity we will be using in this paper. A large part of this also includes the importance of action. Islamic identity requires Islamic action, which is another facet that will be emphasized throughout this paper. Many theories of identity are derived from a secular Western framework, and while we ourselves draw from this framework, we challenge some of its core principles. For instance, whereas some theories suggest all “identities”—religious, racial, professional—are equivalent and exist in parallel, we argue that only our Islamic identity is central and informs various *roles* we have, such as being a mother or a husband. Each of our social roles is conditioned by this core identity, as are the sets of *behaviors* informed by the identity. While a role can contribute to one’s identity, a role is what someone *does* whereas an identity is who the person *is*. Embracing a Muslim *identity* allows us to acknowledge and fulfill the responsibilities bestowed by Allah and strive for excellence (*iḥsān*) in the *roles* He has given us. Identity formation is not a linear process, but rather, a continuous one that unfolds through our deliberate choices. Those choices both inform and are informed by our values, and so our choices slowly but surely shape a coherent sense of self. Our *roles* and *behaviors* exist in a feedback loop with our core identity. While we strive for a stable sense of self based on our Islamic identity, it will necessarily fluctuate. Just as *īmān* (faith) increases and decreases, our Islamic identity is susceptible to changes as well.[^6] Our roles are impacted by our identity and our identity can also be affected by the roles we adopt in different stages of life. A person who struggles to integrate different aspects of their identity into a consistent image of self can suffer from role confusion, a weak sense of self, and sometimes even mental illness. You can see the subtle interplay of identity, roles, and behaviors in these common examples: - The sheltered Muslim teenager who moves away to college and becomes friends with his non-Muslim roommate. The teenager may have a good Islamic identity which his friend respects, but sometimes seeing his friend engage in what appear to be fun but unIslamic social behaviors makes him feel tempted and weak. - The loyal husband who moves his aging mother into his home, trying to balance his role as a husband and son in accordance with his Islamic identity, but finds it challenging when the two roles appear to be in competition due to different expectations of his mother and wife. - The devout Muslimah who loves reading Qur’an, fasting, and praying *sunnah* prayers throughout the day and night, and so struggles with her new role as a mother because these acts of worship are now suddenly replaced with different kinds of worship behaviors she is not yet accustomed to, such as caring for her infant’s basic needs. Throughout this paper, you will find suggestions to help nurture a stable Islamic identity for your child, in part through how your child approaches their various social roles such as student, friend, and athlete. Each of those roles, and their associated actions, may appear “secular” or “non-religious,” but what we do in those roles can be forms of worship. Even our familial roles as parents or professional roles as doctors, for instance, should build up and be built up by our Islamic identity. Our worldly activities do not fall outside of our Islamic identity; they are in fact part of it. An employee, a baseball aficionado, a hiker, a roller coaster enthusiast—we are all these people as Muslims first and foremost. We see this in the example of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ as well. The companion, Ḥanẓala (rA), said: > Allah’s Messenger, when we are in your company, we are reminded of Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children, and business, these things go out of our minds.” Thereupon Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said: “By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the angels would shake hands with you in your beds and in your paths but, Ḥanẓala, there is a time for this and a time for that.”[^7] As seen in our [introductory paper](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-the-psychology-behind-raising-unapologetic-muslim-children), our model of Islamic resilience takes the form of a pyramid, with the base being the most important and foundational—although all levels are essential and needed in building resilience from a psychospiritual perspective. [Our second paper](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islamic-parenting-strategies-how-to-help-children-feel-safe-in-their-attachment-to-god-and-parents) delved into the importance of building an attachment to Allah first and foremost, followed by attachment to parents, the prophets, the Qur’an and the *ummah* at large. After attachment, the next level in the pyramid is the significance of connection to one’s self. The current paper discusses this layer and protective factors related to identity and self-esteem. Our Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model (IIRM) asserts that the development of an identity with Islam at its foundation is essential in fostering mental, emotional, and spiritual health in Muslim children. A healthy Islamic identity allows children to build resilience in the face of daily challenges and provides a sense of stability. In this paper, we explore research findings as well as Islamic principles that will help us as parents (with the guidance and will of Allah) to raise children whose actions and ambitions ultimately rest on their connection with Allah and their pursuit of Paradise (*jannah*). ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image.png) Our parenting paradigm is based on the beautiful *ā**yāt* (sing. *āya*) in which Luqmān the Wise gave his son profound advice that we must still heed today. Among Luqmān’s gems is the following verse, which inspired our exploration of the crucial role of identity development in resiliency: > But if they (i.e., your parents) pressure you to associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Still keep their company in this world courteously, and follow the way of those who turn to Me in devotion.[^8] Staying true to oneself and one’s purpose of worshiping Allah, even in the face of pressure, is a core component of our identity as Muslims. Such steadfastness is a necessary component in building resilience among Muslim children, especially those living in the West. Allah tells us, “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”[^9] Helping our children to live in accordance with their purpose of worshiping Allah allows them to face struggles with the resilience inherent in a solid Muslim identity. In the following sections, we have divided the paper into two main parts: 1) the importance of identity development in raising resilient children; and 2) practical ways to foster identity development through nurturing self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-trust. --- ## IV. Foundational concepts: The importance of identity development ### The role of identity in resilience Resilience is the capacity to effectively adapt when confronted with adversity or stress.[^10] The relationship between resilience and identity is bidirectional. Resilience can come from a strong identity eliciting both determination and motivation.[^11] In marginalized communities experiencing discrimination, a shared identity can help build unity and resistance when experiencing systemic injustice, boosting positive self-image and self-acceptance.[^12] Identity can also be shaped by adverse life experiences, newfound purpose, and a sense of belonging and self-worth.[^13]  Successfully navigating difficult experiences can foster introspection, highlight inner strengths, and uncover values and beliefs that further enhance one’s sense of self.[^14] Resilience can be of different types,[^15] including: 1. Surviving setbacks and challenges with as little damage as possible; 2. Remaining firm in the face of setbacks and challenges and developing the ability to return to a default state of equilibrium after setbacks; 3. Growing from setbacks and challenges. This is the highest form of resiliency, and has been termed *antifragility* or *post-traumatic growth*. For children growing up as minorities, like Muslim children in the West, solidifying a healthy Islamic identity against peer and societal pressures is essential for spiritual health.[^16] Religiosity in Muslim teens is associated with well-being, self-worth, and low anxiety.[^17] A strong Islamic identity provides the beliefs and values that contribute to resilience by shaping the core of who your child is—a worshiper of Allah and a beloved creation of the Almighty. This sustains your child with the perspective that this *dunyā* is temporary, that hardship comes with reward, and that we are rewarded based on our efforts, not results. The Qur’an and Prophetic biography (*sīra*) can be used to teach perseverance and resilience through real-life examples. When a child is able to maintain a stable sense of self in the midst of struggles, uncertainties, and life changes, their ability to bounce back from these difficulties increases.[^18] A middle schooler who chooses to wear the hijab to please and obey Allah, with absolute belief in the reward that comes from this choice, will be better equipped to thrive despite criticism from peers as opposed to a student who lacks similar conviction. In this paper, we focus on three elements that can help nurture the beliefs, values, and behaviors that our children need to develop a healthy identity: 1. **Self-Esteem:** Healthy self-esteem allows children to acknowledge their inherent, God-given worth. This allows them to face difficulties with a stable sense of self and a clear purpose, understanding that Allah has granted them the strengths and qualities needed to navigate challenges. 2. **Self-Efficacy:** Healthy self-efficacy involves the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or cope with a difficulty. This empowers children to strive toward their goals with the understanding that, while they must do their part in working toward the outcome they want, relying on Allah’s help is necessary every step of the way. Healthy self-efficacy allows children to face challenges with a feeling of safety in knowing that Allah is our Protector and Provider in every circumstance, while also encouraging their own capabilities to handle difficult situations. 3. **Self-Trust:** Healthy self-trust involves the belief in one’s ability to act in a way aligned with one’s best interests and personal values. This allows children to feel capable of exercising their God-given free will in a manner that benefits them in this life and the next. It empowers them to view challenges as manageable due to confidence in their capacity to make positive decisions even in difficult moments, and it nurtures trust in Allah that He has not tested them with more than they can bear. All three of these concepts are intertwined and build upon one another. For example, nurturing a healthy sense of self-esteem allows children to feel capable of striving toward what they want in life, while a healthy understanding of their capabilities allows them to make positive decisions and stand up for themselves when needed. While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the foundational elements that can help children feel a sense of strength in their Muslim identity, allowing them to feel worthy as worshipers of Allah, capable of achieving their purpose as His servants and able to make choices that align with their values. ### The importance of nurturing a strong Muslim identity The stronger one’s identity, the more potentially resilient. That resiliency ensures consistency in our worship of Allah, thereby enhancing our betterment in both this life and the hereafter. Allah promises us that we will face tests, which can be divided into two categories based on their Qur’anic descriptions: 1. *Tests of Destiny*: These are the tests of fate that Allah has written for us. This includes things in life over which we have no control, including when we are born, when we die, an unexpected diagnosis, an accident that befalls a loved one, etc. Though these tests can superficially manifest as “good” or “evil,” everything that comes from Allah is good despite our personal perceptions of certain struggles. Allah promises that we will be tested in these ways: > Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.[^19] > > And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient.[^20] 2. *Tests in Worship*: These are tests of revelation and how we choose to respond to the legislation and limitations revealed by Allah, including fulfilling prescribed acts and refraining from prohibited acts. We see this test in the following verses: > For indeed, We created humans from a drop of mixed fluids, \[in order\] to test them, so We made them hear and see. We already showed them the Way, whether they \[choose to\] be grateful or ungrateful.[^21]  > > We have indeed made whatever is on earth as an adornment for it, in order to test which of them is best in deeds.[^22] Resilience is necessary to effectively respond to both types of tests, as well as the ability to stand firm in faith and obedience to Allah when following commands that run counter to our personal desires. Helping our children to build a strong Islamic identity can facilitate resilience by allowing them to align their beliefs, values, and behaviors. --- ## V. Fostering healthy Islamic identity development: Practical approaches The remainder of this paper will explore what we, as parents, can practically do to enhance and nurture our children’s Islamic identity. The following suggestions encourage enhancing an attachment with Allah, first and foremost, as well as healthy attachment to parents and other caregivers (for more on this, please read [our paper on the first layer](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islamic-parenting-strategies-how-to-help-children-feel-safe-in-their-attachment-to-god-and-parents)). These suggestions do not constitute an exhaustive list but should help parents nurture a healthy Islamic identity in their children. The following suggestions are focused on the importance of nurturing: (i) self-esteem; (ii) self-efficacy; and (iii) self-trust. They offer practical ways to foster these qualities in our children to build their resilience through a strong, healthy, and stable Islamic identity. In order to help readers digest the content more easily, given that the upcoming sections are dense with information, we start each subsection with a text box on what to expect and close each subsection with a summary. ### I. SELF-ESTEEM #### How To Build Self Esteem I. Labeling II. Strengths-Based Approach a. Verbalizing observed strengths b. Helping your child identify strengths c. Paying attention to what your child is doing right III. Conveying a Sense of Importance a. Showing interest in what your child enjoys b. Making space for your child in discussions c. Investing in the magic ratio #### Self-esteem, identity development, and resilience Self-esteem, which like identity has been defined differently by social scientists, generally refers to an individual’s subjective judgment of their worth as a person.[^23] High self-esteem also predicts success and well-being in relationships, work, and health.[^24] Furthermore, individuals whose self-esteem or life satisfaction are reactive and erratic are more vulnerable to mental health challenges.[^25] In particular, frequent fluctuations in self-esteem are associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms.[^26] While there is research supporting the benefits of high self esteem, working on self-esteem in isolation from other aspects of self-development can be harmful.[^27] For example, cultivating self-esteem alone can lead to narcissism.[^28] As such, it is important for Muslim parents to help nurture healthy self-esteem within an Islamic framework, teaching children that ultimately all honor, success, and accomplishment come from Allah and not just our individual effort. #### The Islamic importance of healthy self-esteem Research has found that our self-esteem and perception of God are intertwined. In one study, researchers found that adult self-esteem was positively related to loving-accepting God images.[^29] This suggests a link between a sense of self-worth and an understanding of Allah as a loving, forgiving, and merciful God. Thus, nurturing healthy self-esteem can make an image of God as loving and forgiving seem intuitively plausible to our children. #### Core beliefs: The foundations of healthy self-esteem Self-esteem can be cultivated in a variety of ways, but at the root of healthy self-esteem are healthy **core beliefs**.[^30] Core beliefs are beliefs that people hold about themselves, others, and the world; for example, believing that people are inherently untrustworthy, or believing that you can handle the challenges that come your way, or believing that Allah only decrees what is best for you.[^31] The specific core beliefs that undergird our self-esteem include who we are (philosophy on life), what we do (our job or purpose), what we have (inherited or acquired quantities or qualities), how we appear to others (looks, reputation, and personality) and to what or whom we are attached (God, a particular person, group, or thing such as power or money).[^32] Key to any set of core beliefs is a person’s archetype: their “ideal guide for maneuvering through the maze of life.”[^33] Having a God-centered archetype, in which one sees oneself as created by God for a purpose—to live in accordance with God’s expectations—provides grounding, honor, and a sense of inherent worth. People with a materialist archetype have a more fragile self-esteem and lack the same security or life satisfaction.[^34] When our children possess an unshakeable core belief that they are loved and worthy in the eyes of Allah and their parents, they are able to ride the rollercoaster of life’s ups and downs with resilience and authenticity, not caring if others disagree with their choices. Core beliefs, particularly those related to one’s purpose, can become *self-fulfilling prophecies*; e.g., if a person has a false expectation, they take actions that confirm that expectation. If someone assumes they will not succeed, they will not take the appropriate steps to become successful. The view children have of themselves as well as the people around them powerfully impacts their choices. #### Practical ways to cultivate healthy core identity beliefs #### I. Labeling The labels we assign our children affect the ways they see themselves. Do they feel intelligent and valuable, with the sense that they have important input to offer? Do they feel like time spent with them is worthwhile and enjoyable? Do they overhear words of criticism or love when we talk about them with others? How we perceive and speak about our children shapes their self-view. Even if labels are inevitable in everyday communication, it behooves us to exercise caution with the “you are” statements we say to our kids. The labels we use may make the difference between our children developing healthy or unhealthy core beliefs about themselves. ##### Labeling and faith The Qur’an teaches core values and offers reminders that, when internalized, can positively contribute to Islamic identity development and resilience-building.[^35] The Qur’an also offers healthy, strength-focused labels we can strive toward, helping us and our children to feel a sense of belonging and honor in identifying as Muslims. Allah tells us in the Qur’an, > And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you any difficulty in your religion. \[It is\] the religion of your father, Abraham. He \[i.e., Allah\] named you “Muslims” before \[in former scriptures\] and in this \[revelation\] that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over the people…[^36] Allah gifts us with the most honorable of labels in this verse by calling us “Muslims”; i.e., those who submit to Him. Here it  is important to note that there is no complete Islamic identity without Islamic action. Allah has elevated us over other nations, and He has created a way out for us from our difficulties, based on our actions as believers.[^37] Identifying ourselves as Muslims allows us to acknowledge Allah’s blessings, which can help us to face life’s challenges with patience and resilience. Consider the following verses, which are just a small selection of verses in the Qur’an that highlight the character of the believers (*muʾminūn*, sing. *muʾmin*): > The \[true\] **believers** are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger—never doubting—and strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah. They are the ones true in faith.[^38]  > > Say, “Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us. He is our Protector.” So in Allah let the **believers** put their trust.[^39]   > > The **believers** are but one brotherhood, so make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah so you may be shown mercy.[^40]  > > They are those who establish prayer and donate from what We have provided for them. It is they who are the true **believers**. They will have elevated ranks, forgiveness, and an honorable provision from their Lord.[^41] Verses such as these highlight the qualities we seek to emulate in order to strengthen our identities as Muslims—and the values, actions, and characteristics we should highlight as we raise our children. When your child is struggling to make a decision about how to respond to a situation, verses like these can be referred to as a guide to solidify their identity as worshipers of Allah, encouraging them to adopt not just the label of “believer,” but also the actions needed to earn that label. For example, when your child recounts an argument he had with a friend, encourage him to reflect on  the meaning of the verse, “The **believers** are but one brotherhood, so make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah so you may be shown mercy.”[^42]  Discuss how this verse can be implemented to encourage actions and intentions that align with Islamic values. ##### How to cultivate positive labeling of our children If we struggle with negatively labeling our children, what are some antidotes? The first step is to create awareness. This is two-fold: create awareness of the labels you assign to your child and the labels you assign to yourself, particularly as a parent. For example, if you view yourself as an angry mom, you will naturally assume that there is a lot of negativity in your relationship with your child, leading to a core belief that you are a “failure” in this role. How might that impact your relationship with your child? And how about your perception of your ability to improve your relationship with your child? Try this: Create a list of labels you use when describing yourself, particularly as a parent (“I am \_\_\_\_\_\_.”). The more critical we are of ourselves, the more critical we tend to be of those around us, including our children. Creating awareness around this tendency of self-criticism can be transformative. To build awareness of the labels you assign to your child, create a list of labels you associate with your child. Reflect on the labels inspired by various situations that have come up over the past couple of weeks. For example, when your son threw a tantrum because he did not get the candy he wanted at the store, did that prompt a label of “spoiled” or “difficult”? When he ran to give you a hug when you picked him up from school, did you view him as “loving"? The second step is to separate your child from their mistakes. We see this in the way that Prophet Joseph (Yūsuf) attributed his brothers’ cruelty (i.e., leaving him in a well as a young boy) to Satan (Shayṭān) rather than to some essential aspect of their character.[^43] Describe behavior rather than issuing labels. For example, “He failed a test” vs. “He is a failure.” Or, “He is throwing a tantrum because he wants a lollipop” vs. “He is a spoiled brat.” The third step is to reframe our observations of our children. Consider the positive flipside of every negative trait you observe. For example, if you view your child as “stubborn,” what is the positive side of this trait? Maybe they are also persistent, determined, and not easily influenced by others. Viewed in this light, labels encourage positive action and higher self-esteem. #### Summary of Cultivating Positive Labeling *To enhance this activity, write out your thoughts and feelings on paper.* *Step 1:* Create awareness of the labels you use for yourself and your child. Pay attention to how you label yourself and your child throughout the day, and especially when under stress. *Step 2:* Separate yourself and your child from your mistakes. Remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes and mistakes do not define you. *Step 3:* Positively reframe negative attributes of you and your child. An easy way to do this is to fold a sheet of paper in half vertically, and write the negative attributes on one side with the positive reframes parallel on the other side. #### II. Adopting a strengths-based approach You may have heard your child say things like, “I’m the worst!” or “I’m not good enough” or “I’m the dumbest person in my class.” As a parent, hearing remarks like this can be painful and leave you wondering what you are doing wrong. Realize that the core beliefs we hold come from a combination of our experiences and our innate temperaments, and it is natural for kids (and adults) to be hard on themselves sometimes. However, parents also need tools to address demoralizing self-talk. One of these tools is taking a **strengths-based approach**,[^44] which emphasizes a child’s individual resilience and ability as opposed to flaws and deficits. Challenges can blind people to their many virtues. A strengths-based approach facilitates a perspective shift, transforming difficulties into opportunities for growth. This approach creates positive expectations that things can be different and opens the way for the development of competencies.[^45] ##### The strengths-based approach in our faith Consider the way Allah encourages us to see ourselves at our best, as He sees us: “Whoever acts in righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer—We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward \[in the hereafter\] according to the best of what they used to do.”[^46] We see a beautiful example of strengths-based language in the relationship between the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his wife, Khadīja (rA). When he returned from the Cave of Ḥirāʾ after the intense experience of receiving the first revelation, he was trembling in fright. He asked Khadīja to cover him and said, *“*O Khadīja! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” Khadīja reassured him: “Allah will never disgrace you, for by Allah, you keep good relations with your kith and kin, speak the truth, help the poor and the destitute, entertain your guests generously, and assist those who are stricken with calamities.”[^47] Here, Khadīja (rA) comforted the Prophet ﷺ during a moment of fear by invoking the strengths of his character she knew to be true. Imagine how relieving it must have been for him in that moment to be reminded that he had qualities and actions that are beloved to Allah. In the same way, reassuring our children by reference to their strengths is a powerful way to encourage positive self-talk and a healthy self-concept. ##### How to use a strengths-based approach with your child ##### Verbalize their strengths Note how Khadīja (rA) attached the strengths of the Prophet ﷺ to qualities that are pleasing to Allah (e.g., maintaining family ties, truthfulness, and caring for the poor, downtrodden, and guests). We can do the same for our children as a way of solidifying their Islamic identity. For example, when your child chooses to share something they love with a friend, label the quality you notice by saying, “You’re such a generous person to share your favorite candy with your friend. Allah loves people who are generous and He loves you!” As mentioned earlier, children tend to behave in ways that meet others’ expectations of them. Therefore, if we speak to our children as though they are capable, strong, hardworking, and worthy servants of Allah, their actions and choices are more likely to reflect this. For example, when your child is struggling with something difficult, notice their persistence and label it, saying something like, “I can tell that math problem is hard. You’re such a hard worker to keep trying even when you’re frustrated!” or “It’s so frustrating that your tower keeps falling. You’re a trooper to keep trying. You’ll get there!” ##### Help your child identify their own strengths It is also important to help your child identify their own strengths. While it’s wonderful for children to hear about their positive qualities from others, they themselves must acknowledge those qualities for them to truly translate into healthy self-esteem. ##### Questions to Help Your Child Identify Their Strengths These questions are great to ask casually when driving or eating a meal together. Limit your discussion to one question per sitting to go into depth. - Which of Allah’s Names has been on your mind lately? When do you tend to think about this Name of Allah? How do you feel when you remember it? - What is something you’ve done recently - or a quality you have - that you hope Allah especially loves? - What’s your favorite thing to do? - What makes you feel super energetic and excited? - If your best friend described you, what do you think they’d say? - What do you think a successful day looks like? What made it successful? - What are you good at? - What feels hard for you right now? How are you dealing with it? - What’s your favorite thing about school? - Tell me about something you achieved that you’re really proud of. - What’s your least favorite thing to do? - How do you stay motivated when you feel like things are getting difficult? ##### Pay attention to what your child is doing right A strengths-based approach requires that we pay attention to even minute details about our children and their behaviors. As parents, we often highlight the things our children need to correct: *Clean up that mess. Have you brushed your teeth? Don’t hit your sister!* This is a common complaint children make in therapy: “The only things my parents talk to me about are all the things I’m doing wrong. Can’t they see how hard I’m trying?” Anas ibn Mālik described the Prophet’s tendency to de-emphasize mistakes, saying, “I served the Prophet ﷺ for ten years. By Allah, he never even said to me, ‘Uff!’ He never said harshly, ‘Why did you do that?’ or, ‘Why did you not do that?’”[^48] Consider the way the Prophet ﷺ dealt with an uncomfortable situation when a young man requested permission to commit  adultery (*zinā*).[^49] While many people might have labeled him shameless or sinful for even asking this question, the Prophet ﷺ viewed him as someone striving toward good. He told him to come closer and sit down. He spoke to the young man gently, helping him consider the situation from a different perspective, and ended their back-and-forth discussion with a supplication (*duʿāʾ*) asking Allah to forgive his sins, purify his heart, and guard his chastity. From that day forward, the young man no longer struggled with that desire. That is the power of seeing the good in a young person rather than assuming the worst. While parents naturally must advise and guide their children, focusing on what they are doing right is just as important. *Thank you for putting your plate in the sink. I love how diligently you’re doing your homework! Great job getting your morning routine done quickly!* Focus on the good rather than on what is lacking, and when your child does something that brings you joy, tell them. Consider the advice of the Prophet ﷺ: “When one of you loves his brother, let him know.”[^50] This is an acknowledgment of Allah’s blessings and a reflection of gratitude. Allah tells us, “If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more.”[^51] Imagine the blessings you will find in your relationship with your child once you consciously shift to expressing gratitude and acknowledging the good you see in them. #### Summary of Using a Strengths-Based Perspective 1. Catch your child doing good *behaviors* (helping someone, diligently completing homework, praying without being asked, etc.), identify the behaviors, and then reinforce them through verbal praise or affection. 2. Identify positive *traits* in your child as you see them and highlight them. Tie those traits to positive role models if possible. For example, “When you and your brother stood up to that bully at school it reminded me of when Moses (Mūsā) stood up to Pharaoh when he was trying to make everyone do what he said.” 3. Tie the positive qualities you see in your child back to Allah. For example, if your child is doing great in math, say something like, “Isn’t it wonderful that Allah blessed you with such a strong brain and made you into such a hard worker? I’m so proud of you.” In this way, your child’s strengths are emphasized but always connected back to Allah, thereby creating a stronger connection between your child’s self-concept and relationship with Allah. 4. Consider working with your child on a strengths poster, identifying their skills, positive attributes, and overall virtues. Have your child decorate the poster and make it a work of art that they can hang on a wall in their room. #### III. Help your child feel important You cannot develop self-esteem if you do not believe yourself to be inherently valuable. When children feel that they are significant, loved, and valuable members of the family, their self-esteem increases alongside their sense of belonging.[^52] A sense of rejection produces the opposite result.[^53] Keep in mind that telling your child that they are important does not mean telling them that they are the *most* important person in the world, and that therefore their every interest, whim, and desire must be accommodated. Limits and boundaries are necessary and healthy; a child should understand that they are not the center of the universe and that they need to accommodate others’ needs and wants as well. This balance between humility and self-esteem is important for spiritual, psychological, social, and emotional development. An example of what this balance might look like: *It’s time for the sunset (*Maghrib*) prayer. I know it’s hard to stop playing Minecraft, but nothing is more important than making time for what Allah wants us to do. After prayer, I’d love to hear about what you’ve been building.* ##### Conveying a sense of their value and importance to Allah Conveying a sense of value to our children allows them to internalize the idea that they are also valuable and important to Allah (swt). In a beautiful hadith, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar rA reported: > I saw the Messenger of Allah  circling the Kaaba and saying, “How pure you are and how pure is your fragrance! How great you are and how great is your sanctity! By the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of the believer is greater to Allah than your sanctity, in his wealth, his life, and to assume nothing of him but good.”[^54] This hadith clearly conveys the importance of internalizing the inherent value of a believer. As parents, conveying our children’s value in our interactions with them can be a means of raising their self-esteem and further nurturing their resilience.[^55] Children naturally feel more comfortable embracing Islamic values and living by them when they know that they are valued by those closest to them. It allows them the safety to make choices that distinguish themselves from non-Muslims because they are reassured by the sense of belonging they experience at home. ##### How can I show my child they are valued? ##### Show interest in what your child enjoys One way to convey that we value our children is to show interest in what they enjoy. People try to maintain or increase self-esteem by seeking out people who see them in a positive light and who solidify those aspects of themselves that they most prefer.[^56] One characteristic of the Prophet ﷺ that made him beloved to so many, especially children, was his interest in what they enjoyed. Anas ibn Mālik (rA), who spent much of his youth in the company of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, narrated:[^57] “The Prophet used to mingle with us to the extent that he would say to my younger brother, ‘What did your sparrow do?’” Noticing our children’s interests shows them that we consider their thoughts and ideas worthwhile. Consider ways to let your child know that their interests matter to you because *they* matter to you. When your son is programming code for his robotics competition, ask questions about his strategy and nod along to show you are invested in his responses. When your daughter keeps borrowing the same book series from the library, ask her about the characters and plotlines that seem to captivate her. ##### Make space for your child in discussions Ibn ʿAbbās (rA) was a young companion who had a great deal of knowledge. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (rA) once included him in a gathering of veterans of the Battle of Badr. When some expressed displeasure about the inclusion of the young Ibn ʿAbbās, ‘Umar highlighted the depth of Ibn ʿAbbās’s knowledge of the Qur’an relative to the older men around him. When Ibn ʿAbbās offered his interpretation of a *sūra* that differed from the understanding of his seniors, ʿUmar signaled his agreement by replying, “I do not know anything about it other than what you have said.”[^58] Imagine how valued Ibn ʿAbbās must have felt in not only being allowed a space in such a lofty gathering, but also in being asked to offer his thoughts on the subject of discussion. Ensure that children have a space to share their thoughts. This might be at the family dinner table, on car rides to and from school, or as part of their bedtime routine. Ask open-ended questions about your child’s day and show interest in what they share by following up with additional questions. Include your child in adult conversations and ensure that no topics are off limits. It is important for children to have space to be curious and get answers to difficult questions. ##### Invest in your relationship: The “magic ratio” Research has found that a key  factor in maintaining a healthy, happy relationship is a “magic ratio” of at least five positive interactions for every negative interaction.[^59] While this research was focused on successful marriages, the findings are relevant to parent-child relationships as well. Showing your child that you notice the good in them and see their strengths will naturally foster a higher sense of self-worth. ##### Summary of Ways to Demonstrate Your Child is Important 1. Convey that Allah made every person for a purpose and that each person is unique. Highlight Allah’s love and mercy for the believers. 2. Show interest in what your child likes. Ideas on how to show interest: - I saw \_\_\_\_ today and it reminded me of you so I wanted to share it with you. - What’s been going on lately with\_\_\_\_? - How are you progressing with\_\_\_\_? - When was the last time you did\_\_\_\_\_? I would love to join you next time. - I have 15 minutes before making dinner. Can I play \_\_\_with you? - I would love to get your thoughts and insights about\_\_\_\_\_\_. 3. Ask for your child’s input on age-appropriate discussions in the home and in community spaces. 4. Invest in the magic ratio: - Ask open-ended questions to show interest in your child’s day (e.g., What was the hardest thing about today? How did you deal with it?) - Verbalize your favorite things about your child (e.g., I love how thoughtful you are; you give the best hugs, etc.) - Small acts can demonstrate your care in powerful ways and can make your child feel important (e.g., surprising your child with something small; letting them know you missed them while they were at school, etc.) - Intentional appreciation helps your child focus on their successes and strengths. Keep an ongoing note on your phone about the small things your child does that you appreciate to share with them. ### II. Self-Efficacy (Competence) #### Self-Efficacy (Competence) I. Providing Opportunities for Mastery a. Set goals b. Reframe challenges II. Normalizing Making Mistakes III. Vicarious Modeling: Show Children that Success is Possible #### Self-efficacy, identity development, and resilience What does your child tend to do when struggling with a task?  If your child gets stuck on a difficult math problem, does she  say things like, “Forget it. It’ll never work,” or “I’m just not good at math”? Or does she keep plowing forward,  declaring, “This is hard but I’ll figure it out,” or “I think I need some help understanding how to do this.” Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to produce a certain outcome or goal, and belief in one’s capacity to cope with difficult situations.[^60] Self-efficacy and competence are defined slightly differently[^61] but will be used interchangeably in this section. Self-efficacy is a basic psychological need for people to manage new experiences, cope with difficult ones, and reach their full potential.[^62] Competency beliefs influence how people think, feel about themselves and the world around them, and how they motivate themselves and the choices they make.[^63] The sense that you can exert influence over your life fosters striving toward goals, while the sense that you cannot or are unable to exert influence over your life can lead to hopelessness, anxiety, or apathy.[^64] How children perceive their competence can influence the activities they choose to engage in, the environmental settings they feel most comfortable in, and the peer group they choose to surround themselves with.[^65] For example, a child who views himself as incapable of shooting a basketball will not typically play on the basketball court after school, will not want to sign up for basketball classes, and will consequently not spend much time with peers who enjoy this sport. One thought about himself and his inefficacy in a certain arena can influence countless choices about his life and, therefore, his identity. Thus, as a determining factor in decision-making, self-efficacy naturally impacts identity formation.[^66] A lower perceived self-efficacy may lead a child to avoid experiences that would offer them the chance to develop their potential, and may inform how much effort they will expend and how long they will persist in the face of obstacles. Your son might refuse to attend Qur’an classes because he has already determined that he won’t be able to memorize at the same pace as others. The opposite is also true: A child with a higher perceived competence may choose to challenge themselves despite the obstacles before them, allowing them to develop skills that would not have otherwise been nurtured. This can lead a child to initiate new friendships with people at the mosque (*masjid*) because they feel capable of initiating a conversation, or joining an unfamiliar game because they feel capable of learning the ropes. Self-efficacy opens new avenues for our children to explore skills and opportunities that can positively impact their growing identities. Self-efficacy builds resilience. A “can do” attitude naturally improves how children perceive their capacity to deal with various stressors.[^67] A strong sense of self-efficacy can also give our children confidence in their ability to successfully practice Islam, no matter the difficulties that come their way.[^68] In a world that will inevitably challenge their faith, feeling capable of facing these challenges can prove essential in establishing a strong Islamic identity. #### The Islamic importance of self-efficacy The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ encouraged us to “tie your camel and trust in Allah,”[^69] showing the importance of knowing that Allah helps us while also insisting that we help ourselves. Our faith can increase our sense of personal empowerment in moments of high stress,[^70] wrapping us in the safety of knowing that Allah is our Protector and Provider in every circumstance, while also fortifying our own ability to handle difficult situations. Consider the difference between two adolescents who have both gotten into an argument with a friend: *One teen thinks: We’re done. Our friendship is over. I know I’ll never get her to listen to my side of the story so I’m not going to bother talking to her again.* *The other teen thinks: I’m really angry and sad about this. But I’m good at talking things out with people so maybe this can be fixed. And, regardless of what happens, at least I’ve done my part, which is all I can do and all that Allah asks of me.* The same can be seen in terms of religious practice and embracing a strong Islamic identity in the face of challenges: *One teen thinks: Looking different is just too hard. I can’t imagine being able to deal with wearing the hijab and sticking out like a sore thumb.* *Another teen thinks: I know wearing the hijab will be hard, but I also know I can do it,* inshāʾAllāh*. I can handle what comes my way because I know this is what Allah wants me to do.* Allah created us with the tools we need to manage our circumstances. When we embrace this, we are able to feel competent because we acknowledge that Allah will grant us what we need in every situation. This mindset also helps children in situations in which their natural capabilities may differ from those of others. For example, if your child is experiencing difficulty in memorizing the Qur’an while their sibling finds it easy, remind them that Allah’s gifts are outside of their control,[^71] and that our job is to do our best. Even if they struggle, they can realize that they have the tools to worship and please Allah; and the greater the struggle, the greater the reward. It is also helpful to reinforce the idea that you may not be able to achieve a goal on your own, but Allah can facilitate it for you in ways beyond your imagination.[^72] This concept, called proxy efficacy,[^73] refers to an individual’s level of trust in the ability of someone else to assist them to achieve their goals. Proxy efficacy can play an important role in increasing a person’s faith in the attainability of their goal. Thus, increasing our children’s trust in Allah to help them through difficulties can strengthen their overall sense of efficacy. Consider this powerful example of how Allah responds to a situation in which the Prophet ﷺ called people to mobilize to fight in the Battle of Tabūk (9/630),[^74] but instead they lagged behind: > \[It does not matter\] if you \[believers\] do not support him, for Allah did in fact support him when the disbelievers drove him out \[of Mecca\] and he was only one of two. While they both were in the cave, he reassured his companion, “Do not worry; Allah is certainly with us.” So Allah sent down His serenity upon the Prophet, supported him with forces you \[believers\] did not see, and made the word of the disbelievers lowest, while the Word of Allah is supreme. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.[^75] Knowing that Allah’s help is always near,[^76] and that reliance on Him always supersedes depending on people, can provide our children with a sense of hope and agency in times of difficulty. #### Practical ways to nurture self-efficacy #### A. Provide opportunities for mastery Many psychologists believe mastery experiences to be the most effective method for creating a strong sense of self-efficacy because they seemingly provide the most objective evidence of one’s capability.[^77] Keep in mind that opportunities for mastery are not the same as easy successes. A stable sense of self-efficacy is established through the experience of overcoming adversity through perseverance and effort. Mastery experiences provide people with concrete evidence of their skills, which bolsters their faith in overcoming similar challenges in the future. #### How can you create mastery experiences for your child? ##### I. Set goals Help your child to set realistic, specific, and actionable goals slightly above their current level of experience and skill. For example, if your child enjoys building Lego structures or completing puzzles, purchasing a set with more pieces than usual can offer an appropriate challenge. Next, help your child create a plan of action to achieve their goal. This might involve helping them devise a system for organizing the puzzle or Lego pieces to make the task more attainable. Throughout the process, prompt your child to reflect on their results and make changes where necessary, celebrate their achievements, and encourage them to continue even if it is initially difficult. The same principles can be employed for faith-based goals. Help your child formulate realistic, actionable goals for religious practice. For example, consider what a realistic prayer goal might be for a 6-year-old. Perhaps it is having them choose one prayer to be their “special prayer” that they pray each day without fail while the other four are temporarily optional. Help them formulate a plan to make this happen and consider what challenges they might face (e.g., when we’re out of the house at that time, when soccer practice conflicts, etc.), and how they might overcome that obstacle. After a few months of consistently praying their “special prayer,” add an additional one, gradually building up to five daily prayers and allowing them to experience a sense of mastery in being able to prioritize this important act of worship. This type of consistency allows children to internalize this behavior as a part of their identity. The Prophet ﷺ himself highlighted the link between consistent action and identity development: “You must be truthful. Verily, truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues to be truthful and encourages honesty until he is recorded with Allah as truthful. And beware of falsehood. Verily, falsehood leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to the Hellfire. A man continues to tell lies and encourages falsehood until he is recorded with Allah as a liar.” ##### II. Reframing challenges and difficulties Encouraging our children to regard challenges as opportunities for growth rather than as failures can encourage them to improve their skills and view themselves as capable of accomplishing their goals, yielding higher levels of self-efficacy.[^78] This also cultivates healthy identity development by teaching children to view setbacks as challenges to overcome rather than indications of inherent deficiency, thereby fostering a belief in their ability to persevere in the face of challenges.[^79] ##### Tips on Reframing Challenges and Difficulties when Skill Building 1. Validate the frustration: “It’s so hard when you work so hard and it doesn’t turn out the way you hoped.” 2. Help them to consider what they gained despite the end result being disappointing: “Can you tell me something you learned? Is there something you’d do differently next time?” 3. Help your child to consider the factors in their control and outside of their control. - Ask questions to illuminate what about this situation cannot be changed as well as what about this situation can be changed. For example: “You can’t control what your friend says to you at school but you can control how you respond to her.” “You can’t control the grade you get on your test but you can control how much you study for it.” - Help your child to consider small steps they can implement to create change (e.g., have a plan for how to respond when someone says something hurtful; create a study schedule to prepare for an exam, etc.). 4. Use faith to reframe the situation in a way that increases their resilience and solidifies an Islamic identity: - Remind them that Allah is the Most Appreciative (al-Shakūr) and that He sees and appreciates their efforts. - When your child does something pleasing to Allah, ask, “Did you know Allah is so proud of you and loves what you just did?” - When something doesn’t work out as hoped for, ask your child, “How many good deeds do you think you got because of how hard you tried?” (e.g., If your child is struggling to memorize a verse in the Qur’an, remind them that they get ten good deeds for every single letter recited so the more they repeat it, the more good deeds they get;[^80] if your child is struggling with a friend who is upset with them and is rejected when they try to fix things, emphasize how much Allah loves people who try to mend relationships,[^81] etc.) - When your child is feeling anxious because of the uncertainty of the results despite their effort, use this as a starting point for a discussion on trusting (*tawakkul*) in Allah for the things that are outside of their control based on the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ encouraging us to “tie your camel and trust in Allah.”[^82] Explore with your child how they can do their part in this situation and what they have to leave to Allah. #### B. Normalize making mistakes Helping children to see mistakes as part of the learning process and as a stepping stone toward success allows them to increase their resilience in the face of challenges. This also allows children to put mistakes in proper perspective, rather than defining themselves based upon these errors. This is essential in worship as well. Acknowledging that imperfection is part of being human and that mistakes can actually be a path to Allah when followed by repentance helps children to solidify a realistic Islamic identity. The Prophet ﷺ said, “All of the children of Adam commit sins, and the best of those who commit sins are those who repent.”[^83] Notice your own attitude toward mistakes and how you respond when you struggle with something. Do you tend to be very hard on yourself? Does a small detour tend to lead to self-doubt? Are you able to brush yourself off and try again? The way we model coping with perceived failures can greatly impact how our children approach them. A study revealed that babies as young as 15 months can learn about persisting with difficult tasks solely based on the way adults in their lives deal with struggle. Researchers found that babies who watched an adult struggle with accomplishing a task before succeeding tried harder and were willing to try longer at their own difficult task, compared to babies who saw an adult succeed effortlessly.[^84] #### Tips for Normalizing Making Mistakes 1. Make an effort to forgive your child for their mistakes, particularly as a way to highlight redemption and mercy in Islam. 2. Discuss mistakes of successful individuals and how this did not undermine their path toward success and achievement. Every child is different so different examples will resonate (e.g., athletes, scientists, etc.). 3. Discuss repentance and its virtues, particularly emphasizing how beloved this action is to Allah to further help your child in reframing their mistakes, even when it comes to worship: - “Say, \[O Prophet, that Allah says,\] ‘O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’”[^85] - The Prophet ﷺ said, “If your sins were to reach to the heavens and then you repented, Allah would still accept your repentance.”[^86] - The Prophet ﷺ said, “By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would replace you with people who would sin, and they would seek forgiveness from Allah and He would forgive them.”[^87] ##### III. Vicarious modeling: Show children that success is possible Vicarious experiences (witnessing someone else’s experience) can be powerful in promoting self-efficacy by nurturing hope in the possibility of change. Studies have found that youth benefit from role models not only as examples to follow but also as a means to expand their sense of possibility. One study found that this effect was even true amongst adults, showing that a group of participants with a role model at work reported significantly higher perceived self-efficacy than a group of participants who did not have a role model.[^88] Share examples of personal struggles from your own life and talk about how you overcame them.[^89] For example, if your child struggles with reading, let them know how hard it was for you to become a proficient reader when you were a child. Recall your own experiences and stories about persevering through difficulties to get to where you are today. Vicarious experiences through modeling can open up a world of possibility for our children. When they see that someone else was able to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, it gives them hope that they can do the same, thereby increasing their resilience in difficult situations. ##### Vicarious modeling: Share stories of the prophets The way we view ourselves dictates the way we view and respond to struggles. When we view Islam, rather than our transient interactions with the *dunyā* as the core of our identity, our responses to difficulty will be accordingly different. We will start to see difficulties as opportunities to grow closer to Allah. God’s prophets show us how a strong Islamic identity is a resilient one, because they grew through their struggles in the worship of Allah. We must take as edifying examples the stability of their faith no matter the difficulty or the context. Consider the example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when he was driven out of Mecca. He mourned leaving the only place he had ever called home, but he also knew that his identity as a servant of Allah was not tied to his surroundings. When he and Abū Bakr (rA) made their way to Medina, the murderous Quraysh close on their heels, they sought shelter in a cave. Abū Bakr expressed his concern saying, “If one of them were to look down, they would see us under their feet!” The Prophet said, “O Abū Bakr, what do you think of two with whom Allah is the third?”[^90] This absolute trust in Allah is what allowed the Prophet and Abū Bakr to leave everything behind, because it allowed them to hold onto something that was even more important: their ability to worship and proclaim their identities as Muslims. Consider the example of Prophet Joseph (Yūsuf) (AS). When the wife of the Chief Minister (*ʿAzīz*) of Egypt, with whom he lived, attempted to seduce him, Prophet Yūsuf responded, “Allah is my refuge!”[^91] And when the pressure and temptation to sin mounted, Prophet Yūsuf prayed to Allah: “My Lord! I would rather be in jail than do what they invite me to.”[^92] How could Prophet Yūsuf prefer the difficult conditions of a jail cell to the pleasure of succumbing to temptation? We all have different parts of ourselves that vie for dominance, but part of a healthy, solid identity is the ability to make choices that align with our personal values despite trying circumstances. We see here, in this beautiful example, that pleasing Allah was more important to him than the temporary pleasures he could gain in this life. Through this manifestation of his identity as a worshiper of Allah, Prophet Yūsuf made a choice that we still admire thousands of years later. In the prophetic stories that Allah narrates in the Qur’an, we witness the power of striving in difficult circumstances and the blessings that come from such effort. These stories prepare our children for a variety of stressors—from illness (Prophet Job (Ayyūb)), to being bullied for being different (Prophet Noah (Nūḥ)), to the loss of a loved one (Prophet Jacob (Yaʿqūb)) to accidentally hurting someone (Prophet Moses (Mūsā)), to feeling scared and alone (Prophet Muhammad ﷺ)—and so many more. These stories also teach our children that change is possible and that our efforts are meaningful, thereby promoting self-efficacy in a very powerful way. For an example of one of these stories to share with your child, see Lesson 2 in Conversation Starters (the story of Mūsā AS). #### Summary on Ways to Increase Self-Efficacy 1. Provide opportunities for mastery through identifying your child’s strengths and exposing them to related activities, classes, and materials that can help them improve. 2. Help your child to set realistic, specific, and actionable goals that are slightly above their current level of experience and skill. Provide support and encouragement to help your child meet their goals especially when they feel challenged. 3. Show your child success is possible by sharing your own experiences and stories of the prophets and other heroes. Experiences should inspire motivation and encouragement, not negative comparisons. ### III. Self-Trust (Autonomy) #### Self-Trust and Identity Development I. Encouraging an Independent Relationship with Allah II. Allowing Opportunities for Your Child to Make Decisions III. Encouraging Positive Distinctiveness IV. Nurturing Your Child’s Talents V. Nurturing Positive Social Circles & Support #### Self-trust, identity development, and resilience Autonomy is one of the building blocks of resilience.[^93] Self-trust is a core component of autonomy and plays a significant role in shaping a person’s sense of self and identity.[^94] When we think about the concept of trust, consider the example of two good friends. When you trust a friend, you have positive expectations of them and believe they will act in a way that is kind, helpful, and aligned with your personal interests. Self-trust functions similarly but involves your view of yourself and your ability to act in a manner aligned with your best interests and personal values (i.e., actions that you perform to achieve the best possible outcome for your life here and in the hereafter). Self-trust and autonomy, which will be used interchangeably here (despite slight differences in meaning), influence one’s ability to make decisions and self-advocate.[^95] When a child trusts their own ability to self-advocate and act autonomously, challenges become less intimidating, thereby contributing to higher resilience[^96] and an ability to deal with challenging situations, uncertainty, and stressful transitions.[^97] Furthermore, being able to identify yourself as an autonomous human being, as someone capable of making good choices, and as someone whom Allah has blessed with the ability to exercise free will in a positive way, will facilitate the development of a healthy Islamic identity. To nurture a strong identity, a belief in your ability to act in a manner consistent with your identity is essential. Self-trust and autonomy can manifest in a child in a variety of ways such as: speaking up when you see someone being bullied if you believe yourself to be someone dedicated to fair treatment and justice; saying “no” when someone pressures you to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable because living in accordance with your values is meaningful to you; or dedicating time, effort, and interest to a science project because you view yourself as a budding scientist, etc. #### The Islamic importance of self-trust and autonomy Pressure to fit in and assimilate can make seeming “different” and standing out a stressful experience.[^98] This may lead children to develop an inconsistent identity, meaning that they think and behave differently in different environments. Meyers, a researcher in the field of self-trust and autonomy, argues that personal autonomy requires a “touchstone.”[^99] For us, as Muslims, this touchstone is Islam and aligning our sense of self with the stable standards it provides. This allows us to navigate the different roles we have and reconcile them in a way that highlights the core of who we are: servants of Allah. Research has shown that promoting autonomy support can lead to the intergenerational transmission of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. The link between family religiosity and individual spirituality is stronger in families with higher warmth, structure, and autonomy-support.[^100] A degree of autonomy is essential for religious identity development as it allows children to choose actions that align with their personal convictions and encourages individual identity based upon their faith. As Muslims, self-trust is founded upon trust in Allah and the truth of Islam. Self-trust without faith is often merely arrogance—and one characteristic of arrogance, as described by the Prophet ﷺ, is “to disregard the truth.”[^101] Therefore, anything that obstructs embracing the truth of Islam’s prescriptions, including excessive reliance on one’s own judgment, can hurt a person in this life and the next. We should cultivate our children’s self-trust and autonomy by simultaneously encouraging their abilities and teaching them to thank Allah for granting them those abilities. For example, you could express happiness when your child does something positive (e.g., donating some of their personal savings to charity) followed by reminding them to say “*alḥamdulillāh*” for the blessing of being able to do such a good deed. You might tell your child, “I know it was hard to wear your hijab to soccer class for the first time but I knew you could do it. It’s a blessing that Allah gives us the strength to do what He loves.” Always stress that even our choice to worship Allah is a gift from Him. Allah says, “This is a reminder. Let whoever wishes take the way to his Lord. But you will only wish to do so if God wills—God is all-Knowing, all-Wise.”[^102] Consider also the supplication of Prophet David (Dāwūd) (AS): “O Lord! How can I ever thank You enough, when my thanking You is also a favor from You to me.” Allah the Exalted answered him, “Now, you have thanked Me sufficiently, O Dāwūd.”[^103] #### Practical ways to nurture self-efficacy ##### Encourage an independent relationship with Allah Helping our children nurture an independent relationship with Allah is essential for their development of a Muslim identity. Worship done solely to appease parents does not allow children to develop an autonomous connection with Allah. In this case, they may struggle to maintain their worship when parental supervision and encouragement ceases. A recent study found that feeling independently motivated is linked to religious practice.[^104] It can be difficult to strike a balance between encouraging our children in their relationship with and worship of Allah while simultaneously allowing them a degree of autonomy. One example of balancing explicit direction with autonomy would be sometimes encouraging your children to pray alone in their room so that prayer is not only associated with you telling them to do it but, rather, as their choice to connect to Allah. Allowing children to separate their relationship with their parents from their relationship with Allah is helpful in building their personal ability to connect with Allah independently. It can also be helpful to encourage a variety of ways for children to connect with Allah depending on their personal strengths and interests. Some children will find their faith is strengthened through attending gatherings that incorporate a social element along with an Islamic talk while others may prefer reading books with Islamic themes on their own. Some children may crave initiating and organizing an effort to do something of benefit to others (e.g., organizing a garage sale and donating the proceeds to charity) while others may prefer to give back face-to-face (e.g., visiting a nursing home, distributing school supplies to refugees, etc.). Based on your child’s strengths and interests, explore different opportunities for them to develop a relationship with Allah. ##### Allow your child to make some decisions A common issue that often arises within religious communities is the struggle parents face in allowing their children space for autonomy, thereby stunting their ability to develop self-trust. This struggle is based in fear and can have negative consequences. When parents offer autonomy support, they help their children feel a sense of agency, which in turn promotes healthy social behaviors.  Psychological control, in contrast, fosters risky and detrimental behaviors.[^105] Children denied autonomy may eventually choose to disconnect from family and religion in order to gain some semblance of independence. Furthermore, when we infantilize our children, restricting their autonomy and making all decisions for them, they may feel incapable of making informed decisions for themselves in the future. Permitting children the chance to practice the essential skill of decision-making sets them up for success later in life and in the hereafter as well. When children are not given opportunities to do things for themselves, they have no way of knowing how to navigate the world. They have only been taught to follow, not to think. In many verses of the Qur’an, Allah encourages us to be from amongst people who ponder and reflect, as when He says, “\[We sent them\] with clear proofs and written ordinances. And We revealed to you the message \[i.e., the Qur’an\] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.”[^106] Our children need to learn how to think for themselves, and how to make decisions that prepare them for when we will not be by their side to dictate the best path forward. ##### Encourage positive distinctiveness Navigating societal norms in tension with Islamic values can be a point of discomfort for children and adults alike. As the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reminded us, however, “Islam began \[as something\] strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.”[^107] Embracing rather than fearing distinctiveness can help children solidify rather than shun their Islamic identity. However, societal distinctiveness does not necessitate societal rejection. When the Muslims moved to Medina, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged them to differentiate themselves in certain ways (e.g., growing a beard, shortening their mustache) while also engaging courteously with society at large.[^108] Positive distinctiveness is established by emphasizing the difference between oneself and others based on valued criteria.[^109] This is an inherent part of identity development and the way that children cope with difficulties and build resilience.[^110] Helping our children make value-based choices in the face of opposition from their surroundings can allow them to maintain a consistent Islamic identity as they navigate different environments and expectations. Societal standards constantly change, so we hold on to the one standard that never does: the standard of Allah. In our tradition, we see praise given to those who embrace the fact that we, as Muslims, will oftentimes be different from the majority of people around us: > And few of my servants are grateful.[^111] > > But none believed with him, except a few.[^112]  > > In the Gardens of Bliss, a \[large\] company of the former people, And a few of the later peoples.[^113]  > > \[It is\] a Book whose verses are perfectly explained—a Qur’an in Arabic for people who know, delivering good news and warning. Yet most of them turn away, so they do not hear.[^114]  > > And most people will not believe—no matter how keen you are.[^115] Those who do extraordinary things are not like everyone else. Actively living as a Muslim is something special. A study conducted with refugees from Syria who had resettled in the United States found that their Islamic faith strongly contributed to their resiliency and provided them a  source of comfort, strength, pride, and empowerment.[^116] Embracing one’s distinctiveness often cultivates higher self esteem, which correlates with a higher sense of mastery, fewer risk-taking behaviors, and better physical health.[^117] Knowing the blessings of choosing a different path from the majority does not negate its difficulty, and it definitely does not mean it will not be hard for our children. As parents, we can support our children in navigating these challenges. Discuss stories of people who embraced their uniqueness (Muslim and otherwise) and reflect on how their stories would have been different if they had succumbed to social norms instead. Encourage open discussion about difficult situations you have faced and how hard it was to feel different (e.g., stories from when you were younger, recent situations with colleagues, etc.). It is also powerful to model prioritizing Allah despite discomfort in daily life. This can include finding a place to pray when on an outing so the time for prayer is honored, dressing differently from the crowd while on a beach vacation, and making time for daily Qur’an connection in the midst of a busy day. Identifying these moments and having a conversation about your thought process with your children can model healthy decision-making skills. ##### Nurture your child’s talents Nurturing your child’s individual strengths and talents reinforces the idea that their Islamic identity can enhance various aspects of their life. It is important to show our children how their faith need not be insulated from the unique interests, talents, and abilities gifted to them by Allah. These do not have to be conventional talents such as intelligence or athleticism. An entrepreneurial spirit, emotional awareness, a passion for baking, or an affinity for puzzles are all talents we can nurture in children. Demonstrating to our children how their hobbies align with and can even follow from their Islamic identity, such as ziplining through a forest while reflecting on the beautiful creation of Allah, can leave a powerful impact. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be keen to do that which gives you benefit.”[^118] Consider your child’s interests and talents and find opportunities to nurture them. When you nurture your child’s talents, you signal to them that their ideas and interests are worthwhile, giving them confidence in their holistic selves. This allows them to develop social support and hone different facets of themselves. If your child thrives in nature, join a hiking group; if they enjoy a particular sport, find them a team; if they love reading, reach out to your local library about a book club. Tie participation in these different activities and social groups to their faith, helping them see that their Muslim identity can and should positively contribute to every area of their life. For example, a child who plays soccer will find that practice improves their skills and that good sportsmanship and patience during moments of disappointment are all part of the game (see footnotes for hadiths and Qur’anic verses that can be referenced in these discussions).[^119] The Prophet ﷺ noticed the talents of those around him and encouraged them. One young companion, Zayd ibn Thābit (rA), was appointed to learn Hebrew due to his sharp intellect and desire to contribute to the community. Zayd narrated, “I was able to master the language within half a month. After I learned it, whenever \[the Prophet ﷺ\] wanted to send a letter to the Jews, I would write it for him, and when they wrote to him, I would read their letter to him.”[^120] Later in life, he was put in charge of the effort to compile the Qur’an, a gift we are still benefiting from 1400 years later.[^121] Imagine what a different trajectory Zayd’s life would have taken had his talents not been noticed, acknowledged, and nurtured? ##### Nurture positive social circles and supports Experiencing a sense of belonging is a natural human need.[^122] Youth who feel pride in their identity, which can be facilitated by community belongingness, were found to engage in fewer risky behaviors (that is, behaviors that are counterproductive and can lead to negative life outcomes).[^123] At the end of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa (the Opening), we ask Allah to “guide us along the Straight Path, the Path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor.”[^124] This idea of companionship along the path of guidance is so important that it is mentioned in a *sūra* we are required to recite 17 times a day.[^125] Humans are social creatures and the human soul naturally seeks companionship. Al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyāḍ (d. 187/803) said, “Do not feel lonely on the paths of guidance because their people are few, and do not be deceived by the great many who are ruined.”[^126] Those who want to follow the straight path in this life may find that the majority of people around them do not. Allah describes the believers as allies of one another and emphasizes the role of community as encouraging good deeds that bring us closer to Allah and His mercy.[^127] As the Prophet ﷺ said, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[^128] Cultivating strong bonds of care and belonging is not only necessary, but also a form of worshiping Allah and strengthening our identity as Muslims. A strong core identity stabilized by faith can be complemented by a variety of interests and social circles. Ethnic affiliation, for instance, can positively impact resilience, particularly in managing the stress of discriminatory experiences.[^129] We should encourage and create opportunities for our children to build a variety of social circles, given that increases in resilience are associated with perceived group belonging.[^130] Social support can be a protective factor in the mental health of youth.[^131] It can also promote higher self-esteem, resilience, and a positive self-image.[^132] We all have had experiences in our youth (and, for many, in adulthood) of conflict within friend groups. When a child has only one social circle, conflict can feel catastrophic and lead to self-doubt and loneliness. When a child has a variety of friend groups, conflict might still be uncomfortable but will not cause them to question whether they are worthless as a person or friend. This allows them to be more objective in how they perceive issues that arise, and to address conflict in healthier ways. Furthermore, this allows them to feel more secure in who they are since the approval of and pressures from one particular friend group do not feel as weighty; they have other friends to fall back on if one social circle does not embrace them. Having a variety of social circles, particularly diverse ones (in terms of faith, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, etc.), also allows children to learn how to navigate different relationships and increase their comfort level with people  unlike themselves. Of course, balance is key. While some exposure to people with alternative values can help children in holding onto their beliefs amidst differences, constant bombardment by messages contrary to their Islamic values can undermine self-trust.[^133] Therefore, nurturing friendships with people whose values align with theirs can supply children relief, validation, and the strength to navigate difficult situations they encounter. As parents, being aware of the peers with whom your children are spending their time is essential in nurturing healthy identity development. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, the parable of good and bad company is that of a seller of musk and a blacksmith. The seller of musk will give you perfume, you will buy some, or you will notice a pleasant smell. As for the blacksmith, he will burn your clothes, or you will notice a bad smell.”[^134] You cannot spend time with a person without them leaving some trace on you—good or bad, small or huge. Allah informs us that on the Day of Judgment, people will say, “Ah! Woe to me! If only I had never taken so-and-so as a friend! He indeed led me astray from the reminder after it had come to me!”[^135] Therefore, invest in positive relationships with friends that encourage good in your child. Point out their positive traits while also emphasizing the positive traits your child contributes to these relationships. One way to actively explore the influence of your child’s current friend group is to encourage your child to create a list of all the qualities (positive and challenging) they notice in their two closest friends and then circle the ones they see in themselves. Oftentimes, we are a combination of the qualities we see in the people with whom we spend our time and this exercise is a simple way to bring this point to life. Helping our children to gain the skills to critically consider their friendships and identify which friends to spend time with can help them to develop a sense of autonomy in their relationships as well as solidify a strong identity. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized the importance of making these choices: “A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.”[^136] Notice changes in your child after spending time with a particular friend and reflect this back to them saying something like, “I noticed you’ve been saying/doing \_\_\_\_\_\_ more frequently lately. What do you think that’s about?” Consistent communication helps our children to build awareness of the choices they make regarding friendships. #### Summary of Ways to Nurture Self-Trust, Autonomy, and Identity Development 1. Encourage an independent relationship with Allah. 2. Give your child the opportunity to make age-appropriate choices on a daily basis (e.g., what to wear, ideas about the next family trip, etc.). 3. Allow your children to practice this essential skill of decision-making, and weighing the pros and cons of different choices. Practice this with them verbally and through writing. 4. Give your child age-appropriate tasks to give them an opportunity to develop a sense of independent accomplishment and contribution (e.g., picking up toys for a 2-3 year-old; emptying the dishwasher for a 6-7 year-old, etc.). 5. Help your child make value-based choices in the midst of opposition from their surroundings. Help foster an Islamic identity as they navigate different environments (home, school, neighborhood, etc.) and expectations (Muslims don’t backbite, Muslims don’t eat pork, Muslims practice prayer throughout the day, etc.) by actively identifying being Muslim as something special. 6. Help your child become comfortable with differences. Don’t shy away from discussions about the differences they notice between themselves and others (e.g., religion, physical ability, race, etc.). At the same time, have discussions about the different choices people make (e.g., something their friend does that doesn’t align with your family values, the fact that people worship differently, the fact that people dress differently, etc.). Emphasize the fact that your child is striving to make choices that align with their identity as a Muslim and how wonderful that is in the sight of Allah. 7. Nurture positive support by assessing your child’s various support groups, and increase exposure to those that support healthy self-development and expand on your child’s strengths (example: a brothers’ *ḥalaqa*, soccer team, math club, neighborhood community service group). --- ## VI. Important considerations Identity development is a lifelong process but is best nurtured from early on in a child’s life. Younger children are more impressionable and tend to spend more time with parents, so these early years offer a great opportunity for parents to influence their child’s identity development. During the preteen and teen years, peer interactions become more salient. As such, it is especially important to nurture social circles that complement your child’s faith and identity development during early childhood. Another factor on which to reflect while nurturing your child’s healthy identity development is your own personal identity journey. When we have not nurtured conviction and confidence in our identity as Muslims, children pick up on this ambivalence. Reflect on your personal journey in figuring out who you are and the struggle of making different choices than those around you. How do you feel in these situations and how do you tend to navigate them (e.g., when your young daughter wants to experiment with wearing a hijab to the grocery store; when the time for prayer conflicts with another commitment)? Many current parents are first-generation Muslims living in Western countries and have experienced some difficulty in establishing a stable identity. Self-awareness and introspection are powerful tools in exploring your own (past, present, and future) identity development to determine what may be inadvertently conveyed to your child and, more importantly, any work you would personally like to pursue in establishing a strong, healthy Islamic identity for your growth in this life and the next. Finally, remember: when reading a paper like this, it can be easy to criticize yourself and highlight any mistakes you have made in the past with your children. Parenting is one of the hardest tests we will face and it will be *filled* with stumbles and falls. None of us will be able to reach perfection as parents; there is always room for growth and there is always hope for change. Remember that Allah is with you every step of the way and will give you the tools you need as you work toward the relationship you yearn for with your children. --- ## VII. Case study revisited *When Hanan realized that her negative experiences with the way religion was enforced in her childhood and her struggles with solidifying her identity were impacting her ability to instill an Islamic identity in her children, she realized she needed to work on strengthening her own identity first. She decided to make some changes.* *She began to reflect on how she labeled herself and the language she tended to use in her self-talk, as well as when describing her children. She became more cognizant of reminding both herself and her children of the love of Allah and began to verbalize the positive qualities she noticed in her children, while tying them to Allah. Although it was uncomfortable for her at first, Hanan also began to discuss Islam with her children more. She realized that a balance could be struck so that she wasn’t being forceful but was still providing some guidance and knowledge to her children. They began to read stories of the prophets together and discussed what they learned. Hanan found her own faith and pride in her identity as a Muslim strengthening as she engaged with her children. She began to value a new side to her faith that she had never explored—one that made her feel loved by Allah and honored by Islam, rather than constantly restricted and fearful as she had felt in her youth. She began to realize the ways that her faith intertwined with and complemented her daily life, which she shared with her children, helping her to begin healing from her disjointed identity.* --- ## VIII. Conversation starters Sometimes translating theory into practice can feel like a daunting task. Please note that if you try to implement everything in this article at once, it will feel unnatural and overwhelming. Forming a relationship with Allah is a long-term journey. To help you in this journey we have made a list of *conversation starters*. These prompts can be a great supplement to preexisting family rituals. For example, if like many families you do a movie or game night every Friday to help unwind and kick off the weekend, you can use one of these prompts for a mini-lesson beforehand. Perhaps, before talking about your week and weekend plans, you can establish a habit of discussing one weekly question as a family. These questions can help open up the doors to important discussions, and build family bonding within the psycho-spiritual context. Basic Tips for Conversation Starters: - Tailor the duration of the mini-lesson to the audience. If these conversations are too lengthy, neither you nor your children will look forward to them because they are draining. About 15-20 minutes is a good length. - Make the mini-lesson appropriate for the audience in terms of content. Small children are naturally drawn to arts and crafts so drawing related pictures or making visuals with markers can be appealing to them. If there is a wide age gap between your children, consider assigning one parent to the older children and the other parent to the younger children. - Don’t make this activity/conversation burdensome to prepare. Otherwise, you most likely will not follow through. Prepare for 5-10 minutes max by pulling relevant *ay*ā*t*, hadith, or material from this article. - If you ever get stuck with a tough question or topic from your child, don’t panic. Tell your child that you will look into it and get back to them. This can be a spiritual learning moment for you both. --- ## IX. Conversation starters and stories ### LESSON 1 ### Āsiya: Finding an anchor in the storm The story below shares the journey of one of the strongest, most admirable women in our tradition: Āsiya bint Muzāḥim, the wife of the Pharaoh. In it, we see that her incredible conviction and her sense of self-worth never wavered despite her difficult surroundings. Her story illustrates the power of relying on Allah as our source of stability and safety, no matter the circumstances, and emphasizes the Names of Allah the First (al-Awwal) and the Last (al-Ākhir) as our ever-present source of strength. This is a wonderful story to share with our children.  Faced daily with a reality out of step with their religious values, they may need stories like this one to remind them that they are capable of maintaining a strong sense of self despite the challenges they face. > And do not invoke any other god with Allah. There is no god \[worthy of worship\] except Him. Everything is bound to perish except He Himself. All authority belongs to Him. And to Him you will \[all\] be returned.[^137] There once lived a remarkable woman, described by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as one of the four best women of paradise[^138] and one of the four women to have achieved perfect faith.[^139] Have you ever met someone who clearly knew who they were, and never let anyone shake that? Someone who, no matter how many haters spewed their hate, stood firm in themselves and their values? This woman was the epitome of such strength—and it’s one of the main reasons she achieved such an amazing status in the eyes of Allah. Āsiya bint Muzāḥim (AS) lived in ancient Egypt during the reign of one of the most oppressive rulers in history. She wasn’t just a citizen who lived under his rule; Āsiya was married to him! She lived in the home of this tyrant as his wife. This pharaoh was incredibly cruel. After dreaming that a child from among the Children of Israel would one day overthrow him, he ordered the mass slaughter of their first-born baby boys. His cruelty was matched only by his egomania, as he forced all of his subjects to proclaim him an all-powerful god. Can you imagine what life as the wife of this pharaoh must have been like? One day, something changed that brightened Āsiya’s days and made living in the home of a tyrant more bearable. In the river alongside her home, Āsiya suddenly saw a basket floating along. As she peered closer, she saw that the basket was moving—and that there was a baby boy inside! As she gently picked up the child, she noticed his perfect tiny fingers and toes. Love overwhelmed her. But her husband was on a mission to kill any baby boys who could threaten him! How was she going to keep him safe? Āsiya knew there was no way she could keep a baby hidden. She tried to persuade her husband to keep him: “\[This baby\] is a source of joy for me and you. Do not kill him. Perhaps he may be useful to us or we may adopt him as a son.”[^140] Imagine the sigh of relief exhaled and the happiness felt when her husband agreed. She loved this baby as her own son. His name was Mūsā. When Mūsā grew older, he began preaching that there is one true God, the only One worthy of worship. Āsiya believed this fully; she could feel in her bones and deep within her soul that this was the truth. However, she had to keep her faith a secret. She knew that if the Pharaoh found out, he could become dangerous. As Āsiya tried to hide her faith from her husband, she witnessed his violence against innocent people—even women and children. She watched in horror as Pharaoh publicly executed anyone he discovered did not worship him, yet her faith only grew stronger. Soon she could no longer keep it a secret. The Pharaoh's violence had brought her closer to Allah rather than turning her away from Him, and she decided to speak up against her husband’s injustice. She revealed her true beliefs; she declared that she believed in the One true God, Allah. When the Pharaoh found out about Āsiya’s faith, he began torturing her in an attempt to get her to renounce her beliefs. His violence knew no bounds but no matter how he attempted to hurt, demean, and degrade her, Āsiya refused to relinquish her faith. While being tortured by the Pharaoh, her own husband, she prayed to Allah: > My Lord, build for me near You a house in paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people.[^141] These words have been immortalized in the Qur’an as a reminder of the power of one amazing woman’s faith. As she made this prayer, Allah opened the skies above her and revealed her beautiful house in paradise. In the midst of the torture she endured, Āsiya laughed with joy when she witnessed her new home. She died with a smile on her face, knowing that she would be with her Lord in a place filled with peace, serenity, and immeasurable joy. #### Allah is the First and the Last Allah has always existed and always will; He existed before everything and will exist after everything and everyone has died. There will never be and there never has been a time without Allah. The First (al-Awwal) is the Name of Allah that means the One who existed before all of creation, the One who preceded  any thing or any one. Allah is the cause of all worlds and every creation. The Last (al-Ākhir) is the Name of Allah that means the One who remains after all of creation is gone. He is the ultimate, the One beyond whom there is nothing. Allah tells us in the Qur’an that, “Everything is bound to perish except He.”[^142] When the world ends and the colossal seas are gone and even the mighty mountains have turned to dust, Allah remains. These Names illustrate the true meaning of stability and security. Nothing and no one can promise *always* to be there for us, except Allah. He was here before you and He will be here after you. The pressures and struggles you face cannot outlast al-Awwal and al-Ākhir. Just as the days pass and the sun sets, your pain will fade. Everything will perish, everything will end except Allah—including the darkness you may be facing. These Names of Allah and the story of Āsiya show us that the people you’re surrounded by don’t determine who you are. Despite being married to the worst man in history, Āsiya knew that Allah was her source of strength, stability, and security. Thousands of years later, she is still an example for us. She did not let her circumstances define her. She allowed her purpose and self-worth to be defined only by the One who would always be by her side—Allah. Do not assess yourself by standards other than those of Allah. Other people’s standards are always changing so if you strive to please others, you’ll always be disappointed. Allah is al-Awwal and al-Ākhir; his standards are unchanging. Āsiya’s identity, based on those standards, was the same. #### Questions for discussion - Have people ever made you feel badly about your choices? How did you cope with that? - Self-esteem is confidence in your own worth or abilities, the ability to respect yourself. How do you see this in the story of Āsiya? What was the source of her self-esteem? How about yours? - How is the fact that Allah is a source of security and stability reflected in the story of Āsiya? - Have you ever struggled with people pushing you toward something you weren’t comfortable with? What happened? How can we resist pressure from people who encourage us to do something we don’t agree with? - Have you ever done something because the people around you made it seem normal and then felt badly about it? Have you ever made a choice you felt good about even if the people around you didn’t like it? How did it feel? ### LESSON 2 ### Prophet Moses (AS): An example of strong identity Imagine the scene: A ragtag group of people, fleeing to safety with whatever belongings they could carry, beholding a horizonless, boatless body of water ahead and hearing the deranged screams and battle cries of a tyrant’s army close behind.  This is the impossible situation in which Prophet Moses (Mūsā) (AS) and his people found themselves, after having already suffered for generations under the despotic Pharaoh. In order to escape this torture, Allah had inspired Prophet Mūsā to take his people and leave Egypt. But now, after a treacherous trek under the cover of darkness had brought them to the shores of the Red Sea, with nowhere left to turn, the prison break seemed to have failed. Already they could hear, if not see, the Pharaoh’s massive army bearing down upon them. Confronted with this terrifying sight, Mūsā’s people saw only defeat: > When the two groups came face to face, the companions of Moses cried out, “We are overtaken for sure.”[^143] Yet look at how Mūsā viewed the same sight: > \[Moses\] said, “Absolutely not! My Lord is certainly with me—He will guide me.”[^144] While his people despaired of salvation, defeated by the barrier before them and the army behind them, Mūsā never wavered. He knew his purpose and, more importantly, he knew his Lord. He never doubted for a second that the help of Allah would come. > So We inspired Moses: “Strike the sea with your staff,” and the sea was split, each part was like a huge mountain. We drew the pursuers to that place, and delivered Moses and those with him all together. Then We drowned the others.[^145] Prophet Mūsā and his people were in the same situation, but their perspectives were oceans apart. Prophet Mūsā’s people could perceive only defeat and humiliation; Prophet Mūsā, meanwhile, stood secure in his self-understanding as  a worshiper of Allah, al-Qadīr and al-Muʿizz, the Strengthener. > Then We saved Our messengers and those who believed. For it is Our duty to save the believers.[^146] Self-worth is not synonymous with self-sufficiency. Self-worth in fact stems from the precise opposite: dependence on the Divine. As Prophet Mūsā exemplified, self-worth is knowing that you’re strong because Allah has told you that He doesn’t burden you beyond what you are capable of handling.[^147] It means knowing that you’re loved because Allah tests those who He loves.[^148] #### The All-Capable, The All-Powerful and The Bestower of Honor and Strength Allah is the All-Capable, The All-Powerful (Al-Qadīr), and the Bestower of Honor and Strength (al-Muʿizz). These beautiful Names help us hold onto our relationship with Allah as the core of our identity. Al-Qadīr is the One who possesses the power and ability to decree and determine anything and everything. He prevails over everything and grants us the abilities we need to face the challenges of every day. He is the One who ensures that our lungs continue to take in air and that everything that happens in our lives has a purpose. Al-Muʿizz is the One who grants us honor and power. He is the One who strengthens us and allows us to be respected and cherished. Al-Muʿizz is the One source of every bit of respect and esteem we, as human beings, naturally desire. These Names of Allah are a powerful reminder that the abilities, honor, and accolades we strive for to feel a sense of worth and esteem are all in His Hands. Everything we desire and everything we need comes from Him. To realize this is to realize the importance of having the core of our identity be in our relationship with Allah and in our role as His servants. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized this saying, > When Allah loves a servant, he calls Gabriel and he says: Verily, I love this person so you should love him. Then Gabriel loves him and makes an announcement in the heavens, saying: Allah loves this person and you should love him. Thus, the dwellers of the heavens love him and he is honored on the earth.[^149] Whenever you feel worried about what others are thinking about you, remember that Allah is al-Qadīr and al-Muʿizz, the One who gives you the capability to handle things in your life. He is the One who gives you honor. Remember that everything you need and everything you want are in His Hands, so prioritize Him and you’ll find the success you’re looking for in this life and the hereafter, *inshāʾAllāh*. #### Questions for discussion - When you know that Allah is always taking care of you, how does that make you feel? - How can you see the Names of Allah, al-Qadīr and al-Muʿizz, reflected in the story of Prophet Mūsā and the Red Sea? - Have you ever felt stuck and felt there wasn’t a way out of a hard situation? What happened and how did you deal with it? - Can you name three moments when you achieved something difficult? How did you feel? Turn those moments into a *duʿāʾ* to Allah to thank Him for the ability to do this and for the dignity you experienced in that moment. --- ## Notes [^1]: Jane Kroger, *Identity Development: Adolescence through Adulthood* (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007). [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 1358; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2658. [^3]: Sheldon Stryker and Peter J. Burke, “The Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory,” *Social Psychology Quarterly* (2000): 284–97. [^4]: James D. Fearon, “What Is Identity (As We Now Use the Word)?,” manuscript draft, November 3, 1999. Some social scientists define *identity* as identification with a social category, the culture of a group, or the significance attributed to a collection of roles negotiated in a complex and modern society. See also Jacquelynne Eccles, “Who Am I and What Am I Going to Do With My Life? Personal and Collective Identities as Motivators of Action,” *Educational Psychologist* 44, no. 2 (2009): 78–89, [http://www.doi.org/10.1080/00461520902832368](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1080/00461520902832368&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258824893&usg=AOvVaw2ZEHg0fbJFVuNcKm-55EzO). [^5]: H. M. Kasinath, “Adolescence: Search for an Identity,” *Journal on Educational Psychology* 7, no. 1 (2013): 1–6. [^6]: Abu Ja’far reported: ‘Umayr ibn Habib, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Faith increases and decreases.” It was said, “How does it increase and decrease?” ‘Umayr said, “If we remember our Lord and fear Him, it will increase. If we are heedless and we forget and we waste our time,  it will decrease.” *Shu’ab al-īmān*, no. 55. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2750a. [^8]: Qur’an 31:15. [^9]: Qur’an 51:56. [^10]: Gang Wu, Adriana Feder, Hagit Cohen, Joanna J. Kim, Solara Calderon, Dennis S. Charney, and Aleksander A. Mathé, “Understanding Resilience,” *Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience* 7 (2013): 10. [^11]: Santiago Sevilla Vallejo, “The Interplay of Identity and Resilience: Unleashing Inner Strength in the Face of Adversity,” *Mental* *Health and Human Resilience International Journal* 7, no. 1 (2023), 1–2. [^12]: Vallejo, “The Interplay of Identity and Resilience.” [^13]: Vallejo, “The Interplay of Identity and Resilience.” [^14]: Vallejo, “The Interplay of Identity and Resilience.” [^15]: Darko Marčinko, Miro Jakovljević, Nenad Jakšić, Sarah Bjedov, and Aleksandra Mindoljević Drakulić, “The Importance of Psychodynamic Approach during COVID-19 Pandemic,” *Psychiatria Danubina* 32, no. 1 (2020): 15–21; Samuel Dickinson, “Post-Traumatic Growth in the Twenty-First Century: How Current Trends May Threaten Our Ability to Grow after Trauma,” *The Journal of Positive Psychology* 16, no. 4 (2021): 503–11. [^16]: Gloria T. DiFulvio, “Sexual Minority Youth, Social Connection and Resilience: From Personal Struggle to Collective Identity,” *Social Science and Medicine* 72 (2011): 1611–17, [www.doi.org/10.1016/ j.socscimed.2011.02.045](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1016/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258798672&usg=AOvVaw0H89N3QuC0RPFTlnDYRxib); Anisa N. Goforth, Evelyn R. Oka, Frederick T. L. Leong, and Daniel J. Denis, “Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, Religiosity and Psychological Adjustment among Muslim Arab American Adolescents,” *Journal of Muslim Mental Health* 8, no. 2 (2014). [^17]: Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek, “Religiosity, Subjective Well-Being, Self-Esteem, and Anxiety among Kuwaiti Muslim Adolescents,” *Mental Health, Religion and Culture* 14, no. 2 (2011): 129–40. [^18]: Breakwell, “Identity Resilience.” [^19]: Qur’an 21:35. [^20]: Qur’an 2:155. [^21]: Qur’an 76:2–3. [^22]: Qur’an 18:7. [^23]: M. Brent Donnellan, Kali H. Trzesniewski, and Richard W. Robins, “Self-Esteem: Enduring Issues and Controversies,” in *The Wiley-Blackwell Handbooks of Personality and Individual Differences*, ed. T. Chamorro-Premuzic, S. Von Stumm, and A. Furnham, pp. 718–46 (N.p.: Wiley Blackwell, 2011). [^24]: Donnellan, Trzesniewski, and Robins, “Self-Esteem.” [^25]: Peter C. Clasen, Aaron J. Fisher, and Christoper G. Beevers, “Mood-Reactive Self-Esteem and Depression Vulnerability: Person-Specific Symptom Dynamics via Smart Phone Assessment,” *PlOS One* 10, no. 7 (2015): e0129774. [^26]: Julia Friederike Sowislo, Ulrich Orth, and Laurenz L. Meier, “What Constitutes Vulnerable Self-Esteem? Comparing the Prospective Effects of Low, Unstable, and Contingent Self-Esteem on Depressive Symptoms,” *Journal of Abnormal Psychology* 123, no. 4 (2014): 737–53. [^27]: Jesse Singal, “How the Self-Esteem Craze Took Over America and Why the Hype Was Irresistible,” *The Cut*, 2017, [https://www.thecut.com/2017/05/self-esteem-grit-do-they-really-help.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thecut.com/2017/05/self-esteem-grit-do-they-really-help.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258828312&usg=AOvVaw2OsjL9YgjQv-qcmrNwo1JC). [^28]: Singal, “How the Self-Esteem Craze Took Over America.” [^29]: Peter Benson and Bernard Spilka, “God Image as a Function of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* 12, no. 3 (1973): 297–310. [^30]: Silvia Casale, Giulia Fioravanti, Sara Bocci Benucci, Andrea Falone, Valdo Ricca, and Francesco Rotella Casale,  “A Meta-Analysis on the Association between Self-Esteem and Problematic Smartphone Use,” *Computers in Human Behavior* 134 (2022), 107302. [^31]: Judith S. Beck, “Cognitive Therapy,” in *The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology* (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2010), 1–3. [^32]: Joseph A. Bailey II, “The Foundation of Self-Esteem,” *Journal of the National Medical Association* 95, no. 5 (2003): 388–93. [^33]: Bailey, “Foundation of Self-Esteem.” [^34]: Bailey, “Foundation of Self-Esteem.” [^35]: Visser-Vogel, “Religious Identity Development.” [^36]: Qur’an 22:78. [^37]: Ismāʿīl Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, ed. Sāmī ibn Muhammad al-Salāma (Riyadh: Dār Tayba, 1999), verse 22:78. [^38]: Qur’an 49:15. [^39]: Qur’an 9:51. [^40]: Qur’an 49:10. [^41]: Qur’an 8:3–4. [^42]: Qur’an 49:10. [^43]: “Then he raised his parents to the throne, and they all fell down in prostration to Joseph, who then said, ‘O my dear father! This is the interpretation of my old dream. My Lord has made it come true. He was truly kind to me when He freed me from prison, and brought you all from the desert after Satan had ignited rivalry between me and my siblings. Indeed my Lord is subtle in fulfilling what He wills. Surely He \[alone\] is the All-Knowing, All-Wise.’” Qur’an 12:100. [^44]: Wayne McCashen, *The Strengths Approach* (Victoria, Australia: St. Luke's Innovative Resources, 2005). [^45]: Wayne Hammond and Rob Zimmerman, “A Strengths-Based Perspective,” Resiliency Initiatives, 2012, 1–18. [^46]: Qur’an 16:97. [^47]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4953, bk. 65, hadith 475. [^48]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5691; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2309. [^49]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 22211. [^50]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2392. [^51]: Qur’an 14:7. [^52]: Lisa Zadro, Kipling D. Williams, and Rick Richardson, “How Low Can You Go? Ostracism by a Computer Is Sufficient to Lower Self-Reported Levels of Belonging, Control, Self-Esteem, and Meaningful Existence,” *Journal of Experimental Social Psychology* 40, no. 4 (2004): 560–67. [^53]: Roy F. Baumeister and Mark R. Leary, “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation,” *Psychological Bulletin* 117, no. 3 (1995): 497. [^54]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 3932, and graded authentic (*sahih*) by al-Albani in *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-**ṣaḥīḥah* no. 3420. [^55]: Baidi Bukhori, Zahraa Hassan, Ibnu Hadjar, and Rifa Hidayah, “The Effect of Spirituality and Social Support from the Family toward Final Semester University Students’ Resilience,” *Man in India* 97, no. 19 (2017): 313–21. [^56]: William B. Swann, Alan Stein-Seroussi, and R. Brian Giesler, “Why People Self-Verify,”  *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology* 62, no. 3 (1992): 392–401, [https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.3.392](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.62.3.392&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258809851&usg=AOvVaw3c3ShJiuv3Xn1iAIfvQvYe). [^57]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6129. [^58]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4970. [^59]: John M. Gottman, *Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marital Therapy* (New York: WW Norton and Company, 1999). [^60]: Albert Bandura, “Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change,” *Psychological Review* 84, no. 2 (1977): 191. [^61]: John Kremer, Aidan Moran, Graham Walker, and C. Craig, *Self-Efficacy and Perceived Competence* (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012), [https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288702](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288702&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258822213&usg=AOvVaw1jisiTWcxBnKcZvWGndogr). [^62]: Sander L. Koole, Caroline Schlinkert, Tobias Maldei, and Nicola Baumann, “Becoming Who You Are: An Integrative Review of Self‐Determination Theory and Personality Systems Interactions Theory,” *Journal of Personality* 87, no. 1 (2019): 15–36. [^63]: Albert Bandura, “Exercise of Personal and Collective Efficacy in Changing Societies,” *Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies*, ed. Albert Bandura, pp. 1–45 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995); Bonnie Benard, *Resiliency, What We Have Learned* (San Francisco, CA: WestEd, 2004). [^64]: Bandura, “Exercise of Personal and Collective Efficacy;” Benard, *Resiliency*. [^65]: Breakwell, “Identity Resilience.” [^66]: Breakwell, “Identity Resilience.” [^67]: Ralf Schwarzer and Lisa Marie Warner, “Perceived Self-Efficacy and Its Relationship to Resilience,” in *Resilience in Children, Adolescents, and Adults: Translating Research into Practice*, pp. 139–50 (New York: Springer, 2012). [^68]: Jihad Saafir and Osman Umarji, “How to Raise Religious Teens: A Self-Determination Theory Approach,” *Yaqeen*, October 24, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach#ftnt11](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach%23ftnt11&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258806895&usg=AOvVaw17qC9p4KyQ_E3zryogQqB3). [^69]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2517 and graded fair (*hasan*) according to Al-Albani. [^70]: René Hefti, “Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Mental Health Care, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,” *Religions* 2 (2011): 611–27, [http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel2040611](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel2040611&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258841572&usg=AOvVaw2HRASp6g2hFfruy_vaOtrD). [^71]: “This is the favor of Allah. He grants it to whoever He wills. And Allah is the Lord of infinite bounty.” Qur’an 62:4. [^72]: “And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine. And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He \[alone\] is sufficient for them.” Qur’an 65:2–3. [^73]: Albert Bandura, “Exercise of Human Agency through Collective Efficacy,” *Current Directions in Psychological Science* 9, no. 3 (2000): 75–78, [http://www.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00064](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00064&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1725387258831873&usg=AOvVaw2RRZOe4cjh-NEx6ta6ljwq). [^74]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, Sūrat al-Tawba, 4:154. [^75]: Qur’an 9:40. [^76]: Qur’an 2:214. [^77]: Bandura, “Exercise of Personal and Collective Efficacy;” Benard, *Resiliency*. [^78]: David Scott Yeager and Carol S. Dweck, “Mindsets That Promote Resilience: When Students Believe That Personal Characteristics Can Be Developed,” *Educational Psychologist* 47, no. 4 (2012): 302–14. [^79]: Yeager and Dweck, “Mindsets That Promote Resilience.” [^80]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no*.* 2910, and graded authentic (*sahih*) by Al-Tirmidhi. [^81]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2509, and graded authentic (*sahih*) by Al-Tirmidhi. [^82]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī**,* no. 2517, and graded fair (*hasan*) by Al-Albani. [^83]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2499, and graded strong (*qawi*) by Ibn Hajar. [^84]: Julia A. Leonard, Yuna Lee, and Laura E. Schulz, “Infants Make More Attempts to Achieve a Goal When They See Adults Persist,” *Science* 357, no. 6357 (2017): 1290–94. [^85]: Qur’an 39:53. [^86]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 4248, and graded fair (*hasan*) byAl-Albani. [^87]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2749. [^88]: Adedotun R. Adejare, “Assessing the Impact of a Role Model in the Construction of Professional Identities,” Wharton Research Scholars 173 (2018). [^89]: Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, Janet N. Ahn, Jondou Chen, Fu-Fen Anny Fang, and Myra Luna-Lucero, “Even Einstein Struggled: Effects of Learning about Great Scientists’ Struggles on High School Students’ Motivation to Learn Science,” *Journal of Educational Psychology* 108, no. 3 (2016): 314. [^90]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3096. [^91]: Qur’an 12:23. [^92]: Qur’an 12:33. [^93]: Edith H. Grotberg, “Countering Depression with the Five Building Blocks of Resilience,” *Reaching Today’s Youth* 4, no. 1 (1999): 66–72. [^94]: Marla Clarice Sharp, “The Self in Crisis: Using Self-Trust to Enhance Therapeutic Practices for Patients with Chronic Suicidal Ideation” (PhD diss., McMaster University, 2016). [^95]: Sharp, “Self in Crisis.” [^96]: Trudy Govier, “Self-Trust, Autonomy, and Self-Esteem,” *Hypatia* 8, no. 1 (1993): 99–120. [^97]: Michelle L. Dawson and Julie Ann Pooley, “Resilience: The Role of Optimism, Perceived Parental Autonomy Support and Perceived Social Support in First Year University Students,” *Journal of Education and Training Studies* 1, no. 2 (2013): 38–49. [^98]: Zeenah Adam and Colleen Ward, “Stress, Religious Coping and Wellbeing in Acculturating Muslims,” *Journal of Muslim Mental Health* 10, no. 2 (2016). [^99]: Diana T. Meyers, “Personal Autonomy and the Paradox of Feminine Socialization,” *Journal of Philosophy* 84, no. 11 (1987): 619–28. [^100]: Sam A. Hardy, Jennifer A. White, Zhiyong Zhang, and Joshua Ruchty, “Parenting and the Socialization of Religiousness and Spirituality,” *Psychology of Religion and Spirituality* 3, no. 3 (2011): 217–30. [^101]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 91. [^102]: Qur’an 76:29–30. [^103]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsir Ibn Kathir*, Sūrat Ibrāhīm, 4:512. [^104]: Nadia Barberis, Marco Cannavò, Danilo Calaresi, and Maria C. Gugliandolo, “The Mediational Role of Autonomous and Controlled Motivation in the Relationship between Perceptions of God, Self-Esteem, and Religious Practices,” *Spirituality in Clinical Practice*, 2022. [^105]: Hardy et al., “Parenting and the Socialization of Religiousness and Spirituality.” [^106]: Qur’an 16:44. [^107]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 145. [^108]: Ibn ʿUmar reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be different from the idolaters. Let the beard grow and trim the mustache.” Whenever Ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, performed the major and minor pilgrimage (hajj and *ʿumra*, respectively), he would grab hold of his beard and cut what was beyond his grasp. *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5553; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 259. [^109]: Breakwell, “Identity Resilience.” [^110]: Breakwell, “Identity Resilience.” [^111]: Qur’an 34:13. [^112]: Qur’an 11:40. [^113]: Qur’an 56:12–14. [^114]: Qur’an 41:3–4. [^115]: Qur’an 12:103. [^116]: Nabiha Hasan, Diane B. Mitschke, and Kristen E. Ravi, “Exploring the Role of Faith in Resettlement among Muslim Syrian Refugees,” *Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought* 37, no. 3 (2018): 223–38. [^117]: Erol and Orth, “Self-Esteem Development from Age 14 to 30 Years.” [^118]: *Saḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2664. [^119]: For a hadith encouraging practice, see “The best deeds are those done regularly even if they are few.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6465 and *Saḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 782. On the importance of sportsmanship, see “O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule \[another\] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule \[other\] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by \[offensive\] nicknames.” Qur’an 49:11. For patience during disappointment, “Verily, Allah Almighty says: When I put one of my faithful servants to trial and he praises Me despite his trial, he will rise from his bed free of sin like the day he was born from his mother.” *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17118, and graded *Sahih li ghayrihi* (authentic due to external evidence) by Al-Arna’ut. [^120]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 3645, and graded *Hasan Sahih* by Al-Albani. [^121]: Abdul Wahid Hamid, *Companions of the Prophet* (London: Muslim Education and Literary Services, 2003), 2:70. [^122]: Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “Self-Determination Theory,” in *Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research* (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022), 1–7. [^123]: Fatima Y. Mirza, “Understanding American Muslim Youth of Arab and South Asian Ancestries: An Exploratory Study on the Factors Related to Risk Behaviors among Child Immigrants and Children of Immigrants” (PhD diss., University of Maryland, 2014). [^124]: Qur’an 1:6–7. [^125]: The five obligatory daily prayers are dawn (*Fajr*), noon (*Ẓuhr*), afternoon (*ʿAṣr*), sunset (*Maghrib*), and evening (*ʿIshāʾ*) prayers. They are a total of 17 rounds or cycles (sing. *rakʿa*). [^126]: Abu Zakariyya Muḥyi al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Adhkār* (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr lil-Ṭibāʿa wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ: 1994), 160. [^127]: Qur’an 9:71. [^128]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5665. [^129]: Seungbin Oh, Stacey Diane Arañez Litam, and Catharina Y. Chang, “Racism and Stress-Related Growth Among Asian Internationals: Ethnic Identity, Resilience, and Coping During COVID-19,” *International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling* 45, no. 2 (2023): 226–48. [^130]: Damian Scarf, Saleh Moradi, Kate McGaw, Joshua Hewitt, Jillian G. Hayhurst, Mike Boyes, Ted Ruffman, and John A. Hunter, “Somewhere I Belong: Long‐Term Increases in Adolescents’ Resilience Are Predicted by Perceived Belonging to the In‐Group,” *British Journal of Social Psychology* 55, no. 3 (2016): 588–99. [^131]: Qiaolan Liu, Min Jiang, Shiying Li, and Yang Yang, “Social Support, Resilience, and Self-Esteem Protect against Common Mental Health Problems in Early Adolescence: A Nonrecursive Analysis from a Two-Year Longitudinal Study,” *Medicine* 100, no. 4 (2021). [^132]: Liu et al., “Social Support, Resilience, and Self-Esteem.” [^133]: Andrew D. Spear, “Epistemic Dimensions of Gaslighting: Peer-Disagreement, Self-Trust, and Epistemic Injustice,” *Inquiry* 66, no. 1 (2023): 68–91. [^134]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5534; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2628. [^135]: Qur’an 25:28–29. [^136]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2378. [^137]: Qur’an 28:88. [^138]: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The best of women among the people of Paradise are Khadāja bint Khuwaylid, Fātima bint Muḥammad, Mary the daughter of Joachim (Maryam bint ʿImrān), and Āsiya bint Muzāḥim, the wife of the Pharaoh.” *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 2896, and graded authentic (*sahih*) according to Al-Albani. [^139]: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There were many men who achieved perfection and none were perfect among women except Āsiya, the wife of the Pharaoh, and Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3230. [^140]: Qur’an 28:9. [^141]: Qur’an 66:11. [^142]: Qur’an 28:88. [^143]: Qur’an 26:61. [^144]: Qur’an 26:62. [^145]: Qur’an 26:63–66. [^146]: Qur’an 10:103. [^147]: “Allah does not charge a soul except \[with that within\] its capacity.” Qur’an 2:286. [^148]: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “If Allah wills good for someone, He afflicts him with trials.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5321. [^149]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3037; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2637. ## Summary Establishing a sound sense of self in a child is among the greatest gifts a parent can offer, for it is the foundation upon which emotional, mental, and spiritual resilience is built. Though we often associate the question of identity with the turbulence of adolescence, in truth it takes root far earlier, unfolding through stages from the earliest years of a child's life. Children are always exploring who they are and who they will become—physically, socially, emotionally, and relationally—and since they will inevitably face difficulties at every stage of life, tending carefully to their identity prepares them not merely to survive hardship but, by Allah's leave, to grow through it. The heart of this matter is that a Muslim child's identity must rest upon the firm ground of Allah's guidance rather than upon the shifting sands of societal expectation. Every human being is born upon the natural disposition, as the Prophet ﷺ said: "No child is born but that he is upon the natural instinct (fiṭra). His parents make him a Jew, or a Christian, or a Magian." This innate inclination to worship Allah alone will only flourish if parents take deliberate steps to nurture and preserve it. Identity here is understood as how a person reconciles the various parts of themselves into a coherent whole—and for the believer, Islamic identity is not merely a belief but demands Islamic action. This differs from much of secular Western thought, which treats all identities—religious, racial, professional—as parallel and equivalent. Rather, the Islamic identity is central and governs all our roles: being a mother, a husband, a student, or an athlete is something one does, whereas being a servant of Allah is who one is. Our worldly activities are not outside our faith but are encompassed by it, and even ordinary tasks may become acts of worship. This truth is captured in the words of the companion Ḥanẓala (may Allah be pleased with him), who feared he had fallen into hypocrisy because his awareness of the Hereafter dimmed when he attended to his family and work; the Prophet ﷺ reassured him, "By Him in Whose Hand is my life… there is a time for this and a time for that." The framework offered here rests upon the counsel of Luqmān the Wise to his son, particularly the verse in which Allah instructs that even if parents pressure a child toward associating partners with Allah, the child must not obey them in this, while still keeping their company in the world courteously. Remaining steadfast upon one's purpose of worship, even under pressure, lies at the core of the Muslim's identity—a steadfastness especially vital for Muslim children in the West. For Allah declares, "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." Living in accordance with this purpose grants a child the resilience that flows naturally from a firm Muslim identity. Resilience itself takes several forms: surviving hardship with minimal harm, returning to equilibrium after setbacks, and—highest of all—growing through adversity. A child who wears the hijab out of conviction and certainty in Allah's reward, for instance, is far better equipped to withstand the criticism of peers than one who lacks such conviction. Three interwoven qualities are presented as means of nurturing a healthy identity. The first is self-esteem, by which a child acknowledges their inherent, God-given worth. This must be cultivated within an Islamic frame, for pursuing self-esteem in isolation can breed arrogance; children must learn that all honor and success ultimately come from Allah. Research suggests a link between self-esteem and one's image of God as loving and merciful. Allah has honored us with the noblest of labels, naming us "Muslims," and the Qur'an offers strength-focused descriptions of the believers—those who never doubt, who strive with their wealth and lives, who trust Allah as their Protector, who are "but one brotherhood." Parents are encouraged to be mindful of the labels they place upon their children, to separate a child from their mistakes as the Prophet Yūsuf attributed his brothers' cruelty to Shayṭān rather than to their essence, and to reframe faults as strengths. A strengths-based approach finds a luminous example in Khadīja (may Allah be pleased with her), who consoled the Prophet ﷺ after the first revelation by reminding him of his noble qualities. Parents should verbalize their children's virtues and tie them back to Allah, following the Prophet's ﷺ gentleness—Anas served him ten years and was never once rebuked with even "Uff!"—and his mercy toward the young man who sought permission for zinā, whom he guided gently rather than condemned. Children should also be made to feel valued, for the Prophet ﷺ declared the sanctity of the believer greater in Allah's sight than the sanctity of the Kaʿba, and he ﷺ himself would ask a young child playfully about his pet sparrow. The second quality is self-efficacy: the belief in one's capacity to reach a goal or cope with difficulty. This too must be married to reliance upon Allah, for the Prophet ﷺ taught us to "tie your camel and trust in Allah." A child who believes Allah has equipped them can face hardship knowing He is Protector and Provider, while also striving with their own effort. Where a child's natural gifts differ from another's—struggling, perhaps, to memorize Qur'an while a sibling finds it easy—they should be reminded that Allah's gifts lie beyond our control, that our duty is to try our best, and that greater struggle brings greater reward. Trust in Allah's help, described here as proxy efficacy, is illustrated by the support Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr in the cave during the Hijra, when He was "the third of two." Practically, parents may cultivate self-efficacy through mastery experiences and realistic goals—perhaps a young child choosing one "special prayer" to guard faithfully before gradually adding the rest—since the Prophet ﷺ linked consistent action to identity: "A man continues to be truthful… until he is recorded with Allah as truthful." Mistakes must be normalized as part of the path, for "All of the children of Adam commit sins, and the best of those who commit sins are those who repent," and Allah forgives all sins for those who do not despair of His mercy. The third quality is self-trust, or autonomy—the belief in one's ability to act in accordance with one's values and best interests, grounded in trust in Allah and the truth of Islam. Self-trust divorced from faith is mere arrogance, and among the traits of arrogance, as the Prophet ﷺ described, is "to disregard the truth." Even our choice to worship is itself a gift from Allah, as He says, "But you will only wish to do so if God wills," and as Dāwūd (peace be upon him) recognized when told his very thanks was itself a favor from his Lord. Parents should nurture an independent relationship between the child and Allah, grant age-appropriate choices, and encourage the child to reflect, for Allah repeatedly calls us to ponder. Positive distinctiveness should be embraced rather than feared, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "Islam began as something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers," and the Qur'an praises the "few" who believe and are grateful. Yet distinctiveness need not mean rejection of society, for in Medina the Muslims distinguished themselves while engaging courteously with others. Talents should be nurtured, as the Prophet ﷺ encouraged Zayd ibn Thābit to learn Hebrew, and positive companionship must be cultivated, for the Prophet ﷺ likened good and bad company to the perfume-seller and the blacksmith, and warned, "A man is upon the religion of his best friend." Finally, this journey requires patience and honesty with oneself. Identity is best nurtured early, while children are impressionable and close to their parents, before peer influence grows stronger in the preteen years. Parents must also examine their own identity, especially those who, as first-generation Muslims in the West, wrestled with belonging themselves, since children readily perceive a parent's ambivalence. And amid all this, one must not fall into harsh self-criticism, for parenting is among the hardest of tests, filled inevitably with stumbles. There is always room for growth and always hope for change, and Allah is with the parent at every step, granting the tools needed to build the relationship they long for with their children. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### My kids act totally differently at home than they do at school. Should I be worried? Some adjustment between settings is normal. The Prophet ﷺ himself affirmed this when Hanzala expressed concern about not maintaining the same spiritual intensity at home as he felt in the Prophet’s company: “There is a time for this and a time for that.” The concern arises when a child feels they must be two entirely different people—hiding their faith at school and hiding their struggles at home. This kind of split often signals that a child has not yet internalized a stable sense of self. Research confirms that when self-esteem fluctuates sharply depending on surroundings, children become more vulnerable to anxiety and depressive symptoms. Your goal as a parent is not to police every behavior but to help your child develop a core so strong that it travels with them. When Islam is who they are, not just what they do at home, it goes with them everywhere. ### How do I help my child feel proud to be Muslim when most of their friends do not share their values? The Prophet ﷺ said, “Islam began as something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.” This is not a call to isolation. When the early Muslims moved to Medina, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged them to distinguish themselves in certain ways while still engaging courteously with those around them. Helping your child see themselves as positively distinct—different based on valued criteria rather than in spite of them—is key. Practically, discuss stories of people across history who embraced their uniqueness and reflect on how their lives would have looked had they simply blended in. And model it yourself: Find a place to pray while out, explain your thought process to your child, and let them see you make value-based choices in real time. Children absorb this far more deeply than any lesson delivered in the abstract. ### My child keeps saying they are “the worst” and “not good enough.” How do I respond? Resist the urge to simply deny the claim. A strengths-based approach asks you to name what you actually observe. We see this in Khadija’s response when the Prophet ﷺ returned from the Cave of Hiraʾ trembling with fear. She did not say “don’t worry.” She named specific qualities she knew to be true: He maintained family ties, he helped the poor, he was truthful. That concrete reassurance, rooted in real observation, is far more powerful than generic comfort. Catch your child doing something right and name it. Then tie what you see back to Allah: “Isn’t it wonderful that Allah blessed you with such persistence?” This connects their self-worth to something that does not fluctuate with a grade or a friend’s opinion. As Allah promises: “Whoever acts in righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer, We will surely cause him to live a good life” (16:97). ### Is it wrong to push my kids to pray and dress Islamically if they are resisting? Compulsion without explanation tends to backfire. Research indicates that children who are controlled rather than guided may eventually disconnect from family and religion altogether in search of some sense of independence. Rules enforced with “because I said so” produce compliance, not conviction—and compliance without conviction rarely survives the moment parental supervision ends. This does not mean abandoning guidance. Children need direction, especially when young. The distinction is between imposing behavior and nurturing identity. When a child prays only to avoid a parent’s frustration, prayer becomes associated with pressure. For example, when a child is entrusted (sometimes) to pray alone in their room, prayer becomes theirs. Worship done solely to appease parents does not allow children to develop a personal connection with Allah—and that personal connection is precisely what sustains faith when no one is watching. ### What if my child makes mistakes or goes through a phase of pulling away from Islam? This is part of the journey, not the end of it. The Prophet ﷺ said: “All of the children of Adam commit sins, and the best of those who commit sins are those who repent.” Building a strong Islamic identity does not mean building a child who never struggles; it means building a child who knows how to return. When mistakes are met with shame and harsh labels, children begin to believe their errors define them. When mistakes are met with grace, children learn that repentance is always open and that Allah’s mercy has no ceiling. The Prophet ﷺ showed us what this looks like. When a young man came seeking permission to commit a sinful act, the Prophet ﷺ did not label him or turn him away. He invited him to sit, spoke to him gently, helped him see the situation from a different angle, and made *dua* for him. From that day, the young man no longer struggled with that desire. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/duas-to-relieve-stress-and-anxiety # Du’as to Relieve Stress and Anxiety | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog, Dua, Mental Health **Published:** August 28, 2024 **Updated:** September 8, 2026 Anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues in North America, and anxiety disorders are increasingly becoming a global concern. Islam offers a wealth of insights and practical strategies for coping with anxiety and stress, emphasizing spiritual well-being, community support, and balanced living. Anas (rA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever is mainly concerned about the hereafter, Allah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.” (*Jami’* *al-Tirmidhi,* no. 2389) This narration suggests that ultimately the most productive mindset for the believer to dispel feelings of stress and anxiety is to disengage our hearts—not our actions—from this worldly life and set our sights on the eternal abode. Nonetheless, anxiety and stress are natural emotions present in even the most pious of believers. The wisdom of the Islamic tradition acknowledges this and provides us a number of supplications that provide solace and healing for the believer. --- ## Du’a to replace anxiety with peace  In an authentic narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, “There is absolutely no one amongst you who, when stricken with grief and anxiety, says, اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي عَبْدُكَ، ابْنُ عَبْدِكَ، ابْنُ أَمَتِكَ، نَاصِيَتِي بِيَدِكَ، مَاضٍ فِي حُكْمُكَ، عَدْلٌ فِي قَضَاؤُكَ، أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ، أَوْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ، أَوْ عَلَّمْتَهُ أَحَدًا مِنْ خَلْقِكَ، أَوِ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ، أَنْ تَجْعَلَ الْقُرْآنَ رَبِيعَ قَلْبِي، وَنُورَ صَدْرِي، وَجَلَاءَ حُزْنِي، وَذَهَابَ هَمِّي Allahumma inni 'abduka, ibnu 'abdika, ibnu amatika, naasiyati biyadika, maadin fi hukmuka, 'adlun fi qada'uka, as'aluka bikulli ismin huwa laka, sammayta bihi nafsaka, aw anzaltahu fi kitabika, aw 'allamtahu ahadan min khalqika, awi asta'tharta bihi fi 'ilm il-ghaybi 'indaka, an taj'al al-Qur'ana rabia' qalbi, wa noora sadri, wa jalaa'a huzni, wa dhahaaba hammi. O Allah, I am Your slave. I am the child of Your male slave and the child of Your female slave, my forelock is in Your hand, Your judgment upon me is assured, Your decree concerning me is just. I ask You by every single name that You have named Yourself with, or that You have revealed in Your book, or taught to one of Your creation, or have completely kept in Your knowledge in the unseen, to make the Qur’an the spring of my heart, and the light of my chest, and let it be the banisher of my sadness and let it be the reliever of my anxiety. #### except that Allah will remove his anxiety and grief and will replace it with joy.” It was said \[by the Companions\], “Shall we not learn it?” He said, “Indeed, whoever hears it should learn it.” (*Musnad Ahmad,* no. 3528) The first thing that should be noted is the power of this *du’a* that can replace every anxiety and every sadness of absolutely every believer. The first theme of this *du’a* is submission. In declaring “I am Your slave, the child of Your male slave and the child of Your female slave,” we are expressing our absolute submission to Allah. In fact, the more one humbles themselves to Allah, the more Allah will honor them. Abu Huraira (rA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Charity does not decrease wealth, no one forgives another except that Allah increases his honor, and no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except Allah raises his status.” (*Sahih Muslim,* no. 2588) The next line “my forelock is in Your hand” continues this theme of complete submission and control. However, some scholars say that it also signifies the submission of the intellect to Allah. Intellectual submission here should not be confused with turning one’s brain off. Rather, it indicates our knowledge of and contentment with our human limits and our understanding that we do not have ultimate control. Then we declare our contentment with Allah’s decree (“Your judgment upon me is assured”) and our certainty that it will always be just. Compare this to someone who accuses their Lord of not being fair or just, questioning ‘[Why me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/where-was-i-before-i-was-born-why-me) Why is this happening to me?’ Rather, even in our times of anxiety and stress, we should trust and declare our certainty in the justice of Allah, who will ultimately relieve every pain. One of the most blessed ways to ensure your supplications are answered is to call upon Allah with a name that fits your specific request. For example, when asking Allah for His mercy, we call on *ar-Rahman*. For His might, we call on [*al-Aziz*](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/the-significance-of-allahs-name-al-aziz-the-most-powerful-and-dignified). For His *rizq*, His sustenance, we pray to *Ar-Razzaq*. The wording in this supplication, however, is all encompassing. We not only call on Allah by every name of His we know, but even those He has kept hidden from us, because our supplication here could match one of His names we are unaware of. So, here we find peace by reinforcing our supplication “to make the Qur’an the spring of my heart” with the strength of the infinite wisdom contained in His names that lie beyond our imagination. What does it mean for the Qur’an to become the spring of one’s heart? The scholars explain that it means to give life to the heart once again. Just like spring revives life after the death of winter, we ask Allah to revive our hearts after they have been deadened. Then we ask Allah to make the Qur’an the light of our chest, the banisher of our grief and the reliever of our anxiety. Light clarifies, it alleviates, it relieves. However, it would be strange to ask Allah to make the Qur’an revive your heart and banish your sadness if it is not a significant part of our lives. As with every other supplication, there has to be a deed that matches the supplication. So, in essence, we are asking Allah to reconfigure our relationship with the Qur’an, which will then guide us away from the darkness of confusion and uncertainty that plague the heart. And indeed the Qur’an is a cure; “Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (Qur’an 13:28). --- ## Du’a for relief from worries and debts Our second supplication to relieve anxiety and stress comes from a poignant incident narrated by Abu Saeed al Khudri (rA), “One day the Prophet ﷺ entered the mosque, and saw a man from the *Ansar* who was named Abu Umamah. He said ‘O Abu Umamah, what is the matter (such) that I see you sitting in the mosque when it is not time for prayer?’ He said, ‘Worries and debts I have, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said ‘Shall I not teach you words if you say them, Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He, would remove your worries and settle your debts?’  He said, ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Say in the morning and in the evening, اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ، وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ. Allahumma inni a'oodhu bika min al-hammi wal-hazan, wa a'oodhu bika min al-'ajzi wal-kasal, wa a'oodhu bika min al-jubni wal-bukhl, wa a'oodhu bika min ghalabatid-dayni, wa qahrir-rijal. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief; and I seek refuge in You from inability and laziness; and I seek refuge in You from cowardice and from stinginess; and I seek refuge in You from being overcome by debt and from being overpowered by men. He said, ‘When I did that, Allah removed my worries and settled my debt.’”(*Sunan Abi Dawud,* no. 1555) This supplication addresses two forms of mental health*. Hamm* refers to anxiety about uncertainty in the future, while *hazan* is grief over what has passed. On such occasions of grief, we know the Prophet recited, اللّهُـمَّ لا سَـهْلَ إِلاّ ما جَعَلـتَهُ سَهـلاً، وَأَنْتَ تَجْـعَلُ الحَزْنَ إِذا شِـئْتَ سَهـْلاً Allahumma la sahla illa ma ja‘altahu sahla, wa anta taj‘alul hazna idha shi’ta’ sahlan. O Allah, there is no ease except in that which You have made easy, and You make grief if You wish easy. *Sahih Ibn Hibban,* no. 2427 The supplication then continues by seeking refuge from inability and laziness. *Al-ajz* is when you have the will to do something, but you lack the ability. *Al-kasl* is when you have the ability, but lack the will. By making this supplication, we ask Allah to grant us both the will and ability to rise up to our responsibilities in spite of feelings of defeat. Whereas the first part of this supplication addresses emotions, the second half engages with the cause of many of those emotions: cowardice and stinginess, poverty and political injustice. Indeed, as global inflation makes daily expenses rise, financial issues and debt are the most common sources of concern for many. Another supplication for those struggling with debt and earning through halal means is: اللّهُـمَّ اكْفِـني بِحَلالِـكَ عَنْ حَـرامِـك، وَأَغْنِـني بِفَضْـلِكِ عَمَّـنْ سِـواك Allahumma ikfini bi-halalika 'an haramik, wa aghnini bi-fadlika 'amman siwak. O Allah, suffice me with what You have allowed instead of what You have prohibited, and make me independent of all others beside You. *Jami’* *al-Tirmidhi,* no. 5/560 These supplications offer a comprehensive approach to addressing both emotional and practical difficulties. In reciting these prayers regularly, we can seek divine assistance in overcoming anxiety, grief, and financial burdens, while also asking for the willpower and strength to navigate our personal trials with faithful resilience. --- ## Remember: Hardships are blessings in disguise Part of the divine wisdom is that while we often forget our Lord, times of stress and anxiety remind us to turn to Him, knowing He is in control of everything. Therefore, times of stress often turn out to be blessings in disguise. Ibn Abbas (rA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “If anyone constantly seeks forgiveness \[from Allah\], Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress, a relief from every anxiety and will provide sustenance for him where he does not expect it.” (*Sunan Abi Dawud,* no. 1518) Therefore, so long as you as constantly seek forgiveness from Allah, in addition to using the supplications provided here, Allah will certainly relieve every distress, anxiety, and financial problem you will ever face. Ultimately, it is a sign of His ultimate care and concern for us that Allah would instruct the Prophet ﷺ or inspire through him these *du’a*s through which we can turn to Him and relieve our stress and anxiety. For more, see the video on *[du’a](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/dua-to-relieve-anxiety-and-manage-anger-a-dua-away&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1724872644593122&usg=AOvVaw0M-uJD5M1LjpGDWpRsIA2D)*[s to relieve anxiety and manage anger](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/dua-to-relieve-anxiety-and-manage-anger-a-dua-away) by Sh. Omar Suleiman from the “A *Du’a* Away” series. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/does-history-only-repeat-itself-remembering-the-rohingya-in-light-of-palestine # Does History Only Repeat Itself? Remembering the Rohingya in Light of Palestine | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Islamophobia, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Unpacking the Effects of Islamophobia **Published:** August 22, 2024 **Updated:** August 28, 2025 In August 2017, the world bore witness to the unfolding tragedy of the [Rohingya genocide](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-systematic-rohingya-genocide-and-the-muslim-moral-imperative&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1755536030497921&usg=AOvVaw2zYDB__sKedVI-ZjW8FW9e), an atrocity that continues to smolder in the shadows of global indifference. Men, women, and children—targeted solely for their ethnic identity as the Muslim minority in Myanmar (also known as Burma)—faced systematic murder. This horror did not emerge in a vacuum; it was the culmination of decades of calculated policies and insidious practices that systematically dehumanized the Rohingya, creating a pernicious narrative of falsehoods to justify their eradication. Before 2017, many Rohingya found themselves confined to internal camps along the Sittwe Coast of Myanmar, an attempt to segregate and isolate them from broader Burmese society. Through this dehumanising process, they were stripped of access to health care, mobility, education, and the means to earn a livelihood. This orchestrated marginalization sought to deny them the basic dignities and opportunities that form the essence of a just and humane existence. --- ## Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority who have lived in Myanmar for generations. From as early as the 1960s, they have been vilified through relentless media propaganda and draconian laws, including policies limiting the number of children they can bear. This plight echoes the torment of the Palestinians, who for decades have similarly endured displacement, military occupation, and attempts to erase their cultural and historical identity. The Myanmar government has long promoted the false narrative that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, labeling them “Bengalis” and stripping them of citizenship. This propaganda, amplified through state media and extremist monks like Ashin Wirathu, incited violence by spreading baseless claims that Rohingya men threatened Buddhist women and society at large. Social media platforms, especially Facebook, have become tools for disinformation and hate speech. --- ## Global responses To date, over 25,000 Rohingya have been killed, with more than 700,000 forced into exile across Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Malaysia. Thousands of women have been raped, and tens of thousands burned alive. The world watched as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi stood silent, echoing the denial of civilian suffering we continue to see from Israeli officials regarding Palestine. Myanmar continues to block media access and restrict international observers from entering Rakhine State. Yet, in 2019, Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a step mirrored by South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ in late 2023. These legal efforts reflect a growing international desire for accountability. Despite growing awareness, the international response remains largely rhetorical, marked by statements of condemnation rather than meaningful action. Both the Rohingya and Palestinians remain trapped in cycles of suffering perpetuated by structural Islamophobia, political inaction, and Western duplicity. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided” (3:103). Are we so immersed in our own lives and distractions that we no longer hear the cries of the oppressed? The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[^1] Are we truly aching for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar and Palestine? Is their suffering enough to rouse us from spiritual slumber, to move us to pray in the depths of night, to give from our savings, forsake our careers, comforts, and pleasures to stand boldly against injustice? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am5qpQl4KfQ *Watch Dr. Omar Suleiman explain the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya and what actions everyone can take right now to help* --- ## A Call to Action The struggle of the Rohingya and the Palestinians compels us to act. It is a test of our faith and our commitment to justice. Allah says: > “And what will explain to you what the steep path is? It is to free a slave, or to feed on the day of hunger an orphan near of kin, or a needy person in misery, and—above all—to be one of those who have faith and urge each other to patience and urge each other to compassion. These are the people of the right.” (Qur’an 90:12-19) In our collective awakening and steadfast actions lies the hope that history may not repeat itself, and that justice—at last—may prevail. --- ## Note [\[1\]](#ftnt_ref1)  *Sahih Bukhari*, no. 6011 --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-miscarried-fetus-in-islam-meeting-your-lost-child-in-jannah # The Miscarried Fetus in Islam: Meeting Your Lost Child in Jannah | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Afterlife, Divine Decree, Faith, Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan **Published:** August 21, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 The miscarried fetus in Islam has a special station: it awaits its patient parents. Imagine a soul stationed at the gates of *jannah*, not willing to enter without its mother. > Mu’adh ibn Jabal reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “By the One in whose hand is my soul, the miscarried fetus will carry his mother by his umbilical cord into paradise, if she was seeking its reward.” \[*Sunan Ibn Mājah* #1609\] The sorrow that accompanies a miscarriage mirrors that of grieving the loss of a relative. The cramping of the womb and the lingering presence of hormones adds to the physical pain of miscarriage. But it is more than a feeling of loss and emptiness, it’s coupled with the uncertainty of future motherhood, or the gnawing fear of never bearing a child. Through patience and *tawakkul*, the pain can become a bridge to a deeper, more profound understanding of Allah’s divine wisdom behind your story. --- ## Finding spiritual meaning behind a miscarriage > Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good for him in every matter and this is not the case with anyone except the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah and thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him. \[*Sahih Muslim* 2999\] In the vast, veiled tapestry of fate, we must surrender to the fact that the future is unseen. Often, early miscarriages occur because the embryo is not viable in the scientific sense. Or perhaps Allah, in His boundless wisdom, is shielding you from a burden too great to bear. In Surah Kahf, Allah shares a story of Khidr, who was commanded to kill a boy. Musa (as) was aghast; he protested, “Have you killed an innocent soul, who killed no one? You have certainly done a horrible thing” (Qur’an 18:74). Khidr later responds, “And as for the boy, his parents were \[true\] believers, and we feared that he would pressure them into defiance and disbelief” (Qur’an 18:80). So perhaps, like Khidr and the boy he was commanded to kill, Allah is protecting your lineage from something far worse. Perhaps the provisions, the *rizq*, are not yet ripe for your child's arrival into this world. Maybe Allah wills for you to gather more savings, or relocate to a new home, or shift your career path. Maybe, it’s simply not the right time for you to embark on parenthood. There might be more growing to be done, more maturity to be achieved, more *du’a*s to be made, and additional *nawafil* to be performed. There could be more habits Allah intends for you to cultivate and He is giving you some more time to do so. Consider the myriad maybes: maybe Allah is protecting you from unseen hardships, or perhaps paving a way for future blessings and ease. Allah, the writer of your story, is only doing things out of His love for you. --- ## Enduring a miscarriage with patience Crying is not a sign of impatience. > The Prophet took hold of Ibrahim, kissed him, and smelled him. Then, we entered after that as Ibrahim was breathing his last breaths. It made the eyes of the Prophet shed tears. Abdur Rahman ibn Awf said, “Even you, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said, “O Ibn Awf, this is mercy.” Then, the Prophet wept some more and he said, “Verily, the eyes shed tears and the heart is grieved, but we will not say anything except what is pleasing to our Lord. We are saddened by your departure, O Ibrahim.” \[*Sahih Bukhari* #1241\] The Prophet ﷺ, wept while kissing his departing son, even though he knew his children would be in *jannah* with Ibrahim (as). Crying is a natural and healing process, and it is from the mercy of Allah that He lightens the load on our chest, with some water drops falling on our face. Patience is not preventing oneself from crying. Patience is preventing oneself from uttering that which displeases Allah. Patience is sitting with a steadfast heart, feeling sorrow and not showing anger or arrogance with Allah. Practical pathways to patience: reflecting on the verses of the Qur’an, reciting its words mindfully throughout the day. Engaging in constant remembrance: *Alhamdulillah*. *Alhamdulillah*. *Alhamdulillah*. A miscarriage is not a mark of divine displeasure or a cause for suffering inflicted upon you. It is a test, a means to elevate your rank, to draw you closer to Allah, and to multiply your reward in the hereafter. --- ## Reward of losing a child If you’ve suffered the loss of a fetus or young child, take solace from this hadith: > Abu Musa al-Ashari reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When the child of a servant dies, Allah says to the angels: Have you taken the life of My servant’s child? They say yes. Allah says: Have you taken the fruit of his heart? They say yes. Allah says: What has My servant said? They say: He has praised You and said to Allah we belong and to Allah we return. Allah says: Build a house for My servant in Paradise and name it the House of Praise.” \[*Sunan al-Tirmidhī* 1021\] You have sent forth a child who now waits at the very gates of paradise. You have given birth to an intercessor for you on the Day of Judgment. Imagine the profound beauty of a home in *jannah*, specifically described and named *Bayt al-Hamd*, the House of Praise. Picture this house as yours. Could any home in this transient world ever surpass such a divinely titled dwelling in the eternal realm? Moreover, reflect on your deep connection to the Messenger ﷺ. He buried six of his seven children within his lifetime. Some were laid to rest in the innocence of youth, others as adults. He endured the same pain you now bear—sixfold. Through this shared sorrow, you are bonded to the Prophet ﷺ and others. As you sit in the sorrow, remember, your patience is honored, and your ultimate reward is beyond earthly comparison. --- ## Allah tests those He loves Allah wants for you to have a breathtakingly beautiful and magnificently marvelous eternal abode, so bear this trial with patience and praise. *Alhamdulillah* for all that you already have, and *alhamdulillah* for the unknown future and its boundless possibilities. > Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If Allah wills good for someone, He afflicts him with trials.” \[*Sahih Bukhari* #5645\] Do not be angry. How can you be angry because you think His decree conflicts with your desires? You know His decree holds infinitely more for you. You know He is Al-Wadud, the Loving One, and that His love surpasses all, even that of your own mother. If you could see the angels carrying your miscarried child, naming it, and situating it in front of the gates of *jannah*, would you think for a moment that Allah hates you? Trust in His wisdom and love, for He sees what you cannot. --- ## What if I never have children? The station of a mother is indeed one of the most noble positions a woman can attain. Yet, this truth does not alter the fundamental fact that Allah is the Creator, and life springs forth only by His will. You may exert all your might and power, timing things perfectly, maintaining health and fitness, adhering to ancient wisdom and modern science alike, but if Allah has not decreed life from your womb, it will not come to pass. Perhaps, you are like our revered mother Aisha (ra), who, although she never gave birth to a single soul, remains immeasurably valuable to this *ummah*. She served as a loving mother figure to her nephews and nieces, many of whom became great scholars. And through her profound knowledge, her teaching, her charity, and her healing, she has bequeathed more to us in sacred inheritance than we can fathom. Or perhaps, you are like Sarah (ra), barren for years beyond the age of childbearing, until Allah decrees, “Be,” and it is (Qur’an 40:68). Maybe your destiny is to mother many in a different way: through caring for orphans with your wealth and hands, through teaching children the love of Allah, through nurturing the children of your extended family. In these roles, your motherhood can transcend biological bounds, reflecting the profound and diverse ways Allah’s love and mercy manifest in our lives. --- ## Allah’s plan for you after a miscarriage > Let the pain of tribulation be lightened for you by knowing that it is He Most Glorious who is testing you; For Him from whom you are faced with the blows of fate is He who has accustomed you to His choosing well. \[*Al-Hikam al-Ataa’iyyah* #105\] In the quiet minutes of late nights, let your tears flow in *sujood*, knowing you are but a servant in the midst of a beautiful story yet to unfold. Dream of your *Bayt-al-Hamd*, that House of Praise in the eternal gardens, as you whisper *alhamdulillah*, gently stroking your stomach. For Allah is the Creator, and in His infinite wisdom, He has crafted you perfectly. Through this trial, He molds you, preparing you for an existence more magnificent than you can fathom. Embrace this chapter with patient praise, trusting that His plan, though hidden now, is one of boundless love and divine perfection. **This piece was adapted from:** [Those Who Intercede | Judgment Day | Ep. 16 Yaqeen Institute](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-16-those-who-intercede-judgment-day-deeds-that-light-the-way&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1724257819597484&usg=AOvVaw3V_FEHHOpSnEXyLRpC2dAA) [Is Allah Testing or Punishing Me? | Why Me? EP. 21 | Dr. Omar Suleiman | A Ramadan Series on Qadar](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/is-allah-testing-or-punishing-me-why-me&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1724257819598110&usg=AOvVaw1uJ8kb6ulky3YKsvFxUwFX) [Ep. 11: Losing a Child | For Those Left Behind](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-11-losing-a-child-for-those-left-behind&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1724257819598518&usg=AOvVaw0DRFhg0HoLQiT4vEQSZ9zA) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/breaking-free-unshackling-the-muslim-mind-from-secular-thought-and-reestablishing-the-islamic-personality # Breaking Free: Unshackling the Muslim Mind from Secular Thought and Reestablishing the Islamic Personality **Author:** Daniyah Hannini **Topics:** Contemporary Ideologies, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Publication, Ramadan **Published:** August 12, 2024 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 ## Introduction > *You do you.* > > *You’re the captain of your own ship.* > > *My body, my choice.* These and similar platitudes have embedded themselves in both modern vernacular and the individual psyche. Charles Taylor has described our time as an “age of authenticity,” defined by the moral imperative to “find yourself, realize yourself, and release your true self.”[^1] The liberal state not only promotes this morally autonomous self as an uncontested good, but assigns it inherent value and validity. As we will show, what results is in fact a mockery of the individual. This paper examines the consequences of living under secular hegemony. It accounts for the historical phenomenon of “creating” the secular self, evaluates the legitimacy of this invented “self” via an Islamic lens, and demonstrates the devastating impact of secular power on the Muslim psyche if left untreated. Finally, it argues for the necessity of reclaiming our Islamic sensibilities and commitments. --- ## The invention of the individual The modern self can be traced back to the Enlightenment. Individual sovereignty was recognized and protected by the doctrine of secularism, which likewise promoted state sovereignty.[^2] Secularism is an inherently complex concept with competing definitions;[^3] for our purposes, it is understood as a political doctrine that provides the state the power to determine: (1) “what constitutes a religion; (2) which beliefs and actions are deemed religious or alternatively secular; and (3) which of those religious beliefs and actions are acceptable to and tolerated by the State.”[^4] The inauguration of secularism as a world order was anything but natural. It was a project that emerged as an antidote to Western Europe’s trauma stemming from the tug of war between Church and State. Early modernity, between the 16th and 18th centuries, centered on efforts to put religion in its “place” and was marked by attempts to weaken the Church’s stronghold on society.[^5] In trying to resolve the supposed tension between religion and state, secularism never clearly delineated the boundary of either. It is against this backdrop of secular confusion that religion morphed into a plaything of the state. The secular reenvisioning of religion as a malleable entity belies the naive understanding of secularism as a mere separation between religion and state. In actuality, what the secular order does is *recreate* religion to fit the state’s “ongoing, deepening entanglement in the question of religion and politics,” which fundamentally “is a feature of the expanding regulatory capacities of the modern state.”[^6] The reconfiguration of religion into a docile and obedient subject of the state was not simply prescribed for Western Christian society—it was deemed a panacea for the global world order.[^7] Europe simply served as the launchpad from which to export secularism, fully sanctioned by Western imperialist expansion to the rest of the world. The secular project aimed at creating a new “self” characterized by moral autonomy and political independence. What exactly does this self entail? What are its predispositions and assumptions? In the liberal imagination, individual autonomy is inextricably linked to one’s moral authority. Immanuel Kant is often credited for introducing autonomy as an “attribute of individuals in our capacity as individuals to prescribe moral law to ourselves,” thereby nestling the individual and God in the same “moral community”—rendering God “morally superfluous.”[^8] Kant’s link between morality and autonomy had a profound impact. The self now served as a moral agent in its own right and asserted the subjectivity of morality itself. God and His revelation were to be trumped by individual impulse and expression, thereby championing feelings over principles. The morally autonomous self was viewed as the beacon of authenticity in its ability to esoterically unveil “inner truths” (no matter how fleeting), “objectifying the world and submitting it to its own demands.”[^9] This championing of the autonomous self not only legitimizes the “arbitrariness” of morality itself, but deems its instability natural.[^10] Like a feather in the wind, our morality is subjected to the ever-changing current of our own whims, our moral judgment determined by a constant inconstancy. Thus the individual is deemed self-sufficient and capable of meaningful choices by virtue of simply existing. The contemporary phenomenon of transgenderism captures this moral and epistemological nihilism. The desire to align feelings of being trapped in the wrong body with one’s physical gender expression has sanctioned transgender individuals to explore the options of gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy. Irreversible changes are celebrated under the banner of choice. Feelings are deemed inherently valid and therefore actionable, no matter how fleeting or temporary. Yet the same principle invoked to celebrate manipulation of one’s body is conveniently minimized for one who detransitions.[^11] Many who transitioned trusted the authenticity of their “inner truths” only to realize their feelings were entirely wrong. “Inner truths” easily morph into inner lies when the individual is left to face real, lasting repercussions made in the name of embracing whims and desires. When morality is redefined as a personal matter and relegated to the private sphere, two significant commitments are suggested: (1) morality is subjective; and (2) all expressions stemming from different moral codes are equal in value. This effectively enslaves the individual to the fragility of their fluctuating moral framework. The creation of the secular self subsequently creates a “cult(ure) of authenticity,” where individual expression (no matter how insignificant or seemingly absurd) carries intrinsic significance.[^12] If the secular self is understood *a priori* to be sincere and dignified in its aims, how then are we to judge what is just? Or more fundamentally, on what basis are we to judge at all?[^13] When secular power creates and nurtures an ecosystem that excludes God from any real legitimacy or sovereignty, the vacuum created is effectively filled by man’s (sanctioned) creative power. The calibration of the secular self is contingent on the individual following their whims, rendering any efforts to seek “truth” and authenticity futile. The impact this has on religious expression and adherence is disastrous. In a secular world, the cultural milieu divorces universality from religious belief, practice, and ultimately truth. The secular self is forced to internalize that: (1) unshifting truth can never exist; and (2) authenticity is tethered to fleeting experiences and emotions. This creates a buffet of choices, where consumers can ‘mix and match’ at their discretion, thereby concocting “spirituality” from a series of impulses that satiate the individual appetite. Current trends reflect the decentralization of religious practice, as surveys indicate that about a quarter of US adults identify as “spiritual but not religious.”[^14] The rise and normalization of baseless practices such as sending positive affirmations into the universe, the usage of healing crystals, and encouragement of daily meditation via yoga and mindfulness all capture the spirit of these findings. The mission of secular spirituality is to cultivate and foster a *feeling*, whether that be a calmed state of mind or a heightened sense of purpose/connection to one’s self and the world at large. While this most certainly points to a decrease in structured religious practice, it suggests something even more telling: secular society cannot rid the human being of its natural disposition (*fiṭrah)* to seek a higher power. The endeavor to find connection to the metaphysical without religious creed is a testament to this feature embedded in the human psyche. The most secular spirituality can offer the modern world is a variety of epistemologically problematic practices that have *potential* to stir up fleeting feelings of fulfillment. It effectively morphs religion into a self-serving, malleable entity, no longer grounded in creed and dogma, but rather guided by individual whims and desires. In essence, secular spirituality shifts one’s servitude from God to the self. In concert with this trend, it is not surprising that many individuals in Western Muslim communities justify the bypassing of Islamic principles through the seemingly harmless mindset of “only God can judge me.” Whether it is Muslim businesses rationalizing interest-based transactions or Muslim influencer culture redefining hijab norms, the unfortunate reality is that many Muslims numb themselves to disobedience through the “harm principle.” This mentality undeniably carries the pathologies of secular thought. It not only privatizes religious commitment, but provides the individual the confidence to become a religious consumer rather than follower. It is through this mechanism that an individual who self-identifies as Muslim, but lacks the necessary theological and practical commitments, is produced and legitimized.[^15] Such is the secularized Muslim, content to prioritize the experience of a feeling over legitimizing the basis of the feeling itself (i.e., the validity of creed). In its efforts to replace the “opiate of the masses” with the opiate of untethered spirituality, the secular project places feelings and esoteric experiences above creed. One may encounter a Muslim who stops praying because they no longer *feel* the “benefits” of prayer. What this reflects is secularism’s ability to embolden the Muslim to filter Islamic practices by their perceived emotional or “spiritual” output. Secular power does not directly expunge religion (i.e., God) from individual consciousness and activity. Rather, it operates by stripping God of sovereignty and granting it to Mankind instead. Secular power (and the institutions by which it functions) quietly but pervasively establishes a legal and social order that renders religion—and by extension, God—irrelevant. Under a secular order, religion essentially becomes an offshoot of deism; God is given the space to “exist” (if the individual so desires), but has no real role to play in society. Individuals are given the green light to *believe,* but it is the secular legal regime that ultimately dictates the shape of their actual religious *practice*. In other words, the “freedom” which these aforementioned Muslims seek when feelings are emphasized over creed is not a genuine freedom at all. In reality, their ability to practice “Islam” in such a way (and the contents of the “feelings” which inform that practice) stem from the power of the state—and are therefore at its mercy. --- ## Disciplining the secular self In the early twentieth century, shortly after the establishment and formalization of the American public education system, Jehovah’s Witnesses refused on religious grounds to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance mandated for public school students. This precipitated a legal and cultural controversy. In *Minersville School District v. Gobitis* (1940), the Supreme Court upheld the requirement of students to participate in the daily ceremony while simultaneously asserting that failure to do so could result in expulsion. Two thousand students were subsequently expelled from public institutions, never mind the social violence and fury directed against the Jehovah’s Witnesses for choosing loyalty to their religious beliefs over state-mandated practice. While the Supreme Court would backpedal three years later, the case exposed the necessary fragility of religious freedom under a secular order. This is because “individual autonomy” is secured through the coercive apparatus of the state—the state can crush individual freedom *precisely because it is the only means by which that freedom is guaranteed*. Thus the Enlightenment’s concerted effort to produce the “individual” is precisely what, in practice, denied the self individuality. Modern “individuality” can only be achieved through the modern state, which takes on the responsibility of defining, training, and disciplining the self via its various institutions.[^16] The “self-evident” authenticity and autonomy of the “self” is not self-evident at all, considering that the production of the self was and is a carefully coordinated and collaborative process. As Talal Asad points out, John Locke’s emphasis on “natural right as a limit to arbitrary government may also be closely linked to the desire to stabilize the contingent character of the self through a legal concept of the person.”[^17] The result is that one is only as free as the state allows them to be. While the individual is sold the illusion of an endless sea of choices to define themselves by, in reality the state not only sets the parameters of the human imagination, but depends on said parameters to function and survive. In other words, we are not as free as we think. Our self-perception and outlook are inherently autonomous and therefore authenticity is but an illusion. “Free” society markets the fantasy that the individual carries the creative toolkit to independently think and by extension, to *be* as they please. What is often overlooked is what the secular self neglects to internalize: the regulation of thought and expression. Values and norms are largely shaped by secular liberal institutions. Already in the 18th century, Rousseau argued that the autonomous self can only flourish when citizens function “harmoniously and uniformly on the basis of the single general will,” where the liberal order offers a framework of conduct to help regulate and contain collective action.[^18] So much so, that individual self-determination isn’t actually an individual effort; the individual “may mistake an epistemological insight of relativity for a practical or ethical maxim” normalized to them.[^19] That is, individual leanings and affinities, rather than being truly individual, are often the result of  state-sanctioned modes of “normative” beliefs and practice. Take modern views on gender roles. The current status quo demands the championing of women in the workforce, but is less enthusiastic about celebrating women as caretakers of the family. Ideas of female “success” and “empowerment” are by no coincidence associated with the former rather than the latter. The rise of “girlboss” culture and the simultaneous devaluing of women’s role as custodians of future generations reflects the modern state’s power and its ability to shape individual aspirations. Furthermore, it reveals the limits of the state’s tolerance for “self-expression.” Actions taken and beliefs affirmed must be justified on the basis of individual choice rather than normative truth. This is clear in modern discourse on hijab in the United States. Religious garb is celebrated and accepted on the basis of individual choice, but deemed oppressive if grounded in religious dogma. The American Muslimah’s hijab is (theoretically) legitimized so long as it is a reflection of her individual *choice* to cover. Should the choice to cover come secondary to theological commitments, it would garner a very different reaction. Ironically, then, it is via the prescribed agency of the self that its subjugation takes place.[^20] Thus, for all that the secular self presumes its own “freedom of thought,”  freedom in the absolute sense does not actually exist; “no matter how independently minded, everyone is to some degree dependent on other people, on conventions and on things he or she has not created, such as language.”[^21] Thought itself is always tethered to a broader established network of meaning. Consider the etymology of the word *terrorism*. Terrorism historically referred to state-sanctioned violence toward those opposed to the French Revolution. The term eventually came to more vaguely signify violence enacted to actualize political goals. The question of what and who fell under the broad banner of terrorism became arbitrary, subject to the self-serving whims of the state’s propagandists. As the adage holds, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. While this may be simply construed as a battle of semantics, the reality is far more sinister. It is the power of dominating narratives and the language used in shaping them that justified the decimation witnessed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is the system of classification that sanctioned the Graveyard of Empires. It is the capacity of rhetoric that emboldens the likes of Madeleine Albright to declare the death of half a million Iraqi children to be ‘worth it.’ It is the configuration of expression that can transform Palestinian resistance against settler colonialism into the justification of their genocide. Words have power. We must acknowledge that language belongs to a system. The words we use intrinsically operate within parameters set by the modern state and its various institutional collaborators in the media and elsewhere, swaying individual action and presentation. This is how colonialism, in every sense, is constituted by secular power. We often overlook how colonialism revels in its ability to divide humanity into “‘imagined communities’ in both the mind and on the map.”[^22] This facet of colonialism, often referred to as “coloniality,”[^23] is not one that purely operates in the material realm; that is, its oppression is not necessarily palpable.[^24] Coloniality falls under the broader umbrella of “soft power.” Soft power is the subtle yet coercive force that prescribes collective values, norms, and sensibilities under the banner of universality and neutrality.[^25] The ultimate objective of this dimension of domination is the intellectual gutting of a people and the subsequent recreation of the indigenous in the state’s image.[^26] This image is reflective of the state’s position on reality itself—how the state believes civil society ought to look like and function, and how its people, by extension, construct their worldview. This hegemonic project is primarily orchestrated via secular power, which depends on narrative-building to legitimize and normalize its mission. In other words, the colonial project is alive and well. This should come as no surprise, considering that “colonialism” fundamentally describes the state’s ability to actualize its vision via brute force and/or the diffusion of ideas. Ideological influence and material violence typically work in tandem to establish hegemony. “Soft” power is thus not soft at all. We see it in how the secular liberal order supplies the vocabulary through which the individual filters thought. Discourse on the plight of Palestinians in Muslim spaces, which often favors the lens of “human rights” over anything more overtly “religious,” illustrates this phenomenon. The assumption, spoken and unspoken, is that “unlike the concerns of the Muslim—understood as tainted by the baggage of divisive theological attachments—those of the human rights worker are universal, capacious, and inclusive of the non-Muslim Palestinian.”[^27] While seemingly harmless, the shift in language simultaneously promotes secular values and rejects Islamic reality and prescription. In the case of Palestine, it “denies Islam a capacity for the universal, it exalts human rights (and the secular politics of humanity in which they are embedded) as devoid of particularist commitments.”[^28] Should we feel compelled to funnel our thoughts through the filter of secular language, we risk muddying our Islamic convictions beyond any hope of coherency or potency. We are social beings. Our individual expression is very much bound by collective commitments—commitments which today are meticulously managed by a bombardment of state and corporate influences.[^29] The modern individual is enmeshed in a sea of synergetic influence, where consumer culture is propagated and the self indoctrinated to behave in carefully tailored ways. This is social engineering in all but name; institutions are provided free rein to “determine what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work, and what we do.”[^30] --- ## Racializing Muslims: The creation of the Muslim “identity” The “secular Muslim” is not some purely organic phenomenon driven by individual liberation and choice, but rather produced by a particular legal regime and its constitutive epistemological and moral commitments. This framework considers an individual who lives by Islam (in principle and practice) as no different from an individual who simply claims to “belong” to Islam without practicing any of it. This clearly violates Islam’s call to couple belief with action.[^31]  Religion is effectively reduced to a form of identity politics, where one can superficially “belong” to a religion while rejecting the very religious practices and theological commitments that define it. Thus, the Muslim is provided a sense of security in their “Muslimness” simply by virtue of identifying as Muslim. This is not to suggest that Muslims who struggle to practice their religion are not authentic in their Islamic commitment; it is impossible to judge the ultimate destiny of another believer. Rather, this is to emphasize that adopting Islam simply as an identity is antithetical to the very meaning of Islam: submission. The state facilitates the reduction of Islam to an identity marker via its attempt to “racialize” the Muslim. “Racialization” here denotes the way in which a Muslim phenotype has been invented by state policy and legislation against the backdrop of the War on Terror. In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration passed the Patriot Act, which authorized government surveillance of citizens deemed a security threat. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump issued the “Muslim Ban,” which barred Syrian refugees and travelers from targeted Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Both only exacerbated racial profiling and perpetuated the notion that Muslims could and should be identified and targeted by superficial markers. One’s “Muslimness” was effectively measured by the amount of melanin in one’s skin and “peculiar-sounding” degree of one’s name, the “exotic” clothing worn, and the foreign language spoken. Discourse on the racialization of Muslims often focuses on the proliferation of Islamophobia and American Muslim national belonging. What is often overlooked is the influence racialization has on the Muslim psyche itself. Islam is not a race. It is impossible to create a universal Muslim archetype, despite secular efforts to do so. The racialization of Muslims creates a dangerous space for believers to compartmentalize their Islam and lose sight of what actually makes them Muslim. Internalizing the framework of racialization pigeonholes the Muslim in the “minority” mindset, which often results in the adoption of an inferiority complex. As Saba Mahmood notes, “for a minority to draw attention to its plight, it must necessarily highlight its difference from the identity of the nation, exacerbating the fissure that produces the group’s exclusion in the first place.”[^32] When Muslims view themselves as a scrutinized religious minority, it inevitably impacts how they navigate their lived experience. Take American Muslim political engagement. Rather than have their politics be led by Islamically-ordained commitments to the *ummah*, most American Muslims preemptively and unimaginatively dismiss their capacity to effect change outside of secular parameters. Our political vision and priorities are often reactionary, our hopes for change dictated by the systems of injustice we so desperately seek to engage with. We wait for genocide before deciding to abandon our leaders. Unaware of our cognitive dissonance, we attempt to envision an activism devoid of Islamic ethics. We accept the role of playing monkey in the middle between the Left and Right, overlooking the fact that our Islamic commitments to justice will never be actualized by either. Dabbling in representation politics to secure perceived short-term wins may be *a* means, but it should never be internalized as *the* means to societal upliftment.[^33] This sobering truth is further confirmed by RAND, the government-funded American think tank, and their infamous proposal for building the “moderate Muslim.” In efforts to create Muslims palatable to the state’s fancy, RAND suggested establishing Muslim networks comprising “liberal and secular Muslim academics and intellectuals; young, moderate religious scholars; community activists, women’s groups engaged in gender equality campaigns; and moderate journalists and writers.”[^34] This web of grassroots engagement was to be established in hopes of “affecting the war of ideas” in the Muslim world and beyond.[^35] This is how the nation-state establishes itself as a “de facto theologian,” ready to “transform Islam from within” by “unearthing, identifying, and buttressing existing organizations that the US government deems moderate, tolerant, and prone to democratic values.”[^36] This mission was also accomplished abroad via the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), introduced under the Clinton administration. The IRFA gave “unprecedented powers to the US federal government to expand its regulation of religious life on an international scale in the name of enforcing and protecting religious freedoms.”[^37] Not only did this signify the United States’ global power, but it also reflected its material and metaphysical sovereignty “over the entirety of the geopolitical landscape.”[^38] Though the RAND document is now almost two decades old, and the IRFA even older, both capture the approach still taken by the US government (and the West more broadly) towards Muslim populations globally. Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) initiative is a continuation of colonial power’s desire to construct narratives on the ‘Good Muslim’ vs. ‘Bad Muslim.’ The billion-dollar Islamophobia industry[^39] recognizes the power in shaping narratives and works in tandem to create the Muslim bogeyman.[^40] The ‘Bad Muslim’ in theory and practice describes the Muslim who is unwilling to secularize Islam—that is, the Muslim who recognizes the legitimacy and authority of Islam as encompassing the public and private spheres alike. This chapter of colonial effort is undoubtedly one marked by an intellectual power struggle—the modus operandi of which requires the careful filtering of values, sentiments, and behavior in conflict with Western ethics and principles. What Islamic ethics call us to do is to think beyond the confines of enforced systems of oppression and injustice. While details of such alternatives are beyond the scope of this paper, it is imperative that we avoid naively placing our aspirations for individual and collective empowerment in the systems designed to subjugate us. Islamic activism demands that we creatively and thoughtfully keep our eye on the prize: to proactively self-organize, mobilize, and embrace strategies that allow us to see the horizon of self-actualization. Strength is in the ability to reimagine and synchronize our movement as a collective toward an alternative politics, rather than complacently situate ourselves and our inherent power in the sphere of minority engagement.[^41] Racializing Islam incapacitates the Muslim from operating authentically toward the Islamic self. --- ## The Islamic self *Lā ilāha illah Allāh*—this is the backbone of the Islamic worldview, the foundational building block of Muslim thinking and commitment. This declaration is much more than an assertion of the divinity of The Creator, The Master, and True King: Allah ﷻ. It uniquely begins with a negation of other notions of sovereignty and clear rejection (*la ilāha*) of competing worldviews and alternate systems of belief. The Qur’an asserts Islam’s monopoly on Truth when Allah ﷻ says, > > إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰم ۗ > > The true religion with Allah is Islam.[^42] Allah ﷻ also says, > وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمِ دِينًۭا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْأَخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِين > > Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers.[^43] The Islamic self is predicated on the unwavering conviction in the truth and authority of Islam in life. It is Islam that dictates how the Muslim understands the *wāqiʿ* (reality) around us and provides us the ability to assess the legitimacy of prevalent thought. It is Islam that shapes the self’s ideas, sensibilities, and actions. The Islamic self is committed to obedience (*ṭāʿah)* to Allah ﷻ, content and eager to be led by the Divine rather than blindly leading itself. After all, the Muslim recognizes that being in the driver’s seat to determine guidance is akin to driving with one’s eyes closed. These sentiments are affirmed when Allah ﷻ says, > أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍۢ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِۦ وَقَلْبِهِۦ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِۦ غِشَـٰوَةًۭ فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ > > Have you seen those who have taken their own desires as their god? \[And so\] Allah left them to stray knowingly, sealed their hearing and hearts, and placed a cover on their sight. Who then can guide them after Allah? Will you not take heed?[^44] Allah ﷻ also reminds us: > أَفَمَن يَمْشِى مُكِبًّا عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦٓ أَهْدَىٰٓ أَمَّن يَمْشِى سَوِيًّا عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍۢ مُّسْتَقِيمٍۢ > > Who is \[rightly\] guided: the one who crawls facedown or the one who walks upright on the Straight Path?[^45] The secular order that seeks to domesticate religion cannot loosen the Islamic self’s grip on its vision and purpose. The Islamic worldview produces a self that has a deeply-rooted inclination toward worship of and submission to the Creator. For the Muslim, the desire to align one’s feelings and actions with God’s desire supersedes individual inclination. This is not to suggest that Islam rids the individual of independent feeling. Rather, it is via Islam that feelings are guided to and aligned with what is wanted from us by the Creator of feelings. Unlike the secular self that views religion as an individual pursuit of feeling, the Islamic self is defined by its pursuit of His Majesty ﷻ—where fulfillment, contentment, and gratitude are gifted through obedience. Whereas the secular self is on a quest to feel something in a world numbed by individualism and consumerism, the Islamic self is sincere and persistent in its aim to serve the Divine. The secular self assumes its inherent sincerity and the legitimacy of its ‘inner truths,’ while the Islamic self always interrogates its intentions, and its ultimate fidelity toward the Ultimate Truth. This completely shifts the way in which the Islamic self views religious prohibitions and commands. Rather than perceiving God and the self as on the same moral plane, the Islamic self recognizes and is grateful for God’s omnipotence. Rather than indulging a delusion of complete autonomy over one’s actions and sentiments, the Islamic self recognizes its inherent insufficiency and celebrates submission to God and His Shari’ah. *Living* Islam is not the superficial confinement of religion to the individual sphere. Rather, it is the acknowledgment that Islam permeates all aspects of the human experience: the individual and the collective. It is the understanding that to truly be grounded in Islam, the self must see Islam as present and operative in the world around and within it. This understanding can only take root if the self identifies and appreciates Islam’s intrinsic ability to practically address lived experience, which includes the personal and social, the political and economic. Thus, being selective in how one defines and practices the *deen* is alien to the awakened Muslim consciousness. To truly be one who lives life in line with *lā ilāha illah Allāh* is to embrace unconditional obedience, independent of fleeting feelings. --- ## A way forward: Safeguarding the Islamic self Isolate, insulate, or assimilate—these are the categories, Dr. Ihsan Bagby argues, that describe how most American Muslims choose to interact with broader society. Bagby states that more often than not, American Muslims strive to “insulate,” meaning, they are “unanimous in their desire to be involved in society and to be recognized as a respected part of the mosaic of American life” while upholding their Islamic principles and values.[^46] While Bagby’s claim does nuance the often polarized take on whether the Other simply rejects conformity or embraces it, it falls short in its ability to address the extent to which Muslims can *successfully* insulate. To be truly “insulated”—that is, for the individual to establish Islam as their frame of reference and to navigate the world accordingly—demands awareness and action. It not only necessitates the individual swim upstream, but on a foundational level to be aware that they are in a stream in the first place. Where does this leave us? What action plan might we have to preserve and protect the Islamic self? Disentangling ourselves from secular influence requires engaging with soft power and reclaiming the narrative. The precondition for decolonizing the Islamic self is an awareness of how secular power operates and a simultaneous interrogation of its proposed norms. Muslims must reorient their worldview and actively realign their vision, aspirations, sentiments, and understanding of reality itself via Islam. Allah ﷻ elucidates the importance of anchoring ourselves to an awareness of our religion when He ﷻ says, > قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ > > Say, “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”[^47] The Muslim who passively approaches understanding Islam risks losing the essence of what the Islamic self ought to be. The necessity of creating an ecosystem conducive to Muslim growth individually and collectively is evident. Cultivating a renewed commitment to fulfilling one’s individual and collective obligations is essential to safeguarding the Islamic self. The Prophet ﷺ emphasized the network of responsibility that the Muslim is enmeshed in when he said, “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”[^48] This is further illustrated when the Prophet ﷺ said, “He is not a believer whose stomach is full while the neighbor to his side is starving.”[^49] These narrations showcase a Muslim’s responsibility to those around them. It is impossible for the Islamic self to thrive when it turns a blind eye to the collective. This is demonstrated in the Prophet’s ﷺ well-known narration, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[^50] This fundamentally demands the Muslim not only have an awareness of the affairs of the *ummah* at large, but to remedy any affliction with action. It is vital for individual commitment to work in tandem with efforts to safeguard and nurture our Muslim communities. Part of this demands a level of institution building, where Muslims can preserve and protect their intellectual loyalties. The continued establishment of Muslim think tanks, independent media companies, and educational institutions is needed. All efforts must be unified in their goal to respond to hegemonic thought and provide a system of enculturation where the veracity and superiority of the Islamic worldview is demonstrated through practice and not merely theory. Muslims must also expand our horizon of thought, ensuring we reestablish and rekindle what it means to belong to a transnational *ummah* that transcends the confines of secular order. Reconnecting with Islam while simultaneously recognizing and safeguarding our selves against secular influence calls for action and intentionality. Recognizing the enormity of such an undertaking requires us to deconstruct secular assumptions, which in turn will allow us to reclaim our Islamic worldview. It is only then that we can walk with a clear vision, using Islam to reorient our aspirations for ourselves and the world around us. The Muslim who, with conviction, adopts the Islamic creed as the basis for their worldview poses a very real challenge to the colonial project as they recognize Islam’s role in shaping their identity and the reality they live in. In other words, *living* Islam necessitates that the Muslim traverse life as a truth seeker, firmly committed to disentangling truth from falsehood—whether it be in the arena of their own psyche or the temporal sphere. Allah ﷻ says, > وَأَنَّ هَـٰذَا صِرَٰطِى مُسْتَقِيمًۭا فَٱتَّبِعُوهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلسُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ > > Indeed that is My Path—perfectly straight. So follow it and do not follow other ways, for they will lead you away from His Way.[^51] --- ## Notes [^1]: Taylor, *A Secular Age* (London: Belknap Press, 2007), 475. [^2]: Talal Asad, *Formations of the Secular* (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003), 134. [^3]: It is important to note that scholars understand and categorize secularism in more than one way. Secularism is multifaceted and the very categories of what it means to be “religious” and “secular” are constantly being reworked and reassessed. [^4]: Ali Harfouch, “The Secularization of the Muslim Mind,” Traversing Tradition, April 8, 2019, [https://traversingtradition.com/2019/04/08/the-secularization-of-the-muslim-mind/](https://traversingtradition.com/2019/04/08/the-secularization-of-the-muslim-mind/). [^5]: To present the emergence of secularism simply via the lens of religious wars is an incomplete narrative. It is important to acknowledge the social, political, and economic realities at play in order to capture a more complete image of the political doctrine. For details on the historical circumstances that nurtured secularism, see William Cavanaugh, *The Myth of Religious Violence* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 124–80 and Asad, *Formations of the Secular*, 1–17. [^6]: Hussein Agrama, *Secularism, Sovereignty, Indeterminacy: Is Egypt a Secular or a Religious State? Comparative Studies in Society and History* 52, no. 3 (2010): 495–523. [^7]: Cavanaugh, *Myth of Religious Violence*, 120–21. [^8]: Schneewind, *The Invention of Autonomy* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 31. [^9]: Hallaq, *The Impossible State* (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), 80. [^10]: Hallaq, *Impossible State*, 35. [^11]: This is not to suggest that those who detransition are unsupported as a collective. Rather, it is to emphasize that the lack of value to their narrative results in a lack of emphasis and/or avoidance in mainstream media. For further details, see “Robin Respaut, Chad Terhune, and M. Colin, “Why Detransitioners Are Crucial to the Science of Gender Care,” *Reuters*, December 22, 2022, [https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-outcomes/](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-outcomes/). [^12]: Corey James Anton, *Selfhood and Authenticity* (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001), 4. [^13]: Stephen Guardbaum emphasizes that personal autonomy cripples one from concretely making judgments about justice. He notes that “each individual associates his personal autonomy with the criteria of justice that he uses in making these judgements.” Stephen Guardbaum, “Liberalism, Autonomy, and Moral Conflict,” *Stanford Law Review* 48, no. 2 (1996), 385–417. [^14]: “More Americans Now Say They’re Spiritual but Not Religious,” Pew Research Center, September 6, 2017, [https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/). [^15]: The popular 2015 Buzzfeed video titled “I’m Muslim, but I’m Not…” illustrates this phenomenon. Efforts to break stereotypes on what it means to be Muslim or follow Islam only echo secular sentiments of the individual having a hand in what their religion “looks like” ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQjyRc7eiY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQjyRc7eiY)). [^16]: Hallaq, *Impossible State*, 76 [^17]: Asad, *Formations of the Secular*, 135. [^18]: Gardbaum, “Liberalism, Autonomy, and Moral Conflict.” [^19]: Anton, *Selfhood and Authenticity*, 4. [^20]: For details on the creation of a national identity and implications of the human rights discourse, see Asad, *Formations of the Secular*, 134–40. [^21]: Olivier Bert, “Foucault and Individual Autonomy,” *South African Journal of Psychology* 40, no. 3 (2010): 292–307. [^22]: Sean L. Yom, “Islam and Globalization: Secularism, Religion, and Radicalism,” in *Challenges of Globalization* (London: Routledge, 2017). [^23]: Coloniality is understood to be a byproduct of colonialism. It is the systemic usurping of power from the indigenous to redefine thinking itself. Joseph Lumbard describes coloniality as “epistemic erosion,” which causes the Muslim to “no longer think in line with their (Islamic) traditions,” demanding the Muslim “employ paradigms from outside to conceptualize their place in the world.” Joseph E. B. Lumbard, “Islam and the Challenge of Epistemic Sovereignty,” *Religions* 15, no. 4 (2024): 6–7, [https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040406](https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040406). [^24]: Material colonialism is the Uyghur Muslim who is forced to spend their Ramadan eating and drinking interned in concentration camps. Colonialism is the Kashmiri living under constant surveillance and harsh curfews while struggling to feed their family. Colonialism is the murder of six-year-old Hind Rajab and her fellow martyrs, who remind us why it is impossible to overlook the tenacity of the colonial mission and erroneously assume it to be an egregious relic of the past. [^25]: Ali Harfouch, “The Great Fitnah: Secular Power and Muslim Future(s) - Part 1,” Ummatics, September 12, 2022, [https://ummatics.org/political-theory/the-great-fitnah-secular-power-and-muslim-futures-part-1/](https://ummatics.org/political-theory/the-great-fitnah-secular-power-and-muslim-futures-part-1/). [^26]: Sherman Jackson references mysterium tremendum, or “second creators” (those who essentially are in control of this process of narrative/reality-building), who “pose the greatest challenge to God’s monopoly on divinity.” Jackson, *Islam and the Blackamerican* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 193. See Sherman Jackson’s *The Islamic Secular* for a more current engagement with secularism. [^27]: Muneeza Rizvi, “Palestine and the Question of Islam,” Critical Muslim Studies, May 15, 2021, [https://criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/palestine-and-the-question-of-islam/](https://criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/palestine-and-the-question-of-islam/). [^28]: Rizvi, “Palestine and the Question of Islam.” [^29]: For details on how the individual is influenced, see Michel Foucault’s *Discipline and Punish* (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 135–170 (Docile bodies). [^30]: Olivier Bert, “Foucault and Individual Autonomy.” [^31]: Qur’an 42:22, 45:30, 5:9, 2:82, and 4:122. [^32]: Saba Mahmood, *Religious Difference in a Secular Age: A Minority Report* (United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 2016), 67. [^33]: This is not to suggest Muslims should not engage with the current political system. Rather, it is the questioning of efficacy when desiring to solve ummatic suffering. And on a more fundamental note, reassessing whether ummatic commitments shape our political vision to begin with. [^34]: Angel Rabasa, et. al., “RAND Proposes Blueprint for Building Moderate Muslim Networks,” RAND, March 8, 2007, [https://www.rand.org/pubs/research\_briefs/RB9251.html](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9251.html). [^35]: “RAND Proposes Blueprint.” [^36]: Saba Mahmood, “Secularism, Hermeneutics and Empire: The Politics of Islamic Reformation,” *Public Culture* 18, no. 2 (May 2006): 323–47. [^37]: US Commission on International Religious Freedom, International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 USC 6401 note), [https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/2431#:~:text=International%20Religious%20Freedom%20Act%20of%201998%20%2D%20Declares%20it%20to%20be,and%20development%20assistance%20to%20governments](https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/2431#:~:text=International%20Religious%20Freedom%20Act%20of%201998%20%2D%20Declares%20it%20to%20be,and%20development%20assistance%20to%20governments). [^38]: Mahmood, “Secularism, Hermeneutics and Empire.” [^39]: Nasim Ahmed, “Islamophobia Is a Billion-Dollar Industry in the US; It’s Time to Uproot It,” Middle East Monitor, January 12, 2022, [https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220112-islamophobia-is-a-billion-dollar-industry-in-the-us-its-time-to-uproot-it/](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220112-islamophobia-is-a-billion-dollar-industry-in-the-us-its-time-to-uproot-it/). [^40]: For more information on state-sponsored efforts to create a Muslim archetype, see Arun Kundnani, *The Muslims Are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism and the Domestic War on Terror* (London: Verso, 2014). [^41]: For further insight on Islamic activism and a proposed methodology of alternative politics, see Asim Qureshi’s *A Virtue of Disobedience*. [^42]: Qur’an 3:19. [^43]: Qur’an 3:85. [^44]: Qur’an 45:23. [^45]: Qur’an 67:22. [^46]: Ihsan Bagby, *The Mosque In America: A National Portrait; A Report from the Mosque Study Project* [^47]: Qur’an 39:9. [^48]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7138. [^49]: *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*, no. 112. Classified as *sahih* by Al-Albani. [^50]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6011. [^51]: Qur’an 6:153. ## Summary Living under the dominion of secular power exacts a heavy toll upon the human being, and most especially upon the Muslim who has been made to imbibe its assumptions unknowingly. Our age has become one that worships at the altar of the autonomous self, echoing slogans such as “you do you” and “my body, my choice.” Charles Taylor named this an “age of authenticity,” wherein the individual is commanded to “find yourself, realize yourself, and release your true self.” The liberal state elevates this morally autonomous self as an uncontested good and assigns it inherent worth. Yet, far from ennobling the human being, this project in truth reduces the individual to a mockery of himself. The self that modernity celebrates is not a natural creation but an invention traceable to the Enlightenment, secured through the doctrine of secularism. Secularism here is understood not merely as a separation of religion and state, but as a political doctrine that grants the state power to determine what counts as religion, which beliefs and actions are deemed religious or secular, and which of those are tolerated. Emerging from Western Europe’s trauma between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in the struggle between Church and State, secularism never truly delineated the boundaries of either. Instead, it recreated religion into a docile subject of the state, a feature of the state’s expanding regulatory power. This was then exported to the rest of the world upon the back of Western imperial expansion, aiming to produce a new self marked by moral autonomy. Immanuel Kant is credited with placing autonomy at the heart of moral authority, seating the individual and God in the same moral community and thereby rendering God, in his framing, “morally superfluous.” The consequence is that revelation is displaced by individual impulse, feelings are exalted over principles, and morality itself is made subjective and unstable—like a feather tossed about by the winds of one’s whims. The bitter fruits of this may be seen in the phenomenon of transgenderism, where feelings of being trapped in the wrong body are treated as inherently valid and actionable through irreversible surgeries and hormones, all celebrated under the banner of choice—until one who detransitions discovers that these so-called “inner truths” were in fact inner lies bearing lasting harm. When morality is privatized, it is declared both subjective and equal in all its expressions, enslaving the person to the fragility of his shifting framework and producing a “cult of authenticity.” This vacuum, created by excluding Allah from any real sovereignty, is filled by man’s own sanctioned creative power. Yet the human being cannot be stripped of his innate disposition (fiṭrah) to seek a higher power, which is why secular society witnesses the rise of those who call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” resorting to affirmations, healing crystals, and mindfulness. Such secular spirituality merely shifts one’s servitude from Allah to the self. This same disease infects many Muslims who justify abandoning Islamic principles through the phrase “only God can judge me,” whether in rationalizing interest-based dealings or redefining the norms of hijab. Such a mentality privatizes religious commitment and makes the Muslim a religious consumer rather than a follower, producing the secularized Muslim who prioritizes the experience of a feeling over the validity of creed itself—one who abandons prayer because he no longer feels its “benefits.” Secular power does not directly expel Allah from consciousness; rather, it strips Him of sovereignty and grants it to mankind, reducing religion to a form of deism where Allah is permitted to exist but assigned no role in society. Thus the “freedom” such Muslims imagine they possess is no true freedom at all, for the shape of their practice is dictated by, and remains at the mercy of, the state. Indeed, the very production of the “individual” is what denied the self genuine individuality, for modern individuality can only be achieved through the state that defines, trains, and disciplines the self through its institutions. The case of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, expelled from public schools after Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) for refusing the Pledge of Allegiance, laid bare the fragility of religious freedom under a secular order: the state can crush freedom precisely because it is the sole guarantor of it. As Talal Asad observed, John Locke’s appeal to natural right was linked to a desire to stabilize the self through a legal concept of the person. One is therefore only as free as the state permits. Rousseau had already argued in the eighteenth century that the autonomous self flourishes only when citizens act uniformly upon a single general will. State-sanctioned norms masquerade as individual leanings, as seen in the celebration of women in the workforce over women as custodians of the family through “girlboss” culture, and in the acceptance of hijab only when framed as personal choice rather than theological obligation. Ironically, then, it is through the prescribed agency of the self that its subjugation is achieved. No thought exists in absolute freedom, for as it has been noted, everyone remains dependent on conventions and on things he did not create, such as language. The word “terrorism,” once denoting state violence in the French Revolution, became an arbitrary label wielded by the state’s propagandists. Language belongs to a system, and this is how coloniality—a dimension of “soft power”—operates, prescribing values under the guise of universality and neutrality in order to intellectually gut a people and recreate them in the state’s image. This is visible in Muslim discourse on Palestine that favors the language of “human rights” over anything overtly Islamic, an assumption that denies Islam any capacity for the universal while exalting secular humanity as free of particular commitments. To funnel our convictions through secular vocabulary is to risk muddying them beyond coherence. The secular Muslim, then, is not an organic product of liberation but the creation of a legal regime that treats one who lives by Islam as no different from one who merely claims belonging to it—a stance that violates Islam’s call to couple belief with action and reduces religion to identity politics. The state advances this through the “racialization” of the Muslim, inventing a Muslim phenotype through such measures as the Patriot Act and the 2017 “Muslim Ban,” measuring one’s “Muslimness” by skin, name, dress, and tongue. But Islam is not a race, and internalizing this framework traps the Muslim in a minority mindset and an inferiority complex. As Saba Mahmood noted, a minority drawing attention to its plight must highlight its difference and thereby deepen its exclusion. This is seen in American Muslim political engagement, which too often reacts within secular parameters, waiting for genocide before abandoning its leaders and dabbling in representation politics as though it were the means rather than a means. The RAND proposal for building the “moderate Muslim,” the International Religious Freedom Act, and Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism initiative all reveal how the nation-state appoints itself a “de facto theologian,” dividing Muslims into the “Good” who secularize their faith and the “Bad” who recognize Islam’s authority over public and private life alike. Against all of this stands the Islamic self, founded upon lā ilāha illā Allāh—a declaration that begins with negation and rejection of every competing sovereignty and worldview. Allah ﷻ affirms Islam’s monopoly on truth: “The true religion with Allah is Islam” (Āl ʿImrān 3:19), and, “Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them, and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers” (Āl ʿImrān 3:85). The Islamic self is grounded in obedience (ṭāʿah) and refuses to make its desires its god, for Allah ﷻ warns, “Have you seen those who have taken their own desires as their god?” (al-Jāthiyah 45:23), and asks, “Who is rightly guided: the one who crawls facedown or the one who walks upright on the Straight Path?” (al-Mulk 67:22). Unlike the secular self that assumes its own sincerity, the Islamic self interrogates its intentions and celebrates submission to Allah and His Sharīʿah. Living Islam is no confinement of religion to the private sphere; it is the recognition that Islam permeates every aspect of the human experience, individual and collective, political and economic. Selectivity in the dīn is alien to the awakened Muslim consciousness. Safeguarding this self demands more than what Dr. Ihsan Bagby described as the tendency of American Muslims to “insulate,” for true insulation requires the awareness that one is even in a stream before attempting to swim upstream. It requires engaging soft power, reclaiming the narrative, and reorienting one’s worldview through Islam, for Allah ﷻ says, “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (al-Zumar 39:9). It demands fulfilling our web of responsibilities, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock,” and, “He is not a believer whose stomach is full while the neighbor to his side is starving,” and likened the believers to a single body that reacts wholly when one limb aches. This entails building Muslim institutions, think tanks, media, and schools, and rekindling belonging to a transnational ummah that transcends the secular order. The Muslim who adopts Islam as the basis of his worldview poses a real challenge to the colonial project, traversing life as a truth-seeker who disentangles truth from falsehood, heeding the command of Allah ﷻ: “Indeed, this is My Path—perfectly straight. So follow it and do not follow other ways, for they will lead you away from His Way” (al-Anʿām 6:153). ## Key Takeaways 1. Secularism is not simply the separation of religion and state but a political order that grants the state authority to define what religion is and what role it can play in society. Under this arrangement, religion is permitted to exist as private belief, but the state determines the actual shape of religious practice, leaving even devout Muslims operating within the boundaries set for them rather than by Islam itself. 2. The secular self rests on the assumption that the individual is the ultimate source of moral authority, with subjective experience taking precedence over revealed truth. This worldview has shaped how some Muslims relate to their faith, leading them to evaluate Islamic practices by whether they generate certain emotional outcomes, or to treat Islam as a marker of identity rather than a set of theological and practical commitments. 3. Reclaiming the Islamic self requires recognizing that Islam is not one option among many but a complete framework that shapes how Muslims understand reality, guide their feelings, and engage with the world. The Islamic self submits to Allah rather than to personal whims or state-sanctioned norms, and treats Islam as operative across all spheres of life: personal, political, social, and economic. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is secularism really just the separation of religion and state? No. Secularism is better understood as a political doctrine that empowers the state to determine what counts as religion, which beliefs and practices are religious or secular, and which of those are tolerated. Rather than keeping the two spheres apart, the secular order recreates religion to fit the state’s expanding regulatory reach. This redefinition emerged historically as a Western European response to the tug of war between Church and state between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and was then exported globally through imperialist expansion. Under this arrangement, individuals are given the space to believe whatever they want privately, but the secular legal regime ultimately dictates the shape of their actual religious practice. God is granted room to exist if the individual so desires, but is stripped of any real role in society. So when Muslims today imagine secularism as a neutral framework that lets everyone worship freely, they are missing how the system itself recreates religion as a docile subject of the state. ### Why do some Muslims say “only God can judge me” to justify bypassing Islamic rulings? This mindset reflects how deeply secular thought has shaped Muslim self-understanding. When morality is treated as a private matter and individual feelings are placed above creed, Muslims become emboldened to filter Islamic practices by their perceived emotional output rather than their obligatory nature. Whether the issue is Muslim businesses rationalizing interest-based transactions or influencer culture redefining hijab norms, the “only God can judge me” framing privatizes religious commitment and turns the believer into a religious consumer rather than a follower. Someone may stop praying because they no longer feel the benefits of prayer, treating the validity of an Islamic command as contingent on personal emotional experience. The mentality assumes that sincerity of feeling is itself the measure of religiosity, when Islam in fact calls for belief coupled with action, and for feelings to be guided by what Allah wants from us rather than the other way around. ### Why does hijab get celebrated as “personal choice” but criticized when framed as religious obligation? The difference in reception reveals how secular societies set the terms for acceptable religious expression. Religious garb is legitimized so long as it is framed as an individual’s free choice, but viewed as oppressive the moment it is grounded in theological commitment. The same garment receives a different reaction depending on the justification offered, which exposes the limits of secular tolerance. Actions and beliefs must be justified on the basis of individual choice rather than normative truth, otherwise they fall outside what the state is willing to accept. This pattern is not limited to hijab. It also shapes how Muslims are taught to think about gender roles more broadly. “Girlboss” culture celebrates women in the workforce while quietly devaluing the role of women as caretakers and custodians of future generations, revealing how the modern state shapes individual aspirations under the appearance of neutral empowerment. The framework of personal choice is not as liberating as it seems, since it permits self-expression only within boundaries the state itself has drawn. ### Why is treating Islam as an identity instead of a way of life a problem? A secular legal order treats someone who lives by Islam in principle and practice as no different from someone who simply claims to belong to Islam without practicing any of it. Religion gets reduced to a form of identity politics, where a person can superficially belong to a faith while rejecting the very practices and theological commitments that define it. The believer is then given a false sense of security in their Muslimness simply by identifying as Muslim, which is antithetical to the meaning of Islam itself: submission. This identity framing has been reinforced by how the state racializes Muslims through policy and legislation, inventing a Muslim phenotype detectable through skin tone, the sound of a name, clothing, or language. The deeper damage is psychological. Being slotted into a scrutinized minority category encourages believers to compartmentalize their Islam and adopt an inferiority complex, which then warps Muslim political vision. Priorities become reactionary, dictated by the very systems we seek to engage. We wait for genocide before abandoning leaders, and we accept being caught between political camps that will never actualize Islamic commitments to justice. Recovering Islam as a comprehensive way of life, rather than a demographic label, is essential to thinking and acting authentically as Muslims. ### Why is framing the issue of Palestine purely in terms of human rights insufficient? The shift from Islamic to human rights language is not neutral. It quietly promotes secular values while sidelining Islamic ones. The framing assumes that Muslim concerns are tainted by divisive theological attachments, while the human rights worker speaks in universal, capacious terms inclusive of everyone, including the non-Muslim Palestinian. This denies Islam any capacity for the universal and elevates human rights as if they were free of particular ideological commitments, when in fact they are embedded in a specific secular politics of humanity. When Muslims feel compelled to funnel their advocacy through this filter, the result is a muddying of Islamic convictions to the point of incoherence. This does not mean the suffering of non-Muslims is irrelevant or that justice-oriented language is forbidden. It means that ceding the entire moral vocabulary to a secular framework strips an Islamic response of its distinctiveness and concedes the field to the very order that helps sustain the injustice. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-does-allahu-akbar-mean # What does Allahu Akbar mean? | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Published:** August 9, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 Once again, as we confront the rising tides of Islamophobia in different parts of the world, the phrase “Allahu Akbar” is thrown around by political pundits, media outlets, and so-called security experts as a term that is a harbinger of violence and terrorism. But what does the phrase actually mean, and what is its significance for the nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world? From the moment of birth, when the phrase “Allahu Akbar” is softly whispered into the ear of a newborn, to the comforting lullabies that drift them to sleep—*Subhanallah, Walhamdulillah, Wala Ilaha Illallah, Wallahu Akbar*—these praises of God become the melody of our existence. They are words that connect us to the Infinite, to the Creator who is beyond all imagination. Allah is the greatest, the Creator of everything, the Owner of the Universes, the Sublime, the One, and the only. He is greater than all words could ever express, greater than all else in existence. https://youtu.be/Hg42TstStX8 We recite “Allahu Akbar” more than 100 times throughout our day, as we flow through the positions of prayer, *salah.* We whisper it as we stretch in the morning, or as we step outside our homes, embracing the day ahead. It’s a phrase we often use to begin a task, a sacred reset button. Sometimes, we utter it with glee and joy, for Allah is the greatest, and He grants us these precious moments of happiness. Other times, we say it in the depths of sorrow, to remind ourselves that Allah is greater than any hardship we might face. But what is the essence of this beautiful phrase? Allahu Akbar - اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر Let us break down the profound meaning within these two words: If we were to translate it word for word, it would mean: *Allah – He is – The Greatest.* But to understand “Allahu Akbar” fully, we must delve into the depth of the Arabic language. The word *Akbar* is derived from the trilateral root *kāf―bā―rā* (ك ب ر), which carries the connotation of greatness. These root letters are also found in words that describe nobility, magnificence, and power. The beauty of this root lies in its versatility, capturing the essence of all that is grand and beyond human comprehension. In its grammatical form, *Akbar* is an *ism tafdīl*, a term in Arabic grammar that indicates either a comparative (greater than) or a superlative (greatest). Usually, when we say “Allahu Akbar,” we are invoking the comparative form, leaving the phrase wonderfully open-ended: “Allah is greater …” Greater than what, you might ask? Greater than anything and everything. Greater than our happiness, greater than our worldly joy. When we say it in moments of frustration, stress, or disappointment, we are reminding ourselves that Allah is greater than whatever trial we are facing. It is a profound attachment of the heart to the boundless greatness of our Creator. When the call to prayer, the *adhan*, begins with “Allahu Akbar,” it signals that this call is greater than any task we are engaged in. It beckons us to pause, to realign our focus, and to respond to the divine invitation. When we approach prayer and raise our hands to begin with “Allahu Akbar,” we are proclaiming that this prayer, this moment of connection with Allah, is now our focus. Allah is greater than anything we are leaving behind. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ beautifully summarized this when he said, “The uttering of the words: *Subhan-Allah* (Allah is free from imperfection), *Al-hamdu lillah* (all praise is due to Allah), *La ilaha illallah* (there is no true god except Allah), *and Allahu Akbar* (Allah is the Greatest) is dearer to me than anything over which the sun rises.” \[*Riyadh al-Salihin* #1409\] In this simple yet profound phrase lies a world of hope and meaning. It is a constant reminder that no matter where we are in life—whether standing at the peak of joy or the depths of despair—Allah is greater. His greatness encompasses all things, and in that greatness, we find our anchor, our hope, and our solace. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/hope-and-healing-supplications-for-a-loved-one-who-passed-away # Hope and Healing: Supplications for a Loved One Who Passed Away | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Dua **Published:** August 8, 2024 **Updated:** September 8, 2026 Perhaps the most difficult challenge any of us are likely to face is the passing of a loved one. After a loved one passes away, it is natural to be overcome with feelings of sorrow, and for some, even a general sense of hopelessness and despair. While we acknowledge our grief as our own Prophet ﷺ did—losing his uncle Abu Talib, his beloved wife Khadija, and all of his children except for Fatima (rA)—we can take solace in our duty to supplicate for our loved ones. Indeed, our supplications for them after they pass away can directly affect their standing in the next life. Abu Huraira (rA) narrated that “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said “Verily, Allah Almighty will raise the status of his righteous servant in paradise, and he will say ‘O Lord, what is this?’ Allah will say, ‘This is (due to) your child seeking forgiveness for you.’” (*Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 10610). As such, our connection with our loved ones is so profound that we can continue to increase their status even after they begin their journey to the next life. Moreover, not only can we raise their station, but they will be informed that this elevation is due to your supplications for them. This makes your supplications not just a means of solace for yourself, and aid for them, but also a means of continued communication between you and your loved ones. Interestingly, in this narration, the son did not request elevation for his father, but only prayed for his forgiveness. This suggests a special power to *istighfar* (seeking forgiveness). The connection between seeking forgiveness and elevation in one’s rank is that forgiveness is not only sought for sins we can recall. This can also be seen in the Prophetic tradition of saying “*astaghfirullah*” (I seek forgiveness from Allah) three times after every prayer. Indeed, seeking forgiveness is so important, that almost every supplication we cover here begins with seeking forgiveness. It can be easy to presume that our loved ones are perfect and sin-free, especially when we hold them in high regard. It is crucial though to always seek forgiveness even for our own sins we are not aware of, and the truth is that we never know all the shortcomings of others. As a rule, we should never presume a person’s standing with Allah and should accept that “every descendant of Adam is a sinner” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 2499). However, this must also be balanced with maintaining a good opinion of Allah (*husn al-dhann*), who “is the Most-Merciful, Most-Forgiving” (Qur’an 49:5). In his collection of *Sahih* Prophetic narrations, Al-Bukhari opens the Chapter on Funeral Prayers with the narration of Abu Dharr (rA) that the Prophet ﷺ said “Whoever says ‘There is no God but Allah,’ (*La ilaha illa Allah)* will enter *jannah*.” Abu Dharr says, “Even if he committed adultery and stole?” The Prophet ﷺ responds, “Even if he committed adultery and stole” (*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1237). Here, Imam Al-Bukhari demonstrates his wisdom by starting this chapter with a narration that reminds us to maintain a positive opinion (*husn al-dhann)* of Allah. This is not meant to belittle the sin of adultery and theft, but rather to emphasize our strong belief in the power of sincere supplications and Allah’s promise that He will always meet us [with mercy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-7-hope-in-the-mercy-of-allah-guidebook-to-god) and forgiveness. --- ## Du’a for a parent who has passed away Abu Usayd said, "We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when a man asked, 'Messenger of Allah, is there any act of dutifulness which I can do for my parents after their death?' He replied, 'Yes, there are four things: Supplication for them, asking forgiveness for them, fulfilling their pledges, and being generous to friends of theirs. You only have ties of kinship through your parents." (*Al-Adab Al-Mufrad,* no. 35, Da’eef) Based on the Prophet’s Noah’s dua to Allah (71:28) you can say ‘O Allah, forgive me and my parents.” رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَٰلِدَىَّ However, this can also be combined with another du’a from the Qur’an. After commanding us to honor our parents and never say “uff” to them, Allah commands us to pray for them with the following formulation, وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا “And be humble with them out of mercy, and pray, “My Lord! Have mercy on them as they raised me when I was young.” (Qur’an 17:24) As such, to pray for both of our deceased parents, and help them to enter Jannah, inshAllah, we can say: Du'a for parents رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَٰلِدَىَّ وارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرا Rabbi ighfir li wa li-walidayya wa-irhamhuma kama rabbayani saghira O Allah forgive me and my parents, and have mercy on them as they raised me when I was young Qur’an 17:24 To change the formulation to pray for just your father, you can say, Du'a for father رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدي وارْحَمْهُ كَمَا رَبَّنِي صَغِيرًۭا Rabbi ighfir li wa li-waalidi wa-irhamhu kama rabbani saghira O Allah forgive me and my father, and have mercy on him as he raised me when I was young Whereas, to pray for just your mother, you can say the following, Du'a for mother رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدتي وارْحَمْهُا كَمَا رَبَّتنِي صَغِيرًۭا Rabbi ighfir li wa li-waalidati wa-irhamha kama rabbatni saghira O Allah forgive me and my mother, and have mercy on her as she raised me when I was young --- ## Du’a for a deceased Muslim The following supplication is one of the most famous formulations for the deceased and is the one you are most likely to hear when you go to the graveyard. You can say it in the *janaza* prayer after the third *takbir*, you can say it at the graveyard, and you can continue to repeat it afterwards, especially in the immediate term after death. Awf ibn Malik (rA) narrated: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say on the occasion of the death of one of the companions, **Du’a for a deceased Muslim** اللَّهُمَّ أغْفِر لَهُ وَارْحَمْهُ وعَافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَأَكْرِم نُزُلَهُ وَوَسَّعْ مُدْخَلَهُ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِالماءِ والثَلْجِ والبَرَدِ ونقِّهِ من الخَطايا كما يُنَقّى الثوبُ الأَبْيَضُ من الدَّنَسِ Allahumma-ghfir lahu warhamhu wa'afih wa'fu 'anhu wa akrim nuzulahu wa wasi' mudkhalaahu wa 'ghsilhu bil-ma'i wath-thalji wal-baradi wa naqqihi min al-khataya kama yunaqqa al-thawbu al-abyadu min al-danas. O Allah forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him safety and pardon him and make his reception honorable, expand his grave and cleanse him with water, snow, and hail and purify him from sin like a white robe is purified of dirt. *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 963 In some of the Prophet’s ﷺ other supplications, we see that he directly mentions and invokes Allah Almighty’s mercy. In our supplications we should mention Allah’s attributes as much as possible, for the Almighty tell us to do so. He says,  “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them…” (Qur’an 7:180). One beautiful formulation that can be said at the grave and that directly invokes Allah’s mercy is: اللَّهُمَّ عَبْدُكَ وَابْنُ أَمَتِكَ احتَاجَ إِلى رَحْمَتِكَ وأَنْتَ غَنيُّ عَنْ عَذابِهِ, إِنْ كَانَ مُحْسِنا فَزِدْ في حَسَناتِهِ وإنْ كَانَ مُسِيئا فتَجَاوَزْ عَنْهُ Allahumma 'abduka wa ibnu amatika ihtaja ila rahmatika wa anta ghaniyyun 'an 'adhabih. 'In kana muhsinan fazid fi hasanatih. Wa 'in kana musi'an fatajaawaz 'anhu. O Allah this servant and child of a servant of yours is now in need of your mercy and you are not in need of punishing him. If he was pious, then increase his rewards and if he was a transgressor, then overlook \[his shortcomings\]. *Ḥiṣn al-Muslim*, no. 159 Another beneficial supplication that can be said for both the deceased and the living is: اللَّهمَّ اغْفِرْ لِحَيِّنَا وَمَيِّتِنَا وَشَاهِدِنَا، وَغَائِبِنَا، وَصَغِيْرِنَا وَكَبِيْرِنَا، وَذَكَرِنَا وَأُنْثَانَا. اللَّهمَّ مَنْ أَحْيَيْتَه ُُ مِنَّا فَأَحْيِه ِِ عَلَى         الإِسْلامِ، وَمَنْ تَوَفَّيْتَه ُُ مِنَّا فَتَوَفَّه ُُ عَلَى الإِيْمَانِ، اللَّهمَّ لا تَحْرِمْنَا أَجْرَهُ، وَلا تُضِلَّنَا بَعْدَهُ Allahumma-ghfir lihayyina wa mayyitina wa shahidina, wa gha'ibina, wa saghirina wa kabirina, wa dhakarina wa unthana. Allahumma man ahyaytahu minna fa ahyihi 'ala al-Islam, wa man tawaffaytahu minna fatawaffahu 'ala al-iman. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu, wa la tudillana ba'dahu. O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those present and those absent, our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allah, whom among us You keep alive, then let such a life be upon Islam, and whom among us You take unto Yourself, then let such a death be upon faith. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not let us stray after him. *Sunan Ibn Majah*, no. 1498 One of the most famous supplications for the deceased came after the passing away of the companion Abu Salama (rA). The Prophet ﷺ visited his beloved companion as he (rA) was on his deathbed. Seeing his eyes fixed on one spot, an indication that his soul had left his body, the Prophet closed Abu Salama’s eyes as per the prophetic tradition. Upon this, some of Abu Salama’s family started to wail and weep. In that moment, the Prophet advised them of the importance of making beneficial supplications, both for ourselves and our loved ones, saying, > Do not supplicate for yourself anything unless it is good, for [the angels](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/episode-17-an-entourage-of-70000-angels-in-your-presence) say “Amen” to whatever you say. He ﷺ then made a beautiful supplication for Abu Salama, which you can repeat for your own loved ones, اللَّهُمَ اغْفِرْ لأبي سَلَمَة وَارْفَعْ دَرَجَتَهُ فِي المَهْدِيِّينَ وَافْسَحْ لَهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ وَنَوِّرْ لَهُ فِيه وَاخْلُفْهُ فِي عَقِبِهِ فِي الغَابِرين Allahumma-ghfir li (insert name) wa arfa' darajatahu fi l-mahdiyyiin, wa afsah lahu fi qabrihi wa nawwir lahu fihi wa akhlufhu fi 'aqibihi fi l-ghabirin. O Allah forgive (insert name) and raise his rank among those who are rightly guided. Make his grave spacious for him and give him light in it and grant him a successor from his descendants who remain behind. *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 920 In this supplication, we can detect a deliberate sequence. First, we pray for the deceased’s ultimate destination by saying “raise his ranks among the rightly guided.” In recognizing the *barzakh* as a transitional phase toward their ultimate destination, we then ask Allah to widen their grave and put light in it. Finally, we conclude the formulation by praying for the continued guidance and piety of the deceased’s descendants as part of their persisting legacy on this earth and a source of reward for them in the afterlife. While there is a well-organized sequence of prayers here, it’s important to remember that prayer for your loved ones doesn’t always have to follow a rigid structure. Alongside the prescribed formulations we have provided here, allow yourself the liberty to speak to Allah, [the All-Hearing](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-sami-the-one-who-always-listens), directly from your heart. Offer earnest supplications in your own language and truthfulness of heart as though you were the one in desperation and in the most dire need for His divine intervention. May Allah bestow His immeasurable mercy on all of our deceased and forgive us and them for our shortcomings. For more see Episode 3 of the For Those Left Behind series, '[The Best Dua's for Them](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-3-the-best-duas-for-them-for-those-left-behind)'. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/parents-guide-to-praying-for-children-10-powerful-duas # Parents’ Guide to Praying for Children: 10 Powerful Du’as | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Tags:** Dua **Published:** July 31, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 ## How to pray for children *Du’a* is the mightiest instrument at our disposal, a direct entreaty to Allah to employ His omnipotence on our behalf. *Du’a* need not even be spoken aloud, for Allah is attuned to the silent yearnings of our hearts. He promises to answer the call of the supplicant (Qur’an 2:186) and assures us of His nearness. We draw closest to Allah in our *sujood*, and He descends to the lowest heaven during the depths of the night when we are in *[tahajjud](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/tahajjud-fuel-for-the-self-and-society)*. But *du’a* can be made anywhere, at any time. The best *du’a* is the most sincere one, arising from the deepest recesses of our hearts, where we acknowledge our own powerlessness and beseech the [Most Powerful](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/the-significance-of-allahs-name-al-aziz-the-most-powerful-and-dignified). --- ## A comprehensive du’a for children رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍۢ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا Rabbana hab lana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurrata aʿyunin wa-jʿalna lil-muttaqina imama Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous. Qur’an 25:74 This *du’a* is for those who seek the blessing of children, that they may become the coolness and comfort of our eyes—*qurrata a’yun*. This phrase signifies something that captivates and delights, bringing a profound sense of peace and contentment. This phrase was used by Asiya (ra)  فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍۢ لِّى وَلَكَ “This baby is a source of joy for me and you” (Qur’an 28:9) to describe Musa (as) and convince Firaun to adopt him. Allah uses a similar phrase, when referring to returning Musa (as) as a baby to be breastfed by his mother: >  فَرَجَعْنَـٰكَ إِلَىٰٓ أُمِّكَ كَىْ تَقَرَّ عَيْنُهَا وَلَا تَحْزَنَۚ > > So We reunited you with your mother so that her heart would be put at ease, and she would not grieve. (Qur’an 20:40) Allah includes “make us an example for the righteous” because we should aspire for our children to be leaders of the *ummah* in their worship and service. When we witness our children engaging in acts of devotion and excelling in righteous behavior, it brings a unique joy and coolness to our eyes. This is the most heartfelt prayer for righteous offspring, whether they are children we currently have or hope to have. To make *du’a* for our children's success is to wish for the best in their hereafter (*akhira*), and the conclusion of this supplication encompasses that very desire. --- ## A du’a for conceiving a child In the Qur’an we find a profound narrative involving Maryam (as) and Zakariyyah (as). Maryam, blessed with provisions that defied all earthly explanations, revealed to Zakariyyah (as) that it was Allah who provided for her. Witnessing this divine sustenance, Zakariyyah (as) was inspired to make this *du’a* for offspring, despite his advanced age: رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً ۖ إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ Rabbi hab li min ladunka dhurriyyatan tayyibatan innaka samee’u du’a My Lord, grant me from Yourself a good offspring. Indeed, You are the Hearer of supplication. Qur’an 3:38 Zakariyyah (as) and his wife were well beyond the years of childbearing. Acknowledging the improbability by biological standards, he nonetheless entrusted the ‘how’ and ‘when’ entirely to Allah. His supplication was answered, and his son Yahya (as) was born. Allah reminds us of this later in the Qur’an: And \[remember\] when Zakariyya cried out to his Lord, “My Lord! Do not leave me childless, though You are the Best of Successors.” So We answered his prayer, granted him Yahya (as), and made his wife fertile. Indeed, they used to race in doing good, and call upon Us with hope and fear, totally humbling themselves before Us. (Qur’an 21:89) رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْنِى فَرْدًۭا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ Rabbi laa tadharnee fardaan wa-anta khayru al-waaritheen My Lord! Do not leave me childless, though You are the Best of Successors. Allah made Zakariyya’s wife fertile, demonstrating that His power transcends all natural laws. If Allah can make a human from an insignificant drop (Qur’an 16:4), and all that Allah needs to say is Be and it is (Qur’an 2:117), then surely such prayers are answered, and miracles come to those who ask. Many of our prophets struggled with conceiving a child. The *wali* of Allah, friend of Allah, Ibrahim (as) was married for many years before having his children. --- ## Du’a of Ibrahim (as) for offspring رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ Rabbi hab li min as-saaliheen My Lord, grant me \[a child\] from among the righteous. Qur’an 37:100 Allah answered Ibrahim (as)’s *du’a* so beautifully, a progeny who would carry forward the message of monotheism. From his lineage came our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the best human of all. And, we too are his spiritual descendents, and in our righteousness, we are a testament to the power of his *du’a*. --- ## Du’a to protect our children There are many things that can harm our children. Natural calamities like a sudden fall, human malevolence in the form of abuse or neglect, and even supernatural harms. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Reciting Surah al-Ikhlaas and the *Muʿawwidhatayn* (Surah al-Falaq and Surah al-Naas) three times in the morning and three times in the evening will suffice you in all respects.” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhi* #3575) Surah al-Ikhlaas reaffirms the oneness of Allah, a foundation of unwavering faith. Surah al-Falaq beseeches protection from external evils beyond our control—darkness, malevolent beings, and harmful humans. And Surah al-Naas seeks refuge from internal threats, such as the insidious whispers of Shaytan. Reciting these *surah*s over our children and with them, along with Surah al-Fatiha and [Ayatul Kursi](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/virtues-of-ayatul-kursi-the-greatest-surah-in-the-quran), will, insha’Allah, create a divine shield around them. It is incumbent upon us to instill in our children the habit of morning and nightly remembrances. Such practices are not merely protective rituals; they are a legacy of faith and resilience that our children will carry into adulthood, fortifying themselves against the perils of the world. --- ## Du’a for protecting our home from evil and Shaytaan The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not turn your houses into graveyards. Verily, Satan flees from the house in which Surah al-Baqarah is recited.” (*Sahih Muslim* #780) He emphasized, “Whoever recites the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah in the night, it is enough for him.” (*Sahih al-Bukhari* #5051) > آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ > >  لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ > > *Amana ar-rasoolu bimaa unzila ilayhi min rabbihi wa-al-mu'minoon kullun aamana bi-llahi wa-mala'ikatihi wa-kutubihi wa-rusulihi laa nufarriqu bayna ahadin min rusulihi wa-qaloo sami'naa wa-ata'naa ghufraanaka rabbanaa wa-ilayka al-maseer.* *Laa yukallif Allahu nafsan illaa wus'ahaa lahaa maa kasabat wa-'alayhaa maa iktasabat rabbanaa laa tu'aakhidnaa in nasinaa aw akhta'naa rabbanaa wa-laa tahmil 'alaynaa isran kamaa hamaltahu 'alaa alladheena min qablinaa rabbanaa wa-laa tuhammilnaa maa laa ṭaaqata lanaa bihi wa'fu 'annaa wa-aghfir lanaa wa-arḥamnaa anta mawlanaa fa-ansurnaa 'alaa al-qawmi al-kaafireen* The Messenger \[firmly\] believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. They \[all\] believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers. \[They proclaim,\] “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and obey. We seek Your forgiveness, our Lord! And to You \[alone\] is the final return.” Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford. All good will be for its own benefit, and all evil will be to its own loss. \[The believers pray,\] “Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake. Our Lord! Do not place a burden on us like the one you placed on those before us. Our Lord! Do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our \[only\] Guardian. So grant us victory over the disbelieving people.” (Qur’an 2:285-286) Our homes are our sanctuaries, and we should strive to protect and nurture them as places of worship and salvation. Protecting our homes inherently safeguards our children. Imagine a home where the Qur’an is often recited by parents, filling the rooms with its divine words instead of TV noise. Picture Qur’ans that are regularly touched, opened, and read from, rather than collecting dust. Envision angels visiting and inviting other angels to join circles of knowledge in our homes, creating an atmosphere of familiar Qur’an recitation and practice. --- ## Du’a for a sick child The entire Qur’an is a remedy, *shifaa*, “We sent down the Qur’an as a healing and mercy for the believers” (Qur’an 17:82). As parents and caregivers, we may read from any part of the Qur’an with the earnest hope and intention that Allah will cure our child. Reciting the Qur’an over a person is an integral part of *ruqya*, a practice for healing from envy, the evil eye, black magic, and physical ailments. The Prophet ﷺ even allowed a *sahabi* to recite Surah Al-Fatiha over a non-Muslim chief, which cured him of a physical ailment (*Sahih al-Bukhari* #5007).  Of course, while we should trust in the healing power of Allah’s words, we must also recognize the importance of medicinal cures. When considering *du’a*s for children with physical or intellectual disabilities, we must remember that their condition is divinely determined, and this *qadar* is a wisdom from Allah. Allah has chosen them for this unique trial and, likewise, selected us to exercise patience and unwavering support. To seek strength and solace, let us recite together with our children, this *du’a*:  اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي بَدَنِي، اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي سَمْعِي، اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي بَصَرِي، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ ‏ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْكُفْرِ وَالْفَقْرِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ *Allaahumma ‘aafinee fee badanee, Allaahumma ‘aafinee fee sam‘ee, Allaahumma ‘aafinee fee basaree, laa ilaaha illaa anta.* *Allaahumma innee a‘oodhu bika mina al-kufr wa-al-faqr, Allaahumma innee a‘oodhu bika min ‘adhaabi al-qabr, laa ilaaha illaa anta.* O Allah, make me healthy in my body. O Allah, make me healthy in my hearing. O Allah, make me healthy in my sight. There is no god but You. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from disbelief and poverty. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the punishment of the grave. There is no god but You.  *Sunan Abi Dawud* 5090 By teaching children how to worship and fostering a love for Allah, we not only nurture their spirits but also enrich our own souls. --- ## Du’a for children to pray The first *du’a* mentioned in this piece is comprehensive and inclusive of a *du’a* for righteous children who pray. In addition, Allah taught in the Qur’an: رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُسْلِمَةً لَكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ Rabbanaa wa-aj‘alnaa muslimayn laka wa-min dhurriyyatinaa ummatan muslimatan laka wa-arinaa manaasikanaa wa-tub ‘alaynaa innaka anta at-tawwaab ar-raheem. Our Lord! Make us both \[fully\] submit to You and from our descendants a nation that will submit to you. Show us our rituals, and accept our repentance. You are truly the Acceptor of Repentance, Most Merciful. Qur’an 2:128 The best time to instill the habit of prayer is when children are very young. Let them play around you as you perform *salah*, and take them to the mosque often, even if they do not yet know how to pray. Action must accompany *du’a*. For our children to enjoy praying, they must see their parents cherish it. If we pray hastily, in messy attire, distractedly, they will mimic that disregard. However, if we approach our prayers with reverence and beauty, they will naturally emulate that love and dedication. We must embody the practices we wish for our children to adopt. We are their first role models and they observe all our virtues and flaws. It is essential to read and love the Qur’an around them, perform our sunnah *rakat*s, and enjoy family *qiyaam* nights together. --- ## Du’a for child’s intelligence Imparting to our children the significance and potency of *du’a* will inspire them to seek divine aid themselves. Even the Prophet ﷺ was instructed by Allah to make *du’a* for his own intelligence and memory: رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًۭا Rabbi zidnee ‘ilmaa. My Lord! Increase me in knowledge. Qur’an 20:114 We can sit with our children and recite this *du’a* until it becomes their own. Teach them to invoke it particularly before delving into any study, whether it be Islamic or academic. Rather than wishing them “Good luck on the exam,” remind them of this *du’a* and encourage them to recite it before beginning their test. This practice will become ingrained as they mature, and there is no better *du’a* for studying and learning than one drawn from the Qur’an itself. --- ## Du’a for children who have passed away According to the majority of scholars, if a child passes away before reaching puberty, they are granted *jannah*, as they are pure and sinless. For such children, there is no specific *du’a* taught because they have not accumulated any sin. Instead, we say: اللهُـمِّ اجْعَلْـهُ لَنا فَرَطـاً وَسَلَـفاً وَأَجْـراً Allaahumma aj‘alhu lanaa faratan wa-salafan wa-ajran. O Allah, make him for us a precursor, a forerunner, and a cause of reward. *Hisn al-Muslim* 161 The best *du’a* for the deceased and other *du’a*s can be found in the series [For Those Left Behind](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-3-the-best-duas-for-them-for-those-left-behind): اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهُ وَارْحَمْهُ وَعَافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَأَكْرِمْ نُزُلَهُ وَوَسِّعْ مُدْخَلَهُ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ وَنَقِّهِ مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا نَقَّيْتَ الثَّوْبَ الأَبْيَضَ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ وَأَبْدِلْهُ دَارًا خَيْرًا مِنْ دَارِهِ وَأَهْلاً خَيْرًا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَزَوْجًا خَيْرًا مِنْ زَوْجِهِ وَأَدْخِلْهُ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعِذْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ أَوْ مِنْ عَذَابِ النَّارِ Allaahumma aghfir lahu wa-arḥamhu wa-‘aafihi wa-‘fu ‘anhu wa-akrim nuzulahu wa-wassi‘ mudkhalahu wa-aghhsilhu bil-maa’i wa-ath-thalji wa-al-barad wa-naqqihi mina al-khaṭaayaa kamaa naqqayta ath-thawba al-abyada mina ad-danas wa-abdilhu daaran khayran min daarihi wa-‘ahlan khayran min ahlihi wa-zawjan khayran min zawjihi wa-adkhilhu al-jannata wa-a‘idhhu min ‘adhaabi al-qabr aw min ‘adhaabi an-naar. O Allah! forgive him, have mercy upon him, give him peace and absolve him. Receive him with honor and make his grave spacious; wash him with water, snow, and hail. Cleanse him from faults as Thou wouldst cleanse a white garment from impurity. Requite him with an abode more excellent than his abode, with a family better than his family, and with a mate better than his mate. Admit him to the Garden, and protect him from the torment of the grave and the torment of the Fire. *Sahih Muslim* #963 --- ## Teaching du’as to our children The power of *du’a* is unparalleled, serving as a direct line to Allah’s boundless mercy and wisdom. By cultivating the habit of making *du’a*, we not only seek Allah’s aid but also affirm our dependence on Him, strengthening our worship, and reinforcing the principle of *tawheed*. In our *du’a*s we find not just solace, but strength, and in teaching our children to make *du’a*, we pass on to them the greatest inheritance of all: a connection to their Creator that will sustain them in this life and guide them to the next. --- ## This piece was adapted from: The Coolness of My Eyes | Taraweeh Reflections | Dr. Omar Suleiman [\[a\]](#cmnt1) How to Raise Muslim Children | Webinar  [https://www.youtube.com/live/vEvtGDvfjJw](https://www.youtube.com/live/vEvtGDvfjJw) Upheld by Allah Ep. 3: The Power of Du'a: Maryam bint Imran (as) The Surahs That Save You | Judgment Day: Deeds that Light the Way Episode 17[\[b\]](#cmnt2) The Qur’an and Depression | Taraweeh Reflections [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-quran-and-depression-taraweeh-reflections](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-quran-and-depression-taraweeh-reflections) Hadith #35 - The Rights of Those with Disabilities | 40 Hadiths on Social Justice[\[c\]](#cmnt3) Ep. 3: The Best Du’as for Them | For Those Left Behind - [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-3-the-best-duas-for-them-for-those-left-behind](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ep-3-the-best-duas-for-them-for-those-left-behind) Prophetic Prayers for Relief and Protection - [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/duas-for-relief-and-protection](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/duas-for-relief-and-protection) **For more articles on parenting, [click here.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/family-community/parenting)** --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-significance-of-allahs-name-al-aziz-the-most-powerful-and-dignified # The Significance of Allah’s name al-Aziz: The Most Powerful and Dignified | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Tags:** Names of Allah **Published:** July 19, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 In His final revelation, the Almighty says, “Let not their speech grieve you for all might belongs to Allah. It is He who hears and knows \[all things\]” (Qur’an 10:65). وَلَا يَحْزُنكَ قَوْلُهُمْ ۘ إِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا ۚ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ While this strong declaration of “all might (*‘izza*) belongs to Allah” may seem simple to comprehend, there are in fact many subtle layers of meanings to this verse. Although *‘izza* is often directly translated as “power'' or “might,” scholars provide a more nuanced definition of ‘dignified power.’ That is, no matter the extent of one’s power, it can only be classified as *‘izza* if it is accompanied by dignity*.* Reflecting on Allah’s design in his human creation can provide clarity on the uniqueness of Allah’s might. Many humans possess the attributes of mercy and kindness, but also lack strength, and therefore, can be taken advantage of. Likewise, powerful humans often manifest their power rashly and cruelly. However, this is not the case for Allah Almighty. [His attributes](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/approaching-the-quran-through-the-names-of-allah) are in perfect harmony; He is “the Most Kind (*al-Ra’uf*),” “the Almighty (*al-Aziz*),” “the Most Loving (*al-Wadud*),” and “the Subduer (*al-Qahhar*),” with no contradiction between any of these attributes. --- ## Why does Allah tell us his names? “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them…” (Qur’an 7:180). وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ Although Muslims often overlook the significance of Allah’s ninety-nine magnificent names, viewing them as a mere song to be taught to children, there is in fact no greater subject of study than the names and attributes of Allah. Allah’s glorious names hold an incredible spiritual power; for it is through them that Allah reveals Himself to us and provides us with the opportunity to grow closer to Him. There is near unanimous agreement among the scholars that Allah possesses more names than the ones He revealed to us. Thus, every name He did reveal He chose to reveal to us. This is because Allah wants you to know who He is to the best of our limited human capacity. He wants you to call upon Him with these beautiful names and use them as a means [to grow closer](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-get-closer-to-allah-exploring-the-sequence-of-allahs-names-in-surah-al-hashr) to your Creator. What then is Allah trying to teach us through His name *Al-Aziz*, or the Almighty? --- ## The Might and Mercy of Allah *Al-Aziz* is one of the most frequently mentioned names in the Qur’an, some 92 times in total. One reason Allah emphasizes His might so often, and pairs it with other concepts, is because it would be imbalanced to solely emphasize Allah’s infinite mercy and forgiveness. Instead, attending to His might as well as His mercy contributes to a fully-balanced God image. [God image](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/belief-in-divine-love-discovering-spiritual-attachment-styles) refers to one’s mental image of God, that is, how one views God, which in turn affects their views on everything around them. It is especially important to have a positive and balanced view of God, because the Prophet ﷺ narrated that “Allah said, ‘I am as My servant expects of Me.’” Allah is thus inviting us to [perceive Him positively](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/belief-in-divine-love-discovering-spiritual-attachment-styles) so that we experience Him positively in our lives. Bilal ibn Saʿd (d. 116 AH) would say, “Do not look at the smallness of the sin, but look at \[the greatness of\] the One whom you have sinned against” (*Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’* 5/223). Therefore, a balanced God image is one that protects us from two extremes: falling into despair of God’s punishment or using God’s overwhelming mercy to excuse the worst of behavior. True believers then neither despair of the mercy of Allah, nor feel immune to the consequences of their sins. In the Qur’an, as we will see, Allah communicates to us three aspects of His might through the name *al-Aziz*: power, independence, and dominion/sovereignty. --- ## The Power of Allah is beyond our imagination The first message Allah communicates to us through his name *al-Aziz* is the perfection of His power. While we will never be capable of comprehending the true extent of Allah’s power, the majority of us do not even appropriately appreciate it. Abdullah (rA) narrated that “A rabbi came to Allah's Messenger ﷺ and said, "O Muhammad! We learn that Allah will put all the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the trees on one finger, the water and the dust on one finger, and all the other created beings on one finger. Then He will say, 'I am the King.' Thereupon, the Prophet ﷺ smiled until his premolar teeth became visible, confirming what the rabbi had said. Then Allah's Messenger ﷺ recited: 'They have not made a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped in His Grip and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified is He, and High is He above all that they associate as partners with Him.'"(Qur’an 39:67) (*Sahih Al-Bukhari* 4811) This hadith is just one illustration of the degree to which Allah’s overwhelming power lies beyond our comprehension. While modern science has demonstrated just our own observable universe (which is a fraction of the unobservable creation) to be billions of light-years in size, as Muslims we know, “Certainly for Allah that is easy” (Qur’an 29:19). --- ## Allah is sufficient Through the name *al-Aziz*, Allah also communicates to us that He has no needs. This is contrary to how we perceive power in human beings. We often think of powerful people as those who can endure difficult trials, but when Allah refers to Himself as *al-Aziz* it implies that His power does not result in a need to sacrifice, nor to endure hardship. The majority of theological errors, both in Islam and other religions, arise from the failure to realize God’s complete self-sufficiency, thereby not giving Him His “proper estimate.” This is why we say, “Glorified be Allah the Almighty from what they ascribe to Him.” Allah reminds us in the Verse of the Throne, “Who is the one who can intercede without Allah’s will?” (Qur’an 2:255). Here, He reminds us of His total independence; if He allows someone to intercede on our behalf, it is only by His gracious permission and mercy. --- ## Allah has control over all things The third essence that Allah expresses through His beautiful name *al-Aziz* is that His might permeates and overpowers all things. Allah says “Say: O Allah, Lord of all dominion! You give sovereignty to whom You will, and take away dominion from whom You will, and You exalt whom You will, and abase whom You will. In Your Hand is all good. Surely You are All-Powerful” (Qur’an 3:26). The idea that Allah’s might permeates all things is an immense concept, one almost too difficult for the human mind to comprehend. Still, the acknowledgment of a greater power is a part of the human inclination (*fitra*), as can be viewed throughout different societies today and in the past. Realizing and acknowledging Allah’s power, independence, and dominion over all can also strengthen our conviction, help us endure any tragedy, and attain liberation from this fleeting world. --- ## A cure for doubting hearts Planting a conviction in the heart that Allah has full control over everything helps us overcome many of our persisting doubts and worries. One of the most common doubts believers face is how we as humans can be held responsible for our actions if Allah has full control over everything. One of the early Muslims is reported to have said, “Allah is not just Merciful enough to forgive you for something He decreed for you, but he is also too Mighty (*Aziz*) to need to force you to do things that are aligned with His plan.” That is to say, it is precisely because of Allah’s might that He gives us agency, and has no need to take it away from us. Allah does not need you to fulfill His plan; you need Him to fulfill your plan. The reality that Allah has full control over everything, but you have some kind of agency at least enough to be responsible in front of Allah, is, however, difficult for many to comprehend. For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ said “If predestination is mentioned, then hold (yourselves) back” (*al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr* 10448). Therefore, as Muslims we should take relief in our Lord’s overwhelming might, while refraining from excessive delving into the details of predestination. --- ## Why do bad things happen to good people? Allah mentions his name *al-Aziz* in [Surah Al-Buruj](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/surah-al-buruj-and-the-divine-response-to-genocide-and-injustice), a short and commonly recited chapter of the Qur’an. The chapter describes the massacre of a community of believers, the “Companions of the Ditch.” Allah informs us that this community was persecuted solely because of their belief in “the Almighty, the Most-Praiseworthy.” Here, Allah uses His name “the Almighty” to indicate that He could have prevented the massacre, the burning of these believers in ditches. Indeed, He could have made their fires cold like the fire of Ibrahim (as). Allah however had decreed that this event would take place, and He is Almighty, Most Praiseworthy, because the consequences were ultimately good for the believers, whom we are informed were granted the “ultimate victory” of securing a place in the eternal abode, paradise. It is easy to fall into grief given the many tragedies that befall us and those around us. However, as believers we are encouraged to stay strong with an understanding that nothing occurs except that Allah allows it to happen; and He is Most Praiseworthy. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ said, “The believer’s affair is wondrous. If something good happens they are thankful and that is good for them, and if something bad happens to them they are patient and that is good for them” (*Sahih Muslim* 2999). Taking this perspective causes a shift in how we view and relate to this worldly life. Therefore, the believers can confidently answer the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” They don’t. At least not for the believer who can transform any circumstance into something positive by how they respond to it. --- ## Liberation from this world Finally, the name *al-Aziz* frees us from being shackled to this fleeting life. When the Muslims went out to meet the disbelievers in the battle of Uhud, the hypocrites in Madina stayed back, fearful of the worldly consequences of the Muslims’ confrontation of the mighty Quraysh. Allah says on this occasion, > They say: Surely, if we return to Madina the mightier (*al-a’az*) will soon drive out the weaker; But might belongs to Allah and His messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know. (Qur’an 63:8) The hypocrites in Madina perceived only the might of Quraysh and their own might, too weak-minded to realize the might of Allah. To the contrary, when the believer pursues their life for the sake of the Almighty, they experience true liberation from the shackles of an illusory worldly life. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭab (rA) famously stated, “Verily, we were a disgraceful people and Allah honored us (*a*ʿ*azzanā*) with Islam. If we seek honor from anything besides that with which Allah honored us, Allah will disgrace us” (*al-Mustadrak ‘alá al-Ṣaḥīḥayn* 207). Therefore, as we look at the Muslim *ummah*’s weakened state, many of us wish for honor and strength. The solution is clear: “Whoever desires honor*—*then to Allah belongs all honor” (Qur'an 35:10). The only way to obtain honor and strength in this life (for the believers) and in the afterlife (for the believers and disbelievers) is to conform to the Almighty’s commandments and to refrain from His prohibitions. [For more on Allah’s beautiful name *al-Aziz*](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-meaning-of-al-azeez-the-almighty-daily-reminders), see the video where Dr. Omar Suleiman is joined by special guests, Sh. Mohammad Al-Shinawy and Sh. Ammar Alshukry. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/virtues-of-ayatul-kursi-the-greatest-verse-in-the-quran # Virtues of Ayatul Kursi: The Greatest Verse in the Qur’an | Blog **Author:** Sh. Ismail Kamdar **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Quran **Published:** July 18, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 ## What is Ayatul Kursi? Ayatul Kursi (The Throne Verse) is the 255th verse of Surah al-Baqarah. It is known as the greatest verse in the Qur’an and is recited daily by Muslims around the world as a means of protection from evil. Ayatul Kursi is memorized by Muslim children at a young age due to its importance and key teachings. Memorizing, understanding, and often reciting this important verse of the Qur’an is an important act of worship. --- ## Ayatul Kursi – Arabic, transliteration and English translation اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ *Allahu laa ilaaha illaa Huwa al-Hayyul Qayyoom; laa ta’khudhuhu sinatun wa laa nawm; lahu maa fissamawati wa maa fil-ard; man dhalladhi yashfa’u ‘indahu illaa bi-idhnihi; ya’lamu maa bayna aydeehim wa maa khalfahum; wa laa yuheetoona bishay’im min ‘ilmihi illaa bimaa shaa’a; wasi’a kursiyyuhu assamawati wal-ard; wa laa ya’ooduhu hifdhuhumaa; wa Huwa al-‘Aliyyul ‘Adheem* Allah! There is no god (worthy of worship) except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither tiredness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission? He knows what is ahead of them and what is behind them, but no one can grasp any of His knowledge, except what He wills. His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. For He is the Highest, the Greatest. (Surah al-Baqarah 2:255) --- ## The primary theme of Ayatul Kursi Ayatul Kursi summarizes some of the core beliefs and principles of Islamic monotheism. It introduces the attributes of Allah and the methodology of understanding these attributes. Ayatul Kursi teaches us that there is only one true god, Allah, who alone is worthy of worship. Allah is Perfect in His Names and Attributes. He does not sleep, nor does He get tired. He controls and knows everything, and nothing can happen unless He wills it. There is nothing like Allah, and His Attributes are unique and perfect. Ayatul Kursi also reminds us that only Allah can protect us from all evil. He is perfect, never sleeps, and controls everything. Therefore, all protection is from Him alone. Ayatul Kursi serves a dual purpose of being an affirmation of the key beliefs of Islam and a protection prayer that we are recommended to recite daily. --- ## Why is it called the greatest verse in the Qur’an? There is some debate regarding whether we can refer to some passages of the Qur’an as more virtuous than others. The different opinions on this have been covered in detail by Shaykh Yousef Wahb in his paper “[Are Some Qur’anic Verses More Virtuous Than Others? Reconciling Diverse Scholarly Views](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/are-some-quranic-verses-more-virtuous-than-others-reconciling-diverse-scholarly-views)”. Keeping in mind the predominant view that some verses are greater than others, Ayatul Kursi is the greatest verse of the Qur’an as per the following narrations. Ubayy ibn Ka’b reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “O Abu Mundhir, do you know which verse in the Book of Allah with you is greatest?” I recited the Verse of the Throne, “Allah, there is no God but Him, the Living, the Sustainer,” (2:255). The Prophet struck me on the chest, saying, “By Allah, O Abu Mundhir, rejoice in this knowledge!” (*Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* 810) Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Everything has a summit, and the summit of the Qur’an is Surah al-Baqarah. It contains a verse which is the chief of the Qur’an, the verse of the Throne.” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhī* 2878) These narrations indicate that Ayatul Kursi is the greatest verse of the Qur’an. This is because it summarizes the most important beliefs of Islam and is an extremely powerful means of protection as well. Surah al-Baqarah is listed here as the summit of the Qur’an because it contains Ayatul Kursi. Surah al-Baqarah is an explanation of the core teachings of Islam, and Ayatul Kursi encompasses the most important lesson of them all. --- ## The benefits of Ayatul Kursi There are many narrations that indicate the virtues of Ayatul Kursi. Besides being called the chief of the Qur’an and the greatest verse in the Qur’an, it is also a means of protection from harm, a daily protection prayer, a means of *ruqya* (spiritual protection from jinn, evil eye, and magic), and a means through which people enter paradise. The following narrations serve as evidence for these virtues. Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entrusted me to protect the charity of Ramadan. Someone came to me and began taking from the food. I took hold of him, and I said, “I will certainly take you to the Messenger of Allah!” Abu Huraira told the story to the Prophet, saying, “The man told me that when I go to bed, I should recite the Verse of the Throne. Allah will appoint a protector over me, and no devil will come near me until morning.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “He told you the truth, although he is a liar. That was Satan.” (*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* 5010) In the above narration, we learn that Ayatul Kursi is a protection prayer that keeps people safe from evening to morning, and vice versa. It is therefore recommended to recite it early each morning, usually after Fajr, and in the early evening, after Asr or Maghrib prayers. In this narration, Abu Huraira catches a devil trying to steal from the treasury. The devil teaches him this prayer in exchange for his freedom. In any other case, something that the devil teaches would be considered suspicious, but here the Prophet ﷺ confirms that he spoke the truth, despite being a liar. So we act on this hadith, not because of what the devil said, but because the Prophet ﷺ confirmed that this specific statement is true. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whenever it is recited in a home, the devil flees therefrom; that verse is: Ayatul Kursi.” (*al-Targhib*, vol.2, p. 370) It is also narrated that the devils flee from homes in which Surah al-Baqarah is recited. (*Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* 780) As Ayatul Kursi is the most important verse in Surah al-Baqarah, it suffices to chase away the devils in many cases. This makes Surah al-Baqarah, and specifically Ayatul Kursi, an important *ruqya*. *Ruqya* refers to anything that is recited to ward off devils, magic, and evil eye. If someone feels the presence of devils or magic in their homes, it is advisable to recite Ayatul Kursi frequently to ward off the evil presence. If this does not work, then try reciting the entire Surah al-Baqarah for a stronger *ruqya*. --- ## Best times to recite Ayatul Kursi Ayatul Kursi should be part of our daily recitations. There are ideally two sets of timings daily in which we should recite Ayatul Kursi. It should be recited after every obligatory prayer as per the following narration. Abu Umamah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever recites the ‘verse of the Throne’ after every prescribed prayer, there will be nothing standing between him and entry into paradise but his death.” (*al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ lil-Ṭabarānī* 8068, Grade: Sahih) Reciting Ayatul Kursi after every prayer is a means of entering into Paradise. Ayatul Kursi should also be recited every morning after Fajr, and evening after Asr or Maghrib as a means of daily protection. This is understood from the earlier narration by Abu Hurairah and stated in the following narration as well. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever says this when he rises in the morning will be protected from devils until he retires in the evening, and whoever says it when retiring in the evening will be protected from them until he rises in the morning.” (*Al-Hakim* 1: 562, Grade: Sahih) --- ## Conclusion Ayatul Kursi is one of the most important verses in the Qur’an. It is known as the greatest verse in the Qur’an and should be memorized, understood, and often recited. It serves as a daily means of protection from worldly harm, and also as a means of protection from unseen sources of harm (devils, magic, evil eye). Furthermore, reciting it after every prayer leads to paradise. These are some of the authentic virtues of Ayatul Kursi narrated in various noble hadiths. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/slavery-and-emancipation-in-the-sharia-the-islamic-framework-for-ethical-treatment-of-slaves-in-the-minhaj-fi-shuab-al-iman-of-al-halimi # Slavery and Emancipation in the Sharia: The Islamic Framework for Ethical Treatment of Slaves in the Minhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān of al-Ḥalīmī **Author:** Dr. Jonathan Brown **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization, Islamic Ethics, Jurisprudence (fiqh), Politics & Practical Theology, Sharia **Tags:** Black History Month, Ethics, Publication **Published:** July 17, 2024 **Updated:** January 14, 2026 *Translated and Annotated by Jonathan A. C. Brown* --- ## The moral problem of slavery The topic of slavery is not an easy one. In part this is because many today live in societies still shaped by slavery’s racial hierarchies and inequalities. But it is also because thinking about slavery in any depth involves serious dilemmas about morality, identity, and beliefs. Today slavery is seen as an intrinsic evil—maybe the greatest evil—throughout time and space. “No evil more monstrous has ever existed upon the earth,” said the English poet Samuel Coleridge (d. 1834).[^1] As the [2001 Durban Declaration](https://www.un.org/en/durban-20-anniversary/background) stated, slavery is “a crime against humanity and should always have been so.” But slavery is also an institution that, in one form or another, existed in every civilization until quite recently. This means nothing in and of itself. Lots of bad institutions have existed. What does mean something is that slavery is something that every major religious and philosophical tradition considered uncontroversial, proper, and even natural until, at the very earliest, the 1700s. And it was not until the 1800s that the morality of slavery per se became a widely debated question. Even then, the moral debate over slavery was limited for decades to the industrialized societies of Western Europe and America. So we are confronted with a serious dilemma: if slavery is an intrinsic crime against humanity, why did Plato, Aristotle, Moses, Jesus, the Buddha, Confucian and Hindu sages, the Bible, and the Qur’an have no problem with it? As one British theologian wrote in the early 1800s, if slavery were an evil no matter where and when, how could the God of the Bible ever have allowed it?[^2] Either these enlightened hearts and minds did not know slavery was evil or they did not care. Either we question the intrinsic moral evil of slavery or we question the qualifications of those figures of authority and those revealed texts. One might object that maybe these prophets and philosophers had been unable to speak out against slavery because of its prevalence in society. It would have been too disruptive. But aren’t prophets usually disruptive? As one slave owner replied to an American abolitionist, was he really going to claim that Jesus lacked the courage of his convictions to, at the very least, declare that slavery was wrong?[^3] Put simply, if slavery has always been a grotesque evil, then it’s a grotesque evil in which the totality of mankind’s pre-nineteenth-century heritage was intimately implicated. Put in the idiom of statue debates, if you refuse to honor a person who condoned evil, then that means canceling every thinker, leader, and saint prior to 1700. If you want to honor those figures, you have to reconsider the categorical severity with which slavery in history is judged. One way out of the predicament is to say that there are different [kinds of slavery](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx06mtApu8k). This is undeniably correct and is obvious to both experts and non-experts alike. For example, Sokullu Mehmet Pasha (d. 1579) was the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire during the reigns of three sultans, one of the wealthiest men in the realm and married to the sultan’s daughter. In the 1700s in Jamaica, by contrast, a slave named [Derby](https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-son-he-never-had) toiled on a British sugar plantation, where enslaved people from Africa were worked so brutally that they lived for only around seven years after arriving. As a punishment for eating some sugar, Derby’s overseer had him whipped and then had a device placed between his jaws to keep them open while another slave was forced to defecate in his mouth. As far as I know, such treatment was unthinkable not just in the Ottoman Empire but in the Muslim world overall. Both Sokullu Mehmet and Derby were slaves, in that they were both property owned by another person. But not only was their treatment so different that comparing them seems almost immoral, they also lived under dramatically different regimes of rights and laws. The [British laws governing](https://slaverylawpower.org/jamaica-slave-code-governing/) the treatment of slaves in Jamaica offered pitifully little protection for slaves. The Ḥanafī law of the Ottoman Empire, however, held that ill treatment of slaves, such as any physical punishment that would leave scars, could be grounds for forced manumission. What’s more, slaves in the Ottoman Empire continuously went to court for relief against treatment they disliked.[^4] The fact of the matter is that slavery in the European colonies of the Americas and the slave trade that supplied them were exceptionally brutal and shockingly inhumane phenomena. Not only was the violence singular, the racial justifications for enslaving Africans were unusual and offensive. It is no surprise that the earliest anti-slavery writings produced in the Americas (indeed, very nearly the first in the world) came from people with direct experience with the Atlantic slave trade.[^5] And the earliest humanitarian objections to slavery in the Americas came from a Dominican friar, Bartolomé de las Casas (d. 1566), who had never been troubled by the slavery he’d seen in his native Spain but was utterly shocked by how the Spanish treated their Native American and African slaves in the Americas.[^6] The collection of slaves by European traders on the African coast and then their transport to the Americas were horrifically violent. To my knowledge, there is no premodern equivalent of such treatment in Islamic civilization. (Some European reports about slave raids by Arab and Berber raiders into the Sahel in the nineteenth century come close. But it should be noted that the intra-Muslim-world slave trade intensified greatly in the nineteenth century, and this was accompanied by alarming illegalities and abuses such as the rampant enslavement of other Muslims).[^7] In contrast to the colonial Americas, slavery in Islamic civilization as well as in many other times and places was much more diverse and sometimes comparatively mild. From the ancient Near East to medieval Europe, a surprising number of people voluntarily became slaves (what would you do if you could avoid starvation or constant fear by offering yourself and your family as slaves to someone who would feed and protect you?).[^8] One of the most unusual features of slavery in the European colonies in the Americas (with the exception of Brazil) was that slavery was based on racial phenotype, namely the physical features that the powerful in those societies had decided indicated African descent. For most of world history, on the other hand, slaves were either racially and ethnically the same as those around them or were from some outside group that, though seen as other or the enemy, might not look any different. Finally, while slaveholding states in North America passed laws increasingly restricting the possibility of setting slaves free, slaves in ancient Rome or the Islamic world were very often freed after a few years of service. While freed slaves and free Black people in the US were in constant danger of (re)enslavement because their appearance marked them as part of the slave class, freed slaves in ancient Rome or Islamic civilization had no distinctive look and could prosper in free society. Asserting that slavery has existed in many shapes and, more importantly, in varying degrees of severity has long been a recognized means of resolving the moral conundrum of slavery and squaring the honoring of revealed laws with our moral disapproval of terrible treatment. Christian philosophers going back to Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) stated that, while the Bible and Church law allowed slavery, they did not allow the total control and unaccountable domination of one person by another.[^9] So why is this not a more acceptable resolution to the moral conundrum of slavery in world history today? Perhaps the main reason is that abolitionism, namely the movement to end slavery as an institution, which emerged in Britain and Northern American colonies like Pennsylvania in the late 1700s, was built on a denial of such degrees and distinctions. This was due firstly to the sources available for making moral arguments. Every pillar of Western normative culture, from the Bible to Greek philosophy and Roman law, had been totally supportive of slavery. The earliest anti-slavery polemics, such as *[The Selling of Joseph](https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/26/?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu%2Fetas%2F26&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages)* (1700) by Samuel Sewell of Massachusetts, got around this by equating the enslavement of Africans and their export to America with man-stealing, i.e., the illegal enslavement of someone one could not legally enslave. Though slavery was allowed in the Old and New Testaments as well as in European legal traditions, these sources also prohibited enslaving those one was not allowed to enslave (See Leviticus 25:39 and hadiths against enslaving free people).[^10] This was a questionable association, however, since Europeans had long justified their enslavement of Africans precisely with reference to Roman law allowing the enslavement of heathen captives (this was even allowed by the Father of Liberty, John Locke \[d. 1704\], who held that, since African tribes allegedly did not respect the normal rules of international law, they could rightfully be enslaved).[^11] Second, abolitionists had to deny distinctions within slavery because this was one of the first counter arguments that supporters of slavery would deploy. The slavery they were defending was paternal and [beneficial](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435005077409&view=2up&seq=30) to the enslaved, they claimed, not like the cruel and depraved domination of Roman slavery.[^12] This anxiety around recognizing the obvious varying conditions and levels of degradation in slavery out of fear that it would be used to morally exonerate forms as slavery seen as ‘better’ than others is still present in American discussions of slavery even at an academic level. Daina Ramey Berry, an accomplished historian of slavery in America, once [corrected herself in an interview](https://web.archive.org/web/20200131162338/https:/15minutehistory.org/podcast/episode-54-urban-slavery-in-the-antebellum-united-states/) in which she was asked to compare the conditions of slaves in US cities and the countryside. She said she would only note differences in the conditions but would not, as a matter of principle, say that one was “better” than the other. But clearly some slaves lived in better conditions than others, and some forms of slavery have clearly been morally worse than others. The only moral justification for denying that grades of treatment or differences in condition should be accounted for in moral evaluations of slavery is that there is something about the concept of slavery per se that is so morally reprehensible that it does not afford any internal distinction. One could argue, for example, that losing your freedom or being considered property is so intrinsically heinous that there is no space for such nuance. But this could not be further from the truth. Every mode by which slavery has been defined in world history is so abstract and dependent on context that any accurate description requires precisely such detail and distinction. For the past three thousand years, scholars from ancient Rome to modern social scientists have defined slavery as one or more of the following: 1. the loss of freedom; 2. being the property of another person; 3. existing in a position of extreme marginalization or vulnerability in a society; and/or 4. working under compulsion and the threat of violence. Each of these definitions of slavery might function very well in a particular society or a certain tradition. For example, it is clear what it meant to be free as opposed to a slave in Antebellum Virginia. It is fairly clear how we understand compulsion and the threat of violence in modern-day labor abuse. But if one tries to apply these definitions across civilizations (like between the American South and the Ottoman Empire) or across time, they are too abstract to hold coherent meaning. If being unfree means you can’t do certain things at all or without your master’s permission, what are those things? Where is the line between what a free person can do and what an unfree person can’t? Even within the Shariah tradition the answer can be surprisingly hard to pin down. In the Mālikī school, slaves can own property; in the other schools of law, they cannot. If being a slave is being human property, what does that mean? There is nothing close to a consistent definition of property across space and time. In a manner that sounds like how we think today about our rights over our property, early Roman law allowed masters to beat or kill their slaves with impunity, as if they were physical objects. But the Roman head of household could, according to the law, do that to their own free children as well. If being a slave means an extremely marginal existence in a society, societies differ dramatically from one another in where their margins are and what they look like. In the early 1700s many serfs in Russia voluntarily became slaves because, while serfs had to pay taxes, slaves did not.[^13] In medieval Sind, the free untouchables who cleared garbage and waste were even more socially despised and marginal than slaves.[^14] Finally, if being a slave means being forced to live and work under compulsion and the threat of violence, what constitutes compulsion and threats of violence in different societies differs tremendously. According to definitions of Modern-Day slavery, most people in human history lived under unacceptable levels of unfreedom and coercion.[^15] In Roman North Africa, all members of the household, free and slave, lived in a system of authority structured and enforced by violence under the male head of household.[^16] Indentured servants in colonial Maryland and Virginia were not slaves, and they willingly entered their state of temporary bondage. But if they ran away, the punishment was mutilation in Virginia and death in Maryland, punishments so severe that the Shariah prohibited them for slaves.[^17] Acknowledging that some forms of slavery merit significantly more moral condemnation than others, however, does not fully resolve our moral quandary. Few would feel comfortable admitting to the moral acceptability of *any* kind of slavery today. But, then again, many in the modern, urban West would feel morally uncomfortable with how most free people have been treated in world history. Combined with the timing of when abolitionism emerged, this fact provides a crucial insight into why we today feel the way we do about slavery. Boiled down, the most commonly accepted view for how slavery was ended is that, around 1700, some people in Britain and its northern colonies in America realized that slavery was morally wrong. They convinced others of their views, and gradually this position became dominant first in Britain and then in the northern United States. From there it spread throughout Europe and finally around the world. Unless one posits that those individuals were someone endowed with unique moral sensibilities, however, there is no way to explain why such a moral awakening occurred. Why would humanity become convinced that something it had done for so long and with the full approval of its greatest moral authorities was evil? As scholars have pointed out, it is no coincidence that significant condemnations of slavery *in and of itself* and calls to end slavery *as an institution* appeared first in the places where societies first industrialized and achieved unprecedented wealth without reliance on slave labor, namely Britain and what became the northern US.[^18] The spread of industrial technology, which allowed humans to move goods, plough, and produce without relying on the labor of animals and other humans, meant that slavery became economically obsolete. As it did so, people developed more refined sensibilities to what was considered excessively cruel or exploitative treatment. Indeed, Aristotle had predicted this when he said that slaves would only be dispensed with when looms powered themselves.[^19] What this means is that, despite how deeply we feel that the evil of slavery is a moral reality that has always been true and always will be, our moral sentiments about slavery are more the results of technological and economic change than some sudden, principled enlightenment. This does not mean that our conviction that slavery is wrong is somehow trivial or less meaningful. Many of our moral beliefs are the products of social custom, which is in turn strongly shaped by economic and technological realities. The Shariah empowers custom as a major source of law and morality, provided it does not transgress the clear boundaries set by revelation. --- ## Slavery in the Qur’an and Sunnah As with the rest of the world until the early modern period, slavery was an economic and social reality in the world in which the Prophet ﷺ lived. The Qur’an and the Prophet’s teachings, however, introduced several important and unprecedented reforms to the laws and customs of slavery as it existed in the Near Eastern world. Debt slavery was prohibited, as was the practice of selling oneself or one’s family into slavery. The only legal way in which a person could be enslaved was if they were a non-Muslim, outside the Abode of Islam, captured in war. While the children born of a male owner and his female slave had been illegitimate and/or a slave in the Persian, Arabian and Roman traditions, Islam declared those children to be not only free but also of the same social standing as the children born of a free wife. The result was that, while Thomas Jefferson’s children with his slave woman Sally Hemings (d. 1835) were considered black and unfree and could never be part of the American elite, twenty (or perhaps twenty-two) out of twenty-four Abbasid caliphs during Baghdad’s heyday were born of slave mothers.[^20] The mothers of almost all the Ottoman sultans were slave concubines as well. Although this was tragically ignored by many Muslim scholars, who instead followed the Biblical tradition on this matter, the Prophet ﷺ also demonstrated the falsity of the Curse of Ham legend found in the Book of Genesis and elaborated in late antique Christian and Jewish tradition. This legend stated that Noah had cursed the descendants (or some of them) of his son Ham to have black skin and serve as slaves. The Prophet  explained that the variety of human skin color comes from the multicolored soil from which God had created the first human.[^21] The most distinct feature of how the Qur’an and the Sunnah treat slavery, however, is an obsession with emancipating slaves. Indeed, I know of no scripture that is more emphatic on this topic. The Qur'an instructs owners to allow their slaves to buy back their freedom on installments (24:33) and directs part of the Zakat monies collected to aid in purchasing slaves’ freedom (2:177, 9:60). God describes freeing slaves as a feature of the path of believers (90:12-16) and even requires it as an expiation for some sins and the violation of some oaths (5:89, 58:3). As al-Ḥalīmī’s text below demonstrates exhaustively, the mandate to free slaves was even more prominent and repeated in the Prophet’s sayings. As Muslim scholars explained, the command to free slaves stemmed from the fact that God “wants freedom,” because all humans are free by nature and because there is something irreverent about one person being the master of another when, as the Prophet explained, “you are all the slaves of God.”[^22] It was recognized already in the 1200s that emancipating slaves was one of the aims (*maqāṣid*) of the Shariah.[^23] Moreover, though Muslim scholars did not declare slavery evil (essentially no one did until the 1700s), they always considered it harmful (*ḍarar*). This was, in part, because it prevented a person from being fully in control of their actions or benefiting from the fruits of their labor.[^24] --- ## Abolishing slavery in Islam If the Qur’an and the Sunnah were so strident in their call to emancipate slaves, if one person being the master of another when God is the Lord of all militates against the natural order, and if Muslim scholars recognized that slavery was harmful, why didn’t God simply abolish slavery in the Qur’an? West-is-best chauvinists like Jordan Petersen and Douglas Murray boast that it was the West that fought to abolish slavery, not the Muslim world. Why is this? The answer is that no one, not Europeans or other Christians, called for the abolition of slavery as an institution until the 1700s. It was not economically conceivable for dependent human labor to be removed from life’s equation at a large scale until fossil fuels replaced their energy. As the historian Howard Temperley wrote, until the late 1700s “slavery was accepted with that fatalism which men commonly reserve for aspects of nature which, whether they are celebrated or deplored, have to be borne. To argue against slavery was to argue against the facts of life.”[^25] Calls to abolish slavery emerged in the North Atlantic world not because of some inherent genius in Christianity or the West (both Christianity and Western philosophy had long been totally supportive of slavery) but because industrial life began in that area and the particular type of slavery prevalent in the Americas was uniquely horrific. Muslims encountered abolitionism the same way everyone else in the soon-to-be-colonized world did: through European diplomatic power and colonial endeavors. But with social and economic change Muslims came to adopt the same sentiments as their Western contemporaries. As the Mālikī and Ḥanafī muftis of Tunis made clear in their approval of the Ottoman governor’s decision to ban slavery in the province in 1846, it was well within the power of a Muslim ruler to restrict slavery in an effort to achieve the Shariah aim of emancipation. Taking or owning slaves is not required or even recommended in Islamic law, so restricting or banning it falls within the realm of what Muslim scholars have called “restricting the permissible (*taqyīd al-mubāḥ*),” in which a Muslim government restricts what would otherwise be permissible because of some common good.[^26] As the Tunisian scholar Muḥammad Bayram al-Khāmis (d. 1889) wrote in his explanation of the Tunis decree, when a Muslim ruler restricts the permissible for the cause of the common good, heeding this rule becomes a religious obligation. Muslims must obey the abolition of slavery “in secret and in the open, and they must know that owning \[a slave\] is invalid.” This is what the Shariah teaches, Bayram added, and “disobeying the Sacred Law (*sharʿ*) is truly prohibited.”[^27] --- ## Al-Ḥalīmī and his text Al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Ḥalīmī (d. 403/1012) was a respected scholar and Hadith master of tenth-century Khurasan and Transoxiana. Born in Jurjan, on the humid and verdant southeast coast of the Caspian Sea, he studied with Shāfiʿī and Ashʿarī scholars across the Black Sands Desert in Bukhara. He spent most of his career, however, in the rolling hills and caravan cities of Khurasan and became a respected representative of the Shāfiʿī school of law, Hadith scholarship, and Ashʿarī theology. His one surviving book, the *Kitāb al-Minhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān* (The Proper Path on the Branches of Faith) was an exposition of the components of faith based on the Prophet’s hadith that faith is divided into seventy-some branches. *Whether the fault lies with the manuscript copyist or the editor of the book (only looking at the manuscripts used in this publication could give an inkling of which), this is perhaps the most error-replete text I have ever seen. Words and phrases are regularly misread/miscopied. I have included my own remarks underlined to note when a serious instance of this occurs.* --- ## The thirtieth of the branches of faith, being the chapter on manumission and its element of making one closer to God Most High and glorious[^28] God Most High has made manumission obligatory in expiations (*kaffārāt*), as He did in providing food and clothing as well as fasting. And He made it an obligation as a redemption (*fidya*) for souls if they are killed wrongly.[^29] This indicates that manumission is a mode of virtuous conduct and of increasing in closeness to Him whose name is magnified even if no crime has been previously committed, just as one engages in other modes of virtuous conduct that we have mentioned without any wrong having been done. And God most glorified said, “But you have not taken the path of ascent. And what will convey to you what the path of ascent is? It is freeing a neck, or feeding on the day of hunger an orphan near of kin or a poor wretch in the dust. Then will they be one of those who believe and enjoin upon one another patience and enjoin upon one another compassion” (90:11-17). And His words “But you have not taken the path of ascent” are words of rebuke and deeming someone tardy, like His words “But you have not taken the path of ascent” (sic), meaning the ascending path of the virtuous about which God most noble and glorified said, “I will exhaust him with the steepest path” (74:17), meaning: Let them do what is easy for them to undertake. And it is possible that what is intended by the path of ascent is all that lies in one’s future in terms of resurrection, accountability  \[on the Day of Judgment\] and recompense, which one does not know whether it be goodly or evil, as if one is saying to someone, “There are between me and this matter steep paths (*ʿiqāb*, pl. of *ʿaqaba*),” if attaining that thing is far off and impossible to accomplish. So then how is it that this path of ascent is made easy? \[God\] mentions: freeing a neck and feeding the needy, thus showing that each of these is a virtuous act bringing proximity \[to God\]. It has been transmitted from the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that a man said to him, “O Messenger of God, show me a deed that will gain me entrance to the Garden.” He replied, “Manumit a neck and free a soul (*nasama*).” The man asked, “Aren’t these two, O Messenger of God, the same thing?” He answered, “Manumitting a neck is if one merely frees the person, but the soul is that one also supports them \[financially\].”[^30] And if the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, had not explicitly mentioned manumission as an answer to the man’s question about a deed leading to entry into the Garden, and had limited it to a command to free a neck, that alone would have constituted a great tiding and demonstrated the substantial reward for manumitting slaves. So how much more if one offers aid in doing so? This is due to the fact that while contributing to the cost of purchasing a slave for emancipation guarantees entry into the Garden, the act of freeing a slave is even more virtuous. \[I think there is an instance of dittography here in the printed text; I have omitted it\]. And God knows best. And it has come from the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that he said, “Whoever frees a soul, for every limb freed of the slave, God will free from the Fire a limb of them that freed them.”[^31] And this is the most extensive manner of encouraging people to manumit slaves. And it has also come from him that he said, “O Muʿādh, God has not created on the face of the earth anything more beloved to Him than freeing slaves nor anything more hated by Him than divorce.”[^32] Furthermore, God’s inclusion of manumitting slaves among the acts of expiation shows its high standing, since expiations are what remove the prescribed punishment from the offender \[in the Hereafter\]. Only what is equal to the offense and countering it can do that, just as only what is equal to and counters ritual filth can remove it. So it is the most comprehensive element in purification and the most effective in cleansing. Thus, since manumitting slaves absolves the repercussions of major offenses, we understand that it serves as a means of drawing closer to God, earning great rewards and great standing. Additionally, God Most High and glorious has made it a form of redemption for taking a life unjustly \[in manslaughter\]. And it is \[worth\] what was suspended by that killing in terms of what worship was due God Most High in that life and for which He had created that life. God most blessed and high has also accepted manumission as a redemption for the inviolability of the month \[of Ramadan\], if the fasting person violates it by having sexual intercourse during the fast.[^33] So this further clarifies the eminence of this deed and its lofty standing. And God knows best. The aspect of drawing closer to God through manumission, and God knows best, is that the slave is like their master, both in essence and in characteristics, except that some of the legal rulings obtaining for the slave are not those of their master. For God made the slave the property of the master, placed them under the master’s authority. Thus the slave’s standing is lower than that of their master. Therefore, the slave is not capable of owning property, and because of that they are exempt from paying Zakat and performing Hajj, jihad, and Friday prayer, which are among the cornerstones of Islam. So if their master frees them, this ensures several positive meanings: Among these meanings is that \[the master\] recognizes the slave’s right of affinity (*mujānasa*) and similar status (*mushākala*), like one experiencing the rights of kinship and neighborliness. So the manumitter grants the slave the freedom[^34] and the joy of empowerment that the master inherently possesses. And that becomes similar to giving charity to a relative or perspicacious neighbor who is similar in emotional capacity, wealth, and honor. And among them is that the master liberates the slave from the humiliation and oppression that bring distress to the slave whenever they contemplate their situation. This is equivalent to freeing a captive from captivity or an imprisoned, debased person from their imprisonment. Among these meanings is that the manumitter removes from them the lowly service that had occupied them from tending to themselves. This is thus like freeing one’s debtor from their guilt or one’s hired laborer from their work. And among them is that the manumitter allows the slave to avail themselves of their own talents and uses, which serve them in place of wealth. This is thus like one who gives charity to the poor, assisting them, and funding them with what suffices them. Among these meanings is that the manumitter provides them with the opportunity to own property, enabling them to draw closer to God Most High through Zakat and voluntary charitable contributions, as well as the generous giving of grants and gifts. It is thus as if the manumitter enriches a poor person or someone indigent. And among \[the positive aspects of manumission\] is that the manumitter makes the \[former\] slave eligible to perform the obligatory pilgrimage \[i.e., the Hajj\], engage in warfare in the path of God, and participate in the Friday prayer. The manumitter is thus one who assists in the path of God in both fighting and in the Hajj. By configuring manumission in this manner, it serves as a redemption for the unintentional killing of a person, as the perpetrator deprives the victim of the ability to engage in their previously accessible acts of worship. Therefore, manumission was instituted to fulfill the right of God Most High, enabling the liberated soul to engage in worship previously unattainable. With this framework, manumission transforms into a virtuous deed, drawing one closer to God. Consequently, it merits inclusion among the branches of faith, akin to fasting, feeding the needy, and giving charity. And God knows best. --- ## The fifty-eighth of the branches of faith, being the chapter on excellence towards slaves[^35] God glorious and magnificent said, “And be good to parents, and to the near of kin, the orphans, the needy, and to the neighbor near of kin and the neighbor not related, to the companion on a journey and the wayfarer, and to those whom you possess rightfully” (4:36). It has come from the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that the last matters he spoke about were prayer and those you possess rightfully. He kept speaking about that, with the words flowing off his tongue. It has been transmitted that he was saying \[on his deathbed\], “Prayer, prayer. Fear God concerning those whom you rightfully possess.”[^36] So God Most High advised His servants, and then His messenger confirmed this. Slaves are thus called to be treated well, like parents and neighbors, and those enjoined to pray. This signifies the obligation of excellence towards them and the prohibition on treating them unjustly. This begins with no one saying, upon mentioning their male slave, “my slave.” Rather they should say, “my boy.” They should not say, regarding female slaves, “my slave woman,” but rather, “my girl.” A report has also come from the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, to that effect. This manner conveys two meanings. First, that true worship is due to God alone, glorified and magnified be He, and that when a person says to someone they own “my slave” and “my slave woman,” this is self-aggrandizing and attributing to themselves regarding that person the status that God attributes to Himself regarding them. This is not permissible. Second, it might cause the slave to think that, with one who says to their slave the likes of “This is my slave,” unnecessarily belittling and humiliating them while it benefits the one who said it nothing. This might cause the slave to dislike them, leading the slave to flee or be disobedient and other such things that people suffer from their slaves if they are disliked by them. It is therefore better for owners to avoid this in favor of what is better, what is farther from reproach, and closer to amiability and gentleness. And God knows best. And those who read this and do not burden a slave with more than they can bear, not depriving them of food or tormenting them, not abusing them with severe language that weighs heavily upon them or beating them excessively, unless they have committed a *ḥ**add* crime and thus have the punishment meted out to them, these are all firm duties (*ʿazā**ʾ**im*). Additionally, it is preferable for the owner to take on some of the slave’s work, not dumping it all on them; and to feed them from what \[the owner\] eats, clothe them from what they wear, and not to burden them with work that would raise doubts and cause people to be disgusted with them; and not to cause them harm at all in the first place or in punishment, but to defend \[against bad conduct\] in what other ways they can. If the owner strikes them when it is fitting to do so, they do not slap them. Rather, they sit down beside him, not forcing them to stand up before him or in his presence. If the owner overworks their slave in such a way, that is forbidden. If they are not pleased with that slave or the slave’s comportment, they should sell them. And this becomes an obligation for them if they fear they are not sufficiently able to restrain themselves from wronging the slave. But if they are pleased with the slave’s service, they should increase their beneficence and good treatment of them. Then, if much time has passed, and the owner sees that the slave is loyal and fulfills the trust they are given, the owner should arrange a marriage for them if they are aware that the slave has a need to marry. If the owner realizes they do not need that slave, they should free them. To free them as an act of charity is better and finer than to require something in return. And if a man with some repulsive malady purchases a slave to serve him, and the slave finds his health displeasing, let the man sell them. And if one purchases a slave woman and she dislikes that he touches her or sleeps with her, let him not touch her nor sleep with her and not have sex with her without her permission. And let him sell her if she wishes. Benevolence towards one’s slave encompasses gratefulness to God Most High for liberation and freedom from the humiliation of slavery, justice, and fairness towards those one possesses, and winning over the slave, promoting their obedience and sincerity. Thus, benevolence \[towards one’s slave\] benefits the owner in both this world and the next, and also benefits the slave. Reports have been transmitted with such a message in general and in specific. It was transmitted from the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that he said, “Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for their flock.”[^37] And he said, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, “Those that suit you from among your slaves, feed them from what you eat and clothe them from what you wear. And those who do not suit you, sell them. And do not inflict harm on God’s creation.”[^38] And he said, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, “God has made them a test under your responsibility. Whoever has responsibility over his brother, let him feed him from his food and clothe him from his dress. And let him not burden him with what overwhelms him. And if he does burden him, let him assist him.”[^39] And he said, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, “Whoever purchases a slave, and their dispositions are not compatible, let them sell them. And let them purchase one whose disposition (*shīma*) is compatible with theirs. For people have different dispositions. And do not inflict pain on the slaves of God.”[^40] And he said, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, “A slave is due their food and clothing. Clothe them from what you wear, and feed them from what you eat. And do not burden them with work they cannot bear.”[^41] And he said, “If one of your slaves comes to you with your food, and they have sufficed you with their efforts over the hot stove,[^42] then call them and eat with them. And if you do not do this, then take some food for them and place it in their hands.”[^43] ʿUbāda b. al-Walīd said: I and my father set out seeking knowledge in this neighborhood of the Anṣār before they all perished. The first person we encountered was Abū al-Yasar,[^44] the companion of the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him. With him was a young slave of his. Abū al-Yasar was wearing a Yemeni cloak (*burda wa maʿāfirī,*),[^45] and his slave was wearing the same. I asked him about that. He stroked my head and said, “O God, bless him, O my nephew. These two eyes of mine beheld, these two ears of mine did hear and my heart comprehended,” and he pointed to his breast, “the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, when he said, ‘Feed them from what you eat and clothe them from what you wear.’ So if I were to give him all I own in the world it would be easier upon me than for him to take my good deeds on the Day of Resurrection.”[^46] And it has come from the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that a man came to him and said, “My slave is sinning, so I beat him.” He replied, “Show me (*ramūnī*) your beating and his sin, and if your beating is greater, then it will be taken out on you.” The man replied, “O Messenger of God, for the sin of my slave I curse him.” \[The Prophet\] replied, “For your cursing and his sin, if your cursing is greater, it will be taken out on you.” The man said, “O Messenger of God, then there is no good for us in them.” The Prophet said, “Have you not heard God say, ‘We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection’ (21:47).” And it has come from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that a man from among his companions sat before him and said, “O Messenger of God, I have two slaves who lie to me, betray me, and disobey me, so I beat and curse them. How do I stand regarding them?” The Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, replied, “The extent to which they betrayed you, disobeyed you, and lied to you will be measured against how much you punish them. If your punishment is less severe than their wrongs, the merit is yours. If your punishment exceeds the gravity of their wrongs, the excess will be counted for them.” So the man began to weep and cry aloud before the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him. The Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, asked, “What is wrong with him? Does he not recite the book of God that ‘We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least. And if there be even the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it \[to account\]. And enough are We to take account?’” The man replied, “O Messenger of God, I can think of nothing better for myself than them. Bear witness that they are all free.”[^47] \[Ḥalīmī\] said: Abū Dharr, may God be pleased with him, passed by a man who was beating a slave of his and said, “I have no idea what you will say to your Lord tomorrow or what He will say to you. You will say, ‘O God, forgive \[me\].’ And He will say, ‘Did you forgive?’ You will say, ‘O God, have mercy on me.’ And He will say, ‘Did you have mercy?’”[^48] And it has come from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that a man came to him and said, “How much should we forgive a slave?” He was silent. The man asked him again. Again, he was silent. On the third time, he said, “Excuse him seventy times each day.”[^49] And in another narration, the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, was asked, “How much should we excuse and forgive our slaves?” He replied, “Seventy times.” \[Ḥalīmī\] said: The meaning here is excusing them to the same extent that they seek God’s forgiveness every day, for \[the Prophet\] had told his followers about what he would say himself, so that they could emulate him, namely, “Indeed, I seek God’s forgiveness each day seventy times.”[^50] This was also transmitted \[with the wording\] “a hundred times.” So he instructed them to excuse their slaves to the same degree that they seek God’s forgiveness for themselves. In some reports, “Excuse them one hundred times.” It has also come from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that “One who treats slaves badly will not enter the Garden. So honor them as you honor your own children, and feed them from what you all eat.” People asked, “What can benefit us in this worldly life, O Messenger of God?” He replied, “A horse you can bridle and fight on in the path of God and a slave who suffices your needs. If he prays, then he is your brother. If he prays, he is your brother.”[^51] In another hadith, Fāṭima’s hands, may God be pleased with her, had become calloused from using the hand mill \[i.e., housework\]. So she went to the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, asking for a servant. When some prisoners of war were brought to him, he gave her one. He said to her, “I have seen her praying, so do not strike her. For I have been forbidden to kill those who pray.” Fāṭima, may God be pleased with her, said, “If she is like this, then she will work one day and I will work one day.”[^52] And in another hadith a man said to the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, “What should I do with these two \[slaves\]?” He replied, “Your brother, so be good to him. If he is overwhelmed, then be with him or work with him,” meaning: if the work becomes too much for him to bear, then share it with him.[^53] Abū Masʿūd \[al-Badrī\] said: I was striking a slave of mine when I heard a voice behind me: “Think, Abū Masʿūd!” But I did not turn around to face the person, since my anger had consumed me. But it was the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, so when I saw him, the whip fell from my hand out of my awe for him. The Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, said to me, “By God, God has more power over you than you have over him.” I said, “O Messenger of God, I will never strike a slave of mine again!”[^54] And Muʿāwiya b. al-Ḥakam said, may God have mercy on him: I had a slave girl who took care of a flock of sheep of mine. A wolf snatched away some of them. Now I am a human being, and I get upset as all people do. So I smacked her. Then I went to the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, and mentioned this to him, and he regarded it as a serious action on my part. I said, “O Messenger of God, should I not free her?” He replied, “Call her here.” Then he asked her, “Where \[is God\]? \[These two words are omitted for some reason\]” She answered, “In the heavens.” He asked, “And who am I?” She replied, “You are the Messenger of God.” He said, “Free her, for she is a believer.”[^55] And it has come from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that he said, “Whoever inflicts a *hadd* punishment on a slave who had not committed the offense or strikes them, the expiation is to free them.”[^56] The meaning of this is that the person had inflicted the *hadd* punishment on them, but that the slave did not deserve it. And from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, as well, “Do not beat a slave, for you do not know what you may deserve of that (*mā tuwāfiqūn min dhālik)*,”[^57] and in another transmission, “for you do not know the implications of your actions.” And it has also come from him, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, that he said, “Bad character is an ill omen, as is poor conduct in owning a slave (*sū’ al-malaka*). Tending \[to relatives\] increases one’s lifespan, and giving in charity wards off the touch of evil.”[^58] And it has come from a number of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, that they ruled on striking a slave the same way they did for a child, and they freed the slave when compensation (*qiṣāṣ*) \[for an injury\] was not forthcoming. And Ḥabīb b. Abī Thābit, may God be pleased with him, said, “It was said: Don’t combine night and day for servants, meaning: spare them at night if they worked during the day.” And from Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, that one day he was riding a mule, and he seated his slave behind him. Someone said: Why not leave him to walk behind your mount? Abū Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, replied, “I would rather have two idols of burning fire walking with me than have my slave walk behind my mount.” It has come that Dībāgh b. Salāma[^59] had a slave, and he was angered by him. So he castrated him and cut off his nose. Then he went to the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, and told him about this. He responded harshly to Dībāgh and ordered the slave freed. \[The slave\] asked, “Do you guarantee me \[protection and care\], O Messenger of God?” He replied, “Every Muslim guarantees that.”[^60] And the meaning of this is that he commanded \[Dībāgh\] to manumit the slave as an expiation for his evil towards him, not that he made castration and cutting off his nose the act of manumission, as some scholars have thought, using this as an analogy for other cases. And God knows best. --- ## Chapter (faṣl) One seeking to purchase a slave should have good intentions in doing so, committing themselves to light treatment and kindness to him. They should only buy him if the slave is, in their opinion, suitable for them, not because someone else considers him good for them, and they do not want him for themselves. They should seek God’s guidance (*istikhāra*) first. Then, if they buy him, they should take him by the forelock and say, “O God, I ask You for his good and what good be in him, and I seek refuge with You from his evil and what evil be in him.” For this is transmitted from the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him. There are many hadiths and reports on this matter. We have written here what suffices, God willing. If the slave soon thereafter commits some *hadd* offense or drinks alcohol, steals, or slanders \[someone\], his owner should carry out the *hadd* punishment on him, due to the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, saying, “Carry out the *hadd* on those whom you rightfully possess.”[^61] And he said, “If one of your slaves fornicates, then lash them according to the *hadd* punishment, and do not do more.”[^62] If it is a case of a male or female slave owned by a woman, and they commit a *hadd* offense, then she should not carry out the *hadd* punishment on them. This is also the case for the slave who has an agreement for gradual self-purchase.[^63] And if they are owned by a man who is a qualified scholar (*ahl al-ijtihād*) and upstanding, then he can carry out the *hadd* punishment. If he is one of the masses (*ʿāmma*), then he can do so based on his own knowledge only if the matter is something evident. But if it is a matter in the purview of the \[scholarly\] elect, then it should be someone he knows from the jurists. And I have heard some of our colleagues say: No one should carry out the *hadd* punishment but him. All of this is clarified in the *Book of Rulings*. And God grants success. --- ## Notes [^1]: Charles S. De Paolo, “Of Tribes and Hordes: Coleridge and the Emancipation of the Slaves, 1808,” *Theoria* 60 (1983): 131. [^2]: Michael Taylor, “British Proslavery Arguments and the Bible, 1823–33,” *Slavery & Abolition* 37, n. 1 (2016): 145; David Brion Davis, *The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution*, rev. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 545. [^3]: Davis, *The Problem of Slavery*, 535, 538. [^4]: Ehud Toledano, *As if Silent and Absent: Bonds of Enslavement in the Islamic Middle East* (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), 61, 72, 80. [^5]: Christopher Leslie Brown, *Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism* (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2006), 43-45. [^6]: Robert Brady, “The Role of Las Casas in the Emergence of Negro Slavery in the New World,” *Revista de Historia de América* 61–2 (1966): 43–55. [^7]: Jonathan A. C. Brown, *Slavery and Islam* (London: Oneworld, 2019), 107. [^8]: Stanley Engerman, “Slavery at Different Times and Places,” *American Historical Review* 105, n. 2 (2000): 481; Igor Kopytoff and Suzanne Miers, “African ‘Slavery’ as an Institution of Marginality,” in *Slavery in Africa*, ed. Miers and Kopytoff (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), 17; Kopytoff, “Cultural Context of African Abolition,” in *The End of Slavery in Africa*, ed. Suzanne Miers and Richard Roberts (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988), 488 – 490; Exodus 21:6. [^9]: Jacques Maritain, *Les Droits de l’homme et la loi naturelle* (Paris: Paul Hartmann, 1943), 105, 107*.* [^10]: See *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-buyūʿ*, *bāb ithm man bāʿa ḥurran*. [^11]: Kenneth Baxter Wolf, “The ‘Moors’·of West Africa and the beginnings of the Portuguese slave trade,” *Journal of Medieval & Renaissance Studies* 24, n. 3 (1994): 449; Jennifer Welchman, “Locke on Slavery and Inalienable Rights,” *Canadian Journal of Philosophy* 25, n. 1 (1995): 78–79. [^12]: John W. Cairns, “The Definition of Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Thinking,” in *The Legal Understanding of Slavery*, ed. Jean Allain (London: Oxford University Press, 2012), 65; Indrani Chatterjee, “Abolition by Denial: The South Asian Example,” in *Abolition and its Aftermath in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia*, ed. Gwyn Campbell (London: Routledge, 2005), 151. [^13]: Richard Hellie, “Russian Slavery and Serfdom, 1450–1804,” in *The Cambridge World History of Slavery, Volume 3: AD 1420–1804*, ed. David Eltis and Stanley Engerman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 284, 293. [^14]: Miers, “Slavery: A Question of Definition,” *Slavery & Abolition* 24, n. 2 (2003): 5. [^15]: Julia O’Connell Davidson, *Modern Slavery: The Margins of Freedom* (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 3, 6, 22–23, 37–39, 53, 69, 169; Eltis and Engerman, “Dependence, Servility, and Coerced Labor in Time and Space,” in *The Cambridge World History of Slavery, Volume 3,* 13. [^16]: Patricia Clark, “Women, Slaves, and the Hierarchies of Domestic Violence: The Family of St. Augustine,” in *Women and Slaves in Greco-Roman Culture*, ed. Sandra Joshel and Sheila Murnaghan (London: Routledge, 1998), 109–29. [^17]: Kenneth Morgan, *Slavery and Servitude in Colonial North America* (New York: New York University Press, 2001), [^18]: Howard Temperley, “The Ideology of Antislavery,” in *The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade,* ed. David Eltis and James Walvin (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981), 26–27, 30. [^19]: Aristotle, *Politics*, 1253b. [^20]: As counted by Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456/1064), *Rasā’il Ibn Ḥazm*, ed. Iḥsān ʿAbbās (Beirut: al-Mu’assasa al-ʿArabiyya, 1987), 2:120-21. [^21]: *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd: *kitāb al-sunna*, *bāb fī al-qadar*. Al-Suyūṭī, al-Albānī and Shuʿayb al-Arnā’ūṭ judge this hadith *ṣaḥīḥ*; Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *Rafʿ sha’n al - ḥubshān*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Faḍl (Cairo: self-published, 1411/1991), 371; al-Albānī, *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ṣaḥīḥa*, #1630; al-Arnā’ūṭ et al., ed., *Musnad al-imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal* (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risāla, 1416/1995–1421/2001), 32:353–54, 413. [^22]: See al-Jaṣṣāṣ, *Sharḥ Mukhtaṣar al-Ṭaḥāwī*, ed. ʿIṣmat Allāh ʿInāyat Allāh et al. (Beirut: Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyya, 2010), 8:148; Ḍirār b. ʿAmr, *Kitāb al-Taḥrīsh*, ed. Hüseyin Hansu and Mehmet Keskin (Istanbul: Dār al-Irshād, 2014), 127; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-alfāẓ min al-adab wa ghayrihā*, *bāb ḥukm iṭlāq lafẓat al-ʿabd wa’l-ama*. [^23]: Al-Shāṭibī, *al-Muwāfaqāt*, ed. Bakr ʿAbdallāh Abū Zayd and Mashhūr Ḥasan Salmān (Cairo: Dār Ibn ʿAffān, 1997), 2:23. [^24]: Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī*, ed. ʿAbdallāh al-Turkī and ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Ḥuluw (Cairo: Hujr, 1986), 12:233, 9:263. [^25]: Temperley*,* “The Ideology of Antislavery,” 29. [^26]: Brown, *Slavery and Islam*, 224-27, 229. [^27]: Muḥammad Bayram al-Khāmis, “al-Taḥqīq fī mas’alat al-raqīq,” *al-Muqtaṭaf* 15, n. 8 (1891): 505–13; 15, n. 9 (1891): 509, 579–81, 583. [^28]: Al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Ḥalīmī, *Kitāb* *al-Minhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān*, ed. Ḥilmī Muḥammad Fuda (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1399/1979), 3:505-7. [^29]: See Qur’an 4:92, 58:4. [^30]: *Musnad* of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal (Maymaniyya print), 4:299. [^31]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-ʿitq*, *bāb mā jā’a fī al-ʿitq wa faḍlihi*. [^32]: *Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī*: *kitāb al-ṭalāq*. [^33]: As set forth in a hadith found in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-ṣawm*, *bāb idhā jāmaʿa fī ramaḍān wa lam yakun lahu shay’ fa-tuṣuddiqa ʿalayhi fa’l-yukaffir*. [^34]: *Hurriyya;* the text has *jizya.* [^35]: Al-Ḥalīmī, *Kitāb* *al-Minhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān*, 3:266-72. [^36]: Ibn Mājah. [^37]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: kitāb al-ʿitq, bāb karāhiyat al-taṭāwul ʿalā al-raqīq…* [^38]: *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd: *kitāb al-adab*, *bāb fī ḥaqq al-mamlūk*. The published text includes several errors within this hadith, which either resulted from copyist errors or editor misreading. It misreads as *lā’amakum* as *lā ḥukm* and *lā tuʿadhdhibū* as *lā t-q-d-mū*. [^39]: This specific narration of this hadith appears in the *Jāmiʿ of al-Tirmidhī*: *kitāb al-birr wa’l-ṣila*, *bāb jā’a fī al-iḥsān ilā al-khadam; Sunan Ibn Mājah: kitāb al-aṭʿima*, *bāb idhā atā aḥadukum khādimahu bi-ṭaʿāmihi…* and the *Musnad* of Ibn Ḥanbal, 5:158. There the version is: *idhā aḥadukum qarraba ilayhi mamlūkuhu ṭaʿāman qad kafāhu ʿanā’ahu wa ḥarrahu fa’l-yadʿuhu fa’l-ya’kul maʿahu fa-in lam yafʿal fa’l-ya’khudh luqmatan fa’l-yajʿalhā fī yadihi*. The text is very similar to a better-known hadith in the *Ṣaḥīḥayn* (*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-īmān*, *bāb* 22; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-īmān*, *bāb* 10). [^40]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *Musnad al-shāmiyyīn*, ed. Ḥamdī ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Salafī, 4 vols. (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risāla, 1405/1984), 2:361. Ibn Ḥajar declared this specific hadith weak; *al-Maṭālib al-ʿāliya* (Dār al-ʿĀṣima), 12:200. [^41]: This seems to be blending a narration from *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-īmān*, *bāb* 10 and the well-known narration in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*. [^42]: Here the text misreads *ḥarr* as *ḥurriyya* and *ʿanā’ahu* as *ʿibāda*. [^43]: This seems to be a distortion of the hadith in *Sunan Ibn Mājah*: *kitāb al-aṭʿima*, *bāb* 19. [^44]: The text misreads this as *al-Bishr*. [^45]: The text misreads this as *m-ʿā’ q-zy*. [^46]: This is a truncated version of a very long hadith found in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-zuhd*, *bāb* 19. [^47]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*: *kitāb min tafsīr al-Qur’ān*, *bāb min sūrat al-anbiyā’*. [^48]: ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʿānī, *Muṣannaf*, ed. Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān al-Aʿẓamī, 12 vols. (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1983), 9:445. [^49]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*: *kitāb al-birr wa’l-ṣila*, *bāb mā jā’a fī al-ʿafw ʿan al-khādim*. [^50]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-daʿawāt*, *bāb istighfār al-Nabī (s) fī al-yawm wa’l-layla*. [^51]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*: *kitāb al-adab*, *bāb al-iḥsān ilā al-mamālīk*. [^52]: I have not been able to find this hadith. There is a similar story in which the Prophet gives a slave to Ali. See al-Bukhārī, *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*, trans. Adil Salahi (Leicestershire, UK: Islamic Foundation, 2017), 142. [^53]: I have been unable to find this hadith. [^54]: This is a variation of a hadith found in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-aymān*, *bāb ṣuḥbat al-mamālīk wa kaffārat man laṭama ʿabdahu*. [^55]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-masājid wa mawāḍiʿ al-ṣalāt*, *bāb taḥrīm al-kalām fī al-ṣalāt wa naskh mā kāna min ibāḥatihi*. [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: *kitāb al-aymān*, *bāb ṣuḥbat al-mamālīk wa kaffārat man laṭama ʿabdahu*. [^57]: See al-Albānī, *Silsilat al- aḥādīth al- ḍaʾīfa,* 5:70–71, #2051. [^58]: This is a mangling of two narrations from Rāfiʿ b. Makīth, from the Prophet: “Good conduct in owning a slave (*ḥusn al-malaka*) is productive, and bad character is an ill omen” (see *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd: *kitāb al-adab*, *bāb fī ḥaqq al-mamlūk*) and: “Good character is productive, and bad character is an ill omen. Virtue increases one’s lifespan, and giving charity wards off a baleful end” (*Musnad* of Ibn Ḥanbal, 3:502). [^59]: This is a misreading of Zinbāʿ b. Rawḥ b. Salāma. [^60]: Similar to *Sunan Ibn Mājah*: *kitāb al- diyāt*, *bāb man maththala bi-ʿabdihi fa-huwa ḥurr* and *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd: *kitāb al-diyāt*, *bāb man qatala ʿabdahu aw maththala bihi a-yuqādu minhu*, where Abū Dāwūd provides some context for the story*.* In the narration in the *Musnad* of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, 2:182, it is stated that this slave was provided for with provisions and land through the caliphate of ʿUmar, when the former slave moved to Egypt. [^61]: *Musnad* of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, 1:95 and with small differences *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd: *kitāb al-ḥudūd*, *bāb fī iqāmat al-ḥadd ʿalā al-marīḍ*. [^62]: Very similar to *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: *kitāb al-buyūʿ*, *bāb bayʿ al-ʿabd al-zānī*. [^63]: \[*mukātaba*; the text has *makāna*, but I think this is an error\] ## Summary In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. The moral question of slavery is among the most difficult that confronts the modern conscience, for slavery is today regarded as an intrinsic evil across all times and places, as the English poet Samuel Coleridge declared it the most monstrous evil ever to exist, and as the 2001 Durban Declaration named it "a crime against humanity" that "should always have been so." Yet a genuine dilemma arises from this conviction: slavery existed in some form in every civilization until recently, and every major religious and philosophical tradition regarded it as uncontroversial and proper until, at the earliest, the 1700s, with sustained moral debate emerging only in the 1800s and confined for decades to the industrialized societies of Western Europe and America. If slavery is truly an intrinsic evil, one must ask how it was that Plato, Aristotle, Moses, Jesus, the Buddha, the sages of the Confucian and Hindu traditions, and the revealed texts of the Bible and the Qur'an found no fault in it. As one British theologian asked in the early 1800s, how could the God of the Bible have permitted it if it were evil in every time and place? One is thus left either to question the intrinsic evil of slavery or to question those figures and texts we hold in authority. One path out of this difficulty is to recognize that slavery has taken many forms, differing vastly in severity. The contrast between Sokullu Mehmet Pasha, an Ottoman grand vizier married to the sultan's daughter and among the wealthiest men of the realm, and a slave named Derby, tortured horrifically on a Jamaican sugar plantation where the enslaved survived only some seven years, illustrates this plainly. Both were legally property, yet they lived under wholly different regimes of rights: British law in Jamaica offered slaves pitifully little protection, while the Ḥanafī law of the Ottoman Empire held that ill treatment leaving scars could be grounds for forced manumission, and slaves there regularly sought relief in the courts. The slavery of the European colonies and the Atlantic trade that fed them was exceptionally brutal and rested upon unusual and offensive racial justifications; indeed the earliest humanitarian objections came from those with direct experience of it, such as the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, who had been untroubled by slavery in Spain but was shocked by Spanish treatment of Native Americans and Africans. There is, to the author's knowledge, no premodern equivalent of such treatment in Islamic civilization, though it should be noted that the intra-Muslim slave trade intensified greatly in the nineteenth century, accompanied by alarming illegalities and abuses, including the rampant enslavement of other Muslims. Slavery in Islamic and many other civilizations was more diverse and often comparatively mild: many people voluntarily entered slavery to escape starvation, slaves were often freed after a few years, and, unlike in colonial America where slavery was based on racial phenotype, freed slaves in Rome or the Islamic world bore no distinctive appearance and could prosper freely. Christian philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas held that, though the Bible and Church law permitted slavery, they did not permit total and unaccountable domination of one person by another. The reason this resolution is not more widely accepted, the author explains, is that the abolitionism which arose in Britain and colonies like Pennsylvania in the late 1700s was built upon a denial of such distinctions—partly because early polemics like Samuel Sewell's The Selling of Joseph (1700) equated the enslavement of Africans with unlawful man-stealing, forbidden even where slavery was permitted, as in Leviticus 25:39 and hadiths prohibiting the enslavement of free people, and partly because defenders of slavery would themselves invoke such distinctions to claim their slavery was benign. The author argues that denying gradations of treatment can be justified only if slavery in itself is so heinous as to admit no internal distinction—yet every definition of slavery across history (loss of freedom, being another's property, extreme marginalization, or coerced labor under threat of violence) is so abstract and context-dependent that it collapses when applied across civilizations. Within the Sharīʿah itself the matter is not settled: in the Mālikī school slaves may own property, while in the other schools they may not. Roman law permitted masters to kill their slaves, yet also permitted the same toward free children; Russian serfs sometimes chose slavery to escape taxes; and indentured servants in Virginia and Maryland faced mutilation or death for fleeing—punishments so severe that the Sharīʿah forbade them for slaves. Acknowledging these gradations does not fully dissolve the dilemma, and the author leaves the discomfort standing. The deeper insight offered is that abolitionist moral sentiment arose first precisely where societies industrialized and grew wealthy without reliance on slave labor. As the historian Howard Temperley observed, until the late 1700s "to argue against slavery was to argue against the facts of life." Industrial technology rendered dependent human labor obsolete, and refined sensibilities followed—Aristotle himself had foreseen that slaves would be dispensed with only when looms powered themselves. This does not render our conviction trivial, for many moral beliefs are shaped by custom, which the Sharīʿah empowers as a source of law and morality so long as it does not transgress the clear bounds of revelation. Within this world shaped by slavery, the Qur'an and the teaching of the Prophet ﷺ introduced unprecedented reforms: debt slavery and the sale of oneself or one's family were prohibited, and the sole lawful means of enslavement was the capture of a non-Muslim combatant from outside the Abode of Islam in war. The children of a master and his slave woman were declared not only free but of equal standing to those born of a free wife—so that whereas Thomas Jefferson's children by Sally Hemings could never join the American elite, twenty or more of the twenty-four Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad's heyday were born of slave mothers, as were nearly all Ottoman sultans. The Prophet ﷺ also refuted the Curse of Ham legend of Genesis, explaining that the variety of human skin color derives from the multicolored soil from which Allah created the first human. Most distinctive is the scripture's emphatic concern with emancipation. The Qur'an directs owners to permit slaves to purchase their freedom in installments (24:33), allots Zakat to freeing slaves (2:177, 9:60), describes freeing a neck as the steep path of the believers (90:12-16), and requires it as expiation for sins and broken oaths (5:89, 58:3). The scholars explained this command by Allah's desire for freedom, the natural freedom of all humans, and the impropriety of one person mastering another when, as the Prophet ﷺ said, "you are all the slaves of God." By the 1200s emancipation was recognized as an aim (maqṣad) of the Sharīʿah, and though the scholars did not call slavery evil (as essentially no one did before the 1700s), they held it to be harmful (ḍarar). Why then did Allah not simply abolish slavery? The author answers that no one—Christian, European, or otherwise—called for abolition as an institution until the 1700s, when it became economically conceivable only as fossil fuels replaced human energy. Muslims encountered abolitionism through European colonial power, but came to share its sentiments through social and economic change. When the Mālikī and Ḥanafī muftis of Tunis approved the banning of slavery in 1846, they affirmed that a Muslim ruler may restrict slavery to achieve the Sharīʿah's aim of emancipation, since owning slaves is neither required nor recommended, and restricting it falls under "restricting the permissible" (taqyīd al-mubāḥ) for the common good. The Tunisian scholar Muḥammad Bayram al-Khāmis wrote that obeying such a ruling becomes a religious obligation, so that Muslims must honor abolition "in secret and in the open," and that "disobeying the Sacred Law is truly prohibited." The accompanying text is that of al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Ḥalīmī (d. 403/1012), a Shāfiʿī jurist, Hadith master, and Ashʿarī theologian of Khurasan and Transoxiana, drawn from his Kitāb al-Minhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān, an exposition of the branches of faith. In its thirtieth branch, on manumission, al-Ḥalīmī shows that Allah made freeing slaves an expiation and a redemption for wrongful killing, and a means of drawing near to Him, citing "But you have not taken the steep path… it is the freeing of a neck" (90:11-17). He relates the Prophet's ﷺ words to one who asked the deed that gains Paradise—"Manumit a neck and free a soul"—and the report that "for every limb freed of the slave, God will free a limb of the one who freed them," and that Allah has created nothing more beloved to Him than freeing slaves nor more hated than divorce. Freeing the slave, he explains, restores their capacity to own property and to perform Zakat, Hajj, jihad, and the Friday prayer, from which their servitude had barred them. In the fifty-eighth branch, on excellence toward slaves, al-Ḥalīmī cites "and to those whom you possess rightfully" (4:36) and the Prophet's ﷺ final counsel upon his deathbed: "Prayer, prayer. Fear God concerning those whom you rightfully possess." He instructs owners to say "my boy" and "my girl" rather than "my slave," to feed and clothe them as they feed and clothe themselves, not to burden them beyond capacity, and to sell or free those they cannot treat justly. He gathers many reports to this end: "Each of you is a shepherd, responsible for his flock"; the hadith of the scales of justice (21:47), whereby excessive punishment of a slave is counted against the master; the command to excuse a slave's faults seventy times daily; the account of Abū Masʿūd al-Badrī, whom the Prophet ﷺ reminded, "God has more power over you than you have over him"; the freeing of the believing slave girl who affirmed that Allah is "in the heavens"; and the harsh rebuke of Dībāgh b. Salāma, whom the Prophet ﷺ commanded to free the slave he had mutilated—which al-Ḥalīmī clarifies was an expiation for the wrong, not a legal definition of manumission. He closes with the etiquette of purchasing a slave: seeking Allah's guidance (istikhāra), praying for the slave's good, and the rulings on who among owners may carry out the ḥadd punishments, matters he refers to their fuller treatment in the Book of Rulings. And Allah knows best. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-happened-on-the-day-of-ashura-contextualizing-the-events-and-meaning-of-ashura # What Happened on the Day of Ashura? Contextualizing the Events and Meaning of Ashura | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** History, Islam in the West, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Ashura, Justice in Islam **Published:** July 15, 2024 **Updated:** June 23, 2026 ## What happened to Musa (as) and the Children of Israel on Ashura? On the day of Ashura, millennia ago, Musa (as) and the Children of Israel achieved a momentous victory over the oppressive [tyranny of Pharaoh](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine). Guided by divine command, Musa (as) led his people to the edge of the parted sea, where Allah miraculously allowed them to cross to safety while the pursuing army of Pharaoh drowned. > So We inspired Moses: “Strike the sea with your staff,” and the sea was split; each part was like a huge mountain. We drew the pursuers to that place, and delivered Moses and those with him all together. Then We drowned the others. Surely in this is a sign. Yet most of them would not believe. And your Lord is certainly the Almighty, Most Merciful. > > (Quran 26: 63-68) This monumental event, commemorated across many faiths, serves as a timeless testament to the [triumph of righteousness over tyranny.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine) It stands not just as a historical account but as a profound spiritual narrative that continues to inspire courage and steadfast faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. Imagine a nation of enslaved people, walking to the very edge of the land, guided by faith and the promise of divine deliverance, as Allah miraculously carves a path to freedom that defies all natural laws. The splitting of the sea, a divine gesture of mercy and deliverance, remains a vivid symbol of Allah’s aid to those who steadfastly maintain their trust in Him. It signifies the ultimate victory of justice and freedom, illustrating how the righteous, guided by unwavering faith, can overcome the most formidable adversaries. [Commemorating this event by fasting](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/fasting-ashura-what-is-ashura-and-why-is-it-important) is a solemn reminder that Allah’s assistance is ever-present for those who persevere in righteousness and rely on His divine wisdom and mercy. Victory will come even in the most unlikely of circumstances. --- ## What is the connection between Ashura, Noah (as) and the flood? Though it is considered a weak narration, Ashura is potentially “the day that the ship of Prophet Nuh (as) settled upon Mount Judi, and so Prophet Nuh (as) fasted the day out of thankfulness to Allah” \[Musnad Ahmad #8717\]. > And when Our command came and the oven burst \[with water\], We said \[to Noah\], “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree \[of drowning\] has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few. And he said, “Board it! In the Name of Allah it will sail and cast anchor. Surely my Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” And \[so˺\] the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.” He replied, “I will take refuge on a mountain, which will protect me from the water.” Noah cried, “Today no one is protected from Allah’s decree except those to whom He shows mercy!” And the waves came between them, and his son was among the drowned. And it was said, “O earth! Swallow up your water. And O sky! Withhold \[your rain\].” The floodwater receded and the decree was carried out. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and it was said, “Away with the wrongdoing people!” (Quran 11:40-44) Prophet Nuh (as) faced immense trials and challenges during his mission, and the survival of some of his family and believers shows his obedience to Allah. Victory is not always immediate or apparent, but it comes to those who steadfastly trust in Allah. > Indeed, those who say, “Our Lord is Allah!” and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, \[saying,\] “Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the paradise, which you have been promised.” (Qur’an 31:40) --- ## Why is Husayn ibn Ali (ra) associated with Ashura? Hasan and Hussein were the grandsons of the Prophet ﷺ. He loved them immensely, like many grandparents adore and spoil their grandchildren. Ibn Umar narrated, “I heard the Prophet ﷺ, say, ‘They are my two sweet-basils in the world.’” \[*Sahih Bukhari* #5994\] Ashura also coincides with the martyrdom of Hussein. During the reign of the tyrant Yazid, the Muslim community was already fractured. The people of Kufa promised their support to Hussein through many written letters, should he choose to lead them. The people of Kufa, who promised their allegiance to Hussein, ultimately betrayed him. \[*Majmu' al-Fatawa*\] Multiple events led to the eventual martyrdom of Hussein, during a merciless and unfair battle. The final act of unspeakable cruelty saw the savage warriors, Shimir and Sinan ibn Anas, brutally decapitate Hussein, presenting his head on a plate to Ibn Ziyaad. Ibn Ziyaad desecrated this head with a stick and vile mockery. \[*Majmu' al-Fatawa*\] What insolent, heart-wrenching behavior towards the one who resembled the Prophet ﷺ, the very child whom the Prophet ﷺ cherished, played with, and kissed. We feel this love because we love those whom the Prophet ﷺ loved, and he loved his family. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Hussein is from me and I am from Hussein. Allah loves anyone who loves Hussein. He is one of my distinguished descendants.” \[*Jami’ al-Tirmidhī* #3775\] Although the killing and treatment of his corpse was abhorrent, we comfort ourselves knowing, “The [martyr does not feel the pain](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-martyrs-of-gaza-are-soaring-in-the-heavens) of being killed except as one of you feels the pinch of an insect bite.” \[*Jami’* *al-Tirmidhī* #1668\] The victory of Hussein in this case was not an apparent worldly victory but one of the Hereafter. His victory came in the form of martyrdom, and it stands as a testament to the strength of unwavering faith in the face of tyranny. It highlights the profound beauty of understanding life as a dual existence—both in this material world and in eternal Paradise. > Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead—in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it. (Qur’an 2:154) > > “Verily, the souls of martyrs are in green birds, hanging from the fruits of Paradise, or the trees of Paradise.” \[*Jami’* *al-Tirmidhī* #1641\] In Islam, the [honor of martyrdom](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-martyrs-of-gaza-are-soaring-in-the-heavens) is revered, for it signifies a triumph that transcends worldly suffering and attains the everlasting bliss and honor of the Hereafter. *Shahada*, or the verbal testimony of faith in Islam, shares the same word in Arabic with martyrdom (*shahada*), or the ultimate physical manifestation of one’s willingness to give their life striving for the truth and their sincere belief in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Anas reported: The Prophet ﷺ  said, “No one who enters Paradise would like to return to the world, even if he could have everything on earth, except for the martyr. He will wish to return to the world and be killed ten more times due to the generous reward he sees.” \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #2817\] Hussein’s sacrifice is a powerful reminder of the eternal glory that awaits those who stand steadfast in their faith, undeterred by the trials of the earthly realm. > Hussein is among the most honored of the Prophet’s family. His patience and steadfastness in the face of tyranny are examples for all Muslims. – Ibn Taymiyyah \[Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah\] On Ashura, we remember the bloodline of our Messenger, the pain of this loss, but also the eternal victory of righteousness and the high station of our martyrs in Islam. --- ## What does Palestine have to do with Ashura? Hussein’s end, and our continued hope for worldly *and* everlasting victory is even more relevant today, as our Palestinian brothers and sisters, with their unwavering dignity and strength, suffer such abhorrent and [heart-wrenching barbarity.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine) Only Allah knows why this genocide has continued. We see the righteous dying before us, and we see the hypocrites quiet beside us. Our [anger against oppressors](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/we-wont-back-down-when-righteous-anger-becomes-a-moral-duty) intensifies, and Allah opens our eyes to the way the world has deluded us. Our *ibadah* increases, as our eyes bear witness to the bombing, beheading, shellings, starvation, stealing, and mockery. Allah’s granting of victory need not materialize in immediate worldly terms. Whether in our lifetime or beyond, as believers we refrain from measuring victory by earthly metrics. Instead, we entrust our hopes to the greater design of Allah's plans. We remain steadfast in the certainty that Allah will honor the martyrs and reward their sacrifices. With steadfast determination, we strive for victory—a [liberated Palestine](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/dont-give-up-on-gaza-how-knowing-allah-sustains-hope-and-resistance)—using every means within our power, guided by faith and the promise of divine justice. --- ## Why are Muslims fasting Ashura? Ashura is derived from the Arabic word *ashara* meaning ten, and refers specifically to the 10th day of the month of Muharram, the first month of the [Islamic calendar.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-months-ordained-by-allah-reviving-the-islamic-calendar) The best way to commemorate Ashura is the way of the sunnah, through fasting. This year, as we observe [fasting on the 10th of Muharram](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/fasting-ashura-what-is-ashura-and-why-is-it-important) (July 16, 2024), and we honor a practice dating back to the time before Islam, when even the Quraysh recognized its importance. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ emphasized our rightful claim to celebrate Moses’ victory, urging us to fast on this blessed day (*Sahih Al-Bukhari* #4680). It is recommended to distinguish our fast from that of earlier traditions by fasting a day before (which is preferred) or after Ashura. Fasting, an act of profound devotion known only to  Allah, serves as a pathway to ultimate victory. It signifies our aspiration to be among Allah’s chosen servants, to secure a place in His eternal Paradise, and to dwell in His presence for eternity. By observing this fast with sincerity and devotion, we align ourselves with the noble tradition of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and affirm our commitment to righteousness and divine obedience. May our fasting on Ashura strengthen our faith, purify our hearts, and bring us closer to the boundless mercy and blessings of Allah. Learn more about fasting on Ashura by reading [Fasting Ashura: What Is Ashura and Why Is It Important? By Sh. Ibrahim Hindy.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/fasting-ashura-what-is-ashura-and-why-is-it-important) **This piece has been adapted from the following Yaqeen** **Videos****:** [Why Ashura is so important | Khutbah](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/why-ashura-is-so-important-khutbah) [The Ashura Within | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/the-ashura-within-khutbah) [Virtues of Ashura and How to Observe It | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/virtues-of-ashura-and-how-to-observe-it-khutbah-2) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What happened to Musa (as) and the Children of Israel on Ashura? On the day of Ashura, millennia ago, Musa (as) and the Children of Israel achieved a momentous victory over the oppressive tyranny of Pharaoh. Guided by divine command, Musa (as) led his people to the edge of the parted sea, where Allah miraculously allowed them to cross to safety while the pursuing army of Pharaoh drowned (Qur’an 26:63-68). The splitting of the sea, a divine gesture of mercy and deliverance, remains a vivid symbol of Allah’s aid to those who steadfastly maintain their trust in Him. ### What is the connection between Ashura, Noah (as) and the flood? Though it is considered a weak narration, Ashura is potentially “the day that the ship of Prophet Nuh (as) settled upon Mount Judi, and so Prophet Nuh (as) fasted the day out of thankfulness to Allah” \[*Musnad Ahmad* #8717\]. The Qur’an recounts that the Ark rested on Mount Judi after the floodwater receded (Qur’an 11:40-44). Prophet Nuh (as) faced immense trials and challenges during his mission, and the survival of some of his family and believers shows his obedience to Allah. Victory is not always immediate or apparent, but it comes to those who steadfastly trust in Allah. ### Why is Husayn ibn Ali (ra) associated with Ashura? Hasan and Hussein were the grandsons of the Prophet ﷺ, and he loved them immensely — Ibn Umar narrated, “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say, ‘They are my two sweet-basils in the world.’” (*Sahih al-Bukhari* #5994) Ashura coincides with the martyrdom of Hussein during the reign of the tyrant Yazid, after the people of Kufa who had promised him their allegiance ultimately betrayed him. The victory of Hussein in this case was not an apparent worldly victory but one of the Hereafter; his victory came in the form of martyrdom, and it stands as a testament to the strength of unwavering faith in the face of tyranny. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Hussein is from me and I am from Hussein. Allah loves anyone who loves Hussein. He is one of my distinguished descendants.” (*Jami’ al-Tirmidhi* #3775) ### What does Palestine have to do with Ashura? Hussein’s end, and our continued hope for worldly *and* everlasting victory, is even more relevant today, as our Palestinian brothers and sisters, with their unwavering dignity and strength, suffer such abhorrent and heart-wrenching barbarity. Allah’s granting of victory need not materialize in immediate worldly terms. Whether in our lifetime or beyond, as believers we refrain from measuring victory by earthly metrics. Instead, we entrust our hopes to the greater design of Allah’s plans, remaining steadfast in the certainty that Allah will honor the martyrs and reward their sacrifices. ### Why are Muslims fasting Ashura? Ashura is derived from the Arabic word *ashara* meaning ten, and refers specifically to the 10th day of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. The best way to commemorate Ashura is the way of the sunnah, through fasting. We honor a practice dating back to the time before Islam, when even the Quraysh recognized its importance, and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ emphasized our rightful claim to celebrate Moses’ victory, urging us to fast on this blessed day (*Sahih Al-Bukhari* #4680). It is recommended to distinguish our fast from that of earlier traditions by fasting a day before (which is preferred) or after Ashura. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/from-srebrenica-to-gaza-the-dehumanization-of-muslims-blog # From Srebrenica to Gaza: The Dehumanization of Muslims | Blog **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Topics:** History, Islam in the West, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Gaza, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** July 8, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 *We must recognize the daily, routine dehumanization that leads to genocide.* The genocide that occurred in Srebrenica in July 1995, when some 8,000 mostly Muslim Bosniaks were killed by a Serbian nationalist militia, was the [largest genocide](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://srebrenica.org.uk/what-happened&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551222791&usg=AOvVaw2YDg1DkOVIU9ki8O_KPkQM) Europe has seen since the Holocaust. Far from arising in a vacuum, in the three years leading up to the genocide, an estimated [100,000 people were killed](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/bosnia-herzegovina/case-study/background/1992-1995&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551223078&usg=AOvVaw0lJh7NYWRrm93-chnCMvet)—80% of whom were Bosniaks, one of three ethnic groups who called the fledgling state of Bosnia and Herzegovina home. But in that month of July, Bosnian Serb troops slaughtered Srebrenica’s men and boys before burying them in mass graves, raped an untold number of Bosniak women, and removed an estimated 23,000 women, children, and elderly, putting them on buses and driving them to Muslim-controlled territories. It was the horrific climax of a disgraceful war. The international Muslim community mobilized, and the shame of the genocide prompted the West to act. A [NATO-led bombing campaign](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52122.htm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551223937&usg=AOvVaw1MOtjBksGFPoEanl2XOYMv) led to the cessation of the Serbian murder machine. Now, as we commemorate another anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Gaza remains under Israeli bombardment as a new [genocide](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147976&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551224320&usg=AOvVaw0nZIGZupAfdLqRx5iCUurZ) has unfolded before our eyes. As of June 2025, nearly 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, with over 125,000 injured.[^1] How do we reflect on the murder of thousands of Bosniak Muslims, while working to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza? How do we avoid “statistical numbness,” one where casualty counts, past and present, are merely numbers, absent souls? The hypocrisy of a post-WWII rules-based world order that fuels a genocide in Gaza today also gave way to the genocide in Srebrenica. At its center is the dehumanization of the Muslim, apart from race, geography, or identity. Despite their location in Europe and their Caucasian ethnicity, Bosniaks were demonized, dehumanized, and consequently assigned for slaughter precisely because of their Islam. Post-World War II decolonization had already normalized the Third World Muslim victims of Africa and Asia, but in Europe itself, only a few decades separated from the Holocaust, the citizens of the world’s most prosperous region told themselves that they had left the savagery of the past behind. Insert Islam, however, and the Bosniak Muslim is transformed into a natural casualty. Simply put, would the genocide of Srebrenica have been possible if the victims weren’t Muslim? Or did it prove that being Muslim alone potentially disqualifies one from being considered European or even human? These questions about Srebrenica are especially relevant now, at a time in which Gaza faces famine and genocide, and in a 21st century defined by futile wars in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, which have left thousands of unnamed and unknown casualties. What does it mean to remember? What good is remembering without pause, reflection, and internalization? It’s important to frame the genocide of Srebrenica—and now Gaza—primarily through the lens of personal accountability. In looking inward while reflecting on atrocity, we interrogate our efforts. How are we working to end the current genocide, while commemorating a previous one? This process converts remembrance from a ceremonial annual ritual to a transformative exercise of self-accountability. When I [visited](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/imamomarsuleiman/posts/srebrenicaif-the-dead-could-speak-to-us-the-site-of-a-monstrous-genocide-with-th/481271546689120/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551227405&usg=AOvVaw2tQRFxWmjm8UQsEvcT02co) the Srebrenica Memorial Center, I was chilled to the bone by the sheer number of graves, most of them containing bodies of Bosniak Muslims recovered from mass graves. They cover the ground as far as the eye can see. In Srebrenica, the air itself seems to bear witness to the bloodshed. Desensitization is impossible. Every grave is important. The difference between one casualty or two, much less 8,000, is the difference between night and day. At the memorial center, the shoes of the victims remain on display, each pair a reminder that we must humanize the statistics and bring life to history. Every human being who once stood in those shoes had tried to escape the horrific cruelty of their tormentors. The victims thought of ways to run and hide, and dreamed of walking freely without fear. They were children, parents, spouses, and siblings. But to those who massacred them in assembly lines, they were less than insects. Remembering genocide means remembering that it is only possible through the systematic dehumanization of a people. Just as Bosnians were stripped of their humanity and slaughtered, Palestinians today face the same erasure. All around us in media and culture, Palestinians are synonymous with evil and violence. Their casualties are dismissed as collateral damage. This process doesn’t unfold overnight; it is the result of sustained neglect, narrative manipulation, and systematic dehumanization. We are inundated with the news of Gaza’s casualties every day, on our phones, televisions, and computers. Over 10 killed here, 25 killed there, 700 killed last week. Srebrenica should have marked the end of such atrocities, it should have been a “*never again*,” and without proper remembrance and reflection, the cycle of empty condolences and endless anniversaries will continue. *A prior version of this blog was written for and published on Religion News Service:* *[https://religionnews.com/2023/07/11/why-do-we-remember-srebrenica/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://religionnews.com/2023/07/11/why-do-we-remember-srebrenica/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551229962&usg=AOvVaw0su7QCWpnshQGlr3GNKXZT)* --- ## Notes [^1]: “Situation Report #174 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” UNRWA, June 7, 2025, [https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-174-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-174-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1750274551230611&usg=AOvVaw0km77ZvMa7MPOwhapMIwaj). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/imam-al-suyuti-and-symmetry-in-the-quran-understanding-the-connection-between-the-beginning-and-ending-of-surahs # Imam al-Suyūṭī and Symmetry in the Qur'an: Understanding the Connection Between the Beginning and Ending of Surahs **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** June 27, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 The Qur’an is a shoreless ocean of treasures. The combined lifespans of humanity are insufficient to collect all its pearls. Yet, every sincere Muslim should desire to become better skilled at diving into its wondrous depths. It enhances your ability to transform your spirit through deeper *tadabbur* (contemplation) of the Qur’an in general, and in particular, through recognizing some of the possible secrets behind how each *sūrah* (chapter) of the Qur’an begins and ends. For half a millennium and counting, the leading scholars of Islam have regarded the great Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911H/1505CE, Allah grant him mercy) as a towering super-expert on the Qur’an, and hold his seminal project, *al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān*, as one of the most authoritative, indispensable references on the [Qur’anic sciences](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/an-introduction-to-ulum-al-quran-the-field-of-quranic-studies). After summarizing in *al-Itqān* earlier scholarship on the ten brilliant styles of “opening statements” that every *sūrah* falls within, and how the “closing remarks” of every *sūrah* are perfectly suited to retain its most important themes,[^1] al-Suyūṭī dedicated a standalone treatise called *Marāṣid al-Maṭāliʿ* (Capturing the Beginnings) to demonstrate the evident symmetry or parity between the introduction and conclusion of each *sūrah*.[^2] This translation is based on a digitally imaged (PDF) print of *al-Marāṣid* published in 1426H.[^3] No substantial departures were made from the original text, aside from some discretionary incorporations of parenthetical detail to help readers locate verses by number or the like. As for the commentary, it consists of selections from the source publication’s footnotes, unless otherwise cited. --- ## The Text of Marāṣid al-Maṭāliʿ In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy All praise be to Allah, who guides those who seek Him to their aims, and grants us insights about the fundamentals of His Book and its subtleties. May salutations and peace be upon our master, Muhammad, and upon his family, companions, and supporters. To begin: Among the sciences of the Great Qur’an are the correlations between how its *sūrah*(s) begin and end. I have previously explained that in *al-Itqān*, and also in the book *Asrār al-Tanzīl*. It has also been mentioned by the *muḥaqqiqūn* (critical verifier scholars), such as the author of *al-Kashshāf*, his teacher Maḥmūd ibn Ḥamzah al-Karmānī (the author of *al-Burhān fī Mutashābih al-Qurʾān* and *al-Gharāʾib wal-ʿAjāʾib*) in his book on *tafsīr*, Imam Fakhr al-Dīn \[al-Rāzī\] (d. 606H/1209), and al-Aṣbahānī (d. 430/947), among others. In this short treatise, I have chosen to demonstrate this \[correlation between how *sūrahs* begin and end\] in the chronological order of the *sūrah*(s), based on my own personal reflections (except where I expressly cite others). I have named this work *Marāṣid al-Maṭāliʿ fī Tanāsub al-Maqāṭiʿ wal-Maṭāliʿ* (Capturing the Beginnings: The Correspondence of Chapters’ Endings and Beginnings). ### Al-Baqarah Al-Iṣfahānī said, “Its end matches its beginning in terms of identifying the qualities of the believers, and then alluding to the qualities of the disbelievers.” ### Āl ʿImrān It begins by mentioning the Qur’an being sent down, and the Torah and Evangel prior to that. It then concludes with that as well, in His words, **“Indeed, there are some among the People of the Book who truly believe in Allah and what has been revealed to you \[believers\] and what was revealed to them.”** (3:199) Similarly, it begins with, **“Allah does not break His promise.”** (3:9) and concludes with, **“You never fail in Your promise.”** (3:194)[^4] ### Al-Nisāʾ It begins by mentioning how creation (and childbirth) began and concludes with the rulings related to death.[^5] It also begins with the verses of inheritance and *kalālah* (when the deceased leaves no parents or children) and concludes with the same theme. ### Al-Māʾidah It begins with the prohibition of hunting while in *iḥrām* (a sanctified state), and \[by mentioning\] the sacred months, the sacrificial animals, and the *qalāʾid* (those adorned for sacrifice), and concludes with that as well. It also begins with declaring grazing livestock permissible, and ended with lamenting those who prohibited some livestock which Allah never prohibited. Also, in its beginning: **“Allah made a covenant with the Children of Israel.”** (5:12) In its end: **“Indeed, we took a covenant from the Children of Israel.”** (5:70) Also, in its beginning: **“Indeed, those who say ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary’  have disbelieved.”** (5:17) In its end is something similar.[^6] ### Al-Anʿām It begins with, **“Yet the disbelievers set up equals to their Lord.”** (6:1) and ends with **“and set up equals with their Lord.”** (6:150) It begins with, **“Have they not seen how many \[disbelieving\] people We destroyed before them? We have made them more established in the land than you. We sent down abundant rain for them and made rivers flow at their feet. Then We destroyed them for their sins and replaced them with other peoples.”** (6:6) And its ending is: **“He is the One Who has placed you as successors on earth.”** (6:165) ### Al-Aʿrāf In its beginning: **“As a reminder to the believers.”** (7:2) and in its end: **“They remember \[their Lord\] then they start to see \[things\] clearly.”** (7:201) In its beginning: **“Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord,”** (7:3) and in its end: **“Say, I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord.”** (7:203) In its beginning: **“And do not take others as guardians besides Him,”** (7:3) and in its end: **“But \[the devils\] persistently plunge their \[human\] associates deeper into wickedness, sparing no effort.”** (7:203) Likewise, it begins by describing *Iblīs* (Satan) as being arrogant and concludes by describing the angels as not being too proud \[to worship Allah\].[^7] Also, in its beginning: **“Call upon your Lord in humility and secretly,”** (7:55) and in its end: **“Remember your Lord inwardly with humility and reverence.”** (7:205) ### Al-Anfāl It opens with His statement, **“It is they who are the true believers. They will have elevated ranks, forgiveness, and an honorable provision \[from their Lord\],”** (8:4) and is sealed with His statement, **“…they are the true believers. They will have forgiveness and an honorable provision.”** (8:74) ### Barāʾah (Al-Tawbah) It opens with His statement, **“But if you turn away, then know that you will have no escape from Allah,”** (9:3) and concludes with His statement, **“But if they turn away, then say, \[O Prophet\] ‘Allah is sufficient for me.’”** (9:129) ### Yūnus In its beginning, **“…that We have sent revelation to a man from among them,”** (10:2) and in its end, **“And follow what is revealed to you.”** (10:109) ### Hūd, Yūsuf,[^8] Al-Raʿd, Ibrāhīm, Al-Ḥijr All of them commence and conclude by mentioning \[the Qur’an\].[^9] ### Al-Naḥl It begins with a prohibition of being hasty (16:1) and ends with a command to be patient. (16:127) ### Al-Isrāʾ It begins with *tasbīḥ* (glorifying Allah) and concludes with *taḥmīd*. ### Al-Kahf, Maryam, & ṬāHā They all open and conclude by mentioning the Qur’an and *dhikr* (remembrance).[^10] ### Al-Anbiyāʾ In its beginning, **“The \[time of\] people’s judgment has drawn near,”** (21:1) and in its end, **“And \[when\] the true promise (i.e., the resurrection) has neared.”** (21:97) ### Al-Ḥajj It begins by mentioning the Hour (22:1), and is sealed with His statement, **“… so that the Messenger may be a witness over you, and that you may be witnesses over humanity”** (22:78)—and that occurs on the Day of Resurrection.[^11] ### Al-Muʾminūn Its start: **“Successful indeed are the believers.”** (23:1) Its end: **“Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed.”** (23:117) This was noted by al-Zamakhsharī.[^12] ### Al-Nūr In its beginning, with regard to women, **“Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their \[hidden\] adornments.”** (24:31) Then, in its end, with regards to *al-qawāʿid* (elderly women past the age of marriage), **“there is no blame on them if they take off their \[outer\] garments, without revealing their adornments.”** (24:60)[^13] ### Al-Furqān It begins with **“Blessed \[is the One\],”** (25:1) and ends with that. (25:61) ### Al-Shuʿarāʾ It begins by mentioning **“The Book”** (26:2) and concludes with His statement, **“This is certainly a revelation from the Lord of all the world.”** (26:192)[^14] ### Al-Naml It begins by mentioning the Book, and it being Guidance (27:1-2) and concludes with His statement, **“‘…and to recite the Qur’an.’ Then whoever chooses to be guided, it is only for their own good.”** (27:92) ### Al-Qaṣaṣ In its beginning, **“I will never side with the wicked,”** (28:17) and in its end, **“So never be an aid to the disbelievers \[in their disbelief\].”** (28:86) Also, it begins with the migration of Moses from his homeland and then his return to it, and in its end is the Prophet’s ﷺ migration from his homeland and his return to it. (28:85) ### Al-ʿAnkabūt It was sealed with migration and jihad, due to His statement in the beginning, **“Do people think once they say, ‘We believe,’ that they will be left without being put to the test?”** (29:2)[^15] ### Al-Rūm It starts with, **“On the Day the Hour will arrive, the wicked will be dumbstruck.”** (30:12) And it ends with, **“And on the Day the Hour will arrive, the wicked will swear…”** (30:55)[^16] ### Luqmān It begins with, **“…and scattered throughout it all types of creatures. And We send down rain from the sky,”** (31:10) and in its end, **“He sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs.”** (31:34) ### Al-Sajdah In its beginning, **“… to warn a people to whom no warner has come before you,”** (32:3) and in its end, **“So turn away from them, and await! They too are waiting.”** (32:30) ### Al-Aḥzāb It begins with His statement, **“O Prophet, \[always\] be mindful of Allah,”** (33:1) and in its conclusion is an address to his wives, **“And be mindful of Allah.”** (33:55)[^17] ### Sabaʾ It begins with the unseen world (34:3), and concludes with the Knower of the Unseen. (34:48) ### Fāṭir In its beginning, **“As for those who plot evil, they will suffer a severe punishment. And the plotting of such \[people\] is doomed \[to fail\],”** (35:10) and in its end, **“But evil plotting only backfires on those who plot.”** (35:43) ### YāSīn It begins with describing the Qur’an \[as wise\] (36:2) and ends with that as well in His statement, **“We did not teach him poetry.”** (36:69) It also begins with His statement, **“It is certainly We Who resurrect the dead,”** (36:12) and concludes with establishing the proof for that by Him saying, **“And they argue with Us****—** **forgetting they were created****—****saying, ‘Who will give life to decayed bones?’”** (36:78) ### Al-Ṣāffāt Its beginning is **“By those lined up in ranks,”** (37:1) and they are the angels. The ending is also about them: **“We are indeed the ones lined up in ranks \[for Allah\].”** (37:165)[^18] ### Ṣād Its beginning is **“Ṣād. By the Quran, full of reminder!”** (38:1) and it ends with, **“It is only a reminder to the whole world.”** (38:87) This was stated by al-Karmānī. ### Al-Zumar In its beginning, **“So worship Allah \[alone\] being sincerely devoted to Him,”** (39:2) and in its end, **“Rather, worship Allah \[alone\].”** (39:66) Also, its opening is the beginning of creation (39:6), and its ending is the Hour and Resurrection (39:68-75). Also, its opening describes how the heavens and earth were created with *ḥaqq* (rightful purpose) (39:5) and its conclusion describes the very end of the resurrection, **“Judgment will conclude with** ***ḥaqq*** **(fairness)****.”** (39:75) ### Ghāfir In its beginning, **“Have they not traveled throughout the land…”** (40:21) and in its end, **“Have they not traveled throughout the land.”** (40:82) Also, in its beginning, **“So call upon Allah with sincere devotion,”** (40:14) and in its end, **“Your Lord has proclaimed, ‘Call upon Me.”** (40:60)[^19] ### Fuṣṣilat In its beginning, **“Yet most of them turn away,”** (41:4) and in its end, **“…they turn away, acting arrogantly.”** (41:51)[^20] ### Al-Shūrā In its beginning, **“And so you \[O Prophet\] are sent revelation, just like those before you,”** (42:3) and in its end, **“And so We have sent to you \[O Prophet\] a revelation by Our command.”** (42:52) ### Al-Zukhruf In its beginning, **“If you ask them \[O Prophet\] who created the heavens and the earth, they will certainly say, ‘They were created by the Almighty, All-Knowing,’”** (43:9) and in its end, **“If you ask them \[O Prophet\] who created them, they will certainly say, ‘Allah!’”** (43:87) Also, in its beginning, **“*****Ṣafḥan*** **(fully overlooking)”** (43:5) and in its end, **“*****Faṣfaḥ*** **(So overlook) them…”** (43:89) ### Al-Dukhān It begins by mentioning the Qur’an (44:2) and concludes with that as well. (44:58) Also, in its beginning, **“Wait then \[O Prophet\] for the day \[when\] the sky will be veiled in haze, clearly visible,”** (44:10) and in its end, **“Wait then! They too are certainly waiting.”** (44:59) ### Al-Jāthiyah In its opening, **“And whenever they learn anything of Our revelations, they make a mockery of it,”** (45:9) and in its end, **“This is because you made a mockery of Allah’s revelations.”** (45:35)[^21] ### Al-Aḥqāf It begins by mentioning the creation of the heavens and earth (46:3), and concludes with that (46:33) as well.[^22] ### Al-Qitāl (Muḥammad) It starts with the command to fight (47:4) and ends with it. (47:38) ### Al-Fatḥ It begins with describing the Prophet ﷺ and the believers and what they were promised (48:1-5). It concludes with a similar motif as well. (48:29) ### Al-Ḥujurāt It begins with the prohibition of proceeding ahead of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ)(49:1), and concludes with the prohibition of mentioning your favor to Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ)(49:17). It also begins with describing Allah as fully knowing (49:1), and ends with that as well. (49:18) ### Qāf It begins by mentioning resurrection (50:3), and concludes with that as well. (50:44)[^23] ### Al-Dhāriyāt It begins with His statement, **“Indeed, what you are promised is true,”** (51:5) and concludes with His statement, **“Woe then to the disbelievers when they face their Day which they are warned of!”** (51:60) ### Al-Ṭūr It begins with His statement, **“Indeed, the punishment of your Lord will come to pass,”** (52:7) and concludes with, **“Also, the wrongdoers will certainly have another torment before that \[Day\].”** (52:47) ### Al-Najm It begins by speaking of *al-najm* (53:1), the star, and ends with a reference to *al-shiʿrā* (53:49), which is also a star (Sirius). ### Al-Qamar It begins with the hour **“drawing near”** (54:1) and ends with, **“Better yet, the Hour is their appointed time….”** (54:46) ### Al-Raḥmān It begins with the Majestic, Divine Name of Allah (55:1), and concludes with it again in His statement, **“Blessed is the Name of your Lord, full of Majesty and Honor.”** (55:78) ### Al-Wāqiʿah It begins by mentioning the three categories of the creation: those of the right hand, those of the left hand, and the forerunners. It concludes with those \[three classes\] in His statement, **“So, if \[the deceased\] is one of those brought near \[to Us\]...”** (56:88) ### Al-Ḥadīd It begins by describing Allah (57:1), and concludes with that as well. (57:29) Also, in its beginning, **“Believe in Allah and His Messenger,”** (57:7) and in its end, **“Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger.”** (57:28) Its opening (57:6) and its ending (57:28) both mention light. ### Al-Mujādilah At its beginning is the mention of those Allah heard of His allies (58:1), and at its end is Allah’s pleasure with those He loves. (58:22) ### Al-Ḥashr It starts, **“Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorifies Allah. For He is the Almighty, All-Wise,”** (59:1) and ends, **“Whatever is in the heavens and the earth \[constantly\] glorifies Him. And He is the Almighty, All-Wise.”** (59:24) ### Al-Mumtaḥanah It starts, **“O believers! Do not take My enemies and yours as trusted allies,”** (60:1) and ends, **“O believers! Do not ally yourselves with a people Allah is displeased with.”** (60:13) ### Al-Ṣaff It starts, **“Why do you say what you do not do?”** (61:2) which was revealed about jihad, and it ends with mentioning the Anṣār (Supporters) of Allah from among the followers of Jesus (as) who partook in jihad. (61:14) Also, it starts, **“Surely, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in \[solid\] ranks,”** (61:4) and ends with **“and fight in the cause of Allah,”** (61:11). Also, in its beginning is **“…and giving good news of a messenger,”** (61:6) and its end states, **“Give good news \[O Prophet\] to the believers.”** (6:13) ### Al-Jumuʿah It begins with describing Allah, the Glorified, (62:1) and concludes with that as well. (62:11) ### Al-Munāfiqūn In its beginning, **“...so they hindered \[others\] from the Way of Allah,”** (63:2) and in its end, **“Do not let your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah.”** (63:9) Also, in its beginning, **“When the hypocrites come to you,”** (63:1) and in its end, **“…yet the hypocrites do not know.”** (63:8) Also, in its beginning, **“And surely Allah knows that you are His Messenger—but Allah bears witness that they hypocrites are truly liars,”** (63:1) and in its end, **“And Allah is all aware of what you do.”** (63:11) ### Al-Taghābun In its beginning, **“For Allah knows best what is \[hidden\] in the heart,”** (64:4) and in its end, **“\[He is the\] Knower of the seen and unseen—the Almighty, All-Wise.”** (64:18) ### Al-Ṭalāq In its beginning, **“And count it accurately”** (65:1) and His statement, **“You never know, perhaps Allah will bring about a change \[of heart\] later,”** (65:1) and its end, **“And Allah certainly encompasses all things in \[His\] knowledge.”** (65:12) ### Al-Taḥrīm It begins by mentioning the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, and concludes by mentioning his wives in Paradise: Āsiyah bint Muzāḥim, the wife of Pharaoh, and Maryam bint ʿImrān.[^24] Also, in its beginning is the collaboration of his wives against him, and its end describes the betrayal of Nūḥ and Lūṭ by their wives to caution and frighten the Mothers of the Believers. ### Al-Mulk It begins with mentioning His great power, (67:1) and concludes with the same concept—namely the creation’s inability by asking, **“Who \[else\] could then bring you flowing water?”** (67:30) ### Nūn (Al-Qalam) It begins with His statement, **“By the grace of your Lord, you \[O Prophet\] are not insane,”** (68:2) and concludes with, **“And they say, ‘He is certainly a madman.’”** (68:51) ### Al-Ḥāqqah It begins with **“*****Al-Ḥāqqah*** **(The Inevitable Truth),”** (69:1) and concludes with **“And indeed, this \[Day\] is the absolute truth.”** (69:51) ### Saʾala (Al-Maʿārij) It begins by promising the Day of Resurrection, and concludes with that as well. (70:44) ### Nūḥ It begins by threatening **“a painful torment,”** (71:1) and concludes with this by stating, **“They were drowned, then admitted into the Fire.”** (71:25) ### Al-Jinn It begins with the Revelation (72:1) and concludes with mentioning it by stating, **“Except messengers of his choice. Then He appoints angel-guards before and behind him.”** (72:27) ### Al-Muzzammil It begins with the night prayer (73:2) and concludes with that as well. (73:20) ### Al-Muddathir It begins with a warning (74:2) and concludes with another warning: **“Now, what is the matter with them that they are turning away from the reminder?”** (74:49)[^25] ### Al-Qiyāmah It begins by mentioning the dead being returned to life (75:1-4) and concludes with that as well. (75:40) ### Al-Insān It begins by mentioning those grateful and those ungrateful, (76:3) then concludes with that \[same dichotomy\] by stating, **“He admits whoever He wills into His mercy…”** (76:31) to the end of the verse. ### Al-Mursalāt In its beginning, **“Surely, what you are promised will come to pass,”** (77:7) which implies it will occur soon, and how little they will stay \[in this life\], and in its end, **“Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little while.”** (77:46)[^26] ### ʿAmma (Al-Nabaʾ) Its end, **“Indeed, We have warned you of an imminent punishment,”** (78:40) which is the **“Momentous News”** that He deemed close in His statement, **“But no! *Sa-yaʿlamūn* (They will *soon* come to know).”** (78:4) This is because the *sīn* (س) indicates the near future , unlike *sawfa* (سوف). ### Al-Nāziʿāt It begins with *al-Rājifah* (the Quaking Blast), (79:6) and is sealed with *al-Ṭāmmah* (the Supreme Disaster). (79:34) ### ʿAbasa It begins with a facial description, **“He frowned,”** (80:1) and ends with another description of faces: **“On that Day \[some\] faces will be bright, laughing and rejoicing.”** (80:38-39) ### Al-Takwīr Its beginning, **“When the sun is put out,”** (81:1) and its end, **“So what \[other\] path would you take?”** (81:26) ### Al-Infiṭār Its beginning, **“When the sky splits open,”** (82:1) and its end, **“For all authority on that Day belongs \[entirely\] to Allah.”** (82:19) ### Al-Muṭaffifīn Its beginning, **“Woe to the defrauders,”** (83:1) and its end, **“Have the disbelievers \[on this Day\] been paid back for what they used to do?”** (83:36) ### Al-Inshiqāq It begins with mention of the skies, (84:1) and concludes with that in His statement, **“You will certainly pass from one platform to another.”** (84:19) If you recite it with *fatḥ al-bāʾ* (لتركبَنَّ), it would be referring to the Prophet ﷺ, climbing one sky after another on the Night of al-Isrāʾ.[^27] ### Al-Burūj It begins by mentioning **“the sky full of constellations,”** (85:1) and ends with **“in a Preserved Tablet,”** (85:22), which are both from the upper worlds. Also, in its beginning, **“And the promised Day \[of Judgment\],”** (85:2) and in its end, **“But Allah encompasses them from all sides.”** (85:20) ### Al-Ghāshiyah Its beginning is a discussion on *al-Ghāshiyah* (the Overwhelming Event), (88:1) which is the Resurrection, and its end mentions the **“return”** (85:25) and **“reckoning.”** (85:26) ### Al-Balad In its beginning, **“And by every parent and what they birthed!”** (90:3) and in its end, **“those who have faith,”** (90:17) and **“those who deny Our signs,”** (90:19) which comprise the two types of people. ### Iqraʾ (Al-ʿAlaq) Its beginning, **“Read \[O Prophet\] in the Name of your Lord,”** (96:1) and its end, **“Prostrate and draw near \[to Allah\].”** (96:19) It is no secret what a wonderful connection there is between these two.[^28] ### Al-Qadr It begins by mentioning the night (97:1) and ends with the emergence of dawn. (97:5) ### Alhākum (Al-Takāthur) It is no secret that **“*takāthur* (competing for increase)”** in this world (102:1) is pleasurable. For this reason, it was sealed with His statement, **“Then, on that Day, you will definitely be questioned about \[your worldly\] pleasures.”** (102:8) ### Al-Humazah It starts with **“*wayl* (woe)”** (104:1) which is the name of a valley in the Hellfire,[^29] and ends with **“*al-Ḥuṭamah* (the Crusher)”** \[another name of Hellfire\] and descriptions of it. (104:4-9) ### Al-Ikhlāṣ It begins with **“*****aḥad*** **(one and only),”** (112:1) and also concludes with **“*****aḥad*****.”** (112:4) ### Al-Nās It begins with **“the people”** (114:1) and concludes with **“the people.”** (115:6) Also, this term is repeated five times in this \[*sūrah*\], with different meanings, and hence it is considered among the examples of *tajānus* (homonymy). From Allah comes all success. This is the conclusion of the book, and all praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May the salutations and peace of Allah be upon our leader and master, Muḥammad, and upon his family, and all his companions. --- ## Addendum: Excerpt From Al-Suyūṭī’s al-Itqān[^30] ### Type Sixty: How sūrah(s) begin Ibn Abī al-Iṣbaʿ authored a piece on this which he entitled *al-Khawāṭir al-Sawāniḥ fī Asrār al-Fawātiḥ* (Light Reflections on the Secrets Behind the Openings). I will summarize here what he mentioned therein, and supplement it with some contributions from others. Know that Allah, the Exalted, began the *sūrah*(s) of the Qur’an with one of ten styles of speech. Not a single *sūrah* is an exception: 1. Praising Allah, the Exalted. Praise is two types: either affirming His praiseworthy attributes, or negating and exonerating Him from any imperfections. The first happens as *taḥmīd* (declaring His praiseworthiness) in five *sūrah*(s), and as **“*tabārak* (Blessed is He)”** in two *sūrah*(s). The second happens as *tasbīḥ* (being glorified above flaws) in seven *sūrah*(s). In *Mutashābih al-Qurʾān*, al-Kirmānī said, “*Tasbīḥ* is a term that Allah fully reserved for Himself. He used its verbal noun form in \[the chapter of\] Banī Isrāʾīl (aka al-Isrāʾ) because that is the \[grammatical\] default, then the past tense in al-Ḥadīd and al-Ḥashr because that is the earlier of the two intervals, then the present tense in al-Jumuʿah and al-Taghābun, and then finally as a command verb in al-Aʿlā. As such, He employed this term in all of its uses.” 2. The \[disjointed\] letters of the alphabet in twenty-nine *sūrah*(s), and we have previously discussed this at length under the section on *mutashābih*, and how they relate \[to their respective contexts\] will be thoroughly discussed under the section on *munāsabāt*. 3. Calling out (*nidāʾ*), and this occurs in ten *sūrah*(s). Five call out to the Messenger ﷺ: al-Aḥzāb, al-Ṭalāq, al-Taḥrīm, al-Muzzammil, and al-Muddathir. Five \[others\] call out to the *ummah*: al-Nisāʾ, al-Māʾidah, al-Ḥajj, al-Ḥujurāt, and al-Mumtaḥanah. 4. Declarative (*khabarī*) statements such as, **“They ask you about the spoils,”** **“A discharge from all obligations by Allah,” “The command of Allah is at hand,” “People’s judgment has drawn near,” “Successful indeed are the believers,” “A *sūrah* which We have revealed,” “The revelation of this Book \[is from Allah\],” “Those who disbelieve,” “We have granted,” “The Hour has drawn near,” “The Most Compassionate taught…,” “Indeed, Allah has heard,” “The Inevitable Hour,” “A challenger has demanded,” “Indeed, We sent Noah…,” “I do swear….”** in two places, **“He frowned,” “Indeed, it is We who sent this \[Qur’an\] down,” “The Striking Disaster,” “You have been distracted,”** and **“Indeed, We granted you…”** These occur in twenty-three *sūrah*s. 5. Oaths (*aqsām*) which occur in fifteen *sūrah*s. In one *sūrah*, namely al-Ṣāffāt, He swears by the angels. In two *sūrah*s, al-Burūj and al-Ṭāriq, the celestial spheres (*aflāk*) are sworn by. In six *sūrah*s, their implications \[are sworn by\]; al-Najm is an oath by the Pleiades (Thurayyā), al-Fajr is by the start of the morning, al-Shams is by the \[Divine\] sign of daylight, al-Layl is by half of time, al-Ḍuḥā is by half of the daytime, and al-‘Aṣr by its other half or by time in general. In two *sūrah*s, al-Dhāriyāt and al-Mursalāt, the air is sworn by, which is one of the elements.[^31] In one *sūrah*, al-Ṭūr, the earth is sworn by which is also among them (the elements). In another *sūrah*, al-Tīn, the plants are sworn by. In one *sūrah*, al-Nāziʿāt, intelligent beings are sworn by.[^32] In one *sūrah*, al-ʿĀdiyāt, animals are sworn by. 6. Conditional statements (*sharṭ*) occur in seven *sūrah*s: al-Wāqiʿah, al-Munāfiqūn, al-Takwīr, al-Infiṭār, al-Inshiqāq, al-Zalzalah, and al-Naṣr. 7. Command verbs (*amr*) occur in six *sūrah*s; **“Say, ‘It has been revealed…,”** **“Recite,” “Say, ‘O you disbelievers,” “Say, ‘He is Allah, the Uniquely One,”** and **“Say, I seek refuge,”** \[twice between\] al-Muʿawwidhatayn (The Two Protectors). 8. Interrogatory statements (*istifhām*) occur in six *sūrah*s; **“About what are they asking,”** **“Has there come,” “Have we not expanded,” “Have you not seen,”** and **“Have you seen.”** 9. Supplication \[against people\] in three \[*sūrah*s\]; **“Woe to the defrauders,”** **“Woe to every backbiter,”** and **“May they perish.”** 10. Causal relations (*taʿlīl*) in, **“Due to the security Quraysh is accustomed to….”** This is how Abū Shāmah compiled them, and said, “What we mentioned about supplication could also fall under declarative. Similarly, the category of praise is entirely declarative, except for *sabbiḥ* which would fall under command verbs, and *subḥān* which can be a command, a supplication, or a declaration.” He then captured that in these two couplets: He praised Himself, glorified be He, By either affirming His perfection or by negation \[of any flaw\], To begin every *sūrah*, or some causation \[it would draw\], \[Or by\] a command, call-out, stipulation, oath, elucidation, \[Or by\] disjointed letters, invocation, question, or declaration. The specialists of Arabic expression say that a part of rhetorical eloquence is having an exceptional beginning (*ḥusn al-ibtidāʾ*), meaning to beautify one’s first words since they are what first strike people’s ears. If these are precisely chosen, the listener allots his full attention to what is being said and retains it. If not, he ignores what is being said, even if what follows is supremely eloquent. For this reason, it must always invoke the best, wisest, most delicate, most salient, most accurate, and clearest of phrases; those void of any complex, confusing transposition, or those that are unsuitable. These (rhetoricians) assert that all the *sūrah*s do in fact begin in the best, most eloquent, most perfect way, such as their phrases of *taḥmīd*, the disjointed letters, the call-outs, and otherwise. A particular subset among the best beginnings is called *barāʾat al-istihlāl* (literally: a brilliant landing), which is when a discussion begins with something that suits the context being discussed, and alludes to the objective of that discussion. Sūrat al-Fātiḥah is the apex of all examples on this, which is itself the beginning of the whole Qur’an, and hence it contains all its objectives as al-Bayhaqī said in *Shuʿab al-Īmān*: Abūl-Qāsim ibn Ḥabīb narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Hāniʾ narrated to us: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl narrated to us: ʿAffān ibn Muslim narrated to us, on behalf of al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣubayḥ, on behalf of al-Ḥasan who said, “Allah sent down 104 scriptures. Within four of them, He included all the \[sacred\] sciences they contained: the Torah, Evangel, Psalms, and Furqān. Then, He included the sciences of the Torah, Evangel, and Psalms into the Furqān (Qur’an). Then, He included the sciences of the Qur’an into the Mufaṣṣal.[^33] Then, He included the sciences of the Mufaṣṣal into the Opening of the Book (al-Fātiḥah). Hence, whoever learns its interpretation is like someone who learned the interpretation of every revealed scripture.” This has been explained to mean that the sciences contained in the Qur’an, and what the four religious systems all upheld, is foundational knowledge that centers on knowing Allah and His qualities, which is alluded to in, **“...Lord of the worlds. Most Compassionate, Most Merciful”;** knowing prophethood, which is alluded to in, **“...those whom You have favored”;** knowing the final destination, which is alluded to in, **“Owner of the Day of Resurrection”;** knowing the devotional acts, which is alluded to in, **“It is \[only\] You we worship”;** knowing morality, or getting oneself to align with Islamic ethics and submit to the Lord of creation, which is alluded to in, **“...with You we seek strength. Guide us to the straight path”;** and knowing the stories, or discovering the accounts of the prior nations and past generations, so that the discoverer of such may realize the prosperity of those who obeyed Allah and the doom of those who defied Him, which is alluded to in His statement, **“...the path of those whom You have favored, not those who incurred \[Your\] anger, nor those misguided.”** By that, He has made a reference in al-Fātiḥah to every objective of the Qur’an, and this is the epitome of *barāʾat al-istihlāl*, in addition to its content of beautiful wordings, lovely segmentation of phrases, and other forms of rhetorical richness. Similarly, the beginning of Sūrat Iqraʾ is comparable to al-Fātiḥah in terms of the *barāʾat al-istihlāl* it enjoys, and that is due to it being the very first revelation from the Qur’an. Hence, it contains the command to recite, and to begin that by first mentioning the name of Allah. It also contains an allusion to knowing the rulings \[of Allah\], and to the oneness of the Lord, to affirming His uniqueness as a \[supreme\] being, and His qualities; both the attributes of essence and the attributes of actions. These are all references to the foundations of the religion. It also refers to the accounts \[of others\] in His statement, **“He taught the human being what he did not know.”** For this reason, it has been said that this \[*sūrah*\] qualifies to being called the Title of the Qur’an (*ʿUnwān al-Qurʾān*), because the Qur’an’s title summarizes its objectives in brief terms at the very beginning. ### Type Sixty-One: How sūrahs conclude This is also like the beginning in terms of its eloquence, since it is the last thing to strike the ears. For that reason, it comes carrying profound meanings while also hinting to the listener that the discussion is ending, so that the souls do not remain longing for what will be mentioned thereafter. Hence, it consists of supplications, closing advice, duties, *taḥmīd*, *taḥlīl*, exhortations, promises, threats, and so forth. One example is elaborating on the desired objective at the conclusion of al-Fātiḥah. The ultimate objective is faith that is not tarnished by sins that elicit the anger of Allah and misguidance, yet He expounded on that in His statement, **“...those whom You have favored.”** What is intended here are the people of faith, and hence he left the **“favor”** unqualified, so that every favoring would fall under it, because those whom Allah favored with faith have been granted every favor by Him. This is because it is what generates every favor. Then, He described them with His words, **“Not those who incurred \[His\] anger, nor those misguided.”** In other words, they combined both the ultimate favor, namely the favor of faith, and safety from the anger of Allah, the Exalted, and the misguidance that causes defying Him and breaching His boundaries. Another \[example\] is the supplications in the final two verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah. Another is the entrustments with which Sūrat Āl ʿImrān concludes; **“O you who have believed, be patient, and endure…”** Another is the estate distributions with which Sūrat al-Nisāʾ is sealed. It perfectly concludes with these due to the rulings pertaining to death which it contains, which is the conclusion of every living person. Additionally, it is due to it being the last of the rulings to be revealed. Another is the veneration and glorification with which al-Māʾidah concluded. Another is the promises and threats with which Sūrat al-Anʿām concluded. Another is urging \[people\] to worship by describing the angels’ condition (of perpetual devotion) with which al-Aʿrāf concluded. Another is urging \[people\] to jihad and upholding family ties with which al-Anfāl concluded. Another is describing the Messenger, praising him, and the oneness of Allah with which Barāʾah (al-Tawbah) concluded. Another is consoling him ﷺ with which Yūnus concluded, and similar to it is the conclusion of Hūd. Another is describing the Qur’an and praising it, as He did to conclude Yūsuf. Another is the threat and response to those who belied the Messenger, as He did to conclude al-Raʿd. One of the clearest declarations of an ending is the conclusion  of Ibrāhīm; **“This is a notification for humanity…”** until the end of the verse. Similar to this is the conclusion of al-Aḥqāf, and likewise al-Ḥijr being concluded with His statement, **“And worship your Lord until certainty reaches you.”** This is interpreted as “death,” and is supremely brilliant. Also, note Sūrat al-Zalzalah which begins with the horrors of the Day of Resurrection, and then concludes with His statement, **“So whoever does a speck’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does a speck’s weight of evil will see it.**" Also, note the brilliance of the final verse ever revealed, which is His statement, **“And fear a day in which you will be returned to Allah, and then…”** and how it carries a feeling of farewell, which suggests \[impending\] death. Also, there is the final *sūrah* ever revealed, namely Sūrat al-Naṣr. It too intimates the \[Prophet’s impending\] death. Corroborating this, al-Bukhārī reported from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on behalf of Jubayr, on behalf of Ibn ʿAbbās, that ʿUmar asked them about His statement, **“When the victory of Allah comes and the conquest.”** They all explained it as cities and palaces being conquered. He then said, “What do you say, O Ibn ʿAbbās?” \[Ibn ʿAbbās\] said it was Muḥammad’s time of death; his passing away was announced to him. He (al-Bukhārī) also reported from him (Ibn ʿAbbās) that he said: ʿUmar used to admit me among the elders of Badr, and it appeared that some of them were offended by this, and said, “Why do you admit this one among us, when we have sons like him \[in age\]?” ʿUmar responded, “You know who this is.” Thereafter, he invited them all one day and asked them their opinion about Allah’s words, **“When the victory of Allah comes and the conquest.”** Some of them said, “We were instructed to praise Allah and seek His forgiveness when He grants us victory and conquest.” Others remained silent, and he did not say anything. He then said to me, “Is this your view, O Ibn ʿAbbās?” I said, “No.” He said, “Then what do you say?” I said, “It is the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was notifying him about it.” He said, “When the victory of Allah comes and the conquest,” then this is a sign of your passing, **“So glorify with the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for He is certainly the Oft-Forgiving.”** To that, ʿUmar said, “I do not know about it other than what you have stated.” --- ## Notes [^1]: This summary is translated below as an addendum to this publication. [^2]: Although, in this work, he does not cover *Sūrat al-Fātiḥah* and twenty-one others (all between *al-Ṭāriq* and *al-Falaq*). [^3]: ‘Abdul-Muḥsin ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azīz al-‘Askar, *Marāṣid al-maṭāli‘ fī tanāsub al-maqāṭi‘ wal-maṭāli‘* (Riyadh: Dār al-Minhāj, 1426 AH). [^4]: In his commentary on *Tafsīr al-Bayḍawī*, al-Suyūṭī also highlights another parallel in this *sūrah*; it begins with **“Beautified for people is enjoying their desires. . . . That is but the enjoyment of this worldly life. Say \[O Prophet\], ‘Shall I inform you of something better than that? For those who fear Allah will be gardens. . . .”** Al-Suyūṭī, *Tafsīr al-Bayḍawī*, 3:14–15. This concept is then mirrored at the end with, **“Do not be deceived by the prosperity of the disbelievers throughout the land. It is but a brief enjoyment. . . . But those who feared their Lord will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein, as accommodation from Allah. And what is with Allah is best for the righteous.”** Al-Suyūṭī, *Tafsīr al-Bayḍawī*, 3:196–98. Jalāl al-Dīn ‘Abdul-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī, *Nawāhid al-abkār wa shawāhid al-afkār: Ḥāshiyat al-Suyūṭī ‘alā tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī* (Mecca: Umm al-Qurā University, 2005), 3:201. [^5]: In his *tafsī*r, al-Alūsī credits al-Suyūṭī with identifying another wonderful subtlety to these being the final verses. This *sūrah* ends by discussing the end of every living person (death and its related rulings), and these were also the very last laws altogether revealed in the Qur’an. Furthermore, the *sūrah* ends with **“and Allah has perfect knowledge of all things”** (4:176), meaning He is most capable of telling you what is actually in your best interests regarding both the affairs of your lives and your deaths. Shihāb al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abdillāh al-Ḥusaynī al-Alūsī, *Rūḥ al-ma‘ānī fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm wal-sab‘ al-mathānī* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah, 1415 AH), 3:218. [^6]: This (5:82) is quite far from the end of *al-Mā’idah*, which is 120 verses, just as its counterpart (5:17) is rather far from the beginning of *al-Mā’idah*. However, al-Rāzī offers a stronger correlation in his *tafsīr*; this *sūrah* begins (5:1) with the duty to fulfill our contracts as a fundamental part of a believer’s servitude to Allah. Then, it ends (5:120) with all dominion belonging to Allah—as if to denote that full servitude is what befits a perfect Master. [^7]: Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (d. 1416 AH/1996 CE) says, “This *sūrah* begins by illustrating how Satan succeeded at expelling Adam from Paradise (7:24), and explained that his attempts to misguide his descendants will never stop (7:27)! However, all Satan can do is whisper. So long as the person is a believer, the whispers will backfire and be ultimately futile. **‘If the pious are touched by an impulse from Satan, they remember \[Allah\] and at once become insightful’** (7:201). As for those who are deprived of that vigilant heart, they will follow Satan and be driven by him to their doom. Remembrance of God (*dhikr*) is the greatest armor a person can shield themselves with, for it safeguards a person against faltering and keeps them at an elevated station. The greatest *dhikr* of all is the Noble Qur’an: **‘So when the Qur’an is recited, listen to it attentively and be silent, so that you may be shown mercy’** (7:204). This *dhikr* is not solely an exercise of the tongue while the heart remains heedless and the thoughts wander. *Dhikr* is a complete state of consciousness and a function of the intellect above all else. It must also be continuous, not sporadic, permeating our public and private lives, driving one’s hopes and fears. **‘And remember your Lord inwardly with humility and reverence, in a moderate tone of voice, both morning and evening. And do not be one of the heedless’** (7:205). It is only through *dhikr* of that caliber that a believer harmonizes with the entire universe, as he \[like the angels\] celebrates the praises of his Lord (7:206).” Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, *Naḥw tafsīr mawḍū‘ī li-suwar al-Qur’ān al-Karīm* (Cairo: Dār al-Shurūq, 2000), 125, slightly adapted. [^8]: Yūsuf also begins with **“We relate to you \[O Prophet\] the best of stories”** (12:3), and ends with **“In their stories is truly a lesson for people of reason”** (12:111). [^9]: Hūd begins with **“a book whose verses are well perfected”** (11:1), and ends with **“And We relate to you \[O Prophet\] the stories”** (11:120). Yūsuf begins with **“These are the verses of the clear Book”** (12:1), and ends with **“This message cannot be a fabrication”** (12:111). Al-Ra‘d begins with **“These are the verses of the Book”** (13:1), and ends with, **“...as is whoever has knowledge of the Scripture”** (13:43). Ibrāhim begins with, **“A Book We revealed to you \[O Prophet\] to lead people out of darkness into the light”** (14:1), and ends with, **“This \[Qur’an\] is a sufficient notification for humanity”** (14:52). Al-Ḥijr begins with, **“These are the verses of the Book and a clear recital”** (15:1), and ends with, **“We have certainly given you the seven often-repeated verses and the Great Qur’an”** (15:87). [^10]: Al-Kahf begins by praising Allah for revealing the Scripture (18:1), and ends by asserting that ink as abundant as the oceans, even if the oceans were doubled, would still fall short of capturing Allah’s words (18:109). And then, in the very last verse, it asserts that even the Prophet ﷺ himself was but a human recipient of this Scripture (18:110). Maryam begins with **“the mention of the mercy of your Lord”** (19:2) in terms of how He granted Zakarīyā (as) a child despite his old age. At its conclusion, we hear of how **“the Most Merciful will grant love \[from Him and others\] to those who believe and work righteousness”** (19:96). ṬāHā begins with, **“We have not revealed the Qur’an to you \[O Prophet\] to cause you distress. It is but a Reminder. . . .”** (20:2–3) and ends with, **“Have they not already received a confirmation of what is in the earlier Scriptures?”** (20:133) and **“They would have said, ‘If only you had sent us a messenger, we would have followed your Revelations’”** (20:134). Ibn ‘Āshūr argues that this ending for Sūrat ṬāHā is exceptionally beautiful because it suggests that he ﷺ conveyed the message, and hence should not be “distressed” since by communicating the “Reminder” he has succeeded at his mission. Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr* (Tunisia: al-Dār al-Tūnisīyah, 1984), 349. [^11]: Ibn ‘Āshūr also notes that this *sūrah* begins with, **“O humankind”** (22:1), and ends in a similar fashion, referring to, **“O humanity, an example has been presented so listen to it”** (22:73). Abū al-Faḍl al-Ghumārī also notes that this *sūrah* “launches” by enjoining *taqwā* (being conscious of Allah) upon humanity in general (22:1), and then “lands” by enjoining the particular acts of piety (*taqwā*) upon the believers (22:77). [^12]: *Taḍāḍḍ* (contrast) is a fundamental feature of the Qur’anic style highlighted by many scholars, whether in terms of contrasting this life and the afterlife, Paradise and Hellfire, forgiveness and punishment, believers and disbelievers, angels and devils, life and death, secrecy and openness, or otherwise. In fact, many of these contrasts occur precisely the same number of times, underscoring their thematic significance in the Qur’an. See: Muhammad Abdel Haleem, “Rhetorical Devices and Stylistic Features of Qurʾanic Grammar,” in *The Oxford Handbook of Qur’anic Studies*, eds Mustafa Shah and Muhammad Abdel Haleem, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 337. [^13]: These are quite far from both the beginning and end. Perhaps a better correlation, which Abū Ḥayyān identifies in his *tafsīr*, is that we find in the beginning, **“A *sūrah* which We have revealed and made \[its rulings\] obligatory, and revealed in it clear commandments”** (24:1). Then, after prescribing to His Prophet ﷺ various duties and penalties for his nation, Allah ends the *sūrah* with this nation’s duty to concede to, comply with, and support the Prophet (24:47–54), in addition to consulting him before decisions (24:62) and showing him the utmost reverence and respect (24:63). [^14]: Al-Biqā’ī identified that this *sūrah* begins by consoling the Prophet ﷺ in Allah’s statement, **“Perhaps \[O Prophet\] you will grieve yourself to death over their disbelief”** (26:3). This is coupled, at the very end, with a standing threat to those insisting on disbelief: **“The wrongdoers will come to know what \[evil\] end they will meet”** (26:227). Al-Alūsī noted that both al-Furqān and al-Shu‘arā’ began with praising the Qur’an and concluded with threatening those who rejected the Qur’an. Al-Alūsī, *Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī,* 10:58. [^15]: Jihad (striving) was also expressly stated quite early (29:6) in this *sūrah*. [^16]: Al-Ghumārī and others noted that the *sūrah* begins with **“Allah’s promise”** that Rome would soon be victorious (30:6) and ends with His command **“So be patient, for the promise of Allah is certainly true, and do not be disturbed by those who have no sure faith”** (30:60). [^17]: Furthermore, we find later His statement, **“O believers, be mindful of Allah and say an accurate word”** (33:70). It begins with instructing the Prophet ﷺ with *taqwā*, and concludes by instructing his nation with the same. [^18]: It also begins with praising Allah and glorifying Him in His statement, **“Surely, your God is One.** **\[He is\] the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, and the Lord of all points of sunrise****”** (37:4–5). That is later reflected in the concluding statements, where He says, **“****Glorified is your Lord—the Lord of Honour and Power—above what they claim! Peace be upon the messengers. And praise be to Allah—Lord of all worlds****”** (37:180–82). [^19]: A potentially stronger parallel is how the *sūrah* begins by highlighting the deluded, prideful nature of those who stubbornly argue about Allah’s signs (40:4), then ends with a direct warning to them about their wealth and power being insufficient to save them if they continue to disbelieve in Allah (40:82–85). [^20]: The *sūrah* also begins (41:3) and ends (41:52) with talking about the Qur’an. [^21]: Another parallel worth noting is how the same two great names of Allah, al-‘Azīz (the Almighty) and al-Ḥakīm (the Most Wise) are at the beginning (45:2) and conclusion (45:37) of this *sūrah*. [^22]: It also begins by praising the Qur’an as descending from the **“All-Mighty, All-Wise”** (46:2), and ends by declaring the Qur’an as being a **“sufficient notification”** (46:35). It also begins with **“the disbelievers turning away from the warning”** (46:3), and ends with the deniers being **“destroyed for their rebellion”** (46:35). [^23]: It also begins by describing the Qur’an as glorious (50:1) and ends by saying, **“So remind with the Qur’an whoever fears My threat”** (50:45). [^24]: Hadith scholars have contested the authenticity of the reports asserting that these virtuous women will be married to the Prophet ﷺ in Paradise. [^25]: Al-Biqā’ī also noted that the *sūrah* began with the command to **“arise and warn”** (74:2), then ended by coupling that with glad tidings: **“He is worthy to be feared and adequate for forgiveness”** (74:56). [^26]: Al-Rāzī also noted that Allah “went to such lengths in this *sūrah*, from its beginning to its end, chastising the disbelievers and cautioning them in the ten ways which we have \[just\] explained... and \[hence\] He concluded with marveling at the disbelievers and declaring that—if they don’t believe in these wonderful proofs despite how clear and evident they are—then **‘what message after this \[Qur’an\] would they ever believe?’”** (77:50). Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Amr al-Rāzī, *Mafātīh al-ghayb al-tafsīr al-kabīr* (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1982), 30:284. [^27]: The reading referenced here by al-Suyūṭī (*la-tarkabanna*) is according to the readings of Ibn Kathīr, Ḥamza, al-Kisāʾī, and Khalaf. In this reading, the addressee is understood to be either the Prophet ﷺ or humanity. When referring to the Prophet ﷺ, it suggests his ascent from one sky to another during the miraculous journey of *al-Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj*. The alternative canonical reading (*la-tarkabunna*), which is followed by the remaining six reciters (*qurrāʾ*), implies the transition of all human beings from one phase of existence to another. [^28]: Al-Biqā’ī noted that this *sūrah* both begins and ends with command verbs (**“read”** and **“prostrate”**), and that the instruction to read at the onset is most suitable since only with knowledge first can one take the path to correct action. [^29]: Some scholars have held that this is a warning, and not necessarily a designated place in the Hellfire. [^30]: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān*, ed. Markaz al-Dirāsāt al-Qurʾāniyya, 7 vols.  (Medina: Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2005), 5:1827–32. [^31]: He intends here the four elements that were anciently presumed to be the fundamental components of the universe: earth, water, fire, and air. [^32]: While some have interpreted the *nāzi‘āt* (literally: pullers) as the angels who pluck the souls at death, it seems that al-Suyūṭī chose the alternative view of it being human archers pulling back their bows during battle. [^33]: From *faṣl* (separation), the Mufaṣṣal (extensively separated) is the established name for the latter section of the Qur’an composed of shorter *sūrah*s. This is usually a reference to Sūrat Qāf (50) through Sūrat al-Nās (114). ## Summary In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy. All praise belongs to Allah who guides those who seek Him to their aims, and grants insight into the fundamentals of His Book and its subtleties, and may His salutations and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions. Among the noble sciences of the Great Qur'an is the study of the correspondence between how each sūrah begins and how it ends. This is a subject that Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911H), whom the scholars of Islam have esteemed for half a millennium as a foremost expert on the Qur'anic sciences, treated within his celebrated work al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, and then devoted an independent treatise to entitled Marāṣid al-Maṭāliʿ (Capturing the Beginnings). Al-Suyūṭī notes that this correlation had been observed before him by the critical verifiers, including the author of al-Kashshāf (al-Zamakhsharī), his teacher Maḥmūd ibn Ḥamzah al-Karmānī who authored al-Burhān fī Mutashābih al-Qurʾān, Imam Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606H), and al-Aṣbahānī, among others. In the Marāṣid, al-Suyūṭī chose to demonstrate this correspondence in the chronological order of the sūrahs, relying largely upon his own reflections except where he expressly cites another. Al-Suyūṭī, sometimes drawing upon earlier scholars such as al-Iṣfahānī, illustrates how the closing of a sūrah answers to its opening. In al-Baqarah, al-Iṣfahānī observed that its end matches its beginning in describing the qualities of the believers and then alluding to those of the disbelievers. Āl ʿImrān opens by mentioning the descent of the Qur'an, the Torah, and the Evangel, and closes upon that same theme with the words, "Indeed, there are some among the People of the Book who truly believe in Allah" (3:199); likewise it opens with "Allah does not break His promise" (3:9) and closes with "You never fail in Your promise" (3:194). Al-Nisāʾ begins with the origin of creation and childbirth and concludes with the rulings related to death, and it both opens and closes with the verses of inheritance and kalālah. Al-Māʾidah begins with the prohibitions of iḥrām, the sacred months, and the sacrificial animals, and ends upon the same, and it opens with the covenant taken from the Children of Israel (5:12) and returns to it (5:70). The treatise proceeds through the sūrahs in this manner. Al-Anʿām opens and closes upon the theme of setting up equals to the Lord (6:1, 6:150). Al-Aʿrāf begins with reminder, following what is revealed, and taking none as guardian besides Allah, and it echoes each of these at its close (7:201-205), while it opens describing the arrogance of Iblīs and ends describing the angels who are not too proud to worship. Al-Naḥl opens with a prohibition of haste (16:1) and ends with a command to patience (16:127). Al-Isrāʾ begins with tasbīḥ and closes with taḥmīd. Al-Muʾminūn, as al-Zamakhsharī noted, opens with "Successful indeed are the believers" (23:1) and closes with "Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed" (23:117). Ṣād, as al-Karmānī stated, opens with "By the Qur'an, full of reminder" (38:1) and closes with "It is only a reminder to the whole world" (38:87). In this way al-Suyūṭī gathers the correspondences of theme, of divine names, of promise and warning, and even of single repeated words, as in al-Ikhlāṣ which opens and closes with aḥad (112:1, 112:4), and al-Nās which opens and closes with "the people," a repetition he counts among the instances of tajānus (homonymy). Appended to the treatise is an excerpt from al-Itqān concerning how sūrahs begin. Al-Suyūṭī reports that Ibn Abī al-Iṣbaʿ composed a work on this, and summarizes it, noting that Allah began every sūrah of the Qur'an by one of ten manners of speech, with no exception: praise of Allah (whether by affirming His perfection through taḥmīd and tabārak, or exonerating Him through tasbīḥ); the disjointed letters; the call (nidāʾ); declarative statements; oaths; conditional statements; command verbs; interrogatives; supplication against people; and causal relation, as in Sūrat Quraysh. Concerning tasbīḥ, al-Kirmānī observed in Mutashābih al-Qurʾān that Allah reserved this term for Himself and employed it in every grammatical form across the sūrahs. Abū Shāmah, who compiled this arrangement, remarked that supplication and praise might both be classed under the declarative, and captured the ten openings in two lines of verse. The rhetoricians of Arabic hold that eloquence requires an excellent beginning (ḥusn al-ibtidāʾ), since the first words are what strike the ears, and they affirm that all the sūrahs indeed begin in the most perfect manner. A special class among these is barāʾat al-istihlāl, in which the opening suits and alludes to the aim of what follows. Al-Suyūṭī says the supreme example is Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, which is itself the opening of the whole Qur'an and therefore contains all its objectives. On this he cites al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān, who relates through his chain to al-Ḥasan that Allah sent down one hundred and four scriptures, gathering all their sciences into four—the Torah, Evangel, Psalms, and Furqān—then into the Qur'an, then into the Mufaṣṣal, and then into al-Fātiḥah, "so whoever learns its interpretation is like one who learned the interpretation of every revealed scripture." Al-Suyūṭī explains that al-Fātiḥah accordingly alludes to knowledge of Allah and His attributes, of prophethood, of the final destination, of the acts of devotion, of morality, and of the accounts of past nations. He notes that the opening of Sūrat Iqraʾ likewise enjoys this quality, being the first revelation, such that it has been called the Title of the Qur'an (ʿUnwān al-Qurʾān). Regarding how sūrahs conclude, al-Suyūṭī explains that the ending too carries profound meaning while signalling that the discourse is closing, so that it consists of supplications, counsels, taḥmīd, exhortations, promises, and warnings. He offers many examples: the supplications ending al-Baqarah, the entrustments closing Āl ʿImrān, the estate distributions sealing al-Nisāʾ—fittingly, since they concern death, the end of every living person, and were among the last rulings revealed—and the clear declaration of closure at the end of Ibrāhīm and al-Ḥijr, "And worship your Lord until certainty reaches you," interpreted as death. He draws attention to the final revealed verse, "And fear a day in which you will be returned to Allah" (2:281), which carries the sense of farewell, and to the last sūrah revealed, Sūrat al-Naṣr, which likewise intimates the Prophet's ﷺ approaching death. In support of this last point he relates the report of al-Bukhārī from Ibn ʿAbbās, that when ʿUmar questioned the elders of Badr about "When the victory of Allah comes and the conquest," some understood it as the conquest of cities, but Ibn ʿAbbās said it was the announcement of the Messenger's ﷺ death, and ʿUmar replied, "I do not know about it other than what you have stated." And from Allah alone comes all success. ## Key Takeaways 1. Among the sciences of the Qur’an is the study of how the opening of each sura corresponds to its close. Imam al-Suyūṭī, long regarded as a foremost authority on the Qur’anic sciences, treated this in his *al-Itqān* and then devoted a separate treatise, *Marāṣid al-maṭāliʿ*, to identifying correspondences between the  beginnings and endings of many surahs. He proceeded through the chapters in their Qur’anic order, drawing chiefly on his own reflections while citing predecessors such as al-Zamakhsharī, al-Karmānī, and others where relevant. 2. The correspondence takes many forms, which is part of what makes it striking. A sura may return at its close to the theme it opened with, as al-Muʾminūn moves from the success of the believers to the failure of the disbelievers, or it may answer an opening with its complement, as al-Naḥl opens forbidding haste and ends commanding patience. The parity can rest on a repeated divine name, a matched promise and warning, or even a single recurring word, as in al-Ikhlāṣ, which both opens and closes with *aḥad*. 3. This symmetry reflects a deliberate art in how revelation is framed. The rhetoricians prized an excellent beginning, since the first words seize the listener’s attention, and its finest form is when the opening already hints at a surah’s purpose, as al-Fātiḥa, the opening of the whole Qur’an, gathers all its aims. The ending carries similar rhetorical  weight, closing with supplication, counsel, or warning, so that verses like the sealing of al-Nisāʾ with the rulings of death fall exactly where they belong. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Are the beginning and ending of each sura in the Qur’an connected? Scholars of the Qur’an have long reflected on possible correspondences between the opening and ending of a surah, and Imam al-Suyūṭī devoted a whole treatise to tracing this link across many such examples. Again and again, a sura returns at its end to the theme, wording, or idea it began with. Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ opens and closes with the word *aḥad* (one). Sūrat al-Nās opens and closes by mentioning “the people.” Sūrat al-Baqara begins and ends by describing the qualities of the believers and then the disbelievers. Some suras open by mentioning the Qur’an and close the same way, others open by glorifying Allah and close by praising Him, and others open with a promise or warning that is echoed at the end. The correspondence can be a shared theme, a repeated name of Allah, a matching phrase, or a mirrored image. These correspondences offer one way of appreciating the literary coherence of a surah and reflecting on how its conclusion may echo, complement, or bring closure to themes introduced near its beginning. Al-Suyūṭī presented these examples chapter by chapter, mostly from his own reflection on the text. ### What are the different ways the suras of the Qur’an begin? Al-Suyūṭī, summarizing earlier scholars, noted that every sura of the Qur’an opens in one of ten ways, with no exception. These are praising Allah, whether by affirming His perfect qualities or declaring Him free of any flaw; the disjointed letters, such as *Alif lām mīm*; a direct call or address, such as “O Prophet” or “O you who believe”; a plain statement of fact; an oath, such as swearing by the dawn or the stars; a conditional statement, such as “When the sky splits open”; a command, such as “Read” or “Say”; a question, such as “Have you seen”; a supplication against wrongdoers, such as “Woe to the defrauders”; and a statement of cause, as in Sūrat Quraysh. Scholars of Arabic explain that these openings are chosen with great care, since the first words are what capture a listener’s attention. A strong opening draws the listener in and makes them attentive to what follows, while a weak one can cause them to lose interest, and the Qur’an always opens in the most fitting and eloquent way. ### Why is Sūrat al-Fātiḥa considered a perfect opening to the Qur’an? Scholars of Arabic describe a special kind of excellent beginning called *barāʾat al-istihlal*, where the opening of a passage suits and hints at everything that follows. Al-Suyūṭī held that Sūrat al-Fātiḥa is the supreme example, since it is the opening of the entire Qur’an and gathers all of its major themes into a few short verses. He cited an early report that Allah placed the knowledge of all previous scriptures into the Qur’an, then into its shorter chapters, and finally into al-Fātiḥa, so that whoever understands al-Fātiḥa has grasped the essence of every revealed book. Al-Suyūṭī explained how its verses point to the central subjects of the Qur’an, namely knowledge of Allah and His attributes, prophethood, the final destination in the Hereafter, acts of worship, morality, and the accounts of earlier nations. The first revelation, Sūrat al-ʿAlaq, which begins with “Read,” is described as having the same quality, since it too introduces core themes of the faith at the very start. In both cases, the opening is perfectly matched to the message that follows. ### Why does it matter how a sura begins and ends? Scholars of Arabic eloquence give special weight to both the opening and closing of any passage. The opening matters because the first words are what strike the ears, so a strong beginning earns the listener’s full attention while a weak one loses it. The Qur’an, they note, always begins in the most fitting and beautiful way. The ending matters for a related reason, since it is the last thing a listener hears and tends to stay with them. Suras therefore tend to close with weighty content, such as supplications, counsel, reminders of duties, praise of Allah, or a final promise or warning. A fitting example is Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, which deals largely with rulings and ends with the laws of inheritance that become relevant upon death. Studying how each sura opens and closes is therefore not a mere technical exercise. It opens a door to deeper reflection on the Qur’an and reveals the care and design woven through its chapters. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/a-guide-to-istikhara-the-prayer-for-guidance # A Guide to Istikhara, the Prayer for Guidance | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Dua, Istikhara **Published:** June 24, 2024 **Updated:** September 4, 2026 ## When to pray istikhara Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught *istikhara* as a crucial part of decision-making. Alongside *istikhara*, one should consult trusted and righteous individuals in their life about decisions. This is called *istishara* and it was a common practice for our Messenger ﷺ to do. We see it all throughout the *seerah*, as he consulted most often, Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra) and other companions. Although it is common to perform **istikhara** for big decisions such as picking a career path, moving forward with a marriage proposal, or purchasing a house; **istikhara** prayer is not limited to big decisions. It’s narrated that the Prophet ﷺ used to teach the *sahaba* the **istikhara** for each and every matter as he used to teach the *sahaba* *surah*s from the Holy Qur'an \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #6382\]. The early generations would seek Allah’s guidance for many matters, including things that we may consider small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DNbq-U2bD0 --- ## How to pray istikhara *Istikhara* involves praying two non-obligatory *rak'ah*s followed by a specific *du'a*, seeking Allah’s guidance after personal effort and consultation with others. These *rak'ah*s can be woven into our natural daily *sunnah*, such as the two *rak'ah*s before Fajr or after Maghrib, or they can be an additional two *rak'ah*s. Some may find it more serene to offer these extra *rak'ah*s at night, after Isha as a part of their *[qiyaam-al-layl](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/tahajjud-fuel-for-the-self-and-society)*, amidst the tranquility of the latter third of the night, while others may choose a different time for its significance. For example, one might pray these additional *rak'ah*s and recite the *du’a* right before heading to a job interview in the afternoon, finding solace in the immediacy of divine guidance before embarking on the task at hand. --- ## The istikhara du’a with English translation and transliteration Du'a of ***istikhara*** اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ، وَاقْدُرْ لِي الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِنِي بِهِ *Allahumma innee astakheeruka bi ‘ilmika wa astaqdiruka bi qadratika wa as’aluka min fadlika al-’adheem fa innaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru wa ta’lamu wa la a’lamu wa anta ‘allaam ul-ghuyoob. Allahumma in kunta ta’lamu anna haadha al-amra khayrun lee fee deenee wa ma’aashee wa ‘aaqibati amree faqdurhu lee wa yassirhu lee thumma baarik lee feehi wa in kunta ta’lamu anna haadha al-amara sharrun lee fee deenee wa ma’aashee wa ‘aaqibati amree fasrifhu ‘annee wasrifnee ‘anhu waqdur lee al-khayra haythu kaana thumma ardinee bih* O Allah, I seek Your guidance (in making a choice) by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, and I do not. You know, and I know not, and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter \[mention the thing to be decided\] is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, my worldly affairs, and in the hereafter then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood, my worldly affairs, and in the hereafter then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and decree for me the good wherever it may be and make me content with it *Sahih al-Bukhari* #6382 --- ## Common myths about istikhara ### Dream interpretation and istikhara Many cultures have linked dreams with answers to one’s **istikhara**, yet we understand from the Sunnah that there are three types of dreams: those from Allah, imbued with meaning; the regurgitated thoughts of our *nafs*; and those from *Shaytan* \[*Sahih Muslim* #2263\]. We might wish to believe ourselves divinely inspired through our dreams, but often it is merely our *nafs* and the jumble of our daily thoughts manifesting. For instance, if we are contemplating a marriage proposal and praying **istikhara**, and this potential spouse appears frequently in our dreams, it might simply reflect our desire and preoccupation with that person. Reflect on the words of the *du’a*: “O Allah, if You know that this matter \[mention the thing to be decided\] is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, my worldly affairs, and in the hereafter, then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me.” This supplication does not request Allah to reveal the path through dreams; rather, it seeks His guidance to facilitate what is truly beneficial and to make it easy for us. ### Can someone else pray istikhara for you? There exists a peculiar practice wherein individuals seek out someone deemed “more pious” to perform **istikhara** on their behalf, expecting that person to receive a dream as an answer. Often, financial compensation is given for this supposed service. However, the *du’a* of *istikhara* is precise in its wording and deeply personal in its nature; it is a dialogue between the individual and Allah. While it is always beneficial to ask our loved ones to pray for us in general, the notion of delegating the two *rak'ah*s to someone else and anticipating a dream response is not in accordance with the Sunnah. ### Yes and no answers There are misguided practices where people write "yes" and "no" on pieces of paper and choose one at random after praying **istikhara**. However, this method is neither from the Sunnah nor supported by any Islamic texts; it is merely a game of chance. *Istikhara* is not a magical incantation, nor does it require celestial signs. Our minds, once fixed on a decision, have an uncanny way of transforming the ordinary into omens: the inflection in a voice, the rescheduling of an appointment, or even the color of an object. When faced with significant choices, we often seek signs to steer us, perhaps to alleviate our own uncertainty or to shift the burden of responsibility should the outcome be unfavorable. ### Signs for istikhara It is essential to grasp the profound simplicity of the *du'a* taught by our Prophet ﷺ. *Istikhara* is a sincere prayer for guidance, a humble request for Allah to pave the way for what is beneficial and to divert us from what is detrimental. It is not a search for signs, but a plea for divine wisdom and clarity. ### How long does istikhara take? Consider how the *du’a* of *istikhara* asks Allah to either make a matter easy and blessed for us or to remove it if it is not good. Imagine planning to make a purchase, only for the contract to fall through, or planning to take a loan, only to find that it is no longer necessary. The essence of the **istikhara** *du’a* is seeking ease in our affairs, and sometimes that ease comes swiftly. At other times, the desired decision or outcome might take years to manifest. Delays in answered prayers often lead to outcomes far better than initially anticipated. Take, for instance, Zakariya’s (as) prolonged wait for parenthood, which allowed him to care for Maryam (as). Or consider the Prophet’s ﷺ delayed Hajj, which led to the significant Treaty of Hudaibiyah, eventually resulting in the conquest of Makkah. The timing of **istikhara** *du’a*'s response should not be a source of concern. Instead, one should cherish the closeness to Allah that develops while actively taking steps and trusting in His wisdom. ### Does istikhara change with time? The question of whether things change with time touches upon the deeper [concept of *qadar*](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/predestination-vs-free-will-in-islam-understanding-allahs-qadr). Often, the immediate outcomes of our actions may not seem favorable, yet they are part of Allah’s grand design for our personal and spiritual growth. Perhaps, your **istikhara** was answered in a certain way for a period, only for the subsequent events to unfold in a manner that seems wholly negative. Does this imply a misunderstanding of your **istikhara**? Not at all, for **istikhara** is not about immediate clarity or guaranteed ease in life; there is no idea of a “positive **istikhara**” or “negative **istikhara**”. It is a request for divine guidance, and sometimes Allah’s guidance leads us through challenging paths to foster resilience and patience within us. [Trials and rejections](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/when-our-worlds-are-shaken-finding-strength-in-beautiful-patience) are often the crucible in which our spiritual and mental fortitude is forged, drawing us nearer to Allah and strengthening our faith. --- ## Istikhara for marriage and love Marriage is one of life's most pivotal decisions, shaping the course of our existence in myriad ways. It dictates the building of a family, the rhythms of daily life, the habits we cultivate, and the passions we pursue together. This singular relationship can influence the trajectory of our future in terms of career, wealth, health, and overall well-being. It is little wonder, then, that we seek Allah's comprehensive guidance during this crucial decision-making process. *Istikhara* for marriage is perhaps the most common, and it is during these times that impatience often surfaces. Yet, delays before marriage offer a profound opportunity for introspection and a closer connection to Allah. Continuous *du'a* nurtures a deep relationship with the Responder, Al-Mujeeb. The experiences and trials encountered in this interim period are essential for personal growth and preparation. Just as the Prophet’s ﷺ journey was marked by hardships before reaching Madinah, our challenges serve as necessary steps toward our ultimate goals. When we are sincere in our **istikhara**, sincere in asking for this proposal to be easy and blessed, or taken away and our hearts be content: the answer will be obvious. Allah will make things easy if this person is good for your *deen*, *dunya*, and *akhira* or Allah will make things difficult and move your heart away from this person. In the end, you aren’t seeking happiness: you are seeking contentment and solace. Allah is the Creator of hearts, the turner of hearts, and the mender of hearts. The ending of the **istikhara** *du’a* is a plea for peace within our hearts. Keep in mind that there are [general *du’a*s for marriage and love](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/what-is-the-dua-for-marriage-companionship-a-dua-away). We should say these *du’a*s throughout our day, because even the prophets made *du’a* for these things: ### Du’a for marriage from the Qur’an ***Du’a* for marriage** رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍۢ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا Rabbana hablana min azwaajina wa dhuriyyatina qurrata A’yunin waj’alna lil- muttaqina imama Our Lord! Bless us with pious spouses and offspring who will be the joy of our hearts, and make us models for the righteous. Qur’an 25:74 ### Du’a for love from Prophet Dawud (as) ***Du’a* for love** ‏اللهم إني أسألك حبك، وحب من يحبك، والعمل الذي يبلغني حبك، اللهم اجعل حبك أحب إلى من نفسي، وأهلي، ومن الماء البارد Allahumma inni as'aluka hubbaka, wa hubba man yuhibbuka, wal-'amalalladhi yuballighuni hubbaka. Allahumm-aj'al hubbaka ahabba ilayya min nafsi, wa ahli, wa minal-ma'il-baridi O Allah! I ask You for Your Love, the love of those who love You, and deeds which will cause me to attain Your Love. O Allah! Make Your Love dearer to me than myself, my family, and cold water.  *Sunan at-Tirmidhi* #3490 --- ## Benefits of istikhara Throughout our day, we implore Allah for guidance, reciting from Surah Fatiha: ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ *Ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem* Guide us along the Straight Path \[Qur’an 1:6\] The **istikhara** *du’a*, in its essence, mirrors this plea, seeking divine guidance for a specific decision. Allah, in His wisdom, instructs us to turn to Him in our most significant matters—those that shape our lives and our journey towards the hereafter, the path to *jannah*. By engaging in **istikhara**, we not only adhere to a *sunnah* but also cultivate our [trust in Allah’s supreme wisdom](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/in-hardship-and-in-ease-how-to-rely-on-god). It is an act of humility, where we confess our frailty and limited understanding, affirming our devotion and reliance on Allah. *Istikhara* is a powerful reminder of our humanity, our profound need for Allah, and our conviction in His all-encompassing knowledge. As an act of worship, it promises rewards in the hereafter, while simultaneously enriching our emotional and spiritual well-being in this life. In this sacred supplication, we find solace and strength, reaffirming our faith and fortifying our connection with the Divine. **This piece was adapted from the following Yaqeen Videos:** [How to Truly Perform *Istikharah* | A *Du'a* Away](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/how-to-truly-perform-istikharah-a-dua-away) [Why Make *Istikhara*? | Why Me?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/why-make-istikhara-why-me) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/intersectionality-and-palestine-solidarity-why-muslims-need-to-lead-the-gaza-protests # Intersectionality and Palestine Solidarity: Why Muslims Need to Lead the Gaza Protests | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** June 19, 2024 **Updated:** June 21, 2024 A practicing Muslim walking through some of the student encampments for Palestine that have spread across the country might be dismayed by what they encounter. Blaring music, people lounging with their dogs, and the faint smell of weed are common. Read the various signs at some of the encampments and you will find rainbow flags and messages calling for queer liberation. Many practicing Muslims don’t feel welcome in an environment that departs so strongly from their values. As a result, their first trip to an encampment will often be their last. When Muslims avoid participating in the encampments—or other sites of political activism—a downward spiral ensues where the space caters less and less towards Muslims, driving even more Muslims away. My call to Muslim youth is not to run away from this challenge but to face it head on, to step up and help lead the movement to end the Zionist occupation of Palestine once and for all. The time of being a bystander or letting others silence us is over. [Ending the Zionist occupation is a Muslim issue](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-palestinian-struggle-through-the-prophetic-lens) and an Islamic issue, no matter who tells you otherwise. Regrettably, even some of the most famous spokespeople for Palestine are guilty of anti-Islamic sentiment. A number of these spokespeople have argued that Palestine is not a religious issue but a human one, or that making it an Islamic issue benefits the Zionists. They are wrong, horribly wrong. At best, these takes are based on false dilemmas; the occupation of Palestine and genocide of the Palestinian people can be a human issue, a religious issue, and an Islamic issue all at the same time. At worst, taking Islam off the table is part of the colonization of Palestine and the Muslim world. Here I mean not the formal colonization of territory but the mental colonization that dictates how the occupied can or should resist. This is not to say that people with different beliefs or practices are not welcome to participate in a movement reenergized by Muslim leadership. We recognize that people with whom we disagree are moved by the unspeakable suffering of our brothers and sisters; however ,this does not mean that the central Islamic values of this cause can be stripped of the movement and undermined under the guise of "tolerance." Forced accommodation of values hostile to our own is not tolerance at all, but rather another site of recolonizing our struggle. The uniquely anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic dimensions of Zionism must not be dismissed or minimized. While Zionist violence targets Palestinians regardless of their faith, Zionist justifications rely more heavily on [anti-Muslim tropes](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/what-is-islamophobia-the-politics-of-anti-muslim-racism) than on anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian tropes, which naturally evoke far less sympathy than their anti-Muslim counterparts. In the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attack, Israel deliberately tried to make a connection between Palestinian resistance factions and ISIS. And while this narrative failed among Western populations and Israel eventually pivoted away from this talking point, it has succeeded in shaping the way Western governments perceive and contextualize the ongoing events. Adopting the Zionist framing, French Prime Minister Macron suggested expanding the existing coalition against ISIS to coordinate with Israel against Palestinian resistance, as if fighting one were an extension of fighting the other.[^1] US representatives and unhinged Zionist professors regularly smear anyone even mildly critical of Israel as terrorist sympathizers. This is nothing new. For decades, Zionists have contributed to and exploited the post-9/11 War on Terror framework that uniquely securitizes Muslims, predicated on a belief in the inherent violence of Islam and its threat to Western civilization. Even before 9/11, Israeli officials were keen on this framing. Yitzhak Rabin said in the early 90s, > Today, we the Israelis truly stand in the firing line against fundamentalist Islam. We demand all states and nations to focus their attention on this huge threat inherent in Islamic fundamentalism. In 1993, Shimon Peres said to a group of White House officials, > The U.S. should increase its aid to Israel instead of reducing it because Israel is waging a ferocious war against Islamic extremism. The fact of the matter is that when Zionists stand before potential donors and supporters they don’t ask for help against Palestinian terrorism or Arab terrorism, they ask for help against “Islamic” terrorism. Zionists have spent millions of dollars explicitly trying to create an association between those two terms and continue to do so, as [billboards across the United States attest](https://nypost.com/2023/10/21/anti-hamas-billboard-taken-down-in-new-jersey/). Given this reality, it is insulting and disingenuous to be told that Palestine is not fundamentally a Muslim or an Islamic issue. This is nothing less than an act of gatekeeping designed to create a secular, nationalist, and leftist monopoly over pro-Palestinian advocacy and activism. Muslim activists, if you allow yourselves to be sidelined and erased, the movement to end the Zionist occupation of Palestine will falter and ultimately fail. This is because without being anchored in Islam, any movement purporting to free Palestine risks drifting away from the largely Islamic values held by the great majority of Palestinians in Palestine itself. We must adamantly refuse the elitist and neocolonial suggestion that those assimilated to Western values—no matter their ethnicity—know better than those pulled from the rubble shouting triumphantly “*La ilaha illa Allah*!” Without an Islamic grounding, activism for Palestine will lose focus on Palestine itself, becoming instead merely one ingredient of the familiar cocktail of leftist or progressive causes, the deviation from any one of which results in their silencing and marginalization. This is another site of recolonizing the terms of our resistance. As the chief victims of global Zionism and its primarily anti-Islamic discourse, we have the right to condition participation in our cause upon not conjoining Palestine with other contentious issues. Someone might think queer liberation and Palestinian liberation make perfect sense together. However, the majority of Muslims in Palestine and the world over do not, so such people should not be allowed to enlist and tokenize fringe Muslim elements that will give such maneuvers a green light, thus erecting yet another “[good Muslim/bad Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/what-is-islamophobia-the-politics-of-anti-muslim-racism)” dynamic within our activist spaces and exposing the rest of us yet again to the question: “Those Muslim students don’t have a problem with it, why do you?” Furthermore, we should not shy away from challenging those Muslims who do allow themselves to be tokenized and used as such. As observant Muslims, we must become resolute and confident enough to prevent our voices from being drowned out by “allies” and other Muslims who have joined them, just as Imam Omar Suleiman foresaw in his [article on Faithful Activism](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/wk/faithful-activism-a-sunnah-framework): > What if in the process of trying to craft our space, we become marginalized within that space? My hope is that if we become authoritative enough on important issues, we can exert enough strength to stay firm. But we have to be careful not to empower a space that is bound to suffocate us. It is natural that Muslims will always feel the pressure, especially as a vulnerable minority, to advance at all costs. We have to demonstrate that not all advancement is good, and there is such a thing as making strides with your religious principles at your center instead of cast behind you. In order to not empower spaces that suffocate us as committed Muslims, we need to make sure that we get allyship and coalition-building right. In *Toward Sacred Activism*, Imam Dawud Walid makes the case that alliances and coalitions are actually two very different things, > Thus, many of those whom Muslims work with that are of other faiths or no faith at all are in fact suitable coalition partners within some circumstances but do not constitute true allies within the scope of al-Wala’a or what should be considered true ally-ship. This framework differs from the language put forth in the contemporary social justice world, which is primarily shaped by secular liberalism even when religious language is interwoven.[^2] In this understanding, allyship is an inner circle made up of Muslims while coalition is an outer circle made up of non-Muslims willing to lend their support to a Muslim cause. This distinction is crucial because our brothers and sisters in faith are accorded a different degree of rights, responsibilities, and privileges that non-Muslims are not entitled to. This distinction between allies and coalition members finds support in the Qur’an, where Allah discusses allyship primarily by warning believers not to take allies that aren’t fellow believers and thus don’t share our values. Allah says, > O you who have believed, do not take the disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do you wish to give Allah a clear case against yourselves?[^3] Elsewhere, Allah makes it crystal clear that that the key priority underlying any alliance is shared faith, even over kinship: > O you who have believed, do not take your fathers or your brothers as allies if they have preferred disbelief over belief. And whoever does so among you—then it is those who are the wrongdoers.[^4] Allah is abundantly clear that our only real allies are those who share our faith and our values: > Your ally is none but Allah and \[therefore\] His Messenger and those who have believed—those who establish prayer and give zakat, and they bow \[in worship\]. And whoever is an ally of Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed—indeed, the party of Allah—they will prevail.[^5] With such a strong emphasis placed on keeping to Muslims and avoiding compromising “alliances” with people who don’t share our faith or our values, to gather coalition members before attending to our true allies within the community is to put the cart before the horse and is an enormous mistake that might well result in our erasure from our own causes. What pushes people to court outside help at the cost of their own community’s backing? Allah says, > O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are \[in fact\] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you—then indeed, he is \[one\] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people. So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into \[association with\] them, saying, “We are afraid a misfortune may strike us.” But perhaps Allah will bring conquest or a decision from Him, and they will become, over what they have been concealing within themselves, regretful.[^6] In short, people rush to tend to outside support before sufficiently organizing inside support because they want the cause to succeed and are afraid that losing their outside support will result in the cause itself failing. Allah describes such people as having a disease in their hearts because they don’t have sufficient trust in Allah’s ability to deliver positive results to a righteous cause. Allah also points out that groups who don’t share our faith often have more in common with each other than they do with Muslims, highlighting the misalignment of values that often takes place when Muslims prioritize coalition members over allies from within the community. This misguided belief is based on the premise that numbers and naturalistic causes determine the outcome rather than Allah. This is a failure to grasp the lessons of the Battles of both Uhud and Hunayn, when Allah pointed out to the believers that numbers essentially don’t matter much and in some cases can even be a liability, > Allah has surely blessed you with His help on many battlefields, and on the day of Hunayn, when you were proud of your great number, then it did not help you at all, and the earth was straitened for you despite all its vastness, then you turned back on your heels...[^7] Adding the help of others might seem like simple arithmetic: the more people that assist you in your cause the more it is strengthened. But Allah tells us that numbers can just as easily be a liability as they can be a support. The participation of particularly problematic people and groups can bring more problems than their support justifies. Allah describes one such situation, > Had they gone forth with you, they would have been nothing but trouble for you, and would have scrambled around, seeking to spread discord in your midst. And some of you would have eagerly listened to them. And Allah has \[perfect\] knowledge of the wrongdoers.[^8] Success is dependent on the permission of Allah, despite the numbers. Allah says, > How many times has a small force vanquished a mighty army by the Will of Allah! And Allah is \[always\] with the steadfast.[^9] This should form the bedrock of our attitude to politics, civic engagement, and activism: first and foremost, we need us. We need enough committed Muslims that we can dictate from a place of principle [how an encampment, demonstration, or campaign will look](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza). We have to stand up to other groups and not be bullied into silence. And if we can’t conduct our politics alongside others while adhering to our principles, we should be prepared to walk away and do our own thing. This should not be confused with arrogance or ingratitude to the many sincere non-Muslims who are willing to lend us their support while simultaneously respecting our values. We might consider them similar to the Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib, who lent key assistance to the Muslim community without embracing the faith himself. We can maintain a respectful and grateful bearing towards such individuals without compromising our principles. But as Muslim activists we owe it to our fellow Muslims to build our alliances internally before seeking outside support. Once we have the home team locked in, then comes the time to [build the coalition](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/hadith-15-building-a-coalition-of-justice-the-fiqh-of-hilf-al-fadool). Even then, Allah warns us that such help seldom comes for free. Usually there are expectations, strings attached to the help that is being offered. This is why Allah’s cautionary words about allyship often also involve warnings against *obeying* other groups: > O you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Scripture, they would turn you back, after your belief, \[to being\] unbelievers.[^10] And again, > O you who have believed, if you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your heels, and you will \[then\] become losers. But Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers.[^11] The sad reality is that some people only want to support the fictional, idealized “Muslim” of their imagination, one that has a very nominal connection with Islam and is actually a mouthpiece for their own values and agenda. They would like to be ventriloquists and turn Muslims into dummies. Such characters must be avoided at all costs. When there is coalition work, participation should be limited, conditional, and accountable. By limited, we mean that it is focused on an issue or a concrete objective, not an entire agenda or platform. We don’t expect everyone who cares about Palestine to care about religious freedom or the sanctity of marriage, so we should not be expected to voice support for any cause other than the cause that is the basis of the coalition’s work. By conditional, we mean that the group or groups primarily affected by an issue have the right to stipulate conditions for participating in that cause. The issue of Palestine is an issue that primarily affects Palestinians and Muslims. The support of others is welcome as long as it does not seek to separate us from our values and principles. It is our responsibility as Muslims to show up and lead with those values and principles and not allow them to be sidelined. By accountable, we mean that coalition members must be held responsible for stepping out of line, even if that means ending the coalition and going our own way. When the Prophet ﷺ made *hijrah* to Madinah, he made an alliance with its three Jewish tribes agreeing that the Muslims and Jews would share in protecting the city from any outside aggression. When, one by one, the Jewish tribes violated the conditions of the agreement, the Muslims made sure to hold them accountable, even ousting them from the city for their treachery when necessary. Such actions demonstrate an understanding that coalition members who aren’t accountable to specific conditions are more dangerous than not having coalition members at all. Some of the encampments across the country and across the world have succeeded in creating a palpably Islamic environment that is welcoming to Muslims without being unnecessarily alienating to non-Muslims. We must follow their example to emulate the savvy of the Prophet in making and navigating coalitions. Ending the Zionist occupation of Palestine for good has never been more urgent. As a faith community we must step up, not step back, and be unapologetic in leading the way. --- ## Notes [^1]: [https://www.reuters.com/world/frances-macron-says-he-stands-solidarity-with-israels-fight-against-terrorism-2023-10-24/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.reuters.com/world/frances-macron-says-he-stands-solidarity-with-israels-fight-against-terrorism-2023-10-24/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1718813551666020&usg=AOvVaw1dQgTU8q-kXWP-fw3f9M3i) [^2]: p. 54. [^3]: 4:144. [^4]: 9:23. [^5]: 5:55-56. [^6]: 5:51-52. [^7]: 9:25. [^8]: 9:47. [^9]: 2:249. [^10]: 3:100. [^11]: 3:149-150. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/important-duas-and-dhikr-for-the-day-of-arafah # Important Du’as and Dhikr for the Day of ʿArafah | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Arafah, Blog, Dhul Hijjah, Dua **Published:** June 14, 2024 **Updated:** September 6, 2026 The Day of ʿArafah is the most significant day of the Hajj pilgrimage and one of the most important days in the Islamic calendar. The Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the fire than the Day of ʿArafah.”[^1] Even for those not performing Hajj, this is a day to turn to Allah with sincere *duʿa*, *dhikr*, and repentance. So what did the Prophet ﷺ and his companions recite on this blessed day? --- ## The Prophet’s duʿa on ʿArafah The Prophet ﷺ taught us the most powerful words to say on ʿArafah: “The best supplication is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafah, and the best of what I and the prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no deity except Allah, alone, without partner. To Him belongs all dominion and praise, and He is over all things competent.’”[^2] Supplication on the Day of ʿArafah  لا إله إلا الله وحدهُ لا شريك لهُ، لهُ الملكُ ولهُ الحمدُ، وهو على كل شيءٍ قدير  *La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa huwa* ***ʿ****ala kulli shayʾin qadeer.* There is no deity except Allah, alone, without partner. To Him belongs all dominion and praise, and He is over all things competent. *Sunan al-Tirmidhi,* no. 3585, graded *hasan* (good) by al-Albani. This profound supplication was described by the Prophet ﷺ as the best thing ever said by any prophet. It is a gift to this *ummah*, and repeating it throughout the Day of ʿArafah is a source of immense reward. --- ## ʿAli’s duʿa on ʿArafah The noble companion ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (rA) made the following supplication: “O Allah, free my neck from the Fire, expand my provision, grant me permissible sustenance, and keep away from me the wicked ones among the jinn and humankind.”[^3] **ʿAli’s *duʿa* on ʿArafah**  اللَّهُمَّ أَعْتِقْ رَقَبَتِي مِنَ النَّارِ، وَأَوْسِعْ لِي مِنَ الرِّزْقِ الْحَلَالِ، وَاصْرِفْ عَنِّي فَسَقَةَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ *Allahumma a****ʿ****tiq raqabatee min an-nar, wa awsi****ʿ*** *lee min ar-rizq-il-halal, wasrif ʿannee fasaqat al-jinni wal-ins.* O Allah, free my neck from the Fire, expand my provision, grant me permissible sustenance, and keep away from me the wicked ones among the jinn and humankind. Al-Suyuti, *al-Dur al-manthūr*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh ibnʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī (Markaz Hajar, 2003), 1st ed., 15:430. This *duʿa* is beautiful in its balance—seeking both spiritual salvation and worldly ease. --- ## ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar’s duʿa and dhikr ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar (rA), a close companion of the Prophet ﷺ, spent much of ʿArafah engaging in *takbirat* and praise of Allah, saying, “Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise (*Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahil-hamd*).” In addition to this *dhikr*, he would repeatedly say, “O Allah, guide me with Your guidance, protect me with Your piety, and forgive me in this life and the next.” **ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar’s *duʿa***  اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي بِالْهُدَى، وَقِنِي بِالتَّقْوَى، وَاغْفِرْ لِي فِي الْآخِرَةِ وَالْأُولَى *Allahumma ihdini bil-huda, wa qini bi-t-taqwa, waghfir lee fil-akhirati wal-oola.* **O Allah, guide me with Your guidance, protect me with Your piety, and forgive me in this life and the next.** Ibn Taymiyya, *Sharḥ ʿumdat al-fiqh* (Maktabat al-ʿAbyakān, n.d.), 3:509. After saying this, he would sit in quiet personal supplication for about as long as it would take to recite Surah al-Fatiha.[^4] --- ## More duʿas to explore While there are innumerable *duʿa*s that we can say on the Day of ʿArafah, we’ve compiled a [full list of some powerful](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-a-dua-away-a-2024-dhul-hijjah-series) *[duʿa](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-a-dua-away-a-2024-dhul-hijjah-series&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1748381290258962&usg=AOvVaw1zrT_dE5w4Omsc7hR3Fhfh)*[s](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-a-dua-away-a-2024-dhul-hijjah-series&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1748381290258962&usg=AOvVaw1zrT_dE5w4Omsc7hR3Fhfh) from one of our Dhul Hijjah series that might especially inspire you. You can also explore the *duʿa*s of the Prophet ﷺ and the pious predecessors on ʿArafah in more depth in [“The](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/the-duas-of-the-salaf-on-arafah-khutbah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1748381290259272&usg=AOvVaw1hSfpSwkWT_NfGPlCsy16_) *[Duʿa](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/the-duas-of-the-salaf-on-arafah-khutbah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1748381290259353&usg=AOvVaw0dR0vSbPyKnqjExEE5Yb_h)*[s of the *Salaf* on Arafah”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/the-duas-of-the-salaf-on-arafah-khutbah) by Dr. Omar Suleiman. The Day of ʿArafah is a day to fill your heart and tongue with *duʿa*. While we should strive to replicate the words of the Prophet ﷺ, we are also free to let our hearts pour out. From glorifying Allah to seeking forgiveness, from praying for loved ones to begging for Jannah—this is the day to ask. On this day, you are unrestricted. So whether you’re on the plain of ʿArafah or at home, use your voice, your heart, and your conviction in Allah. Make *duʿa* as if Allah is listening—because He is. May Allah accept your *duʿa*s and write you among those freed from the fire. *Ameen*. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sahih Muslim,* no. 1348. [^2]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhi,* no. 3585, graded *hasan* (good) by al-Albani. [^3]: Al-Suyuti, *al-Dur al-manthūr*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh ibnʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī (Markaz Hajar, 2003), 1st ed., 15:430. [^4]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Sharḥ ʿumdat al-fiqh* (Maktabat al-ʿAbyakān, n.d.), 3:509. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the most important duʿāʾ to recite on the Day of 'Arafah? The Prophet ﷺ said the best *duʿāʾ* on the Day of 'Arafah is: *Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd, wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr* — 'There is no deity except Allah alone, without partner; to Him belongs all dominion and praise, and He is over all things capable' (*Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3585, graded *ḥasan* by al-Albānī). ### What duʿāʾ did 'Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib (ra) recite on 'Arafah? 'Ali (ra) is reported to have recited: *Allāhumma aʿtiq raqabatī mina al-nār, wa awsiʿ lī mina al-rizq al-ḥalāl, waṣrif ʿannī fasaqat al-jinni wa al-ins* — 'O Allah, free my neck from the Fire, expand for me lawful provision, and turn away from me the wicked among the jinn and humankind' (al-Suyūṭī, *al-Durr al-manthūr*, 15:430). ### What dhikr did Ibn 'Umar (ra) repeat throughout the Day of 'Arafah? ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (ra) spent much of 'Arafah engaged in *takbīr* and praise: *Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar, wa lillāhi al-ḥamd* — 'Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise.' He would intersperse this dhikr with personal supplication throughout the day. ### What duʿāʾ did Ibn 'Umar (ra) follow his takbīr with? He would recite: *Allāhumma ihdinī bi-al-hudā, wa qinī bi-al-taqwā, waghfir lī fī al-ākhirati wa al-ūlā* — 'O Allah, guide me with Your guidance, protect me with Your *taqwā*, and forgive me in this life and the next' (Ibn Taymiyyah, *Sharḥ ʿumdat al-fiqh*, 3:509). He would then make quiet personal supplication for roughly the length of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah. ### When during the Day of 'Arafah are duʿāʾ most accepted? Scholars identify the most virtuous portion of the day as the period from after 'Aṣr until sunset, when pilgrims at 'Arafah make their final standing. Non-pilgrims are encouraged to set aside this window for concentrated *duʿāʾ*, although the entire day is a time of acceptance — the Prophet ﷺ called the supplication of 'Arafah 'the best of supplications.' ### Can I make personal duʿāʾ on the Day of 'Arafah, or must I use prophetic words? Both are encouraged. The article emphasizes that while the Prophet's ﷺ words and the supplications of the Companions carry the greatest authority and barakah, believers are also invited to 'let their hearts pour out' with personal *duʿāʾ* in their own language — for spiritual salvation, the people they love, worldly needs, and Paradise. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-to-do-on-the-day-of-arafah-making-the-most-of-a-blessed-day # What to Do on the Day of ʿArafah: Making the Most of a Blessed Day | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Arafah, Blog, Dhul Hijjah **Published:** June 11, 2024 **Updated:** June 4, 2025 Fatimah sat by the window, her fingers counting as she murmured words of *dhikr*. Outside, the world bustled—cars honked, children walked home from school. Inside, the TV live-streamed the sea of pilgrims standing in the sacred valley, calling out to Allah. It was the Day of ʿArafah. Fatimah wasn’t on Hajj, yet her heart panged to be there. Somehow, the Day of ʿArafah felt so distant from where she sat. As a child, she had once asked her grandfather why people cried so much on ʿArafah. He smiled gently and replied, *“Because it’s the day we all come home to Allah.”* She hadn’t understood it then. But today, after months of spiritual drift and a heart heavy with guilt, it made sense. --- ## ʿArafah: Not just for the pilgrims The Prophet ﷺ said: “Hajj is ʿArafah, Hajj is ʿArafah, Hajj is ʿArafah.”[^1] Standing as the pinnacle of Hajj and the heart of the pilgrimage—without which Hajj is not complete—the Day of ʿArafah takes place on the 9th day of Dhul Hijjah and is one of the most virtuous days in the Islamic calendar. On this day, pilgrims stand (or sit) in remembrance of Allah, supplicating to Him intensely, from Dhuhr prayer until after sunset. But for those of us not on the plains of ʿArafah, it also offers something incredibly intimate: a personal standing before Allah—a chance to repent, call out to Him in utter dependency, and seek salvation. The Prophet ﷺ said: “There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of ʿArafah.”[^2] This day is not just a day of ritual for pilgrims on Hajj, but an opportunity for salvation for the entire *ummah*. The Day of ʿArafah is a day unlike any other, offering an unparalleled chance for forgiveness, mercy, and spiritual rejuvenation. It is significant as the day that Allah revealed the completion of the religion: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as your religion” (Qur’an 5:3). And as the day on which the covenant between Allah and every soul took place: “And \[mention\] when your Lord took from the children of Adam—from their loins—their descendants and made them testify of themselves, \[saying to them\], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we have testified.’ \[This\]—lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were of this unaware.’” (Qur’an 7:172) Here are a few practical ways you can make the most of this blessed day and the virtues it has to offer: --- ## 1\. Engage in continuous duʿa and dhikr The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best supplication is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafah. The best of what I and the prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no deity but Allah alone, He has no partner. To Him belongs all sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things.’”[^3] Take this profound opportunity to seek Allah’s aid with a heart opened by yearning. Spend the day in constant *[duʿa](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-a-dua-away-a-2024-dhul-hijjah-series)* (supplication) and *[dhikr](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-deeper-into-dhikr-a-dhul-hijjah-series)* (remembrance), affirming Allah’s oneness and expressing gratitude for His blessings upon you. --- ## 2\. Fast on the Day of ʿArafah [Fasting on the Day of ʿArafah](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/episode-8-3-years-of-fasting-virtues-of-dhul-hijjah) is highly recommended for those not performing Hajj, offering rewards like no other day of the year. The Prophet ﷺ said that fasting on this day “expiates the sins of the previous year and the coming year.”[^4] While fasting, be mindful of what your eyes and ears consume, and how you treat those around you. --- ## 3\. Honor the sunnah prayers Plan your day to include all the *sunnah* prayers, making sure to really focus on your *khushuʿ* (presence of heart). Prepare yourself by getting to know the [power of prayer](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-secrets-of-salah-the-hidden-gems-of-prayer-dhul-hijjah-series-2025). The intention to maximize your spiritual gains on this special day is itself a form of worship. --- ## 4\. Take heed of the Prophet ﷺ’s final sermon On this fateful day, as the *ummah* was spread out across ʿArafah, the Prophet ﷺ delivered his final sermon. This moment marked the moment Islam was perfected and completed, and contained a comprehensive message for all of humanity. [His last sermon](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-day-of-arafah-his-hajj-story-ep-8) was a profound summary of his message and guidance for the *ummah*. He ﷺ forbade usury for us, reminded us to treat women well, to uphold racial equality, and to hold firm to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Reflecting on this sermon helps us reconnect with the core values of our faith. --- ## 5\. Reflect on and renew your covenant with Allah The [Day of ʿArafah](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/the-day-of-arafah-his-hajj-story-ep-8) is a time to remember the covenant we made with Allah. As mentioned in the Qur’an, Allah asked, “Am I not your Lord?” and we all responded, “Yes, we bear witness” (Qur’an 7:172). Reflect on this profound moment and renew your commitment to Allah. Acknowledge your past shortcomings, seek His forgiveness, and aim to strengthen your relationship with your Creator. Use this blessed day to make a meaningful personal commitment to enhance your spiritual life. Identify one major change you can implement to better align with Islamic teachings. Write it down as a personal promise to Allah, and ask Him for guidance and strength to see it through. As you renew your covenant with Allah, let this day mark a turning point in your spiritual journey. The Day of ʿArafah is a gift from Allah—a chance to wipe away past sins, renew our faith, and draw closer to Him. May Allah grant us the ability to observe this day with sincerity and devotion, and may He accept our efforts and forgive our shortcomings. *Ameen*. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 2975, graded *sahih* (authentic) by Imam al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban. [^2]: *Sahih Muslim,* no. 1348. [^3]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhi,* no. 3585, graded *hasan* (good) by al-Albani. [^4]: *Sahih Muslim*, no. 1162. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What should a Muslim do on the Day of 'Arafah if not performing Hajj? Yaqeen's guide outlines five priorities for non-pilgrims: fast the day (highly recommended sunnah), engage in continuous *duʿāʾ* and *dhikr*, perform sunnah prayers with focus and presence of heart, reflect on the Prophet's ﷺ Final Sermon delivered at 'Arafah, and renew one's covenant with Allah by committing to one concrete spiritual change. The Prophet ﷺ said the best supplication is the supplication on the Day of 'Arafah (*Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3585). ### Is fasting on the Day of 'Arafah obligatory? It is highly recommended (sunnah) for those not performing Hajj, but not obligatory. The Prophet ﷺ said fasting on this day 'expiates the sins of the previous year and the coming year' (*Sahih Muslim*, no. 1162). Pilgrims at 'Arafah do not fast, since they are engaged in the standing and need their strength for worship and supplication. ### What did the Prophet ﷺ say at 'Arafah in his Final Sermon? On his only Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ delivered the *Khuṭbat al-Wadāʿ* (Farewell Sermon) at 'Arafah, addressing the sanctity of life and property, justice, the rights of women, racial equality ('no Arab has superiority over a non-Arab except by piety'), and the prohibition of *ribā* (usury). The verse 'This day I have perfected your religion for you' (Qur'an 5:3) was revealed at 'Arafah on that day, signaling the completion of revelation. ### Why is the Day of 'Arafah considered the holiest day of the year? The Prophet ﷺ said, 'There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of 'Arafah' (*Sahih Muslim*, no. 1348). It is also linked to the primordial covenant in which Allah took testimony from all human souls (Qur'an 7:172), making 'Arafah a day of return to one's original witness of Allah's lordship — a renewal not just of practice, but of identity. ### How should a non-pilgrim spend the Day of 'Arafah hour by hour? The article recommends starting the day fasting, praying Fajr in congregation, dedicating extended time to *dhikr* and personal supplication — especially the period from after 'Aṣr until Maghrib, which scholars identify as the most virtuous portion of the day — reflecting on the Final Sermon, and writing down one concrete spiritual change to commit to before the day ends. ### What is the best dhikr to repeat on the Day of 'Arafah? The Prophet ﷺ said: 'The best of what I and the prophets before me have said is: *Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd, wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr*' — 'There is no deity except Allah alone, without partner; to Him belongs all dominion and praise, and He is over all things capable' (*Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3585). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/are-some-quranic-verses-more-virtuous-than-others-reconciling-diverse-scholarly-views # Are Some Qur'anic Verses More Virtuous Than Others? Reconciling Diverse Scholarly Views **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** June 7, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 ## Introduction Several prophetic reports underscore the special merit and reward associated with reciting, memorizing, or comprehending specific Qur’anic verses or chapters, suggesting a conceptual hierarchy of superiority within the Qur’an. Widely acknowledged among Muslims, certain verses hold particular significance, such as the opening chapter (*Sūrat al-Fātiḥa*), the verse of the Throne (*al-Kursī*), or the first ten verses of the chapter of the Cave (*Sūrat al-Kahf*). The Qur’an itself suggests varying levels of revelation, not only asserting its superiority over previous scriptures but also acknowledging the potential replacement of one verse with a better one. Indeed, an entire genre of scholarship was dedicated to compiling the reported virtues of the Qur’an as a whole, as well as specific chapters and verses. As early Muslim scholars grappled with the conceptual understanding of God’s transcendent attributes, particularly the attribute of speech (*kalām*) in this context, a pressing question emerged: If the Qur’an is considered God’s speech, how can one part of God’s speech be better or preferred to another part? The response to this inquiry was far from unified. The contentious debates surrounding God’s attributes, Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) describes, turned the issue into “a significant matter, resulting in widespread division among people.”[^1] Discussions relevant to this matter began to emerge as early as the 2nd/8th century, particularly in the theological treatise attributed to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767), *al-Fiqh al-akbar*. Subsequent scholars, including prominent scholarly figures like al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) and Ibn Taymiyya, extensively explored the issue. As a result, the subject evolved into an independent topic within the literature of Qur’anic Sciences (*ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*), as demonstrated by al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) devoting a chapter in *al-Itqān* to “The Best of the Qur’an and its Distinct Parts” (*afḍal al-Qurʿān wa fādilih*). Furthermore, certain scholars dedicated entire books to this topic, among them Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Darrāj (d. 693/1294) in a work that is no longer extant.[^2] Ibn Taymiyya also addressed this subject in a fatwa, examining the meaning of the hadith describing *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* (The Sincerity) as equivalent to one third of the Qur’an. His discussion was independently published in a book titled *Jawāb ahl al-ʿilm wa al-īmān*.[^3] Muslim scholars hold one of two main viewpoints regarding the uniformity of merit within the Qur’an. One group asserts that the Qur’an, as the embodiment of God’s transcendent speech, possesses uniform merit throughout its text. The other group argues that certain parts of the Qur’an are more meritorious than others. This paper succinctly presents these perspectives and examines the evidence each side offers. It argues that the debate largely hinges on semantics, with each group of scholars emphasizing their distinct angle, while potentially overlooking the considerations of the opposing viewpoint. The objective of this article is to establish a theological framework for understanding the concept of superiority (*tafḍīl*) of certain parts of  the Qur’an. This brief article serves as an introduction to a series that will explore the detailed virtues of specific Qur’anic chapters and verses as reported in the corpus of Prophetic traditions. --- ## The first opinion: All parts of the Qur’an are equally meritorious No segment of the Qur’an is deemed superior to another. Despite being regarded as the minority opinion, this viewpoint is explicitly endorsed by or attributed to several eminent scholars, including Imam Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179/795), al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923), Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. 324/936), Abū Ḥātim ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354/965), Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī (d. 386/996), Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013), Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qābisī (d. 403/1013), and Makkī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Qaysī (d. 437/1045).[^4] Al-Darrāj asserts an established consensus among Sunni scholars that any textual references to the merits of specific parts of the Qur’an do not imply inherent superiority.[^5] This holds true when pertaining to Allah’s transcendent uncreated attribute of speech rather than our human experience of the Qur’anic text. Notably, not all of these authorities have left explicit statements on the issue that are extant in literature, and some of the reported views lack clarity or detail. The following provides a concise examination of select reports and statements. Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā (d. 234/848) asserts, “Preferring some parts of the Qur’an over others is incorrect. This is why Mālik disapproved of the repetition or emphasis of one **sūrah** over others \[in prayer\].”[^6] In this context, we observe a practical application of the debate, emphasizing that a merit-based selective approach should not dictate the choice of verses during prayer.[^7] While explicit statements from Mālik on the issue are limited, his understanding of the abrogation verse appears to align with Yaḥyā’s assertion. The abrogation verse serves as the linchpin in this debate, upheld by the majority opinion to imply varying degrees of excellence: “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it.”[^8] However, Mālik interpreted the term “better” not as denoting excellence but rather held that it signifies a verse (or a ruling) replacing an abrogated one.[^9] In his seminal exegetical commentary (*tafsīr*), al-Ṭabarī delves deeper into the Qur’an’s description of certain verses as better than others in the abrogation verse. He interpreted the intended meaning as ‘We do not abrogate the ruling of a verse...’ Consequently, the outcome of abrogation is that it “brings a ruling that is better for you than the ruling of the abrogated verse, whether in the immediate term due to its easiness on you, or in the Hereafter due to the greatness of its reward for enduring its burden.”[^10] He further emphasizes, “It is not permissible for anything in the Qur’an to be better than something else because it is all the speech of Allah.”[^11] This interpretation was also propounded by many of the exegetes from the early generations (*salaf*). For example, Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198/814) was reported to have said: > I used to read this verse and not understand it… I used to say, “This is Qur’an and this is Qur’an, so how can one be better than the other? Until it was explained to me, and it became clear: “We bring better than it for you,” meaning easier for you, lighter for you, and gentler for you.[^12] Al-Ṭabarī applies a similar concept to the names of Allah, maintaining that it is impermissible to assert that some of His names are better or greater than others. According to al-Ṭabarī, the significance of the “greatest name of God” is equivalent to the description “great,” as all of God’s names hold equal greatness. The variation lies in the state of individuals during supplication, so the term “greatest name” relates to the spiritual condition of the worshiper rather than suggesting that the name is inherently superior to all others.[^13] Ibn Ḥibbān comments on the Prophet’s description of *Sūrat al-Fātiḥa* as the greatest chapter of the Qur’an saying, “By that, he, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, meant \[it is greatest\] in reward and not that parts of the Qur’an are better than others.”[^14] Ibn Ḥibbān reported in his *Sunan* the hadith in which the Prophet said to one of his companions, “Shall I not inform you of the best of the Qurʾan?” Ibn Ḥibbān adds that the Prophet’s statement means ‘Shall I not inform you of the best part of the Qur’an for you?’ and not that some parts of the Qur’an are better than others, “because the speech of Allah cannot have disparities in excellence.”[^15] The argument of the first opinion can be summarized as follows. Firstly, the entirety of the Qur’an constitutes the speech of Allah, which, in terms of His attribute of speech, is inherently indivisible in merit. This perspective aligns with what al-Darrāj alleges to be the consensus. Al-Ashʿarī further elaborated that the indivisible nature of Allah’s speech does not contradict its potential to encompass infinite significations. Additionally, verses referring to Allah’s speech as “words” utilize the plural form to denote greatness and magnificence rather than plurality. The unity of Allah is manifested in His eternal and beginningless attribute of speech, which remains singular.[^16] Al-Bāqillānī also emphasizes this point, stating that one part of what is eternal cannot be preferred over another part of itself, nor can it be described as divisible. Rather, what is divisible is the act of recitation, not the essence of the speech.[^17] Secondly, the compositional structure (*naẓm*) of the Qur’an exhibits a uniformly unique quality, despite encompassing various aspects of inimitable literary forms. The Qur’an employs several of these forms to convey narratives, admonitions, laws, morals, arguments, promises, threats, and other objectives. However, despite this wide spectrum of discourse modes and diversity of literary devices, no discernible disparity exists. In contrast, literary professionals vary in their poetic skills and levels of descriptive excellence depending on the rhetorical purpose they pursue, such as praise, satire, eulogy, or romance. Thus, from this perspective, no disparity is evident in the Qur’an.[^18] Thirdly, the concept of superiority implies the imperfection of the lesser entity, a notion that poses challenges when applied to the Qur’an.[^19] Therefore, as indicated by several authorities cited earlier, terms such as “greater” (*aʿẓam*) and “more meritorious” (*afḍal*), which are found in the Qur’an or Prophetic traditions to describe portions of the Qur’an, ought to be understood as “great” and “meritorious” instead. Any suggested differentiation can only be conceptualized as subjectively related to the human interaction with the text, in terms of certain parts of the Qur’an being more beneficial, rewarding, or easier to apply in their lives compared to others. --- ## The second opinion: Some parts of the Qur’an are more meritorious than others The second viewpoint, recognized as the majority opinion, was described by al-Qurṭubī (d. 656/1258) as “the true” (*ḥaqq*) stance in this discussion, with Ibn al-Ḥaṣṣār (d. 610/1213) expressing astonishment at those who claim disagreement on this issue despite textual indications of preference.[^20] Al-Ghazālī, a prominent advocate of this perspective, devoted a brief chapter in his book *Jawāhir al-Qurʾān* \[The Jewels of the Qur’an\] to this subject, serving as an introduction to subsequent chapters discussing the merits of *Sū**rah*s *al-Fātiḥ**a*, *al-Ikhlāṣ*, and *Yāsīn*, as well as the verse of *al-Kursī*. In this chapter, he states: > Perhaps you will ask me: In these remarks you intend to state that some parts of the Qur’an are more excellent than others, whereas all are the speech of God (may He be exalted!). So how can some parts be distinguished from others and how can some parts be more excellent than others? > \[As a reply to this question\] know that if the light of insight (*nūr al-baṣīra*) does not guide you to the difference between the Verse of the Throne and a verse concerning giving and receiving loans, and between the *Sūrah* of Sincerity and the *Sūrah* of Destruction, and your mind which is empty and wholly absorbed in blindly following the opinions of others (*taqlīd*) lives in the comfort of mere belief in such differences, then follow the Messenger of God (may His blessing and greeting be upon him!), who is the man to whom the Qur’an was revealed. Prophetic traditions have pointed to the nobility of some verses and to the manifold multiplication of reward for recitation in the case of some revealed *sūrah*s. > Thus the Prophet (may God bless him and greet him!) said, “The *Sūrah* of the Opening of the Book is the best *sūrah* of the Qur’an.” He (may God bless him and greet him!) also said, “The Verse of the Throne is the chief of the Qur’anic verses.” He (may God bless him and greet him!) further said, “The *Sūrah* of Yāsīn is the heart of the Qur’an, and the *sūrah* beginning with ‘Say: He is God, the One is equal to a third of the Qur’an in respect of value.” There are innumerable Traditions regarding the excellence of the striking verses of the Qur’an \[*Qawāriʿ al-Qurʾān*\] and regarding the specification of some verses and *sūrah*s as excellent and also regarding the great reward of their recitation. Seek them, if you like, from books on Tradition.[^21] The argument of the second opinion can be summarized as follows. Firstly, numerous prophetic reports indicate the superiority or special merit of certain parts of the Qur’an. Secondly, the verse concerning abrogation can be interpreted as replacing a verse with a better one. Legal theory debates on whether the Sunnah can abrogate the Qur’an incorporated discussions about the superiority of portions of revelation over others based on various interpretations of the abrogation verse.[^22] Thirdly, multiple verses of the Qur’an describe portions of the revelation as “best” (*aḥsan*), such as “And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord”[^23] and “Those who listen to speech and follow the best of it.”[^24] Additionally, the Israelites were instructed to “take the best” of the revelation received by Moses from Allah on the tablets.[^25] Fourthly, the Qur’an is deemed superior to the Torah and the Gospel, although all three are considered the words of Allah. Allah states, “And We have revealed to you the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it.”[^26] Many early exegetes interpreted the phrase “criterion over it” (*muhayminan ʿalayh*) to signify the Qur’an’s role as the entrusted overseer of the previous scriptures, indicating a higher ranking. In this context, the Gospel is not considered on equal footing with, for example, the Torah or the Psalms.[^27] Finally, the requirement for *Sūrat al-Fātiḥa* to be recited as an obligatory component of prayer, alongside numerous reports detailing its special merits, indicates its superiority over other parts of the Qur’an. This correlation was explicitly articulated by some jurists, such as al-Samʿānī (d. 489/1096), who expounds on the Shāfiʿī school’s stance regarding the obligatory recitation of *Sūrat al-Fātīḥa* in prayer, stating, > Our colleagues have stated that the recitation of the Qur’an in prayer, being obligatory, requires the designation of *al-Fātīḥa*. This is because the Qur’an is distinguished from other texts by its miraculousness (*iʿjāz*), and the minimum requirement to establish *iʿjāz* is a *s*ū*rah*. This *s*ū*rah* \[*al-Fātīḥa*\] is the noblest of *s*ū*rah*s as it comprises the ‘seven oft-repeated verses’ (*al-sabʿ al-mathānī*) and can serve as a substitute for all other *s*ū*rah*s, whereas not all *s*ū*rah*s can substitute for it. Moreover, it encompasses aspects such as praise, glorification, seeking help, seeking refuge, and supplication from the servant to the Lord, which are not encompassed by other *s*ū*rah*s of equivalent length. Therefore, when this *s*ū*rah* is the noblest of *s*ū*rah*s and prayer is the noblest of states, then the noblest of *s*ū*rah*s becomes necessary in the noblest of states.[^28] Abū Yaʿlā al-Farrāʾ (d. 458/1066) echoes a similar response in representing the Ḥanbalī school’s opinion on the obligation of reciting *al-Fātiḥa* in prayer. He asserted that three proofs establish the noble status of *al-Fātiḥa*: textual authorities in prophetic traditions, rational inference regarding the *s*ū*rah*’s position, and legal practice. Besides the Prophetic reports attesting to the merits of *al-Fātiḥa*, Allah has paralleled it with the entire Qur’an, as He stated: “And We have certainly given you seven of the often repeated \[verses\] and the great Qur’an.” This signifies a reality unmatched by any other *s*ū*rah*. Legally, *Sūrat* *al-Fātiḥa* should be recited in every *rakʿa*, with consequences for misreading it during prayer.[^29] --- ## A third, reconciliatory approach The debate over whether different Qur’anic verses possess varying levels of merit, as illustrated by the arguments of both viewpoints, seems to be primarily semantic. One perspective emphasizes viewing the Qur’an as the direct speech of God, thus negating the possibility of verses having varying levels of merit, while the other considers external factors that may assign additional worldly or spiritual value to certain verses based on human engagement with God’s speech. Thus, any perceived superiority is considered a non-essential attribute of specific verses, rather than an inherent quality that establishes a hierarchy of excellence within the Qur’an itself.[^30] Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071) notes that the concern over ascribing differing levels of value to the Qur’an led some scholars to interpret reports about the superiority of certain **sūrah**s figuratively. However, he continues, the promise of reward for performing an act does not necessarily imply the inherent merit of the act itself; rather, it indicates God’s benevolence towards whomever He chooses from among His servants. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr references the example of the abrogation verse, highlighting that exegetes did not disagree that its meaning, “We bring forth one better than it,” is intended for the believers, not indicating that the verse is inherently better than others. Amidst his discussion of the meaning of *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* being equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an, he remarks, “All of this has been stated by the people of Sunnah, independent reasoning (*raʾy*), and Hadith. However, I say that silence on this matter, and matters similar to it, is better and safer than speaking about them.”[^31] This multi-perspective approach has been adopted by numerous scholars. An early example of this approach can be found in Abū Ḥanīfa’s *al-Fiqh al-akbar*: > The verses of the Qur’an, being Allah’s speech, are all equal in excellence and greatness. Some, however, have a pre-eminence in regard to recitation or to their contents; e.g., the verse of the Throne, because it deals with Allah’s majesty, His greatness and His description. So in it are united excellence in regard to recitation and excellence in regard to contents. Others possess excellence only in regard to recitation, such as the descriptions of the infidels, whereas those who are mentioned in them, that is, the infidels, have no excellence. Likewise, all of Allah’s names and qualities are equal in greatness and excellence, without difference.[^32] Similarly, when Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (d. 238/853) was asked about the significance of *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* being regarded as equivalent to one third of the Qur’an, his response was: > Its meaning is that when Allah distinguished His speech over all other speech, He also made some of it superior in reward for those who recite it, as an encouragement to teach it; not that whoever recites “Say: He is Allah, the One” three times is like one who recites the entire Qurʾan.[^33] This is not valid even if they recite “Say: He is Allah, the One” two hundred times.[^34] These observations prompt the following questions: what is the meaning of “Qur’an” in relation to God’s speech and the conceptual understanding of superiority (*tafḍīl*) and its origins? In theological discourse, the term Qurʾan encompasses two aspects: God’s eternal attribute of speech and the verbal expressions present in human recitation. This duality reflects both the concept of God’s beginningless, unuttered speech and the temporally uttered recitations of humans. This is illustrated in the verses: “Whenever any fresh *(muḥdath)* revelation comes to them from their Lord, they listen to it playfully,”[^35] and “To Moses God spoke directly.”[^36] Therefore, the crux of the debate revolves around God’s attribute of speech and the affirmation of the uniformity of all His attributes—a principle upheld by all Muslim theologians. It is likely that some proponents of the first opinion, which emphasizes the equality of all parts of the Qur’an, were cautious of the Muʿtazilite perspective on the createdness of the Qur’an. In his commentary on the abrogation verse, al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) noted that the Muʿtazilites used this verse to argue that if certain parts of the Qur’an are superior to others, then the Qur’an cannot be eternal (*qadīm*).[^37] The Sunni response to this argument lies in distinguishing between two aspects of speech: the speaker and the spoken. Speech may emanate from a single speaker and, from this perspective, possesses a singular level of superiority. However, this does not preclude the existence of varying degrees of significance within the different parts of the spoken content. This leads to the second question concerning the applicability of superiority to non-essential aspects of God’s attributes, a perspective that finds agreement among both groups of scholars. Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥalīmī (d. 403/1012) outlined five aspects of the superiority of certain verses over others. - Firstly, the implementation of one verse may be prioritized and prove more beneficial for people than another verse. Verses containing commands, prohibitions, promises, or threats, for instance, may be deemed superior to those narrating stories, as directive speech is generally more conducive to fulfilling objectives. - Secondly, verses incorporating Allah’s names and magnificent attributes are considered superior due to the inherent significance of their subject matter. - Thirdly, certain chapters and verses are esteemed over others because their recitation yields immediate benefits beyond the spiritual rewards expected in the afterlife. For example, reciting verses such as *al-Kursī* or the Protectors (*al-Muʿawwidhatayn*), the final two chapters of the Qur’an, not only earns the reciter spiritual rewards for performing an act of worship but also provides immediate protection against potential evils. - Fourthly, Allah may multiply the reward for reciting particular **sūrah**s even when we do not fully comprehend the distinct qualities these **sūrah**s possess. This is analogous to how Allah may designate certain times and places as having special significance not found in others. For instance, one day or month might be considered holier than another, making worship during these times more significant and sinning therein more serious than at other times. Similarly, the Holy Mosque in Mecca holds a superior status to other places due to the unique rituals performed there, and the reward for praying within its precincts is multiplied. - Finally, the Qur’an is distinguished from the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms by several unique qualities, including worship through its recitation,  reward for its recitation, its provision of definitive knowledge, and its status as the Prophet’s miracle and evidence against his people.[^38] Hence, the superiority of some verses over others is not related to Allah’s eternal attributes. Rather, it emanates from an external source, such as the subject matter, the incorporation of numerous unique meanings, and God’s generosity in rewarding the reciter based on their unique experiential state. A notable example illustrating the significance of subject matter is the comparison between *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* and *Sūrat al-Masad* (The Palm Fiber). As highlighted by al-ʿIzz ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660/1262), “Allah’s discourse about Himself surpasses His discourse about others.”[^39] Consequently, is it appropriate to assert that ‘*Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* is superior to *Sūrat al-Masad*’? Each **sūrah** serves a distinct purpose, addressing different themes, and thus possesses its own context of excellence and refinement. In addressing this misdirected question of comparison, Shams al-Dīn al-Khuwayyī (d. 637/1240) argues that the excellence of each **sūrah** within its context is more comprehensive than in the context of the other. This is because evaluating the excellence of both **sūrah**s outside their contexts equates mentioning Allah with mentioning Abū Lahab and equates monotheism with invoking damnation upon the disbeliever, which is indeed inappropriate. Instead, it should be recognized that “May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined” constitutes an unparalleled supplication for loss, just as “Say: He is Allah, the One” represents the most articulate expression of monotheism. Hence, when considering the context of each verse, it cannot be claimed that one is more eloquent than the other.[^40] Another example that illustrates multifaceted comparison and emphasizes the incorporation of diverse meanings involves comparing the verse of *al-Kursī* and *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ*. Scholarly reflections on their merits confirm the multi-perspective approach alongside subjective interpretive and experiential encounters with the Qur’an. The verse of *al-Kursī* holds the esteemed status of being the greatest among verses due to its profound content. Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 543/1148) elucidates that something is honored by the honor of its essence, implications, and associations. Therefore, the position of the verse of *al-Kursī* among the Qur’an’s verses parallels the position of *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* among its **sūrah**s.[^41] Al-Ghazālī mentions that the verse of *al-Kursī* is deemed the greatest of all verses because it encapsulates the essence, attributes, and actions of Allah, and nothing else. Understanding these three aspects is the paramount goal of knowledge, while everything else is secondary to it.[^42] Ibn al-Munayyir (d. 683/1284) referenced his grandfather, Kamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Fāris, who emphasized that the verse of *al-Kursī*  encompasses unique aspects not found in any other verse, as it contains approximately twenty-two instances where the name of Allah is explicitly or implicitly mentioned.[^43] Nonetheless, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr points out that *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* surpasses it in two aspects. Firstly, being a **sūrah** holds greater significance than a single verse, as the Qur’anic challenge (*taḥaddī*) can only be presented to opponents by presenting a complete **sūrah** to establish the inimitability of the Qur’anic text and the veracity of the Prophet’s message.[^44] Secondly, *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* establishes monotheism in fifteen letters, whereas the verse of *al-Kursī* does so in fifty letters, thus demonstrating the miraculous style of conveying a profound message in fifty letters and then condensing it to fifteen.[^45] --- ## Conclusion The debate surrounding the varying levels of merit among Qur’anic verses reflects a multifaceted theological framework. While some scholars emphasize the equality of all parts of the Qur’an, attributing significance solely to the holistic nature of God’s speech, others argue for the superiority of certain verses based on prophetic reports and, arguably, the Qur’an’s own description of itself. Examining these debates offers valuable insights into the interpretation and understanding of the Qur’an, highlighting the dynamic interplay between theological principles, legal theory, and linguistic analysis. These discussions are not merely intellectual exercises; they demonstrate a scholarly commitment to a comprehensive theological framework that fully acknowledges the transcendence of Allah and His attributes while consistently adhering to Prophetic reports. Furthermore, they illustrate the meticulous attention scholars pay to the minutest details of the text and tradition, ensuring that every argument is substantiated by robust evidence rather than merely the authority of the speaker. This adherence to evidence-based reasoning underscores the freedom within Islamic scholarship to disagree respectfully, provided the disagreement is rooted in sound argumentation and evidence. The ongoing debate also reflects a widely shared framework of what constitutes a valid argument in Islamic scholarship, fostering a tradition where differing perspectives are valued and rigorously analyzed. This multidisciplinary approach not only underscores the richness of the Islamic tradition but also encourages Muslims to deeply reflect on the Qur’an, its position, and its merits in diverse ways. By engaging with these scholarly debates, Muslims can appreciate the depth and breadth of their intellectual heritage, fostering a nuanced and profound understanding of their faith. --- ## Notes [^1]: Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, eds. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Qāsim and Muḥammad Qāsim, 37 vols. (Medina: Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2004), 17:10. [^2]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 17:73. [^3]: The full title of the work is *Jawāb ahl al-ʿilm wal-īmān bi-taḥqīq mā akhbar bih rasūl al-Raḥmān min anna qul huwa Allah aḥad taʿdil thuluth al-Qur’an* \[The Response of the People of Knowledge and Faith in Verifying What the Messenger of the Merciful Reported: That ‘Say: He is Allah, the One' is Equivalent to One-Third of the Qur’an’\] [^4]: Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Khalaf ibn Baṭṭāl, *Sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* ed. Yāsir ibn Ibrāhīm, 11 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd, n.d.), 10:252; Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Faraḥ al-Qurṭubī, *al-Tidhkār fī afḍal al-adhkār*, ed. Bashīr ʿUyūn, 3rd ed. (Damascus: Maktabat Dār al-Bayān, 1987), 45. [^5]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 17:73. [^6]: Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Tidhkār*, 45. [^7]: It is worth noting, however, that the Mālikī school does recognize the preference of reading specific parts of the Qur’an that the Prophet recommended for certain prayers. [^8]: Qur’an 2:106. [^9]: Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Tidhkār*, 45. [^10]: Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āyī al-Qurʾan*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh al-Turkī, 1st ed., 25 vols. (Cairo: Hajar, 2001), 2:401. [^11]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān*, 403; see also al-Ḥusayn ibn Masʿūd al-Baghawī, *Maʿālim al-tanzīl*, ed. Muḥammad al-Nimr et al., 8 vols. (Riyadh: Dār Ṭība, 1989), 1:135. [^12]: Abū ʿAbd Allah Muḥammad ibn Naṣr al-Marwazī, *al-Sunnah*, ed. ʿAbd Allah al-Buṣayrī (Riyadh: Dār al-ʿĀṣimah li-l-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ, 2001), 186. [^13]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 17:68–69. I could not locate the exact quote in al-Ṭabarī’s *tafsīr*. [^14]: ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ibn Balbān al-Fārisī, *al-Iḥsān fī taqrīb ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ, 18 vols. (Beirut: Muʾssasat al-Risālah, n.d.), 3:57. [^15]: Al-Fārisī, *al-Iḥsān*, 3:52. [^16]: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Fūrak, *Maqālāt al-shaykh Abī al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī imam ahl al-sunna*, ed. Aḥmad al-Sāyiḥ (Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya, 2005), 67. [^17]: Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī, *al-Inṣāf fī mā yajib iʿtiqādu**h* *wa* *lā yajūz al-jahl bih*, ed. Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, 2nd ed. (Cairo: al-Maktabah al-Azhariyya li-l-Turāth, 2000), 97. [^18]: Al-Bāqillānī profoundly elaborated on this point in *Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān*, ed. al-Sayyid Ṣaqr, 3rd ed. (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, n.d.), 36–38. [^19]: Al-Qurṭubī, *al-Tidhkār*, 45. [^20]: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*, ed. Markaz al-Dirāsāt al-Qurʾāniyya, 7 vols. (Medina: Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2005), 6:2140. [^21]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Jawāhir al-Qurʾān*, ed. Muḥammad al-Qabbānī, 3rd ed. (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm, 1990), 62–63. The translation is quoted from Muhammad Abul Quasem, *The Jewels of the Qurʾān: Al-Ghazālī’s Theory* (Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1977), 64–65. [^22]: Legal theorists held differing opinions on whether the Sunnah can abrogate the Qur’an. The majority opinion, which supports this view, argues that it is not the Qur’anic text itself that is abrogated, but rather the legal ruling of a verse. This perspective is based on the belief that all Qur’anic verses hold equal value, making it conceivable for a law derived from the Sunnah to supersede a law established by the Qur’an. See for example, Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭībī, *Futūḥ al-ghayb fī al-kashf ʿan qināʿ al-rayb*, ed. Muḥammad Sulṭān al-ʿUlamāʾ et al., 17 vols. (Dubai: Jāʾizat Dubai al-Dawliyya li-l-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 2013) 3:30–39. [^23]: Qur’an 39:55. [^24]: Qur’an 39:18. [^25]: Qur’an 7:145. [^26]: Qur’an 5:48. [^27]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 17:43. [^28]: Abū al-Muẓaffar Manṣūr ibn Muḥammad al-Samaʿānī, *al-Iṣṭilām fī al-khilāf bayn al-imāmayn al-Shāfiʿī wa-Ab**ī* *Ḥanīfa*, ed. Nāyif al-ʿAmrī, 3 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Manār, 1992), 1:208–9. [^29]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 17:14–17. I could not locate this in Abū Yaʿlā’s available books. [^30]: Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Kafījī, *al-Ghurra al-wāḍiḥa fī tafsīr al-Fātiḥa*, ed. ʿAlī ʿAbdel Majīd al-Azharī (Cairo: Dār al-Iḥsān, 2017), 92. [^31]: Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, *al-Istidhkār al-Jāmiʿ li-madhāhib fuqahāʾ al-amṣār*, ed. ʿAbd al-Muʿṭī Qalʿajī, 30 vols. (Beirut: Dār Qutayba lil-Ṭibāʿa wal-Nashr, 1993), 8:116–7. [^32]: Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān, “*al-Fiqh al-akbar*,” in *al-ʿAqīda wa-ʿilm al-kalam*, ed. Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2004), 623–24. The translation is retrieved from A. J. Wensinck, *The Muslim Creed: Its Genesis and Historical Development* (London: Cambridge University Press, 1932), 196 (emphasis added). [^33]: If understood as equating the recitation of *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* to a third of the Qur’an, some scholars argue that these reports indicate such estimation independently, not in addition to other chapters whose virtue is reported to be equivalent, for example, to a quarter of the Qur’an in virtue. This interpretation prevents the sum of these fractions from exceeding the entirety of the Qur’an. Furthermore, this quantified reward may be interpreted as referring to a third of the Qur’an without including *Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ* itself in the calculation. See for example, ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī al-Shabrāmallisī and Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Rashīdī, *Ḥāshiy**a* *ʿalā nihāyat al-muḥtāj ilā sharḥ al-minhāj*, 8 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyah, 2003) 2:117. [^34]: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr al-Marwazī, *Masāʾil al-Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wa Isḥāq ibn Rāhawyh*, 1st ed., 10 vols. (Medina: al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyya, 2004), 9:4611–13; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, *al-Istidhkār*, 8:117–18. [^35]: Qur’an 21:2. [^36]: Qur’an 4:164. See Nūr al-Dīn Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī, *Mirqāt al-mafātīḥ sharḥ* *M**ishkāt al-maṣābīḥ*, ed. Jamāl ʿAytānī, 11 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2001), 5:3–4. [^37]: Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Rāzī, *al-Tafsīr al-kabīr*, 32 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 2:252. [^38]: Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥalīmī, *Kitāb* *al-**m**inhāj fī shuʿab al-īmān*, ed. Ḥilmī Muḥammad Fūda, 3 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1979), 2:244–45. [^39]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 6:2141. [^40]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 6:2141–42. [^41]: Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī, *Qānūn al-taʾwīl*, ed. Muḥammad al-Sulaymānī, 1st ed.  (Jeddah: Dār al-Qibla li-l-Thaqāfa al-Islāmiyya, 1086), 545–46. [^42]: Al-Ghazālī, *Jawāhir al-Qur**’a**n*, 73. [^43]: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mansṣūr ibn al-Munayyir, *al-Intiṣāf*, 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 1:302. [^44]: Scholars held differing views regarding the minimum number of Qur’anic verses necessary to establish the inimitability of the entire text. Some Mu’tazilites argued that the entirety of the Qur’an demonstrates its inimitability, while others contended that it must be at least a complete *sūrah*, regardless of its length. Yet another perspective posited that either a *sūrah* or its equivalent in speech, whereby the distinction in eloquence becomes apparent, can establish the inimitability. Various other opinions on this matter have also been documented. For further exploration, see al-Bāqillānī, *Iʿjāz al-Qur’an*, 254; al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 5:1896. [^45]: Ibn al-ʿArabī, *Qānūn al-taʾwīl*, 546. ## Summary Among the questions that occupied the minds of Muslim scholars is whether some parts of the Qur'an may be considered more meritorious than others. This question arises naturally from the fact that numerous Prophetic reports speak of the special merit of reciting, memorizing, or understanding particular verses or chapters. It is widely known among Muslims that Sūrat al-Fātiḥa, the Verse of the Throne (Āyat al-Kursī), and the first ten verses of Sūrat al-Kahf carry particular significance. The Qur'an itself hints at varying levels of revelation, both by asserting its superiority over previous scriptures and by acknowledging that a verse may be replaced by one better than it. Indeed, an entire genre of scholarship developed dedicated to compiling the reported virtues of the Qur'an as a whole and of its specific chapters and verses. Yet when the early scholars grappled with God's transcendent attributes—particularly His attribute of speech (kalām)—a difficulty emerged: if the Qur'an is the speech of Allah, how can one part of His speech be preferred over another? Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) observed that the contentious debates over God's attributes turned this into "a significant matter, resulting in widespread division among people." He himself addressed the meaning of the hadith describing Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ as equivalent to one-third of the Qur'an in a treatise later published as Jawāb ahl al-ʿilm wa al-īmān. Broadly, scholars hold one of two positions: that the Qur'an possesses uniform merit throughout, or that some of its parts are more meritorious than others. What follows presents both perspectives and their evidences, arguing that the disagreement is largely semantic, with each group emphasizing a distinct angle while overlooking the concern of the other. The purpose here is to establish a theological framework for understanding the concept of superiority (tafḍīl) within the Qur'an. The first opinion holds that no segment of the Qur'an is superior to another. Though considered the minority view, it is attributed to eminent scholars including Imam Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179/795), al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923), Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. 324/936), Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354/965), al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013), and Makkī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Qaysī (d. 437/1045), among others. Al-Darrāj claims an established consensus among Sunni scholars that references to the merits of particular parts do not imply inherent superiority—when the matter concerns Allah's uncreated attribute of speech rather than our human experience of the text. Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā (d. 234/848) reported that Mālik disapproved of emphasizing one sūrah over another in prayer, reflecting Mālik's interpretation of the abrogation verse—"We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it"—where "better" signifies a replacing ruling rather than excellence. Al-Ṭabarī similarly read the verse as concerning the abrogation of a ruling, holding that abrogation "brings a ruling that is better for you," whether easier in this life or greater in reward in the Hereafter, and insisting that nothing in the Qur'an can be better than anything else "because it is all the speech of Allah." Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198/814) admitted he once struggled with the verse until it was explained that "better" meant "easier for you, lighter for you, and gentler for you." Ibn Ḥibbān, commenting on the Prophet ﷺ describing al-Fātiḥa as the greatest chapter, said this meant greatest "in reward and not that parts of the Qur'an are better than others." The arguments of this first group may be summarized thus. First, the entire Qur'an is the speech of Allah, indivisible in merit with respect to His attribute of speech; al-Ashʿarī noted that this indivisibility does not preclude infinite significations, and that plural terms such as "words" denote greatness rather than multiplicity, while al-Bāqillānī held that what is eternal cannot have one part preferred over another, since divisibility belongs to the act of recitation, not the essence of the speech. Second, the compositional structure (naẓm) of the Qur'an is uniformly inimitable across its diverse literary forms, unlike human poets whose skill varies with their purpose. Third, since superiority implies imperfection in the lesser, terms like "greater" (aʿẓam) and "more meritorious" (afḍal) should be understood as "great" and "meritorious," with any differentiation relating only to human interaction with the text. The second opinion, recognized as the majority view, was called "the true" (ḥaqq) position by al-Qurṭubī (d. 656/1258), while Ibn al-Ḥaṣṣār (d. 610/1213) expressed astonishment at anyone denying it given the textual indications. Al-Ghazālī, a prominent advocate, addressed this in his Jawāhir al-Qurʾān, urging that if one's insight (nūr al-baṣīra) does not perceive the difference between Āyat al-Kursī and a verse on loans, or between Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ and Sūrat al-Masad, one should follow the Messenger ﷺ, who said, "The Opening of the Book is the best sūrah of the Qur'an," "The Verse of the Throne is the chief of the Qur'anic verses," and "Yāsīn is the heart of the Qur'an," and that Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ equals a third of the Qur'an in value. This group argues, first, from the numerous Prophetic reports of special merit; second, from reading the abrogation verse as replacement with something better; third, from verses describing revelation as "best" (aḥsan), such as "follow the best of what was revealed to you" and "those who listen to speech and follow the best of it," and the command to the Israelites to "take the best"; fourth, from the Qur'an's superiority over the Torah and Gospel, since Allah calls it "a criterion over it" (muhayminan ʿalayh), interpreted by early exegetes as an overseer of prior scriptures. Finally, the obligation of reciting al-Fātiḥa in prayer indicates its superiority. Al-Samʿānī (d. 489/1096) explained the Shāfiʿī position that al-Fātiḥa is the noblest sūrah, comprising "the seven oft-repeated verses" (al-sabʿ al-mathānī) and substituting for others though none can substitute for it, so the noblest sūrah is required in the noblest state. Abū Yaʿlā al-Farrāʾ (d. 458/1066) gave a parallel Ḥanbalī argument from text, reason, and legal practice, citing "We have certainly given you seven of the often repeated [verses] and the great Qur'an." A third, reconciliatory approach recognizes the dispute as largely semantic: one side views the Qur'an as God's direct speech, negating differing merit, while the other considers external factors granting worldly or spiritual value through human engagement. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071) noted that concern over ascribing differing value led some to figurative interpretation, yet the promise of reward reflects God's benevolence rather than the act's inherent merit; he preferred silence on such matters as "better and safer." Abū Ḥanīfa in al-Fiqh al-akbar affirmed that the verses are all equal in excellence as Allah's speech, though some hold pre-eminence in recitation or content—Āyat al-Kursī uniting both, verses describing infidels excelling only in recitation—and that Allah's names and qualities are likewise equal. Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (d. 238/853) explained that Allah made some of His speech superior in reward as encouragement to teach it, not that reciting Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ thrice equals reciting the whole Qur'an. Theologically, "Qur'an" carries two aspects: Allah's eternal attribute of speech and the temporal human recitation, reflected in "whenever any fresh (muḥdath) revelation comes to them" and "to Moses God spoke directly." Al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) noted that the Muʿtazila used the abrogation verse to argue against the Qur'an's eternality, the Sunni response distinguishing the speaker from the spoken. Al-Ḥalīmī (d. 403/1012) outlined five aspects of superiority: the priority and benefit of implementing a verse; the inclusion of Allah's names and attributes; immediate benefits of recitation such as protection from Āyat al-Kursī and al-Muʿawwidhatayn; multiplied reward for certain sūrahs as Allah honors particular times and places like the Sacred Mosque; and the Qur'an's distinction over previous scriptures through worship in its recitation, definitive knowledge, and its status as the Prophet's miracle. Thus superiority stems not from Allah's eternal attributes but from external factors—subject matter, richness of meaning, and God's generosity. Al-ʿIzz ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660/1262) held that "Allah's discourse about Himself surpasses His discourse about others," while al-Khuwayyī (d. 637/1240) cautioned that comparing sūrahs outside their contexts wrongly equates mentioning Allah with mentioning Abū Lahab, whereas each is unsurpassed within its context. Regarding Āyat al-Kursī and Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 543/1148) and al-Ghazālī noted the Throne Verse encapsulates Allah's essence, attributes, and actions, while Ibn al-Munayyir (d. 683/1284) cited his grandfather on its containing some twenty-two mentions of Allah's name. Yet Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr held Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ surpasses it, being a complete sūrah suitable for the challenge (taḥaddī) and establishing monotheism in fifteen letters versus fifty. In conclusion, this debate reflects a multifaceted theological framework in which some emphasize the equality of God's speech and others its differentiated merit based on Prophetic reports and the Qur'an's self-description. These discussions demonstrate a scholarly commitment to affirming Allah's transcendence and His attributes while adhering closely to the Prophetic reports, and they illustrate an evidence-based tradition in which respectful disagreement is valued when rooted in sound argumentation. Engaging with them allows Muslims to reflect deeply on the Qur'an, its position, and its merits, and to appreciate the depth of their intellectual heritage. ## Key Takeaways 1. Numerous Prophetic reports single out particular verses and chapters for special merit, such as al-Fātiḥa, the Verse of the Throne, and the first ten verses of Sūrat al-Kahf, and the Qur’an itself speaks of replacing a verse with one better than it. This raises a theological difficulty the early scholars took seriously: If the whole Qur’an is the speech of Allah, how can one part of His speech be preferred over another? The question divided them into two broad camps. 2. The first camp, the minority, holds that no part of the Qur’an is superior to another, since as Allah’s uncreated attribute of speech it is indivisible in merit. Mālik and al-Ṭabarī read the word “better” in the abrogation verse as a replacing ruling rather than a mark of excellence, and al-Ṭabarī insisted nothing in the Qur’an can surpass anything else because it is all the speech of Allah. On this view, words like “greatest” describe reward, not inherent rank. 3. The second camp, the majority, holds that some parts are more meritorious, resting on the Prophetic reports, the Qur’an’s description of parts of revelation as “best,” its standing as a criterion over earlier scriptures, and the obligation to recite al-Fātiḥa in every prayer. The paper argues the dispute is largely semantic and offers a reconciliation: Superiority attaches not to Allah’s eternal speech itself but to external factors like a verse’s subject matter, its richness of meaning, and the reward Allah attaches to reciting it. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Are some verses of the Qur’an more virtuous than others? This is a question Muslim scholars have discussed for centuries, and there are two main positions. One view holds that no part of the Qur’an is superior to another, since the entire Qur’an is the speech of Allah and His speech does not vary in worth. The other view, held by the majority, is that some chapters and verses carry greater merit, pointing to the many authentic reports that single out certain passages, such as al-Fātiḥa being called the greatest chapter and Āyat al-Kursī the greatest verse. Much disagreement can be reconciled by distinguishing different meanings of wording or even senses of superiority. Both sides agree that as the speech of Allah, the Qur’an is uniform in its sacredness. Where they differ is whether the extra reward, benefit, or protection tied to certain passages should be called “superiority.” Certain verses may therefore be described as more meritorious with respect to their content, benefit, or divinely assigned reward, without implying any deficiency in the rest of Allah’s speech. ### If the whole Qur’an is Allah’s speech, how can one part be greater than another? This is the heart of the debate, and scholars resolve it by distinguishing two senses of the word Qur’an. In one sense, the Qur’an is the eternal speech of Allah, and from this angle it cannot be divided into better and worse parts, since it all comes from the One who is perfect. In another sense, the Qur’an is what we recite and engage with as human beings, and from this angle some passages can carry greater merit for us. That merit does not come from Allah’s speech being unequal. It comes from considerations other than differing degrees of excellence within Allah’s eternal attributes of speech—such as a passage’s subject matter, richness of meaning, practical benefit, or the reward attached to its recitations. A verse about Allah Himself, for example, is honored by its subject, while a verse stating a legal ruling serves a different purpose. The greatness of certain verses therefore describes their content and their effect on the reader, not a ranking within the divine speech itself. ### Is Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ really equal to a third of the Qur’an? The Prophet ﷺ described Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ as equal to a third of the Qur’an, and scholars have explained carefully what this does and does not mean. It does not mean that reciting al-Ikhlāṣ three times is the same as reciting the entire Qur’an, nor that it can be substituted for reading the whole. The comparison points to the sura’s subject and to the great reward Allah attached to it as encouragement to learn and teach it. The Qur’an’s message can be grouped into broad themes, and al-Ikhlāṣ is a complete and concentrated statement of one of the most important, the oneness of Allah, expressed in remarkably few words. Its equivalence to a third is therefore understood in terms of meaning and reward, not as a literal exchange rate that would let repeated recitation replace the rest of the Book. Understood this way, the report is an invitation to value and reflect on the sura, not a shortcut around reading the Qur’an. ### What makes Āyat al-Kursī the greatest verse in the Qur’an? The Prophet ﷺ called Āyat al-Kursī, the Verse of the Throne, the greatest verse in the Qur’an, and scholars explain this by looking at what the verse contains. Its greatness is tied to its subject. In a single verse, it gathers Allah’s essence, His attributes, and His actions, mentioning Allah’s name directly or indirectly around twenty-two times. Knowing Allah is the highest aim of all knowledge, so a verse devoted so fully to describing Him is honored above others. Scholars add that this greatness reflects the verse’s content, not a claim that other parts of the Qur’an are deficient, since the whole Qur’an is the speech of Allah. Āyat al-Kursī is also known for the protection and reward attached to reciting it. Calling it the greatest verse therefore points to the profound subject it addresses and the benefit it brings to the one who recites and reflects on it. ### Does calling some verses “better” mean the other verses are lesser? No, and scholars were careful to guard against this misunderstanding. The majority view allows some passages to be more meritorious in particular respects, but this does not imply that any part of the Qur’an is defective, imperfect, or lacking in sacredness. Describing a verse as greater or more meritorious does not mean any part of the Qur’an is deficient, because the entire Qur’an is the speech of Allah and shares fully in that sacredness. The worry that calling something superior might imply imperfection in the rest is exactly why one group of scholars preferred to read words like “greatest” and “best” as simply “great” and “good.” A helpful example is comparing a chapter about the oneness of Allah with a chapter condemning an enemy of the Prophet ﷺ. Each is perfectly matched to its own purpose, and ranking them against each other would be like judging two very different things on a single scale. Within its own context, each chapter is complete and unsurpassed. Where scholars do use the language of preference, it is never meant to lower any part of the Book. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/finding-hope-in-allahs-mercy-and-forgiveness-understanding-the-name-at-tawwab # Finding Hope in Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness: Understanding the Name At-Tawwab | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Dhul Hijjah, Mental Health, Names of Allah, Ramadan **Published:** June 7, 2024 **Updated:** February 27, 2026 Have you ever found yourself feeling lost after making a wrong turn? In that moment of realization when the path ahead is unclear, what pushes you to make a shift in the right direction? This need to course-correct, to get back on the right path, and to ultimately find safety and security is a deeply human experience. Allah, in His infinite mercy, is constantly inviting us to turn back to Him, to find that trusted and reliable place of refuge, guidance, peace, and serenity. One of the beautiful names of Allah (SWT) is *At-Tawwab*, often translated as “The One who accepts repentance” or “The Ever-Relenting.” However, simple translations can’t capture the profound depth of this name. To truly understand *At-Tawwab*, we must delve deeper. Below are seven insights that can help. --- ## 1. Allah is constantly inviting us to turn to Him In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) is continuously inviting us to turn to Him. “Allah calls to *Dar-As-Salaam* (The House of Peace), and He guides whom He wills to a straight path” (Qur’an 10:25). This invitation is a call to leave behind all that distracts and misleads us and to find peace and security in His presence. It is an invitation to turn away from everything else and back to Him (SWT). Allah places that desire in our hearts, guiding us towards the right path. If we respond to this call by turning to Him, He responds by turning towards us. “And Allah wants to turn to you in grace, but those who follow their desires wish to see you deviate entirely from the right path” (Qur’an 4:27). --- ## 2\. Allah makes it easy for us to turn to Him *At-Tawwab* comes from the Arabic root (*ta-waw-ba*) which means to return. The name has two broad meanings, the first of which is often misunderstood. Allah (SWT) constantly, repeatedly, turns to His slaves. He facilitates our ability to repent. Think of the times you’ve felt genuine remorse for doing something wrong—that’s from *At-Tawwab*. Or the times Allah put someone in your life who encouraged you to do good and the moments of hardship that have reminded you to abandon certain habits and turn back to Him. These are all instances of the presence of *At-Tawwab* in our lives, moments that He turns to us in His mercy, reminding us that His door is always open. --- ## 3\. Repentance is a desire to right your wrongs In the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) time and time again instructs us to turn to Him. “Oh you who believe, turn to Allah in sincere repentance” (Qur’an 66:8). [Repentance](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/repentance-as-a-way-of-life-islam-spirituality-practice) involves reconciliation; it is about making things right, both with your Creator and with His creation. It involves feeling regret, a desire to be forgiven, and having a sincere intention to avoid what displeases God or is hurtful to others. None of us is free from needing to make *tawbah*; it is part of our makeup as human beings that we will all slip up and inevitably make mistakes. However, the Qur’an reassures us about Allah’s readiness to accept our return to Him. In Surah Ash-Shura, Allah (SWT) says, “And it is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons misdeeds, and He knows what you do” (Qur’an 42:25). Allah (SWT) is intimately aware of our actions, and out of His wisdom, He facilitates our remorse and eagerly awaits our return to forgive us once again. --- ## 4\. Allah shows us how to repent and is always ready to accept our repentance The second meaning of *At-Tawwab* is that Allah (SWT) accepts our repentance when we turn to Him. Consider the example of our parents Adam and Eve. When Satan whispered to them and they ate from the forbidden tree, they both immediately felt deep remorse. Allah (SWT) inspired them to feel regret. And then out of His mercy, He also taught them how to repent for their sin: “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will surely be among the losers” (Qur’an 7:23). These words were given to them by *At-Tawwab, Ar-Raheem*. --- ## 5\. His willingness to accept and His mercy go hand in hand Allah’s name *At-Tawwab* appears in the Qur’an eleven times. Nine out of those times, it’s paired with His name *Ar-Raheem*, so that we know that Allah (SWT) doesn’t just turn to us, but that He’s forever most merciful to us. Returning to Him is unlike approaching someone we’ve wronged who may still hold a grudge even after we apologize. Allah doesn’t deal with us the way His creation does; He doesn’t get annoyed with us, or limit our chances to change and start over. Rather, He accepts our repentance over and over again and lovingly turns to us out of His mercy. --- ## 6\. Seeking repentance doesn’t ensure immediate ease We may have the impression that once we make *[tawbah](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/repentance-redemption-salvation-an-islamic-framework)*, everything in our lives will immediately become easier because we’ve turned to *At-Tawwab*. However, Allah, out of His wisdom, may continue to test us because it may be through that test that we’ll grow and improve. For others, Allah knows that they’re unable to handle such a test. And thus, from His *hikmah* (wisdom), when you turn to Him, things do get immediately easier. Allah (SWT) is also *Al-Hakeem* (The All-Wise), and He knows best how to accept the *tawbah* of His servants. One occurrence of *At-Tawwab* in the Qur’an is paired with this name, *Al-Hakeem*, reminding us that His forgiveness is coupled with His infinite wisdom. “Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah upon you, and had Allah not been accepting of repentance, All-Wise, you would have suffered much” (Qur’an, 24:10). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aeEn3GWLQI In Episode 9 of the Ramadan series “The Name I Need”, Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on four powerful Names connected to forgiveness: Al-Ghaafir, Al-Ghaffaar, Al-Ghafur, and At-Tawwaab. --- ## 7\. Tawbah is a path of continual self-purification Allah (SWT) doesn’t just encourage or command us to turn to Him in repentance, but He also lets us know that [he loves the people who repent](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves-repentance-episode-2). “Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves” (Qur’an 2:222). *Tawbah* is a divine means of regular purification that wipes our slates clean. The Prophet ﷺ gave us an example of a man who went into the desert with a camel carrying all his provisions. He fell asleep, only to awake to find that his camel was gone. Panic set in, and he felt certain that death was imminent. Overcome by emotion and exhaustion, he returned to sleep, only to wake up and find his camel standing before him. Seeing it, he was ecstatic. The joy he felt in that moment is indescribable. The Prophet ﷺ teaches us that Allah (SWT) feels even more joy with the *tawbah* of one of His servants than this man felt at the return of his camel. --- ## Taking practical steps towards tawbah Each one of us is in need of repentance. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who was free from sin, sought Allah’s forgiveness more than a hundred times a day. He used to say, “O Allah, forgive me and accept my repentance, for You are the Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.” This practice emphasizes the importance of constantly turning back to Him. If you feel that God is opening the door of repentance for you, seize that opportunity. Begin by asking for His forgiveness with your tongue and making a sincere effort to change your ways. Identify any persistent sins and slowly work on eliminating them. If necessary, seek support from others. Focus on fulfilling the divinely legislated obligations, like your five daily prayers, and build your day around them. Remember, the path to true success and salvation lies in repentance. Allah assures us in the Qur’an, “And turn to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped” (Quran 39:54). Turning back to Allah purifies our souls and aligns our lives with the values He has prescribed. Know that Allah, *At-Tawwab*, is always ready to accept your repentance. No matter how far we may stray or for how long, His door is always open and His mercy knows no bounds. Seek His forgiveness, turn back to Him, and find the peace and security that only He can provide. To learn more about *tawbah*, see [Allah’s Name: At Tawwab - The One Who Accepts Repentance | Khutbah by Dr. Tahir Wyatt](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/tahirwyatt/allahs-name-at-tawwab-the-one-who-accepts-repentance-khutbah) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza # Speaking Truth to Power: Islamic Rules for Protests, Civil Disobedience, and Encampments for Gaza | Blog **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** May 16, 2024 **Updated:** August 22, 2024 To those of us witnessing the genocide in Gaza, can there be any doubt that we must do all we can to stop it, protest publicly even as we weep to ourselves, and demand change with all our strength as we console one another?[^1] To those raised with the proper teachings of Islam and blessed with compassion and a God-given love for justice, such a question might sound moot. Even beyond our bond of faith, our sheer humanity compels us to act, as the world awakens to the persecution of the Palestinians. Not only has the entire Global South long recognized the obvious justness of our cause, the young generation across the Global North too has suddenly awakened, standing aghast at the diabolical cruelty, hypocrisy, and support for the massacre of innocent children, women, and men that they are witnessing at the hands of their own governments. No one, however, has greater love and pain for the Ummah than the believing Muslims themselves—from Jakarta, Karachi, and Marrakech to our communities in the West, Muslims have come together. To say that we support the Palestinians is an understatement: Muslims everywhere are crying tears of blood that they cannot stop this carnage. They would stand, if they could, between the sweet children and the bombs and bullets tearing apart their tender bodies. And yet, they are powerless, betrayed by their own ruling elites. In this unequal world, decisions are made by a few in the Global North, in Western capitals, and the lives, let alone desires, of two billion heart-broken Muslims matter little. Western Muslims, in this context, have a double responsibility, given that our voices have the potential to change public opinion where it matters, and our tax dollars are used against our will to support this genocide. The enemy is a diabolical ideology that labels the Palestinians Amalekites—less than human and worthy of genocide—and its supporters are seasoned colonizers who have for a couple of centuries now honed their art of mass murder with impunity, justifying the stealing of land and resources, yet still trying to take the moral high ground by rewriting history. Many Jews worldwide, it must be noted, are among the most vocal opponents of the genocide, and some of the best scholars and journalists documenting Israel’s crimes. Opposing the genocide is not antisemitic, but insisting that those Jews who rise above partisanship and speak the truth often at great personal cost are “self-hating” probably should be. The Palestinian struggle resonates so deeply with the recently colonized peoples of the world, including many conscientious Jews, because it speaks deeply to their still fresh and in some cases deepening wounds. The Palestinians’ refusal to submit emanates from their Islam,[^2] their love for the Sacred Mosque and its blessed precincts, but the moral clarity of their struggle and its natural resonance with the human heart are such that they have awakened the world to the beauty and truth of Islam itself and given hope to the possibility of human justice and goodness. > It is for these reasons perhaps that the protests and encampments that began on a few American university campuses have not only continued, but have spread to university campuses across the world, pitting administrators beholden to money and politics against their own students and faculty. These powerless student groups have put their complicit governments and apathetic societies to shame, and have already secured significant concessions.[^3] And yet, there are doubters among us, victims of the same propaganda that has led many to accept normalization with the genocidal entity. Among them are good-hearted folks confused by the propaganda. Even among the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, Allah speaks of those righteous Muslims who were gullible, “avid listeners” to the hardened hypocrites whose agenda was to destroy Islam (Qur’an 9:47). A primer of Islamic rulings and reflections on the permissibility and even necessity of the current protests, then, is in order. Even more importantly, everything a believer does is guided by Islamic teachings. In that spirit, we capture some of the main Islamic considerations in the following seven points. --- ## 1\. Enjoin good and forbid evil First, protests are a form of enjoining good and forbidding evil. Speaking up for justice is a fundamental principle of Islam. As in the well-known saying of the Prophet, upon whom be peace, when you see evil, change it by your hand, if you cannot, then by your speech, and you cannot, then hate it in your heart, and this is the weakest of faith.[^4] Numerous leading scholars of the Muslim world have not only declared protests for a legitimate Islamic cause permissible but have encouraged them: > “Participation in protests against oppression is required, as it falls in the category of prohibiting evil, which is an obligation upon Muslims, and it constitutes giving help to the oppressed (which is also required); as for the mixing of genders, it is impermissible whether during or outside the protests.”[^5] This means that protesting, if done with faith and trust in Allah, is a meritorious act regardless of whether it results in immediate benefits.[^6] If, however, one knows with reasonable surety that such protests will deliver Islamic goods such as coolness of the hearts of our suffering brothers and sisters far away in Gaza, encouragement for others who are scared, education for those who are ignorant, and most of all, possible change in policy that could stop the genocidal war, then it becomes an obligation to do what we can to support these protests. Protests and encampments, it should be remembered, are only a means to the goal of aiding our oppressed brethren, and despite overwhelming empirical evidence today that they have been highly effective, having terrified the genocidal entity and its supporters worldwide, reasonable people may disagree about their effectiveness or usefulness of their own participation in them. In some circumstances, such as in recent student protests in Southern California when Muslim women were threatened by hired goons, it may become obligatory for Muslim men to go and physically protect them.[^7] If one feels considerably unsafe or genuinely fears falling into haram, and no reasonable safeguards are available, he or she may individually avoid them and support the cause in other ways. When deciding whether to join or otherwise support these protests, remember that our people in Gaza have their eyes on us, and they are incalculably encouraged when they see people around the world, especially their Muslim brethren in the West, come out and show support. --- ## 2\. Fulfill the collective obligation of defending Muslims Second, protests and encampments are a way to dispense our collective obligation to defend oppressed Muslims. When a collective obligation is not being fulfilled, to work toward fulfilling it becomes an individual obligation, and to fail to do one’s part becomes sinful. Since most collective obligations require coordination, persuasion, organization, and leadership, the immediate action that one undertakes can take many different forms that seem to be remote from the location of the action itself, but are necessary for the action to take place. Put differently, protests and encampments do not subsist on their own, but need active legal, educational, pastoral, logistical, and other practical means of support, and these are all meritorious and carry the same blessings and reward. An example of such action in the time of the Prophet was *ribāṭ*, which is defined as holding on to the position between the Muslims and their enemies, which could mean living on the frontiers of Dār al-Islam, being on the watch for the enemy’s aggression. This is one of the most meritorious actions in Islam, and one day spent in this activity is better than the whole world.[^8] The best *ribāt* today is in Gaza, as many scholars have argued, based on a prophecy of the Prophet.[^9] The next best, God willing, is to show them our support and try to change public opinion about them in the heart of the land that has for decades supported their persecution and genocide. --- ## 3\. Maintain Islamic etiquette and avoid anything haram Third, bring your Islam with you, avoid anything haram, and make your protest a form of *daʿwa*. Participating in protests about a righteous cause tends to uplift and empower us but can also induce group-think. We have to be extra careful about Allah’s limits. Any illicit actions must be avoided, and what is unavoidable must be kept to a minimum. Prayers must not be lost or delayed. In fact, the encampments are an opportunity to showcase our faith, as we have indeed witnessed the protesters do in many cases, where even non-Muslims have joined Muslim students, inspired by their faith and trust. On Ohio State University campus, for instance, the Muslims praying ʿIsha became the center of the protest, and the non-Muslim students surrounded the Muslims engaged in prayers to protect them from the police, chanting “Let them pray!” The fear of something new and uncharted should not be overstated, and the possibility of such scenarios should not prevent you from taking action. It was a trick in the bag of the hypocrites, as on the occasion of the Expedition of Tabūk, to play up this temptation. We do not want to join the Prophet’s campaign, they said, because of the temptation we feel toward the women there. The Almighty rejects this false pretension of piety: “Into temptation they have indeed fallen” (9:49). The analogy is not perfect, given that they were disobeying the Prophet directly, but the idea is to refrain from using minor temptations as an excuse for not fulfilling a great and urgent imperative. Courage tempered with wisdom is a virtue. > The Prophet said, “The believer who mixes with people and patiently endures their harm is better than the one who does not mix with people and endure their harm.”[^10] --- ## 4\. Build intentional alliances Fourth, the participation of non-Muslims in the protest, or even their leadership, neither takes away from the benefit of the protests—it in fact makes them more effective—nor the reward with Allah for the Muslims who participate. The Prophet sought and benefited from the help of non-Muslims in Mecca. His uncle Abū Ṭālib protected him for the first ten years of his mission, his largely non-Muslim clan Banū Hāshim endured at his side when the other leading clans boycotted them for supporting the Prophet, and a pagan chief al-Muṭʿim b. ʿAdiyy protected him out of a sense of honor when later the Prophet’s own clan refused to protect him. In all of these cases, these non-Muslims’ support for the Prophet was driven by their own natural virtue, sense of justice, family ties, and tribal loyalty. The Prophet loved his uncle and relatives dearly and appreciated their help all his life, mentioning them to his companions in Medina. Like them, participants in these righteous protests are varied: some are not Muslim, or not practicing Muslims, or associated with other objectionable ideas. Still, they are good-hearted people who are willing to get bullied, doxxed, even expelled and lose their careers, because they are compelled by a noble human impulse. Furthermore, we are seeing their hearts soften towards Muslims as they witness their faith and reliance on Allah and the brutality and tyranny of their enemy. This alone should establish for us the beneficial nature of these protests and encampments. --- ## 5\. Recognize your right to oppose injustice Fifth, civil disobedience, strikes, and encampments are a recognized and honorable tradition in recent history across the world, from the anti-colonial movements in the Global South to civil rights, anti-apartheid, and other movements. Great injustices such as racial segregation in the US and South African apartheid were all technically lawful until grassroots civil disobedience had them outlawed; the holocaust itself was the fruit of a modern, legal order, which perhaps could have been averted had enough citizens protested in civil disobedience. Regardless of whether one agrees with their specific causes in every instance, these movements generally do not necessarily cause violence, but in fact avert much greater eruptions of violence, civil war, and continuation of murderous policies. They have succeeded in drawing attention to wars and genocides in relatively peaceful ways. The alternative to civil disobedience and protest is either total acquiescence to elite interests or civil war and violent rebellion. Some Muslims in the West might feel terrified to engage in such acts, or they may feel hindered by an imagined citizenship contract of total obedience. Some may be victims of modern authoritarian propaganda in the Muslim world that asserts that all protests are rebellion, and all rebellion is impermissible.[^11], [^12] They may be moved by a desire to follow the law, and terrified to run afoul of it. They should know that it is the university administrations and police departments that are in fact engaged in unconstitutional actions. Regardless, even if we hypothetically suppose that these unjust actions are constitutional, as Muslims, unjust laws that support genocidal policies against anyone or curb “speaking truth to power” in service of murderous ideologies are never binding on us. --- ## 6\. Stay focused on the cause Sixth, lead the protests in a direction that is productive, effective, and focused. Avoiding conflict as much as reasonable, Muslims who are well-informed about the cause and Islamic rulings should assume leadership of the protest, or at least their section of the protest, and ensure that the uniting cause of justice in Palestine and end to the genocide remain the focus. Inevitably, people with ulterior motives and other ideologies will join. They should be appreciated but not be allowed to hijack the protests. The protests have been 99% peaceful, which is a remarkable achievement.[^13] Even the 1% are those cases in which goons have been hired to sabotage the peaceful protests by raising antisemitic slogans, falsely claiming harassment, or by attacking the protesters. The purpose of these protests is not to destroy the government, the police, to harm anyone, or to harm private property. Nor is it to cause inconvenience, obstruct passages, or take over buildings; even though in particular circumstances some administrations’ hostile and unconstitutional crackdown may lead students to improvise. Such instances can be evaluated only on a case-by-case basis. Our adversaries want to cause distraction, divide, and accuse the peaceful protestors, so erring on the side of patience, like the Muslims in Mecca, is always better. Furthermore, we can direct the protest in an Islamic direction. One scholar recalled that in one instance, the students were playing Arabic music, and he gently suggested that playing recitation of the Qur’an is more authentic to the Gazan struggle, which was received well. In another instance, as noted above, Muslim students’ performance of the ʿIsha prayer became the centerpiece of the protest. Obviously, these kinds of interventions will be easier if Muslims are present in large numbers and are unified around basic principles. --- ## 7\. Put your trust in Allah Seventh, pray, pray, pray. During times of grief and calamity, [Qunūt Nāzilah](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/qunut-nazilah-a-guide-to-making-dua-for-the-oppressed-in-times-of-war&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856072745&usg=AOvVaw2inVZn5Zatcc03EAJ9zEiu)—the Supplication of Devotion upon a Calamity—is the Sunnah of the Prophet, upon him be peace.[^14] Be it in the protests and the encampments, or during our congregational or private prayers, supplication is the greatest weapon of the believer. What distinguishes us from all others is that while we pursue all legitimate means with all our might as we are commanded, we rely ultimately not on our actions, nor on any human power, but on Allah alone. May Allah preserve and bless our local imam in Toledo, my dear friend and neighbor, Sh. ʿAbd al-Ḥaleem, who has untiringly followed this Sunnah of the Prophet and prayed Qunūt for the people of Gaza for the last seven months in every one of the five prayers. How could we not stand for justice and speak out against tyranny? Our religion is the religion of justice: > “O you who have believed, stand firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do” (5:8). We are the Ummah of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who said, “The greatest jihad is to speak a word of truth before a tyrant.”[^15] We are the Ummah of Moses, whose story of [confronting Pharaoh](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856073533&usg=AOvVaw28MmpXTRUnqd59I246pC2K) is the most paradigmatic story in the Qur’an, the most frequently repeated. I cannot think of a better ending for this brief reminder than to quote the words of the Almighty addressing Moses and his people: “Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions, oppressing a section among them, slaughtering their \[newborn\] sons and keeping their women alive; indeed, he was of those who work corruption. Yet We wished to show favor to those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them the inheritors” (28:5–6). For our people in Palestine, and like them, [we supplicate to God](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/5-duas-for-palestine-and-gaza&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856073805&usg=AOvVaw3Zxbx1JRAbxnXBAid4igEF) without impatience and without exhaustion, and raise our voices until the time of Divine Favor is come and the time of the tyrants is up. --- ## Notes [^1]: I am grateful, after Allah, to a number of friends and teachers who have reviewed and improved this article, including Yahya Birt, Mairaj Syed, Jawad Qureshi, Mobeen Vaid, Osman Umarji, Omar Suleiman, and the Yaqeen team. The errors remaining are all mine. [^2]: Ovamir Anjum and Omar Suleiman, “The Palestinian Struggle through the Prophetic Lens,” *Yaqeen*, July 31, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-palestinian-struggle-through-the-prophetic-lens](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-palestinian-struggle-through-the-prophetic-lens&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856079312&usg=AOvVaw0h5LKj7GLIus40q-_Qqqui). [^3]: Jillian Kestler-D'Amours, “With Eyes on US College Campuses, Students Stress: ‘Gaza Is Why We’re Here,’” Aljazeera, April 26, 2024, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/26/with-eyes-on-us-college-campuses-students-stress-gaza-is-why-were-here](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/26/with-eyes-on-us-college-campuses-students-stress-gaza-is-why-were-here&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856074323&usg=AOvVaw1gSGMYqOEXQBbilmAkuaQj) . For a review of their success from a generally hostile source, see Michael T. Nietzel, “Campus Protests Pose Big Question For College Leaders: Deal Or No Deal?,” *Forbes*, May 12, 2024, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/05/12/campus-protests-pose-big-question-for-college-leaders-deal-or-no-deal/?sh=4cc9508e1108](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/05/12/campus-protests-pose-big-question-for-college-leaders-deal-or-no-deal/?sh%3D4cc9508e1108&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856074718&usg=AOvVaw0KujegK8STZ3DelVVMFNw-). [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 49. [^5]: Libyan Grand Mufti Shaykh Ṣādiq al-Gharayānī, [https://sadiqalghiryani.ly/fatwa/2493](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sadiqalghiryani.ly/fatwa/2493&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856075116&usg=AOvVaw1xm_oQQQplu1Mt28EELsS0). Note that “the mixing of genders” has to be understood in accordance with the custom (*ʿurf*) of a given society that has been accepted by the Muslim scholars of the land. The ruling here is similar to that of attending educational institutions, which most American Muslim scholars encourage for both men and women, since in most cases proper hijab and other *sharʿī* norms can be observed. For those who adhere to a stricter code of gender interaction, participation of men with requisite precaution and women with their *maḥram* (legally related) males is still possible, God willing. Such Muslims are encouraged to proactively secure proper conditions and participate in a way permissible in their respective culture or *madhhab*. [^6]: This principle is established in 7:164 in the Quranic story of the Sabbath-breakers. [^7]: Abdullah Oduro, Osman Umarji, and Mohammad Elshinawy, Iman Cave, forthcoming episode. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2892. Another hadith has it that waiting between obligatory prayers in the mosque is also a kind of *ribāṭ*, thus suggesting the idea of patiently persevering and waiting. [^9]: Yaqeen Institute, “Why Is Gaza Important? Honoring a Land of Ribat,” *Yaqeen*, December 11, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/why-is-gaza-important-honoring-a-land-of-ribat](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/why-is-gaza-important-honoring-a-land-of-ribat&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856078612&usg=AOvVaw3xaDT_BNmZAaPvKtfRN22t). [^10]: [10\]](https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/post/speaking-truth-to-power-islamic-rules-for-protests-civil-disobedience-and-encampments-for-gaza#ftnt_ref10) *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 4032; declared authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*). [^11]: Only armed rebellion against a just and legitimate Muslim ruler who upholds God’s law is forbidden by all Muslim scholars. Muslim scholars have differed in cases when any of these conditions is missing. To apply this rule to non-Muslim governments, even if they were just and not aiding genocide, would mean treating Islam as irrelevant, and equating Islam with *kufr*. For more on this, see my online presentation: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9M7MVf6UfI&t=1247s](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dd9M7MVf6UfI%26t%3D1247s&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856076807&usg=AOvVaw2BTM460maXeG-Q_zMgLViB). [^12]: Note that even the most conservative scholars, in Saudi Arabia for instance, make a distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn said, for instance, “If \[protests\] are a custom in Christian, Western countries, these being lands of non-Muslims, and Muslims as individuals or as a group cannot attain their rights except through this means, then I hope that there is nothing objectionable about it.” [حكم التظاهر السلمي للمطالبة بالحقوق](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/177035/%25D8%25AD%25D9%2583%25D9%2585-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25AA%25D8%25B8%25D8%25A7%25D9%2587%25D8%25B1-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B3%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D9%258A-%25D9%2584%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D8%25B7%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25A8%25D8%25A9-%25D8%25A8%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25AD%25D9%2582%25D9%2588%25D9%2582&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1715875856077611&usg=AOvVaw30cdiv8c2lgKPu450wCgYs). [^13]: Lois Beckett, “Nearly All Gaza Campus Protests in the US Have Been Peaceful, Study Finds,” *The Guardian*, May 20, 2024, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/peaceful-pro-palestinian-campus-protests.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/peaceful-pro-palestinian-campus-protests.) [^14]: The Prophet ﷺ prayed for the oppressed Muslims held back in Mecca, naming them one by one and generally, and against their oppressors (*Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2932) and on another occasion for an entire month after every prayer, according to a report in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4090. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/from-gaza-to-islam-understanding-the-qurans-transformative-power # From Gaza to Islam: Understanding the Qur'an's Transformative Power **Author:** Roohi Tahir **Topics:** Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Quran, Social Justice **Tags:** Gaza, Palestine, Paper, Publication **Published:** April 22, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 ## Introduction Amid the devastating genocide raging through Gaza, from the rubble emerges an  indestructible light that has captivated the hearts of people across the world—the faith and resilience of the people of Gaza. This isn’t the first war. Sadly, this also isn’t the first time that ethnic cleansing of an indigenous people has occurred at the hands of a tyrant occupier. However, this is the era of social media, where outsiders are able to witness the destruction unfold in an unprecedented way. Frequently described as an open-air prison and a concentration camp, Gaza has been held hostage and is now facing starvation, with little to no access to the essentials for survival, such as water, food, fuel, and medical care.[^1] The relentless slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians, a significant number of whom are women and children, is horrific and unfathomable.[^2] Yet, we see their hope. The survivors are miraculously able to stand up and continue, despite losing everything time and time again. These are not ordinary people; their dignity and courage shine through our screens. As a Muslim-majority population, they bury their loved ones in gratitude for every God-given breath and with certainty that they will be reunited with them in paradise. Their eyes and hearts are fixed on the eternal life to come. The people of Gaza live in this world knowing it is not the be-all and end-all that modern-day secularism claims it to be. Betrayed and abandoned by the vast majority of the world, they see the stark reality of an unjust world that turns a blind eye to their plight and dismisses their screams. Yet, they remain determined. Their faith cannot be silenced. Whether young or old, their voices carry the conviction that true victory is achieved in redirecting their fear and complaints to God Almighty, while exerting steadfastness through their refusal to give up. Their gratitude is firmly grounded in the belief that, despite their meager and desperate circumstances, they have already attained the greatest provision of this life—divine guidance. Hence, they wholeheartedly invest their effort toward the everlasting returns to come. This is demonstrated through their servitude, worship, and reliance on God. This is faith in action, this is Islam: complete submission to God. They have patience, gratitude, and trust in God's promise of paradise. This is *the* source of the inner peace and contentment we see manifested in the unmistakable glow upon their faces, amid the tears and smiles, and upon the faces of those left behind. This paper highlights the transformative nature of divine guidance that inspires and produces such exemplary faith and resilience. Demonstrating how divine guidance inspires not only the people of Gaza, but all of humanity, it walks through the profound and timeless impact of the Qur’an on the faith, character, and resolve of sincere seekers of the truth, past and present. --- ## Seekers of truth and people of the Qur’an In addition to the obliteration in Gaza, we are witnessing a battle for the *truth* like never before. There is a paramount war being waged over control of the public narrative with a daily onslaught of conflicting media reports and brazen attempts by political leadership to justify the atrocities they inflict, garner support, and  enhance their own public image. Sincerity, integrity, and credibility have become scarce. With this, comes an increased awareness of the internal battle within each of us to discern the truth for ourselves. This is the perpetual battle within the heart and mind which is to be fought by every individual, with a level of self-scrutiny that demands close attention to the most subtle voice within us. Upholding the truth is the purpose and pursuit of this life, and it is the only means to salvation in the hereafter. The battle for the truth is not limited to the political arena but extends to every arena of life; no one is immune from turning away from the truth or from being led astray from it, and doing so has dire consequences. This is why we are commanded to implore God daily to keep us adherent to the truth that is the Straight Path.[^3] When we understand the reality of this life, the history of human civilization, and the fallibility of man, we expect the truth to be met with resistance. Just as we know that nations rise and fall, as do the tyrants of this world, we know that truth always triumphs over falsehood. The struggle to uphold the truth outweighs and outlasts everything in this world. Hence, in one of the shortest yet most profound chapters of the Qur’an, encompassing the essence of Islam, God says: “By the passage of time! Surely humanity is in grave loss—except those who have faith, do good, and urge each other to the truth, and urge each other to persevere.”[^4] The renowned scholar, Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) explains that the *truth* referred to here must be demonstrated in both faith and practice, and that each of these can only be upheld through enjoining them mutually, while constantly being aware of and striving in every moment to avert ultimate loss in the hereafter. In his words, upholding this truth “cannot be attained except by turning to the Qur’an with understanding, reflection, and contemplation, unearthing its treasures and culling out its buried pearls, resorting to it with constancy and resolve. For it alone assures the well-being of God’s servants in this life and the next and takes them to the path of righteousness.”[^5] The people of Gaza are keenly aware of the battle over truth and are actively engaged in upholding it, and it is their perpetual and personal relationship with the Qur’an that strengthens, nourishes, and shapes their ability to do so. *The Palestine Chronicle* reports that Gaza has one of the proportionately largest Qur’an memorization populations in the world, frequently organizing Qur’an study and memorization events throughout Palestine.[^6] According to one estimate, the Islamic Waqf of Gaza reported nearly 40,000 students of the Qur’an since 2006. Zakariya Alzemly, a professor of the Science of Quran and Comparative Religion at the Islamic University in Gaza explained this noteworthy dedication to the Qur’an, stating that, “The Quran gives us comfort. We’re living in bad conditions, under pressure. The Quran teaches us patience.”[^7] It is the Qur’an that imparts upon them the knowledge and sharpened insight to empower them with the conviction and courage to stay the course to win, despite experiencing an ongoing massacre and ethnic cleansing. In the face of arrogant oppressors who deny their right to exist, and who engage in genocide and humiliation, the people of Gaza clearly see the light of hope and victory. They know that God does not abandon anyone who sincerely calls upon Him and upholds truth. Every hardship has the promise of ease from Him. His guidance, the Qur’an, is that light and the rope to salvation to hold firmly to, from the depths of any and every darkness. God has a plan, and there is perfect wisdom in His timing. We see from the words live-streamed on social media that the people of Gaza find comfort and motivation in God’s verses, which reassure them of the eternal reward that awaits them.[^8] Their truthfulness is found in their servitude and worship of God alone, adhering to His divine guidance, with sincere intentions and conduct.[^9] Such are the believers who are praised by God for their virtues. God promises to reunite them in paradise with the righteous among their loved ones. They will be rewarded for keeping their covenant with Him, for upholding the ties of kinship, and for what they spend for His pleasure, while mindful of Him, fearing Him, and turning to Him alone in worship.[^10] > God will say, “This is a Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness. They will have Gardens graced with flowing streams, there to remain forever. God is pleased with them and they with Him: that is the supreme triumph.”[^11] > > …the Gardens of Eternity, which they will enter along with the righteous among their parents, spouses, and descendants. And the angels will enter upon them from every gate,”Peace be with you, because you have remained steadfast. What an excellent reward is this home of yours!”[^12] Each face in Gaza represents a precious life and its own story, and many of their stories have gone viral as examples of truth, faith, and resilience. Gaining the empathy and prayers of millions of admirers and well-wishers around the world, their stories are an inspiration for those watching these modern-day heroes jump into action to help one another. Embodying the values of the Qur’an, the people of Gaza are teaching us how to grieve, worship, live, and die. Among those we look up to for his demonstration of unwavering faith is a well-known grandfather, Khaled Nabhan or “Amu Khaled” as the world affectionately refers to him now. He lost two of his precious grandchildren, Reem, who, he said was the “soul of my soul,” and her brother Tarek, just three and five years old. He fondly recalls their joyful memories together—Reem’s tiny earring is now pinned to his clothing, close to his heart. Remarkably, he is still able to turn his attention to console another child who has just lost her leg, reassuring her that it awaits her in paradise. He is seen volunteering at the make-shift emergency rooms and leading funeral prayers, staying productive in the sight of his Lord, despite the immense weight of his own grief.[^13] Brave photojournalists and numerous others still in their youth, are now the flag bearers of the truth and among the first responders on the scene after every bombardment. Many have already lost loved ones and many their own lives. They are deliberately targeted in order to silence them from exposing the truth about the atrocities being carried out.[^14] Wael Al-Dahdouh is a veteran correspondent for Al Jazeera who lost his beloved wife, Amna, fifteen-year-old son, Mahmoud, seven-year-old daughter, Sham, and his one-and-a-half-year-old grandson, Adam. Barely a month later, his eldest son, Hamza, only twenty-seven and also a journalist, was brutally targeted and killed in his vehicle. This brought the total number of murdered journalists at the time to eighty-five, according to the findings of the Committee to Protect Journalists.[^15] Wael is foremost a man of faith, and a father of eight. The strength of his faith shone through at the onset of his devastating news when he continued, committed to his work and the dissemination of truth even as he discovered the grim reality of his loved ones’ deaths and mourned his losses.[^16] In an interview shortly after the first attack, he said, “It's a difficult moment in the life of a Palestinian journalist, when they go to cover an incident for the news and find out that the news is their own family.”[^17] Whether a mother comforting her children as they huddle together before the imminent overnight airstrike, a reporter capturing the anguish of its aftermath, a brother discovering his sibling has just joined those martyred, or a child undergoing surgery without anesthesia, we have witnessed the people of Gaza call upon God with the same conviction and powerful words that protected the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) from the blazing fire he was thrown into at the command of a tyrant ruler several millennia before, verses of the Qur’an,“Allah alone is sufficient as an aid for us and He is the best Protector.”[^18] These are people of the Qur’an, those who strive to embody the excellence of its guidance, and this is how they will be honored and remembered. In divine revelation, the people of Gaza find the means to strengthen their faith and resilience, just as the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions did during the Battle of Uhud. In Uhud, the Muslims were outnumbered and suffered a tremendous loss at the hands of the enemy. Nevertheless, they stood by their Prophet ﷺ and their cause. They remained steadfast, relying on God for victory, calling upon Him with this same supplication (*duʿāʾ*).[^19] > Those who were warned, “Your enemies have mobilized their forces against you, so fear them,” the warning only made them grow stronger in faith and they replied, “Allah alone is sufficient as an aid for us and He is the best Protector.”[^20] > Never think of those martyred in the cause of Allah as dead. In fact, they are alive with their Lord, well provided for—rejoicing in Allah’s bounties and being delighted for those yet to join them. There will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.[^21] --- ## Inspiring others to turn to the Qur’an As the extraordinary faith, trust, and resilience of the people of Gaza is live-streamed in the midst of their immense suffering, the world has awoken and taken notice, spurring a new phenomenon in the western world. Mirroring responses in the wake of 9/11, people are reaching for the Qur’an for the first time in search of the source of this unwavering demonstration of faith. However, this time is different. Intrigue isn’t being stimulated by a need to confirm the negative bias of the “War on Terror” propaganda that has dominated media, politics, and Hollywood, dehumanizing Muslims and demonizing Islam.[^22] Rather, intrigue is being stimulated by positive and praiseworthy characteristics, as a recent article in *The Guardian* states, “They are turning to the Qur’an to understand the incredible resilience, faith, moral strength and character they see in Muslim Palestinians.”[^23] In doing so, many have recognized and internalized what they are discovering of the truth and are personally experiencing the transformative impact of the Qur’an. This has led many to embrace Islam and others to turn back to it with renewed perspective and faith. We are all awestruck and inspired by the faith of the people of Palestine—the closest semblance in our times to that of the pious predecessors, who strove to embody the Qur’an as the Prophet ﷺ exemplified it.[^24] We are connecting to the Qur’an like never before, experiencing its verses come alive before our eyes as the Qur’anic lens perfectly aligns to shed light on current events, resonating truth with the answers, hope, and means to gain perspective and find direction. Allah describes Himself in the greatest verse of the Qur’an, in which are His greatest names, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining, in whom we find refuge. His guidance and inimitable support for the believers are the only means to clarity and stability, in a self-serving world of false promises, misguidance, and ultimate loss.[^25] He is the source of the truth, the most Just, and He demands from us that we uphold the truth with just treatment toward others, in all circumstances, whether it be with friend or foe. > Allah! There is no god worthy of worship except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission? He fully knows what is ahead of them and what is behind them, but no one can grasp any of His knowledge—except what He wills to reveal. His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. For He is the Most High, the Greatest. > > Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood. So whoever renounces false gods and believes in Allah has certainly grasped the firmest, unfailing handhold. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. > > Allah is the ally of those who believe: He brings them out of the depths of darkness and into the light. As for the disbelievers, their allies are false gods who take them from the light into the depths of darkness, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, and there they will remain.[^26] > O believers! Stand firm for Allah and bear true testimony. Do not let the hatred of a people lead you to injustice. Be just! That is closer to righteousness. And be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what you do.[^27] The now well-known Megan Rice is an avid reader and content creator and a shining example of someone who was drawn to the Qur’an by the people of Gaza. What began as a conversation on her TikTok account about the injustice being carried out in Gaza soon turned its attention to the strong faith of the Palestinian people and how “they still find room to make it a priority to thank God, even when they have everything taken away from them.” Megan, who by her own words, was “not previously religious,” began reading the Qur’an for the first time, inviting her audience to join her virtual World Religion Book Club. In doing so, she quickly discovered that the text aligned with her core belief system, as “anti-consumerist” and “anti-oppressive.” This was a complete turnaround from her prior misconceptions of Islam as a “severe or strict” religion. Within a month, she professed her belief in Islam, declaring the testimony of faith (*shahāda*).[^28] While Megan has since decided to further her personal study of the Qur’an away from social media, a search for “Quran Book Club” on TikTok yields an astounding 16B views, as this humanitarian catastrophe has galvanized huge numbers of people to turn to the Qur’an.[^29] Another example is that of Nefertari Moonn who is married to a non-practicing Muslim and describes herself as spiritual, but not previously religious. Nefertari also took her *shahāda* after she began reading the Qur’an to better understand the faith and character of the Palestinians. She states her motivation as, “I wanted to see what it was that made people call out to Allah when they stared death in the face… Seeing passage after passage resonated with me. I began to have such an emotional attachment to it.”[^30] The Qur’an teaches us the reality of life. We will be tested with loss in regard to the most important and beloved aspects of our lives. Those who stay the course and submit wholeheartedly to God, acknowledging that everything belongs to Him, will be rewarded with far more: > We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure—who say, when struck by a disaster, “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will all return.” These will be given blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.[^31] However, despite the beauty in these conversions, the voices of hatred, contention, and pessimism are ever-present to cast shadows of doubt. Writer and editor for *New Lines* Magazine, Jessica Roy, points to perceived sincerity and opportunism: “Although social media is designed to be a platform for infinite experimentation with personae and identity, abiding faith is fundamentally at odds with virality. In the case of these TikTok converts, experts fear, once Israel’s war in Gaza is finished, so too will their commitment—and what will that say about what it means to be a Muslim in modern America?”[^32] She adds that, particularly in today’s highly-polarized and politicized social media environment which allows for the most marginalized and even dangerous ideologies to gain momentum online, the uptick in recent conversions are as likely to be borne out of the intersection of a faith crisis and the quest for identity, as they are with solidarity in a time of crisis, politics, war, and propaganda. Speaking to this, we know that the Qur’an calls extensively to sincerity, intentions, and individual accountability before God. Humanity will be divided into two categories on the Day of Judgment—those who, when shown the truth, believed it and sincerely lived by it, and those who, despite seeing it, had the audacity to reject it, and, hence, were no longer capable of recognizing it.[^33] Allah says in the Qur’an, “Those who rejected the truth will bear the burden of that rejection, and those who did good deeds will have made good provision for themselves,”[^34] and “In this Qur’an We have set every kind of illustration before people, yet if you brought them a miracle, the disbelievers would still say, ‘You deal only in falsehood.’”[^35] Recent converts disagree with the so-called “experts.” Clarke Jones (a pseudonym) who was raised in the Church of Christ told *News Line*: “I would say that Palestine itself didn’t make me convert… but Palestine made me pick up the Quran. I originally picked up the Quran for education and solidarity and when I read it, it was describing what I already felt and what I already believe.” Jamie Rosario, also a recent convert, had the following to say: “I’ve been keeping up with my daily prayers and I feel so much peace… Coming from a divorce, having sold my house, even the friends I had five years ago—it’s all a blank slate for me right now and the Quran and Islam and the community I’ve found is one of the things that has brought me a sense of hope and optimism. I’m returning back to who I was always meant to be.”[^36] The inner peace Jamie spoke of comes from the belief in Islam that God created us with the sole purpose to worship and to obey Him. There is no greater hope than to know His mercy, to turn to Him for forgiveness, and to seek from Him. In the Qur’an, God tells us: > I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.[^37] > > …O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.[^38] > And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine. And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He alone is sufficient for them. Certainly, Allah achieves His Will. Allah has already set a destiny for everything.[^39] --- ## The transformative Qur’anic lens One of the most beautiful and liberating aspects of Islam, as emphasized repeatedly throughout the Qur’an, is the deeply personal relationship between the individual and God. With no intermediary, final judgment belongs to God alone, who is fully and intricately aware of our every intention and will reward us on the basis of sincerity and effort. This connection is the very light Nefatari Moonn describes as “…a peace that comes with reading the Qur’an. I feel light, like I came back to something that was always there and waiting for me to return.”[^40] The first chapter of the Qur’an, which is referred to as *The Opening*, is the most eloquent summary and introduction to God, to His Mercy in particular, and to our servitude, accountability, and complete dependence upon Him. Recited several times a day during the five daily obligatory prayers, these verses serve as a perpetual reminder that adherence to the truth or the Straight Path is not to be taken for granted. Humanity is always at risk of turning away from the truth or of losing our way, such that walking the Straight Path cannot be achieved without divine aid: > In the Name of Allah—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. > > All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds, > > the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, > > Master of the Day of Judgment. > > You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help. > > Guide us along the Straight Path > > the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray*.*[^41] How does the Qur’an change the trajectory of one’s life? In order to better understand this, it is important to look at the central role of the heart, which is mentioned frequently throughout the Qur’an. The heart reflects the innermost and true state of one’s faith, virtues, and emotions, and is therefore a crucial component in determining one’s sincerity, intentions, and actions. In his explanation of the following verse, “People, a teaching from your Lord has come to you, a healing for what is in your hearts, and guidance and mercy for the believers. Say, ‘In God’s grace and mercy let them rejoice: these are better than all they accumulate,’”[^42] the great scholar of Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328 CE), describes the impact of the Qur’an on the heart as the means to personal transformation. He expounds: > The Qur’an is a cure for that which is within the heart, and for the one who has the sickness of doubt and desire in his heart, for it contains clear proofs that distinguish the truth from falsehood, and remove the sickness of false doubts to leave certain knowledge, correct perception and understanding such that the heart sees things in accordance to their reality. It contains wisdom, good exhortations, both encouraging good and deterring from evil, and stories which contain lessons that necessarily lead to the correction of the heart by making the heart desire what is good for it and detest what is harmful to it. Hence the heart is left desiring that which will guide it, hating that which will deviate it after it used to desire that which would deviate it and hate that which would guide it. The Qur’an removes all the sicknesses that invoke false desires until the heart becomes pure and therefore its desires become pure and it returns to the natural state (*fitrah*) that it was created in, just as the body returns to the natural state upon being treated. The heart will be nurtured with faith and the Qur’an such that it will become strong—for indeed the purification of the heart is like the growing of the body.[^43] Humanity is thirsting for the source of this indisputable faith and trust in God. The insatiable hunger of worldly pursuit leaves behind it disillusionment and regret. People are often searching to fill a void, wanting a purposeful life. They are drawn to the Qur’an’s teachings about divine mercy, justice, and reliance on God, all of which lead to conviction, hope, and the motivation to work toward the unseen eternal pleasures of the hereafter. One reader noted how they were taken aback by the Qur’an definitively stating at the outset that “there is no doubt” whatsoever in regard to what is about to follow in the entirety of the Qur'an: > This is the Book! There is no doubt about it—a guide for those mindful of Allah, who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and donate from what We have provided for them, and who believe in what has been revealed to you \[O Prophet\] and what was revealed before you, and have sure faith in the hereafter. It is they who are truly guided by their Lord, and it is they who will be successful.[^44] Megan's eyes lit up in amazement as she read about the angels who reassure the believers as their souls leave this world: > Surely those who say, “Our Lord is Allah,” and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, saying, “Do not fear, nor grieve. Rather, rejoice in the good news of Paradise, which you have been promised. We are your allies in this world and in the world to come, where you will have everything you desire and ask for, as a welcoming gift from the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful One.”[^45] Likewise, she was in awe reading about the Day of Judgment and the miraculous floating of the mountains. She immediately connected this to what she understood of the movement of tectonic plates: > On the Day the heavens will be shaken violently, and the mountains float away.[^46] Others cite verses which resonated with what they are witnessing in the world today. For example, God warns those who spread corruption, while giving us insight to the hypocrisy behind the good intentions they profess:  “When they are told, ‘Do not spread corruption in the land,’ they reply, ‘We are only peace-makers!’”[^47] Another verse shows the permissibility of retribution when wronged, while encouraging excellence through forgiveness and reconciliation: “The reward of an evil deed is its equivalent. But whoever pardons and seeks reconciliation, then their reward is with Allah. He certainly does not like the wrongdoers. There is no blame on those who enforce justice after being wronged.”[^48] As the character and dignity of the believers continue to shine through duress, such exemplary behavior has drawn attention to verses about piety and virtue, changing stereotypical images of Islam and Muslims: > Goodness does not consist in turning your face towards east or west. The truly good are those who believe in God and the Last Day, in the angels, the Scripture, and the prophets; who give away some of their wealth, however much they cherish it, to their relatives, to orphans, the needy, travelers and beggars, and to liberate those in bondage; those who keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms; who keep pledges whenever they make them; who are steadfast in misfortune, adversity, and times of danger. These are the ones who are true, and it is they who are aware of God.[^49] --- ## The first converts The Qur’an is transformative in its guidance to all of humanity—past, present, and future—and this recent phenomenon is not new. Going back to the time of revelation, the impact of the Qur’an on the Companions, who were the first to accept its message upon hearing its verses directly from the Prophet ﷺ, is equally palpable in their conversion stories. The lives of the Companions are an extraordinary testimony to the impact of the Qur’an on the individual and on society itself. So much so that the early Muslims are revered as the gold standard of the embodiment of piety and good character to aspire to. This was the case for a people who, prior to the advent of Islam, while upholding noble traits, were also steeped in idolatry, misguidance, tribalism, and focus on material gain. It was the impact of divine revelation upon their hearts and minds that caused the shift within them. The Qur’an was their source of guidance, the moral compass, and the motivation to welcome change, to unite upon the truth, and to soar to great heights of nobility and contribution to humanity to the extent they did. Musʿab b. ʿUmayr (d. 3/625), Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr (d. 12/633), and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23/644) are among great Companions who could not resist the truth when they heard it, experiencing similar personal transformations, which then led them to play pivotal roles in the subsequent change of their people, society, and the *ummah*. It was curiosity that led Mus’ab ibn Umair to the meeting place of the early Muslims, where he first heard the Prophet ﷺ recite verses from the Qur’an, compelling him to become a Muslim. Having been raised with every privilege and prosperity, as one of the most sought-after, charismatic young men among the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, he willingly gave up his wealth and pagan lifestyle in order to take a stand for his faith despite his mother’s stubborn opposition to his conversion to Islam. He then went on to become the first ambassador and scholar sent by the Prophet ﷺ to the city of Medina (Arb., Madīna, known as Yathrib at the time) where he is credited with the conversion of the majority of its early Muslims before the migration. He was martyred in the Battle of Uḥud with no material wealth to his name, but having earned a noble status in the sight of his Lord. As the direct result of the true and eternal wealth of divine revelation, Musʿab ibn ʿUmayr is honored to this day.[^50] During the early days, the arrogant and obstinate leaders among the Quraysh had already recognized the powerful impact of the Qur’an, and it is precisely for this reason that they took preemptive measures to warn people against listening to it by spinning their own propaganda to discredit both the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Qur’an. However, despite attempts to censor it, the truth always eventually prevails. Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr, the chief of the al-Daws tribe, was a visitor to Mecca  during the pilgrimage season. He took the words of the Quraysh to heart, initially filling his ears with cotton to protect himself from hearing the Qur’an. However, a great man of intellect and a poet, he was curious and wished to discern the truth for himself. Upon allowing himself to listen, he was instantly drawn to the Prophet’s recitation at the Kaʿba, unable to resist the temptation to follow him and request to hear more of the Qur’an. Ṭufayl subsequently declared his allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ and his acceptance of Islam. He would spend the remainder of his life in service to Islam, preaching to his tribe, until they all eventually converted by the conquest of Mecca.[^51] Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr was martyred in battle—having attained a lofty position. He left behind a legacy which includes the conversion of another great Companion, Abū Hurayra (59/678), who has the distinction of being the most prolific narrator of hadith, through which the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ have meticulously been preserved since. Our final example lies in ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who was among the highest ranking Companions and a confidante to the Prophet ﷺ who eventually became the second Caliph. His life beautifully demonstrates the profound impact of the Qur’an on a powerful and respected man who was once a staunch adversary to its message. ʿUmar was determined to assassinate the Prophet ﷺ and was on his way to do so had he not been diverted to his sister’s home after learning, much to his dismay, that she and her husband had both converted to Islam. Enraged at the thought, ʿUmar raided their home, and upon entering he heard verses of the  Qur’an that penetrated his heart in a way that he could no longer resist: > Ta Ha. We have not revealed the Quran to you to cause you distress, but as a reminder for those who hold God in awe, a revelation from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens—the Most Compassionate, established on the Throne. Everything in the heavens and on earth, everything between them, everything beneath the soil, belongs to Him. Whatever you may say aloud, He knows what you keep secret and what is even more hidden. Allah—there is no god worthy of worship except Him. He has the Most Beautiful Names… > > I am God; there is no god but Me. So worship Me and keep up the prayer so that you remember Me. The Hour is sure to come. My Will is to keep it hidden, so that every soul may be rewarded according to their efforts. So do not let those who disbelieve in it and follow their desires distract you from it, or you will be doomed.[^52] ʿUmar’s acceptance of Islam elevated him in the sight of his Lord to one of the elite Companions promised Paradise. In the eyes of the people, he is known as one of the most just, highly accomplished, and influential men of all time. It was under his rule that Islam spread at an unprecedented rate into Roman and Persian lands, and it was to him that the keys of Jerusalem were peacefully entrusted.[^53] --- ## Conclusion The Qur’an provides the lens through which we are able to acquire essential knowledge from our Creator about who He is, who we are, and how we are to conduct ourselves in regard to Him and with the world around us. It provides the holistic framework in which to develop praiseworthy character traits and behavior in accordance with its objectives—namely, the well-being of humanity, achieved only through servitude to God, with submission to His commands and prohibitions. This timeless worldview must then, by definition, hold true today. Sadly, while adherents to Islam continue to grow at an unprecedented rate, there has remained a glaring absence of the Qur’an’s transformative impact on society. This is what makes the remarkable faith and resilience of the people of Gaza beacons of light for humanity in this moment of darkness. The Qur’an is rich and nuanced in its examples of the relationship between divine decree, the history of man and nations, and the profound and timely impact of revelation on the faith of humanity. It was at the Prophet’s lowest and darkest of moments in time that God revealed two of the most virtuous and empowering verses of the Qur’an to him ﷺ during the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension (*al-Isrāʿ wa al-Miʿrāj*) in which he physically traveled during one night from Mecca to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. The Muslims had endured a brutal three-year economic, political, and social boycott which resulted in isolation and famine. Having been refused asylum in Ta’if with stones hurled at the himﷺ as well as grieving the devastating loss of two of his greatest supporters, his beloved wife Khadīja (d. 3 BH/619) and his uncle Abū Ṭālib (d. 3 BH/619), the Prophet ﷺ ascended beyond the seven heavens where he was gifted the following verses:[^54] > The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, as do the faithful. They all believe in God, His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers. “We make no distinction between any of His messengers,” they say, “We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord. To You we all return!’” > God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad—Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people.”[^55] As horrific as the current situation is, we look to divine mercy and wisdom in providing the catalyst and wake-up call through the exemplary faith and character of the Palestinians, to inspire us once again to sincerely reach for the Qur’an in search of the truth that is divine guidance, and to unite upon it as one *ummah*, with resilience and hope. --- ## Notes [^1]: “Where We Work,” UNRWA, August 2023, [https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217052047&usg=AOvVaw060wkA0gSFzDJ2v_IGtzXp). See also: Miriam Berger, Hajar Harb, and Loay Ayyoub, “Gaza’s Desperate Hunger: Families Struggle to Fend off Starvation,” *Washington Post*, January 25, 2024, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/25/gaza-hunger-starvation-famine-israel/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/25/gaza-hunger-starvation-famine-israel/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217052413&usg=AOvVaw06iD2aXC4c7WlU36bS6f6G). [^2]: Ajith Sunghay, “Gaza: Report from the Ground,” *United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner*, January 19, 2024, [https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/01/gaza-report-ground](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/01/gaza-report-ground&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217052905&usg=AOvVaw0pUYrOrfWIogxSxed6M1Kf). [^3]: Muslims are obligated by God to recite the first chapter of the Qur’an in every unit of the formal daily prayers, five at a minimum, known as *ṣalāh*, as taught and practiced by the Prophet ﷺ. “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Guide us along the Straight Path.” Qur’an 1:5–6. [^4]: Qur’an 103:1–3. [^5]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Ranks of the Divine Seekers*, trans. Dr. Ovamir Anjum (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 1:80–82. [^6]: “As Islamophobes Burn the Quran, Palestinians Memorize it, in Full,” *The Palestine Chronicle*, August 20,2023, [https://www.palestinechronicle.com/as-islamophobes-burn-the-quran-palestinians-memorize-it-in-full-photo-gallery/#:~:text=Gaza%20is%20known%20for%20having,are%20often%20held%20throughout%20Palestine](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.palestinechronicle.com/as-islamophobes-burn-the-quran-palestinians-memorize-it-in-full-photo-gallery/%23:~:text%3DGaza%2520is%2520known%2520for%2520having,are%2520often%2520held%2520throughout%2520Palestine&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217053983&usg=AOvVaw1McOS0NLurZYXy-lAmhk0P). [^7]: Mersiha Gadzo, “Gaza Under Siege: Seeking Solace in Religion,” *Al Jazeera,* June 18, 2017, [https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/6/18/gaza-under-siege-seeking-solace-in-religion](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/6/18/gaza-under-siege-seeking-solace-in-religion&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217054453&usg=AOvVaw3JzfnYL3b949DptDzPGY51). [^8]: “Palestinian Child Recites Quran to Calm Down while Being Treated,” TRT World, YouTube video, February 2, 2024, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdiGgY4V6s0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdiGgY4V6s0). “I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan. In the name of God, the Lord of mercy, the Giver of mercy... they used to sleep only little at night, and pray for forgiveness before dawn, giving a rightful share of their wealth to the beggar and deprived. There are countless signs on earth for those with sure faith.” Qur’an 51:17–20. [^9]: ‘Abdur-Rahman Nasir as-Sa’di, *Tafsir as-Sa’di*, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab, (Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2018), 3:56, verse 5:119. [^10]: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsir Ibn Kathir* *(Abridged)*, translated and abridged by Safiur Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri et al. (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2000), 13:20–24. In regard to the covenant taken from all of humanity, such that every human is born with the innate inclination to worship Allah alone, see *Tafsir Ibn Kathir*, 7:172. “And when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. Allah asked, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied, ‘Yes, You are! We testify.’ He cautioned, ‘Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, “We were not aware of this.”’ [^11]: Qur’an 5:119. [^12]: Qur’an 13:23–24. [^13]: Jomana Karadsheh, Florence Davey-Attlee, and Abeer Salman, “‘I Kissed Her but She Wouldn’t Wake Up’: Grandfather Grieves for 3-Year-Old Granddaughter Killed as She Slept in Gaza,” CNN, November 29, 2023, [https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/middleeast/gaza-truce-israel-grandfather-returns-home-intl-hnk/index.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/middleeast/gaza-truce-israel-grandfather-returns-home-intl-hnk/index.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217049988&usg=AOvVaw2em8rAi6xEpBAhcYnc242Q). “Despite Losing His Own Grandchildren, Khaled Offers Words of Hope and Comfort to a Girl Who Lost Her Leg,” TikTok, Ilmfeed, December 1, 2023, [https://www.tiktok.com/@ilmfeed/video/7307576821611089184](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tiktok.com/@ilmfeed/video/7307576821611089184&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217050281&usg=AOvVaw1McE707EmGNb3Guxi59CW6). [^14]: Saleh Aljafarawi, “Al Jazeera interview with Saleh Aljafarawi,” Whatmediahides., YouTube video, November 15, 2023, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUMXjiNjubw](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DqUMXjiNjubw&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217051423&usg=AOvVaw1WKTolzJQnEuG3vh6kZhq9). [^15]: “Journalist Casualties in the Israel-Gaza War,” Committee to Protect Journalists, Feb 9, 2024, [https://cpj.org/2024/02/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/?itid=lk\_inline\_enhanced-template](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cpj.org/2024/02/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/?itid%3Dlk_inline_enhanced-template&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217053444&usg=AOvVaw1A6ZfmTTDO6NShr_tkV7mq). [^16]: “Al Jazeera Reporter Wael al-Dahdouh Talks about Losing Family to Israeli Air Strike,” Middle East Eye, YouTube video, October 26, 2023, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fiBq6HxeBg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fiBq6HxeBg). “We still have the willpower that we arm ourselves with, and our reliance on God, the Almighty, and our patience and clinging to God’s strong rope. And our conviction and our firm belief. This is our path.” [^17]: “To Kill a Family: The Loss of Wael Dahdouh’s Family to an Israeli Bomb,” Al Jazeera, November 1, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/1/to-kill-a-family-the-loss-of-wael-dahdouhs-family-to-israeli-bombs](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/1/to-kill-a-family-the-loss-of-wael-dahdouhs-family-to-israeli-bombs&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217050831&usg=AOvVaw1m8VNQOW-UAOgsJ5j4GE3s). [^18]: Qur’an 3:173. [^19]: *Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged)*, 3:169–75; *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4287. [^20]: Qur’an 3:173. [^21]: Qur’an 3:169–70. [^22]: C. J. Werleman, “Mass Conversions to Islam Across the World in 2024 \[Predicted\],” *The CJ Werleman Show,* December 4, 2023, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_TEHX4bqReg](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D_TEHX4bqReg&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217044845&usg=AOvVaw1tZWoDJEIPc50nyJ7qQtc9). [^23]: Alaina Demopoulos, “Young Americans Are Picking up the Qur’an ‘to Understand the Resilience of Muslim Palestinians,’” *Guardian*, November 20, 2023, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/20/palestine-quran-islam-americans-tiktok](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/20/palestine-quran-islam-americans-tiktok&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217045271&usg=AOvVaw03pR1FWbh89N1JAV1VFG2K). [^24]: “The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.” Qur’an 33:21. Also, Qatādah (d. 56/735) reported: I said to ʿĀisha, “O mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” ʿĀisha said, “Have you not read the Quran?” I said, “Of course.” ʿĀisha said, “Verily, the character of the Prophet of Allah was the Qur’an.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 746, *ṣaḥīḥ* (authentic) according to Muslim. [^25]: *Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged)*, 2:255–57. [^26]: Qur’an 2:255–57. [^27]: Qur’an 5:8. [^28]: Demopoulos, “Young Americans are Picking up the Qur’an.” [^29]: “TikTokers Explore the Holy Quran to Understand Palestinian Resilience amid Israel’s Ongoing Bombardement of Palestine’s Gaza,” TRT World, TikTok, October 31, 2023, [https://www.tiktok.com/@trtworld/video/7296114892816403717?lang=en](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tiktok.com/@trtworld/video/7296114892816403717?lang%3Den&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217046248&usg=AOvVaw0PsEqaiowlxDEgvExhSXNw). [^30]: Demopoulos, “Young Americans are Picking up the Qur’an.” [^31]: Qur’an 2:155–57. [^32]: Jessica Roy, “On TikTok, an Unlikely Call to Islam Emerges,” *New Lines Magazine*, December 1, 2023, [https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/on-tiktok-an-unlikely-call-to-islam-emerges/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/on-tiktok-an-unlikely-call-to-islam-emerges/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217047061&usg=AOvVaw1H9HPgid4pogslweIm9VzM). [^33]: As-Sa’di, *Tafsir as-Sa’di*, 7:329–30, verse 30:58. [^34]: Qur’an 30:44. [^35]: Qur’an 30:58. [^36]: Roy, “On TikTok, an Unlikely Call to Islam Emerges.” [^37]: Qur’an 51:56. [^38]: Qur’an 39:53. [^39]: Qur’an 65:2–3. [^40]: Demopoulos, “Young Americans are Picking up the Qur’an.” [^41]: Qur’an 1:1–7. [^42]: Qur’an 10:57–58. [^43]: Ibn Taymiyyah, *Diseases of the Hearts and Their Cures*, translated by Abū Rumaysah (Birmingham: Dar us-Sunnah Publishers), 54. [^44]: Qur’an 2:2–5. [^45]: Qur’an 41:30–32. [^46]: Qur’an 52:9–10. [^47]: Qur’an 2:11. [^48]: Qur’an 42:40–41. [^49]: Qur’an 2:177. [^50]: Mahmoud Esma’il Sieny, *Heroes of Islam* (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2000), 120–122. [^51]: Sieny, *Heroes of Islam*, 150–52. [^52]: Qur’an 20:1–8, 14–16. These are the verses that led ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to accept Islam. See also ‘Ali Muhammad as-Sallabi, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab: His Life and Times (Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House), 52–56. [^53]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Abū Bakr is in Paradise. ʿUmar is in Paradise.” *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3747, *ṣaḥīḥ* according to al-Albānī. See also, Michael H. Hart, *The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History* (New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1993), 261–65;  [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/omar-ibn-al-khattab-his-leadership-his-legacy-his-death-the-firsts](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/omar-ibn-al-khattab-his-leadership-his-legacy-his-death-the-firsts&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1713560217040422&usg=AOvVaw1cTgvCrCID24YUeMag-l3I). [^54]: Yasir Qadhi, *The Sirah of the Prophet: A Contemporary and Original Analysis* (Leicestershire: The Islamic Foundation, 2023), 103–32. See also: “Glory be to the One Who took His servant \[Muhammad\] by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” Qur’an 17:1. [^55]: *Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged)*, 2:285–86. Abū Masʿūd reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever recites the last two verses of Sūrah al-Baqarah in the night, it is enough for him.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5051; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 807. ## Summary In the midst of the devastation that has befallen Gaza, there has emerged a light that has captured the hearts of onlookers across the world: the faith and steadfastness of its people. Though the region has long been described as an open-air prison subjected to siege, starvation, and the loss of thousands of innocent lives—among them many women and children—what distinguishes this era is the presence of social media, through which the world witnesses both the destruction and the extraordinary resilience of the survivors. As a Muslim-majority people, they bury their loved ones in gratitude, certain of reunion in Paradise, their hearts fixed upon the eternal life to come rather than upon the fleeting promises of a secular worldview. Their patience, gratitude, and trust in Allah's promise are the source of the inner peace visible upon their faces amid tears and smiles. This condition illustrates the transformative power of divine guidance, which inspires not only the people of Gaza but all who sincerely seek the truth. Alongside the physical destruction, there rages a battle over truth itself—a war for control of the public narrative, waged through conflicting reports and attempts to justify atrocity. This outward struggle mirrors an inward one, for no soul is immune from being led astray, and upholding the truth is the very purpose of this life and the means to salvation in the Hereafter. It is for this reason that the believer is commanded to implore Allah daily for guidance upon the Straight Path. That truth will always triumph over falsehood, even as it is met with resistance, is captured in one of the shortest and most profound chapters of the Qur'an: "By the passage of time! Surely humanity is in grave loss—except those who have faith, do good, and urge each other to the truth, and urge each other to persevere" (al-'Asr). The renowned scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) explained that this truth must be realized in both faith and practice, and that it "cannot be attained except by turning to the Qur'an with understanding, reflection, and contemplation, unearthing its treasures and culling out its buried pearls." The people of Gaza embody this pursuit through their intimate relationship with the Qur'an. According to reports, Gaza contains one of the proportionately largest populations of Qur'an memorizers in the world, with the Islamic Waqf of Gaza noting nearly forty thousand students of the Qur'an since 2006. As Zakariya Alzemly, a professor at the Islamic University in Gaza, observed, "The Quran gives us comfort. We're living in bad conditions, under pressure. The Quran teaches us patience." Their conviction rests upon the certainty that Allah does not abandon those who sincerely call upon Him, and that with every hardship comes ease. Allah promises the truthful the reward of the Hereafter: "This is a Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness. They will have Gardens graced with flowing streams... that is the supreme triumph," and He describes the believers entering the Gardens of Eternity alongside the righteous among their families, greeted by the angels with "Peace be with you, because you have remained steadfast." Individual stories bring these truths to life. Khaled Nabhan, affectionately known as "Amu Khaled," lost two grandchildren, Reem and Tarek, aged three and five; yet he consoled another wounded child that her lost limb awaited her in Paradise, and continued to lead funeral prayers and serve others amid his grief. The journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh lost his wife, two children, and grandson, and shortly after his eldest son Hamza, himself a journalist—one of eighty-five journalists killed at that time according to the Committee to Protect Journalists—yet he remained committed to conveying the truth. In their moments of anguish, the people of Gaza call upon Allah with the same words that protected the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) from the fire of a tyrant: "Allah alone is sufficient as an aid for us and He is the best Protector." These are the very words with which the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions responded at the Battle of Uhud, where, though outnumbered and stricken with loss, their faith only increased. Of such martyrs Allah says, "Never think of those martyred in the cause of Allah as dead. In fact, they are alive with their Lord, well provided for." This visible faith has awakened the world and prompted a new phenomenon. Unlike the intrigue that followed the events of 9/11, which was stirred by hostile propaganda, this time people are turning to the Qur'an drawn by the praiseworthy character they witness. As noted in The Guardian, "They are turning to the Qur'an to understand the incredible resilience, faith, moral strength and character they see in Muslim Palestinians." Many have thereby embraced Islam or returned to it with renewed conviction. In this pursuit, the Qur'an directs them to Allah, described in its greatest verse, Ayat al-Kursi, as "the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining," and as "the ally of those who believe: He brings them out of the depths of darkness and into the light." The Qur'an also commands justice even toward one's enemies: "Do not let the hatred of a people lead you to injustice. Be just! That is closer to righteousness." Among the converts is Megan Rice, who described herself as previously not religious and began reading the Qur'an publicly, finding it aligned with her values and free of her prior misconceptions of Islam as a "severe or strict" religion; within a month she declared the shahāda. Another, Nefertari Moonn, was moved by the Palestinians' calling upon Allah in the face of death, saying, "Seeing passage after passage resonated with me." The Qur'an teaches that such tests are to be expected: "We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure." Yet skepticism persists; the writer Jessica Roy of New Lines Magazine questioned the sincerity and durability of these conversions, fearing they may fade once the war ends. In response, it is noted that the Qur'an itself calls repeatedly to sincerity and individual accountability, dividing humanity into those who accept the truth and those who, seeing it, reject it: "Those who rejected the truth will bear the burden of that rejection." Converts themselves disputed the doubts of these "experts"; Clarke Jones stated, "Palestine made me pick up the Quran... it was describing what I already felt," and Jamie Rosario spoke of the peace and hope he found: "I'm returning back to who I was always meant to be." This peace flows from the Qur'anic teaching of humanity's purpose: "I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me," and from Allah's boundless mercy: "Do not lose hope in Allah's mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins." Central to this transformation is the heart. Commenting on the verse "a healing for what is in your hearts, and guidance and mercy for the believers," Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728/1328) explained that the Qur'an cures the sickness of doubt and desire, restoring the heart to its natural state (fitrah), "just as the body returns to the natural state upon being treated," so that "the purification of the heart is like the growing of the body." The opening chapter, al-Fātiḥah, recited in every prayer, is a perpetual reminder that walking the Straight Path cannot be achieved without divine aid. Readers have been struck by the Qur'an's opening declaration of certainty—"This is the Book! There is no doubt about it"—as well as by verses describing the angels who reassure the steadfast, the mountains floating on the Day of Judgment, the hypocrisy of those who claim to be "peace-makers" while spreading corruption, the permissibility of just retribution alongside the excellence of forgiveness, and the comprehensive description of true piety in Sūrat al-Baqarah. This transformative power is not new. The Companions who first heard the Qur'an from the Prophet ﷺ underwent profound change, becoming the gold standard of piety after having lived in idolatry and tribalism. Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr (d. 3/625), once a privileged youth of Quraysh, abandoned his wealth, became the Prophet's first envoy to Madīna, and was martyred at Uhud with no worldly wealth but lasting honor. Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr (d. 12/633), chief of the Daws, who plugged his ears against the Qur'an on the warning of Quraysh, could not resist its truth once he listened, and later brought about the conversion of his tribe and of Abū Hurayra (d. 59/678), the most prolific narrator of hadith. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23/644), who set out to kill the Prophet ﷺ, was overcome upon hearing the verses of Sūrat Ṭā Hā—"I am God; there is no god but Me. So worship Me and keep up the prayer"—and became the second Caliph, to whom the keys of Jerusalem were peacefully entrusted. The Qur'an thus provides the lens through which humanity comes to know its Creator, itself, and its purpose, offering a holistic framework for righteous character grounded in servitude to Allah. Though Islam's adherents grow in number, its transformative impact upon society has often been absent, which makes the faith of Gaza's people a beacon in this darkness. It was likewise at the Prophet's darkest moment—after the boycott, the loss of Khadīja (d. 3 BH/619) and Abū Ṭālib (d. 3 BH/619), and the rejection at Ṭāʾif—that he was taken on the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ wa al-Miʿrāj) to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā and beyond the heavens, where he was granted the closing verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah: "God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear... You are our Protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people." As harrowing as the present is, we look to divine mercy and wisdom in this trial as a catalyst inspiring humanity to reach sincerely for the Qur'an and to unite upon its guidance as one ummah, with resilience and hope. ## Key Takeaways 1. The faith and steadfastness of the people of Gaza, witnessed through social media amid siege and immense loss, rests on an intimate relationship with the Qur’an. Gaza holds one of the proportionately largest populations of Qur’an memorizers in the world, and it is this bond that supplies their patience and certainty of reunion in Paradise. In their moments of anguish they call upon Allah with the same words that steadied the Prophet ﷺ and his companions at Uhud. 2. That visible resilience has drawn others to the Qur’an, unlike the hostile curiosity that followed earlier moments, such as 9/11. People now approach the text drawn by the character they observe, and many have embraced Islam or returned to it, finding that its teachings on mercy, justice, and reliance on Allah answered a need they already felt. Some observers question whether such conversions will endure, while the converts themselves describe a peace and conviction that predated the crisis. 3. The Qur’an’s transformative effect primarily in the heart. Commenting on its description as a healing for what lies within, Ibn Taymiyya explained that it cures doubt and desire and restores the heart to its original nature, so that purifying the heart resembles the growing of the body. This same power is not new: The companions who first heard its verses, among them once hostile figures like ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, were remade by it, as was the Prophet ﷺ consoled at his darkest hour. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why are so many people turning to the Qur’an and converting to Islam because of Gaza? As the world witnessed the suffering in Gaza through social media, alongside appalling destruction, many people were struck by the faith of those enduring it. Watching Palestinians bury loved ones while still thanking God and speaking of Paradise, onlookers wanted to understand where such steadiness came from, and many began reading the Qur’an for the first time to find out. This echoes an earlier wave of curiosity after the events of 9/11, but with an important difference. That earlier interest was often shaped by hostile stereotypes of Islam, while this time, people were drawn by the dignity, patience, and moral strength they saw in the Palestinians. Reading the Qur’an for themselves, a number of them found that it spoke to values they already held and cleared away misconceptions they had absorbed, such as the idea that Islam is harsh or rigid. Some embraced Islam as a result, and others who were already Muslim returned to their faith with renewed conviction. The article presents this as a modern example of the Qur’an’s timeless power to move sincere seekers of the truth. ### How can the Qur’an transform a person? The Qur’an describes itself as “a healing for what is in your hearts,” and Islamic scholars have long explained its effect through the condition of the heart. One classical scholar described the Qur’an as a cure for the sicknesses of doubt and misplaced desire. It presents clear proofs that separate truth from falsehood, replacing confusion with certainty, and it contains lessons and exhortations that make the heart love what is good for it and turn away from what harms it. In this way the heart is restored to its natural state, the *fitra*, the pure disposition Allah created every person with, much as a body heals when it is treated. Nourished by faith and the Qur’an, the heart grows stronger over time. This is why people describe reading the Qur’an as finding a peace they had been missing, or as returning to something that was always there. The change is not only intellectual. It reshapes what a person values, how they see the world, and how they live, which is what the article means by the transformative power of the Qur’an. ### How do the people of Gaza keep their faith through so much loss? Their steadiness comes from a deep and daily relationship with the Qur’an. Gaza is reported to have one of the highest proportions of Qur’an memorizers in the world, and its people describe the Qur’an as a source of comfort that teaches them patience under pressure. Their faith rests on several certainties the Qur’an instills. They believe that Allah never abandons those who sincerely call upon Him, that every hardship is paired with ease, and that this life is not the end but a passage to an eternal life where the righteous are reunited with their loved ones. This is why they can bury family members in gratitude and still speak of Paradise. In their hardest moments they call on Allah with the same words that, according to an authentic hadith, Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said when he was thrown into the fire, and that the Qur’an records believers saying in the aftermath of Uhud: “Allah alone is sufficient as an aid for us and He is the best Protector.” Their patience, gratitude, and trust are faith put into action rather than mere words. ### Are the people converting to Islam because of Gaza sincere, or is it just a trend? Some commentators have questioned whether conversions tied to a moment of crisis will last, suggesting they may fade once the war ends. In Islam, faith is ultimately a matter between each person and God, who alone judges the heart and rewards people according to their sincerity and effort. No one can see into another’s intentions, so the durability of any individual’s faith is not something outside observers can measure. Many of those who converted have said that Gaza did not convert them but led them to pick up the Qur’an, and that what they read matched what they already believed and felt. Others described finding peace, hope, and a sense of returning to who they were meant to be. No outsider can know another person’s sincerity. Whether a given person continues to practice Islam, however,  can only become apparent over time. Islam’s own standard is that every person is individually accountable for accepting or rejecting the truth once they have seen it. ### How did the Qur’an change the people who first heard it? The companions of the Prophet ﷺ, who first heard the Qur’an recited directly by him, were often transformed the moment its verses reached them. Before Islam, many lived amid idolatry, tribal rivalry, and the pursuit of wealth, yet the Qur’an reshaped them into people revered ever after for their piety and character. One young man of privilege gave up his wealth and comfort after hearing it, became an early teacher of Islam, and died with no possessions but lasting honor. A tribal chief who had stuffed his ears with cotton to avoid hearing the Qur’an could not resist its truth once he listened, and went on to bring his whole tribe to faith. Even ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, who set out intending to harm the Prophet ﷺ, was overwhelmed on hearing verses from Surah Taha and became one of the greatest and most just leaders in Islamic history. These stories show that the Qur’an’s power to move a sincere listener has been the same across the centuries. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/10-ways-to-maximize-your-worship-in-the-last-10-nights-of-ramadan # 10 Ways to Maximize Your Worship in the Last 10 Nights of Ramadan | Blog **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan, Ramadan Papers for Mobile App **Published:** April 1, 2024 **Updated:** March 14, 2026 As we enter the last ten nights of Ramadan, we have a unique opportunity before us to seek forgiveness, draw closer to Allah (SWT), reap the rewards of our nightly worship, and insha’Allah catch *[Laylatul-Qadr](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year)* or The Night of Decree. To make the most of these nights, here are 10 practical tips: --- ## 1\. Avoid Sins during the Day This is something we don’t think about when considering the last ten nights. Outside of Ramadan, we are reminded not to disobey Allah (SWT) during the day, for if we do, He will not wake us up to pray at night. As one saying goes, “If you sin during the day, you shut the doors of the heavens for you at night.” If this is true throughout the year, how about then on the last ten nights of Ramadan when we want to ensure we don’t miss *Laylatul-Qadr*? We don’t want to be praying *Maghrib* with the *ghadab* (anger) of Allah (SWT) on us due to a sin we committed during the day in Ramadan. So let’s be especially mindful of what we do throughout the day. Whether it’s refraining from harmful speech or avoiding sinful behaviors, our conduct in the daylight hours sets the tone for our spiritual state during these blessed nights. --- ## 2\. Avoid Idle Conversations at Night Imam Ibn Qudama mentions that the blessings of *Laylatul-Qadr* are most often lost due to people mixing with one another too much during the night. This is because it is likely that at some point our tongues will slip into backbiting, gossiping, etc. Thus, it is best to refrain from excessive socializing during this time; instead, these last 10 nights are a time to prioritize our *ibadah* (worship). Join gatherings where Allah (SWT) is remembered, and try your best to disengage from unnecessary conversations. Let’s use this time to focus on worship and reflection, nurturing a deeper connection with our Creator. --- ## 3\. Pray Isha & Fajr in Congregation Prioritize praying *Isha* and *Fajr* prayers in congregation. Saeed ibn Musayyib said “Whoever prays *Isha* in congregation would have taken their fortune of *Laylatul-Qadr*.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever prays *Isha* in congregation, it is as if they have \[the reward of praying\] the first half of the night. And whoever prays *Fajr* in congregation, it is as if they have \[the reward of praying\] the last half of the night.” It is more precious to Allah (SWT) that you pray *Isha* and *Fajr* in congregation than you spend the whole night in prayer. So let’s prioritize being in the masjid for *Isha* and *Fajr* prayers insha’Allah. By coming together as a community, we not only experience the blessings of unity but also amplify the spiritual rewards of our prayers. --- ## 4\. Pray a full set of Qiyaam with the Imam The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever prays behind the imam in *Qiyaam* until the imam finishes, then that person has \[achieved the reward of\] the entire night in prayer.” While there are multiple interpretations of this hadith, the general recommendation is to pray as much as you can continuously behind the imam (for *taraweeh* or additional *qiyaam*). The more you can do the better to attain this reward insha’Allah. --- ## 5\. Read the Qur’an Throughout the Night This may seem pretty self-explanatory, but it’s often overlooked. Qatadah (rA) used to finish the Qur’an every three days of Ramadan, but then he would do a *khatm* (complete reading of the Qur’an) every night of the last 10 nights. There’s a general trend amongst our *salaf* (pious predecessors) of an increase in recitation of the Qur’an in the last 10 nights specifically. Even if you’re trying to finish a certain amount during the day, stick to that goal and try to surpass it, but still strive to read more Qur’an in the last 10 nights than during the rest of Ramadan. It is one of the most beautiful things to exceed your Qur’an reading goals in Ramadan. For instance, if your goal is to finish one *khatm* by doing a *juz* a day, and you finish one and a half, that’s better than one. That success will kickstart your momentum into Shawwal and you may also have a *khatm* by the end of Shawwal as well! Subhan’Allah, the very first word revealed to our Prophet ﷺ on this night of *Laylatul-Qadr* was *iqra’* (read). Surely in that is a sign that you should honor the Qur’an in these last 10 nights. So try to increase the amount you read. Don’t cut back on what you’re reading during the day, but instead increase what you’re reading at night insha’Allah! --- ## 6\. Supplicate with the Prophetic Du’a taught to Aisha (rA) Aisha (rA) asked the Prophet ﷺ, “If I find myself in *Laylatul-Qadr*, what should I recite?” The Prophet said, “Say ‘*Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni*’ (Oh Allah, You are the Forgiver, You love to forgive, so forgive me).” Read this *du’a* throughout the night. Start your *du’a*s with it and end your *du’a*s with it. Read it between the personal *du’a*s you’re making. There’s nothing more blessed than the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ in the specific *du’a*s we should be making during this auspicious time. --- ## 7\. Make Du’a and Dhikr Even While in Motion Seize every moment, whether walking, moving about, or commuting, to engage in supplication. Some of the most blessed *adkhar* (remembrances of Allah) come as we’re moving about our day, whether going from our homes to the masjid or waiting in line for *suhoor*, for example. So keep your tongue busy with *du’a* and *dhikr* even while you’re in motion on the night of *Laylatul-Qadr*. Treat each night like every single second matters. --- ## 8\. Increase Your Sajdah (Prostration) on these Nights The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever stands up on the night of *Laylatul-Qadr* with faith and seeking its reward, then they will be forgiven for all of their sins.” This is understood as the general rule. But, the best part of engaging in *qiyaam* is the best part of *salah*—so increase the time you spend in *sajdah*. In fact, the last words right before *Surah al-Qadr* are, “Prostrate and come closer.” So extend the duration of your prostrations and make your personal *du’a*s during *sujood* during the night. By slowing down and savoring these moments of closeness to Allah, we can more effectively express our gratitude and seek His mercy and forgiveness. --- ## 9\. Give in Charity While there’s nothing that explicitly suggests that the Prophet ﷺ gave more charity in the last 10 nights than he did in the rest of Ramadan, the scholars of spirituality note that charity has two major effects: 1) increased reward (which you seek in the night of *Laylatul-Qadr*), 2) it extinguishes the anger of your Lord (especially secret charity). So on a night of increased reward where the greatest reward you can seek is His forgiveness, what better act to partake in every single night that is associated with being pardoned and earning His favor? Automate your charity or give in charity yourself; either way, be someone who’s actively seeking out opportunities to give and support charitable initiatives. Constantly be open to charity as you are to all good deeds in these last ten nights. --- ## 10\. Seek Forgiveness Spend the last few moments of every single one of these nights in *istighfar* (seeking forgiveness). Instead of eating and socializing until the final minutes of *suhoor*, use that time to open up your heart to plead to Allah in sincere supplication, asking for His forgiveness and admitting your weaknesses and shortcomings before Him. It may be that a heartfelt *du’a* made in humility and remorse during these final moments opens us up to His ultimate forgiveness and acceptance. If the night is accepted and we are granted *Laylatul-Qadr*, then a whole lifetime of reward awaits insha’Allah! So prioritize these last moments of each night, especially the moments before the *adhan* of Fajr to call out to Allah in genuine repentance. *Allahumma balighna Laylatul-Qadr*, Oh Allah, allow us to observe *Laylatul-Qadr*! May Allah (SWT) allow blessings, tranquility, and acceptance to descend upon us all and our families and communities. May He grant us this Night of Decree, accept our prayers, and allow us to draw nearer to Him insha’Allah. Ameen. For more on the timing of *Laylatul-Qadr* and its signs, read “[On The Timing and Virtues of the Night of Power: The Heart's Joy in Remembering Laylat al-Qadr by Ibn al-ʿIrāqī](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/on-the-timing-and-virtues-of-the-night-of-power-the-hearts-joy-in-remembering-laylat-al-qadr-by-ibn-al-iraqi)” --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/quran-trivia-quran-30-for-30-season-5 # Qur'an Trivia | Qur’an 30 for 30 Season 5 **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan **Published:** March 31, 2024 **Updated:** March 3, 2025 ## Daily Juz Questions & Answers Our signature Qur’an 30 for 30 with Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro is back with a fresh new season all recorded in house on set!  Join our scholars and a surprise esteemed guest every day this month of Ramadan as they dive deep into each *juz* via the lens of destiny (*qadr*). We’ll be updating this Q&A daily as each episode is released, so pin this page as you follow along! If you’re needing to catch up or want to relisten to a past episode, feel free to run through our [Qur’an 30 for 30 watch playlist](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/trailer-quran-30-for-30-season-5) or listen on-the-go via our [Yaqeen Podcast](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/listen/quran-30-for-30-season-5). To further enrich your journey with the Qur’an and benefit from its gems, download our latest [Qur’an 30 for 30 ebook](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/books/quran-30-for-30-thematic-tafsir)! An organized, easy-to-read *Thematic Tafsir* providing key insights and overviews through the lens of the *Seerah*, the Day of Judgment, and the Qur’anic worldview. ### Juz 1 **Question:** Who narrated the story of the companion that famously recited Surah al-Fatihah on a non-Muslim chief as a form of cure at the time of the Prophet ﷺ ? ***Answer:*** Abu Saeed al-Khudri (rA) ### Juz 2 **Question:** What were the words that Allah received from Adam (as) in the first *juz*? ***Answer:*** رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers.”  \[Qur’an, 7:23\] ### Juz 3 **Question:** What is the subject matter of the longest verse in the Qur’an? 1. Piety 2. Divorce laws 3. Debt laws ***Answer:*** 3. Debt laws ### Juz 4 **Question:** In what *hijri* year was Surah Ali Imran revealed? 1. 2 AH 2. 3 AH 3. 4 AH ***Answer:*** 2\. 3 AH ### Juz 5 **Question:** Which battle is referenced in Surah Ali Imran, and in what year did the battle take place? 1. Battle of Uhud (3 AH) 2. Battle of Badr (2 AH) 3. Both Uhud and Badr ***Answer:*** 3. Both Uhud and Badr ### Juz 6 **Question:** In verse 36 of Surah an-Nisa, who is the companion that Allah is referring to when He says “the companion that is at your side”? 1. Spouse 2. Travel companion 3. Both ***Answer:*** 3. Both ### Juz 7 **Question:** How many times does the phrase “O you who have believed” appear in Surah al-Ma’idah? 1. 10 2. 5 3. 18 ***Answer:*** 3. 18 ### Juz 8 **Question:** How many times is the word “*an’am*” (*livestock*) mentioned in Surah al-An’am? 1. 5 2. 6 3. 8 ***Answer:*** 2. 6 ### Juz 9 **Question:** What are the types of garments described in Surah al-A’raf? 1. Garments to cover the *awrah* 2. Garments for beauty and adornment 3. Both ***Answer:*** 3. Both ### Juz 10 **Question:** What is the reason that most of the scholars say there is no *Basmalah* (*Bismillah*) in Surah at-Tawbah? 1. It is considered a continuation of Surah al-Anfal. 2. There is no *salaam* for the hypocrites. 3. There is no *salaam* for making *tawbah*. ***Answer:*** 1. It is considered a continuation of Surah al-Anfal. ### Juz 11 **Question:** There’s another name for Surah at-Tawbah, which specifically refers to its exposing. What is the other name for Surah at-Tawbah that the *ulema* mentioned? 1. “The Discloser” 2. “The Revealer” 3. “The Exposer” ***Answer***: 3. “The Exposer” (*al-Fadiha)* ### Juz 12 **Question:** Why was Surah Al-Anfal named Al-Anfal, and what was it revealed in regards to? 1. The Spoils of War 2. The Spoils of the Battle of Badr 3. Both ***Answer:*** 3. Both ### Juz 13 **Question:** The Prophet ﷺ said, “Hud and its sisters have caused me to turn gray!” Which of the following *surahs* are from Hud’s sisters? 1. Al-Mulk and Al-Haqqah 2. Al-Waqi’ah and Al-Mursalat 3. An-Nazi’at and Al-Infitar ***Answer:*** 2. Al-Waqi’ah and Al-Mursalat ### Juz 14 **Question:** In Surah Ibrahim, Allah states: “Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, a good word like a good tree.” What is the meaning of “a good word”? 1. The testimony of faith (*La ilaha illa Allah*) 2. Faith (*iman*) 3. Both A and B ***Answer:*** 3. Both A and B ### Juz 15 **Question:** Which prophet was sent to the people of Al-Hijr? 1. Prophet Saleh (as) 2. Prophet Lut (as) 3. Prophet Hud (as) ***Answer:*** 1. Prophet Salah (as) ### Juz 16 **Question:** What are two other names of Surah al-Isra? 1. Subhan & Bani Isra’il (Children of Israel) 2. Muqaddasah & Tawakkul 3. None of the above ***Answer:*** 1. Subhan & Bani Isra’il (Children of Israel) ### Juz 17 **Question:** How many times is Allah’s name Ar-Rahman mentioned in Surah Maryam? 1. 16 2. 14 3. 13 ***Answer:*** 1. 16 ### Juz 18 **Question:** What is the only *surah* in the Qur’an that has two prostrations of recitation? 1. Al-Anbiya 2. Al-Hajj 3. Maryam ***Answer:*** 2. Al-Hajj ### Juz 19 **Question:** Why was Surah an-Nur given this name? 1. جاءكم من ٱللَّهِ نور وكتـٰب مبين \[Qur’an, 5:15\] 2.  الله نور السموات والأرض \[Qur’an, 24:35\] 3.  يريدون أن يطفـٔوا نور ٱللَّه بأفوههم \[Qur’an, 9:32\] ***Answer:*** 2. الله نور السموات والأرض \[Qur’an, 24:35\] ### Juz 20 **Question:** There is a battle that is named after a *surah* in *Juz* 19. Which battle is it? 1. Al-Ahzab 2. Al-Furqan 3. Al-Anfal ***Answer:*** 2\. Al-Furqan ### Juz 21 **Question:** In which *surah* does Allah promise the Prophet ﷺ a return to Mecca? 1. Al-Fath 2. Al-Qasas 3. Ar-Rum ***Answer:*** 2. Al-Qasas ### Juz 22 **Question:** What *surah* in *Juz* 21 mentions the 5 things that only Allah knows? 1. Ar-Rum 2. As-Sajdah 3. Luqman ***Answer:*** 3. Luqman ### Juz 23 **Question:** What is the name of the man who is the warner in Surah Yasin? 1. Waraqah ibn Nawfal 2. Bahira 3. Habib An-Najjar ***Answer:*** 3. Habib An-Najjar ### Juz 24 **Question:** In which *surah* (from the previous *juz*) does Allah mention Ibrahim (as) seeing in a dream that he is to sacrifice Ismail (as)? 1. Surah As-Saffat 2. Surah Al-Fath 3. Surah Yusuf ***Answer:*** 1. Surah As-Saffat ### Juz 25 **Question:** What is another name for Surah Ghafir? 1. Surah Al-Bara'ah 2. Surah Al-Mu’min 3. Surah Al-Insan ***Answer:*** 2\. Surah Al-Mu’min ### Juz 26 **Question:** Which verse from *Juz* 25 used to cause Caliph Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz to cry all night in his *qiyam*? 1. Surah Shuraa, Verse 45 2. Surah Shuraa, Verse 7 3. Surah Jathiyah, Verse 28 ***Answer:*** 2\. Surah Shuraa, Verse 7 ### Juz 27 **Question:** Who was the prophet at the center of the story in Surah Al-Ahqaf? 1. Lut (as) 2. Shuaib (as) 3. Hud (as) ***Answer:*** 3\. Hud (as) ### Juz 28 **Question:** Which verse in Surah Ar-Rahman do some scholars say is the shortest verse in the Qur’an? 1. ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ (verse 1) 2. ذَوَاتَآ أَفْنَانٍۢ (verse 48) 3. مُدْهَآمَّتَانِ (verse 64) ***Answer:*** 3. مُدْهَآمَّتَانِ (verse 64) ### Juz 29 **Question:** Who is the woman referred to in Surah Al-Mujadilah? 1\. Hind bint Utbah 2\. Nusaybah bint Ka’ab 3\. Khawlah bint Tha’labah ***Answer:*** 3. Khawlah bint Tha’labah ### Juz 30 **Question:** What was the first *surah* revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in *Juz* 29 after the first few *ayat* when he received the revelation in Hira? 1\. Surah Al ‘Alaq 2\. Surah Al Muddaththir 3\. Surah Al Muzzammil ***Answer:*** 2. Surah Al Muddaththir --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-last-ten-nights-on-your-period # The Last Ten Nights on Your Period | Blog **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Ramadan, Ramadan Papers for Mobile App **Published:** March 31, 2024 **Updated:** March 14, 2026 Aisha (rA) reported that when the last ten nights of Ramadan arrived, the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his belt, spend the night in worship, and awaken his family (agreed upon). This is the time that, as Muslims, we put in the most effort, praying for longer and later in the night, hoping for *Laylat al-Qadr*, asking to be accepted by Allah. For women though, there is always disappointment and sadness if menstruation starts during the last ten nights of Ramadan. All the blessings seem to be out of reach, and it feels like we are excluded from the immense rewards. Aisha (rA) went through something similar. She had intended Hajj, but began menstruating. The feelings of frustration, sorrow, and even rejection are feelings that many women know all too well. The Prophet ﷺ walked in on her as she was weeping, and he immediately knew. “What is the matter? Are you menstruating?” he asked. She responded in the affirmative. The Prophet comforted her. “This is a matter that Allah has decreed for the daughters of Adam,” he said, “so complete the rites of Hajj pilgrimage as other pilgrims do, but do not circle around the House” (agreed upon). Many women worry that getting their menstruation during a blessed time could be a sign of Allah's displeasure. We equate it with exclusion—when people exclude, it is because they do not like you or they see you as unworthy, so we subconsciously project that onto Allah, believing that *He* might not like us and deems us unworthy. But the Prophet ﷺ comforted Aisha (rA) and all of us by banishing the thought—your natural cycle, that Allah gave you as a blessing and for a wisdom, is simply something that Allah decreed. When you start your period has nothing to do with Allah’s pleasure with you. He then taught Aisha (rA) what she *should* do. Out of mercy, Allah decreed that women should not do the prayer or fast during menstruation. We are rewarded for submitting to and obeying Him, so *not* fasting becomes an act of obedience, as does *not* praying during this time. We are in a state of submission because we fast and pray when He tells us to and we refrain from doing so when He forbids us. The state of the heart is the same: loving submission to the commands of our Merciful Lord. But what about connection? We might miss those actions. We might want to pray for long hours during the night, or join the congregation in the mosque. Yet menstruation does not mean you are cut off from Allah. In fact, just like the Prophet ﷺ taught Aisha (rA) that there were things she *should* be doing to worship Allah, we have so many avenues to worship Him and come closer to Him during these last ten nights. Indeed, it teaches us how to turn to Him no matter our state. --- ## 1- Reciting Qur’an If you take the [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://alsalam.ac.uk/quran-during-menstruation/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711902263276707&usg=AOvVaw2kD3G_cAFwdBpf6N08HWbV)[opinion](https://alsalam.ac.uk/quran-during-menstruation/) that reciting Qur’an is permissible, then continue to recite and reflect upon it, or simply listen to its recitation, as well as delving into [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DhZ-kJznJU9E&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711902263277302&usg=AOvVaw0xTsKIrim3QN4uZE4O3HIv)[digestible](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/juz-1-how-to-repent-and-ask-allah-for-guidance-quran-30-for-30-season-5) *tafsir* (exegesis). The Qur’an is a blessing not simply when we recite it, but when we implement its teachings and practice it. When Aisha (rA) was asked about the character of the Prophet ﷺ, she said that his character was the Qur’an (*Sahih Muslim*, no. 746). The Prophet was described as being the most generous of people, and he was even more generous during Ramadan, when Jibril would revise the Qur’an with him (agreed upon). This shows us that the Qur’an impacted him even more during Ramadan. So connect with the Qur’an during this time. Connect with Allah’s words—nothing soothes the soul more than His own words to us. Allah says, > “We send down the Qur’an as a healing and mercy for the believers...” (Qur’an 17:82). --- ## 2- Remembrance Allah says, > “Remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me, and never be ungrateful” (Qur’an 2:152). The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah said, ‘I am with him \[My servant\] if he remembers Me’” (*Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 7405). If we are feeling alone, or far from Allah, then the antidote is simply to remember Him. To [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-sami-the-one-who-always-listens&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711902263278590&usg=AOvVaw2aQiWAykbdSR4aaeblKCVV)[talk](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-meaning-of-allahs-name-al-sami-the-one-who-always-listens) to Him. Allah tells us that He is *with* us when we do. And the Prophet ﷺ taught us profound words of remembrance and praise. For example, he taught that “*Alhamdulillah* (all praise and gratitude is for Allah alone) fills the scale” (*Sahih Muslim*, no. 223). Take the time to just sit down, contemplate your blessings, and even the tests that you are growing through, and praise Allah for them. The Prophet ﷺ also taught, “Whoever  declares the glory of Allah and His praises (*subhanAllah wa bihamdihi*) one hundred times every day, his sins will be diminished even if they are like the foam of the sea” (agreed upon). Reflect upon what these remembrances mean and increase in your hope, love, and closeness to Allah. The Prophet ﷺ also said, “Those in solitude have raced ahead.” They  said, “O Messenger of Allah, who are those in solitude?” The Prophet said, “They are men and women who remember Allah often” (*Sahih Muslim*, no. 2676). --- ## 3- Supplication > “When My servants ask you \[O Prophet\] about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me” (Qur’an 2:186). Supplication is something that is always open to us. You can even wake up before *Fajr*, if you desire, and dedicate a portion of your night, during the last third, to pour your heart out to Him and just ask. Continue to seek the blessings of *Laylat al-Qadr* (the Night of Decree). The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah is abundant in *haya* (conscientiousness, grace, shyness) and generous. He would be shy, when a person raises his hands to Him, to turn them away empty and disappointed” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 3556). When Aisha (rA) asked the Prophet ﷺ what she should say if she knew which night *Laylat al-Qadr* was, he responded, “Say: O Allah, You are pardoning. You love to pardon, so pardon me” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 3513). Allah is al-Sami al-Mujib—He hears you and answers in the best way possible. Keep asking. --- ## 4- Use the energy you have to help those fasting Since you are not fasting, use the extra energy you might have to serve and help those who are fasting or generally in need. Once, the companions were with the Prophet ﷺ on a journey, where some were fasting and some were not. It was a hot day and they stopped to rest. Those who were fasting fell to the ground, but those who were not fasting got up to pitch the tents and water the animals. The Prophet ﷺ said, > “Those who were not fasting today have taken all the reward” (*Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 2890). So too can you receive great rewards by helping others as a non-faster. The Prophet ﷺ also taught us that “Whoever feeds a fasting person, he will have the same reward as him” (*Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 807). The Prophet ﷺ further reminded us, that “Whoever would love to be shaded in the shade of Allah, let him help someone in hardship or waive a loan” (*Musnad Ahmad*, no. 15520). There is so much good we can be doing for others (e.g., facilitating their worship) that Allah rewards us for. --- ## 5- Charity Allah says in the Qur’an, > “Those who spend their wealth in charity day and night, secretly and openly—their reward is with their Lord, and there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (2:274) Whatever little you can do, Allah is al-Shakur (the Most Appreciative)—out of His generosity, He rewards the little that we give with disproportionate blessings. The Prophet ﷺ was described as being the most generous of people, and he was even more generous during Ramadan, when Jibril would revise the Qur’an with him (agreed upon). This is a time to give! Let the impact of reflecting upon the Qur’an be that you are even more giving, following in the sunnah of the beloved ﷺ. --- ## 6- The worship of the heart Often we focus on outward actions at the expense of the state of our hearts. The Prophet ﷺ once pointed out a man to the rest of the companions, saying that he was from the people of Paradise. Abdullah ibn Amr (rA) wanted to know what was so special about him, and assumed that he would *see* something extraordinary. He spent three nights with him, but there was nothing outwardly remarkable about him. Finally, he decided to ask him. The man replied, “It is not but as you see, except that I find no malice within myself towards the Muslims, nor do I envy anyone for the good that Allah has given them.” And Abdullah said, “It is these virtues that have elevated you to this status, and these are the same qualities that we have not been able to maintain” (*Musnad Ahmad*, no. 12697). Spending these nights actively working on our hearts—our hope in Allah, our contentment with His decree, self-examination (*muhasabah*), etc.—is worship that He loves. There are so many ways to worship Allah and to connect to Him that are open to us. Allah’s door is never closed, particularly not to those who seek Him and want closeness to Him. So if you find yourself unable to do one or two acts of worship, rejoice in the fact that you can do so many others. And may Allah accept. For more opportunities to worship when menstruating, check out [10 Acts of Worship When You Can't Pray | Blog | Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/10-acts-of-worship-when-you-cant-pray). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-does-ramadan-work-a-beginners-guide # How Does Ramadan Work? A Beginner’s Guide **Author:** Anonymous Guest Author **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Allah, Faith, Sharia **Tags:** Convert Resources, Publication, Ramadan, Ramadan Papers for Mobile App **Published:** March 8, 2024 **Updated:** September 7, 2026 ## Introduction Fasting Ramadan for the first time as a new Muslim, or a Muslim renewing their practice, can seem like an intimidating task. To many, refraining from food, drink, and intimacy with one’s spouse during daylight hours sounds exhausting and even painful. Fortunately, Ramadan is a communal event involving everyone in the Muslim community. Not only will you have brothers and sisters in Islam to help you, but over time, as your body adjusts to periods of fasting, you will find it becomes easier and easier. This is especially true as you harvest the spiritual fruits of fasting, closeness to Allah, an affinity for the community, and demonstrable improvements in your life when you exit Ramadan as a better person than when you started, by the grace of Allah. Ramadan is a lunar month on the Islamic calendar. It does not coincide with the solar Gregorian calendar used throughout the world, since the lunar year is slightly shorter than the solar year. The lunar calendar also starts the next calendar day at sunset, rather than at 12 AM. All important days in Islam, including the Hajj pilgrimage, are based on the [Islamic lunar calendar](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-months-ordained-by-allah-reviving-the-islamic-calendar). These heavenly bodies are signs of Allah’s creative power and purpose. Indeed, as Allah said: > He is the One who made the sun a radiant source and the moon a reflected light, with precisely ordained phases, so that you may know the number of years and calculation \[of time\]. Allah did not create all this except for a purpose. He makes the signs clear for people of knowledge.[^1] That being the case, Ramadan is announced by local Muslim authorities based on the sightings of the new moon. It can be a challenge for Muslims who live in countries where Ramadan is not a recognized holiday, but Allah only asks that you do the best you can in the place He has put you. This article serves as a guide for new Muslims, newly practicing Muslims, and in fact, all Muslims who may benefit from its reminders, for “reminder benefits the believers.”[^2] You will learn about the virtues of fasting in general, the spirit of the practice, why we fast, and what moral, psychological, and spiritual outcomes are desired. Fasting is a pillar of Islam during Ramadan and beyond, so you will learn about days you may voluntarily fast to reap enormous rewards. You will learn about the virtues of Ramadan and the additional acts of worship encouraged during it, such as reading the Qur’an and generously giving in charity. You will learn about the last ten nights of Ramadan, the home stretch when good deeds are greatly multiplied, and the ‘Night of Decree’ (*Laylat al-Qadr*), in which worship for a single night is rewarded as if it were for a thousand months. You will learn how the good habits you develop during this month can extend beyond Ramadan, bettering yourself as a Muslim believer and bringing you nearer to your beloved Lord. And finally, you will learn about the etiquette of the Feast of Breaking the Fast (*ʿĪd al-Fiṭr*), the first of two major Islamic holidays in which the community celebrates the end of fasting and prays for Allah to accept all of the good deeds we have done during this blessed month. --- ## The spirit of fasting Human desires can be our worst enemy if they are not tempered by the lights of faith and reason. To save yourself from your *self*, so to speak, Allah has commanded us to fast for His sake. Fasting (*ṣiyām* or *ṣawm*) comes from the root word meaning “to abstain.” In the Islamic context, fasting is to abstain from food, drink, and sexual activity during the daylight hours, between the dawn (*Fajr*) and sunset (*Mahgrib*) prayers, while being especially careful to avoid all sins, both major and minor. Allah explained the purpose of fasting, saying: > O you who have faith, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become righteous.[^3] The previous prophets taught their nations to fast, too, which is why many Jews, Christians, and adherents of other religions still practice some form of fasting to this day. In Islam, the point of fasting is to develop righteousness or “Godfearingness” (*taqwā*) in the heart. *Taqwā* comes from the root word meaning “to protect” or “to shield.” Specifically, it is the quality of one who fears to disobey Allah, as they are protecting themselves from His punishment. This is a healthy type of fear—a reverential fear that should not lead to crippling anxiety or panic because it is always balanced by hope. Our whims and impulsive behaviors can lead us to disobey Allah, but it is Godfearingness that helps us to control ourselves. Allah said, “As for one who feared to stand before their Lord and restrained themselves from their whims, Paradise is their refuge.”[^4] Fasting trains us to delay the most fundamental human urges, eating and drinking, thereby making it easier for us to resist sinful temptations overall. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ described the greatness of fasting this way: > Allah said, “Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except for fasting. It is for Me and I will reward it.” Fasting is a shield, so when one of you fasts, he may not be obscene or boisterous. If someone insults him or fights him, let him say, “Indeed, I am fasting.” By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the breath coming from the mouth of a fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk.[^5] When Allah says fasting is for Him, it highlights the exceptional nature of this act of worship. Other people can see you praying, giving charity, and performing the pilgrimage, but no one truly knows if you are *really* fasting or not. It is a secret between you and your Lord; thus, it requires a lot of sincerity. When one of the Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah, tell me a deed to do,” the Prophet ﷺ replied, “You must fast, for there is nothing equal to it.”[^6] Genuine fasting, which produces *taqwā*, ends up as a solid barrier between you and sin, or as the Prophet said, “Fasting is a shield from the Hellfire, just like a shield of yours in battle.”[^7] Fasting strengthens your ability to control your impulses, but it is similarly important to control your tongue (speech) while fasting. The Prophet ﷺ once told his Companions, “Fasting is a shield as long as you do not damage it.” They asked, “How does one damage it?” The Prophet said, “By dishonesty or backbiting.”[^8] We need to be on special guard from saying anything false or mean-spirited while fasting. The Prophet said, “Truly, fasting is not only from eating and drinking. Rather, fasting is from vanity and obscenity. If someone abuses you or acts foolishly against you, then say, ‘Indeed, I am fasting.’”[^9] And he said, “When one of you wakes up in the morning for fasting, then he should not use obscene language or behave foolishly.”[^10] And he said, “Do not insult anyone while you are fasting. If anyone insults you, then say, ‘Indeed, I am fasting.’ If you are standing, then sit down.”[^11] The Righteous Caliph ʿUmar (rA, r. 13-23/634-644) confirmed this understanding, saying, “Fasting is not merely from food and drink alone. Rather, it is from lies, falsehood, vain talk, and swearing.”[^12] You cannot neglect this most important purpose of fasting, just like you cannot ignore the intended results of prayer; otherwise it runs the risk of becoming another empty ritual. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever does not leave evil words and deeds while fasting, Allah does not need him to leave food and drink.”[^13] And he warned, “One might fast but he gets nothing from his fast except hunger. One might pray at night but he gets nothing from his prayer except fatigue.”[^14] Backbiting, or talking badly about people in their absence, is one of the most dangerous sins because gossiping can be an easy habit to fall into. In fact, Imam Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī warns, “The righteous predecessors used to say that dishonesty will break the fast.”[^15] Telling a lie may not ‘break’ the fast in an outward sense, but it certainly spoils its spirit. The key to quality prayer and fasting is sincerity, the *inward* component matched by the outward movements. Since whatever comes out of the tongue reflects what is in the heart, we can protect our fasting by carefully watching what we say. For this reason, the righteous successor (*tābiʿī*), or member of the generation that followed and knew one of the Companions, Mujāhid (d. 104/722) would say, “Whoever is safe from two characteristics will secure his fasting: backbiting and falsehood.” Imam al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066), who recorded this narration, added, “Just as one guards his fasting from what is not befitting, one must guard himself in the month of Ramadan to obey Allah as much as possible.”[^16] Fasting days are days of uniquely high alert, when we should be extra careful about doing our best and avoiding even apparently minor shortcomings. It is difficult to be extra vigilant all the time, of course, so we focus our attention more during our fasts. It is like performing an extended prayer throughout the day, as the righteous *tābiʿī* Abū al-ʿĀliya Rufayiʿ al-Riyāḥī (d. 93/711) said, “The fasting person is engaged in an act of worship as long as he does not backbite anyone, even if he is sleeping on his bed.”[^17] Put differently, a fasting day should not feel like a normal day. The Companion Jabir ibn ʿAbdullāh (rA) gave us this advice: > When you fast, then let your hearing, seeing, and tongue fast as well from falsehood and sins, and avoid harming your servants. Rather, you must have dignity and calmness on the day of your fasting. Do not make days you do not fast and days you fast as if they were the same.[^18] Beyond yourself, another important point is that fasting is meant to remind us what it feels like to be hungry and impoverished. Some of the righteous predecessors were asked, “Why has fasting been instituted?” They replied, “So that the rich will taste hunger and thus will not forget the hungry.”[^19] And when the Caliph al-Maʾmūn (r. 197-218/813-833) was asked similarly, he answered: > Allah Almighty knows what the impoverished endure of severe hunger, so He made the rich perform fasting so that by necessity they might taste the flavor of hunger, such that they do not forget the severe hunger of the impoverished.[^20] Many people all over the world live with food or water insecurity; that is, they are hungry but not by choice. When you and I feel the pangs of hunger while fasting, it should remind us of the suffering these people endure and motivate us to donate to their cause. Fasting should instill compassion within us! The month of Ramadan is generally the only time Muslims are obligated to fast, but the Prophet ﷺ would fast at various times throughout the year. He advised his Companions, depending on their capability, to fast three days a month. The Prophet said to one of his Companions, “O Abū Dharr, if you are going to fast three days of the month, then fast on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days.”[^21] And he said, “Shall I tell you about what will rid the heart of impurities? Fasting three days of every month.”[^22] It is also the Sunnah, or prophetic practice, to fast every Monday and Thursday, if you can, as the Prophet said, “Deeds are presented \[to Allah\] on Monday and Thursday. Thus, I love for my deeds to be presented while I am fasting.”[^23] The Prophet’s wife, ʿAisha (rA, d. 58/678), said he was eager to fast on Mondays and Thursdays.[^24] There are other times during the year, besides Ramadan, that we are recommended, but not obligated, to fast. Ashura is the ninth day of the month of Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is recommended to perform extra fasting during this whole month. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best fast after the month of Ramadan is fasting in the month of Allah, Muharram.”[^25] The day of Ashura is the day when Allah saved Moses and his people from Pharaoh, so he fasted that day to give thanks.[^26] The Prophet announced, “Verily, Ashura is a day among the days of Allah. Whoever wishes to fast may do so, and whoever wishes to break his fast may do so.”[^27] The Companion Ibn ʿAbbās (rA, d. 68/687) reported, “I did not see the Prophet as eager to fast a day and preferring it over others except for this day of Ashura, and this month of Ramadan.”[^28] It is likewise recommended to fast the day of ʿArafa, which is the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage, as long as you are not a pilgrim yourself. The Prophet ﷺ was asked about fasting on the day of ʿArafa and he replied, “It will expiate the sins of the previous and upcoming years.” Then, he was asked about fasting on the day of Ashura and he answered, “It will expiate the sins of the past year.”[^29] Notably, this refers to minor sins, not major ones! Keep in mind that moderation is the key to successful worship habits. The most you should fast (with the exception of Ramadan) is every other day, taking a day of rest in between. This was the practice of the Prophet David (Dāwūd, AS). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained: > Verily, the most beloved fasting to Allah is the fasting of David, and the most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of David, upon him be peace. He would sleep half of the night, stand in prayer for a third of it, and then sleep for a sixth of it. He would fast every other day.[^30] This shows us that we might be overdoing it if our voluntary worship makes us sick or suffer, or it causes us to neglect other essential matters in our livelihood. The Sunnah is to establish a balanced habit of extracurricular worship that we can maintain and build upon. The Prophet ﷺ sometimes told his Companions to focus on three days of fasting a month, or one voluntary prayer a day, depending on their ability. You know yourself better than anyone else (except Allah), so it is up to you to forge your winning worship routine! Fasting has an upper limit on the outside, as you see, but it also has its highest peak on the inside. This is called the true fasting of the heart and the mind. Eminent Muslim theologian and scholar Abū Ḥāmid Imam al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) details the various levels of fasting: > Know that there are three degrees of fasting: the fasting of the common people, the fasting of the elite, and the fasting of the elite of the elite. As for the fasting of the common people, it involves restraining the stomach from fulfilling its desires, as has been mentioned. As for the fasting of the elite, it involves restraining one’s hearing, sight, tongue, hands, feet, and all limbs from sin. As for the fasting of the elite of the elite, it involves the fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts and restraining it entirely from everything besides Allah Almighty.[^31] Some early Muslims described pure *taqwā* like this, “A man does not reach the peak of righteousness until it is such that, were he to place what is in his heart on a plate and go around the market with it, he would not be ashamed of anything on it.”[^32] What a lofty goal to work towards over the years! Now, do not be discouraged if the highest level seems out of reach. Most people cannot control their thoughts to the extent they think *only* about Allah while they are fasting. Your fasting is still valid and acceptable even without this. Indeed, the righteous scholar and judge Maymūn ibn Mahrān (d. 117/735), who is considered one of the pious first three generations of Muslims (*salaf*), used to say, “The easiest part of fasting is leaving food and drink!”[^33] So, start with the basics, as we all do, by abstaining from food and drink and trying to be on your best behavior during the month of Ramadan. --- ## Beginning Ramadan Ramadan is one of the most important times of the year for you and all Muslims. During this month, we fast from food, drink, and sexual activity from dawn to sunset prayers each day. The community will gather in the mosque each night to perform the Ramadan congregational night prayer (*Tarāwīḥ*) prayers, which are voluntary but still highly recommended, and renew their relationship with the Qur’an, much of which was revealed during Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ himself would review everything Allah had revealed to him during this month. Ramadan is full of numerous blessings for us to take advantage of! Allah said: > The month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was revealed as guidance for people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. Whoever reaches the month, let him fast during it. Whoever is ill or on a journey, then fast an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship, and He intends for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that to which He has guided you, that perhaps you will be grateful.[^34] Most of the previous scriptures were revealed during Ramadan as well, the Prophet ﷺ told us: > The scriptures of Abraham, upon him be peace, were revealed on the first night of Ramadan. The Torah was revealed after six nights of Ramadan had passed, the Gospel was revealed after thirteen nights of Ramadan had passed, and the Qur’an was revealed after twenty-four nights of Ramadan had passed.[^35] Of course, just as fasting generally has its own set of etiquette and good practices, Ramadan also has guidelines for success. Imam Ibn al-Jawzī explains: > Fasting has etiquette which can be summarized as guarding the outward limbs and keeping watch over inward thoughts. One should receive Ramadan in a state of sincere repentance and corresponding determination. One should precede it with intention, which is required every night (before fasting), and one must necessarily be silent from speaking evil words and from backbiting, for he is not fasting who continues to eat the flesh of people.[^36] One should restrain his gaze from looking upon the unlawful, and he must be cautious about returning his sight again and again, even if it is lawful.[^37] Adhering to the etiquette of Ramadan, let alone abstaining from food and drink, requires a lot of patience. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ called Ramadan “the month of patience.”[^38] This is a core virtue you want to keep in your mind throughout the month. Remember there is rest and relief coming at the end. One of the pious *salaf*, Mālik ibn Dīnār (d. 130/748), reminds us, “There is no good deed but that an obstacle is in front of it. If one is patient, he will break through to rest, but if he is intimidated, he will turn back.”[^39] So, keep moving forward no matter what because the joy of accomplishment is not far off, just as the Prophet said, “The fasting person has two moments of relief he enjoys: when he breaks his fast he is joyful, and when he meets his Lord he is joyful for his fasting.”[^40] Since Ramadan is on the Islamic lunar calendar, the community typically gathers at the end of the previous month of Shaban to witness the new moon, whether the following day will be the first of Ramadan or the day after. The Prophet ﷺ would pray when he confirmed the new moon, “O Allah, bring it over us with blessings and faith, safety and Islam. My Lord and your Lord is Allah.”[^41] However, the moon might appear in some regions but not in others. In the time of the Companions, the residents of Syria saw the new moon after Ramadan while the residents of Medina did not, so they celebrated *ʿĪd al-Fiṭr* on different days.[^42] As hadith master Imam al-Tirmdhī (d. 279/892) stated, the scholars agreed that “the people of every land have their own moon-sighting.”[^43] So wherever you are, keep in touch with your local Muslim organizations who will announce the beginning and ending of Ramadan in your region. You may see some Muslims argue about this because they do not know, but do not let it discourage you. The Prophet ﷺ liked to fast during the month of Shaban in preparation for Ramadan.[^44] In Shaban, the Companions would make up any Ramadan fasts they had to skip the previous year due to illness or other legitimate excuses.[^45] The Prophet also encouraged us during Shaban to rid ourselves of any grudges we might have towards our families, friends, and brothers and sisters in Islam, saying, “Allah looks down at His creation on the middle night of Shaban, and He forgives all of His creatures, except for an idolater or one filled with malice.”[^46] Malice (*ḥiqd*) enters our hearts when we nurture our anger to the point that we desire to harm others instead of forgiving them. According to the eminent Māliki jurist and judge Abū Bakr ibn ʿArabī (d. 543/1148), our hearts are not clean until we empty them of any malice towards others, “The heart cannot be pure if it holds malice, envy, pride, and arrogance. The Prophet made it a requirement of faith that one love for his brother what he loves for himself.”[^47] Such a noxious disease of the heart can really drag us down if we are still holding on to it during Ramadan! Some of the righteous predecessors, but not all of them, would single out the 15th night of Shaban for voluntary prayers that they would perform individually or in small congregations.[^48] Imam al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820), the founder of one of the four juristic schools of Sunni Islam, for instance, recommended increasing our supplications to Allah on the 15th night of Shaban.[^49] However, later Muslims invented acts of worship that do not have any precedent from the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, or the righteous predecessors, such as performing or even obligating a ritual prayer of a hundred units in the mosque. Eminent Shāfiʿī jurist and hadith scholar, Imam Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (676/1277), rightly calls these types of novel practices “reprehensible innovations.”[^50] This is because the Prophet said, “Whoever performs a deed that is not in accordance with our matter, it will be rejected.”[^51] The rule is that specific acts of ritual worship must be *proven* to be part of the religion. We are not allowed to make up our own rituals. This is different from social customs, which are permissible by default unless they contain something sinful.[^52] When Ramadan began after sighting the new moon, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would announce the blessings of this month: > On the first night of the month of Ramadan, the devils are chained, the jinn are restrained, and the gates of Hellfire are closed, and none of its gates are opened. The gates of Paradise are opened, and none of its gates are closed. A heavenly caller announces, “O seeker of good, come near! O seeker of evil, stop short!” Allah will save them from the Hellfire, and that is during every night of Ramadan.[^53] You, like many other Muslims, may notice a huge boost in energy and motivation to worship once the month begins. That is because the devils have been restrained, and you have been given an advantage over them. Evil temptations are not totally gone, but they have been drastically reduced. Scholars have said this is because Muslims are less inclined to give in to their immature desires since they are reciting the Qur’an and praying more often, among other interpretations.[^54] This is a matter of the Unseen, so only Allah truly knows ‘how’ the devils are chained, but we still know it is true and can experience its effects. --- ## The month of fasting Fasting begins shortly after the call to prayer is announced for the dawn (*Fajr*) prayer. It is highly recommended to eat the pre-fasting meal called *Suḥūr*. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Eat the pre-fasting meal, for surely there are blessings in it.”[^55] He would invite his Companions to eat in the early morning, saying, “Onward to the blessed meal!”[^56] He warned us not to abandon it, even if we only eat a morsel or drink a sip of water, as he said, “The pre-fasting meal is a blessed meal, so do not abandon it even if you only take a sip of water. Verily, Allah and His angels send blessings upon those who take the pre-fasting meal.”[^57] One can infer, in general, that it is recommended to eat at least two meals a day, since even on fasting days we should eat a small breakfast. Everyone’s body is different, of course, so people may need a different routine, especially for unusual health issues. When the first call to prayer at dawn is heard, you can keep eating until you finish your portion. The Prophet ﷺ said, “When one of you hears the call to prayer while eating the pre-fasting meal and his vessel is in his hand, let him not put it down until he fulfills his needs.”[^58] The senior Companion, Zayd ibn Thābit (d. 63/683), used to eat the pre-fasting meal with the Prophet, so he was asked, “How long was it between the two calls to prayer?” Zayd said, “It was time enough to recite fifty verses from the Qur’an.”[^59] This means you can keep eating and drinking for a little less than ten minutes after you hear the first call to prayer. The great imams like Al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (241/855), and Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (d. 238/853) encouraged taking advantage of this brief window of opportunity.[^60] Once the second call to prayer is given, which announces the commencement of prayer, it is definitely time to stop. If you are in a place where you cannot hear the call to prayer, you may follow the timings estimated by local Muslim organizations. You can resume eating, drinking, and having intimate relations with your spouse after the first call to prayer at sunset. The meal to break your fast at sunset is called *Ifṭār*. There is no extra reward for fasting longer than Allah has obligated. In fact, you are rewarded more for breaking the fast as soon as you are allowed! The Prophet ﷺ said, “My nation will continue in goodness so long as they hasten to break their fast and prolong the pre-fasting meal.”[^61] Muslims customarily eat *Ifṭār* together in the mosque or in gatherings at home. It is a great time for the community to grow closer together. Some mosques will even choose different nights to feature various cuisines from around the Muslim world. An easy mistake to make is to overdo it at either *Suḥūr* or *Ifṭār* by eating too much, too quickly, or too heavily. After fasting all day, your stomach shrinks a little bit, so piling it full of food can make you feel sick. A good rule of thumb is to fill one third of your stomach with food, one third with water, and leave the rest empty, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: > The son of Adam cannot fill a vessel worse than his stomach, as it is enough for him to take a few bites to straighten his back. If he cannot do it, then he may fill it with a third of food, a third of drink, and a third of air.[^62] If you follow this rule during Ramadan and throughout the year, you will be healthier, stronger, leaner, and feel better. Another important consideration is that if you drink a lot of caffeinated beverages like tea or coffee, you should try to cut back a month or so before Ramadan. Some newcomers get severe headaches while fasting not because they lack food or drink, but because they lack caffeine! Food, drink, and sexual activity during the daytime will break your fast, so unless you have a valid excuse, you will need to make it up later or pay an amount in charity, depending on your situation. You do not need to make it up or compensate if you unintentionally break your fast due to forgetfulness, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever eats or drinks forgetfully while he is fasting, let him complete his fast, for Allah has fed him and given him drink.”[^63] It is permissible to break your fast due to illness or travel.[^64] While fasting, the Prophet used to kiss his wives without lust, like a peck on the cheek, so that is allowed too.[^65] All of these concessions are based on Allah’s words, “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.”[^66] Children may fast as well if they are able, but it is only required for adults.[^67] It is a good idea to have children fast for at least some days, since this will make it easier for them as they grow up. Ramadan is your best opportunity to get a clean record with Allah, as fasting and prayers will make amends for previous sins and shortcomings. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The five prayers, Friday to Friday, and Ramadan to Ramadan will be expiation for the sins between them, so long as major sins are avoided.”[^68] And he said, “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan due to faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.”[^69] Every day of Ramadan is a chance to achieve salvation, as the Prophet said, “Verily, Allah has people He redeems at the time of breaking fast, and that is during every night.”[^70] At the time of breaking fast, a prayer of yours will surely be answered, as he told us, “Verily, Allah has people He redeems in every day and night of Ramadan. Every servant among them has a supplication that will be answered.”[^71] --- ## Tarāwīḥ prayers The voluntary *Tarāwīḥ* prayers that occur each night during the month of Ramadan are greatly emphasized for their redeeming value, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan due to faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.”[^72] They are customarily performed in congregation in the mosque, but you can also pray them at home. The scholars disagreed over whether it is better to perform *Tarāwīḥ* in the mosque or at home, but perhaps it depends upon an individual’s situation.[^73] It may be better to perform them in the mosque if the support of the congregation makes it easier for you, or it may be better to pray them at home if you feel tempted to “show off” your worship, which can be detrimental to your sincerity, or if you have other obligations that make leaving home difficult. The scholars likewise disagreed over how many units of prayer (*rakaʿāt*, sing. *rakʿa*) the *Tarāwīḥ* consist of, some of them preferring between eleven longer units or up to thirty-six shorter units. However, all of these are valid options according to Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya: > As for night prayer in Ramadan, if it is prayed according to the school of Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad with twenty units, or according to the school of Mālik with thirty-six units, or with thirteen or eleven units, then he has done well as mentioned by Imam Aḥmad for there is no reason against it. So whether to increase or decrease the units depends upon their length.[^74] The reason scholars disagreed was explained by Imam Aḥmad, “It has been reported in various ways, and the Prophet ﷺ did not fix any number for it.”[^75] As a result, it is entirely valid for you to do whatever is customary in the mosque you attend. Like the moon-sighting issue, you might see Muslims argue about how many units they should pray, but again, do not be discouraged. It is not necessary for you to stay for the entire *Tarāwīḥ* if you get tired. It is optional, remember. Even attending them briefly is highly meritorious. But there is an *enormous* reward for completing the prayers with the imam. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, whoever stands for prayer in Ramadan with the imam until he is finished, it will be recorded as if he prayed the entire night.”[^76] Imagine, you can pray for an hour and be rewarded as if you prayed all the way until morning! Practicing Ramadan, in letter and spirit, can put you in the same righteous category as a martyr, someone who gives up their life to serve Allah. A man once came to the Prophet ﷺ and he said, “O Messenger of Allah, what do you think if I testify there is no God but Allah and you are the Messenger of Allah, I perform the five prayers, I pay the obligatory alms, and I fast the month of Ramadan and stand for prayer in it. Among whom will I be?” The Prophet said, “Among the truthful and the martyrs.”[^77] On another occasion, the senior Companion Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayid Allāh (d. 36/656) (rA) told the story about two brothers who had converted to Islam. One of them was martyred in a battle and the other lived for another year. Ṭalḥah said, “I had a dream of Paradise and I saw the one who lived longer enter Paradise before the martyr. I was amazed by that so when I woke up, I mentioned it to the Prophet.” The Prophet replied, “Did he not fast the month of Ramadan after him? And he performed six thousand or so bowings in prayer throughout the year?”[^78] The second brother had a degree over his martyred brother because he had lived to pray more and fast another Ramadan! Although true martyrdom, not simply wishing death for yourself, is a huge virtue in itself, it is always better for a believer to live longer. The Prophet was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, who are the best people?” The Prophet answered, “One whose life is long and his deeds are good.”[^79] And he said, “Let none of you wish for death, nor call for it before its time comes. When one of you dies, his deeds come to an end. Verily, the life of a believer only increases in good.”[^80] --- ## The month of the Qur’an Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an, since it was this month in which most of it was revealed. The Companion Abū Hurayrah (rA, d. 58/678) reported, “The Prophet ﷺ would review the Qur’an once every year in Ramadan, and he reviewed it twice in the year he passed away.”[^81] For this reason, many Muslims will recite the entire Qur’an from cover-to-cover once, twice, or many times more this month. It is also a typical practice in mosques for the imams to complete the entire Qur’an during the *Tarāwīḥ* prayers. Reciting the Qur’an aloud is part of the ritual prayer, but it is also an essential act of worship outside of the prayer. The scholars have said that reciting the Qur’an is the greatest single deed to remember Allah.[^82] In other words, reciting the Qur’an is the best voluntary act of worship, even more so than remembering Allah with the simple, informal prayers you may have learned. That is because the Qur’an not only contains those prayers, but so much more! The Qur’an is our lifeline to Allah and the primary means of staying in a good relationship with Him. Not only that, devotion to the Qur’an helps the Muslim community stay together and puts our petty differences in perspective. Allah said: > Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you—when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.[^83] These words are the direct speech of Allah, specifically to you. It is as if Allah is addressing you personally. When you recite the Qur’an, you are communicating with your Lord and Creator like nothing else. The Book of Allah is so tremendous that even the mountains would fall down before it, as He said, “If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.”[^84] Likewise, our hearts fall down before Allah, in reverence and awe of Him, when we read His words in their original language with all its depth and power. For this reason, sticking to the Book is the characteristic of the best of believers. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.”[^85] And he once said to his companions, “Verily, Allah has His own people among humanity.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” The Prophet replied, “They are the people of the Qur’an, the people of Allah and His chosen ones.”[^86] This does not only refer to the professional reciters who teach, but to anyone with the capacity to share the wisdom of Islam. As the Prophet said, “Convey from me, even a single verse.”[^87] One single verse can have an enormous impact on us and those who hear it. Being a new Muslim, it is likely that you will need to learn Arabic from scratch in order to memorize some of the Qur’an for your prayers. There is nothing wrong with reading from a quality translation, as Allah said, “We did not send any messenger but in the language of his people, to clarify for them.”[^88] Learning Arabic can certainly be a challenge, but do not be discouraged. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: > The example of one who recites the Qur’an and memorizes it is that of one with the “righteous and noble scribes.”[^89] The example of one who recites the Qur’an and is committed to it, although it is difficult for him, is that of one with a double reward.[^90] If you struggle to learn the Qur’an’s language, rest assured that you are being rewarded *twice*. First, for learning the Book of Allah, an incredible virtue in itself. Second, for putting in the *effort* to learn the Book of Allah. Such people are among the “righteous and noble scribes,” meaning the angels in heaven. Over time, the struggle will become easier until the words pass fluently over your tongue, as Allah said, “We have certainly made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there anyone who will remember?”[^91] Hundreds of thousands of Muslims, even millions, have memorized the entire Qur’an by heart, cover-to-cover, demonstrating yet another miraculous sign in Allah’s words. Surely, you can and will succeed on your memorization journey with His help! To motivate you further, be aware of the many rewards awaiting the sincere reciters, both in this life and in the Hereafter. You will be credited with ten good deeds for every letter you recite, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will receive one good deed as ten good deeds like it. I do not say that *Alif Lām Mīm* is one letter, but rather *Alif* is a letter, *Lām* is a letter, and *Mīm* is a letter.”[^92] You could amass thousands of good deeds by merely committing ten minutes of recitation every day! Moreover, the angels will visit you and pray for you, sending peace and calm upon you. The Messenger of Allah said: > People do not gather in the houses of Allah, reciting the book of Allah and studying it together, but that tranquility will descend upon them, mercy will cover them, angels will surround them, and Allah will mention them to those near Him.[^93] And the Prophet ﷺ said, “You must recite the Qur’an and remember Allah Almighty, for you will be mentioned in heaven and you will have light upon earth.”[^94] Besides being praised in this life by the inhabitants of the heavens, you will level up in Paradise for every verse you commit to memory. The Prophet said, “It will be said to the companion of the Qur’an: Recite and ascend as you recited in the world! Verily, your rank is determined by the last verse you recite.”[^95] This is the reward of the companion of the Qur’an, someone who spent a lot of time with it. There are verses to read in the morning, after prayer, before we go to bed, and at any time. You would, ideally, have the Qur’an with you all throughout the day. --- ## The month of charity Charity and generous giving are also strongly encouraged during Ramadan. The Companion Ibn ʿAbbās (rA, d. 68/687) said: > The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the most generous of people and he was even more generous in Ramadan when Gabriel would meet him. He would meet him every night of Ramadan to study the Qur’an. Thus, the Prophet would be more generous than a refreshing wind.[^96] Charity does not merely refer to the monetary component. Allah gives us many other blessings like health, time, and energy, which we can “spend” on others for His sake. Every time we spend something we have in the name of Islam, Allah will “spend” upon us with rewards in this life and, more importantly, in the Hereafter. As Allah said, “O you who have faith, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange, no friendship, and no intercession.”[^97] And as the Prophet ﷺ said in the sacred tradition, “Allah said, ‘Spend in charity, O son of Adam, and I will spend on you.’”[^98] As such, it is better to give than to receive, as the Prophet also said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is one that gives and the lower hand is one that takes.”[^99] However, you must be moderate in your spending and not let your zealotry drive you into poverty. It is possible to spend too much on charity if it ruins you or your family. Allah said, “They are those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly, but are ever between that.”[^100] And the Messenger of Allah said: > O son of Adam, to offer your surplus in charity is better for you, and to withhold it is evil for you, yet there is no blame to keep what is needed. Begin by giving to your dependents, for the upper hand is better than the lower hand.[^101] So you have something to give, even if you have no money! This is why the Prophet ﷺ said, “Every good deed is charity. Verily, it is a good deed to meet your brother with a cheerful face, and to pour what is left from your bucket into the vessel of your brother.”[^102] Some of the poorer companions came to the Prophet one day and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, the rich have taken all the rewards. They pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, and they give charity from their extra wealth!” The Prophet said: > Has Allah not made ways for you to give charity? In every glorification of Allah is charity, in every declaration of His greatness is charity, in every praise of Him is charity, in every declaration of His Oneness is charity, enjoining good is charity and forbidding evil is charity, and in a man’s intimate relations with his wife is charity. Then, they asked, “O Messenger of Allah, is there a reward for one who satisfies his passions?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “You see that if he were to satisfy his passions with the unlawful, it would be a burden of sin upon him? Likewise, if he were to satisfy himself with the lawful, he will have a reward.”[^103] Every time you mention Allah around other Muslims, you have reminded them of Allah and thus given them charity! For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ asked them, “Shall I not tell you about the best of you?” They said, “Of course!” The Prophet replied, “Those who, if they are seen, they remind you of Allah.”[^104] Even keeping your behavior within the bounds of the lawful, such as staying faithful to your spouse, is an act of charity. Taking care of your family and household, a basic duty, is an act of charity, as the Prophet said, “What you feed yourself is your charity, what you feed your children is your charity, what you feed your wife is your charity, and what you feed your servant is your charity.”[^105] Even taking care of yourself to avoid poverty, disease, and dependence on others is charity, as the Messenger of Allah said: > When a man earns wealth from what is lawful and he feeds himself, or clothes another among the creation of Allah, it will be regarded as charity for him. When a Muslim man is without means to give in charity, he should say, “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, Your servant and Messenger, and send blessings upon the believing men and women and the Muslim men and women.” If he says this, it will be regarded as charity for him.[^106] There are many other types of charity that have nothing to do with money. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever is pleased for Allah to save him from distress on the Day of Resurrection, let him relieve one in hardship or lift his burden.”[^107] And he said, “Politeness with people is charity.”[^108] The Prophet told us about a man who entered Paradise for a simple act, “I have seen a man enjoying himself in Paradise due to a tree in the road he cut down that used to harm people.”[^109] Even just not doing bad deeds is charity, as he said, “Refrain from harming people, for it is your charity due upon yourself.”[^110] Keep this broader concept of charity in mind as part of the spirit of Ramadan. *Anything* good you do during this month is multiplied in its reward, as Imam al-Nawawī explained: > Our scholars said that being generous and performing favors are highly recommended during Ramadan, specifically during the last ten nights. By doing so, we emulate the example of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as well as our predecessors. This month is honored and good deeds performed in this month are more blessed than they are at any other time.[^111] --- ## Last ten nights and Laylat al-Qadr The last ten days and nights of Ramadan are the most special. The Prophet’s wife, ʿĀisha (rA), reported, “When the last ten days of Ramadan arrived, the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his belt, spend the night in worship, and awaken his family.”[^112] And she said, “The Prophet would exert himself in worship during the last ten nights more than at any other time.”[^113] Essentially, this is the time to sprint to the finish line! The last of these ten nights that is of greatest significance is called *Laylat al-Qadr*, translated as the Night of Decree or the Night of Power. Good deeds in this single night are counted as if they were done for a thousand months! Allah said: > Verily, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree. What will make you know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace is therein until the emergence of dawn.[^114] And the Prophet ﷺ said: > The month of Ramadan has come, a blessed month in which Allah Almighty has obligated you to fast. In it the gates of the heavens are opened, the gates of Hellfire are closed, the devils are chained, and in it is a night that is better than a thousand months. Thus, whoever is deprived of its good is truly deprived.[^115] He ﷺ also said, “Verily, this month has presented itself to you. There is a night within it that is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it has been deprived of all good. No one is deprived of its good but that he is truly deprived.”[^116] If there is one night to push yourself to the limit, this is it! Yet, the exact calendar date of the Night of Decree is unknown to us. The righteous predecessor Abū Qilāba al-Jarmī (d. 104/723) used to say, “The Night of Decree moves each year during the last ten nights of Ramadan.”[^117] Some scholars believe it is a specific night each month like the 27th, but al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) reports that many great imams like Mālik (d. 179/795), al-Thawrī (d. 161/778), and Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal agreed it changes each year.[^118] The Prophet ﷺ once came out to inform people about the Night of Decree, but two Muslim men were insulting each other. The Prophet declared: > Verily, I had come out to tell you about the Night of Decree, but two men were insulting each other. Thus, its knowledge was taken away and perhaps it is better for you. Look for it during the seventh, ninth, or fifth night of the last ten nights.[^119] Ultimately, we do not know when *Laylat al-Qadr* will occur, except that it is one of the odd-numbered of the last ten nights. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Search for the Night of Decree in the odd nights among the last ten nights of Ramadan.”[^120] Take note that the Islamic lunar calendar turns over at sunset, so an even-numbered day will be followed by an odd-numbered night the same evening. The wisdom behind this knowledge being hidden from us, and Allah knows best, is that we must strive in all of the last odd-numbered nights of Ramadan if we want to benefit from the Night of Decree. If we had already known it beforehand, we might slack off the rest of the month! As the month draws to an end, you might understandably feel exhausted and overwhelmed during the last ten nights. In that case, try to single out the last seven odd-numbered nights, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Look for the Night of Decree in the last ten nights, but if one of you is weak or frustrated, then do not be overcome during the remaining seven nights.”[^121] The best thing to do is to perform the *Tarāwīḥ* prayers in the mosque or at home, as he said, “Whoever stands in prayer during the Night of Decree due to faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.”[^122] If you are fortunate enough to engage in worship on the Night of Decree, you will experience an atypical sense of tranquility and peace after worshiping through the night. The Prophet said, “It is a calm night, neither hot nor cold, and the sun rises upon its day red and faint.”[^123] During the last ten nights, if you feel you have the energy to do more and your personal circumstances permit, you can perform a spiritual retreat in the mosque called *iʿtikāf*. This involves staying in the mosque for worship and not leaving except for unavoidable tasks. ‘Aisha (rA) told us, “The Prophet ﷺ would seek a retreat in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan, until Allah Almighty caused him to pass away. His wives continued to perform the retreat after him.”[^124] Imam al-Shāfiʿī explained how to start it: > Whoever desires to follow the example of the Prophet ﷺ in practicing spiritual retreat in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan, he should enter the mosque before the setting of the sun on the twenty-first night.[^125] The purpose of everything we do in Ramadan is to earn Allah’s forgiveness and build up our record of good deeds. Hence, we should be asking Allah for forgiveness throughout the month and especially while seeking the Night of Decree. ‘Aisha (rA) once asked, “O Messenger of Allah, if I know which night is the Night of Decree, what should I say during it?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Say, ‘O Allah, You are pardoning. You love to forgive, so forgive me!’”[^126] In Arabic, this prayer is *Allāhumma innaka ʿufuwun tuḥibb al-ʿafw  fa-a’fu ʿannī*. For more details on the virtues and scholarly discussions around the Night of Decree, see the articles *[Why Laylatul Qadr? The Significance & Virtues of the Most Important Night of the Year](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year)*,[^127] and *[On The Timing and Virtues of the Night of Power: The Heart’s Joy in Remembering Laylat al-Qadr by Ibn al-ʿIrāqī](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/on-the-timing-and-virtues-of-the-night-of-power-the-hearts-joy-in-remembering-laylat-al-qadr-by-ibn-al-iraqi)*.[^128] --- ## Zakāt al-Fiṭr One of the final acts of Ramadan is to donate a special charity called *Zakāt al-Fiṭr*. This deed is related to the third pillar of Islam, *Zakāt*, which comes from the root meaning “to grow” or “to purify.” Helping the poor causes us to grow in faith just as it causes the Muslim society to grow stronger. Likewise, it purifies our hearts and rids us of the spiritual disease of greed. As Allah said, “Take charity from their wealth by which you purify them and cause them to increase.”[^129] And Allah said, “But the righteous will avoid Hellfire, who gives from his wealth to purify himself.”[^130] The Prophet ﷺ said, “Charity extinguishes sins as water extinguishes fire.”[^131] And the Prophet said, “Whoever pays *Zakāt* on his wealth, his evil will depart from him.”[^132] In fact, it is one of the delights of faith to derive pleasure from giving charity, as the Prophet said, “Whoever does three deeds will taste the sweetness of faith: one who worships Allah alone, who declares there is no God but Allah, and who gives *Zakāt* from his wealth each year with a cheerful and earnest soul.”[^133] *Zakāt al-Fiṭr* is given directly to the needy as a *ṣā’*, which is about three kilograms, of staple foodstuffs. The Companion ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿUmar (rA, d. 73/693) reported: > The Messenger of Allah ﷺ obligated payment of charity at the end of Ramadan, a portion of dates or barley, upon slave and freeman, male and female, young and old among the Muslims. The Prophet ordered it to be given before people go out for *ʿĪd* prayer.[^134] The Companion Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (rA, d. 73/693) added, “We would bring for *Zakāt al-Fiṭr* a portion of food, or a portion of barley, or a portion of dates, or a portion of cheese, or a portion of raisins.”[^135] Since the word *Zakāt* implies purification, this particular charity is an expiation for our slip-ups during this month, as the Companion Ibn ‘Abbās said: > The Messenger of Allah ﷺ obligated *Zakāt al-Fiṭr* as purification of the fasting person from vain talk and misbehavior, as food for the poor. Whoever pays it before the *ʿĪd* prayer, it is accepted as zakat. Whoever pays it after the *ʿĪd* prayer, it is part of voluntary charity.[^136] Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ (d. 197/812), the teacher of the great Imam Aḥmad, offered this comparison, “*Zakāt al-Fiṭr* is to the month of Ramadan like the prostration of forgetfulness is to prayer. It makes up for deficiencies in fasting just as the prostration makes up for deficiencies in prayer.”[^137] If we make a minor mistake in prayer, as we all do, we can compensate by offering the prostration of forgetfulness. Similarly, we can atone for some of our misdeeds during Ramadan by offering *Zakāt al-Fiṭr*. You should try to offer *Zakāt al-Fiṭr* to the needy as directly as possible, even by hand at your mosque. However, according to Imam al-Nawawī, it is permissible to donate to Muslim authorities (if you are living in a Muslim country) or to credible Muslim charities who will distribute it properly, but “giving it out himself is better than all of that.”[^138] Imam Ibn Qudāmah clarifies that it is recommended “to give it out in the country in which it became obligatory;”[^139] in other words, wherever you happen to be at the end of Ramadan. Muslims should be supportive of their local communities, so prepare ahead to pay your *Zakāt al-Fiṭr* one or two days before the *ʿĪd* prayer. --- ## ʿĪd al-Fiṭr You have just finished fasting the month of Ramadan, so now it is time to party! In a halal way, of course. The celebration at the end of Ramadan is called *ʿĪd al-Fiṭr*. The word *fiṭr* means breaking your fast, just like the word *ifṭār*. The celebration at the end of Hajj is called *ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā*, the word *aḍḥā* meaning ‘sacrifice’ because animals are humanely slaughtered and their meat is distributed to the poor, who often cannot afford the luxury of eating meat.[^140] You are actually forbidden from fasting on these days because it is time to rest and relax! The Prophet ﷺ described these days as “celebrations for the people of Islam, so they are days of eating and drinking.”[^141] The only religious holidays that the Prophet ﷺ acknowledged are *ʿĪd al-Fiṭr* and *ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā*. When the Prophet arrived in Medina, he found the people celebrating two days, so he asked, “What are these two days?” They said, “We would celebrate these two days in the time of ignorance.” The Prophet said, “Verily, Allah has replaced these two days with two better days: the day of *al-Aḍḥā* and the day of *al-Fiṭr*.”[^142] Cultural or non-religious holidays can be a gray area, and Muslims will often disagree on whether to participate or not. However, it is certain that there are no other holidays except the two feasts that have been legitimately recognized in the Prophet’s Sunnah. The morning of *ʿĪd* begins with a special prayer in the mosque, shortly after the dawn prayer, followed by a brief but optional sermon. On the day after Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ would not go to the mosque for this prayer until he had eaten something, usually dates.[^143] It is recommended to wear your best clothes to the mosque and other *ʿĪd* gatherings.[^144] For instance, the Prophet used to wear a red-striped cloak on the day of *ʿĪd*.[^145] The Companion Ibn ʿUmar would likewise wear his best clothes on the two *ʿĪd*s.[^146] You should also be clean and well-presented, as these are not just ordinary days. Ibn ʿUmar would perform a ritual bath, or *ghusl*, on ʿĪd before he left to pray in the mosque.[^147] The scholars still recommend that you take a bath even if you cannot attend the *ʿĪd* prayer.[^148] When walking to the mosque and while inside it, the congregation is encouraged to repeat the exaltation of Allah, or *takbīr* (i.e., saying *Allāh Akbar*), as Allah said, “that you exalt Allah for that to which He has guided you, for perhaps you will be grateful.”[^149] Ibn ʿUmar raised his voice in these prayers of remembrance on his way to the prayer and until the imam arrived.[^150] He was known to be especially strict with regard to the Sunnah, so his actions of this nature are often considered to be directly based on prophetic teachings. The traditional formula by which Allah is exalted is the following: *Allāh Akbar, Allāh Akbar, Allāh Akbar, lā ilāha illā Allāh, Allāh Akbar, Allāh Akbar, wa li-Allāhi al-ḥamd*, which means, “Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, there is no God but Allah, Allah is the greatest, and for Allah is all praise.” It is recommended for men, women, and children to attend the *ʿĪd* prayer, even if women are menstruating. The female Companion, Umm ‘Aṭīyya, reported: > We were ordered to come out on the day of Eid, even the young girls and menstruating women from their houses. We would stand behind the men and declare the greatness of Allah along with them, and supplicate to Allah along with them, hoping for the blessings of that day and its purification from sin.[^151] Scholars disagree over whether the *ʿĪd* prayer is a firm individual obligation, a collective obligation, or an emphasized but voluntary recommendation. Nevertheless, it is part of the Sunnah, so you should attend unless you have a good reason not to. It is, after all, a day of blessings and hope, so do not miss out! After the sermon, Muslims will congratulate one another and ask Allah to accept the good deeds everyone did throughout Ramadan. The Companion Abū Umāma (rA, d. 81/700) and others used to say to each other, “May Allah accept good deeds from us and from you.”[^152] Although the Prophet ﷺ himself is not reported to have said this or prescribed it, it was practiced by the Companions and accepted by prominent scholars such as Imam Aḥmad.[^153] Lastly, the Prophet ﷺ would use different routes to go to the mosque for *ʿĪd* prayer and come back to his home.[^154] It is not stated clearly by any of the Companions exactly why he would do this, although it is certain to contain many points of wisdom. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350) surveys all the scholarly opinions about this practice: > It is said that the reason he did this was to greet the people with peace who lived on both fairways, or so that the blessings of his passing would reach both areas, or to fulfill the needs of those among them. It is said that he did so to establish the symbols of Islam in the various roads and paths. Another reason given is that he did so to frustrate the hypocrites when they witnessed the might of Islam and its people. It is said that he did so in order for the various areas to testify to his obedience to Allah. Surely, whoever walks to the mosque and the place of prayer will earn this virtue: one step raises him a degree, and another erases a sin until he returns home. It is also said, and this is the correct opinion, that all the reasons mentioned here are possible, as well as other unknown wisdom that always accompanied his actions.[^155] We can infer from the Prophet’s action that he wanted to greet or visit more people on *ʿĪd*, so it is advisable that you also attend the different gatherings of your brothers and sisters in Islam. Indeed, more people will pray for you, and you will pray for more people, so get out there and have some halal fun while you are at it! --- ## Post-Ramadan improvements When Ramadan is over, pay attention to how your habits fare in the following months. The idea is that Ramadan should be transformative; we should come out as better Muslims than we were at the beginning. To keep up the good habits, it is recommended to fast some days during the following month of Shawwal. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan and then follows it with six days of fasting in the month of Shawwal, it will be as if he fasted for the entire year.”[^156] The reason fasting six days of Shawwal after Ramadan is like fasting for a year is because Allah multiplies good deeds by ten. The Prophet clarified in another narration, “Fasting the month of Ramadan is like ten months of fasting and fasting six days of Shawwal is like two months of fasting. Thus, they are like fasting for a year.”[^157] Now that you have acclimated yourself to the habit of fasting, take advantage of fasting in Shawwal to establish a sustainable habit. Recall that the Sunnah is to fast three days a month, or every Monday and Thursday, or every other day at most. Although you may not be able to make all six days of Shawwal in a row or at intervals, any voluntary fasting you can do is excellent. If you fast only three days each month as a new post-Ramadan routine, it is rewarded as if you fasted every day you were alive! The Prophet ﷺ said, “Fasting three days of every month, and Ramadan after Ramadan, is like fasting for a lifetime.”[^158] Whatever you decide to do, consistency is more important than quantity, as the Prophet said, “Know that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly, even if it is small.”[^159] Move at your own pace, slow and steady, onward and upward! The cumulative practices of Ramadan should instill within us devotion to Allah, humility, generosity, and compassion for the poor. It is a time to exert our utmost, seeking the pleasure of Allah and His ultimate reward, and a time to renew our faith through good deeds. While there are a whole host of practices that we are encouraged to do during this month, remember that every individual is different and Allah has blessed us all with various strengths. It might be easier for someone to pray at night, while others find it easier to recite the Qur’an or to generously donate their time, money, and effort in service of others. As long as you fulfill the basic obligations of Ramadan, you are free to focus on those recommended deeds that Allah has made personally easy for you, but still try to do a little bit of everything. There is only one Straight Path to Allah by worshiping Him alone, but many gates to enter Paradise. With so many opportunities to acquire treasures in Heaven this month, the Prophet ﷺ exclaimed in exasperation, “May he be humbled, who enters the month of Ramadan and it passes before he is forgiven!”[^160] We ask Allah to bless you and your family this Ramadan, in this life, and in the Hereafter! *Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.* --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 10:5, trans. Dr. Mustafa Khattab. [^2]: Qur’an 51:55, trans. Sahih International. [^3]: Qur’an 2:183, author’s translation. [^4]: Qur’an 79:40–41, author’s translation. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1904; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1151. [^6]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2223; deemed authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-targhīb wa al-tarhīb*, 3 vol. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, 2000), no. 986. [^7]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 1639; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Albānī in his edition of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Suyūṭī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmiʿ al-ṣaghīr wa ziyādātih*, 2 vols., ed. Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1969), no. 3879. [^8]: Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-awṣaṭ*, ed. Ṭāriq ibn ʿAwaḍ Allāh ibn Muḥammad (Cairo: Dār al-Ḥaramayn, 1995), no. 4536; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Imam Muḥammad Jār Allāh al-Ṣaʿdī in *al-Nawāfiḥ al-ʿaṭira fī al-aḥādīth al-mushtahira*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā (Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfīyya, 1992), 184. [^9]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 3479; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmiʿ*, no. 5376. [^10]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1151. [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah*, no. 1994; deemed fair (*ḥasan*) by Shaykh al-Albānī in his edition of ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Mundhirī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-targhīb wa al-tarhīb*, ed. Muḥmmad Nāṣir al-Albānī and Mashhūr al-Salmān (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, 1421/2000) no. 1082. [^12]: ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Shaybah, *al-Muṣannaf*, ed. Saʿad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Āl Humayyid, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Luḥīdān, and Ḥamad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Jumʿah (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd, 2004), no. 8882. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1903. [^14]: *Sunan Ibn Māja*, no. 1690; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmiʿ*, no. 3488. [^15]: *Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah*, no. 8888. [^16]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Faḍāʾil al-awqāt*, ed. ʿAdnān ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Majīd al-Qaysī (Mecca: Maktabat al-Manāra, 1990), no. 65. [^17]: Hannād ibn al-Sarī, *Kitāb al-zuhd*, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbar al-Firīwānī (Kuwait: Dār al-Khulafā’ li-l-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1985), 2:572. [^18]: *Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah*, no. 8880. [^19]: Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, *Laṭāʾif al-maʿārif* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm li-l-Ṭibā’a wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ, 2004), 168. [^20]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī, *al-Tabṣira*, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1986), 2:74. [^21]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 761; deemed *ḥasan* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^22]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2385; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 2608. [^23]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 747; deemed *ḥasan* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^24]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 745; deemed *ḥasan* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^25]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1163. [^26]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2004; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1130. [^27]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1126. [^28]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1902; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1132. [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1162. [^30]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3420; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1159. [^31]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*, 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1980), 1:234. [^32]: Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad al-Thaʿlabī, *al-Kashf wa al-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʼān*, ed. Abū Muḥammad Ibn ʿĀshūr, 10 vols. (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 2002), 1:144. [^33]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Shuʿab al-īmān*, ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Ḥāmid and Mukhtār Aḥmad Nadawī, 13 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2003), 5:249, no. 3380; the narrators are reliable (*thiqāt*, sing. *thiqa*) according to the editors. [^34]: Qur’an 2:185, author’s translation. [^35]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 16984; deemed fair by Shaykh al-Albānī in his *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ṣaḥīḥa*, 7 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, 1996), 4:104, no. 1575. [^36]: This is a metaphor for backbiting, or speaking badly about people in their absence, which shows how ugly this deed can be. Allah said, “Do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it!” Qur’an 49:12. [^37]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *al-Tabṣira*, 1:74. [^38]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2408; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmiʿ*, no. 3718. [^39]: Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʿ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʾ*, 10 vols. (Cairo: Maṭba’at al-Saʿāda, 1974), 2:371. [^40]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1904; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1151. [^41]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3451; deemed *ḥasan* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^42]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1087. [^43]: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, ed. Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf, 6 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1998), 2:71, no. 693. [^44]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 2431; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmiʿ*, no. 4628 [^45]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1950; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1146. [^46]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 5665; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* due to external corroborative evidence (*ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrih*) by Shaykh Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ in al-Amīr ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Fārisī, *al-Iḥsān fī taqrīb Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnā’ūṭ, 16 vols. (Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Risāla, 1988), 12:481, no. 5665. [^47]: Abū Bakr Ibn al-ʿArabī, *Aḥkām al-Qurʼān*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qadir ʿAtā, 3rd ed., 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmmiyya, 2003), 3:459, verse 26:89. [^48]: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad Ibn Qāsim and Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad Ibn Qāsim, 35 vols. (Medina: Majmaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 1995), 23:132. [^49]: Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, *al-Umm li-l-Shāfiʿī*, 8 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah, 1990), 1:264. [^50]: Yaḥya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ sharḥ al-Muhadhab*, 9 vols. (Cairo: Maṭabʿat al-Taḍāmun al-Akhawī, 1929), 4:56. [^51]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1718. [^52]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, 29:16–17. [^53]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 682; deemed *ḥasan* by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 759. [^54]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-sharḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī and Muḥibb al-Dīn Khaṭīb, 13 vols. (Egypt: al-Maktabat al-Salafīyya, 1970), 4:114. [^55]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* no. 1923; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1095. [^56]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 2344; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmi’*, no. 7043. [^57]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 11086; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Arnāʾūṭ in *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnā’ūṭ and ʿĀdil Murshid, 45 vols. (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risāla, 2001), 17:150, no. 11086. [^58]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 2350; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’*, no. 607. [^59]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1921; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1097. [^60]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2:78, no. 704. [^61]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 21312; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’*, no. 7284. [^62]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2380; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^63]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1933; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1155. [^64]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1845; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1118. [^65]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1826; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1106. [^66]: Qur’an 2:185, trans. Sahih International. [^67]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1859; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1136. [^68]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 233. [^69]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 760. [^70]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 1643; deemed *ḥasan* by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 2170. [^71]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 7450; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Arnāʾūṭ in *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal*, 12:420, no. 7450. [^72]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2009; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 759. [^73]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmū’*, 4:31. [^74]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Fatāwā al-kubrā*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAṭā and Muṣṭafā ʿAṭā, 6 vols. (N.p.: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1987), 5:343. [^75]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2:158, no. 806. [^76]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 806; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^77]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 3438; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Arnāʿūṭ in *Al-Iḥsān fī Taqrīb Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, 8:224, no. 3438. [^78]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 8399; deemed fair by Shaykh al-Arnāʾūṭ in *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal*, 14:127, no. 8399. [^79]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2330; deemed authentic by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^80]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2682. [^81]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4998. [^82]: Yaḥya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Tibyān fī ādāb ḥamalat al-Qurʼān*, ed. Muḥammad Ḥajjār (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1994), 24. [^83]: Qur’an 3:103. [^84]: Qur’an 59:21. [^85]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5027. [^86]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 215; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 2165. [^87]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no 3461. [^88]: Qur’an 14:4. [^89]: Qur’an 80:15. [^90]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4937; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 798. [^91]: Qur’an 54:17. [^92]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2910; deemed authentic by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^93]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2699. [^94]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Shuʿab a**l-īm**ān li-l-Bayhaqī*, ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Ḥāmid and Mukhtar Aḥmad Nadawī (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2003), no. 4592; deemed authentic due to external evidence by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb*, no. 2868. [^95]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2914; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^96]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1902; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2308. [^97]: Qur’an 2:254. [^98]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5352; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 993. [^99]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1429; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1033. [^100]: Qur’an 25:67. [^101]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1036. [^102]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1970; deemed authentic by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^103]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1006. [^104]: Al-Bukhārī, *al-Adab al-mufrad li-l-Bukhārī*, ed. Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī and Samīr ibn Amīn Zahīrī (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif l-il-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ, 1998), no. 323; deemed *ḥasan* by Shaykh al-Albānī in his comments. [^105]: Al-Bukhārī, *al-Adab al-mufrad*, no. 82; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Albānī in his comments. [^106]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Shu’ab al-īmān*, no. 1176; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Imam al-Suyūṭī as mentioned in *al-Tanwīr sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaghīr*, ed. Muḥammad Isḥāq Muḥammad Ibrāhīm (Riyadh: Muḥammad Isḥāq Muḥammad Ibrāhīm, 2011), no. 2935, 4:426. [^107]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1563. [^108]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 471; deemed fair by Imam Ibn Mufliḥ in *al-Ādāb al-sharʻīyya wa minaḥ al-marʿīyya* (Riyadh: Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, n.d), 3:469. [^109]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1914. [^110]: Ibn Abī Dunyā, *al-Ṣamt wa ādāb al-lisān*, ed. Abū Isḥāq al-Huwaynī Atharī (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī, 1990), no. 68; deemed *ṣaḥīḥ* by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 4490. [^111]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 6:377. [^112]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2024; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1174. [^113]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1175. [^114]: Qur’an 97:1–5, trans. Sahih International. [^115]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 7148; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Arnāʾūṭ in *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal*, 12:59, no. 7148. [^116]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 1644; deemed fair by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 2247. [^117]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2:150, no. 792. [^118]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ʾAẓīm*, ed. Muḥammad Ḥusayn Shams al-Dīn, 9 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1998), 8:432. [^119]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 49. [^120]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2017; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1169. [^121]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1165. [^122]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1901. [^123]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah*, no. 2192; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 5475. [^124]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2026; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1172. [^125]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 6:475. [^126]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3513; deemed authentic by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^127]: Nazir Khan, Ibrahim Hindy, and Omar Suleiman, “Why Laylatul Qadr? The Significance and Virtues of the Most Important Night of the Year,” *Yaqeen*, June 4, 2018, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709861718725582&usg=AOvVaw30bibsx9hRp9AFH-h3Vx_I). [^128]: Yousef Wahb, “On The Timing and Virtues of the Night of Power: The Heart’s Joy in Remembering Laylat al-Qadr by Ibn al-ʿIrāqī,” *Yaqeen*, April 12, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709861718725582&usg=AOvVaw30bibsx9hRp9AFH-h3Vx_I). [^129]: Qur’an 9:103. [^130]: Qur’an 92:18. [^131]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2616. [^132]: *Al-Muʿjam al-Awṣaṭ*, no. 1579. [^133]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 1582. [^134]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1503; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 986. [^135]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1435; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 985. [^136]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 1609; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 3570. [^137]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 6:140. [^138]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 6:139. [^139]: ʿAbd Allāḥ ibn Aḥmad Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī li-Ibn Qudāmah*, ed. Ṭāhā Muḥammad Zaynī, 10 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira, 1968), 2:502. [^140]: For more details about the Hajj, see: [yaqeeninstitute.org/what-islam-says-about/hajj-and-umrah](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://yaqeeninstitute.org/what-islam-says-about/hajj-and-umrah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709861718726725&usg=AOvVaw0r7D3cDCxy1fXSoEtb3tef). [^141]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 773; deemed authentic by Imam al-Tirmidhī in his comments. [^142]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 1134; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ṣaḥīḥa*, no. 2021. [^143]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 953. [^144]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 5:8. [^145]: *Al-Muʿjam al-Awṣaṭ li-l-Ṭabarānī*, no. 7609; deemed very good (*jayyid*) by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Silsilat al-aḥādīth al-ṣaḥīḥah*, no. 1279. [^146]: *Al-Sunan al-kubraā li-l-Bayhaqī*, no. 6143; deemed authentic by Imam Ibn Ḥajar in *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 2:439. [^147]: Mālik ibn Anas, *Muwaṭṭa’ al-Imām Mālik*, Riwāyat al-Shaybānī, p. 48, no. 70; deemed authentic by Imam al-Nawawī in *al-Majmūʿ*, 5:6. [^148]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ*, 5:7. [^149]: Qur’an 2:185, author’s translation. [^150]: *Al-Sunan al-kubraā li-l-Bayhaqī*, no. 6129; deemed authentic by Imam Bayhaqī in his comments. [^151]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 971; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 890. [^152]: Ibn Qudāmah, *al-Mughnī*, 2:296; deemed very good (*jayyid*) by Imam Aḥmad in his comments. [^153]: Ibn Qudāmah, *al-Mughnī*, 2:295. [^154]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 986. [^155]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyya, *Zād al-ma’ād fī hady khayr al-ʿibād*, ed. Muḥammad Adīb Jādir, 5 vol. (Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Risāla, 1994), 1:432–33. [^156]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1164. [^157]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzayma*, no. 2115; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 3851. [^158]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1162. [^159]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6464; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2818. [^160]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3545; deemed authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ*, no. 3510. ## Summary Fasting the month of Ramadan may appear daunting to the one embracing Islam anew or returning to its practice, yet it is a communal act of worship in which the believers support one another, and it grows easier as the body adjusts and the soul harvests its fruits: nearness to Allah, love for the community, and genuine self-betterment. Ramadan is a lunar month, and because the lunar year is shorter than the solar, it shifts throughout the seasons; the Islamic day itself begins at sunset rather than midnight. All the great occasions of Islam, including the Hajj, follow this lunar reckoning, for the heavenly bodies are among the signs of Allah's power and purpose. As He said, "He is the One who made the sun a radiant source and the moon a reflected light, with precisely ordained phases, so that you may know the number of years and calculation of time." The onset of Ramadan is thus determined by the sighting of the new moon as announced by local Muslim authorities, and though this poses difficulty for those in lands where Ramadan is not recognized, Allah asks only that one strive as best one can in the place He has placed him. The essence of fasting (ṣiyām) lies in restraining the desires that, unchecked by faith and reason, become the self's own enemy. In the Islamic sense it is to abstain from food, drink, and marital relations from the dawn (Fajr) prayer until sunset (Maghrib), while guarding scrupulously against every sin, great or small. Allah revealed its purpose: "O you who have faith, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become righteous." The aim, therefore, is taqwā — a reverential fear that shields one from disobedience, balanced always by hope, as in His words, "As for one who feared to stand before their Lord and restrained themselves from their whims, Paradise is their refuge." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ conveyed its unique standing in the sacred narration: "Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except for fasting. It is for Me and I will reward it. Fasting is a shield... the breath coming from the mouth of a fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk." Because none can truly know whether another is fasting, it demands rare sincerity, and when a Companion sought a single deed, the Prophet ﷺ answered, "You must fast, for there is nothing equal to it." The tongue must fast alongside the stomach. The Prophet ﷺ warned that fasting is a shield "as long as you do not damage it," and when asked how, he replied, "By dishonesty or backbiting." He taught, "Truly, fasting is not only from eating and drinking. Rather, fasting is from vanity and obscenity," and, "Whoever does not leave evil words and deeds while fasting, Allah does not need him to leave food and drink." He cautioned that one "might fast but he gets nothing from his fast except hunger." The Caliph ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) affirmed that fasting "is from lies, falsehood, vain talk, and swearing," while Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī related that "the righteous predecessors used to say that dishonesty will break the fast" — not in the outward sense, but in spoiling its spirit. Mujāhid (d. 104/722) said that whoever is safe from backbiting and falsehood will secure his fasting, and Imam al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) added that one must guard himself in Ramadan to obey Allah as much as possible. Abū al-ʿĀliya (d. 93/711) noted that the faster remains in worship even while sleeping, so long as he does not backbite, and Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) counseled, "Do not make days you do not fast and days you fast as if they were the same." Fasting also teaches the affluent the pangs of the poor. The predecessors, when asked why fasting was legislated, answered, "So that the rich will taste hunger and thus will not forget the hungry," and the Caliph al-Maʾmūn gave a like reply, that the rich might taste hunger's flavor and not forget the destitute. Thus fasting should breed compassion and generosity. Beyond Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ observed voluntary fasts and urged, according to capacity, three days each month — the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth — saying these "will rid the heart of impurities." He fasted Mondays and Thursdays, for "deeds are presented on Monday and Thursday." He praised the fast of Muharram, especially ʿĀshūrā', the day Allah saved Moses, noting it "will expiate the sins of the past year," while ʿArafa "will expiate the sins of the previous and upcoming years" — and this concerns minor sins only, not major ones. Moderation, however, is essential: the utmost is the fast of Dāwūd (peace be upon him), fasting every other day, for excessive worship that harms one's health or duties is discouraged. Imam al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) described three degrees of fasting: that of the common people, restraining the stomach; that of the elite, restraining the limbs from sin; and that of the elite of the elite, restraining the heart from all besides Allah. Yet none should despair at the loftiest rank, for Maymūn ibn Mahrān (d. 117/735) said, "The easiest part of fasting is leaving food and drink." One begins with the basics. Ramadan itself is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed, as Allah declared, and the Prophet ﷺ related that the scriptures of Ibrāhīm, the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an were all revealed within it. Ibn al-Jawzī summarized its etiquette as guarding the outward limbs and inward thoughts, entering it with sincere repentance and nightly intention. The Prophet ﷺ named it "the month of patience," and Mālik ibn Dīnār (d. 130/748) reminded that patience breaks through to rest. Since Ramadan follows the moon, its beginning and end differ by region, and Imam al-Tirmidhī noted the scholars' agreement that "the people of every land have their own moon-sighting," as occurred between Syria and Medina among the Companions. The Prophet ﷺ favored fasting in Shaʿbān, in which the Companions made up missed fasts, and he urged the removal of malice, saying Allah forgives all on its middle night "except for an idolater or one filled with malice." Ibn ʿArabī (d. 543/1148) stressed that the heart cannot be pure while holding malice, envy, or pride. Some predecessors singled out the fifteenth night for worship, and al-Shāfiʿī recommended supplication then, yet al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) branded invented congregational rituals "reprehensible innovations," for the Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever performs a deed that is not in accordance with our matter, it will be rejected." When Ramadan begins, the Prophet ﷺ announced that the devils are chained, the gates of Hell closed, and the gates of Paradise opened. The pre-dawn meal (Suḥūr) carries blessing, and the Prophet ﷺ urged it even if only a sip of water, permitting eating until the second call to prayer, roughly the span of reciting fifty verses. Breaking the fast (Ifṭār) should be hastened, and moderation is best, filling a third with food, a third with drink, and leaving a third empty. Forgetful eating does not break the fast, and the ill or traveling may break it, for "Allah intends for you ease." Fasting and prayer expiate sins between the two Ramadans "so long as major sins are avoided," and every night has those whom Allah redeems. The Tarāwīḥ prayers are highly recommended, whether in mosque or home; the scholars differed on their number, but Ibn Taymiyya held all reported numbers valid, since the Prophet ﷺ fixed no count. Even brief attendance is meritorious, though standing with the imam until he finishes is recorded as a full night's prayer. Ramadan is the month of the Qur'an, which the Prophet ﷺ reviewed yearly with Jibrīl, twice in his final year. Its recitation is the greatest act of remembrance; the Prophet ﷺ said, "The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it," and, "Whoever recites a letter... will receive ten good deeds like it." The struggling learner earns a double reward, being with "the righteous and noble scribes," and Allah has made the Qur'an easy for remembrance. It is likewise the month of charity, for the Prophet ﷺ was "more generous than a refreshing wind" in it. Charity encompasses far more than money — a cheerful face, glorifying Allah, marital relations, providing for one's family, removing harm from the road — yet must remain balanced, "not excessively or sparingly." The last ten nights are the most exalted, when the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his belt and rouse his family, seeking Laylat al-Qadr, "better than a thousand months." Its precise night is hidden, though it lies among the odd nights; its knowledge was lifted when two men quarreled, and Ibn Kathīr reported that Mālik, al-Thawrī, and Aḥmad held that it shifts yearly. One may perform iʿtikāf, as the Prophet ﷺ and his wives did, and should implore, "O Allah, You are pardoning. You love to forgive, so forgive me." Zakāt al-Fiṭr, a ṣāʿ of staple food, purifies the fasting person and feeds the poor, given before the ʿĪd prayer. The celebration of ʿĪd al-Fiṭr — one of only two feasts the Prophet ﷺ recognized, replacing the days of ignorance — brings the special prayer, one's finest garments, the takbīr, and mutual well-wishing, "May Allah accept from us and you." Thereafter, one is encouraged to fast six days of Shawwāl, "as if he fasted the entire year," and to maintain consistent worship, for "the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly, even if it is small." Ramadan should leave the believer devoted, humble, and compassionate, and the Prophet ﷺ warned, "May he be humbled, who enters the month of Ramadan and it passes before he is forgiven." Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best. ## Key Takeaways 1. Fasting in Islam means abstaining from food, drink, and marital intimacy from dawn to sunset, but its true aim is inward. The purpose is to cultivate taqwā, a protective God-consciousness that trains a person to master the most basic urges and so resist sin more broadly. This is why the practice is spoiled by lies, backbiting, or foolish behavior, and why scholars like al-Ghazālī described degrees of fasting rising from the stomach to the limbs to the heart itself. 2. Ramadan concentrates this discipline into a single month whose observance is made easier because the whole community fasts together, sharing the predawn meal, breaking the fast in gatherings, and praying through the nights side by side. It is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed, so Muslims deepen their recitation, gather for the voluntary *tarāwīḥ* prayers at night, and give generously in charity. The daily rhythm has its own etiquette, from the predawn meal to hastening the sunset breaking of the fast, all governed by Allah’s intention of ease rather than hardship. 3. The month builds toward its final ten nights, which contain Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Decree, worth more than a thousand months. Its exact date is deliberately hidden somewhere within these last ten nights, so that the believer strives across all of them rather than slackening. The season closes with Zakat al-Fitr, a charity of staple food that atones for lapses in the fast, and with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, after which good habits like the six fasts of Shawwāl are meant to carry forward. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why do Muslims fast during Ramadan? Muslims fast in Ramadan because Allah commanded it, and the Qur’an explains the purpose plainly, that fasting is prescribed so that we may become righteous. The goal is to build *taqwā*, a God-conscious awareness that makes a person careful not to disobey Allah. Going without food and drink from dawn to sunset trains us to control our most basic urges, which makes it easier to resist other temptations and sins. Fasting also carries immense reward. In a sacred narration, Allah says that every deed belongs to the person who does it, except fasting, which is for Him and which He rewards directly, since no one but Allah truly knows whether a person is fasting. Beyond the reward, fasting shapes character. It teaches patience and self-control, and it reminds those who have enough what hunger feels like, so they remember and give to the poor. Fasting is not meant to be mere hunger and thirst but a way to grow closer to Allah and become a better person. ### Is fasting in Ramadan just about not eating and drinking? No. Giving up food, drink, and marital intimacy is only the outward part of fasting. The Prophet ﷺ taught that fasting is a shield, and that it can be damaged by dishonesty and backbiting. He said that if someone abuses or provokes a fasting person, they should simply respond, “Indeed, I am fasting.” He also warned that whoever does not give up false speech and bad behavior, Allah has no need for them to give up their food and drink. Scholars described levels of fasting. The most basic is holding back the stomach; a higher level is keeping the eyes, ears, tongue, and limbs away from sin; and the highest is keeping the heart focused on Allah alone. This means a fasting day should not feel like an ordinary day. It is a time to be extra careful about speech and conduct, guarding against lying, gossip, and anger. Someone who abstains from food but not from sin has kept the form of fasting while losing much of its spirit. Food and drink is only where fasting begins. ### What are the best acts of worship to do during Ramadan? Ramadan is a month for increasing every kind of good, and a few acts stand out. Reciting the Qur’an is especially emphasized because the Qur’an describes Ramadan as the month in which it was revealed, and the Prophet ﷺ would review the whole Qur’an with the angel Jibrīl each Ramadan. Many Muslims aim to read the entire Qur’an during the month, and every letter recited carries multiplied reward. The aim is not simply to rush through it. Reciting is a way of communicating directly with Allah, and even a single verse can leave a deep impact, so it is worth reciting attentively and pausing over the words rather than racing to finish. Charity is also strongly encouraged. The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people, and even more so in Ramadan. Giving is not limited to money, since a kind word, a cheerful face, and helping others all count as charity. There are also the voluntary night prayers called *tarāwīh*, prayed in the mosque or at home, which carry great reward, especially when prayed with the imam until he finishes. Alongside these, the month is a time to seek Allah’s forgiveness and avoid sin. A new Muslim does not need to do everything at once. It is better to do a little of each consistently and focus on what Allah has made easy for you. ### What is Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Decree) and when is it? Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Decree or Night of Power, is the most important night of the year. The Qur’an says it is better than a thousand months, meaning that worship on this single night is rewarded as if it were done for over eighty years. It was the night the Qur’an began to be revealed, and the angels descended in great numbers until dawn. Its exact date is not known. The Prophet ﷺ told us to look for it in the odd-numbered nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan, such as the twenty-first, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twenty-seventh, or twenty-ninth. In the Islamic calendar, the night comes before the day, beginning at sunset. Scholars explain that the date was kept hidden so that people would strive across all the last ten nights rather than relying on one night. Someone who feels weak or tired can focus on the final odd nights. A prayer taught by the Prophet ﷺ for this night is to ask Allah, “O Allah, You are pardoning and love to forgive, so forgive me.” ### Are there other days Muslims fast outside of Ramadan? Yes. Ramadan is the annual obligatory fast, but the Prophet ﷺ fasted at many other times and encouraged voluntary fasting throughout the year. He recommended fasting three days each month, ideally the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Certain days carry special rewards. Fasting the day of ʿArafa, for those not on Hajj, is said to expiate the sins of the previous and coming year, and fasting the day of ʿAshuraʾ in the month of Muḥarram expiates the previous year, both referring to minor sins. Right after Ramadan, fasting six days in the following month of Shawwāl is described as being like fasting the entire year. These voluntary fasts are a good way to hold on to the habits built during Ramadan, since the aim is to come out of the month a better Muslim and keep improving. The every-other-day fasting of Dawud is largely agreed upon as the upper limit for a sustainable voluntary routine.  Consistency counts more than quantity, as the Prophet ﷺ taught that the deeds most loved by Allah are those done regularly, even if small. ### What is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate it? Eid al-Fitr is the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, one of only two festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha which falls at the height of Hajj pilgrimage. It is a day of joy and gratitude, and Muslims are not permitted to fast on it. Before the Eid prayer, a special charity called Zakat al-Fitr is due on behalf of eligible Muslims, which consists of a measure of staple food given to the needy so they can share in the day, and also makes up for shortcomings during the fast. The morning begins with a special congregational prayer at the mosque, followed by a short optional sermon. The Prophet ﷺ would eat something, usually dates, before heading out, wear his best clothes, and take a different route to and from the prayer. It is recommended to wash, dress well, and repeat the takbir, praising Allah’s greatness, on the way. Men, women, and children are all encouraged to attend, and afterward people congratulate one another and pray that Allah accepts their good deeds. A common greeting among the early Muslims was, “May Allah accept it from us and from you.” --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-get-closer-to-allah-exploring-the-sequence-of-allahs-names-in-surah-al-hashr # How to Get Closer to Allah: Exploring the Sequence of Allah's Names in Surah Al-Hashr **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Names of Allah, Paper, Publication **Published:** March 4, 2024 **Updated:** April 2, 2026 ## Introduction As Muslims, our purpose is knowing Allah and worshiping Him. However, in an age of autonomy of the self, the very idea of submission and worship can be hard for some people to comprehend or even fully accept. When everything around you is pushing you towards a life lived for yourself and the realizations of your desires above all else, how can you fathom the idea of obedience and servitude? As jurist, theologian and spiritual author Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) explains, “Complete servitude (*ʿubūdiyya*) is a byproduct of complete love, and complete love is a byproduct of the Beloved’s perceived perfection.”[^1] The key to servitude to Allah is by loving Him, and we love Him by coming to know Him, and we come to know Him by reflecting on His names and attributes. These names do not just have relevance to us in this life, but if we truly understand and internalize them as who our Lord is, they help us in maintaining focus on the afterlife. The Prophet ﷺ reminds us that Allah has said, “I am as My servant expects of Me.”[^2] Our expectations are more accurate when we know who Allah is as He tells us. When we understand His all encompassing mercy, for example, we not only look for its manifestations in this life, but we look forward to His mercy when it will matter the most: on the Day of Judgment. Hence knowing Him helps us to love Him and gain closeness to Him during our time here on earth, whilst maintaining perspective of the afterlife, and looking forward to experiencing His names in the Hereafter. Furthermore, reflecting deeply on His names and attributes teaches us how to be in this world. As the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim stated, > God loves His Names and Attributes, and He loves the consequences of His Attributes and their manifestations upon His servants. Just as He is beautiful, He loves beauty; as He is Most Forgiving, He loves forgiveness; as He is Most Generous, He loves generosity; as He is All-Knowing, he loves the people of knowledge … Since God loves those who emulate His Attributes, He is with them according to how much of these qualities they reflect, and this is a special and unique type of companionship.[^3] Allah reveals His names to us in the Qur’an in a multitude of ways, and attending to the context of such verses, the pairings of His names, and the sequence in which they appear brings about a level of reflection that brings us closer to Him and opens up new dimensions to our relationship with God. One remarkable occasion presents itself in the final verses of Sūrat al-Ḥashr, where Allah mentions several of His names in a distinct way, with entire verses in succession being made up wholly or largely of a number of such descriptions. The uniqueness of these verses tells us that there must be something special about these names that warrants our undivided attention. Not only do the names themselves have distinct meanings that are important for our relationship with our Creator, but the order in which they appear is intentional, revealing nuances that we might otherwise not have considered and that help to enrich our relationship with Him. This paper endeavors to reflect upon the names contained within the last verses of Sūrat al-Ḥashr, particularly in terms of their sequence and relationship to one another, in an attempt to increase our knowledge and love of Allah and thus better our relationship with Him. --- ## Be not like those who forgot Allah Before delving into the names mentioned in the final verses of Sūrat al-Ḥashr (the Chapter on Amassing), we are reminded by Allah earlier in the chapter: > And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient.[^4] This verse exhorts the believers to be mindful of Allah and is followed by a warning against being like those who forget Him. Those who forget Allah are those who leave Him, are purposefully ignorant of who He is, and abandon signs of His oneness, His attributes, and the truth of His Prophet (ﷺ).[^5] Essentially, they forget Allah’s rights over them.[^6] They do not care enough to know Him, and hence turn away from His worship. The consequence of this is that they forget themselves in the sense that they are oblivious to what is truly beneficial for their souls, ruining for themselves this life and the next and forfeiting the opportunity for Allah to mend their brokenness.[^7] The antidote to forgetting is *actively* knowing Allah. Hence, in the same chapter and what comprises the essence of this paper, Allah tells us who He is in this unique order: > He is Allah—there is no god except Him: Knower of the seen and unseen. He is the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. He is Allah—there is no god except Him: the King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect, the Source of Serenity, the Watcher \[of all\], the Almighty, the Supreme in Might, the Majestic. Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him \[in worship\]! He is Allah, the Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.[^8] These names show us how intimately aware of us Allah is. Even before we experience what we go through in life, He has provided the refuge, the solution, and the handhold in Himself. Each name provides ease for our concerns in a uniquely holistic manner. As we contemplate one name, our mind might move to another problem that we may feel is unaddressed by this attribute of Allah, yet we will often find that the next name in the sequence puts us at immediate ease. --- ## Sūrat al-Ḥashr ### 1\. “He is Allah—there is no god except Him” The first verse begins with the statement, “He is Allah—there is no god except Him”, which essentially tells us two things. First, that Allah is His name and that He alone is *al-il**ā**h*, the One who is worshiped.[^9] The name Allah also encompasses the meanings of all of His names and attributes, so when we call on Allah, we are essentially calling on Him by all of His names—the Most Merciful, the Most Powerful, the All-Knowing, and so on.[^10] Knowing that only He is Allah—the One who nurtures, who has all power, the One to whom we turn—necessitates worshiping Him alone.[^11] The Arabs at the time of the Prophet ﷺ knew that there was a higher being, a creator,[^12] whom they referred to as Allah.[^13] However, they also worshiped other supposed deities besides Him or sought intercession through them.[^14] In today’s age, many people acknowledge the existence of a God or an abstract higher power, but they do not worship Him. Further still, others may worship God but they associate partners with Him. Hence, here we are told unequivocally that there is no god—no *ilāh*—nothing worthy of worship, except Allah. As a guidance for all ages and all circumstances, this Qur’anic verse is not simply aimed at the Arabs of old who worshiped physical idols besides Allah, or even at the People of the Book who drifted away from true, pure monotheism. This verse speaks to all of us and invites us to ponder on its meaning. What is it that we turn to with our hearts and obey? What is it that we are actually submitting to and worshiping without even realizing? Allah says, “Have you seen the one who has taken his own whim as his god?”[^15] One of the fallacies of our age is that the self, and hence its whims and desires, is elevated in such a way that it becomes the arbiter of what is good and what is right. Confident in its own infallibility and transcendence, it fails to consider its absorption of external influences that may go against God’s divine guidance. In this sense, this verse urges us to pause. What have we made equal to God in our hearts? Do we feel justified in submitting to our desires when they go against what Allah has commanded? What have we equated to Him in greatness and power, and what do we consistently choose over Him? Accepting that Allah is the Only One, fully comprehending this fact, and acting upon it inevitably requires us to understand who Allah actually is. And so, in His ultimate wisdom, Allah continues the verse by facilitating just this. ### 2\. “Knower of the hidden and the witnessed” The first attribute Allah proceeds to remind us of is that He is the Knower of what is hidden and what is apparent (*ʿĀlim al-ghayb wa al-shahāda*), with *al-ghayb*, what is hidden, referring to what is inaccessible to us through our senses.[^16] This attribute follows His name Allah because His unique divinity necessitates that He has exclusive, all-encompassing knowledge.[^17] This also immediately makes clear that there exists a hidden realm that we do not have access to (except what is revealed by divine revelation). What we think we know through our senses is simply a fraction of what exists, and this should humble us. While we seek to comprehend how this worldly life works and to understand the way of being that Allah has prescribed for us, when we are inevitably faced with matters or situations that we do not understand, we recognize that there is a hidden, metaphysical realm that we are completely oblivious to. Thus, His rulings contain wisdom because He possesses all-encompassing knowledge, while our knowledge is necessarily limited by our human capacity. In the Qur’an, we are shown how the Prophet Joseph (Yūsuf) (AS) faces trial after trial. Initially, it is not apparent why he is tested*—*from being plotted against by his own brothers, to being sold into slavery, to having his character doubted and finally, being sent to prison. One might be frustrated that bad things keep happening to this good person. But at the end, Yūsuf is honored and reunited with his family. Allah, the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, was aware of all the plotting and the scheming, the quiet prayers and desperate hopes, the future outcome and past events. Indeed, his father, Prophet Jacob (Yaʿqūb) (AS), reassured Yūsuf at the beginning of his journey, “​​Indeed, your Lord is Knowing and Wise.”[^18] All the events that took place, especially the ones that seemed most unfair, were actually guiding Yūsuf to the path that eventually got him to the esteemed position of overseer of food rations. Prophet Yūsuf recognized this when he was reunited with his family: > … ​​And he said, “O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it reality. And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison and brought you \[here\] from bedouin life after Satan had induced \[estrangement\] between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in what He wills. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.”[^19] Yūsuf reiterated Allah’s names *al-ʿAlīm al-Ḥakīm* at the end of the verse. In using these names, he could see clearly that every hardship and trial had a purpose, even if it was not evident in that moment. This teaches us that what is ‘witnessed’ seldom gives us the full picture. It is Allah who knows the full spectrum of both the unseen and the witnessed. We may be going through a hardship that is witnessed and our patience is actually reaping rewards and blessings, yet this beneficial outcome is unseen. It remains in the *ghayb* until Allah reveals it, whether in this life or the next. Hence, these attributes teach us not to be materialists, but to trust in the promise of God. In addition to this, Allah’s ability to know the hidden and the witnessed also extends to Allah knowing what is apparent of our actions and what we keep hidden from other people, as well as what is in our hearts. This can inspire both fear and reassurance. It can inspire a healthy, reverential fear that results in vigilance over both our private actions and our internal states when, for example, we find that our hearts harbor malice, ill will, and insincerity. At the same time, it also affords us reassurance that Allah witnesses when we do good and when our hearts are in the right place, especially in those times when we find it particularly difficult or when people fail to notice. It teaches us to work on our internal states and our private acts just as hard as we work on our external states and public actions. ### 3\. “The Most Compassionate, Most Merciful” Allah continues His description with two of His familiar names, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful (*al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*). Other varying translations of these names include: the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, the All Merciful, and the Bestower of Mercy. So, what does mercy, *raḥmah,* mean? *Raḥma**h* is tenderness, kindness, care, and compassion.[^20] When you show mercy to someone, you treat them with gentleness, care for their state, and desire what is best for them. But Allah is not just merciful in this sense, He is more, He is *al-Raḥmān*. This morphological form, with an *ān* suffix,[^21] speaks to the intensity of His *raḥmah*,[^22] which is  unique to Him alone. His mercy is overflowing, unlimited, incomparable, touching everyone and everything, as He says in the Qur’an, “My mercy encompasses all things.”[^23] In a hadith, the Prophet ﷺ told us, “When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His book with Him upon the Throne: ‘Verily, My mercy prevails over My wrath.’”[^24] This broad, universally applicable sense of mercy encompasses men and women, adults and children, humans and non-humans, the pious and the sinner, the believer and the non-believer. Complementing *a**l-R**aḥmān* is *al-Raḥīm*, which reminds us that Allah’s mercy cannot be extinguished; His mercy is both an abundant *and* a permanent attribute, not simply a temporary state.[^25] Allah also says, “... And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful,”[^26] highlighting that there is a special mercy reserved for those who are devoted to Him. Part of this mercy is the spiritual sustenance that is granted to the believers.[^27] The Prophet ﷺ also reminded the Companions that, “Allah is more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her child,”[^28] describing a mother picking up and then nursing her child who she thought she had lost—how intense the affection and care of Allah must be to exceed this! Indeed, we were told by the Prophet ﷺ that, “Allah made mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety-nine parts with Himself and sent down one part to the earth. From that one part, the creation is merciful to each other, such that a horse raises its hoof over its child for fear of trampling it.”[^29] Whatever mercy there is in this world, no matter how powerful or unexpected, it is nothing compared to the mercy of Allah. In those times that we feel abandoned and unloved, Allah reminds us that He is *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*. He cares about us more than any human being ever could. Indeed, in Sūrat Maryam, Allah tells us, “\[This is\] a reminder of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah, when he cried out to his Lord privately…”[^30] Allah’s mercy is close to those who express their needs to Him and who turn to Him because they know that He listens and cares.[^31] No one would be vulnerable in front of someone who is harsh and indifferent, but the Prophet Zachariah (Zakariyyā) (AS) knew he could express his pain, wants, and concerns to *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*. And knowledge of the fact that the mercy that manifests on this earth is only one part of one hundred parts should make us look forward to the 99 that He has kept for the Hereafter. Awareness of His all-encompassing knowledge can reassure us, but it does not necessarily tell us whether Allah cares about us or not. In light of the attributes that preceded these names (His knowledge), we come to understand that Allah knows the trials that we go through, even those that others might not be aware of, and bestows His mercy upon those in need.[^32] He is Merciful towards us even though He knows all of our secret sins and hidden indiscretions. Of the wisdoms of this sequence of names is that Allah teaches us that there may be difficulties we cannot comprehend and yet His mercy is nevertheless overflowing and permanent. Things may happen to us that we cannot make sense of or have no knowledge of, but we should never despair of the mercy of Allah. Rather, we should turn to Him in the midst of our difficulties because we know that there must be wisdom that is unknown to us in the moment, and because we know that no one cares for us like Him. A test is not indicative of a lack of care, but can be a true expression of mercy since it can bring us close to Him and be a cause of elevation in the next life. Indeed, a person may think they are doing good by being outwardly kind and caring when they are actually causing harm, simply because they do not have the full picture or because they lack wisdom and foresight. For example, an older sibling might allow their younger one to have unlimited screen time or eat candy because that makes the younger sibling happy. While it is outwardly kind, it lacks wisdom and knowledge about the harms of these actions. Mercifully preventing the toddler, though it will come with pain, abundant tears, and frustration, is beneficial for him and will save him from serious harms unknown to him in the future. In a story narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi, the Caliph Abdel-Malik bin Marwan would spoil his son al-Walid because he loved him so much and would not discipline him. Then, when Al-Walid fell behind in his studies, he said, “Our love for al-Walid has harmed him!”[^33] In Sūrat al-Kahf, when Prophet Mūsa (AS) commences on the journey with al-Khadir, what occurs after seems far removed from mercy or wisdom—the damaging of a boat, the killing of a child, and the mending of a wall in a village inhabited by cruel, stingy people. But Allah told us that al-Khadir was given *raḥmah* (in the verse, meaning prophethood, tenderness and/or blessings)[^34] and knowledge from Allah.[^35] At the end of the story, we are shown that what happened, despite seeming harsh and even inexplicable on the outside, was the pinnacle of mercy and care.[^36] This story demonstrates that Allah’s commands are based on reality and not on a facade, and thus, when it comes to events that we dislike, we should remember that there are inner secrets and profound wisdoms covered in *raḥmah* that we are unaware of.[^37] Some matters might seem objectively bad in this world, but result in elevation in the next. Allah reminds us that He is *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*, and all of His commands are out of mercy for us and with full awareness of what is of everlasting benefit for us. Allah addresses our worries and our fears, our desire to be cared for, loved, and treated kindly, and our need to be guided to what is truly best for us. When we are in difficult situations, or around uncaring people, we take comfort in *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*, who possesses all-encompassing knowledge. ### 4\. “He is Allah—there is no god but Him, The King” Once our hearts are put to rest with the knowledge that our Creator knows all, and has the most intense concern and care for us, Allah begins the next verse by again reminding us: “He is Allah*—*there is no god but Him.” Indeed, why would we turn our hearts in submission to anything or anyone else when we have a Lord who is All-Knowing, Most Merciful? He is the One whom we should worship. Next, Allah turns us to His majesty. As we face seemingly powerful humans and structures that we must contend with as we navigate this earthly life, Allah tells us that He is the King, the Sovereign, the Ultimate Possessor of all (*al-Malik*). Linguistically, if someone is a *malik*, it means they have the complete and total ability, authority, and power to act with what is under their control, including in terms of commanding and prohibiting, raising and humbling, appointing and deposing. With the true King, *al-**Malik,* none has that ability over Him.[^38] If we find ourselves confused about our role on this earth, how to behave with the resources given to us, who to follow and to obey, and where real power lies, *al-Malik* makes everything clear. Indeed, most of us go through life and are bombarded with different ideologies. We form attachments to the temporary and the material. We might feel entitled to act as we wish with what we perceive we own. We may flock to what we see as centers of power and try to conform to their rules so that we can benefit from them. If we have power or authority, we might elevate ourselves and see ourselves as better than others. Yet, we are told in this verse that Allah is the King and the Sovereign, and we are essentially living in and benefiting from His Kingdom. He is the ultimate source of power and authority. This world and everything in it belongs to Him, and He has ultimate sovereignty over it. In practical terms, knowledge of this helps us in a variety of ways. First, it takes a hold of the heart. Knowing He is *al-Malik* helps us to find strength in Him because we see reality as it is. All other sources of power and authority are fleeting and secondary. *Al-Malik* is the one who has power over everything. Whatever needs we have, we go to *al-Malik* because He owns all and nothing owns Him. Second, it helps to cement our values and principles. He is *al-Malik*, and thus we follow the rules that He prescribes. We do not follow the fluctuating norms of society, particularly not when they contradict what God has commanded. Of course, our shariah contains differences and versatility and that is precisely because it comes from *al-Malik*, who we already understand to be the All-Knowing (and thus knows that some matters require flexibility depending on circumstance, as well as what is good for us in this world and the next) and the Most-Merciful (and therefore, all His rules for us are ultimately out of His care for us, and the flexibility in  certain matters is to make things easier for us in a way that is beneficial and not harmful).[^39] *Al-Malik* has the authority to appoint and depose; He appoints people to certain roles, and He has chosen from amongst His servants prophets and messengers to guide people. Recognizing He is *al-Malik* should ensure our acceptance of those whom He has appointed to guide us and our obedience to them. Third, this name also teaches us how to behave with our temporary power and authority. In essence, we are walking on God’s earth, and nothing that we own is truly ours*—*not even our bodies. This means that we will be held accountable for what has been placed in our trust and for those over whom we have had worldly authority or power. Knowing that Allah is *al-Malik* teaches us to act with God -consciousness, humility, and morality, knowing that we will ultimately face the King of all kings. Worldly kingship is often flawed, filled with transgression, undeserved entitlement, self-centeredness, arrogance, terror, and other shortcomings. But, *al**\-Malik* is free from all imperfection, and by way of assuring us of this, Allah positions this name perfectly between His all-encompassing mercy, *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm,* and His complete freedom from defect, *al-Quddūs*.[^40] ### 5\. “The Most Holy” Immediately following Allah’s name *al-Malik* is *al-Quddūs**,* a pairing we also find in Sūrat al-Jumuʿa.[^41] The word *quddūs* means ‘holy’ or ‘sacred.’[^42] It tells us that God transcends all attributes of perfection,[^43] meaning whatever we imagine as perfect, Allah transcends beyond that in His perfection, and is hence free from any defect and purified from anything blameworthy.[^44] This means that *all* of His attributes are also pure and holy. His knowledge is most perfect and complete, as is His mercy. *Al-Malik* *al-Quddūs* reminds us that whatever defects plague human kings, Allah is far above and completely free of them.[^45] He is *al-Quddūs*. Because we are used to dealing with human beings who have flaws, we often filter our understanding of the Creator through our experiences with His creation. Yet, through this name, we learn not to project human qualities onto Allah.  If we attribute to God the shortcomings of a human being or we project our own insecurities onto Him, even if subconsciously, this prevents us from trusting Him fully. If we fail to internalize that He is *al-Quddūs*, seeing evil in the world may cause us to question or resent Him, or to conclude that He must not be merciful, does not have full knowledge or power, or to deny His existence completely. But Allah tells us in these verses that He is indeed All-Knowing, All-Merciful, Truly Sovereign *and* completely free of defects. *Al-Quddūs* reminds us that Allah is truly above His creation, utterly perfect, and completely free of fault in His very essence. Understanding that Allah is *al-Quddūs* reassures our hearts when we are weary of the evil we see around us and removes the mental and emotional barriers that we  may have erected as a result of our flawed projections. It reminds us that despite the power and authority of *al-Malik,* we never have to fear injustice from Him. We are not dealing with a mortal, but rather *al-Malik* *al-Quddūs*—the Holy King. ### 6\. “The All-Perfect Source of Serenity” Closely related to *al-Quddūs,* the next name mentioned in succession is *al-Salām*. *A**l-Salām,* the root (*s-l-m*) meaning peace, soundness, safety, and security, also means perfection and freedom from fault with an added nuance. *Al-Salām* is not only perfect in His essence, but is perfect in His actions and will always remain so.[^46] Most human beings desire peace, and few people would want to remain in a state of chronic or even momentary anxiety. When we do feel anxious, some might reach for a pill, others might call up a friend, and others might meditate or take a walk. What we all have in common is the desire to soothe this anxiety and lack of peace in whatever way we can. Here, Allah reminds us that He is *al-Salām,* intimately aware of our needs, offering refuge and comfort to those suffering from worry and anxiety. He is, and always will be, the Pure Source of Peace. Unlike worldly solutions, Allah is the only source of perfect, lasting, unadulterated peace. Through this name, we come to understand two key lessons: that a lack of peace is inevitable in this life and that when we experience it, we should turn to Allah because He is the Source of Peace. *Al-Salām* does not give us false promises of a perfect, stress-free life. We are informed in the Qur’an that there will be tests and trials in this world,[^47] which helps to temper our expectations and build fortitude through God to weather the storms we face. Indeed, we are also told to “give good tidings to the patient.”[^48] We will face difficulties, but we are not alone if we are with Allah, and nothing that we suffer is ever in vain if we turn to Him. Allah tells us, > And We scattered them into communities on earth—some of them righteous and some of them short of that—and We tested them with good and evil, that they may return.[^49] Whatever tests we go through, the purpose is always for us to return to Allah. So when our hearts feel perturbed by worldly tribulations, it is *al-Salām* who will offer us comfort and ease. While other activities and practices may help to alleviate our stresses, in the heart “is a strong desire that will not cease until He is the only one who is sought. In it, is a void that cannot be filled except by His love, turning to Him, always remembering Him, and being sincere to Him. Were a person to be given the entire world and everything in it, that would never fill the void.”[^50] Some might claim to find peace elsewhere, in listening to pop music or repeating positive affirmations, and may even say that this gives them more peace than prayer or reciting the Qur’an. Whilst not dismissing the plausibly calming nature of these activities, there are two important things to note. First, temporary relief does not address the root issue. A person can turn to alcohol to forget their problems, and indeed, being inebriated will make them forget. It does not, however, heal the rupture inside and will, inevitably, make their issues worse. Even a less destructive outlet, such as a vacation, provides temporary relief, but it does not provide lasting solace for deeper issues and problems. Second, and perhaps more importantly, we find momentary peace during other activities, in part, because we can comprehend what is happening. People often enjoy listening to songs because they can relate the theme and lyrics to what is going on in their own lives. Yet, the peace found in prayer is far more profound if carried out with  the same attentiveness and understanding. The Prophet ﷺ used to say, “O Bilāl, give the call to establish the prayer and comfort us with it.”[^51] Prayer is comfort and this is part of the reason why, when we conclude the prayer, we say, “O Allah, You are Peace (*al-Salām*) and from You is peace. Blessed are You, the Majestic and the Noble.”[^52] Prescribed to us by *al-Salām*, understanding, submission, and devotion in prayer can bring us true, lasting peace. In saying this, it is important to note that the use of alternative permissible meditative practices, exercise, or other tools to help us achieve calm are viable complements to seeking *al-Salām* through prayer and Qur’an. They should be utilized wherever possible, but always and in addition to actively turning to and calling upon *al-Salām*. We should use the tools at our disposal as their very existence is due to the permission and mercy of Allah in the first instance. Using these tools properly shows the harmonious link between our mind, body, heart, and soul, as they are all connected and interdependent, designed by *al-Salām*.[^53] Indeed, understanding that He knows all, is the Most Merciful, and the Perfect Source of Peace steers us to those tools that are permissible and keeps us away from those that are not. Knowing *al-Salām* and turning to Him can give one peace in the most unlikely of situations. When the Prophet ﷺ had escaped Mecca with his companion Abū Bakr (rA), and while the people of the tribe of Quraysh were hot on their heels with the intention to kill the Prophet ﷺ, they found refuge in the Cave of Thawr. However, the assailants followed them, and were standing a few inches from them. We are told in the Qur’an: > If you do not support him, surely Allah already supported him when those who denied evicted him, as he was the second of two in the cave, when he said to his companion, “Do not be sad; Allah is surely with us.” So Allah sent down His tranquility upon him and aided him with troops you did not see…[^54] Tranquility from Allah came first, before material aid. When Allah tells us that He is *al-Salām*, we are invited to find peace in Him, and turning to Him will give us everlasting peace in the Abode of Peace (*dār al-salām*), that is Paradise.[^55] ### 7\. “The Grantor of Security” The aforementioned names have taught us that Allah, the King, is free from fault in His essence (*quddūs*) and His actions (*salām*), thus removing any human deficiencies we may subconsciously attribute to Him.[^56] He is the One that we turn to for true lasting peace, and He promises us that those who strive in His way will enter paradise in peace. Allah then continues His uniquely holistic description of Himself by addressing our insecurities and fears. When we feel unsafe, He reminds us that He is *al-Muʾmin*, the Grantor of Security, the One who gives security from fear.[^57] The root word *a-m-n* has two basic meanings: the opposite of fear[^58] and belief/trust.[^59] *Al-Muʾmin* gives security to everyone from oppression, meaning we can be sure that He will never oppress us. The Prophet ﷺ told us that Allah said, “O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and I have forbidden it among you.”[^60] We may feel unsafe and fearful when we are faced with people who are powerful and unpredictable. Yet, according to our scholars, these verses affirm that Allah never commits injustice,[^61] and He would never betray His promises, to a believer or disbeliever.[^62] Furthermore, *al**\-Muʾmin* gives inner security to the believers through their faith in Him, and during hardship, He sends means by which they are secured from fear.[^63] For example, when the Muslims were in battle, Allah said, “Recall: \[Allah\] covering you tightly with drowsiness, as security (*amn*) from Him…”[^64] Similarly, “Those to whom people \[i.e., hypocrites\] said, ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them’ But it \[merely\] increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and \[He is\] the best Disposer of affairs.’”[^65] When the prophets Moses (Mūsa) and Aaron (Hārūn) (AS) were told to speak to Pharaoh, they expressed their fear to Allah: “They said, ‘Our Lord, indeed we are afraid that he will hasten \[punishment\] against us or that he will transgress.’”[^66] And Allah responded to them, “...Be not afraid; I am indeed with you, hearing and seeing.”[^67] These verses reveal to us that even the prophets and the righteous felt fear; it is natural to feel this way when faced with danger and uncertainty. But they knew who to turn to assuage their apprehensions. When you feel afraid, turn to *al-Muʾmin* and ask Him to secure your heart. Recite and reflect upon the Qur’an to learn how Allah comes through for the believers, and what is promised to the steadfast: “Surely those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then remain steadfast—there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.”[^68] Indeed, when Pharaoh threatened the magicians who believed in Allah with crucifixion and torture, they were the ones who were unafraid, while Pharaoh was insecure. They said, > Never will we prefer you over what has come to us of clear proofs and \[over\] He who created us. So decree whatever you are to decree. You can only decree for this worldly life. Indeed, we have believed (*āmannā*) in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us \[to do\] of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring.[^69] They trusted in the promise of God, and their hearts were secured by Him. Pharaoh, on the other hand, spent the rest of his life afraid of being challenged and doing everything in his power to stop Mūsa (AS). Eventually, Pharaoh drowned. There was no safety for him in this life or the next. One will also notice that a believer is called a “*mu’min*.” We are both secured by our faith in God, and we secure others from any injustice. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The believer (*mu’min*) is the one who is trusted with the lives and wealth of people. The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe.”[^70] We cannot profess to be true servants of *al-Muʾmin*, if we do not give that same security to others that we desire from Allah. Another meaning of the name *al-Muʾmin* is that Allah follows through on His promises.[^71] Knowing this helps to remove the fear associated with uncertainty and lack of trust. We believe in Allah (*āmannā bi-Allāh*) and we believe Him (*āmannāh*); i.e., what He tells us. When He tells us what pertains to this world and the Hereafter, we have absolute faith and security in its truth because He always follows through. *A**l-Muʾmin* also assures us by fulfilling the optimistic expectations the believers have of Him; He does not let them down.[^72] The Prophet ﷺ told us that Allah said, “I am as My servant expects of Me.”[^73] In another narration, with the addition, “If he thinks good of Me, he will have it. If he thinks evil of Me, he will have it.”[^74] Having a good opinion of Allah (*ḥusn al-**ẓ**ann bi-Allāh*) is part of the worship of the heart. It is to think well of God even when things outwardly seem to be negative, and one can only do this when they know Allah. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “Wondrous is the affair of a believer, as there is good for him in every matter; this is not the case for anyone but a believer. If he experiences pleasure, he thanks Allah and it is good for him. If he experiences harm, he shows patience and it is good for him.”[^75] And when we do that, *al-Muʾmin* attests to that good opinion by following through. When we believe that there is purpose in hardship, that we will be rewarded, and that Allah responds to us with what is best, then Allah gives us even better than what we had hoped for. Indeed, Ibn Masʿūd is reported to have said that, “By the One besides whom there is no god, a believing servant is not given anything better than a good opinion of God Almighty, and by whom there is no god but Him, no servant of God Almighty thinks well of Allah except that God Almighty gives him \[according to His good opinion\]; that is because goodness is in His hand.”[^76] One of the righteous said that he saw the scholar, Malik bin Dinar (d. 130/748), in a dream after he had passed away. Mālik b. Dinār said in the dream: “I have committed many sins, and my good opinion of Allah erased them;”[^77] i.e., he had hope that God would forgive him, he put in the work and effort to achieve His forgiveness, and so he was forgiven. ### 8\. “The Controller, the Watcher \[of all\]” Whether suffering from personal crises in our lives or bigger issues that we feel we cannot affect, our lack of control brings feelings of helplessness and even despair. Allah continues His description by assuring us that He is *al-Muhaymin*.[^78] *Haymana* means complete control and guardianship;[^79] He is the one who has complete command, and having complete command necessitates having perfect knowledge (He is ‘*Ālim al-ghayb wa al-shahāda)* and power (*al-Malik*).[^80] Throughout the Qur’an, we are shown the illusion of man’s worldly control. For example, it seemed like Pharaoh was in control when he was oppressing the Children of Israel. It also seemed like the King who massacred the believers in Sūrat al-Burūj had the upper hand. But Allah reminds us, “...We will progressively lead them \[to destruction\] from where they do not know.”[^81] They may have believed that they were in control, but Pharaoh was eventually drowned and the King and his accomplices “will certainly suffer the punishment of Hell and the torment of burning.”[^82] Knowing that Allah is in complete control can help us to feel at ease in those times where we feel incapable of affecting change. We rest assured knowing that nothing escapes *al-Muhaymin*’s power or knowledge. According to Ibn ‘Ashūr, part of the wisdom of this name following *al-Muʾmin* is to ward off the thought that Allah gives security due to His fear or weakness.[^83] For example, a soldier may be made to guard a specific area, yet he may not do so of his own volition or out of protectiveness of the area and people he is guarding. He may do so out of fear of being punished and because he is weaker than the one commanding him. With Allah, He is the One in control, and no one controls Him. He gives inner security to those who believe and those whom He has mercy upon. Āsiya (may Allah be pleased with her), who was also murdered by Pharaoh, saw her place in Paradise and was able to smile in the face of her tormentor. The believers described in Sūrat al-Burūj were given inner security and remained firm in their beliefs. So, who was really in control and who had true, everlasting security? Knowing that Allah is *al-Muhaymin* encourages us to turn to Him through supplication when we desire change as we recognize that He is the One who provides the means and determines all outcomes. Allah says, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”[^84] Furthermore, having certainty that Allah is *al-Muhaymin* provides an antidote to defeatism. We are not asked about the results of our actions, only that we take the right actions with a sincere heart. The Qur’an constantly praises “those who believe and do good.” Even when the whole world is doing the opposite of what is right, even when our efforts seem to be futile, we know that  Allah is in control of everything. When Mūsa (AS) and Bani Israel were about to be overtaken by Pharaoh, it indeed seemed like Pharaoh was in control. Mūsa could have stopped moving and just surrendered to Pharaoh. Instead, he trusted that Allah was *al-Muhaymin* and said, “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me.”[^85] Despite our trust in *al-Muhaymin*, it may often feel like bad things still happen. The man described in Sūrat Yāsīn persisted in calling his people to the truth even though they consistently rejected it, and  he did not stop until he was reportedly killed. This outcome seems bad from a worldly perspective; there was no miracle to save him as a reward for his endeavor on earth. However, he was given the ultimate reward in the hereafter: “It was said, ‘Enter Paradise.’ He said, ‘I wish my people could know of how my Lord has forgiven me and placed me among the honored.’”[^86] Knowing that Allah is *al-Muhaymin* is knowing that Allah is in control of all events and outcomes. On the Day of Judgment, all illusions of control will crumble. Those who did good for the sake of God will be rewarded, and those who did evil will face the consequences of their choices. As Allah reminds us, “And all faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. And those burdened with wrongdoing will be in loss.”[^87] ### 9\. “The Almighty” The previous names provide reassurance for our hearts, while *al-Muhaymin* specifically both reassures us and alerts us to the power of God. *Al-*ʿ*Azīz* follows to further emphasize and explain His all-encompassing power. Indeed, power is sought out in this world, and people sometimes behave in undignified ways to gain favor with the mighty of this earth. They may lie, cheat, and even humiliate themselves. They may act in opposition to their values and morals; all of this is in an attempt to gain *ʿ**izza—*strength, glory, and honor.[^88] However, as Allah tells us in the next name mentioned in this sequence, it is Allah who is the Almighty (*al-*ʿ*Azīz)*. The One who cannot be subdued, who conquers everything, and subjects everything to Himself.[^89] Only He can grant the ʿ*izza* that is so coveted by human beings. God tells us: “And let not their speech grieve you. Indeed, honor (ʿ*izza*) belongs to Allah entirely. He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”[^90] Indeed, people who flout God’s laws and feel that they have impunity, Allah says, “They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might (ʿ*Azīz*).”[^91] No matter how much strength or power (*quwwa*) one can project, it is not true ʿ*izza* if it is not dignified. This teaches us to turn to Allah and conform to His commandments for strength and dignity, and to avoid all that He dislikes. Indeed, true servants of *al-**ʿ**Azīz* are those who derive their dignity from Him, respect themselves, and have an inner strength. People generally derive their strength and feelings of importance from worldly sources, such as authority, wealth, popularity, social status, ethnicity or nationality. Yet, Allah is the One who truly strengthens and gives honor, and true dignity comes in servitude and obedience to Him. When our pursuits are in His name and for Him, we break free of the power that worldly matters have over us. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭab (rA) stated famously, “Verily, we were a disgraceful people and Allah honored us (*a*ʿ*azzan**ā*) with Islam. If we seek honor from anything besides that with which Allah honored us, Allah will disgrace us*.*”[^92] So, how can we obtain this ʿ*izza* from God? Allah says in the Qur’an: “Whoever desires honor*—*then to Allah belongs all honor.”[^93] The way to this honor and strength from Allah is through being mindful of Him and being righteous, especially when it contradicts our base desires. Allah says, “… Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous (*atqākum*) of you.[^94] Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Aware.”[^95] In fact, it was a supplication of the righteous to say, “O Allah, honor me (*a*ʿ*izzanī*) with your obedience, and do not humiliate me with disobedience.”[^96] Ibn al-Qayyim reminds us that we are honored by our faith and the manifestation of that faith as obedience to Allah.[^97] ### 10\. “The Compeller” (al-Jabbār) After reflecting on *al-**ʿ**Azīz*, Allah turns our attention to His name the Compeller (*al-Jabbār*). While ʿ*izza* reminds us about Allah’s power and justice and teaches us to have strength based in dignity and obedience to Him, the following name in the sequence both emphasizes His power over His creation and comforts us if we have been victims of injustice. And perhaps this is part of the wisdom that the following name is *al-Jabbār*, which has two main meanings: 1) the One who is able to compel and subdue all His servants, with all of creation submitting to Him; and 2) the One who mends the broken and enriches the poor.[^98] *Al-Jabbār* is the only One able to truly compel, and examples of this are ample. *Al-Jabbār* turned Moses’ staff into a real snake when the magicians were only able to create illusions.[^99] He confines us all within the limits of our species, compelling us to be human beings unable to have wings like a bird.[^100] *Al-Jabbār* also compels tyrants according to His will, making them answer for their oppression, sometimes in this life and surely in the next.[^101] It is reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The arrogant and the tyrants will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection as tiny particles. The people will trample upon them due to their disgrace before Allah Almighty.”[^102] *Al-Jabbār* is also the One who mends what is broken and the One who consoles the hearts.[^103] The Arabic word for the splint that is used to set a broken bone is a *jabīrah*, from the same root word as *jabbār*. As such, for those of us who are broken and have been victims of injustice, this name carries a valuable meaning. When the mother of Mūsa (AS) let go of her son in the river, we are told in the Qur’an, > And the heart of Moses’ mother ached so much that she almost gave away his identity, had We not reassured her heart in order for her to have faith \[in Allah’s promise\].[^104] In the midst of her anguish at being separated from her baby and the danger he was in, *al-Jabbār* was the One who comforted her, “Thus, We returned him to his mother, that her eye might be comforted and that she may not grieve, and so that she would know that Allah’s promise is true; yet most of them do not know.”[^105] In this situation, *al-Jabbār* returned the baby to his mother and she was comforted and relieved. However, it’s important to remember that our hearts are not always mended by being given what we want, and in many cases we are given something else entirely. The Prophet ﷺ was wronged by his people, who persecuted him until he had to leave his beloved home. He said regarding Mecca, “By Allah, you are the best and most beloved land to Allah. Had I not been driven away from you, I would not have left you.”[^106] The Prophet ﷺ was heartbroken. He did not want to leave Mecca, and life in Madina was not easy. The Companions also became very ill and wished they could return to Mecca. The Prophet ﷺ prayed to Allah, “O Allah! Make us love Medina as we love Mecca or even more than that.”[^107] And indeed, Medina eventually became beloved to them and became their true home. Allah grants solace and mends our brokenness in different ways. Sometimes it can be through an uplifting word by a dear friend or being inspired to pray and weep to Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, you will never leave anything for the sake of Allah Almighty but that Allah will replace it with something better.”[^108] Undoubtedly, the best thing Allah can give us when something has been taken away is Himself. This name inspires awe at the majesty of Allah, makes one afraid of committing injustice, and still allows us to find comfort in the One who can mend all. ### 11- The Majestic, the Proud So far, the names *al-Quddūs*, *al-Salām*, and *al-Muʾmin* have addressed and reassured our hearts, *al-Muhaymin* has placed a bridge between reassurance and a sense of awe, and *al-ʿAzīz* and *al-Jabbār* have reminded us of His dignity and strength.[^109] Finally, the sequence ends with *al-Mutakabbir:* the One who has pride and greatness, yet is free from all faults, injustice, and oppression.[^110] Stemming from the same root word, Allah is Greater (*akbar*) than anything on this earth. He says, “And to Him belongs \[all\] grandeur (*kibriyāʾ*) within the heavens and the earth, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”[^111] *Al-Mutakabbir* teaches us to humble ourselves and not attribute false grandeur to ourselves or implicitly compete with the grandeur of God. The Prophet ﷺ reminds us, “No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” Someone replied, “But a man loves to have beautiful clothes and shoes.” The Prophet ﷺ clarified, “Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”[^112]  The Prophet ﷺ also told us, “Allah Almighty says that might is His garment and grandeur is His cloak: Whoever competes with Me, I will punish him.”[^113] Satan attributed greatness to himself and arrogated to himself rank above Adam when he said in defiance to Allah, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.”[^114] Anyone who is arrogant and boastful should indeed be fearful. The Prophet ﷺ warned that “Whoever exalts himself or carries himself with arrogance, he will meet Allah while He is angry with him.”[^115] Indeed, Korah (Qārūn) became enamored with himself because of the riches that God gave him. He was “from the people of Moses, but he tyrannized them.”[^116] He thought that because of his treasures he was greater, and he attributed his success to himself, causing him to end in ruins.[^117] Allah “caused the earth to swallow him and his home. And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor was he of those who \[could\] defend themselves.”[^118] *Al-Mutakabbir* also carries another implication related to the solace that Allah’s grandeur provides.  Anyone who is overwhelmed by the apparent greatness of their problems, who is made to feel small by others for worldly reasons, or who looks in awe at those stationed above him in life should know that Allah is Greater. After *al-Mutakabbir,* the verse beautifully ends with “Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him \[in worship\]” (*subḥān Allahi* *ʿ**ammā yushrikūn*). This statement concludes the verse by completely detaching the heart from every supposed rival or equivalent the polytheists would associate with Allah. A sentiment that, again, continues to be applicable. After learning about some of Allah’s magnificent names and attributes, who is it that we honestly take as saviors? Do we attribute a grandeur to ourselves above others? Do we turn to what He does not love for peace, safety, and control? ### 12\. The Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner After detaching every supposed deity from Allah, and after understanding the aforementioned diverse names of Allah, He reminds us in the next verse that He is *al-Khāliq* (the Creator), *al-Bāri**ʾ* (the Producer), *al-Muṣawwir* (the Fashioner). Indeed, in their pure forms, these functions are entirely unique to Allah.The first part of the verse, “He is Allah, *al-Khāliq*”, tells us that Allah alone creates, negating the supposed divinity of false idols who are unable to create.[^119] *Al-Khāliq* determines what is brought from non-existence to existence, *al-Bāri**ʾ* distinguishes creation from each other by specifying their different forms, and *al-Muṣawwir* makes the visual manifestation of what He has created and produced.[^120] These names are mentioned sequentially because in totality they show the divine conception of the creation of human beings from the beginning to their end. So Allah starts with creation (*al-Khāliq*), which is bringing into existence that which did not exist, then with producing (*al-Bār**iʾ*), which is the formation of the human body, then with fashioning (*al-Muṣawwir*), which gives each human his or her beautiful form.[^121] Notably, these names come after our hearts have been settled with the knowledge of all the names previously discussed. The One who possesses all of these names is the One who is *al-Khāliq*, *al-Bāri**ʾ*, *al-Muṣawwir*. Indeed, these names instill both a sense of awe and comfort. He created the universe, which is so much bigger than us, and He created us. We have purpose. The Most Merciful is the One who fashioned us Himself. The Source of Peace is the One who made our souls and physical bodies. The true King is the One who gave us inherent dignity. How humbling that we have such a connection to Him! These names are followed with “to Him belong the best names” (*lahu al-asm**āʿ**u al-ḥusnā*). That is, He has *all* the Most Beautiful Names, only some of which have been mentioned here.[^122] ### 13\. “The Almighty, the Most Wise” To conclude this set of verses and the chapter as a whole, Allah says, “Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him (*yusabbiḥu lahu*). He is the Almighty, the Wise.”[^123] This finale reflects the start of the chapter, “Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allah (*sabbaḥa lil-Allāhi*), and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”[^124] Hence this chapter is concluded in the same way that it started*—*with a reminder that everything exalts Him, and He is the Almighty (*al-ʿAzīz*) and the All-Wise (*al-Ḥakīm*). Indeed, the entire chapter, and particularly the verses we have been discussing on His beautiful names, obliges anyone who contemplates to glorify Him,[^125] indeed it is the only rational outcome to what has been discussed. How can our hearts not be filled with awe, reverence, and love for Allah, who possesses these beautiful names and attributes? As previously mentioned, Allah’s name *al-**ʿ**Azīz* first appears in verse 23, between His names *al-Muhaymin* and *al-Jabbār*. When Allah pairs certain names together, it gives a new meaning or a novel understanding that may not be captured by our limited imagination when the name is mentioned alone. Here, Allah is *al-**ʿ**Azīz* *al-Ḥakīm*, and this is most fitting to mention after we are told of His unique power to create, distinguish, and fashion.[^126] This pairing shows us that creation did not just come about from the might of Allah, but also from His deep wisdom. All of creation, and specifically humanity, how we look, and how we function, have been determined by the Most Wise. Our different appearances, expressions, shapes, and forms are not just due to random genetics, but are part of the wisdom of Allah. We might be made to feel a certain way because we do not fit into modern standards of beauty, or because of our ethnicity and color, but Allah*—*the One who has the most concern for us, who is Himself the Most Beautiful[^127]*—*chose for us to appear like this. Concluding the entire chapter with these two names reminds us that nothing is arbitrary. In the context of the verses in this paper, the names chosen, the order in which they appear, and the chapter in which they appear have been deliberately chosen by the Almighty, the Most Wise. There is purpose, there is guidance, and there is healing for us when we truly contemplate their significance. --- ## Conclusion The names mentioned in verses 22-24 of Sūrat al-Ḥashr take us through a journey of the heart, teaching us trust in and reliance on Allah. We are reminded first and foremost not to submit our hearts to anything or anyone but Allah (*huwa Allāh ala**dh**ī lā ilāha ilā hu*), that His knowledge is all-encompassing, including what is inaccessible to us (*ʿ**Ālim al-ghayb wal-shahāda*), and that He is the Most Merciful (*al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*). From here on, the names address, among other things, the different emotional states that we endure: when we are confused about who to turn to for authority, He is *al-Malik*; when we are worried about injustice or oppression from God, He is *al-Quddūs*; when we feel anxious and disturbed, He is *al-Salām*; when we are afraid and uncertain, He is *al-Muʾmin*; when we feel apathetic or out of control, He is *al-**Muhaymin*; when we feel overcome, He is *al-**ʿ**Azīz*; when we see oppression or have been victims (or perpetrators) of oppression, He is *al-Jabbār*; and when we see others elevate themselves or our problems become overwhelming, He is *al-Mutakabbir*. We zoom out, and Allah reminds us that He is the Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner. Logically, He knows what is best for us. Profoundly, we conclude with the fact that He is *al-**ʿ**Azīz al-Ḥakīm*: The Almighty, the Most Wise. Nothing is arbitrary. The verses we have visited are uniquely placed, with each name providing ease for our individual concerns, addressing our hearts and the natural fluctuations they undergo. Whatever doubt, fear, or worry enters our hearts, understanding who Allah is helps to calm our fears and soothe our pain. --- ## Notes [^1]: Muḥammad Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Miftāḥ dār al-saʿāda wa manshūr wilāyat al-ʿilm wa al-idāra* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyya, 2002), 2:88–89, cited in Muhammad Elshinawy, “Why Does God Ask Us to Worship Him?,” *Yaqeen*, October 21, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him#ftnt7](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him%23ftnt7&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056395503&usg=AOvVaw2ut3sA6hLb0eKp_vBkR2a0). [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7405; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2675. [^3]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *ʿUddat al-Sābirīn*, (Makkah: Dār ‘Ālim al-Fawāid, 7th ed.), p.85 [^4]: Qur’an 59:19. [^5]: Al-Ṭāhir b. ʿĀshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/19](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/19&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056397369&usg=AOvVaw1im7DroFrxmQA33BKkKEXF). [^6]: Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī, *al-Kashshāf,* [https://tafsir.app/kashaf/59/19](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/kashaf/59/19&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056398307&usg=AOvVaw2IT7ug3YdUkQaUQCHNpbsp). [^7]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī, *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/19](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/19&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056396343&usg=AOvVaw046G-mCcGsu_b7bCekb1Jm); Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/59/19](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/59/19&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056396766&usg=AOvVaw2x6EaWvMOSVp2LhtomgXQL). [^8]: Qur’an 59:22–24. [^9]: Abd al-Razzāq b. Abd al-Muḥsin al-Badr, *Fiqh al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā* (Dammam: Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 1441 AH), 94. [^10]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij al-sālikīn* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1996), 1:56; Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāiʿ al-fawāʾid* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 1:249. [^11]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Badāiʿ al-Fawāʾid*, 2:247. [^12]: Qur’an 43:87. [^13]: Qur’an 31:25. [^14]: Qur’an 39:3. [^15]: Qur’an 45:23. [^16]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/22](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/22&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056374533&usg=AOvVaw0x2p2a9ykI4_L3JdR2iFEz). [^17]: Ibid. [^18]: Qur’an 12:6. [^19]: Qur’an 12:100. [^20]: Hans Wehr, *A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic* (New York: Spoken Language Services, 1976), 384. [^21]: Based on the conventional Arabic forms, the form of *Raḥmān* here is of *fa*ʿ*lān*. [^22]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī, *Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr,* [https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/1/1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/1/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056383652&usg=AOvVaw0QQ3677FxNMjmUcaPMFofR). [^23]: Qur’an 7:156. [^24]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3194; *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2751. [^25]: Sheikh Mohammed Akram al-Nadwi explains that *raḥīm,* which follows the form of *faʿīl*, is used to describe the character of someone, similar to, for example, *karīm*, which means a generous, noble person. For one to be described this way, it cannot be that they are generous on a few occasions, but that this is part of who they are and thus expressed in all their interactions. [^26]: Qur’an 33:43. [^27]: Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība, *Allah: An Explanation of the Divine Names and Attributes*, trans. Abdul Aziz Suraqah (USA: Al-Madina Institute, 2014), 15. [^28]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5999; *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2754. [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-**Bukhārī*, no. 6000; *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2752. [^30]: Qur’an 19:2–3. [^31]: Salman Al-Oadah, *In the Company of God: Closeness to Allah through the Beauty of His Names and Attributes*, 2nd ed. (N.p.: Islam Today, 2011), 26. [^32]: Ibn ʿAshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/22](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/22&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056373853&usg=AOvVaw1i4rj8831FwD91T5ZdVsoj). [^33]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī, *Tanbīh al-nāʾim al-ghamar ʿalā mawāsim al-ʿumur* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1418 AH/1997 AD), 49. [^34]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzi, *Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr*, [https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/18/65](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/18/65&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056382769&usg=AOvVaw1ViPms958rCl5ujNMijgo8). [^35]: Qur’an 18:65. [^36]: Qur’an 18:79–82. [^37]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb,* [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/1/3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/1/3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056384276&usg=AOvVaw330zisgLW1q672UG33ZHp2). [^38]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Badāiʿ al-fawāʾid*, 2:121; Ibn al-Qayyim, *Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl*, 2:652, cited in ʿUmar Sulaymān al-Ashqar, *Sharḥ Ibn al-Qayyim li-asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā* (Amman: Dar al-Nafāʾis, 2008), 46; Sayyid Maḥmūd al-Alūsī, *Tafsīr al-Alūsī*, [https://tafsir.app/alaloosi/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alaloosi/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056366087&usg=AOvVaw0Oi69TZ6ufP7tuep2q7A30). [^39]: Yaqeen Institute, Difference of Opinion: Clearing Up the Confusion, 27 October 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/difference-of-opinion-clearing-up-the-confusion-infographic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/difference-of-opinion-clearing-up-the-confusion-infographic&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056402749&usg=AOvVaw0l3it_FbenYqAjX87E5O2z) [^40]: Ibn ʿAshūr, *al-Taḥrīr w al-tanwīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056371695&usg=AOvVaw1_Sl8-sxOBGGoPubLnC0e8). [^41]: Qur’an 62:1. [^42]: *Hans Wehr*, 875. [^43]: Abū Ḥamid al-Ghazālī, *The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God: al-Maqṣad al-asnā f sharḥ asmā’ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, trans. David Burrell and Nazih Daher (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1992), 59. [^44]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Zād al-masīr*, ​​[https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056377237&usg=AOvVaw2ERolGElN826zDkg5QOYJ1). [^45]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056376523&usg=AOvVaw2yDCL6k-1tTkUKUVAZuyVP). [^46]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056401263&usg=AOvVaw1N9c5xKucVq3tdMLDd6wlW). [^47]: For example, see Qur’an 2:155, 6:165, 18:7. [^48]: Qur’an 2:155. [^49]: Qur’an 7:168. [^50]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 3:156. [^51]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 4986. [^52]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 592. [^53]: For more on Islam and mental health, see: Dr Rania Awaad, Danah Elsayed, Hosam Helal, Holistic Healing: Islam’s Legacy of Mental Health, Yaqeen Institute, 27 May 2021,  [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/holistic-healing-islams-legacy-of-mental-health](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/holistic-healing-islams-legacy-of-mental-health&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056403266&usg=AOvVaw2BKKgLp0dpl2qw6_SOiA--) [^54]: Qur’an 9:40. [^55]: Qur’an 10:25. [^56]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056366960&usg=AOvVaw0Z0QFznt7Aam3HNIjhbDaH). [^57]: Ibid. [^58]: Allah says about Quraysh that He “made them secure (*āmanahum*) against fear” (106:4). [^59]: In the Qur’an, the brothers of Prophet Yūsuf say to their father, “But you would not believe us (*wa mā anta bimuʾmin lanā*), even if we were truthful” (12:17). [^60]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2577. [^61]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056403741&usg=AOvVaw1SxRk066PWEk9NZNIdT0pe). [^62]: Maher Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā: Jalāluhā wa laṭāʾif iqtirānihā wa thamarātuhā fī ḍawʾ al-kitāb wa al-sunnah,* 3rd ed. (Kuwait: al-Imām al-Dhahabī, 2014), 131. [^63]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 132 [^64]: Qur’an 8:11. [^65]: Qur’an 3:173. [^66]: Qur’an 20:45. [^67]: Qur’an 20:46. [^68]: Qur’an 46:13. [^69]: Qur’an 20:72–73. [^70]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 23958. [^71]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh*, 132. [^72]: Ibid. [^73]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7405; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2675. [^74]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 639. [^75]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2999. [^76]: Ibn Abī al-Dunya, *Ḥusn al-dhann billāh* (Riyadh: Dār Ṭaybah, 1408 AH/1988 CE), 96. [^77]: Ibid., 23. [^78]: There is a difference of opinion about the root: *amn* or *haymana*. See: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056368863&usg=AOvVaw0K61oekuC3SxZonqM3Cct4). [^79]: *Hans Wehr*, 1224. [^80]: Al-Ghazālī, *The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names*, 64. [^81]: Qur’an 7:182. [^82]: Qur’an 85:10. [^83]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056369280&usg=AOvVaw1QdNlfkcfXx5HpIwwFuF6q). [^84]: Qur’an 40:60. [^85]: Qur’an 26:62. [^86]: Qur’an 36:27. [^87]: Qur’an 20:111. [^88]: *Hans Wehr*, 713. [^89]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056370332&usg=AOvVaw00aOprHpg4yLuWEGsJEdUN); Ibn ʿʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056370566&usg=AOvVaw3mWje56Dv3iea7tEDfTBQo). [^90]: Qur’an 10:65. [^91]: Qur’an 22:74. [^92]: Al-Ḥākim al-Naysapūrī, *a**l-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn,* 207. [^93]: Qur’an 35:10. [^94]: Ibn al-Qayyim stated that “Piety (*taqwā*) has three levels: The first is protecting the heart and limbs against sin and forbidden actions. The second is protecting them against undesirable matters. The third is protection against nosiness and whatever is not of one’s concern. The first will grant life to the servant, the second will grant him health and power, and the third will grant him happiness and joy.” Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badāiʿ al-Fawāʾid*, 45 [^95]: Qur’an 49:13. [^96]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *al-Jawāb al-kāfī* (Casablanca: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1418 AH/1997 CE), 59. [^97]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Ighāthat al-lahafān min maṣāyid al-shayṭān* (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, n.d.), 181. [^98]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056369650&usg=AOvVaw3USzfghowXis29vFCrlTf9). [^99]: The Qur’an says that, “And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving.” Qur’an 20:66. [^100]: Ibn ʿĀshur, *al-Taḥrīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056399942&usg=AOvVaw1F0TnoqIDoVae2z9PozOdV). [^101]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 141. [^102]: Ibn Abī al-Dunya, *al-Tawāḍuʿ wal-khumūl*, 224. [^103]: Ibid., 140. [^104]: Qur’an 28:10. [^105]: Qur’an 28:13. [^106]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3925. [^107]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, vol. 3, bk. 30, no. 113. [^108]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 23074. [^109]: Ibn ʿĀshur, al-Taḥrīr, https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/23. [^110]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/59/23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056372726&usg=AOvVaw3FOUByEinYTxQzb9puzDub). [^111]: Qur’an 45:37. [^112]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 91. [^113]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2620. [^114]: Qur’an 7:12. [^115]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 5959. [^116]: Qur’an 28:76. [^117]: Qur’an 28:78. [^118]: Qur’an 28:81. [^119]: Ibn ʿĀshur, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056393428&usg=AOvVaw1T-JPhHvvaWPjAuXkpqBpW). [^120]: Ibid. [^121]: Ibid. [^122]: Ibn ʿĀshur, *al-Taḥrīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056392796&usg=AOvVaw3SorcOE39Uxg3jiiVdOcTa). [^123]: Qur’an 59:24. [^124]: Qur’an 59:1. [^125]: Ibn ʿĀshur, *al-Taḥrīr,* [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/59/24&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1709582056391294&usg=AOvVaw07JZkBhu8MBnvxB0YQMJ1Z). [^126]: Ibid. [^127]: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 91. ## Summary Reflecting upon the closing verses of Sūrat al-Ḥashr (59:22–24) opens for the believer a path toward the very purpose of our existence, which is to know Allah and to worship Him. In an age that exalts the autonomy of the self and pushes each person to live for the fulfillment of his own desires, the concepts of submission and servitude have become difficult for many to accept. Yet the remedy lies in love, and love flows from knowledge. As Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) explained, "Complete servitude (ʿubūdiyya) is a byproduct of complete love, and complete love is a byproduct of the Beloved's perceived perfection." We come to love Allah by knowing Him, and we come to know Him by reflecting upon His names and attributes. This knowledge is not confined to this worldly life; when internalized, it anchors us toward the Hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ conveyed that Allah said, "I am as My servant expects of Me," and so our expectations of Him become truer the more accurately we know Him. Ibn al-Qayyim further noted that Allah loves His names and attributes and loves their manifestations in His servants, keeping a special companionship with those who emulate His qualities: as He is beautiful He loves beauty, as He is Forgiving He loves forgiveness, and as He is All-Knowing He loves the people of knowledge. Before unveiling these names, Allah warns earlier in the same chapter, "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient." Those who forget Allah are those who wilfully ignore who He is, abandon the signs of His oneness, and neglect His rights, and their punishment is that they forget what truly benefits their own souls. The antidote to such forgetfulness is to actively know Allah, and this is precisely what the closing verses provide, unfolding His names in a deliberate and healing sequence. The passage opens, "He is Allah—there is no god except Him," affirming that Allah alone is al-ilāh, the sole One worthy of worship, and that His name encompasses the meanings of all His other names. The pagan Arabs acknowledged a creator whom they called Allah yet worshipped others alongside Him, and today many acknowledge a higher power without worshipping Him or else associate partners with Him. This verse therefore addresses every age, inviting each of us to examine what we truly submit to and obey, and whether we have elevated our own whims to the station of arbiter over what Allah has commanded. Following this, Allah names Himself "Knower of the seen and unseen" (ʿĀlim al-ghayb wa al-shahāda), reminding us that a hidden realm lies beyond our senses and that His rulings carry wisdom because His knowledge is all-encompassing while ours is limited. The story of Yūsuf (as) illustrates this, for his trials appeared unjust until their purpose was revealed, and he affirmed at their end, "Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise," teaching that what is witnessed rarely gives the full picture. Next come "the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful" (al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm). Al-Raḥmān denotes the intensity of a mercy unique to Allah that encompasses all creation, as He says, "My mercy encompasses all things," and as the Prophet ﷺ related that Allah wrote, "Verily, My mercy prevails over My wrath." Al-Raḥīm affirms that this mercy is permanent, with a special portion reserved for the believers. The Prophet ﷺ described Allah as more merciful to His servant than a mother to her child, and taught that Allah divided mercy into a hundred parts, sending down but one to the earth. The placement of these names after His knowledge teaches that even amid trials we cannot comprehend, His mercy remains overflowing, as shown in the account of al-Khaḍir in Sūrat al-Kahf, where acts that appeared harsh concealed profound mercy. The second verse reaffirms "He is Allah—there is no god except Him," then turns to His majesty. He is "the King" (al-Malik), possessing complete authority over all, which frees the heart from attachment to fleeting worldly powers and cements our obedience to His law and to those He has appointed to guide us. He is "the Most Holy" (al-Quddūs), transcendent above every defect, teaching us not to project human flaws onto Him. He is "the Source of Serenity" (al-Salām), perfect in essence and action and the only source of lasting peace, for the heart contains a void that only He can fill. The Prophet ﷺ would say, "O Bilāl, comfort us with the prayer," and after prayer we declare, "O Allah, You are Peace and from You is peace." He is "the Grantor of Security" (al-Muʾmin), who never oppresses, as He said, "I have forbidden injustice for Myself." He fulfils the good expectations of His servants, for the Prophet ﷺ related, "If he thinks good of Me, he will have it." He is "the Watcher" (al-Muhaymin), in complete control of all outcomes, as Mūsa (as) declared, "Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me." He is "the Almighty" (al-ʿAzīz), granting the true honor that people wrongly seek in worldly sources; ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭab (ra) said, "We were a disgraceful people and Allah honored us with Islam." He is "the Supreme in Might" (al-Jabbār), who subdues all creation yet mends the broken, as He consoled the heart of Mūsa's mother. He is "the Majestic" (al-Mutakabbir), whose grandeur calls us to humility, for the Prophet ﷺ warned that none with an atom's weight of arrogance will enter Paradise. The verse closes, "Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him." The final verse names Him "the Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner" (al-Khāliq, al-Bāriʾ, al-Muṣawwir), describing our formation from inception to final shape, and affirms "to Him belong the best names." The chapter concludes as it began, with all things glorifying Him and with His names al-ʿAzīz al-Ḥakīm, reminding us that nothing in creation, nor in the ordering of these very names, is arbitrary. This sequence thus guides the heart through its every state, so that whatever fear or worry arises, knowing who Allah is calms our fears and soothes our pain. ## Key Takeaways 1. The closing verses of *Surah al-Hashr* bring together sixteen of Allah’s names, calling believers to reflect and draw nearer to Him. Reflecting on these names and the sequence in which they appear, strengthens our love for Allah and enables us to worship Him from a place of understanding. 2. Each name in these verses illustrate His mercy, generosity, justice, and wisdom, as well as Allah’s intimate awareness of our needs. Before we face our trials, He has already placed refuge, guidance, and support in Himself, addressing the full range of our concerns and teaching us to be with Him and worship Him in all circumstances. 3. This divine sequencing of names forms a spiritual path that guides the believer toward Allah, illustrating His knowledge, compassion, sovereignty, holiness, peace, and protection; His might, majesty, and creative power; and His ultimate wisdom. Through contemplating these divine qualities, the heart learns humility, dependence, and gratitude. 4. Forgetting Allah leads to a loss of self, while remembrance transforms the heart: “And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves”(Q 59:19). The conscious remembrance of Allah, *dhikr,* is the means of renewal and transformation, helping believers find lasting peace and serenity in turning to Him. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/surah-al-buruj-and-the-divine-response-to-genocide-and-injustice # Surah Al Buruj and the Divine Response to Genocide and Injustice | Blog **Author:** Faisal Malik **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** February 17, 2024 **Updated:** June 4, 2024 > *…And never is your Lord forgetful*[^1] --- ## Finding meaning in existence Few evils approach the existential horror of genocide: the mass extermination of a people for no other crime than merely existing and being different. For many, the shock of witnessing such immense suffering necessarily raises the problem of evil. How could Allah, the Most Compassionate and Merciful, allow the unleashing of such horror upon an innocent and defenseless people? Believers should realize that no matter the situation in which we find ourselves, Allah ﷻ has provided us guidance on how to act. Just as a person with poor vision needs glasses to see the world clearly, humanity cannot see through the chaos of existence without the lens of the Qur’an. Such a lens both clarifies and comforts, even in the face of a a crime as heinous as genocide. Indeed, in *Sūrat al-Burūj* (Chapter of Constellations), Allah ﷻ directly addresses the reality of genocide. Reflecting on its verses can help us make sense not just of the suffering in Gaza, but of the suffering inherent to worldly existence. With this understanding comes hope. > **وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْبُرُوجِ**  > > *By the sky full of constellations, (85:1)* Anyone who has ever gazed at the sky above a remote countryside has been blessed with the most beautiful of sights: the stars in all their magnificent glory, their numinous beauty freed from the light pollution of the modern city.  One of the most spectacular  qualities of that night sky—a sky that so few of us ever see—is its apparent chaos. To the untrained eye, the stars seem impressive but random, a visual cacophony of lawless light; however, the trained observer knows better. Those who study astronomy understand that those distant points of light, though separated from us and each other by millions of miles, come together to form dazzling constellations. Those celestial patterns do not just demonstrate the order of the universe—they decorate the dark canopy of the night and provide guidance for every traveler. Every time one looks up, the eye is rewarded with beauty, and the soul with enlightenment. Life is the night sky. The unguided eye may perceive its happenings as random, meaningless, and chaotic. This inability to see meaning is characteristic of modern secular life and its pervasive nihilism. The believer, however, is gifted with sight. Out of the infinite chaos of events that overwhelm others, the believer can pick out the underlying constellations. The believer understands that nothing is random and that everything is under Allah’s control. But how do believers train themselves to see order where others only see disorder? Through the Qur’an, of course. It is a lens—one might say a telescope—through which the believer can see the principles that govern reality, and thus a blueprint for how to act in this world. > **وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْمَوْعُودِ** > > *and the Promised Day \[of Judgment\] (85:2)* Right at the beginning of the *surah*, Allah ﷻ mentions the promised day—the Day of Judgment. What in this world was incomprehensible, on that day becomes sensible; what was mysterious becomes manifest. This is the day that all oppressors, tyrants, murderers are brought to justice. This is the day where the weak, oppressed, and innocent have their retribution and their justice, served not by a temporal king or temporary authority but the Lord of the worlds, Master of all that exists. This Day of Judgment is a warning to the oppressors and a source of hope for the oppressed. > ** > وَشَاهِدٍۢ وَمَشْهُودٍۢ** > > *and the witness and what is witnessed! (85:3)* Oppressors usually attempt to conceal their crimes from the eyes of humanity, in fear of being exposed and brought to justice. We see this in the current genocide in Gaza, where electricity has been cut and reporters killed. Despite such efforts, Allah ﷻ bears witness to every single act of injustice that has occurred on this planet since its genesis. No injustice can be hidden from Him. Furthermore, His creation also bears witness. Nothing escapes the notice of *kirāman kātibīn*, the angels assigned to every individual to record their deeds: > **كِرَامًۭا كَـٰتِبِينَ - يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ** > > *… honorable angels, recording \[everything\]. They know whatever you do.*[^2] Not just the angels, but the very bodies of the oppressors will testify against them. The hands with which they killed, the arms with which they commanded, the legs with which they haughtily strolled—all will bear witness to their sins: > ** > ٱلْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰٓ أَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَآ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَتَشْهَدُ أَرْجُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ** > > *On this Day We will seal their mouths, their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify to what they used to commit.*[^3] The very earth that the arrogant used to walk upon and corrupt will testify against them. > ** > يَوْمَئِذٍۢ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا** > > *on that Day, the earth will recount everything*[^4] On that day of reckoning, Allah ﷻ will allow the oppressed to testify against the oppressor. Every single act of injustice they suffered in this life will be recompensed. > **لَتُؤَدُّنَّ الْحُقُوقَ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُقَادَ لِلشَّاةِ الْجَلْحَاءِ مِنْ الشَّاةِ الْقَرْنَاءِ** The Prophet ﷺ said: “You shall deliver rights to their people on the Day of Resurrection, even the hornless sheep will settle its claim with the horned sheep.”[^5] --- ## Companions of the Trench > **قُتِلَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْأُخْدُودِ** > > *Cursed were the companions of the trench (85:4)* Allah ﷻ curses a group of people referred to as “the companions of the trench*.*” These are a people who committed a genocide against a group of believers. In *Sahih Muslim*, we find a famous tradition which relates such a story, though it’s important to note we do not know with absolute certainty if it is the historical incident to which this *surah* refers. Indeed, some scholars have mentioned that genocide against the believers has happened multiple times throughout  history.[^6] In any case, the story in *Sahih Muslim* fits the *surah* well and has been reported by numerous exegetes. Its lessons are many, and so a brief summary is in order. There once was a king who wished to replace his aging court magician with a young boy. This young boy, even as he became an apprentice of the court magician, also came under the tutelage of a wise monk.  The young boy eventually  understood that the religion of the monk was the truth while the religion of the magician and king was false. The boy began to cure the blind and the sick, calling people to Allah ﷻ. When the king discovered that his former magician-in-training was calling people to worship Allah ﷻ instead of himself, he ordered him killed. Though the king successfully killed the monk who had taught the boy about Allah, he could not kill the boy himself. Every time he and his soldiers tried, the boy miraculously survived. Eventually the boy told the king how to kill him: by public execution. The king did as the boy instructed and secured the result he wanted: the boy was dead! Yet the public execution backfired. Rather than frighten the masses, the execution only persuaded them of the truth of the boy’s preaching. More people than ever converted to monotheism. The king, as tyrannical as ever, decided to massacre all the people who had converted. So he built trenches and began burning the believers alive en masse. The people had the choice of either recanting their faith or being burned alive. They chose to die rather than leave the truth. In this situation, a mother and her young child were about to be thrown into the pit of fire, the mother hesitated, but then her child, an infant, miraculously spoke. The child consoled her by saying: > > يَا أُمَّهِ اصْبِرِي فَإِنَّكِ عَلَى الْحَقِّ[^7] > > *O mother, be patient for you are following the truth.* This wrenching tale of tyranny and faith speaks directly to the current situation in Gaza. Just like the king, the Zionist regime established itself on the basis of falsehood; and just like the king, the regime could only respond to any threat to its false ideology with wanton slaughter. Yet when the king did kill the boy, he did not kill his cause. On the contrary, the truthfulness of the boy’s message and the falsehood of the king’s ideology became manifest to the masses. Today, the massacres conducted by the Zionist state against the Palestinians have exposed the hypocrisy of the regime and its supporters. Despite all the propaganda, the ugly face of settler colonialism and the violent truth of Zionism have been unveiled to the world. At the same time, the faith and resilience of the Palestinians in the face of extreme oppression has inspired millions of people globally. We see another parallel between the Burūj and Palestine in their respective youth. It was a boy who exposed the kingdom through his faith, and it was an infant child, facing a pit of flesh-burning flame, who encouraged his mother to be patient. Half the population of Gaza, more than a million, are children, and their unshakeable faith has taught the world what faith, courage, and patience really look like. > **نَّارِ ذَاتِ ٱلْوَقُودِ**  > > *\[Containing\] the fire full of fuel, (85:5)* > > **إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌۭ**  > > *When they were sitting near it. (85:6)* > > **وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌۭ**  > > *And they, to what they were doing against the believers, were witnesses. (85:7)* Not only did this ruler and his army massacre the believers, they sat on the sidelines watching them burn to death.[^8] While such a despicable act may seem inconceivable, our own times have shown how depraved oppressors can become towards those whom they oppress. The Israeli Defense Force has several Telegram groups publicizing and mocking the killing and humiliation of Palestinians, as though these atrocities were a form of entertainment.[^9] Nor is this the first time that Israelis have indulged in such casual dehumanization of their victims; during the 2014 bombing of Gaza, some Israeli civilians literally brought their couches to the hillsides to cheer on the destruction of Gaza from afar.[^10] As the Israelis watched their state slaughter the defenseless and the innocent, we watched what could only be described as a modern incarnation of the people of the trench. Even in 2014, those condemned in *Sūrat al-Burūj* were alive and well*.* > **وَمَا نَقَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ**  > > *And they resented them not except because they believed in Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy (85:8)* Oppressors always justify their oppression by dehumanizing those whom they oppress even as they proclaim their own greatness. Every corrupt empire, kingdom, and government has stupidly deluded themselves into believing that their rule is uniquely powerful, great, and civilized. Every time, Allah ﷻ humiliates them and relegates them to the dustbin of history. Temporal power intoxicates and impresses, but it is worth less than a blade of grass in the face of the cosmic power that belongs to Allah ﷻ alone. He is al-ʿAzīz (the Exalted in Might) and  al-Ḥamīd (the Praiseworthy). > **ٱلَّذِى لَهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ شَهِيدٌ**  > > *To whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And Allah, over all things, is Witness. (85:9)* No matter the lands and lives which colonizers and imperialists try to steal and control, the reality is that all that is in the heavens and the earth belongs only to Allah ﷻ. The punishment for those who usurp land has been mentioned in a hadith: > **مَنْ اِقْتَطَعَ شِبْرًا مِنْ اَلْأَرْضِ ظُلْماً طَوَّقَهُ اَللَّهُ إِيَّاهُ يَوْمَ اَلْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ سَبْعِ أَرَضِينَ** > > Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said: “If anyone takes a span of land unjustly, on the Day of Resurrection Allah will strangle him with it from seven earths.”[^11] Come the Day of Judgment, those who stole land, deluded by their false sense of power, will learn that only Allah ﷻ is the true King and Owner of all that exists. As expressed in *Sūrat Ghāfir*: > **يَوْمَ هُم بَـٰرِزُونَ ۖ لَا يَخْفَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مِنْهُمْ شَىْءٌۭ ۚ لِّمَنِ ٱلْمُلْكُ ٱلْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ ٱلْوَٰحِدِ ٱلْقَهَّارِ** > > *The Day all will appear \[before Allah\]. Nothing about them will be hidden from Him. \[He will ask\], “To whom does all authority belong this Day? To Allah—the One, the Supreme!*”**[^12] Further explained in a hadith: > > عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ ‏ ”يَقْبِضُ اللَّهُ الأَرْضَ، وَيَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ بِيَمِينِهِ، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَنَا الْمَلِكُ أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الأَرْضِ.“[^13] > > The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah will take the whole earth and will roll up the Heaven in His right Hand, and then He will say, ‘I am King! Where are the kings of the earth?’”[^14] When people understand the above reality, they will never submit to oppression and always resist those who seek to oppress them. We can see this in the 75 years of resilience of the Palestinian people against settler colonialism. As the Muslim poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal wrote: Beware, a hundred times beware, of the law of the Prophet… It is a message of death for every kind of slavery… Can there ever be a greater revolution Of thought and action (than this?) This earth belongs to Allah and Not to the monarchs.[^15] --- ## Making sense of trials > إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا۟ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا۟ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ ٱلْحَرِيقِ > > *Indeed, those who have tortured the believing men and believing women and then have not repented will have the punishment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire. (85:10)* The word *fitna* has been translated as tortured or persecuted, but can also be literally translated as burnt.[^16] One of the linguistic root meanings of *fitna* is to burn gold and silver in order to purify it.[^17] From this meaning we can understand that the trials and tribulations endured by believers are a form of spiritual purification that allows them to increase their ranks in the next life. Furthermore, even as the verse (*ā**yah*) threatens criminals and oppressors with the worst punishment, it simultaneously reveals Allah’s profound mercy. Allah ﷻ does not threaten to punish “those who have tortured the believing men and women”; he threatens to punish those who have tortured the believers and *“then have not repented*.” In other words, even after the commitment of such monstrous crimes, these criminals are given an opportunity to redeem themselves. It is only if they refuse that opportunity that they will be punished. As commented by early Muslim  ascetic and exegete, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728): “Look at this generosity and magnanimity, they killed Allah’s friends, yet He is calling them to repentance and seeking forgiveness.”[^18] Even oppressors can hope for salvation if they leave their oppression, submit to Allah ﷻ, and seek His forgiveness. We have many examples of this at the time of the Prophet ﷺ. People like Abū Sufyūn b. Ḥarb (d. 32/ 653), Hind bt. ʿUtba (d. 13/636), Waḥshī b. Ḥarb (d. 39/660) and many others were enemies to the Muslims and even fought and killed some of them; however, they eventually became Muslim and transformed from being enemies of Islam to dedicating their lives to defend and spread the religion. Despite Allah’s vast mercy, the people who persecuted the believers in *Sūrat al-Burūj* did not repent from their horrific crimes. Their arrogance and lack of remorse drove them to burn the believers alive. In the next life, they will burn in a fire far worse than the fire they used to persecute innocent believers. The Prophet ﷺ said: > **نَارُكُمْ هَذِهِ الَّتِي يُوقِدُ ابْنُ آدَمَ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنْ حَرِّ جَهَنَّمَ** > > **قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَكَافِيَةً يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ فَإِنَّهَا فُضِّلَتْ عَلَيْهَا بِتِسْعَةٍ وَسِتِّينَ جُزْءًا كُلُّهَا مِثْلُ حَرِّهَا** > > “The fire which sons of Adam burn is only one-seventieth part of the Fire of Hell. His Companions said: By Allah, even ordinary fire would have been enough (to burn people). Thereupon he said: "There are sixty-nine parts in excess of (the heat of) fire in this world each of them being equivalent to their heat.”[^19] > إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٌۭ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْكَبِيرُ > > *Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment. (85:11)* It is important to understand that the suffering endured by believers in this life is not a sign of failure. The righteous will attain paradise in the next life, and their status will be elevated in accordance with whatever they suffered in this life. No matter the pain we feel at their unjust murder, the martyrs of the Gaza genocide and the martyrs throughout the ages are in a far better place in the next life. > **وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَمْوَٰتًۢا ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَآءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ** > > **فَرِحِينَ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُوا۟ بِهِم مِّنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ** > > **۞ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِنِعْمَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍۢ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ** > > *Never think of those martyred in the cause of Allah as dead. In fact, they are alive with their Lord, well provided for—rejoicing in Allah’s bounties and being delighted for those yet to join them. There will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. They are joyful for receiving Allah’s grace and bounty, and Allah does not deny the reward of the believers.*[^20] --- ## The ultimate retribution > ** > إِنَّ بَطْشَ رَبِّكَ لَشَدِيدٌ** > > *Indeed, the assault \[i.e., vengeance (*baṭsh*)\] of your Lord is severe. (85:12)* The word *baṭsh* can be translated as assault but contains the meaning of a severe grip.[^21] When Allah ﷻ decides to seize the oppressors and wrongdoers, they will have no way to escape. Whoever declares war on the believing men, women, and innocent children, Allah ﷻ has declared war on them. As is mentioned in a Ḥadīth Qudsī, or a hadith of divine content but prophetic wording: > **مَنْ عَادَى لِي وَلِيًّا فَقْد آذَنْتهُ بِالْحَرْبِ** > > Whosoever shows enmity to a friend (*walī*) of Mine, then I have declared war against him.[^22] > **إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ يُبْدِئُ وَيُعِيدُ** > > *Indeed, it is He who originates \[creation\] and repeats. (85:13)* Allah ﷻ creates and repeats. We observe the cycle of life and death throughout our lives. We see how with the passing of the seasons, grass grows, dies, and returns, over and over. Similarly, we see how nations rise and fall, always replaced by yet another nation that rises and falls, and so on. Creation itself will go through the same cycle; one day it will all end, and then Allah ﷻ will create everything anew for the Day of Judgment. > **وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلْوَدُودُ** > > *And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate. (85:14)* Whatever the believer suffers in this life, we should understand that their suffering is not without spiritual benefits that they will receive in this life and the next. One of the benefits of suffering in this life is that whatever hardship a believer suffers will be a means of expiating their sins. The believer will receive the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ for whatever hardship they face. >  مَا يُصِيبُ الْمُسْلِمَ مِنْ نَصَبٍ وَلاَ وَصَبٍ وَلاَ هَمٍّ وَلاَ حُزْنٍ وَلاَ أَذًى وَلاَ غَمٍّ حَتَّى الشَّوْكَةِ يُشَاكُهَا، إِلاَّ كَفَّرَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ خَطَايَاهُ > > The Prophet ﷺ said, “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.”[^23] Also, as noted earlier, even oppressors if they repent by stopping their oppression, submitting to Allah ﷻ, and seeking forgiveness can have hope for forgiveness. However, if they continue in their oppression and rejection of truth then they are deserving of Hell, since Allah ﷻ, who is the Most Forgiving, gave them countless opportunities to turn away from sin. The other name of Allah ﷻ mentioned in this *āyah*, The Most Loving (*al-Wadūd*), appears only twice in the Qur’an, one of which is in this *sūrah* about genocide. This is a reminder to us that the suffering of the believer is not a sign of Allah’s displeasure. In fact, it is the precise opposite: those most beloved to Allah are tested the most. > **مَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُصِبْ مِنْهُ** > > The Prophet ﷺ said, “If Allah wants to do good for someone, He afflicts him with trials.”[^24] > **عن سعد بن أبي وقاص قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَيُّ النَّاسِ أَشَدُّ بَلَاءً قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ ثُمَّ الْأَمْثَلُ فَالْأَمْثَلُ فَيُبْتَلَى الرَّجُلُ عَلَى حَسَبِ دِينِهِ فَإِنْ كَانَ دِينُهُ صُلْبًا اشْتَدَّ بَلَاؤُهُ وَإِنْ كَانَ فِي دِينِهِ رِقَّةٌ ابْتُلِيَ عَلَى حَسَبِ دِينِهِ فَمَا يَبْرَحُ الْبَلَاءُ بِالْعَبْدِ حَتَّى يَتْرُكَهُ يَمْشِي عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مَا عَلَيْهِ خَطِيئَةٌ** > > Sa’d b. Abī Waqqāṣ (rA) reported: I said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the most afflicted of all people? He replied: The prophets, then the righteous people, then those who are nearest to them in perfection and those who are nearest to them. Man is tested according to this piety; if he is strong in religion, his test is increased, and if he is weak in religion, his test is reduced. A believer will be tested until he walks on the earth sinless (his sins having been erased by the series of afflictions that he has endured).[^25] Thus we should rest assured that our brothers and sisters suffering in Palestine and Gaza, and oppressed believers worldwide, have a special status in the sight of Allah ﷻ. > **ذُو ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْمَجِيدُ**   > > *Honorable Owner of the Throne (85:15)* Empires take immense pride in their armies and military strength, yet they are nothing before the power of Allah ﷻ. His throne alone dwarves the entirety of the universe. >  **أُذِنَ لِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَ عَنْ مَلَكٍ مِنْ مَلاَئِكَةِ اللَّهِ مِنْ حَمَلَةِ الْعَرْشِ إِنَّ مَا بَيْنَ شَحْمَةِ أُذُنِهِ إِلَى عَاتِقِهِ مَسِيرَةُ سَبْعِمِائَةِ عَامٍ** > > The Prophet ﷺ said: I have been permitted to tell about one of Allah’s angels who bears the throne that the distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is a journey of seven hundred years.[^26] When one reflects on how great and powerful Allah ﷻ is, then one truly understands the insignificance and weakness of worldly empires and rulers. The weak and oppressed are consoled in knowing that Allah ﷻ, the only true King, is with them. > ** > فَعَّالٌۭ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ** > > *Doer of whatever He wills. (85:16)* When Allah ﷻ wants to do something, nothing can stop Him. Many times history has borne witness to how mighty empires and nations were brought to their knees by means they could not even conceive. We even saw a modern example of this during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the modern world, so proud of its power and technology, was upended  by a microscopic entity. All the world’s armies and weapons were helpless before a virus that couldn’t even be seen by the naked eye. --- ## Past oppressors > ** > هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْجُنُودِ** > > *Has there reached you the story of the soldiers* > > **فِرْعَوْنَ وَثَمُودَ** > > *\[Those of\] Pharaoh and Thamud? (85:17–18)* The Pharaoh, with all his might and strength, was not destroyed by another army; he was destroyed by the element most fundamental to life: water. The people of Thamud were destroyed by a blast, an earthquake, and a thunderbolt.[^27] Abraha, the Yemeni ruler who wanted to destroy the Kaaba (Kaʿba), was not beaten back by any army; he and his army of elephants were destroyed by birds pelting small stones. These are just some examples of how Allah ﷻ has soldiers that we are not even aware of that will implement His will when He wishes. As the Qur'an tells us: > ** > وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ** > > *…And none knows the forces of your Lord except He.*[^28] > > **بَلِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فِى تَكْذِيبٍۢ** > > *Yet the disbelievers \[still\] persist in denial. (85:19)* > > Despite the signs in history and around them, there are disbelievers that persist in their rejection of the truth and in their oppression. > > **وَٱللَّهُ مِن وَرَآئِهِم مُّحِيطٌۢ** > > *But Allah encompasses them from all sides. (85:20)* The persistence of the disbelievers will not go unchecked. Allah ﷻ will encompass them, and they will have no place to escape. When an army wants to destroy their enemy, they surround them so their enemy cannot escape; however, when Allah ﷻ encompasses those who disbelieve and cause corruption on earth, there can be no escape. --- ## Eternal message > **بَلْ هُوَ قُرْءَانٌۭ مَّجِيدٌۭ** > > *But this is an honored Qur’an (85:21)* > > **فِى لَوْحٍۢ مَّحْفُوظٍۭ** > > *\[recorded\] in a Preserved Tablet. (85:22)* The believers in the story of the trench were killed for their faith, yet Allah ﷻ immortalized their memory in the Qur’an. Their story has been preserved for generations and will be preserved for many more generations to come, their resilience a beacon of inspiration spreading Islam in every age. In a similar vein, oppressors have killed prophets, messengers, and the righteous, but they have never been able to kill the message. Muslims may die, but Islam never will. In our own times we have witnessed the mass killing of Palestinians, but those who will try to wipe out Palestine will never succeed. --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 16:64. [^2]: Qur’an 82:11–12. [^3]: Qur’an 36:65. [^4]: Qur’an 99:4. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.* [^6]: Ibn Abī Ḥātim, *Tafsir* *a**l-Qurʾān* *a**l**\-**ʿA**ẓī**m* (Mecca: Maktabat Nizār Muṣṭafā al-Bāz, 1997), 3413. See also Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsir Ibn Kathir*, ed. Sāmī b. Muḥmmad al-Salāma (Riyadh: Dār Ṭayba, 1999), 8:371. [^7]: *Saḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 3005, [https://sunnah.com/muslim:3005](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:3005&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162733041&usg=AOvVaw1TUxHIa9UWE4do2KuvA8MI). [^8]: Al-Ḥusayn al-Baghawī, *Tafs**ī**r* *a**l**\-**Baghaw**ī**:* *M**a**ʿ**ālim al-tanz**ī**l* (Riyadh: Dār Ṭayba, 1989), 8:387. [^9]: Nadda Osman, “Israel-Palestine War: How an Israeli Telegram Channel Is Used to Incite Violence against Palestinians,” Middle East Eye, December 14, 2023, [https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-telegram-incite-violence-psychological-warfare-palestinians](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-telegram-incite-violence-psychological-warfare-palestinians&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162733806&usg=AOvVaw2VQkmN3Tub3io9Ra3DLwmw). [^10]: Harriett Sherwood, “Israelis Gather on Hillsides to Watch and Cheer as Military Drops Bombs on Gaza,” *The Guardian*, July 20, 2014, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162734039&usg=AOvVaw0YcNvO5dIctpnSjc9gHGld). [^11]: *Sahih Muslim*, no. 1610a, [https://sunnah.com/muslim:1610a](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:1610a&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162734309&usg=AOvVaw23IRpXt20JxsH15gx1041U). [^12]: Qur’an 40:16. [^13]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7382; Muslim, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2787. [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7382](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7382&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162738409&usg=AOvVaw2jJ87PjgsimyIOuLWM_Q0k) & [https://sunnah.com/muslim:2787](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:2787&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162738482&usg=AOvVaw03m_zamSu-Tp-mIGoDpCpK) [^14]: *Ṣ**a**ḥīḥ* *al-Bukh**ā**r**ī*, no. 6519, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6519](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6519&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162734605&usg=AOvVaw29KdZw2RJuKwmP5KKx9DJk). [^15]: Muhammad Iqbal, *Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shoora: The Devil’s Advisory Council*, trans. Abdssalaam Puthige (Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press, 2017), 53. [^16]: See footnote 85:10 in the Sahih International translation. [^17]: Al-Rāghib al-Isfahānī, *Mufrad**ā**t* *a**lf**ā**ẓ* *a**l-Quran* (Damascus: Dar al-Qalam, 2009), 623. [^18]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafs**ī**r* *Ibn Kathīr*, 8:371. [^19]: *Ṣ**a**ḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2843a, [https://sunnah.com/muslim:2843a](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:2843a&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162736019&usg=AOvVaw2Ex-3d5BUOpZx4BQIe4Y1S). [^20]: Qur’an 3:169–71. [^21]: Ibn Juzay  al-Ghirnāṭī, *a**l-Tash**ī**l li**\-ʿ**ul**ū**m* *a**l**\-t**anz**ī**l* (Cairo: Dar ِalʿĀlamiyya, 2017), 1:63. [^22]: *Ṣ**a**ḥīḥ* *al-Bukhārī*, no. 6502, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari/81/91](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari/81/91&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162736888&usg=AOvVaw1ovzNuv1JRHt9-Q59zGVQL). [^23]: *Ṣa**ḥīḥ* *al-Bukh**ā**r**ī*, no. 5641, 5642, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5641](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5641&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162737173&usg=AOvVaw2wWxHfs3QQwpjyWSWgO7kW). [^24]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5645, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5645](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5645&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162737399&usg=AOvVaw3mNzJhQFq0O0R_edZINpX_). [^25]: *J**ā**mi**ʿ* *at-Tirmidh**ī*, no. 2398 [https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2398](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2398&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162737665&usg=AOvVaw218dntzUI_A0jm-DN5fhYH). [^26]: *Sunan Ab**ī* *D**ā**w**ū**d*, no. 4727, [https://sunnah.com/abudawud/42/132](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/abudawud/42/132&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1708116162738100&usg=AOvVaw3UySCBJRU4X-0KN0Keip-6). [^27]: Qur’an 54:31, 7:78, 51:44. [^28]: Qur’an 74:31. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/virtues-of-shaban-how-to-prepare-for-ramadan-spiritually # Virtues of Shaban: How to Prepare for Ramadan Spiritually | Blog **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Blog, Shaban **Published:** February 12, 2024 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 Shaban is a month that is often neglected as people look forward to the excitement of Ramadan and its long nights of worship. But the month of Shaban is a month of incredible virtue, expressly highlighted by our beloved Prophet ﷺ. It has great historical significance as it is the month in which fasting Ramadan was legislated through revelation and it is the month in which the qibla changed from Jerusalem to Mecca. Beyond its historical significance, Shaban is a month of fasting and increased focus on the Qur’an, giving it great spiritual significance. --- ## What is Shaban? A Month of Fasting The first virtue of Shaban is that it is a month of fasting. Typically, many of us forget about fasting in this month because we’re looking forward to Ramadan. ʿĀisha (rA) said as part of a larger hadith, “I never saw Allah’s Messenger ﷺ fast for an entire month except for Ramadan, and did not see him fasting in any month more than in Shaban.”[^1] ʿĀisha (rA) also said in an authentic narration, “The most beloved of months or the month in which Allah’s Messenger ﷺ loved to fast more than anything else was Shaban. Indeed, he used to join it to Ramadan”;[^2] i.e., he would not take a break from fasting between Shaban and Ramadan. From these two hadiths, we can see that the Prophet ﷺ never fasted an entire month outside of Ramadan, but the month that he fasted most after Ramadan was Shaban, to the point that it was as if he had connected the fasting of Shaban to the month of Ramadan. --- ## When is Shaban? Shaban is the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; it immediately precedes the month of Ramadan. Jurist and spiritual author, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350), beautifully mentions that the Prophet ﷺ fasted almost all of Shaban as a means of glorifying Ramadan, the same way that the most beloved of sunnahs is the sunnah before Fajr because it glorifies the most beloved of prayers, Fajr. And just like you use the sunnah as preparation for the obligatory prayer, so too is Shaban a preparation for and glorification of Ramadan. Ibn Al-Qayyim also mentions that the Prophet ﷺ was known to voluntarily fast three days of every month, but sometimes he was not able to do so. When that happened, he would fast in Shaban to make up those days before the obligatory fast of Ramadan. This was the Prophet’s habit across a range of optional acts of worship that he used to do regularly but sometimes missed, including the night prayer and optional fasting.[^3] > *Shaban Tip:* > > *If your spouse or friends have missed fasts to make up, you can support them by fasting with them, making it both a means of good deeds for you and an aid to you both.* --- ## A Neglected Month Usāma b. Zayd (RA) narrated “I asked the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Why is it that you fast more in Shaban than any other month?’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘That is a month neglected by the people between Rajab and Ramadan, and it is a month in which one’s deeds are raised to the Lord of the Worlds, so I love for my deeds to be raised while I am fasting.’”[^4] This powerful hadith gives us two layers to really unpack the gems of this month of Shaban. First and foremost, Shaban is a month most people neglect. The spiritual significance here is that the scholars suggest that the best time to compete for Allah’s pleasure are those times in which Allah is most likely to be forgotten. A person striving for excellence (*muḥsin*) will take advantage of these neglected times, and when everyone else is heedless, they will compete for Allah’s pleasure. This is one of the reasons the night prayer is so special, because worship in these times particularly shows that you truly want the pleasure of Allah. The great polymath Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) says that “This is the evidence of your insistence upon doing good.” Further evidence for this notion comes from the Companions’ love for the time between the Sunset (*Maghrib*) and Evening (*ʿIshāʾ*) prayers (or as they were commonly referred to, the ‘two *ʿIshāʾ*s). The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ used to love to give life to the time between the two *ʿIshāʾ*s by remembering Allah, citing it as an hour that most people are heedless of.[^5] Similarly, the reward for the one who remembers Allah upon entering the marketplace is so grand—the granting of a million good deeds, the removal of a million bad deeds, and an elevation of a million levels in Jannah and a palace therein[^6]—because this is the time that we are least likely to remember Allah and worship of Him is often neglected. On this notion, Ibn Rajab points out that worship done when people are generally heedless should be done as secretly as possible because these are deeds of *i**ḥ**s**ā**n* (excellence) and should therefore be done in the best manner possible. > *Shaban Tip:* > > *Seize opportunities to worship Allah in times that are often neglected. Don’t delay, make your intention and plan to fast, read the Qur’an, and increase in* dhikr*! One habit you can form in Shaban is to pray two extra* rakah*s between Maghrib and ‘Isha, a time that was beloved to our Companions. Then in Ramadan, the time between Maghrib and ‘Isha, when most people are rewarding themselves for a long day of fasting, becomes a special time to remember Allah when others are heedless.* --- ## A Month of Qur’an Just as fasting in Shaban is neglected by many, so too is reading the Qur’an in this month. Whereas we all intend to increase the amount of Qur’an we read in Ramadan, Shaban is the time that the reciters prepare themselves for the recitation of Ramadan. Shaban was known by some of the pious predecessors as the month of the reciters because of how much of the Qur’an people would read during it. Salama b. Kuhayl al-Kūfī (d. 121/739), one of the early generation of believers, known as ‘the Followers’ (*tābiʿīn*), narrates that when the month of Shaban approached, his people freed their time to recite the Qur’an. He said, “The month of Shaban \[is\] the month of reciters.” Another narration states that “When Shaban would begin, Amr ibn Qais would close his store, and devote himself to the recitation of the Qur’an.”[^7] Shaban is a month of preparation for Ramadan, a time to review the Qur’an. > *Shaban Tip:* > > *A very practical tip going into the month of Shaban is to take the goal that you have for recitation during Ramadan and do half of it in the month of Shaban. So, if you are planning to recite the whole Qur’an at least once in Ramadan, then do half of a complete reading (*khatm*) in Shaban. This will make achieving your Ramadan goal easier because you will have prepared yourself in a way that makes the task ahead familiar and thus you’re able to push yourself further.* --- ## 15th of Shaban: A Night of Forgiveness In an authentic narration, the Prophet ﷺ said “Allah looks on the night of the half of Shaban (i.e., the 15th), so He forgives the entirety of His creation except for a polytheist or a person with enmity.”[^8] A narration from ʿIkrima al-Barbarī (d. 105/723), the bondsman (*mawlā*) of ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/687), is frequently quoted in which he calls the 15th of Shaban the ‘Night of Exemption’ (*laylat al-barāʾa*), the day that we are freed from the Hellfire.[^9] The Prophet ﷺ said that Shaban is the month in which deeds are presented to Allah and the 15th is the particular night that Allah looks at those deeds and forgives all of them. Taking advantage of this night will allow us to enter Ramadan with amnesty, free from the burden of our sins with only the longing for our Creator remaining. Many great scholars have written about observing the 15th of Shaban and whilst we should fill the night with worship, there are no specific acts that have been mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ to be singled out on this night. > *Shaban Tip:* > > *The 15th of Shaban is a call to action. This is the time to really reflect deeply. Is that grudge worth missing out on this incredible reward? Do I really want my deeds to not be presented to Allah and to be amongst those people who are not forgiven by Allah on that night? Is my hatred of that person worth me sacrificing the love of Allah?* In a beautiful statement, Ibn Rajab said that fasting in Shaban “takes away the hardship of fasting and leaves only the sweetness of it for the time of Ramadan.” For most of us, the first few days of Ramadan are sluggish as we get used to kicking our old habits and changing our schedule. However, by practicing our acts of worship in Shaban we can enter Ramadan with such energy and strength that we only taste the sweetness of our worship. By optimizing our time in Shaban we can begin Ramadan reaping the fruits of our preparation. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1969; Muslim, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1156. [^2]: *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no. 2431; *Sunan al-Nasā’ī*, no. 2350. The authentication of this hadith is deemed rigorously authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by numerous scholars of hadith, among them al-Ḥākim who said that it is authentic according to the criteria of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim. See: *al-Mustadrak ʻalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn*, no. 1605. [^3]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Tahdhīb Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, ed. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-ʿUmrān et al. (Riyadh: Dār ʿAṭāʾāt al-ʿIlm, 2019), 2:154. [^4]: *Sunan al-Nasā’ī*, no. 2357; *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad*, no. 21753; graded acceptable (*ḥasan*) by al-Albānī and al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^5]: See *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no 1321. Muḥammad Shams al-Ḥaqq al-ʿAẓīm Abādī, *ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd ʿala Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, with commentary by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmā˜Muḥammad ʿUthmān (Medina: al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1968), 4:143; Muḥammad al-Shawkānī, *Nayl al-awṭār*, ed. ʿIṣām al-Dīn al-Ṣabābāṭī (Cairo, Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1993), 3:68. [^6]: Al-Tirmidhī (no. 3428) and Ibn Mājah (no. 2235) narrate on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever enters the marketplace and says ‘There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Alone, without partner, to Him belongs the dominion, and to Him is all the praise, He gives life and causes death, He is Living and does not die, in His Hand is the good, and He has power over all things (*Lā ilāha illallāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-ḥamdu, yuḥyī wa yumītu, wa huwa ḥayyun lā yamūtu, biyadihil-khairu, wa huwa \`alā kulli shay’in qadīr*)’, Allah shall record a million good deeds for him, wipe a million evil deeds away from him, and raise him a million ranks.” The scholars of hadith differ regarding the authenticity of this narration, with some of them declaring it weak (*ḍa’īf*), while others (such as al-Hakim, al-Baghawi, ad-Dhahabi, and al-Albani) have graded it acceptable (*ḥasan*). [^7]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalī, *Latāʾif al-maʿārif*, ed. Tāriq ʿAwad Allāh (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 2007), 242. [^8]: Narrated by Ibn Ḥibbān, *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 5665; al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr,* 20:108. According to Ibn Ḥibban’s authentication, the hadith is deemed rigorously authentic. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ deems it so based on corroborative narrations. Al-Amīr ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn b. Bilbān al-Fārsī, *al-Iḥsān fī taqrīb Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibān*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1998), 12:481. Al-Albānī also deemed it authentic. Abū Bakr b. Abī ʿĀṣim al-Daḥḥāk, *Kitāb al-janna*, with Naṣir al-Albānī, *Dhilāl al-janna fī takhrīj al-sunna* on the margin, ed. Naṣir al-Albānī (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1980), no. 512. [^9]: Muḥammad al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmīʿ li-aḥkām al-Qur’ān*, ed. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī and Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsh (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Maṣriyya, 1964), 16:126. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/qunut-nazilah-a-guide-to-making-dua-for-the-oppressed-in-times-of-war # Qunut Nazilah: A Guide to Making Dua for the Oppressed in Times of War | Blog **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Dua, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** January 29, 2024 **Updated:** September 3, 2026 Abū Dāwūd reported from Sahl b. Saʿd that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Supplications (*duʿā*) at two times are never (or seldomly) turned down, *duʿā* at the time of the call to prayer and *duʿā* at the time of fighting, when people are locked in battle.”[^1] In another version of the hadith reported by the same companion, “There are two times during which the gates of heaven are opened. Rarely is the *duʿā* of someone rejected at these times: when the call to prayer sounds and when standing in battle ranks for the cause of Allah.”[^2] While obligated to exert every worldly effort to achieve their objectives and advocate for their causes, Muslims also hold deep faith in the spiritual efficacy of *duʿā* and continual reliance on Allah’s support. This spiritual strength becomes especially evident during moments of conflict and fear. Integral to our belief in the unseen is the concept of the “soldiers of Allah,” a Qur’anic term that repeatedly illustrates the divine assistance provided to believers through angels or various natural phenomena. Belief and sincerity are catalysts for invoking divine support capable of achieving miracles. When the soldiers of Ṭālūt (or the biblical King Saul), who had remained after Ṭālūt tested them with the command to not drink from a river despite their thirst, faced the threat of Goliath and his overwhelming forces, Ṭālūt reminded them of Allah’s universal rule (*sunna*): “How often has a small force, with God’s permission, defeated a larger army! God is with those who are steadfast.”[^3] Ṭālūt did not convey this sentiment while relying solely on mystical feelings; instead, his reliance on Allah was grounded in careful planning and thoughtful consideration. He spoke these words after leading his army into action and testing his soldiers’ commitment and discipline. In the critical moment of confrontation, all that remained for him was *duʿā*. This pivotal moment saw both Ṭālūt and his soldiers earnestly invoking Allah’s support: “Our Lord, pour patience on us, make us stand firm, and help us against the disbelievers.” Recognizing the sincerity of Ṭālūt’s small army after enduring numerous challenges, Allah granted them victory. Notably, the Qur’an emphasizes that this triumph occurred solely “with God’s permission.” After recounting this story, Allah reminds us of another universal *sunna*: “If God did not drive some back by means of others, the earth would be completely corrupt, but God is gracious to all.”[^4] The *sunna* of Allah endures throughout history. Centuries later, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions found themselves in a comparable predicament during the Battle of Badr—slightly over 300, inadequately armed, confronting an army of 1000. Despite the Prophet’s demanding responsibility of leading the army and overseeing the battle, numerous reports highlight his fervent *duʿā* during the conflict. Witnesses recount seeing him face the direction to prayer (*qibla*), hands outstretched, draped in his upper and lower garments, imploring: > O Allah, accomplish for me what You have promised to me. O Allah, fulfill what You have promised! O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is vanquished, Your worship will cease on earth.[^5] The Prophet fervently beseeched Allah, persisting in *duʿā* until his upper garment slipped from his shoulders. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be well-pleased with him, approached him, retrieved the garment, and placed it back on him. Embracing him from behind, Abū Bakr reassured him: “O Prophet of Allah, your prayer to your Lord will suffice, for He will fulfill what He has promised you.” It was then that Allah revealed the words: “When you implored your Lord for assistance, He answered, ‘I will reinforce you with a thousand angels in succession.' God made this a message of hope to reassure your hearts: help comes only from God, He is Almighty and All-Wise.”[^6] In al-Bukhārī’s version of the above incident, the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, > O Allah! I ask you for the fulfillment of Your covenant and promise. O Allah! If You will (to destroy the believers), You will never be worshiped after today.[^7] Abū Bakr caught him by the hand and said, “This is sufficient, O Messenger of Allah! You have asked Allah intensely.” The Prophet ﷺ was clad in his armor at that time. He went out, saying: “Their forces will be routed and they will turn tail and flee. But the Hour is their appointed time—the Hour is more severe and bitter.”[^8] The Prophet was also heard saying, > O Allah, this is Quraysh, who have come with their arrogance and pride, opposing and denying Your Messenger. O Allah, grant me the victory You promised. O Allah, make them perish this morning*.*[^9] Expressing concern for his companions, he was also heard saying, “O Allah, they are on foot, provide mount for them; O Allah, they are naked, clothe them; O Allah, they are hungry, provide food for them.”[^10] Furthermore, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be well-pleased with him, said, > On the day of Badr, I engaged in some fighting, then I hurried to see how the Messenger of Allah was doing. I found him in prostration, saying, “O Ever-Living, O Sustainer!” (*yā Ḥayy yā Qayyūm*) repeating these words and not saying more. I returned to the battle, then came back, and he was still in prostration, saying the same words. I went back to fight, then returned, and he was still saying that. Then Allah granted him victory.[^11] Scholars have extensively pondered the reactions of the Prophet and Abū Bakr during this critical moment. Some have emphasized the Prophet’s embodiment of fear (*khawf*) at that juncture, while Abū Bakr exemplified a state of hope (*rajāʾ*). Both approaches are commendable, yet it is essential to clarify that Abū Bakr’s response does not imply greater confidence in Allah’s promise than the Prophet’s. The Prophet, deeply concerned about his companions, particularly as they faced their first significant physical encounter with enemies, also harbored worries about the future of the entire ummah. This concern is palpable in his supplication: “If You will (to destroy the believers), You will never be worshiped after today.” Furthermore, the Prophet engaged in extensive *duʿā*, not only expressing his concerns but also intending to instill confidence in his companions. Their witnessing of the Prophet’s fervent supplication likely contributed to their reassurance, knowing that his *duʿā* holds significant weight with Allah. Additionally, Abū Bakr’s reaction can be seen as a response to the Prophet’s visible exhaustion, reflecting his understanding of the Prophet’s deep concern. A related report highlights that the Prophet spent the entire night before the battle engaged in fervent supplication, underscoring the gravity of the moment.[^12] Simultaneously, the Prophet was renowned for his profound courage. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA) recounted how they used to seek shelter by drawing close to the Prophet during the Battle of Badr, as he positioned himself closest to the enemy. On that day, the Prophet stood out as “one of the most formidable individuals.”[^13] The harmonious equilibrium of exerting effort while relying on Allah is eloquently depicted by Abū al-Qāsim al-Suhaylī (d. 581/1185), > As for the Prophet's intense dedication and his fervor in supplication, he witnessed the angels being steadfast in battle, with Gabriel (Jibrīl) covered in dust on his sides. The ‘allies of Allah’ (*anṣār Allah*) engaged fearlessly in the face of death. Jihad takes two forms: the physical jihad with the sword and the spiritual jihad through supplication. It is a *sunna* for the Leader (imam) to be positioned behind the army, not engaging in combat with them. Everyone exerted themselves in dedication, with no one seeking respite from the fervor of the two struggles and jihads. The allies of Allah and His angels were engaged in intense effort, without giving preference to rest. The party of Allah, alongside their adversaries, remained steadfast.[^14] Furthermore, hadith compilers dedicated chapters to reports recounting *duʿā* against enemies to be defeated and shaken. During the Battle of the Confederates (*aḥzāb*), when several Arab tribes besieged Medina with the aim of uprooting the entire Muslim community, the Prophet prayed, “O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Swift to account, defeat the Confederates. O Allah, defeat them and shake them.”[^15] In the face of numerical inferiority against the Confederates and amidst betrayal from neighboring tribes, the Prophet and his companions were bestowed a significant triumph by Allah, achieved without resorting to full-scale combat. Nonetheless, it was still called a “battle” to commemorate Allah’s soldiers, including the angels, the wind, and preceding them, the sincerity, hard work, and *duʿā* of the believers. --- ## The Legislation of the Duʿā of Calamities in Prayer (Qunūt al-Nawāzil) In 4/625, a few months after the martyrdom of 70 companions in the battle of Uḥud, about 80 other companions who were known as the *qurrāʾ* (master Qur’an memorizers and reciters) were deceitfully martyred in the two expeditions of al-Rajīʿ (a well eight miles away from Asfan) and Biʾr Maʿūna (a well in Hijaz whose exact location is not well-identified). These 80 companions were sent by the Prophet upon the request of some non-Muslim tribes to teach their people the Qur’an and the basics of Islam. Al-Rajīʿ is the tragic story of a cunning plot by the ʿAḍal and Qārra tribes, who killed eight of the Prophet’s ten envoys and handed the other two to Quraysh who killed them in continuation of their revenge campaign against the Muslims. Before receiving the news about al-Rajīʿ’s group, the Prophet sent 70 companions to the Arab leader Mālik b. ʿĀmir, who had requested a group of *qurrāʾ* to teach his people. Mālik rejected the Prophet’s invitation to become Muslim but showed interest in learning more about Islam alongside his people. Despite the Prophet’s reluctance to dispatch his companions in such large numbers to the region of Najd, which at the time hosted many of his enemies, he honored the protection (*jiwār*) promised by Mālik. Dishonorably, Mālik’s nephew, ʿĀmir b. al-Ṭufayl, called upon some of his allies to kill the entire group while it was camped around the well of Maʿūna. Sixty-nine of them were killed; only one injured survivor was able to make it back to Medina, where he died a couple of years later.[^16] Many supernatural wonders (*karāmāt*) that these companions experienced before and after death are widely documented in prophetic biography (*sīra*) literature. The passing of these companions grievously saddened the Prophet. Anas, may Allah be well-pleased with him, said, > Never did I see the Messenger of Allah in so much grief \[at the loss of a\] small army as I saw him in grief for those 70 men who were called *qurrāʾ* (and were killed) at the well of Maʿūna; and he invoked curses for a full month upon their murderers.[^17] The Prophet made *duʿā* against certain individuals who plotted the tragedy of the well Maʿūna by name. He made *duʿā* against ʿĀmr ibn al-Ṭufayl, who had threatened the Prophet himself, for thirty days, saying, “O Allah, protect me from ʿĀmr ibn al-Ṭufayl as You will, and send upon him a punishment that will destroy him.” In another version, the Prophet said, “O Allah, protect me from ʿĀmr ibn al-Ṭufayl and guide his people.” Allah then inflicted upon ʿĀmr a plague that led to his demise.[^18] Numerous other hadiths record the Prophet’s sorrow and his supplications against those and other tribes. His companion Khufāf b. Īmāʾ narrated, > The Prophet of Allah bowed down (performed *rukūʿ*) and, upon raising his head, said: “\[The tribe of\] Ghifār, Allah has forgiven them. \[The tribe of\] Aslam, Allah has granted them safety. \[The tribe of\] ʿUsayya, has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. O Allah, invoke your curse upon the tribes of Liḥyān, Riʿl, and Dhakwan.” Then, he prostrated.[^19] The Prophet’s invocation continued for a month, as narrated by Anas: “The Prophet performed the supplication of *qunūt* (lit. devotion) for one month after rising from the *rukūʿ* position, invoking curse on some Arab tribes. Afterwards, he stopped.”[^20] The Prophet also performed *qunūt* in response to other calamities. When Quraysh obstructed a group of companions from migrating to Medina, subjecting them to restraint and torture, the Prophet was deeply affected by their predicament. Faced with the inability to personally intervene and rectify their plight, he turned to Allah, invoking their names and fervently praying for their release while supplicating for divine retribution upon Quraysh. Abū Hurayra narrated, > When the Prophet raised his head from the final *rakʿah* of the *Fajr* prayer, he said: “O Allah, protect al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd, Salama ibn Hishām, ʿAyyāsh b. Abī Rabīʿa, and those oppressed in Mecca. O Allah, intensify Your grip on \[the tribe of\] Muḍar, and show them years similar to the years of \[Prophet\] Joseph (Yūsuf).”[^21] The Prophet’s *qunūt*, which reflected his deep grief over his companions, was not due to a lack of contentment with their passing. Rather, as Shāfiʿī jurist and legal theory (*uṣūl*) specialist, al-Isnawī (d. 772/1370) points out, the Prophet’s motive to make *qunūt* was to “avert the rebellion of \[those\] killers and offset  the calamity of the Muslims by seeking successors for them as they were \[a group of\] brave *qurrāʾ*.”[^22] Moreover, scholars maintained that the practice of *qunūt al-nawāzil*, or the supplicatory prayer during ‘momentous events’ like calamities and war, does not contradict the praiseworthy individual pursuit of martyrdom (*shahāda*), as *qunūt* generally encompasses seeking Allah’s support to alleviate calamity and resist oppression. It is important to note that as the Prophet earnestly prayed against Quraysh and others in certain instances, he also supplicated for them in different situations, tailoring his prayers to the circumstances. Hadith supreme master, Imam al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870), who dedicated a chapter to “The Supplication against the Polytheists for Shaking and Destruction,” also dedicated a chapter to “The Supplication for the Polytheists with a Request for Guidance to Reconcile their Hearts.” A later erudite hadith master, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449), remarked on al-Bukhārī’s systematic approach to this issue, seeing it as a reflection of the latter’s careful attention to the Prophet’s practices. Ibn Ḥajar further noted that the Prophet would pray against his enemies when their severity and harm intensified and pray for them when there was hope for understanding and reconciliation with them.[^23] --- ## How to Practice Qunūt al-Nawāzil Having underscored the power of *duʾā* through numerous incidents in the Prophetic tradition and Qur’anic narratives, with a special emphasis on the significance of *qunūt* during times of adversity, we now turn to explain the details of how to perform *qunūt al-nawāzil*, and some of the legal differences therein. *Qunūt*, in the Arabic language, refers to several meanings including praise, *duʿā* (either for or against someone or something), obedience, and humility. In the Islamic legal tradition, it has acquired the specific meaning of an invocation (*dhikr*), encompassing both praising Allah and making *duʾā* to Him during prayer. Subject to juristic differences of opinion regarding its legality, when to perform during prayer, and the performative style, *qunūt* is recommended or allowed to be performed in Dawn (*f**ajr*) and ‘Odd Number’ (*w**itr*) prayers, as well as in some or all prayers during times of calamities affecting Muslims. Upon examining all hadiths related to *qunūt*, jurists have held varied opinions on the specific details of *qunūt al-nawāzil*. While the formal stance of the Mālikī school does not consider it a *sunna*, the Ḥanafī, Shāfiʾī and Ḥanbalī schools allow or recommend it, differing in identifying the prayers in which it can be performed. Jurists also diverged on whether *qunūt* should be recited aloud or to oneself, and on whether it should be performed before bowing (*rukūʿ*) or after rising from it. Since the Shāfīʿī school is considered the most permissive in this regard, their rulings on *qunūt al-nawāzil* can be summarized as follows. According to the Shāfiʿī school, *qunūt al-nawāzil* is recommended in all obligatory prayers. Eminent scholar and Shāfiʿī jurists, Imam al-Nawawī (d. 766/1277) asserted, “When a calamity such as an enemy attack, drought, epidemic, thirst, evident harm, or something similar afflicts the Muslims, they \[are recommended to\] perform *qunūt* in all obligatory prayers.”[^24] This also includes the Friday prayer. Moreover, with the exception of funeral prayer, where *qunūt al-nawāzil* is deemed reprehensible (*makrūh*), it is allowed but not recommended during the supererogatory (*sunna*) prayers. Shāfiʿī jurists did not limit the definition of a ‘calamity’ eligible for the recommendation of *qunūt al-nawāzil* to one that befalls all or a large group of Muslims. Instead, they held that *qunūt al-nawāzil* is considered a *sunnah* even if the calamity has befallen a single Muslim, provided that the individual holds benefit beyond themselves extending to the whole community, such as a scholar or a courageous person upon whom the community relies. Additionally, *qunūt al-nawāzil* is not exclusively recommended for those directly affected by it; Muslims worldwide should engage in it to express their shared concern and endeavor to fulfill their communal obligations towards one another. Furthermore, *qunūt al-nawāzil* can be practiced in response to a potential threat from an enemy, even if they are Muslims. No authorization from the authorities is necessary for the validity of practicing this *sunna*. According to the Shāfiʿī school, *qunūt* is to be performed after rising from *rukūʿ* and can be undertaken in congregation or individually. While specific supplications are recommended for other types of *qunūt*, there is no particular one reported for *qunūt al-nawāzil*. Following the aforementioned prophetic practice, it is advised to generally implore Allah for the alleviation of calamities, His support for the oppressed, and His retribution against oppressors. If practiced in congregation, the *duʿā* should be of a reasonable length, taking into consideration those who may not endure standing for an extended period. If an entire congregation agrees on a specific duration, it is acceptable to prolong the *duʿā*. As in all forms of *duʿā*, the positioning of hands during *qunūt* depends on the particular objectives of the prayer, mirroring the spiritual disposition of the one beseeching Allah. When seeking relief from a calamity, it is recommended to turn the back of the hands towards the heavens. When seeking the attainment of something, it is recommended to raise the palms towards the heavens, such as beseeching the removal of the calamity for the remaining span of one’s life. Considering the distress induced by the calamity, it is recommended to recite the *duʿā* audibly in all circumstances (whether an individual is praying alone or in a congregation, and whether the prayer incorporating *qunūt* is an audible or inaudible prayer). The congregational observance of *qunūt al-nawāzil* reflects a communal commitment to self-care and shared causes, embodying the prophetic ideal of the Muslim community described as, “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion, and sympathy are like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.”[^25] Although prostration (*sujūd*) is deemed more suitable for *duʿā*, being the closest state between an individual and Allah as stated by the Prophet, the practice of *qunūt* is associated with *rukūʿ*. According to Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, this is likely because *qunūt* is viewed as a communal practice, involving the entire congregation. Even if the followers in a lead congregational prayer (sing. *maʾmūm*) merely say “*āmīn*” to the imam’s *duʿā*, the collective act of prayer, in congregation, with a diverse group of Muslims uniting in submission and sincerity to Allah while seeking His help, enhances the likelihood of the *duʿā* being accepted. Muslims today continue the practice of *qunūt al-nawāzil*, collectively turning to Allah, thereby demonstrating their concern for one another and fulfilling their duty to support oppressed Muslims worldwide, at the very least by remembering them in their *duʿā*. --- ## Some Examples of Duʿā in Qunūt al-Nawāzil: اللهم إنا نستعينك ونستهديك، ونستغفرك ونتوب إليك، ونؤمن بك ونتوكل عليك، ونثني عليك الخير كله، نشكرك ولا نكفرك، ونخلع ونترك من يفجرك. O Allah, we seek Your assistance and guidance. We ask for Your forgiveness and sincerely repent to You. We firmly believe in You and place our trust entirely in You. We praise You for all the goodness that is inherent to You. We express our gratitude and strive not to be ungrateful for Your blessings. We forsake and distance ourselves from those who reject You. اللهم إياكَ نعبد، ولك نصلي ونسجد، وإليك نسعى ونحفد، نرجو رحمتك ونخشى عذابك، إن عذابك الجد بالكفار ملحق. O Allah, You alone do we worship, and to You we pray and prostrate. We dedicate our efforts to You, striving in Your worship. We earnestly hope for Your mercy while being fearful of Your punishment, Certainly Your punishment befalls the disbelievers. اللهم احفظنا، وارحمنا، وانصرنا، وفرج كربنا وكرب المسلمين، اللهم اكفنا والمسلمين شر مصائب الدنيا والدين، أصلحنا وأصلح من في صلاحه صلاح المسلمين، لا تهلكنا، وأهلك من في هلاكه صلاح المسلمين. اللهم اسقنا الرحمة واللطف والعافية والبركة ولا تجعلنا من المحرومين. O Allah, protect us, show us mercy, grant us victory, alleviate our distress, and the distress of all Muslims. Shield us and all Muslims from the evils of the calamities in this worldly and religious affairs. Guide us to rectitude, and guide those whose rectification brings goodness to Muslims. Spare us from destruction, and let those whose removal brings benefit to the Muslims face it. O Allah, shower us with Your mercy, gentleness, well-being, and blessings, and do not deprive us of Your favors. اللهم اصرف عنا وعن المسلمين الأذى والمحن والجور والظلم وكل البلايا والأمراض والفتن والضلال والجهل ما ظهر منها وما بطن. اللهم أنجِ المستضعفين والمكروبين والمظلومين من المسلمين، واكلأهم واحفظهم وأمدهم وتولهم واهدهم ووفقهم لما تحبه وترضاه. O Allah, lift and turn away from us and from the Muslims harm, calamities, oppression, injustice, and all kinds of afflictions, diseases, deviations, misguidance, and ignorance, whether apparent or hidden. O Allah, save the weak, the distressed, and the oppressed among the Muslims. Provide for them, protect them, support them, care for them, guide them, and grant them success in what You love and are pleased with. اللهم الطف بنا وبهم فيما يجري به القضاء، واصرف عنا وعنهم شر الطغاة والظلمة والفاسدين ومن عاونهم عاجلا غير آجل في عافية وسلامة يا أرحم الراحمين. O Allah, Grant us and them success in what is ordained, and divert from us and them the evil of tyrants, oppressors, corruptors, and those who aid and abet them. O Allah, act quickly, without delay, in well-being and safety through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no. 2540. [^2]: Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī, *a**l-Adab al-**m**ufrad*, no. 661. [^3]: Qur’an 2:249. [^4]: Qur’an 2:249–51. The concept is illustrated in historical events such as Ṭālūt assisting the Children of Israel, highlighting the need for checks and balances between nations to maintain justice and prevent widespread decay. This underscores the importance of one group counterbalancing another for societal well-being. [^5]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1724. [^6]: Qur’an 8:9–10; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1724. [^7]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2915. [^8]: Qur’an 54:45–46; *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2915. [^9]: ʿAbd al-Malik Ibn Hishām, *al-Sīra al-nabawiyya*, ed. Muṣṭafā al-Saqqā et al., 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 2:273; Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Tārīkh al-rusul wal-mulūk*, ed. Muḥammad Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm, 2nd ed., 11 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1967), 2:440–41. [^10]: *Sunan* *Abū Dāwūd*, no. 2747; al-Ḥākim al-Naysabūrī, *al-Mustadrak*, no. 2633, who graded it as authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. [^11]: Aḥmad b. ʿAmr al-Bazzār, *Musnad al-Bazzār*, no. 662. [^12]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 825. [^13]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 656. [^14]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-bārī bi sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. ʿAbdulʿazīz Ibn Bāz et al., 13 vols. (Cairo: al-Maktabah al-Salafuyya, n.d.), 7:289. [^15]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6392; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1742. [^16]: See for instance, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hudā wal-rashād fī sīrat khayr al-ʿibād*, ed. Fahīm Shaltūt et al., 12 vols. (Cairo: al-Majlis al-Aʿlā li-l-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyya, 1992), 6:97–100. [^17]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 677f. [^18]: Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, *Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa wa maʿrifat aḥwāl ṣāḥib al-sharīʿa*, ed. ʿAbd al-Muʿṭī Qalʿajī, 7 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1988), 5:318–22; Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāya wa al-nihāya*, 5th ed., 15 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1988), 5:57–58. [^19]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 679b. [^20]: *Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4089. [^21]: *Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhārī*., no. 6200; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 675. [^22]: Jamāl al-Dīn al-Isnawī, *al-Muhimmāt fī sharḥ al-rawḍah wa al-Rāfiʿī*, ed. Aḥmad ʿAlī, 10 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ibn Hazm, 2009), 3:81. [^23]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-bārī*, 6:108. [^24]: Yaḥyā b. Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1972), 5:176. [^25]: *Ṣa**ḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2586. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-gaza-is-restoring-faith-in-god-and-saving-the-world # How Gaza is Restoring Faith in God and Saving the World | Blog **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** January 19, 2024 The people of Gaza have become a living miracle. Their will to survive, and not only survive, but to persist and resist has sent shock waves around the world. It has awakened not only the Muslim masses but given hope to humanity itself. Hope for a new world, it has become evident, has come not from the shining capitals, technological feats, or trillion-dollar schemes, but from the rubble of Gaza. How could this be? Seeing their determination and strength, the Muslim ummah across the world is awakening. But not just Muslims or Arabs. Humanity at large has not sung songs of love and joined hands like it has for Palestine, despite the greatest machinery of deception and propaganda that history has ever seen. The entire formerly colonized world and the young generations and the dispossessed masses of even the colonizers have found their faith in humanity. Lest we forget this moment, let’s record a glimpse of it. “I am not religious … but if Jesus was around today, where would he be?! Playing with his phone on a Hilton rooftop in Tel Aviv! … or down in the rubble with dead children in Gaza?!” reads one tweet. A woman says in disbelief upon watching the clips of people burying their children: “They have such peace, they say \[to their dead or dying\], ‘We will see you in the other life.’” She breaks down crying, whispering, “and they are up against monsters.” “All praise is Allah’s” says one young Gazan man in a shaking voice with swollen eyes, repeating what his friend reminded him to say, standing against the backdrop of bombed buildings, having lost everything. “This is our share of this world,” he added. The eyes do not lie, the grief and loss in his eyes is unbearable even as he forces a smile on his handsome face. A mother sends off her son, praying, “My beloved son Ibrahim, dearer to me than my life, I send him now to his Creator who loves him.” Another man, after losing his two sons and much else in the same days, is heard saying, “Allah created us and takes us, He does what He wills. We, thanks to Allah, are going to be patient.” An American woman comments on these scenes, “Palestinians are doing everything that it says about Job doing in the Bible.” Another TikToker notes, “I have not seen any clip of the Palestinians cursing the Jewish people or the Israelis. These are people of God.” Or imagine a 10-year-old boy reciting the Qur’an beautifully to overcome the pain as doctors operate on his head without anesthesia, as another clip shows. Breaking down uncontrollably in tears, another TikToker comments, “What is this faith, with such an indomitable hope?!” Another observes, “That’s something that people don’t get to see often. Definitely not here in the West. The result of that is that I have seen so many people pick up the Qur’an on social media.”[^1] Of course, the children of Gaza being bombed to smithereens today, their limbs and hearts bursting in pain, may not quite see what they have accomplished. They would deserve our support in action, speech, and prayers even if they had done none of that. But perhaps simply acknowledging and celebrating their beautiful trust in God, their simultaneous embrace of life and fearlessness in the face of death and cruelty, their love for their people and their land, their sheer resolve to protect their deen, and the sacred mosque of al-Aqsa, can be a beginning, if only a drop in the ocean, of repaying our debt to them. It is only due to their strange faith in the ummah, and humanity at large that, even after decades of betrayal by their Arab and Muslim neighbors, and the relentless oppression by the settler-colonial entity and its old colonial masters in the West, they insist on recording their suffering, hoping against hope that there is still goodness. Even as the heartless, merciless enemy violates every moral and divine law known to man and rains down hell on them, blowing their homes and their loved ones to pieces, kidnapping and torturing their children in prisons in the thousands without charge or explanation, they refuse to give up. When their cowardly enemy armed to the teeth against their rocks and home-made weapons, given full immunity to commit genocide by the great powers in the world, fills the world with lies and deception, they still do not lose hope, give in, or run away. They respond by simply recording on their phones their sheer faith and humanity. They have invented new weapons that rightly make the world’s tyrants tremble. Countless people across the world, with their God-given light, have seen the miracle of Gaza, and are turning to the Qur’an and Islam to drink from the same well. The source of faith and hope on which the Gazans draw is not of this world. Their examples remind believers across the world of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. --- ## The Secret to Palestinian Faith ### 1\. It is the heart I have heard faithful Muslims in recent years often remind each other of the report of the Beloved Prophet ﷺ that answers the question: Where does weakness come from? It goes like this: “I fear that people will invite each other against you like they invite each other to share a dish.” When asked if that will be because Muslims will be too few in number, he prophesied, “No, you will be great in number, but your numbers will be worthless, like debris carried by a flood.” When asked why, he said that the Muslims would suffer from *al-wahan*, a kind of weakness, which he attributed, when asked for further clarification, to “Love of this world and hatred of death.”[^2] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ teaches that weakness does not lie in numbers, in material wealth, or in the affairs of the mind, but that ultimately it lies in the heart, in the weakness of faith. ### 2\. Loving life, but loving God more All humans love life and hate death. When speaking of His closest allies, *awliya*, Allah declares in a divine report (hadith *qudsi*) that “I hesitate in nothing like I do in taking the soul of the believer; he hates death, and I hate causing him pain.”[^3] When Muslim warriors say to their foes, as they have throughout history, that “We love death like you love life,” they do not mean they do not value life, but that they do not value it above God and God’s pleasure. They truly know that life is precious and sweet only because they know its source. They love life, but they love the Creator more; they hate death, but they hate losing God more. In contrast, those who have lost God, the source of life and its beauty, are drawn by their materialism to a life of nihilism and hedonism, but their God-given nature tugs them to something higher, which is why the spectacle of Palestinian faith is so revolutionary to them. The believers are different: they ought to know better. When they love this life more than God, they are not just let loose, but earn divine wrath; they become weightless like debris carried against their will by floodwaters. This is the true source of Palestinian strength: they, perhaps because of enduring the last two decades of oppression and endless torture in the Zionist concentration camp, have remembered their Lord’s original covenant. The Most Merciful Lord, we can be certain, loves His allies and hates the pain they have to endure, but He promises, and they remember: > Do not count those who are killed in God’s path among the dead: they are alive with their Lord, being nourished, > > Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and rejoicing for those after them who have not yet joined them—that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (3:169-70) The Gazan men, women, and children show us the true meaning of these teachings. When they embrace struggle and resistance rather than humiliation and helplessness, when they declare that their commitment to their faith and its sanctities is greater than their love of life and fear of death, their weakness is replaced by strength. ### 3\. A believer is his brother’s mirror Why have the Palestinians so deeply touched the strings of the Muslim heart across the world? Because as believers, we are all the same. The Messenger of God ﷺ said, “A believer is his brother’s mirror; he supports his livelihood and always has his back.”[^4] This teaching of the Prophet ﷺ is an incredible tiding and encouragement, for it reminds us, even as we hang our heads in shame for being unable to stand between them and the raining bombs, that every Muslim has the same reservoir of faith, strength, and joyous hope in Allah that shines through the Gazans today. Whoever believes and declares “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” instantaneously joins the same fraternity and partakes of the same strength, if they would only tap into it. The hadith means, furthermore, that when believers see others, they understand them, they take heart in their strengths because they too possess the same, and if they find anything lacking in others, they attend to their own behavior, knowing they may have the same tendencies. One does not look into the mirror as the other, but as oneself. They give them advice with the sincerity and wisdom that they would like to receive it with, loving for their brethren what they love for themselves. ### 4\. Do not think it is bad for you, rather, it is good for you! What is this saying that pious Muslims often repeat whenever something terrible happens? Unlike other people who have been oppressed, believing Muslims do not complain of their fate or embrace victimhood. The upbeat, hopeful attitude in Gaza that exudes gratitude and grit, even under murderous injustice and betrayal, is the character of a true Muslim. The origin of this saying is a Qur’anic verse revealed when, in addition to being surrounded by the pagan tribes (*aḥzāb*) of all of Arabia, the Muslim community felt devastated by a campaign of lies directed at impugning the Prophet’s ﷺ own beloved wife (rA): “Do not think it is bad for you, rather it is good for you!” (24:11). Just like the Palestinians today, the blessed community of the Final Messenger ﷺ and the messengers before him felt “shaken, until they cried out, 'When will the help of Allah \[arrive\]?'” Only then Allah answered, “Lo, the help of Allah is near” (2:214). Gazans, like all believers, know even when facing a genocidal juggernaut that it is not the world’s militaries, the media, the courts, human rights advocates, or so-called superpowers, but the Almighty alone who can protect them and has their affairs in His hands. He alone decides what is good for them. And so long as we hold on to our faith, all tests and trials are good for us. Muslim scholars today agree that it is an obligation upon all Muslim governments across the world to come to their aid, and upon every individual Muslim with any capacity anywhere in the world to support them to the best of their ability. The Gazans have succeeded in their test so far with flying colors; the rest of us, on the other hand, must fear the day when we will be asked about how we helped the oppressed. ### 5\. Faith in God, not in numbers: Many a small army has beaten a mighty one! The Qur’anic story of Saul and David (that is, Prophet Dāwūd, upon him be peace), which differs in key respects from the Biblical one, captures the essence of the Qur’anic teachings on fighting mighty enemies. The followers of Moses (Musa, upon him be peace), after his death, ask their prophet to appoint a king for them like other nations, so that they can fight in Allah’s path. The prophet (unnamed in the Qur’an, but Samuel, according to 1 Samuel 15 in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible) prays to Allah on the condition that they will not shy away from jihad when called upon. The king chosen by Allah is Tālūt (the biblical Saul), for his strength and wisdom. They object to his lack of wealth, but they begrudgingly relent after Allah shows them a sign. The new king leads them to a mighty enemy (not described in the Qur’an, except one warrior named Jālūt, or Goliath), but tests them by forbidding them to drink from the river they were crossing. Most of them disobey, and as a result are terrified when they face the mighty enemy that greatly outnumbered them. The few obedient ones, however, show courage, and utter to their cowardly and disobedient brethren this golden message of hope and faith: “How many a small army has beaten a mighty one, by Allah’s leave, and Allah is always with the steadfast.” (2:249) In the Qur’an, this is the message: obedience and faith give you courage to work miracles and beat mighty armies. This is what drives the Palestinians. This is their secret. In the Old Testament account, unfortunately, the spirit of the story is entirely different. Allegedly, Saul and his people are told to destroy everything and “kill both men and women, children and infants, ox and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Samuel 15:2-3). This was the biblical command that Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, invoked to justify the genocide of the Palestinians.[^5] The Qur’an teaches that the Bible (the Old and New Testaments) has been corrupted by human alteration, yet also contains important kernels of truth and is to be honored. Clearly, for Muslims, this story is a candidate for outright rejection, as it directly contradicts the Qur’anic laws of war and the Prophet’s ﷺ teachings and practice, explained at length in our other articles.[^6] ### 6\. Allah does not love oppressors Before we finish off this brief essay, it is worth asking why Allah allows oppression to happen if He hates it? Why do oppressors roam freely in the world, from the Pharaohs of the past to today’s superpowers, to exploit the poor, destroy the earth, and then, to add insult to injury, write the history books to cast themselves as the saviors? A Muslim knows that the oppressors never truly prosper, that this life is short and transient. No story is complete here, for there is a Day of Recompense that will set right all the wrongs. The Almighty does not love the oppressors, but uses them to raise the ranks of the believers, purify their souls, remind them of their need for Him, and enhance their knowledge of truth and of His power, so that they know and love Him and rely on Him. In other words, so that people of resolve, like the people of Gaza today, could be born, and radiate faith in God in which the rest of humanity could bask. --- ## Conclusion: Hope lives in Gaza In the good old 1950s, when all kinds of fascinating but cruel animal experiments were carried out, Curt Richter of Johns Hopkins placed a bunch of mice in a large trough of water to test their resilience. Even though mice are strong swimmers, they on average lasted for about 15 minutes before drowning. In the next round, our scientist took out some mice just when they were about to drown, and after some rest and food, placed them back in the trough. How long do you think they could go on this time? Not 30 minutes, or 60 minutes, or 120 minutes, but a full 60 hours. They kept on swimming for two and half days. That is a full 240 times longer than the first batch! The difference was that the second group had tasted hope. Their little brains stored the memory of being saved if only they kept trying long enough. The people of Gaza know, as only true believers can, that they have a Lord who will save them and, no matter the horrors and afflictions this life hands them, they can almost taste the bliss of the hospitality in the afterlife of a Just and Merciful Lord. --- ## Notes [^1]: For one compilation of Gazan Muslims’ responses to their suffering, and some reactions to them, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XusmrbH9kbg. [^2]: Abū Dawūd # 4297, K. al-Malāḥim, graded saḥīḥ or ḥasan. [^3]: *Bukhārī # 6502, K. al-Riqāq.* [^4]: al-Bukhārī, *Saḥīḥ al-Adab al-Mufrad*; Abū Dāwūd #4918, K. al-Adab, graded *ḥasan*. [^5]: Noah Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,”  [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1705620168794102&usg=AOvVaw1-KFimaoMaw0k9Duhk26QW) [^6]: Hassan Shibli, “War, Islam, and the Sanctity of Life: Non-Aggression in the Islamic Code of Combat,” [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/war-islam-and-the-sanctity-of-life-non-aggression-in-the-islamic-code-of-combat](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/war-islam-and-the-sanctity-of-life-non-aggression-in-the-islamic-code-of-combat%23ftnt_ref9&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1705620168794469&usg=AOvVaw26YaWgRcIXQfEvyPccoQaq) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/going-back-to-dates-and-milk-palestinian-resistance-and-living-with-less # Going Back to Dates and Milk: Palestinian Resistance and Living with Less | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** January 9, 2024 I stood in the basement with my landlord, the lights from our phones bobbing over the hot water heater which had suddenly stopped working in late November. Not having hot water isn’t a huge deal, but in this particular house the heating system runs off the hot water heater, so no hot water also means no heat at the time of year where night-time temperatures dip well below freezing. I had already gone through the steps of trying to restart the fully automatic system. My landlord was slightly less systematic, unplugging and replugging cords at random. He explained how the system worked and where the various wires, hoses, and ducts went, before concluding that the motor wasn’t working at all and that it would have to be replaced. Of course, these days, my mind is with the people of Gaza. No heat is just the beginning of their worries; there is an acute shortage of potable water, medicine, and fuel. People dodge IOF sniper fire to get to grocery stores whose shelves are empty, then narrowly avoid missiles as they make their way back to their homes, which are likely destroyed and reduced to rubble. As I stood in the basement, I also started thinking about the modern lifestyle, built around convenience, and what it takes to maintain it. Computerized hot water heaters maintain a certain temperature so that hot water is available constantly, on demand. HVAC systems do the same with our air, maintaining 24/7 climate control. Electric wiring does the same for lighting, making light available on demand. Refrigeration does the same for our food, saving us from a daily trip to the market, making sure that food is constantly available on demand right at home. It all requires exorbitant amounts of energy to maintain; the Energy Information Administration reports that in 2021 the US population consumed about 16% of the world’s energy despite making up less than 5% of the world’s population. All this convenience, despite attempting to provide security, also entails a specific type of vulnerability, what some scholars term “deskilling.” Going to the grocery store instead of the garden frees up time but also frees us from needing to know how to grow our own food. Refrigeration frees us from needing to know exactly how much food is enough, as well as from all the communal bonds that are resuscitated by a daily trip to the market. Constantly available artificial light frees us from darkness but also from following the natural circadian rhythm, throwing our bodies out of sync. Temperature-controlled air and water frees us from the knowledge of how much fuel one needs to heat one’s food and warm one’s body, and thus the types of interactions that would generate the requisite gratitude for such blessings. All this ran through my mind as the landlord plugged and unplugged cords. Then I thought about how the latest Israeli rampage, ostensibly to eradicate Hamas, is clearly an attempt to exterminate not just the people of Gaza but also all traces of modern life. Water desalination plants, hospitals, bakeries, roads, and schools have all been not just indiscriminately attacked but intentionally targeted. Suddenly starting to feel the cold, I slowly realized that if I were in that situation, my dependency on modern conveniences would leave me extremely vulnerable. Yet the resourceful people of Gaza continue to survive, play, laugh, and get married. Videos show people trapping rainwater in plastic tarps, the rainwater Israel arrogantly claims to own. We see people making bread in clay ovens or making makeshift ovens out of old olive oil tins, a mix of old ways and new improvisations. The people of Gaza have not been deskilled; they resist. Much conversation lately has revolved around what the people of Gaza are teaching us, especially in the realm of faith. And while we don’t wish to romanticize hardship, we also shouldn’t underestimate what their resilience and resourcefulness can teach us about political power, as counterintuitive as that might sound. The late King Faisal became a legend for standing up to the Western powers during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war by spearheading the oil embargo of 1973-74. He famously said, “You are the ones who can’t live without oil. You know, we come from the desert, and our ancestors lived on dates and milk and we can easily go back and live like that again.” When one becomes dependent on convenience, weakness will eventually result. The Children of Israel demonstrated this when they left Egypt. Despite having endured the horrors of slavery under Pharaoh, they had been lulled into a false sense of security by the variety of food they used to enjoy. Once free and in the wilderness, they began complaining to Moses about the lack of variety in their food: > O Moses, we can never endure one \[kind of\] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions. (Qur’an 2:61) Moses fittingly told them to go back to being slaves if that is all they wanted from this world. The minor convenience of having a variety of food at their disposal had made them so weak that freedom seemed burdensome. When they finally reached the promised land they again demonstrated weakness, expecting to be given the land without any effort. Contrastingly, the ability to go without, to live on less, and to sacrifice is a tremendous source of power. In Surah al-Baqarah, Allah tells us about Saul’s army. Saul put his soldiers to the test; despite their intense thirst he asked them to refrain from drinking water as they passed a cool spring. Saul kept with him only the soldiers who were able to do without, sending the rest home. Mathematically, this would seem to put him at a disadvantage as he approached Goliath and his forces. Some of them even fell into despair. > But those who were certain that they would meet Allah said, “How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah? And Allah is with the patient.”  (Qur’an 2:249) Such are the resilient people of Gaza: outnumbered, outfunded, and outgunned. Yet it is Israel that remains frustrated, having met none of their stated military objectives. The math doesn’t add up without Allah in the equation. The facade of Israel’s strength has been shattered. IOF soldiers continue to abandon the battlefield while the children of Gaza continue to chant about liberating Jerusalem. Allah is Able, Allah’s victory will prevail, and no military might or abundant wealth can prevent this. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/gazas-rise-inspiring-the-muslim-ummahs-collective-consciousness-and-religiosity # Gaza’s Rise: Inspiring the Muslim Ummah’s Collective Consciousness and Religiosity | Blog **Author:** Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** January 8, 2024 **Updated:** January 12, 2024 It has been over three months since the genocide began in Gaza. Muslims around the world have tuned into the most significant global event in decades and perhaps in their lifetimes; never before in history has a genocide been broadcast for the world to watch in horror, in real-time. Globally, Muslims have been on a roller coaster of emotions, witnessing both the painful destruction of Gaza and the beautiful resilience of its people. In an attempt to shed light on the thoughts, emotions, and faith-based responses of Muslims around the globe, we at Yaqeen surveyed 1800+ English-speaking Muslims.[^1] --- ## Changes in Religiosity ![Change in relationship with Allah](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/image2-1024x320.png) The assault on Gaza has been an incredible tribulation for the people of Gaza and the entire Muslim world. However, Allah tells us that the purpose of worldly tribulations is to awaken our hearts and make us turn back to Him.[^2] In this vein, 78% of those surveyed reported that their relationship with Allah has improved since the assault on Gaza began. This is an astounding proportion, and the reasons for this are likely many, including being reminded of death and needing to implore Allah to help alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters. However, one of the most powerful factors appears to be the unshakeable faith of the people of Gaza elevating the ummah’s religiosity and consciousness. Many have seen countless videos of the people of Gaza trusting in Allah (*tawakkul*) in every circumstance, including toddlers and children praising Allah and vowing to be patient and mothers and fathers graciously accepting the martyrdom of their children. Witnessing all of this has caused 91% of our respondents to state that the people of Gaza have given them ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’ of religious inspiration, with 97% reporting being ‘quite’ or ‘extremely’ proud of the people of Gaza. The people of Gaza are giving *dʾawah* (calling people to Islam) globally, inspiring people to open up the Qur’an in search of the beliefs that we have witnessed providing them with so much strength. Evidently, the ummah’s spiritual awakening has been heavily impacted by reconnecting with the Qur’an and Sunnah. We discovered that 85% of Muslims reported feeling ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’ of comfort in the Qur’an, and 80% found similar levels of comfort in the biography (*seerah)* of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Qur’an has come to life in new ways for Muslims from all levels of religiosity. The verses that we’ve read numerous times now have new meaning when we connect them to the situation in Gaza; the verses describing the attitude of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions during war appear to aptly describe the people of Gaza and the verses describing punishment for oppressors now make more sense. Ultimately, the Qur’an has taken on new relevance as it describes the situation unfolding before our eyes as if it were being revealed today. The details of the afterlife found in the Qur’an and Sunnah have also brought tremendous comfort and clarity to Muslims worldwide. For example, 96% reported that knowing that our brothers and sisters who were martyred are alive in paradise brought ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’ of comfort. The Prophet ﷺ beautifully explained this to his companions to motivate them and cheer them up, saying, “When your brothers were killed at Uhud, Allah put their souls in green birds that go down to the rivers of Paradise, eat its fruit, and nestle in lamps of gold under the shade of the Throne. Then, when they experienced the sweetness of their food, drink, and rest, they asked, ‘Who will tell our brothers about us that we are alive in Paradise provided with provision, in order that they might not be disinterested in jihad and recoil from war?’ Allah said, ‘I shall tell them about you’; so Allah sent down, ‘And do not consider those who have been killed in Allah’s path to be dead.’”[^3] Similarly, 94% said that knowing that oppressors (who don’t repent) will be punished was also a major source of comfort. The Qur’anic descriptions of how oppressors and their supporters will bicker in hellfire and blame one another provide the believers with certainty that justice will be served on the Day of Judgment (Qur’an 28:59-64). Strikingly, before the assault on Gaza began, the existence of hellfire and its punishment was a cause of doubt for some Muslims, but now it has become a source of conviction for many. --- ## Inspiring Muslim Unity Globally, Muslims are in agreement that the assault on Gaza has awoken the Muslim spirit and united the ummah. A sacred land from which the Prophet ﷺ ascended to heaven, and home to Masjid al-Aqsa, 70% of of our sample believe that the liberation of Palestine is a religious issue. Consequently, 93% believe that Palestine is ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important to them personally and 97% believe its liberation is a high priority to the Muslim world, with 70% saying it is the highest priority for the Muslim world. The masses are also in agreement that Muslim nations should not normalize relations with Israel, with 96% stating they are opposed to normalization and feel that it would cause additional harm to our brothers and sisters in Palestine. The failure of Western and Muslim governments to help the Palestinians has also reinvigorated discussions and beliefs about the importance of a unified Islamic state for the well-being of the Muslim world. Regarding Western governments, 95% of people believe that their stance towards Palestine has been either ‘slightly’ (5%) or ‘extremely’ (90%) immoral. Regarding Muslim governments, 71% believe that their stance has been immoral, with 22% reporting ‘slightly’ immoral and 49% reporting ‘extremely’ immoral. With such low confidence in modern nation-states, 82% believe that the existence of a unified Islamic state is ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important for the future of the Muslim world. Furthermore, 87% believe that such a state would be ‘quite’ or ‘extremely’ helpful to the liberation of Palestine. --- ## Behavioral Response The awakening of the Muslim world and inspiration from the people of Gaza has led Muslims to strive in numerous ways to help the Palestinians. They are engaging in worship of various types, ritual and action-oriented, as a means of changing the situation. Regarding more ritual acts of worship, 99% have reported supplicating to Allah, 79% have increased in prayers, and 78% have donated money to relief in Palestine. Regarding activist behavior, 45% have attended a protest, over half (51%) have contacted politicians, and 91% are boycotting products and companies that support Israel. Additionally, the masses are raising their voices in support of Palestine, including 40% of working professionals raising awareness with their employers, 47% of students raising awareness on campus, and 89% posting on social media. Muslims believe that social media posts are changing the global narrative in favor of Palestine, with 64% being ‘quite’ or ‘very’ confident in the effects of these posts. Despite knowing their activism makes a difference, Muslims strongly believe that their ritual worship is far more effective in changing the situation for the Palestinians, with nearly 61% feeling their worship is ‘quite’ or ‘very’ effective compared to only 20% feeling similarly about their activism. --- ## Impact on Emotions The assault on Gaza has affected nearly every believer on earth. Reading and watching the news and seeing images of innocent men, women, and children martyred in Gaza has led to feelings of sadness, guilt, anger, and many other emotions. We found the emotion most frequently experienced by the ummah was sadness, with 93% of Muslims reporting feeling sad ‘often’ or ‘almost always.’ This feeling captures the sentiments of the hadith that the ummah is like one body, and if the people of Gaza are in pain, the entire ummah feels that pain.[^4] Another frequently felt emotion was anger, with 82% feeling angry ‘often’ or ‘almost always.’ The ummah is furious at the terrorism and genocide being committed by Israel, as well as the apathy (and/or assistance) of Western and Muslim nations. Although anger is often criticized as being blameworthy, it is important to remember that anger can be praiseworthy if it motivates righteous action. The Prophet ﷺ himself would get angry when the commands of Allah had been transgressed and Imam al-Shafi said that anyone who *should* become angry but doesn’t is a donkey. The other emotions worthy of discussing are the ummah’s feelings of hope and hopelessness. Both hope and hopelessness were reported equally often, between ‘sometimes’ and ‘often’ on average. Hope was associated with beliefs that Muslims had agency in helping Palestine and that their individual actions were making a difference. Hope was also linked to increased perceptions of global Muslim unity and an improved relationship with Allah. Hopelessness, on the other hand, was generally related to worse outcomes (e.g., believing Muslims have less agency, individual actions have less of an impact). However, it is worth noting that many people often felt both emotions simultaneously. Although it may seem strange to experience hope and hopelessness together, this combination of emotions has been well documented in medical settings with patients.[^5] It may come about in this context as Muslims feel hopeless regarding one outcome but hopeful for another. For example, someone may feel hopeless that the genocide will stop soon, but they may be hopeful that the martyrs find peace in paradise. Alternatively, someone may feel hopeless that Palestine will be free soon, but hopeful that it will be free in the distant future. If one of the goals they hope for cannot be achieved, people may shift to other goals they are hopeful for. This has been beautifully stated as “diversifying and redirecting hope.”[^6] Alternatively, people may feel personally hopeless to help Palestine but hopeful that Allah can and will. Hope in such circumstances may function as a buffer against the spiritual and psychological harms of hopelessness.[^7] Ultimately, we have to remind ourselves that hope and optimism are from the Sunnah, as the Prophet ﷺ encouraged us to be optimistic, saying, “When one of you calls upon Allah, let him hope for the greatest of things. Verily, nothing has any greatness over Allah.”[^8] --- ## Final Thoughts The people of Gaza have shown the Muslim world what submission to God looks like. From witnessing a child pleading with first responders to dig her parents and siblings from under the rubble before tending to her own needs, to accepting martyrdom rather than abandoning their homes on sacred land, the people of Gaza have reminded us how to praise Allah in every situation. They have shown us that the stories of the companions’ resolve and patience can be emulated in our lives and that they are not fairy tales or folklore. They have modeled for us how to deprioritize the *dunya* (this world) and prioritize the *ā**khirah* (the afterlife). They have done more *d**ʾ**awah* through their beautiful resolve than most of us have in our lifetimes. Allah is infinitely wise and is the best of planners. Although it may be difficult for our hearts and minds to understand why things unfold as they do, the people of Gaza remind us to put our trust in Allah and have full conviction in His promise. We are grateful for our brothers and sisters in Gaza, honored to be one ummah with them, and seek forgiveness from them and from Allah for not doing more for the cause of Palestine. May Allah grant them victory over the oppressors and allow us to be a part of their liberation. Ameen. --- ## Notes [^1]: Demographics of the sample: 74% female; 61% live in North America, 13% live in Europe, 18% live in Asia, and 6% live in Africa; 41% were under 35 years of age; 50% were South Asian, 17% Arab, and 10% Black/African. [^2]: Qur’an 30:41, 32:21. [^3]: *Sunan Ab**ū* *Daw**ū**d*, no. 2520. [^4]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6011; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2586. [^5]: Mark D. Sullivan, “Hope and Hopelessness at the End of Life,” *The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry* 11, no. 4 (2003): 393–405. [^6]: Sullivan, “Hope and Hopelessness.” [^7]: Jenny M. Y. Huen, Brian Y. T. Ip, Samuel M. Y. Ho, and Paul S. F. Yip, “Hope and Hopelessness: The Role of Hope in Buffering the Impact of Hopelessness on Suicidal Ideation,” *PloS One* 10, no. 6 (2015): e0130073. [^8]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 896. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-overcome-addiction-through-faith-ibn-al-qayyims-rehabilitation-program # How to Overcome Addiction through Faith: Ibn Al-Qayyim's Rehabilitation Program **Author:** Dr. Zohair Abdul-Rahman **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Mental Health, Paper, Publication, Self-Improvement **Published:** January 4, 2024 **Updated:** September 1, 2026 ## Preface A flurry of highly curated images, sounds, videos, lights and colors designed to captivate our minds flood our consciousness on a daily basis. Mass production of food products engineered in labs to tease our taste buds fill our pantries and satiate our appetites. Intoxicants have never been more widely available with the decriminalization of recreational drugs in a number of countries and the pharmacological use of illicit drugs for pain relief and mental illness. The opioid epidemic has surged onto public concern as middle-upper class populations in developed nations are in the grips of a drug crisis. The spirit of modernity seems to allure humanity to an endless pursuit of instant gratification by using the most advanced technologies. Even the color of the notification icons on our phones are designed to keep us coming back for more. It is not an overstatement to declare that we are living in a dopaminergic society. This means that society is structured in a way that aims to maximize the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure in our brains. The consequences of this reality is that our hearts can become captive to the various forces that seek to dominate our minds. Addictions to devices,[^1] social media, video gaming, films, Netflix, sexual content, and illicit substances have gripped all levels of society. One study in 2011 found that 59% of the 313 study participants self-reported feeling ‘addicted’ to social media.[^2] In 2014, Griffiths et al. published a paper with international data warning of an impending epidemic of internet addiction. The data suggested that young people experienced symptoms found in addiction, including withdrawal and relapse.[^3] A recent study in Türkiye found that 16% of university students met the criteria for an internet addiction.[^4] Arguably the modern online addiction that seems to be the most disastrous in terms of its consequences is addiction to sexual content.[^5] Statistics show alarming usage with an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.[^6] While there is debate in the literature regarding the formal diagnosis of ‘pornography addiction,’ there are multiple studies that have demonstrated that problematic use as defined in the field correlates with mental illness.[^7] The International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11), a diagnostic manual used in mental health research, includes a category called compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and lists problematic online pornography use as a symptom.[^8] There is a strong role that society plays in generating, maintaining, and exacerbating the problem of addiction. Poverty, broken homes, abuse and other chronic social stressors can make subpopulations in a society particularly vulnerable to becoming addicted to substances or behaviors.[^9] This problem becomes magnified when these vulnerabilities are exploited by multi-million dollar industries that promote alcohol,[^10] tobacco,[^11] gambling,[^12] pornography,[^13],[^14] and opioids.[^15] It is encouraging to see these problems recognized and under investigation in various academic disciplines including medicine, psychology, neuroscience, social studies, and the humanities. But there are problems with society’s tendency to medicalize social problems and limit analysis to exclusively empirical paradigms. This methodology produces gaping blind spots that ignore important spiritual factors in the genesis, prevention, and therapy of all these problematic addictions. As Muslims, we must recognize the role of the spirit (*rūḥ*), the ego (*nafs*), demonic entities (*shayāṭīn*), angelic entities (*malāʾika*), faith (*imānīyyāt*), guidance (*hidāyah*), and divine aid (*tawfīq*). This shortcoming of the field of psychology, particularly in regards to addiction was recognized by Carl Jung in his letter to the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, William Wilson, “I am strongly convinced that the evil principle prevailing in this world leads the unrecognized spiritual need into perdition if it is not counteracted either by real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community.”[^16] Muslims should recognize the advantage we have in possessing a revealed framework for understanding the spiritual realities that can deeply impact our mind, souls, and bodies. It is in reflection with this revelation that an entire tradition of dealing with problematic cravings and desires emerged within the field of *tazkiyat al-nafs* (purification of the self). In this vast tradition we discover insights into addiction that did not exist in the Western tradition of addiction science until centuries later. Suffice it to say, the Islamic tradition is an important arena of research for Muslims who are interested in appreciating a more realistic conception of addiction beyond material reductionism. It also contains great wisdom that can provide preventative and therapeutic strategies for believers to aid them in their journey through the dark worlds of addiction. This augments existing scientific research in addiction treatment and enables us to take an integrative approach that is rooted in the Islamic worldview. *To learn more about addiction and its harmful consequences, watch the video below:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmSxvr7SGc --- ## Introduction It has been claimed by Western scholarship that there was no formal recognition of the psychological effects of addiction until the 17th century. This recognition is attributed to a group of Christian theologians who wrote on the phenomenon of ‘losing control’ to substances, which became the basis for the modern concept of addiction.[^17] Moreover, specific interventions are thought to be non-existent until the 19th century.[^18] Prior to this, the dominant understanding of addiction came from the Roman physician Cornelius Celsus (d. 50 C.E.) who was considered to be the first to categorize ‘dependence’ on intoxicating substances as a disease. However, he conceptualized dependence as being solely physical without reference to the deep psychological effects. Furthermore, there is absolutely no mention of the concept of behavioral addiction until the modern period.[^19] It is in this context that we present a translation and commentary of the final chapter of *Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn* (Garden of the Lovers)[^20] written by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) on the topic of addiction. He predates the 17th-century Calvinist theologians by over 300 years in describing the psychological effects of addiction and the notion of ‘loss of control.’ He is also the first to explicitly describe the possibility of addiction to a behavior in addition to substances. We say explicitly, because there seems to be an implicit recognition even earlier in the field of *tazkiyya*, which conceptualized desires as diseases in the heart that require curative interventions and recognized phenomena like habituation (*iʾtiyād*).[^21] Ibn al-Qayyim seems to have been the first to distill these ideas into a coherent concept of addiction. He also provides a substantive list of psychospiritual recommendations that can be used in the rehabilitation of addicts.[^22] In this chapter, Ibn al-Qayyim provides his reflections on various verses of the Qur’an, prophetic narrations, and aphorisms from the early Muslims and systematically organizes them into 50 strategies for rehabilitation. The vast majority of the narrations are found in a similar order in *Dhamm al-hawā* (Blameworthy Desires) by Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1200).[^23] Ibn al-Jawzī includes 1277 narrations across 50 chapters that include reports attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, his companions, and the early Muslim generations. Ibn al-Qayyim comments mostly on the narrations found in the second chapter entitled, “Blameworthy desires and passions” (*Fī dhamm al-hawā wa al-shahawāt*). His project can be seen as a reflective commentary on this chapter. This demonstrates an important methodological point regarding the Islamic tradition. We see here a practical example of a scholar building on the work of other scholars. Ibn al-Jawzī scoured the various compilations of narrations that had been compiled before him. He selects a comprehensive set of narrations that have to do with desire and categorizes them across 50 themes in his *Dhamm al-hawā*. Ibn al-Qayyim uses a chapter of his book to build a rehabilitation plan for those pathologically affected by their desires through a reflective commentary. It is the humble aim of the current article to analyze Ibn al-Qayyim’s work and organize it in an accessible way so that others can benefit from and continue to build on it. When it comes to providing solutions to modern problems, it is important that Muslims produce academic work that is genuinely rooted in the Islamic tradition. This is our way of connecting to the light of prophethood that existed 1400 years ago and has traversed generations through the torchbearers of Islamic scholarship. Any work that marginalizes or ignores the Islamic tradition will inevitably be connected to one of the foreign paradigms of modernity that exist today, thereby severing any real ties to Divine revelation that the Islamic tradition enables us to maintain. The translation presented in this treatise is based on the critical edition by the late Bakr Abū Zayd (d. 1429/2008).[^24] The article provides references for the in-text quotations cited by Ibn al-Qayyim that are not found in Bakr Abu Zayd’s edition. A brief commentary on Ibn al-Qayyim’s reflections is provided as is an analysis of his therapeutic recommendations. The text can be separated into (1) Prelude and (2) Rehabilitation program. The prelude has been further subdivided into three sections, A) Are all Desires Evil?, B) The Danger of Desires and C) From Desire to Addiction. A commentary is provided after the translation of each individual section to optimize the flow of content. The 50 strategies for rehabilitation are translated altogether with no subdivisions, followed by a commentary that contains a qualitative grounded-theory analysis.[^25] Footnotes are provided for concepts that may require greater context for the reader to appreciate. Section headings are also added for clarity. --- ## Translation and commentary on the final chapter of Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn [Chapter 29:](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/417/656&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1704412299620693&usg=AOvVaw2ecx1GQs_F1gsQ-27Nwriy)[^26] Concerning the blameworthiness of desires and its opposition to attaining all that one wishes. --- ## Are all desires evil? We have already mentioned the verses from the Qur’an and reports from the Sunnah regarding this concept.[^27] Desire (*hawā*) is defined as an instinctual drive towards that which is believed will fulfill it. These drives have been created in humanity because they are necessary for survival. If there were not an impulse to eat, drink, or have intercourse, then human beings would not eat, drink, or procreate. Desires act as motivation for what a person wants, just as anger diverts a person away from what harms him. It is not appropriate to problematize all desires unconditionally, but it would also be wrong to say that all desires are praiseworthy. This is the same for anger that is neither praised unconditionally nor blamed unconditionally. Rather what is considered blameworthy is going to an excess of these inclinations such that it goes beyond bringing benefit or averting harm. ### Commentary: The Islamic conception of human desire is a positive one in distinction to other spiritual traditions that place great emphasis on denying basic human drives. The Qur’an references the movement of monasticism within Christianity and emphasizes that this was never commanded by Allah, > And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion, mercy, and monasticism—which they innovated. We did not prescribe it for them except (that they did so) seeking the approval of Allah. But they did not observe it with due observance.[^28] Ibn al-Qayyim discusses the relation of desires to ethics in the beginning of this work, > Since the servant can never be separated from his desire as long as he lives, the directive to leave all desires completely is essentially impossible. But what is realistic (*maqdūr lahū*) and expected (*maʾmūr bih*) is to divert his desires away from the places of destruction to lands of peace and security.[^29] The example is given of the desire for the opposite gender being directed away from fornication to the institution of marriage.[^30] He argues that Islamic law takes human desires into consideration and that anything forbidden is given an alternative outlet. For example, usury is forbidden as a means to grow wealth but profitable business ventures are permitted. Gambling is forbidden, but earning wealth based on beneficial competition like horse racing, camel racing, and archery is permitted.[^31] Silk is forbidden, but many other luxurious fabrics are permitted. --- ## The danger of desires Having established that some desires are natural and beneficial, many people become consumed by their desires and anger and are unable to control themselves within the boundaries of what is beneficial to them. Thus, harm is incurred by a person who follows their desires, anger, and lust, which is why they are given a negative connotation. It is rare to achieve a balance of desires that would avoid harm. Similar to this, how rare is it for a person to truly achieve humoral equilibrium?[^32] Instead, people are affected by its fluctuations. Therefore, the sincere person should be keen to achieve perfect balance regarding their lusts and anger just as the doctor attempts to achieve perfect balance regarding the humors. But this is something impossible except for very few individuals in the world. This is why Allah exclusively mentions desires in a negative context along with the Sunnah. The only exception is the narration of the Prophet ﷺ, “None of you truly believes until his desires are made to follow what I have brought.”[^33] It has been said that desires are dangerous and cannot be trusted. Al-Shaʿbī (d. 103/721) said, “It is called desire (*hawā*) because it brings a person down (*yahwī*).” It unconditionally calls to immediate gratification (*al-ladhdhāt al-ḥāḍira*) without regard for the consequences. It drives a person to achieve their desires hastily even if it may be a means of great pain both in the short term and long term. There are consequences that come to a person in this life before the afterlife. Desires blind a person from noticing this while integrity (*murūʾa*), religiosity (*dīn*), and intelligence (*ʿaql*) are meant to block a person from pleasures that end in pain. Lusts will only end in regret and so when the self wants some of this pleasure, all of the ethical faculties (religiosity, integrity, and intelligence) say to it, “Don’t do it!” And the self will follow whichever is the stronger impulse within. Do you see that children will prefer what they desire even if it leads to injury out of the weakness of their discerning intellect? Whoever has no religion will always prefer what they desire even if it leads to destruction in the next life due to the weakness of their religiosity. Whoever does not have any integrity will always prefer what they desire even if it strips away their dignity due to the weakness of their integrity (*marūʾah*). Then what about the aphorism of Imam al-Shāfiʾī (d. 204/819) who said, “If I knew that cool water would compromise my integrity I would never drink it.”[^34] When an accountable individual is tested with animalistic desires and in every moment a new desire emerges, he should set up two arbiters: intellect and religion. The desires are commanded to always be summoned to these two arbiters and to submit to their judgment. It is imperative that one trains oneself to resist desires that do not have negative consequences so that one can stay away from desires that have harmful consequences. ### Commentary Ibn al-Qayyim makes the case that desires on their own will inevitably lead a person toward the path of destruction. Desires can be directed to productive ends only with other factors—intellect, integrity, and religion. A person must be ethically motivated (integrity), informed by guidance (religion), and make the right decision (intellect) regarding their desire. If these three are missing, then desires will lead a person astray. In the introduction, Ibn al-Qayyim describes the objective of this work as the achievement of harmony between desires and the intellect through a recognition of the wisdom of religious guidance. > “They are not commanded with anything that He (Allah) needs from them. Nor are they prohibited out of stinginess from Him (Allah) toward them. Rather, His commandments come from His favor (*iḥsān*) and mercy (*raḥmah*) toward them and His prohibitions are meant to protect and preserve them. It is for this reason we have produced this book to achieve harmony between the desires and the intellect. When the peace treaty \[between the desires and the intellect\] is completed, it becomes easier for the servant to resist against the ego and the devil.”[^35] Ibn al-Qayyim connects law, ethics, theology, and spirituality so the reader can appreciate the wisdom in religious guidance. A common misconception the public has regarding Islam is that it is merely a set of arbitrary rules of what is permissible (*ḥalāl*) and impermissible (*ḥarām*). Ibn al-Qayyim makes the case that revealed law is designed for the flourishing of life by directing human desires away from destruction toward excellence. This also foreshadows the key ingredients in his rehabilitation framework that empower believers to resist using the intellect and religious guidance. This framework can correctly be termed ‘rehabilitation,’ as Ibn al–Qayyim sees desires as a natural part of life that can become disordered due to misuse. This misuse is inevitable without guidance since a person is unaware of their purpose in life and how to fulfill it. Hence, their aims and pursuits are driven by desires. The strength of their ethical motivation to regulate desire is also considerably dulled without an appreciation of the high-stakes consequences of the afterlife. In addition to rehabilitation, Ibn al-Qayyim describes how conditioning the ethical and spiritual strengths enables individuals to effectively resist against the dark edges of desire. Analogous to physical exercise, he recommends a healthy regimen of daily resistance against non-problematic desires to strengthen willpower. Although he does not reference this, fasting is a recognized Islamic practice that fulfills these aims. Abd Allāh b. Masʾūd narrates, “We were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth. So Allah’s Messenger said, ‘O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty and whoever is not able to marry should fast, as fasting is a shield for him.’”[^36] --- ## From desire to addiction The intelligent person needs to know that the ones who are addicted (*mudmin*) to their desires are transformed into a state where they no longer achieve pleasure through them and at the same time they are not able to abstain from them. They reach a state where indulging in their desires becomes necessary for their living. This is the reason why you find that the alcohol addict or sex addict does not experience even a tenth of the pleasure that a person normally experiences when engaging in those behaviors in moderation. This throws a person into destruction as he tries to seek what his addiction demands. If the stain of desire were to be removed, he would definitely know that he is made sad from where he thought happiness would come; he is grieved from where he thought joy would come; and he is in pain from where he thought there would be pleasure. So he is like a bird that tries to capture a seed that is in a trap. It is not able to obtain the seed and it is not able to leave the trap. ### Commentary The term for addict employed by Ibn al–Qayyim is *mudmin*, which is used in modern Arabic to describe formal addiction as we understand it today. Classically,  it was defined as, “A person who is habitually engaged with something; The *mudmin* of alcohol is someone who cannot stop drinking.”[^37] We also find this term in the Sunnah, “The *mudmin* of alcohol is the like the worshiper of idols,”[^38] “He who drinks alcohol in this world and dies while he is a *mudmin* to it, not having repented, will not be given \[anything\] to drink in the Hereafter.”[^39] It is important to note with these narrations that *mudmin* was used to broadly describe intentional habitual use of something and not necessarily psychological addiction as we understand the term today. Addiction is a formal psychiatric diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM-5), the mainstream reference used by mental health professionals in diagnosing mental illnesses. It is referred to as ‘substance abuse disorder’ and includes 11 criteria: 1. Taking the substance in larger amounts or for longer than you are meant to. 2. Wanting to cut down or stop using the substance but not managing to. 3. Spending a lot of time getting, using, or recovering from use of the substance. 4. Cravings and urges to use the substance. 5. Not managing to do what you should at work, home, or school because of use of the substance. 6. Continuing to use the substance, even when it causes problems in relationships. 7. Giving up important social, occupational, or recreational activities because of use of the substance. 8. Using the substance again and again, even when it puts you in danger. 9. Continuing to use the substance, even when you know you have a physical or psychological problem that could have been caused or made worse by it. 10.  Needing more of the substance to get the effect you want (tolerance). 11.  Development of withdrawal symptoms, which can be relieved by taking more of the substance. Severity of addiction is determined by the number of criteria that apply to an individual (Mild 2-3; Moderate 4-5; Severe > 6). From the above criteria, four domains of addiction have been recognized: physical dependence, risky use, social problems, and impaired control. Physical dependence refers to the neurobiological changes that occur due to repetitive activation of reward pathways in the brain.[^40] One of these changes is described as ‘tolerance’ and is the 10th criterion listed in the DSM-5. Tolerance occurs when the same amount of stimulus evokes a smaller effect due to its repeated use.[^41] Dependence is evidenced by ‘withdrawal symptoms’ whereby an individual becomes physiologically unstable without the substance.[^42] Impaired control, risky use, and social problems constitute the behavioral manifestations of addiction. Ibn al-Qayyim insightfully makes reference to all four of these domains in his poetic yet academically precise conceptualization of addiction. ![Ibn al-Qayyim insightfully makes reference to all four of these domains in his poetic yet academically precise conceptualization of addiction.](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/physicaldependence-797x1024.png) It is also intriguing that Ibn al-Qayyim references two categories of addiction in this passage—behavioral (e.g., sex) and substance (e.g., alcohol). The notion of being addicted to a behavior rather than a substance is only starting to be recognized and its relationship with substance addiction is hotly debated.[^43] The DSM-5 includes the broad diagnostic category of Substance-related and Addictive Disorders. There is a subsection of Non-substance-related Disorders that currently only includes gambling disorder. Internet gaming disorder has been mentioned as an area where further research is required.[^44] Outside of the DSM-5, there is a recognition of other problematic internet behaviors including social networking, pornography viewing, and online shopping.[^45] As mentioned earlier, the ICD-11 does include a category called compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD).[^46] It is interesting that the Qur’an groups alcohol (substance) and gambling (behavior) together, > O you who have believed, indeed, alcohol, gambling, (sacrificing on) stone altars (to other than Allah), and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.[^47] This verse informs us of an essential dimension of addiction largely ignored by therapists. From a spiritual perspective, both substances and behavior share a common satanic pathway in the formation and maintenance of addiction. Al-Alūsī comments on verse 5:90, “It occurs from his (the devil’s) actions because he causes it with his allurement (*tazyīn*) and temptation (*taswīl*). It is also said, the ‘from’ (*min*) indicates origin—that is to say it emerges from his actions.”[^48] It is important to understand when benefitting from empirical research that neural correlates in the brain to conscious states are only correlations. An important scientific axiom to keep in mind is ‘correlation does not imply causation.’[^49] Just because two things are correlated does not mean there is a causal relationship between the two. It is possible that there is a third variable that is unaccounted for to explain this correlation. For example, ice cream sales are correlated with shark attacks.[^50] Does this mean consuming ice cream is causing sharks to attack humans? Not at all. Rather, an interpretation of the data that makes sense is that when it is summer, people are more likely to consume ice cream and swim in the ocean. Therefore, there will be an increase in both ice cream sales and shark attacks. The cause of the increased shark attacks is simply the increased number of humans in the ocean. When we return to the issue of neural correlates of consciousness, this problem is magnified. How can something physical like neurotransmitters cause something non-physical like conscious experience?[^51] This is a problem that philosophers of science like David Chalmers have recognized for decades and is dubbed, ‘the hard problem of consciousness.’[^52] This is not a matter of an empirical ‘missing link’ that we will discover the more we study the brain. Rather, this is an issue of attempting to understand the connection between two qualitatively different realms—the objective and the subjective. Thomas Nagel famously elucidates this problem through the example of bat science  in his 1980 work entitled, “What is it like to be a bat?”[^53] He explains that no matter how much we learn about bats through objective data, we will remain ignorant of their conscious subjective experience. This failure of the scientific enterprise to understand consciousness indicates its limitations when attempting to describe something that is non-physical. This is why we cannot exclusively rely on neuroscientific perspectives when attempting to understand why people become addicted to behaviors or substances. The manipulation from demonic forces through our desires is an essential aspect of the conscious experience of addiction. This is something that was recognized by the psychoanalytic movement in the early 1900s. David Schoen, a contemporary Jungian analyst reflects on his experience with addiction clients, “I believe that people are drawn to it because of its allure of incredible power and energy, of unimaginable freedom, of the ultimate fulfillment of a desire for status, mastery, and prestige, and of the promise of superhuman potency.”[^54] He later recounts, “Many addicted people tell of histories and experiences of complete inadequacy and impotency without their fix. Some men and women have no social courage or confidence without alcohol or drugs, but with them they feel invincible and powerful and self-assured.”[^55] This is a fascinating insight in light of the first whispers of the devil into human consciousness, > Then Satan whispered to him; he said, “O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and a kingdom that will never waste away?”[^56] > > But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, “Your Lord did not forbid you from this tree except that you become angels or become immortal.”[^57] In addition to these individual factors there is a strong role that society plays in generating, maintaining, and exacerbating the problem of addiction. Poverty, broken homes, abuse, and other chronic social stressors can make subpopulations in a society particularly vulnerable to becoming addicted to substances and/or behaviors.[^58] This problem becomes magnified when these vulnerabilities are exploited by multi-million dollar industries like the alcohol,[^59] tobacco,[^60] gambling,[^61] pornography[^62], [^63] and even pharmaceutical companies.[^64] Given the clear connection between demonic forces and falling prey to our desires, it behooves us to consider a rehabilitation program for Muslims that is rooted in a more realistic framework than the one provided by the scientific community. This framework includes essential elements of the Islamic worldview with regards to human consciousness. This project is taken up by Ibn al-Qayyim in the next section. *Learn about the dangers of pornography and how to protect yourself from it in the video below:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEvhpeSIkxg --- ## 50 strategies for treating addiction How can a person be cured from this after falling into it? It is only possible to be cured with the help of Allah and His guidance in a number of matters. 1\. A resolute determination (*ʿazīma*) to free himself from addiction along with a strong protectiveness (*ghīra*) over himself (that fuels his determination). 2\. Ingesting the bitter potion of *ṣ**abr* (patience; self-regulation; willpower), capable of restraining the soul during those times of desire. 3\. The strength and courage to ingest this “potion” for the entirety of the time of desire along with a good life that a person is able to attain his *ṣabr* from. 4\.  Imagining the desired outcome—being cured with the potion of  *ṣabr*. 5\.  Realizing that the pain \[associated with giving in to the desire\] is more than the pleasure of following the desire. 6\. Thinking about your station with Allah and your reputation in the hearts of His creation —this is better and more beneficial than the pleasure of the desire. 7\.  Prioritizing the pleasure, honor, and sweetness of chastity over the pleasure of sin. 8\.  Experiencing the joy of conquering your enemy and subduing him, handing him a humiliating defeat, making him angry, sad, and distressed. Allah loves when His servants subdue and enrage the enemy as He says in His Honored Book, “...Nor do they tread on any ground that enrages the disbelievers, nor do they inflict upon an enemy any infliction but that is registered for them as a righteous deed.”[^65] And He said, “...in order to enrage the disbelievers through them (the believers)”[^66] and He, Most High, said, “And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many \[alternative\] locations and abundance.”[^67] This means places where they will subdue the enemies of Allah. A sign of true love is angering the enemies of the Beloved and subduing them. 9\.  Considering the fact that you were not created for your desire, rather your purpose is much loftier. This purpose cannot be achieved except through resisting your desire as it is said, “You have been prepared for a \[great\] affair if you only realized it. So raise yourself lest you continue to graze with negligence.”[^68] 10\. Realizing that by choosing sin, you reach a state lower than the animals. This is because animals can naturally differentiate between what will benefit and harm them. Consequently, they always choose benefit over harm. Human beings are given an intellect for this purpose. So, if they are unable to distinguish between what will harm them or benefit them or they know but still prefer what is harmful, then the animals are better than them. The evidence for this is that animals achieve a pleasure from eating, drinking, and sex that is not for the human being as they live a blissful life free of thinking or worries. This is why when they are driven to the place of slaughter: they are busy with their desires due to their lack of awareness of the consequences. Humans are not able to attain what animals attain because they have a strong capacity for thinking and multiple tools at their disposal. So if a person attains an excess of what they desire, then they have lost the status of humanity, who are the purest of the world, and they have been reduced to the level of animals. They have neglected the intellect, knowledge, and realization that defines humanity. 11\. Thinking about the consequences of the desires. Reflect on how much virtue is lost and how much vice is gained. Reflect on how one (problematic) bite can stop one from eating altogether, or how one pleasure can prevent many pleasures. How many desires have destroyed a person’s status, humiliating them, earning an evil reputation, resulting in disgrace, and ending in abasement. He becomes tainted, unable to be purified with water and (is unable to see this taint because) the eye of the one overcome with desire is blind. 12\. The person should compare a discerning individual who achieves his purpose to a person who fulfills his desire and then imagine the consequences of both. What was lost (by the former) and what was gained (by the latter)? “The best of mankind are those who don’t embark on a journey until they discern all the consequences they may reap.”[^69] 13\. He should imagine this in relation to others and then make a judgment based on analogy. 14\. He should deliberate on what the *nafs* really wants from that desire and then he should be advised by his intellect and religiosity, both of which will tell him that it is not worth anything. Abdullah ibn Mas’ūd said, “If a woman impresses one of you, then let him think about her foul odors.” This is better than what was said by Aḥmad al-Husayn, “If the lustful one were to think about the ending of the beauty that captured him, he would not have been captured.”[^70]This is \[better\] because Ibn Mas’ūd mentioned an immediate state whereas the poet mentioned a future state. 15\. His self-respect should prevent him from the disgrace of being defeated by his desires. Anyone who falls to their desires finds humiliation in their heart. Do not be deluded by the influence and status of those who follow their desires as they are the most humiliated of the people. They combine both qualities of arrogance and humiliation. 16\. He should weigh the value of his religion, honor, wealth, and status against attaining the pleasure he is craving. He will find no comparison between the two and will realize that only a fool would sell all of that for fleeting pleasure. 17\. He should prevent himself from being taken captive by his enemy. When Shayṭān (Satan) sees a servant who is weak in resolve and inclining toward his cravings, he (Shayṭān) is assured regarding him, he wrestles him and takes hold of the bridles of his desires and drives him to wherever he wishes. But when Shayṭān perceives a strong resolve, self-respect, and lofty ambitions, he is not assured regarding him except passing glances. 18\. He should know that desire corrupts everything it mixes with. If it occurs with knowledge (*ʿilm*), it becomes misguided innovation (*bidʾah*) and the person becomes from the people of deviation. If it occurs with asceticism (*zuhd*), then it takes a person to ostentation (*riyāʾ*) and opposition to the Sunnah. If it occurs while giving judgment, then it takes a person to oppression and diverting from the truth. If it occurs in distribution \[of wealth\], then it diverts from a just division to an unjust division. If it occurs in allying and excluding, then it makes a person betray Allah and the Muslims since they ally according to their desires and exclude according to their desires. If it occurs in worship, then it takes a person away from compliance and proximity with Allah. As can be seen, desires corrupt whatever they associate with. 19\. He should realize that Shayṭān can only enter the human being through the gate of desire. He roams around the heart to get to know where he can enter so he can corrupt the person’s heart and actions. He does not find any entry except through the gate of desires. So he flows with a poison that affects all the body parts. 20\. He should know that Allah has made desires opposed to what has been sent down to His Messenger ﷺ. He made following desires a hindrance in following the messengers. He has divided mankind into two categories—those who follow revelation and those who follow their desires. This occurs frequently in the Qur’an, for example, “If they do not respond to you, then know that they are only following their desires”[^71] and His saying, “And if you follow their desires after knowledge that has come to you…”[^72] and \[verses\] similar to these. 21\. He should know that Allah analogizes those who follow their desires as the lowest of animals in form and meaning. In some instances \[the analogy is\] to a dog, “But he adhered \[instead\] to the earth and followed his own desire. So his example is like that of the dog”;[^73] in other instances it is to donkeys, “As if they were alarmed donkeys. Fleeing from a lion?”[^74] And in other instances it involved transforming them into apes and pigs. 22\. He should know that following desires disqualifies from leadership or being followed. Allah excludes them from leadership and prohibits obeying them. As for excluding them, Allah said to His beloved (*khalīl*) Abraham, “‘Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people.’ (Abraham) said, ‘And of my descendants?’ (Allah) said, ‘My covenant does not include the wrongdoers.’”[^75] That is to say My covenant of leadership does not include an oppressor.  Whoever follows his desires is an oppressor as Allah said, “Those who commit oppression follow their desires without knowledge.”[^76] As for prohibiting obedience to them, then it is from His saying, “Do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever (in) neglect.”[^77] 23\. He should know that Allah made the follower of desire in the same category of a worshiper of idols, “Have you seen the one who takes his own desires as his god?”[^78] This occurs twice in His book. Al-Ḥasan[^79] (d. 110/728) said, “He is a hypocrite, anything he desires he fulfills.” He also said, “The hypocrite is a slave to his desires, anything he desires he does.” 24\. Desires are what surround Hellfire and so whoever falls into them, they have fallen into Hellfire as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Paradise is surrounded by hardships and Hellfire is surrounded by desires.”[^80] The Prophet ﷺ also said, “When Allah created Paradise and the Fire, He sent Jibrīl to Paradise, saying: ‘Look at it and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.’” He ﷺ said: “So he came to it and looked at it, and at what Allah had prepared in it. He (Jibrīl) said: ‘Indeed, by your Might, none shall hear of it except that he shall enter it.’ Then He gave the order for it to be surrounded with hardships. He said: ‘Return to it and look at it, and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.’” He ﷺ said: “So he returned to it and found it surrounded with hardships. He returned to Him and said: ‘Indeed, by your Might, I fear that none shall enter it.’ He ﷺ said: ‘Go to the Fire and look at it and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.’ So he found it, one part of it riding the other. So he returned to Him and said: ‘Indeed, by your Might, none shall hear of it and then enter it.’ So He gave the order for it to be surrounded with desires, then He said: ‘Return to it,’ so he (Jibrīl) returned to it, then he said: ‘Indeed, by Your Might, I fear that none shall be saved from it except that he shall enter it.’”[^81] 25\. He should fear his faith being taken away without even realizing it as a consequence of following his desires. It has been attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, “None of you truly believe until his desires follow what I have come with.”[^82] And it has been authentically established that he said, “The thing I fear most for you all is the deviating appetites of your stomach and private organs along with misleading desires.”[^83] 26\. He should know that following desires is from among the destructive qualities. The Prophet ﷺ said, “There are three redemptive qualities and three destructive qualities. As for the redemptive qualities, they are being God-fearing (*taqwa*) in private and public, speaking the truth when content and when angered, and being balanced in richness and poverty. As for the destructive qualities, they are following desires, selfishness, and self-aggrandizement.”[^84] 27\. He should know that resisting desires results in strength of the body, heart, and tongue. The early Muslims would say, “The conqueror of his desires is stronger than a person who single-handedly conquers a city.”[^85] And in an authentic narration attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, “Strength is not through wrestling; rather, strength is being able to control one’s self in anger.”[^86] Every time a person trains to resist their desire, they become stronger and stronger. 28\. Integrity (*marū’a*) is proportional to the opposition of desire. Mu’āwiyyah \[Ibn Abī Sufyān\] (d. 60/680) said, “Good character  is leaving off lusts and opposing one’s desires.”[^87] Hence, following desires makes one’s character stale and opposing desires refreshes one’s character. 29\. He should know that every day the intellect and desire hurry to their owner. Whichever one is stronger disposes of the other and makes the decisions for the day. \[The Companion\] Abū Dardāʾ said, “When a person wakes up, his intellect and desire gather together. If his intellect follows his desire, then it will be an awful day. But if his desires follow his intellect, then it will be a good day.”[^88] 30\. He should know that Allah has paired mistakes with following desires and has paired accuracy (*ṣawāb*) with opposing desires. Some of the early Muslims would say, “If you face a dilemma and are unsure which decision is best, then oppose the one closer to your desires because mistakes come with the bias of following desires.”[^89] 31\. He should know that desire is a disease and its cure is resistance. Some of the spiritual masters would say, “If you want I will inform you of your disease and if you want I will inform you of your cure. Your disease is your desire and your cure is leaving your desire and opposing it.”[^90] \[The famous ascetic\] Bishr al-Ḥāfī (d. 227/842) said, “All calamities are actually found in your desires and all of the cure is found in your opposition toward them.”[^91] 32\. He should know that waging jihad against one’s desires, even if it may not be greater than physical battle, is not lesser than it. A man said to Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, “O Abū Saʿīd, which jihad (lit. striving) is the best? He said, “The jihad against your desires.”[^92] And I heard our Shaykh say, “Jihad against the ego and desires is the foundation of jihad against enemies of Islam. That is because a person cannot participate in that jihad until they have done jihad against their egos and desires first.” 33\. He should know that desires are like humors[^93] and opposing them is a means of achieving equilibrium. He should fear that he goes to excess in any of the humors and maintain a state of equilibrium lest he falls into disease. ʿAbd al-Mālik b. Qurayb \[aka al-Aṣmaʿī\], (d. 216/831) said,”I came across a bedouin man who had severe conjunctivitis with discharge flowing down his cheek. So I said ‘Why don’t you wipe your eyes?’ He said, ‘The doctor prohibited me from that and there is no good in someone who does not desist when something is prohibited and who does not seek counsel before he commands something.’ So I said, ‘Don’t you desire anything?’ He said, ‘Of course I do, but I am guarding myself. Verily the people of Hellfire had their desires overcome their guard so they were destroyed.’”[^94] 34\. He should know that following desires closes the gates of guidance and opens the door of humiliation and  you see (the one who follows desires) attached to this (door of humiliation). Had Allah guided him he would have been upright, but he diverted himself away from the paths of guidance and chose to follow his desires. Al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (d. 187/803) said, “Whoever is overcome by his desires and follows his lusts, the inputs of guidance are cut off.”[^95]     Some scholars said that disbelief occurs in 4 things: anger, lust, craving, and fear. Then it is said, “An example is a man who is angry and kills his own mother.[^96] Another example is a man who lusts and so he becomes Christian.”[^97],[^98]         A report comes from the early Muslims of a person performing circumambulation (*ṭawāf*) around the Kaaba and seeing a beautiful lady. He walks to her side and composes the following poetry,         Both the desire of religion and pleasures are attractive to me         So how can I have both the desire for pleasures and religion?         The lady replied, leave one and you will attain the other.[^99] 35\. He should know that a person’s opinions and intellect become corrupted whenever a person gives in to his desire. This is because they betrayed Allah for it and it is the custom of Allah that when someone betrays Him regarding something, it eventually becomes corrupted. \[The Abbasid Caliph\] al-Muʿtaṣim (d. 227/842) said to one of his companions one day, “O so-and-so, if your desires win, then your reasoning will go.”[^100] I heard a man say to our Shaykh,[^101] “When a man betrays his position as a money appraiser, Allah strips him of his ability to appraise.” So the Shaykh said, “This is also the case for those who betray Allah and His messenger in matters of knowledge.” 36\. He should know that whoever makes space for following his desires will find constriction in his grave and the day of his reckoning. Whoever constricts his desires will find expansiveness in his grave and in his reckoning. Allah alludes to this in His saying, “He repays them for their patience with paradise and silk garments.”[^102] Since patience (*ṣabr*), which involves preventing the self from desires, is something tough and restrictive, they are rewarded with soft silk and expansive paradise. Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī (d. 205-820) commented on this verse, “They are repaid because of their patience over their desires.”[^103] 37\. He should know that following desires prevents a person from moving on the Day of Judgment and from running with those who are saved on the bridge over Hellfire. This is just as their hearts prevented them from their friendship in this world. Muḥammad b. Abī al-Ward said, “Certainly Allah will not save the one who submitted to his desires and the longest delay from moving on the Day of Judgment will be the delay due to one’s desires. When the intellect comes to the arena of motivation, it becomes filled with whatever it wants in accordance to the level of willpower (*ṣabr*). The intellect is precious metal and contemplation (*fikr*) is a chisel.”[^104] 38\. He should know that following desires weakens a person’s motivation (*ʿazāʾim*, sing. *ʿazīma*). Opposing desires strengthens it. Motivation is the vehicle by which the servant journeys to Allah and the abode of the Hereafter. When the vehicle is gone, then the journey will be halted. It was said to \[the famous Muslim sage\] Yaḥyā b. Muʿādh (d. 258/872), “Who is the most determined among humanity? He said, “The one who conquers his desire.”[^105] \[Hadith narrator\] Khalaf bin Khalīfa (d. 181 AH) entered upon \[the Abbasid ruler\] Sulaymān b. Ḥabīb b. al-Muhallab,[^106] and he was with a girl named Badr who had the most beautiful face. So Sulaymān said to Khalaf, “What do you think of this girl?” He replied, “May Allah rectify the Amīr (ruler), my eyes have not seen anything more beautiful than her.” So Sulaymān said to him, “Take her away!” Khalaf said, “I don’t wish to harm the Amīr, for I see he is also very taken by her.” Suleyman said, “Woe to you! Take her away because of how much I am taken by her! This is so that my desires know that I have defeated them.” So Khalaf took her by the hand and exited and he composed the following verses, > I have been gifted, given and favored > > without Sulayman asking for anything in return > > I have been given Badr with all her beauty > > while the full moon (*badr*) has not been given to any human or jinn > > From this day I will never forget his kindness > > Until I am covered by my shroud in my grave[^107] 39\. He should know that the one who rides his desires is like the one who rides an iron horse. It is stubborn and he is unable to control it and he will inevitably be thrown off its mount or it will take him to a place of destruction.  One of the spiritual masters said, “The quickest path to paradise is nonattachment to worldly matters (*zuhd*) and the quickest path to the Hellfire is the love of desires. Whoever is taken by his desires will be swiftly taken to the valley of destruction.”[^108] Another said, “The most virtuous scholar is the one who flees with his religion away from worldly temptations and prevents himself from being driven toward his desires.”[^109] \[Sage and exegete\] ʿAṭāʾ (d. 309/922) said, “Whoever’s desire overcomes their intellect and extinguishes their willpower (*ṣabr*) will become exposed.”[^110] 40\. He should know that the worship of Allah alone (*t**awḥīd*) and following desires are opposed to each other. Everyone has an idol in their heart that is made up of their desires. Allah sent His messengers to destroy the idols and to establish the worship of Allah alone without any partners. The intention was not to merely destroy the physical idols while leaving others in the heart. But rather what was intended was to break the idols in the heart first and foremost. > \[Hadith narrator\] al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī at-Muṭawiʾī (d. 371/981) said, “Everyone fashions an idol from their desires. Whoever breaks them with resistance is worthy of being called a hero (*futuwwa*).” Ponder upon this quote from Ibrāhīm *ʿalayhis-salām*, “What are these statues that you are devoted to?”[^111] See how it applies to the statues of what the heart desires, being devoted to them and worshiping them alongside Allah. Allah said, “Have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god? How can you be made responsible for him? Or did you think that most of them actually listened or gave thought? They are nothing but cattle. In reality they are even more lost from the path.”[^112] 41\. He should know that opposing desires is curative for illnesses in the heart and the body. Following desires brings about disease in both. All diseases of the heart can be reduced to following desires. If a person were to pay close attention to the physical diseases they would find that the majority of them come from preferring desires over what is meant to be avoided. 42\. He should know that if a person follows their desires, their heart is filled with animosity, hatred, jealousy, and evil. Whoever abandons their desires feels tranquil in the heart and body. \[Muslim sage\] Abū Bakr al-Warrāq (d. 280/893) said, “When a person is overcome by desire, his heart becomes dark. When his heart becomes dark, his chest is constricted. When his chest is constricted, his character becomes foul. When he has a foul character, he will be angry at the creation and the creation will be angry at him.”[^113] Then see the evil, animosity, and injustice that emerges from this hatred. 43\. He should know that Allah has created desires and the intellect within the human being. When one gains dominance, the other one hides. As Abū ʿAlī al-Thaqafī (d. 328/940) said, “When a person is defeated by his desires, the intellect hides from him.”[^114] Then see the consequences of the one who is veiled from his intellect. ʿAlī b. Sahl (d. 256/870) said, “Intellect and desires are in a constant struggle against each other. Guidance is the outcome of the intellect and humiliation the outcome of desires. The self is suspended between them. It will be with whichever of the two wins the battle.”[^115] 44\. He should know that Allah has made the heart the king of the body. It is also the center for knowing Allah, loving Him, and worshiping Him. He tests the heart with two rulers, two armies, two sets of allies and two armories. *Ḥaq* (Truth), *rushd* (conscience) and *hudā* (guidance) form the Sultan (ruler). Its allies are the angels and its army is composed of *ṣidq* (truthfulness) and *ikhlās* (sincerity) and opposing one’s desires. On the other side, *bāṭil* (falsehood) is the Sultan and its allies are the devils and their armies, while following desires is the armory. The *nafs* (ego) is between these two armies. The army of *bāṭil* can only advance in the heart through its gaps until it mixes with the heart and surrounds it. Thus, the *nafs* is with its enemy surrounding the heart. In fact, the *nafs* is the one who gave its enemy the armory beforehand. At this moment, the enemy opens the gates to the city, enters, and conquers it. The heart is humiliated and defeated. 45\. He should know that the most harmful enemies to an individual are his own desires and Shayṭān. The most faithful companions for him are his intellect and the angels that inspire him toward goodness. If a person chooses to follow his desires, he willingly submits to his enemy as a captive and is humiliated. He is the worst of friends and allies. This is a severe calamity (*jahd al-balāʾ*), a miserable end (*darak ash-shaqā*), bad fate (*sūʾ al-qaḍāʾ*) and the malicious joy of our enemies (*shamātat al-aʿdāʾ*).[^116] 46\. He should know that for every individual, there is an initial action and then the inevitable consequences of that action. Whoever starts with following desires will inevitably become humiliated, debased, deprived, and struck with a wide array of calamities according to the number of desires followed. This will all eventually become a punishment that his heart is tormented with as it is said, The ill treatment of family is appealing to the youth But in old age it will become punishment If you were to think about every evil state you would see it began with being carried away by desires and preferring desires over the intellect. Whoever begins by opposing their desires and yielding to the call of forthrightness, then his end will be honor, nobility, richness, high status with Allah, and high status with the people. \[Jurist and sage\] Abū Alī ad-Daqāq (d. 405/1014) said, “Whoever controls his desires in his youth, Allah will honor him in his old age.”[^117] It was said to Muhallab bin Abī Ṣufrah (d. 83/702), “How did you attain what you attained?” He said, “Through strong determination and opposing desires.”[^118] So this is the beginning and the end in this worldly life. As for the Hereafter, Allah has made Paradise the end of resisting desires and Hellfire the end of the one who follows their desires. 47\. He should know that desire is slavery of the heart, a chain around the neck, and shackles around the legs. Following desires is imprisonment by every evil master. Whoever opposes their desires is liberated and achieves freedom. It breaks the shackles on his neck and legs and he becomes like a man who is only owned by one master after having quarreling masters.[^119] The impulses of desires may be covered But when the cover is removed he is exposed The one with desires is a slave So when he overcame his desires he became the king[^120] \[Hadith master\] Ibn al-Mubārak (d. 181/797) composed the verses, Ushering from calamities are signs and indications Do you not see the agitation of the one who is overcome with desires? The real slave is the one who is a slave to his desires The free person is both full and hungry at times.[^121] 48\. He should know that whoever opposes his desires has entered a contract with Allah. Allah has guaranteed to fulfill the desired need with much more than what a person has given up. So he becomes like a person who wants dung but is given pearls as a replacement. Following desires makes a person lose what is beneficial for him in this world and the next. An incredibly blissful life emerges from victory over one’s desires. Look at the blessings that came to Prophet Yusuf, peace be upon him, after prison as a result of his restraint against unlawful desires. \[Hadith master\] ʿAbdur-Raḥmān b. Mahdī (d. 198/814) said, “I saw Sufyan al-Thawrī (d. 161/787) in a dream so I said, ‘What has Allah done with you?’ He said, ‘As soon as I was placed in my grave I was standing before Allah and He gave me an easy accounting then He sent me to Paradise. So I started to roam around its trees and rivers, I did not hear anything until someone said, “Are you Sufyān ibn Saʾīd?” and I said, “Yes I am Sufyān ibn Saʾīd”, so the caller said, “You preferred Allah over your desires one time?” I said, “Yes indeed by Allah,” Then I was given a spread of treats from all of Paradise.’”[^122] Abd al-Razzāq said, “\[The Caliph\] Abū Ja’far sent loggers when Sufyān al-Thawrī escaped to Mecca. He told them to crucify him. So they made a wooden plank and called for Sufyān. At this time Sufyān was hiding in the house of al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ. His companions said to him, ‘Fear Allah and do not let the enemies have their way with us.’ So he went to the curtain and grabbed it with his hand and said I will leave this if Abū Ja’far enters the city. Abū Ja’far died before entering Mecca.”[^123] So reflect on the good consequences of opposing desires. Look at how he was able to achieve such a status. 49\. He should know that opposing desires brings about nobility in this world and the next. A person is dignified outwardly and inwardly. Following desires lowers a person in this world and the next and he is humiliated outwardly and inwardly. When Allah gathers all of humanity in one plain and a caller calls out, “So that the people in the gathering can know who the noble people are on this day and so the pious can stand on a station of honor,”[^124] then those who followed their desires will be turned on their heads from the heat, sweat, and pain while the other group will be under the shade of the throne. 50\. When you reflect on the seven categories of individuals whom Allah shades in the shade of His throne—a day where there is no shade except His,[^125] you will find each attained this shade through opposition of their desire. The ruler cannot achieve justice except by going against his own desires. The youth preferring worship of his Lord over his youthful impulses can only develop by opposing his desires. The man whose heart is attached to the *masjid* can only do that by opposing his desires and opposing the temptation to go to places of carnal pleasures. The anonymous donor can only remain anonymous by conquering his desires. The one who refused the call by a beautiful noble woman is doing so out of fear of Allah and opposing his desire. The one who remembers Allah in solitude and cries from his reverence of Allah can only attain this by opposing his desires. So the heat, sweat, and severity on the place of gathering will not reach any of them on the Day of Judgment. The heat and sweat will reach all those who were accomplices to their desires. At this point they will be waiting to enter the true prison of their desires. So Allah’s help is sought to protect us from the desires of the self that commands us to evil and He makes our desires follow what He loves and what He is pleased with. Certainly, Allah has power over all things. ### Commentary on the 50 points #### Methods Ibn al-Qayyim lists 50 distinct instructional benefits for those struggling with addiction. We conducted an inductive qualitative grounded-theory analysis of these benefits using an iterative approach.[^126] This analysis consisted of five steps: (1) analyzing the data; (2) generating initial codes; (3) identifying subcategories; (4) identifying major categories; and (5) Formulating the theory. The first two steps consisted of reading and reviewing Ibn al-Qayyim’s 50 points and coding them based on the number provided in the chapter. The third step consisted of grouping items together based on similarities. There were 5 distinct subcategories created: negative consequences of addiction, positive consequences of healing, facilitators of healing, barriers to healing, visualizations. Themes were generated through analyzing the similarities within each group. Some points contained multiple ideas and so some appeared in more than one category. The fourth step identified two major categories (Psychoeducation and Behavioral Instruction). The fifth step generated an organized structure to Ibn al-Qayyim’s rehabilitation program. --- ## Ibn al-Qayyim’s rehabilitation program ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/rehabilitationimage-1024x776.png) --- ## Psychoeducation *Negative consequences of being addicted* (10; 17; 18; 20-26; 30-31; 34-43; 45-47) - State of humiliation, disgrace, and abasement - Loss of control - Loss of worldly blessings - Loss of spiritual blessings - Pain and suffering in the next life *Positive consequences of healing* (27-28;30-33;36;38;41;43;47-50) - Strong character - Strong resolve and determination - Achieving inner freedom - Clarity of purpose - Protection from calamities in this world and the next - High status with Allah and with people *Facilitators of Healing* (1-3; 7; 9; 15; 17; 44-45) - Commitment - Sincerity - Truth - Guidance - Protective love over one’s self - Strong motivation and determination for success - Strong aversion to failure - Courage - Self-regulation *Barriers to Healing* (19; 44-45) - Arousal of desire - Idle thinking and heedlessness - Sinful lifestyle - Shayṭān --- ## Behavioral instruction *Visualizations* (4-6; 8; 11-14; 16; 29; 44) - Imagine the end-state of being cured and all of the associated joy and delight. - Imagine the end-state of acting on the impulse and the pain that occurs shortly thereafter. - Think about your status with Allah if you commit the action. - Think about how the people you care about would feel if they knew. - Imagine a transaction where you sell your honor, wealth, property, and faith in exchange for fleeting pleasure. - Visualize the battlefield and aid the forces of good against the forces of evil. ### Discussion Psychoeducation is a recognized part of almost all therapies, mental and physical. It consists of the knowledge imparted regarding addiction phenomenon including consequences of addiction, factors that aid in healing, and factors that prevent healing. It is a specialized form of education that is delivered to patients and families to empower them with essential knowledge regarding the condition to prevent relapse and maintain therapy.[^127] The majority of the discussion by Ibn al-Qayyim can be categorized under psychoeducation. He dedicates significant attention to the negative consequences of addiction and the positive consequences of healing. This serves to reinforce the desire to change. He also describes positive qualities that are part of the journey of healing and that need to be cultivated. This highlights that, to Ibn al-Qayyim, addiction serves a starting point for an ethical and spiritual transformation through the acquisition of positive qualities like sincerity, courage, and patience. The negative qualities are listed as barriers to healing and should be overcome during the rehabilitation process. Behavioral instruction is centered around an intriguing theme of visualization. Visualization is actually a recognized part of guided imagery therapy that has only recently been empirically evaluated for addiction.[^128] Guided Imagery therapy is used to bring about positive changes in thoughts and behaviors, reducing symptoms of mental illness and improving coping skills.[^129] There are various techniques and types of visualization that are used including ‘reinstatement of dream image.’ This can include actual dreams, fantasies, or daydreams. It appears that Ibn al-Qayyim’s visualizations can fit under this genre of guided imagery tools. His rehabilitation program in its entirety can be conceived as a system of guided imagery. All 50 strategies can be centered around the imagery he builds of the heart and the various forces that exist within. The psychoeducation components provide the ingredients necessary to construct strong visualizations. But they can also be synergized to enhance the depth of the visualization. For instance, the 12th idea is, “The person should compare a discerning individual achieving his purpose against a person who is fulfilling his desire and then imagine the consequences of both. What was lost \[by the former\] and what was gained \[by the latter\]?” Although a person may be able to achieve unaided visualization of this idea, its strength and potential for change can be enhanced when their visualization incorporates the ideas in the 44th point, “He should know that Allah has made the heart the king of the body. It is also the center for knowing Allah, loving Him and worshiping Him. He tests the heart with two rulers, two armies, two sets of allies and two armories. *Ḥaq* (Truth), *rushd* (conscience) and *hudā* (guidance) form the Sultan (ruler). Its allies are the angels and its army is composed of *ṣidq* (commitment to truth) and *ikhlās* (sincerity) and opposing one’s desires. On the other side, *bāṭil* (falsehood) is the Sultan and its allies are the devils and their armies, while following desires is the armory. The *nafs* (self) is between these two armies. The army of *bāṭil* can only advance in the heart through its gaps until it mixes with the heart and surrounds it. Thus, the *nafs* is with its enemy surrounding the heart. In fact, the *nafs* is the one who gave its enemy the armory beforehand. At this moment, the enemy opens the gates to the city, enters, and conquers it. The heart is humiliated and defeated.” ![If Nafs is Controlled](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/nafs-1024x726.png) ![If Nafs is Weak](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/nafsweak-1024x726.png) Another example is the connection with *ṣabr* (willpower). The second and third points explain the importance of building the resource of *ṣabr*. If a person has low levels of *ṣabr*, then the visualizations will lack the potency to produce strong motivational states. Higher levels of *ṣabr* can augment visualizations and produce strong motivational states. --- ## Conclusion We can organize Ibn al-Qayyim’s rehabilitation program into a coherent narrative. Ibn al-Qayyim calls addicts to learn and reflect about the consequences of indulging in forbidden desires. This learning results in increased motivation to conquer their desires and a strong aversion to failure. Such a psycho-spiritual state is the first step toward recovery. He should become reconnected with the concept of *tawḥīd* (Islamic monotheism) in his life and have a consistent means for guidance to enter his heart. This can be achieved through good company, regular recitation of the Qu’ran, contemplation of scripture, studying prophetic traditions, and gaining general beneficial knowledge. After this, he should actively ensure that his environment does not arouse his desires and actively protect himself from the *Shayṭān* through physical and spiritual hygiene. He or she should consistently seek refuge in Allah from *Shayṭān* and mention Allah’s name before eating or entering his or her home. He or she should be cautious of free time that can lead to idle thinking and remove this possibility through proper scheduling and time management. The person should gradually develop their *ṣabr* through a steady increase in positive actions, while ensuring adequate rest and residual fuel. The above represents the important lifestyle changes that should occur in periods where a person does not feel the impulses or urges. When a person feels cravings and urges, he must engage in the prescribed visualizations or ‘guided imagery.’ A person should spend time to train their mind and soul to engage in the visualizations at the onset of craving. The images that a person brings to consciousness, combined with his firm resolve, determination, and willpower can offset the impulse. Step 1: Develop Strong Motivation for Healing Step 2: Purify the Environment Step 3: Develop Strong Willpower Step 4: Utilize Visualization to offset impulses Step 5: Maintenance & Relapse Management ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/5step-803x1024.png) This piece demonstrates the incredible richness of the Islamic tradition. Ibn al-Qayyim’s reflections on the phenomenon of addiction represent the most detailed treatment of the subject recognized to date. Behavioral and substance addictions are a growing issue affecting Muslim communities in the West and in the Muslim world. There has been great progress made in the field of addiction medicine, psychology, counseling, and group therapies that we can benefit from. The benefit of studying Ibn al-Qayyim is to center our approach within the Islamic ecosystem. It is important that therapy emerges from Islamic beliefs, motivating factors, spiritual practices, and its view of the human mind, body, and spirit. We can contribute further wisdom to the tradition by integrating modern empirical insights that can help package some of these ideas within practical therapeutic frameworks. It is our hope that this line of inquiry continues in the field of addiction as an extension of the Islamic tradition. For instance, Ibn al-Qayyim’s interventions are largely based on the individual and he does not mention the role of the community explicitly in his discussion. The importance of positive company is emphasized in our tradition and the role of a therapeutic community in treating addiction has long been recognized in the empirical literature.[^130] Organizing Ibn al-Qayyim’s ideas into group therapy would be an example of an important area for future development that is rooted in the Islamic tradition while benefiting from other academic fields. This translation and commentary is the beginning of a wider project that aims to provide guidance rooted in the Islamic tradition for believers struggling with addiction. Ibn al-Qayyim’s ideas presented here are fertile ground for the development of faith-based therapies that recognize a person’s Islam as the most important therapeutic factor. --- ## Notes [^1]: Mustafa Ozkan and Betul Solmaz, “Mobile Addiction of Generation Z and Its Effects on Their Social Lives: An Application Among University Students in the 18–23 Age Group,” *Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences* 205 (2015): 92–98. [^2]: Jaclyn Cabral, “Is Generation Y Addicted to Social Media?,” *The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications* 2, no. 1 (2011): 5–14. [^3]: Cabral, “Is Generation Y Addicted to Social Media?” [^4]: Ugurcan Sayili, Betul Zehra Pirdal, Busra Kara, Nurefsan Acar, Emirhan Camcioglu, Erkin Yilmaz, Gunay Can, and Ethem Erginoz, “Internet Addiction and Social Media Addiction in Medical Faculty Students: Prevalence, Related Factors, and Association with Life Satisfaction,” *Journal of Community Health* 48, no. 2 (2023): 189–98. [^5]: Haseeb Mehmood Qadri, Abdul Waheed, Ali Munawar, Hasan Saeed, Saad Abdullah, Tayyba Munawar, Shaheer Luqman, Junaid Saffi, Awais Ahmad, and Muhammad Saad Babar, “Physiological, Psychosocial and Substance Abuse Effects of Pornography Addiction: A Narrative Review,” *Cureus* 15, no. 1 (2023). [^6]: Joshua B. Grubbs, Samuel L. Perry, Jennifer T. Grant Weinandy, and Shane W. Kraus, “Porndemic? A Longitudinal Study of Pornography Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Americans,” *Archives of Sexual Behavior*, 115. [^7]: Jonathan K. Noel, Sharon Jacob, Jennifer E. Swanberg, and Samantha R. Rosenthal, “Pornography: A Concealed Behavior with Serious Consequences,” *Rhode Island Medical Journal* 106, no. 3 (2023), 29–34. [^8]: Dane Mauer-Vakil and Anees Bahji, “The Addictive Nature of Compulsive Sexual Behaviours and Problematic Online Pornography Consumption: A Review,” *Canadian Journal of Addiction* 11, no. 3 (2020): 42–51. [^9]: Ewald, D. R., Strack, R. W., & Orsini, M. M. (2019). Rethinking addiction. *Global Pediatric Health*, *6*, 2333794X18821943. [^10]: Karnani, A. (2013). Impact of alcohol on poverty and the need for appropriate policy. *Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health*, 354. [^11]: Brown-Johnson, C. G., England, L. J., Glantz, S. A., & Ling, P. M. (2014). Tobacco industry marketing to low socioeconomic status women in the USA. *Tobacco control*. [^12]: Markham, F., & Young, M. (2015). “Big gambling”: the rise of the global industry-state gambling complex. *Addiction Research & Theory*, *23*(1), 1-4. [^13]: McKee, A. (2007). The relationship between attitudes towards women, consumption of pornography, and other demographic variables in a survey of 1,023 consumers of pornography. *International Journal of Sexual Health*, *19*(1), 31-45. [^14]: Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). Adolescents and pornography: A review of 20 years of research. *The Journal of Sex Research*, *53*(4-5), 509-531. [^15]: Hadland, S. E., Rivera-Aguirre, A., Marshall, B. D., & Cerdá, M. (2019). Association of pharmaceutical industry marketing of opioid products with mortality from opioid-related overdoses. *JAMA network open*, *2*(1), e186007-e186007. [^16]: Carl G. Jung and I. May, “The Bill W.—Carl Jung Letters,” *AA Grapevine* 19, no. 8 (1963): 2. [^17]: Jung and May, “The Bill W.” [^18]: Jung and May, “The Bill W.” [^19]: Jon E. Grant, Marc N. Potenza, Aviv Weinstein, and David A. Gorelick, “Introduction to Behavioral Addictions,” *The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse* 36, no. 5 (2010): 233–241. [^20]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAzīz Shams (Jeddah: Dār ʿAlam al-Fawāʾid, 2010). [^21]: Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān al-ʿamal*, ed. Sulaymān Dunyā (Cairo: Dār al-Maʾārif, 1964), 251. [^22]: While a previous study covered the topic of addiction in the works of Ibn Qayyim Al‐Jawziyyah, it did not recognize his role as a pioneer in this field; See Abdul Wahhab Md. Ali, W. M. Y. bin Wan Chik, W. H. bin Wan Jusoh, M. S. bin Mokhtar, “An Analysis on Stages of Addiction According to Ibn Qayyim Al‐Jawziyyah’s Theory of al‐Ishq,” *Man India* 97, no. 22 (2018): 425–32. [^23]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, ed. Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Wāḥīd (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Ḥadītha, 1962). [^24]: 2010 publication by Dār ʿĀlim al-Fawāʾid in Jeddah, pp. 629-649. [^25]: This refers to an iterative inductive analysis that seeks to identify an overarching theory from a dataset. The exact process is outlined in the relevant section. [^26]: The Arabic text of the chapter is available online [here](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/417/656&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1704412299663606&usg=AOvVaw38TK2ZAPTCuOH3uvx4_Lxy). [^27]: Ibn al-Qayyim is referring to previous chapters of the book that have quoted these verses and narrations in detail. [^28]: Qur’an, 57:27, Sahih International translation. [^29]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn* (Jeddah: Dār ʿĀlam al-Fawāʾid, 2010), 17. [^30]: Ibid. [^31]: The issue of earning prizes from competition is a detailed one. The area of agreement among the four schools of Islamic law, the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shafiʾī, and Ḥanbalī schools, is the permissibility of earning prizes for horse racing, camel racing, and archery. Ibn al-Qayyim, *Kitāb al-furūsiyya al-Muḥammadiīyya* (Jeddah: Dār ʿĀlam al-Fawāʾid, 2007), 254. This is based on the explicit narration of a hadith, “There are no competitive \[awards\] except in archery, camel racing, and horse racing.” *Jamiʾ al-Tirmidhī*, hadith no. 1700. There is a disagreement regarding the permissibility of competing in other modes like foot racing, swimming, wrestling, and knowledge. The interested reader can refer to Ibn al-Qayyim’s *Kitāb al-furūsiyya*, 254–65, where he analyzes these issues in detail and presents his own position. [^32]: The four humors was the classical model of physiology and pathology endorsed by physicians as a way to conceptualize health and disease. The humors were types of fluid found in the body: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Imbalance of these four results in disease and their balance results in health. Ibn al-Qayyim had trained in medicine while he was in Egypt and had thus absorbed this paradigm of medicine. With the advancement of empirical technology, we have grown in our understanding of human physiology and the various etiologies of diseases. This framework is no longer an adequate scientific model. [^33]: Aḥmad b. ʿAmr b. Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, *al-Sunnah*, no. 15; al-Bayhaqī, *al-Madkhal ilā al-sunan al-kubrā*, hadith no. 209. Shu’ayb al-Arnāʾūṭ and al-Albānī  graded the chain of this narration to be weak (*ḍaʾīf*). [^34]: Abū Nu’aym al-Aṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ* (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1996), 9:123. [^35]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn*, 19. [^36]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5066. [^37]: Ibn Manẓūr, *Lisān al-ʿArab* (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1993), 13:159. [^38]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 3375. [^39]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*. [^40]: Samuel Turton and Anne Lingford-Hughes, “Neurobiology and Principles of Addiction and Tolerance,” *Medicine* 44, no. 12 (2016): 693–96. [^41]: J. Vetulani, “Drug Addiction. Part II. Neurobiology of Addiction,” *Polish Journal of Pharmacology* 53, no. 4 (2001): 303–18. [^42]: George F. Koob, “The Neurobiology of Addiction: A Neuroadaptational View Relevant for Diagnosis,” *Addiction*, *101* (2006): 23–30. [^43]: Mark D, Griffiths, “Behavioural Addiction and Substance Addiction Should Be Defined by Their Similarities Not Their Dissimilarities,” *Addiction* 112, no. 10 (2017): 1718–20. [^44]: Marc N. Potenza, “Non-Substance Addictive Behaviors in the Context of DSM-5,” *Addictive Behaviors* 39, no. 1 (2014). [^45]: Potenza, “Non-Substance Addictive Behaviors.” [^46]: Mauer-Vakil and Bahji, “Addictive Nature of Compulsive Sexual Behaviours.” [^47]: Qur’an, 5:90, Sahih International translation. [^48]: Al-Alūsī, *Rūḥ al-Maʾānī* (Beirut: Dār al-Iḥyāʾ at-Turāth al-Arabī), vol. 7, p. 16. [^49]: Zachary M. Laubach, Eleanor J. Murray, Kim L. Hoke, Rebecca J. Safran and Wei Perng, “A Biologist’s Guide to Model Selection and Causal Inference,” *Proceedings of the Royal Society B* 288, no. 1943 (2021): 20202815. [^50]: Zach, “Correlation Does Not Imply Causation: 5 Real-World Examples,” *Statology*, November 5, 2021, https://www.statology.org/correlation-does-not-imply-causation-examples/. [^51]: Alva Noë and Evan Thompson, “Are There Neural Correlates of Consciousness?” *Journal of Consciousness Studies* 11, no. 1 (2004): 3–28. [^52]: David Chalmers, “The Hard Problem of Consciousness,” *The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness*, 2017, 32–42. [^53]: Nagel, T. (1980). What is it like to be a bat?. In *The Language and Thought Series* (pp. 159-168). Harvard University Press. [^54]: David E. Schoen, *The War of the Gods in Addiction: C. G. Jung, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Archetypal Evil* (N.p.: Chiron Publications, 2020), location no. 1523. [^55]: Schoen, *The War of the Gods in Addiction*, location no. 1531. [^56]: Qur’an, 20:120, author’s translation. [^57]: Qur’an, 7:20, Sahih International translation. [^58]: Ewald, D. R., Strack, R. W., & Orsini, M. M. (2019). Rethinking addiction. *Global Pediatric Health*, *6*, 2333794X18821943. [^59]: Karnani, A. (2013). Impact of alcohol on poverty and the need for appropriate policy. *Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health*, 354. [^60]: Brown-Johnson, C. G., England, L. J., Glantz, S. A., & Ling, P. M. (2014). Tobacco industry marketing to low socioeconomic status women in the USA. *Tobacco control*. [^61]: Markham, F., & Young, M. (2015). “Big gambling”: the rise of the global industry-state gambling complex. *Addiction Research & Theory*, *23*(1), 1-4. [^62]: McKee, A. (2007). The relationship between attitudes towards women, consumption of pornography, and other demographic variables in a survey of 1,023 consumers of pornography. *International Journal of Sexual Health*, *19*(1), 31-45. [^63]: Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). Adolescents and pornography: A review of 20 years of research. *The Journal of Sex Research*, *53*(4-5), 509-531. [^64]: Hadland, S. E., Rivera-Aguirre, A., Marshall, B. D., & Cerdá, M. (2019). Association of pharmaceutical industry marketing of opioid products with mortality from opioid-related overdoses. *JAMA network open*, *2*(1), e186007-e186007. [^65]: Qur’an, 9:120, Sahih International translation. [^66]: Qur’an, 48:29, author’s translation. [^67]: Qur’an, 4:100, Sahih International translation. [^68]: Al-Ḥusayn ʿAlī Ṭāhir al-Ṭughrāʾī, *Lāmīyyat al-ʿajm* (Baghdad: Matbaʿat al-ʿĀnī, 1962), 18. [^69]: A couplet with no author attribution found in the following text with slight word variation: al-Ḥasan b. Masʿūd al-Yūsī, *Zahr al-akam fī al-amthāl wa al-ḥikam* (Casablanca: Dār al-Thiqāfa, 1981), 1:254. [^70]: Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī, *Dīwān al-Mutanabbī* (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1983), 558. [^71]: Qur’an, 28:50, author’s translation. [^72]: Qur’an, 2:120, author’s translation. [^73]: Qur’an, 7:176, Sahih International translation. [^74]: Qur’an, 74:50–51, Sahih International translation. [^75]: Qur’an, 2:124, Sahih International translation. [^76]: Qur’an, 30:29, author’s translation. [^77]: Qur’an, 18:28, Sahih International translation. [^78]: Qur’an, 25:43; author’s translation. [^79]: He is referring to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, the famous early Muslim scholar from the second generation (*tabiʾīn*). [^80]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 6487, author’s translation. [^81]: Al-Tirmidhī, *Jamiʾ at-Tirmidhī*, no. 2560, Darussalam translation, Accessed [online](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2560&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1704412299653121&usg=AOvVaw38tUtbnPy24f9vQaUfC7ZO). [^82]: Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, *al-Sunnah*, hadith no. 15; al-Bayhaqī, *al-Madkhal*, hadith no. 209. Shu’ayb al-Arnāʾūṭ and al-Albānī both graded the narration to be weak (*ḍaʾīf*). [^83]: Ibn Ḥanbal, *Musnad Imām Aḥmad*, hadith no. 19772; *Musnad al-Bazzār*, hadith no. 3251; Shu’ayb al-Arnāʾūṭ stated the narrators of this report to be reliable and al-Albānī graded it authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*); *Ṣaḥīḥ at-Targhīb*, 52. The wording found in existing publication is “misleading trials (*muḍillāt al-fitan*)” rather than “misleading desires (*muḍillāt al-hawā*)” as quoted by Ibn al-Qayyim in this text. [^84]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Shu’b al-imān*, hadith no. 6865. Al-Albānī declared it *ṣaḥīḥ*. [^85]: This saying is attributed to Manṣūr bin ʿAmmār (d. 225/840) in al-Aṣbahānī *Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ*, 9:326. [^86]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, hadith no. 6114, author’s translation. [^87]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm*, 22. [^88]: Ibn Abī Dunya, *Muḥāsabat al-nafs* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1986), no. 84. [^89]: Al-Aṣbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ*, 10:18. [^90]: Attributed to Ibn Sammāk in Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 23. [^91]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 31. [^92]: Ibid., 23. [^93]: See footnote 1 for an explanation of the concept of “humors.” [^94]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 23–24. [^95]: Ibid., 24. [^96]: This would be an example of *kufr asghar* (lesser disbelief) or *kufr dūna kufr* (a disbelief less than major disbelief). [^97]: The person is overcome with desires that are unlawful in Islamic law, so they change their religion to a more permissive one. [^98]: Attributed to al-Ḥajjāj b. Muḥammad al-Aʿwar (d. 206/821). Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 24. [^99]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 24–25. [^100]: Ibid., 25. [^101]: This likely refers to Ibn Taymiyya as Ibn al-Qayyim refers to him with multiple titles including “Shaykh al-Islām” and “Shaykhunā.” He also refers to Abū Ibrāhīm al-Wāsiṭī (d. 711/1311) as “Shaykhunā” in Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Shifāʾ al-ʿilīl* (Beirut: Dār al-Ma’rifa, 1978), 16. He was one of the spiritual masters of Ibn al-Qayyim and could also be potentially referred to here. However, in  *Mustadrak* *ʿalā majmūʾ fatāwā* *shaykh al-Islām Aḥmad Ibn Taymiyya*, which is compiled by the late Shaykh Muḥammad b. Abd al-Raḥmān b. Qāsim (d. 1421/2000), the latter attributes this quote to Ibn Taymiyya: *Muḥammad b. Abd aul-Raḥmān b. Qāsim, Mustadrak ʿalā of the majmūʾ fatāwā shaykh al-Islām Aḥmad Ibn Taymiyya* (self-pub., 1998),  5:229. [^102]: Qur’an, 76:12, author’s translation. [^103]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 25. [^104]: Ibid. [^105]: Ibid., 26. [^106]: He was a ruler under the Abbasid caliphate. This author is unable to find a death year, although given the historical context, he likely lived in the early to middle of the second century hijri. [^107]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 26–27. [^108]: Ibid, 27. Attributed to Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Jarīrī. [^109]: Ibid. Attributed to Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā (d. 234/849). [^110]: Ibid. [^111]: Qur’an, 21:52, author’s translation. [^112]: Qur’an, 25:43–44, author’s translation. [^113]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 29. [^114]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 30 [^115]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*. [^116]: This last sentence is referencing a popular prophetic invocation found in *Ṣaḥīḥ ul-Bukhārī*, no. 6616, “Take refuge with Allah from the difficulties of severe calamities, from having an evil end and a bad fate and from the malicious joy of your enemies.” [^117]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 31. [^118]: Ibid. [^119]: This is an allusion to the Qur’anic metaphor in 39:29 that explains idolatry as a person being ruled by multiple quarreling partners. [^120]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 34. [^121]: Ibid. [^122]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Dhamm al-hawā*, 56. [^123]: Ibid. [^124]: This is a paraphrasing of a statement attributed to the Prophet’s companion and early followers (*athar*), found in multiple collections, attributed to the companions ʿUqbah b. ʿĀmir and Ibn ʿAbbās as well as a an early follower (*tabiʾī*), Rabīʾa al-Ḥarshī. It is found in *Kitāb al-zuhd li-Asad ibn Mūsā*, report no. 77; *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ*, 6:62 and *Shu’b al-Imān*, no. report 3242. Al-Suyūṭī has declared the chain to Ibn ʿAbbās as authentic: al-Suyūṭī, *al-Durr al-Manthūr*, 10:111. [^125]: This is referring to a hadith found in *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 6806. [^126]: Ylona Chun Tie, Melanie Birks, and Karen Francis, “Grounded Theory Research: A Design Framework for Novice Researchers,” *SAGE Open Medicine* 7 (2019): 2050312118822927. [^127]: Ashutosh Atri and Manoj Sharma, “Psychoeducation,” *Californian Journal of Health Promotion* 5, no. 4 (2007): 32–39. [^128]: Kathleen M. Murphy and Douglas M. Ziedonis, “Group Guided Imagery and Music for Adults in Addiction Treatment: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial Feasibility Study,” *Journal of the Association for Music and Imagery* 15, 2016; Srinivasan Aarti, “Effectiveness of Guided Imagery on Stress and Coping among Wives of Alcoholics: A Systematic Review,” *Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology* 14, no. 3 (2020): 146–50. [^129]: Joe Utay and Megan Miller, “Guided Imagery as an Effective Therapeutic Technique: A Brief Review of its History and Efficacy Research,” *Journal of Instructional Psychology* 33, no. 1 (2006). [^130]: Flores, P. J. (2001). Addiction as an attachment disorder: Implications for group therapy. *International Journal of Group Psychotherapy*, *51*(1: Special issue), 63-81. ## Summary Living amidst what may rightly be called a dopaminergic age, the human being today is besieged by carefully engineered pleasures—images, sounds, foods, intoxicants, and digital stimuli—all designed to capture the heart and mind. The decriminalization of recreational drugs, the opioid crisis afflicting even affluent populations, and widespread compulsive engagement with social media, gaming, and sexual content reveal a society structured to maximize the release of dopamine. Studies bear witness to this crisis: one 2011 study found that 59% of its 313 participants self-reported feeling "addicted" to social media, Griffiths and colleagues in 2014 warned of an impending epidemic of internet addiction marked by withdrawal and relapse, and a study in Türkiye found that 16% of university students met criteria for internet addiction. Among the most damaging is addiction to sexual content, whose usage rose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though scholars debate whether "pornography addiction" constitutes a formal diagnosis, problematic use correlates with mental illness, and the ICD-11 includes compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD), listing problematic online pornography use as a symptom. Society itself plays a strong role in generating and worsening addiction. Poverty, broken homes, abuse, and chronic social stressors render subpopulations vulnerable, and this vulnerability is exploited by multi-million dollar industries promoting alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, and opioids. While medicine, psychology, and neuroscience have begun to study these problems, there is a danger in medicalizing social problems and confining analysis to purely empirical paradigms, for this produces blind spots that ignore spiritual factors. As Muslims, it is necessary to recognize the role of the spirit (rūḥ), the ego (nafs), the devils (shayāṭīn), the angels (malāʾika), faith (imānīyyāt), guidance (hidāyah), and divine enabling (tawfīq). Even Carl Jung, in his letter to William Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, acknowledged this deficiency, writing of his conviction that "the evil principle prevailing in this world leads the unrecognized spiritual need into perdition if it is not counteracted either by real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community." Muslims possess the advantage of a revealed framework, and it is within the science of tazkiyat al-nafs (purification of the self) that a rich tradition addressing problematic cravings emerged—one containing insights that Western addiction science would not reach until centuries later. Western scholarship has claimed that the psychological effects of addiction were not formally recognized until the seventeenth century, when Christian (Calvinist) theologians wrote of "losing control" to substances, with specific interventions thought to be absent until the nineteenth century. Before this, the prevailing view derived from the Roman physician Cornelius Celsus (d. 50 C.E.), who conceived of dependence as purely physical, and no notion of behavioral addiction existed until the modern era. In this light, the final chapter of Rawḍat al-muḥibbīn (Garden of the Lovers) by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) is presented in translation and commentary, for he preceded the seventeenth-century theologians by over three hundred years in describing the psychological effects of addiction and the notion of "loss of control," and was the first to explicitly describe addiction to a behavior in addition to substances. Earlier scholars of tazkiya had implicitly recognized such phenomena as habituation (iʾtiyād), and Ibn al-Qayyim's chapter serves largely as a reflective commentary upon the narrations gathered by Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1200) in his Dhamm al-hawā (Blameworthy Desires), particularly its second chapter. This demonstrates the cumulative nature of Islamic scholarship, wherein one scholar builds upon another, and connects us to the light of prophethood carried across the generations. The translation relies upon the critical edition of Bakr Abū Zayd (d. 1429/2008). Ibn al-Qayyim first clarifies that not all desire (hawā) is blameworthy. Desire is an instinctual drive necessary for survival—without the impulse to eat, drink, or procreate, human beings would perish. Just as anger is neither praised nor blamed unconditionally, so too desire; what is blameworthy is excess that exceeds bringing benefit or averting harm. The Islamic view of desire is thus positive, in contrast to traditions emphasizing the denial of basic drives. The Qur'an itself references the monasticism innovated by the followers of Jesus, which Allah never prescribed: "And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion, mercy, and monasticism—which they innovated. We did not prescribe it for them except (that they did so) seeking the approval of Allah." Since the servant can never be wholly separated from desire while he lives, what is realistic (maqdūr lahū) and commanded (maʾmūr bih) is to redirect desire from destruction toward safety—as fornication is diverted to marriage, usury to lawful trade, and gambling to beneficial competition such as horse racing, camel racing, and archery. Yet desire, left to itself, leads to ruin. Al-Shaʿbī (d. 103/721) said, "It is called desire (hawā) because it brings a person down (yahwī)," for it calls to immediate gratification without regard for consequence. Only three faculties—religiosity (dīn), integrity (murūʾa), and intellect (ʿaql)—restrain a person from pleasures ending in pain, and Imam al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/819) illustrated the height of this integrity when he said, "If I knew that cool water would compromise my integrity I would never drink it." Allah mentions desire almost exclusively in a negative context, with the exception of the Prophet's ﷺ words, "None of you truly believes until his desires are made to follow what I have brought." One must therefore appoint two arbiters, intellect and religion, and train oneself to resist even harmless desires so as to be able to resist the harmful. Ibn al-Qayyim stresses that Allah's commands flow from His favor (iḥsān) and mercy (raḥmah), and His prohibitions are meant to protect His servants—revealed law is designed for the flourishing of life. As a means of strengthening willpower, the Prophet ﷺ, as narrated by Abd Allāh b. Masʿūd, directed the young: "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry... and whoever is not able to marry should fast, as fasting is a shield for him." Regarding the descent from desire to addiction, Ibn al-Qayyim observes that the one addicted (mudmin) reaches a state in which he no longer derives pleasure from his object yet cannot abstain from it—indulgence becomes necessary for his very living, so that the alcohol or sex addict experiences not a tenth of the pleasure of one who partakes in moderation. Such a person is likened to a bird caught in a trap, unable to seize the seed and unable to escape. The term mudmin appears in the Sunnah, as in "The mudmin of alcohol is like the worshiper of idols," though it should be noted that classically the word denoted habitual engagement and not necessarily psychological addiction as understood today. Remarkably, Ibn al-Qayyim's description anticipates all four domains recognized in the modern DSM-5—physical dependence, risky use, social problems, and impaired control—and he distinguishes behavioral addiction (such as sexual behavior) from substance addiction (such as alcohol), a distinction only now being debated in the scientific literature. The Qur'an likewise groups a substance and a behavior together: "O you who have believed, indeed, alcohol, gambling, (sacrificing on) stone altars, and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful." Al-Ālūsī, commenting on this verse, explains that these arise from Satan's action through his allurement (tazyīn) and temptation (taswīl). Thus a spiritual dimension is exposed that empirical therapy largely ignores. Here the treatment cautions against over-reliance upon neuroscience, invoking the axiom that correlation does not imply causation, and pointing to what David Chalmers termed "the hard problem of consciousness"—the impossibility of explaining subjective experience by physical neurotransmitters—and to Thomas Nagel's essay "What is it like to be a bat?", which shows that objective data can never capture subjective experience. The satanic manipulation of desire is therefore essential to understanding addiction. Even the Jungian analyst David Schoen observed that addicted persons feel "invincible and powerful and self-assured" through their substances—an insight illuminated by Satan's first whisper to Adam: "O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and a kingdom that will never waste away?" Ibn al-Qayyim then offers fifty strategies for treating addiction, achievable only "with the help of Allah and His guidance." These include resolute determination (ʿazīma) and protective jealousy (ghīra) over oneself; ingesting the bitter potion of ṣabr (patience and self-regulation); recognizing that the pain of sin exceeds its pleasure; considering one's station with Allah; delighting in the defeat of Satan, supported by Allah's words concerning the enraging of disbelievers; recalling one's lofty purpose; and remembering that indulgence reduces a person below the animals. He warns that desire corrupts whatever it touches—turning knowledge into innovation (bidʿah), asceticism into ostentation (riyāʾ), and judgment into oppression—and that Satan enters only through the gate of desire. He cites the Qur'an's likening of the follower of desire to a dog and to donkeys, its exclusion of the wrongdoer from leadership, and its equation of the one who takes his desire as a god with an idolater, upon which al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728) commented that such a one is a hypocrite who fulfills whatever he desires. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Paradise is surrounded by hardships and Hellfire is surrounded by desires," and warned, "The thing I fear most for you all is the deviating appetites of your stomach and private organs along with misleading desires." He also related the three destructive qualities, of which following desire is one, and taught, "Strength is not through wrestling; rather, strength is being able to control one's self in anger." Sayings of Bishr al-Ḥāfī (d. 227/842), al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (d. 187/803), Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/787), and others reinforce that desire is a disease whose cure is opposition, that opposing desire brings freedom, nobility, and shade beneath the Throne on the Day when there is no shade but His, and that each of the seven whom Allah shades attained it through opposing desire. A qualitative grounded-theory analysis of these fifty points yields two major categories: psychoeducation and behavioral instruction. The psychoeducation encompasses the negative consequences of addiction, the positive fruits of healing, the facilitators of healing (commitment, sincerity, truth, guidance, protective love, motivation, courage, and self-regulation), and the barriers (arousal of desire, heedlessness, sinful living, and Satan). The behavioral instruction centers upon visualization—imagining the joy of being cured, the pain following indulgence, one's status with Allah, the grief of loved ones, the ruinous transaction of selling faith and honor for fleeting pleasure, and the battlefield of the heart. This resembles the modern guided imagery therapy only recently evaluated for addiction. Ibn al-Qayyim's program may thus be arranged into stages: developing strong motivation, purifying the environment, developing willpower (ṣabr), employing visualization to offset impulses, and maintaining recovery. His treatment represents the most detailed treatment of addiction recognized to date, and though he does not explicitly address the role of community—despite the emphasis our tradition places on good companionship—this presents fertile ground for future faith-based therapies that recognize a believer's Islam as the most important therapeutic factor. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/uniting-the-ummah-strategies-to-foster-solidarity-with-uyghur-muslims # Uniting the Ummah: Strategies to Foster Solidarity with Uyghur Muslims **Authors:** Shahd Fulath Khan, Hala Bucheeri, Arzu Gul, Dr. Dilmurat Mahmut **Topics:** Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Justice in Islam, Paper, Publication **Published:** December 27, 2023 **Updated:** April 2, 2026 ## Introduction Connection to the community is a vital component of thriving religiosity for Muslims[^1] and provides a sense of belonging that is commonly used in the field of psychology to refer to the human need for acceptance, understanding, and to be part of a greater whole.[^2] Correlating with the Islamic concept of brotherhood and sisterhood (*ukhuwwa*) in the *ummah*, our beloved Messenger ﷺ told us, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[^3] In this paper, we draw upon the prophetic biography (*sīra*) and how the Prophet ﷺ actualized the concept of brother/sisterhood by establishing a sense of belonging and community integration amongst the Medinan Helpers (*anṣār*) and the Meccan Emigrants (*muhājirūn*) during the migration. This paper will take the case study of Uyghur Muslims in the global diaspora, fleeing genocide in China, as a modern-day example of the *muhājirūn* who critically need integration into the greater Muslim *ummah*. This qualitative study draws upon interviews to outline the mental health challenges, loss of sense of belonging, disenfranchisement from the *ummah*, and loss of institutional and community connection experienced by Uyghur immigrants and refugees. As will come to light from the Uyghur interviews detailed later on within this paper, voluntary charity (*ṣadaqa*) and sympathy are felt to fall short of what is expected from the *ummah*. Muslim countries’ continued alliance with and economic reliance on China, the Western Muslim community’s lack of knowledge regarding the Uyghur genocide, the lack of public outcry from the *ummah*, and an absence of concrete political action and advocacy are the major stumbling blocks that have appeared to have frayed the Uyghur community’s sense of belonging to the greater Muslim community. Within this paper, power structures in some Muslim communities and mosques seem to privilege certain races over others, specifically where those who don’t fit neatly into the dominant groups (i.e., Arab, South Asian) are relegated to the margins (e.g., Black, revert, Malaysian, Bosnian, Afghani, Rohingya, Uyghur, and many others). The prophetic model of the mosque will be explored, presenting it as not only a place of worship but as a space for community integration, a shelter for the unhoused, a hospital, and a place of education, among other roles. From this, a parallel will be drawn highlighting the central role of the mosque today in the community integration of Uyghur immigrants and refugees. Finally, recommendations will be presented for how this prophetic model of community empathy and solidarity and the holistic role of the mosque can be revived in our *ummah* today, allowing the Muslim community to serve as the scaffolding upon which Uyghurs are able to restore their sense of belonging. --- ## Vignette *Arzu diligently reached out to Muslim community members and leaders for years, asking their support of the protest against the Uyghur genocide. She tirelessly emailed and phoned every imam, shaykh, or scholar she could find but only received a lukewarm response at best. Finally, it was the day of the protest. Arzu stepped off the public transit bus and scanned the crowd gathering in the public square. While she saw around one hundred of her fellow Uyghur sisters and brothers in attendance, holding posters and banners, she counted just two Muslims from the larger Muslim community at the rally. She picked up her banner and joined the demonstration. While she was protesting, a man came to her and said, “Al-sal**ā**m* *ʿ**alaykum, Sister.” Arzu returned his greeting, hopeful that another member from the greater Muslim community had come to join the protest. Instead, he barked, “Sister, why are you protesting against China? Why not Israel, the US, or India?” Arzu could feel the hot tears streaming down her face as she yelled back at him, “Millions of innocent Uyghur Muslims are in Chinese concentration camps! China is carrying out a Uyghur genocide!” The man offered no reply, but instead, snapped a picture of the protesting crowd before walking away.* The first author first learned about Arzu’s Uyghur community advocacy when they met many years ago while volunteering for a Muslim sisters’ organization. Since then, they have worked on several projects together, including organizing political rallies and community education events, and their children have attended the same Islamic school. Arzu recounted this story in preparation for this paper; she said that, after hearing this man’s harsh reproach, “A part of me gave up.” --- ## Uyghurs in context Approximately 13 million Uyghurs, the majority of whom are Muslim and belong to Turkic-speaking ethnic groups, reside in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or East Turkestan as it is referred to by the Uyghurs. Muslim Turkic tribes who lived in the Uyghur homeland embraced Islam in the fourth/tenth century and have resided there for centuries.[^4] For decades, the Chinese government has attempted to repress and colonize East Turkestan, seeing Muslim identity as a threat to communist power.[^5] Since 2017, Uyghurs have been facing a brutal genocide at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, who have sought to eliminate Uyghur culture by forcefully assimilating Uyghurs into mainstream Chinese culture.[^6] Millions[^7] of Muslim Uyghur men and women have been locked away in forced labor concentration camps, where they endure a humiliating and torturous process of “re-education” designed to rid them of their faith.[^8] Severe religious repression has been enforced; acts of worship such as praying, reading Qur’an, and fasting in Ramadan, have been outlawed.[^9] There are reports of unimaginable brutality ranging from organ harvesting[^10] to mass sterilization[^11] and gang rape.[^12] As one participant in our research shared, > Young \[Uyghur\] men became the target of hate and terror. A lot of them were pious… They just wanted to follow their faith… But the \[Chinese\] state began to conflate religious appearance and violent action. Young men became criminalized and began disappearing. Families were shattered in a lot of ways. It had a larger impact than just the person who was detained… \[The Chinese government\] talked about Islam as a disease—a virus or cancer spreading hate, which needed to be rooted out. In order to build the camp system, you have to dehumanize the population, and thinking of \[Uyghur Muslims\] as terrorists enabled them to do that. In response, tens of thousands of Uyghur Muslims have fled China. Many have settled in over 50 countries around the world. The largest numbers have settled in other ethnically Turkic countries, such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, while smaller populations have migrated to the US (8,000-10,000),[^13] Canada (less than 2,000),[^14] Australia (5,000-10,000),[^15] Sweden (2,000),[^16] Germany (750), and other countries.[^17] --- ## The importance of religious community post-migration The migration and resettlement process is often one of disruption, grief, and uncertainty. When this is compounded by traumatic events such as the threat of torture and genocide, mental health issues like distress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) become pressing concerns.[^18] For example, one participant in our research shared how the time after migration “is not post-trauma, but rather ongoing trauma” as Uyghurs grapple with news of their loved ones being tortured and detained. Even post-migration, Uyghurs have to contend with the constant threat of surveillance and censorship, which has eroded trust internally within the Uyghur community. One participant explained, “There is lots of suspicion within \[the Uyghur\] community. Some are afraid that Uyghurs are informants… \[As a result\] people become more and more isolated.” As is common in the migrant experience, a deficit of social capital is felt amongst the Uyghur diaspora. However, to combat this, research has shown that being part of a religious community often provides congregants with a sense of group solidarity, shared values and identity, validation of beliefs, and a sense of belonging.[^19] Following loss, shared communal religiosity can be a protective factor that helps people through the grieving process, unlike personal religiosity, which does not have the same impact.[^20] Communal religious participation enhances social ties, social support networks, and increases the likelihood of forming friendships.[^21] It also offers a space of shared language, culture, and ethnicity. For these reasons, finding a sense of belonging within one’s religious community post-migration can accelerate integration and prevent mental health issues.[^22] In addition to facilitating the accrual of social capital, many places of worship and faith-based organizations can also offer vital services to newcomers, ranging from food banks, housing assistance, language training, and  job search assistance.[^23] The majority of studies cited above that found a positive relationship between religiosity and sense of belonging measured communal religiosity, where a person’s faith was not confined to their private life but was rather connected to the greater religious community. Supporting such findings, Yaqeen Institute’s analysis of different profiles of religiosity and their connection to mental health also found that confining one’s religious life to the personal and private domain (e.g., engaging only in individual ritual acts of worship like prayer and reading Qur’an in one’s own home) was not associated with mental health benefits.[^24] In contrast, those who engaged with their faith comprehensively through personal worship and connecting to the greater *ummah* experienced the full mental health benefits of religiosity as they actualized Islam as a holistic way of life. Research has found that for Uyghurs in the diaspora, Islam can be a source of deep meaning, empowerment, and identity.[^25] For Uyghurs who have been experiencing religious persecution for so many years, reconnecting with a Muslim community post-migration can be critical to the health of their faith. --- ## The ummah: Creating a community of belonging In our faith, the concept of the *ummah* plays a central role. The *ummah* is a community of believers who all share the same purpose: to worship Allah. This community of believers transcends the boundaries of nation-state, ethnicity, culture, race, and language. As Allah tells us in the Qur’an, “And certainly this *ummah* of yours is one *ummah*, and I am your Lord and Cherisher. Therefore fear Me and no other.”[^26] Belonging to a greater community of faith is a vital part of our religion. As the ‘verse of brotherhood’ reminds us, “The believers are but one brotherhood (*ikhwa*), so make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah so you may be shown mercy.”[^27] Significantly, we know that the bonds of brotherhood don’t come to fruition passively. In fact, in our faith, believers are encouraged to take an *active* role in creating community and facilitating others’ sense of belonging. For example, our beloved Prophet ﷺ advised us, “If there are three of you, do not let two privately converse to the exclusion of the other.” Moreover, in another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not let two privately converse to the exclusion of one, for that will hurt a believer and Allah Almighty hates for a believer to be hurt.”[^28] There is no greater example of the active integration of brothers and sisters into the *ummah* than in the story of migration (*hijra*) to Medina. In this beautiful moment within the *sīrah*, the overwhelming generosity of the helpers and residents of Medina (*anṣār)* towards the emigrants from Mecca (*muhājirūn*) entering their city is staggering. In what follows, we will draw upon this model of integration as we examine religiosity and its impact on the sense of belonging and mental health of the global Uyghur diaspora. --- ## Reviving the sunnah of active integration In the most phenomenal example of active *ukhuwwa*, the Prophet ﷺ called upon his *ummah* to establish official bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood (*muʾākhā*) between the *anṣār* and the *muhājirūn* after their arrival in Medina.[^29] The bonds ran so deep that it was initially legislated that they could even inherit from one another.[^30] Allah extols the generosity of the *anṣār* in the Qur’an: > And \[also for\] those who were settled in Medina and \[adopted\] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give \[them\] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul—it is those who will be the successful.[^31] The *muhājirūn* were so moved by the *anṣār*’s overwhelming acts of generosity that they remarked to the Prophet ﷺ: > O Messenger of Allah! We have not seen a people more willing to sacrifice when having a lot, nor more patient when having a little than the people whom we are staying amongst…[^32] The *m**uhājir* Saʿad b. al-Rabīʿ recounts, > When the emigrants reached Medina, Allah’s Messenger ﷺ established the bond of fraternity (*muʾākhā*) between ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf and Saʿad b. al-Rabīʿ. Saʿad said to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, “I am the richest of all the *anṣār*, so I want to divide my property (between us), and I have two wives, so see which of the two you like and tell me, so that I may divorce her, and when she finishes her prescribed period (i.e., *ʿidda*) of post-divorce, then marry her.” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, “May Allah bless your family and property for you. Where is your market?” So they showed him the Qaynuqāʿ market. He \[went there and\] returned with a profit in the form of dried yogurt and butter. He continued going \[to the market\] until one day he came bearing the traces of a yellow powder. The Prophet ﷺ asked, “What is this?” He replied, “I got married.” The Prophet ﷺ asked, “How much dowry (*mahr*) did you give her?” He replied, “I gave her a datestone of gold or a gold piece equal to the weight of a date-stone.” \[The narrator, Ibrahim, was in doubt as to which was correct.’\][^33] In common vernacular we talk about the generous person as being one who would give the shirt off their back for another. Yet, this incredible act of generosity by the *anṣārī*  Sa’d goes far beyond this. It’s also a beautiful account of the *muhājir*, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān being grateful for the generosity of his brother but seeking means to establish himself on his own. In another narration, it is related, the *anṣār* said \[to the Prophet ﷺ\], “Please divide the date-palm trees between us and them \[i.e., emigrants\].” The Prophet ﷺ said, “No.” The *anṣār* said, “Let them \[i.e., the emigrants\] do the labor for us in the gardens and share the date-fruits with us.” The emigrants said, “We accepted this.”[^34] Such is the power of generosity when we give solely for the sake of Allah. Here, the *anṣār* were ready to give of their most coveted livelihood—their date-palm trees—and again, the Prophet ﷺ appreciated the offer but insisted that the *muhājirūn* should work and strive for their living. The Prophet ﷺ, in his profound wisdom, knew the power of creating a community that was built on social connectedness and, at the same time, a community that offered real opportunity for engagement for the emigrants. Being given the opportunity to work and make an honest living gives people honor and dignity and is a sentiment we can see exemplified in calls for a living wage and skills-bridging programs for immigrant and refugee populations today.[^35] Research has shown how being engaged in “meaningful work,” where a newcomer has the opportunity to put the skills they acquired prior to migration to use in their host country, positively impacts mental health outcomes.[^36] Most people desire productivity and a chance to meaningfully contribute to their society, which in turn creates a sense of dignity and belonging.[^37] With his deep empathy and foresight, the Prophet ﷺ also made a refuge in the mosque for the *muhājirūn* who were unable to establish themselves in Medina by securing a home or getting married, choosing instead to live a life devoted to worship and spiritual service. These Companions were known as the ‘People of the Platform’ (*ahl al-ṣuffa*) or the Companions of the Platform (*aṣḥāb al-ṣuffa)*. Abū Hurayra (may Allah have mercy on him) commented on their poverty, “I saw seventy of  *aṣḥāb al-ṣuffa* in such a condition that none of them had complete dress for himself. Each one of them had one sheet that he tied up with his neck. Some of them had their sheets reach near their ankles but others’ sheets reached just below their knees. Each of them used to hold the partition of his sheet with his hand lest his body be exposed.”[^38] Our beloved Prophet ﷺ cared deeply for the *ahl al-ṣuffa* and would give them charity and feed them or regularly encourage his Companions to do so. Caring for those in disadvantaged situations was a communal effort. Some Companions would bring food, while others offered the nourishment of knowledge by teaching members of the *ahl al-ṣuffa* the Qur’an and how to write.[^39] Living in the Prophet’s Mosque (*al-Masjid al-Nabawī)* allowed members of the *ahl al-ṣuffa*, such as Abu Hurayra (rA), to rise to great prominence and dignity because of their closeness to the Prophet ﷺ and ability to transmit his *sunnah*. In this prophetic vision of the mosque and *ummah*, everyone had the chance to participate and belong. The Prophet ﷺ even worked judiciously to provide the *ahl al-ṣuffa* opportunities to give *ṣadaqa* themselves,[^40] as he knew the transformative effect of the power of giving.[^41] Taking this prophetic framework for integration and community building as inspiration for the current study, it’s clear that expanding access to our mosques will offer newcomers a place of refuge, engagement, and support. Initiatives like resume workshops, parenting support circles, food banks, soup kitchens, and volunteer schemes would provide people with opportunities to give back to the community and help actualize the prophetic vision of the mosque and *ummah* today. Creating newcomer family matching programs or “buddy systems” within the mosque, where a newly arrived family can be matched with an already established family in the community, is also a powerful way for new families to build their social capital and increase their sense of belonging.[^42] There are numerous programs like these offered through settlement agencies and Christian faith communities. Research has found that the Uyghur diasporic community grapples with the anxieties of acculturation. Many Uyghur parents worry that their children will become alienated from Islam after migration and feel their efforts to foster a sense of Uyghur cultural and religious Islamic identity are sabotaged by the influences of the dominant culture and prevailing worldview.[^43] Integrating Uyghur families into the mosque and the broader *ummah* is one way to counteract these ideological forces. --- ## Methods For this qualitative study, Uyghur Muslims residing in the global diaspora were interviewed to explore the following research questions: 1)        What post-migratory settlement and mental health challenges do Uyghur Muslims face and how do they cope? 2)        Do Uyghur Muslims feel a sense of community and belonging post-migration? 3)        What recommendations do Uyghur Muslims have on what needs to be done (e.g., programs, initiatives) to nurture their mental health and well-being as they try to cope with ongoing trauma post-migration? --- ## Sampling Participants were recruited through social media and via outreach from Uyghur organizations and stakeholders. Recruitment and data collection lasted for 6 weeks from June-July 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic).[^44] Convenience sampling and snowballing recruitment took place as the Uyghur population was hard to reach. As a consequence, selection bias is likely present in this study because of the sampling and recruitment methodology. Five men and five women who had experience working with the Uyghur diaspora were interviewed.[^45] Interviewees included 7 Uyghurs who were strong advocates for their local communities and 3 non-Uyghurs who were frontline workers with Uyghur immigrants. All interviews were conducted in English, and Uyghurche-speaking community volunteers verbally translated the survey during the group Zoom call interview, when needed. These participants were interviewed following a semi-structured interview guide. Participants were asked about a range of topics, including specific challenges they were facing post-settlement, causes of low mood in their life, support-seeking behaviors, and their feeling of belonging in their host country. Participants were asked about their coping strategies with traumatic memories of being in East Turkestan and how ties to their now-local religious community affected their sense of belonging. Lastly, Uyghurs were also asked to brainstorm what community and government programs need to be established to support Uyghur communities. Interviews with non-Uyghur activists revolved around their specific experiences working with the Uyghur community. In order to ensure rigor, member checking[^46] was carried out with members of the Uyghur diasporic community in order to ensure that the results and interpretations of the findings resonated with their lived experience. In addition to this, self-reflexivity and positionality were reflected upon by the researchers (Appendix A). Interview transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.[^47] --- ## Results ### Qualitative findings During a 2019 Muslim mental health conference, Dr. Zain Shamoon, a mental health educator and advocate explained, “Genocide happens at two levels: it happens with the eradication of a people *and* with the eradication of their stories. There is healing in witnessing someone’s story and not needing to interrupt it.”[^48] As numbers do not give us the complete picture, we will attempt to convey the lived experiences of the Uyghur diaspora in their own words to honor their stories through the interviews gathered. #### Degrees of isolation Uyghur participants and stakeholders spoke about the deepening degrees of isolation faced by the Uyghur diaspora as a result of being cut off from their families and loved ones. As one Uyghur settled in the US explained, “I can’t have childhood friends and relatives around me.” In addition, Uyghurs post-migration also contend with the constant threat of surveillance, which leads to mistrust of their fellow Uyghurs living abroad, fraying their social networks and sense of safety. One non-Uyghur ally who works with the United Nations explained this loss of trust further, “When someone new shows up, they ask why they are here? What do they want? There’s a real suspicion that they have for one another. There are instances of Uyghurs who report back to China.” At another level, and in line with the focus of this paper, Uyghurs spoke about feeling abandoned by the non-Uyghur Muslim community. One Uyghur in Canada shared, > I feel unsupported because we want to see \[support\] from our Muslim community… at least make supplicatory prayers (*duʿāʾ*) for us, even if they don't raise money financially. Our issue is that we don't \[get\] mention\[ed\]...  in our Muslim community. Not many people talk about us. They forget to mention us while making *duʿāʾ*s. Our issue is not about a hundred people or a thousand people. Like when there was an attack in New Zealand, the number was 56 people, but we still remember them, mention them, talk about them. But millions of Uyghur are at risk… and losing their Islamic belief… How can you ignore it? Beyond the Muslim community, participants also spoke about their experiences with discrimination, xenophobia, and alienation in their host country. As one non-Uyghur United Nations worker explained, “Usually when people look at Uyghurs, they think, ‘They don't speak English’ or ‘They look different.’” #### Multi-level abandonment by the wider Muslim community The feeling that the wider Muslim community had failed to offer a place of belonging to the Uyghur diaspora was widely discussed amongst participants. Taking a multi-level perspective of discrimination,[^49] the experiences of abandonment and disenfranchisement from the wider Muslim community were seen to be multi-layered, occurring at the micro, meso, and macro levels (individual, community, and systemic levels). Micro-level abandonment in what were perceived as empty words of condolence (given the lack of involvement in political advocacy against the Uyghur genocide) was reported to have been experienced at the individual level during daily interactions with the wider Muslim community. As one Uyghur participant in the US remarked, “Either most of \[the wider Muslim community\] don’t know \[what is happening\] or just express their sympathy.” At the meso-level, participants reported that they or Uyghurs they had worked with experienced abandonment within the mosque. This came in the form of  being left out of communal *duʿāʾ*s where other Muslims under oppression were mentioned to the exclusion of the Uyghurs, a lack of welcoming in the mosque, and a lack of mosque fundraising for Uyghur causes. While participants spoke about the ever-present threat of Chinese surveillance that has created suspicion and mistrust between members of the Uyghur community, at the same time, the Uyghur community was often seen as the only source of solace and a safe space to share grief. As one Uyghur in Canada recounted, > Before the pandemic we used to get together once a week in the Toronto Uyghur mosque. It is also a cultural center. We get together and try to share stories with each other or visit community members personally and spend time with them and share common experiences to relieve ourselves. That is moral support. We pray a lot right now because we are helpless and powerless, and the reaction from the outside world for the challenges we are facing is a great disappointment. So, what do you do? We can’t change the situation, and evil continues. The only thing you can do is talk within your own community who understands and prays and consoles one another. That's the only moral support you get from your own community, or giving more to communities that live in desperate places. Basically, we don't get support from anywhere and are alone with ourselves. A good word is comforting but doesn't solve the problem. It is the right of the oppressed and disenfranchised that we spend our wealth upon them, as our sustenance (*rizq*) is given to us by our Provider and Sustainer, which we have merely been temporarily entrusted with. Giving our wealth to support Uyghur causes and boycott goods that involve Uyghur slave labor are all attempts to spend our wealth more ethically to uphold our Islamic duty of radical altruism.[^50] It was also discovered that multi-level disenfranchisement has even left Uyghurs feeling distrustful of Islamic philanthropic organizations who are working for the Uyghur cause. For example, one participant shared how Uyghurs are “less trusting of charity organizations because it is unclear if the money is going to the right place or not.” There was a sense that although Islamic charity organizations may profess to support Uyghur causes, many Uyghurs did not feel that the money was actually going to Uyghur causes. This may point to a lack of bridge-building, Uyghur community buy-in, and Uyghurs holding positions of power within Muslim charitable organizations. Finally, at the macro-level, Uyghurs spoke about political abandonment, where governments of Muslim countries allied themselves with China and did not speak out on the atrocities being committed. Muslims living in the Global North were also seen to have displayed this apathy, leading to political inaction and lack of outcry. One Uyghur in Canada expressed their dismay, > There is no outrage or outcry or anger from the Muslim community in Canada. These reactions came from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh. There was no reaction from Turkey… the Turkish government does not allow ‘false’ propaganda against China, so even Turkish media \[is\] filtering out information. Saudi \[Arabia is\] receiving aid from China through \[the\] Belt and Road Initiative. \[All of this is\] basically the totally opposite of what the Holy Qur’an teaches. The Muslim countries are selling out their Uyghur brothers and sisters for money. --- ## The Muslim “Other” and empathy In order to gain a better understanding of the realities shared in our participant interviews, it proves necessary to “unpack the invisible knapsack of privilege”[^51] and examine the interplay of power structures and racism that may be behind the isolation and abandonment experienced by sections of the Uyghur community. It’s no secret that anti-blackness exists within our community, both historically and in the present-day,[^52] and has been called anti-black Islamophobia.[^53] Muslim “othering” is also present within our communities, where interlocking power structures privilege certain races over others;[^54] those who don't fit neatly into the dominant groups (i.e., Arab, South Asian)[^55] are relegated to the margins (e.g., Uyghur, Black, revert, Chinese Hui Muslims, Bosnian, Rohingya, and countless others). The presence of such hierarchies of class and “Muslim-ness”[^56] can arguably be seen as evidence of neocolonialism, where we have invented new ways to categorize the warring factions of the in-group versus the out-group[^57] or “other” within our own communities.[^58] As the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkinson writes, “The human impulse to create hierarchies runs across societies and cultures.”[^59] She also explains, > It was in the making of the New World that Europeans became white, African black, and everyone else yellow, red, or brown. It was in the making of the New World that humans were set apart on the basis of what they looked like, identified solely in contrast to one another, and ranked to form a caste system based on a new concept of race.[^60] However, in order to embody the prophetic virtues of empathy, compassion, and generosity, it is vital that we transcend this egocentric (*nafsī*) framework of existence and embody the prophetic wisdom that “None of you will have faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”[^61] Indeed, the health of a society can be measured via its level of social capital, which is a value or asset of a society that measures the level of social connectedness in the group and is connected to the level of empathy members of the society convey towards one another.[^62] As our beloved Prophet ﷺ told us, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[^63] This is a call for radical empathy. While empathy calls on people to see the world through another’s eyes, *radical empathy* asks people to take this one step further to actually create change and work towards social justice, even if it is to the detriment of our economic or social prosperity.[^64] As Allah reminds us in the Qur’an, “You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives. Whether the person is rich or poor, God can best take care of both. Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly—if you distort or neglect justice, God is fully aware of what you do.”[^65] The Prophetic vision of the *ummah* is one of flourishing social capital, where every believer feels an intimate bond with their Creator and a deep sense of connectedness with their brothers and sisters. In contrast to this, empathetic distancing occurs when we perceive the “other” as very different from ourselves and so a stumbling block to the development of empathy is formed. Some scholars have even contended that we are only able to fully empathically comprehend someone when we perceive them as being like us.[^66] Consequently, most of us only empathize with someone who looks, talks, thinks, and acts sufficiently like ourselves. However, our beloved Messenger ﷺ reminded us, “A believer to a believer is like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other.”[^67] Thus, despite our differences, we can and must bridge the empathic divide through introspection and intentional effort. --- ## Recommendations: Becoming a community of conscience and compassion As believers, we are urged to engage in constant self-reformation (*iṣlāḥ*) to better ourselves. Through this process of self-interrogation, we often uncover our blindspots, shadows of hypocrisy, or seeds of arrogance and oppression, and must work to rectify such weaknesses of the heart. This is indeed what striving against the soul (*jihādal-nafs*) is all about. As Sufyān al-Thawrī (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “I never dealt with anything more difficult on me than my own self. Sometimes it would be against me, and sometimes it would be for me.”[^68] Our Messenger ﷺ also stated, “The *mujāhid* \[the one who strives in *jihād*\] is he who strives against his lower-self.”[^69] In the beautiful *duʿāʾa* we are instructed to say upon leaving the house, we seek refuge in Allah from “being an oppressor or being oppressed.”[^70] Self reflection and reformation are prophetic practices that we should consistently strive to embody in every context. In what follows, we outline the Uyghur participants’ recommendations for nurturing empathy and compassion towards the Uyghur plight. ### 1\. Unpacking our privilege Sometimes our unconscious oppression[^71] is a result of a lack of knowledge of our privilege. For those of us from “dominant” Muslim groups, taking time to reflect upon the invisible knapsack of privilege that we all carry in various forms can humble our *nafs* and keep our ego in check. Building upon Peggy McIntosh’s work in *White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,*[^72] the following questions have been developed as an empathy-building activity designed to better understand the alienation Uyghurs and other non-dominant Muslim communities experience on a daily basis. **Questions** Yes No I am greeted warmly when I enter a Muslim space and am surprised when this does not occur. ⬜ ⬜ My community is mentioned in communal *duʿāʾ*s on a regular basis. ⬜ ⬜ I can name at least five Muslim leaders and scholars who are from my ethnocultural/racial background, who are well-known to the broader Muslim community. ⬜ ⬜ The issues that are most pressing to my community are presented in the Friday sermon. ⬜ ⬜ I expect that people will know how to pronounce my name and be familiar with where I am from when I enter Muslim spaces. ⬜ ⬜ I can expect food from my culture to be served at an *iftar* or other events in the Muslim community and/or mosque. ⬜ ⬜ When I enter the mosque or another Muslim gathering, people speak to me in their own language and presume I am from their community. ⬜ ⬜ Muslim community fundraisers regularly support issues that are important to my community. ⬜ ⬜ When I enter a Muslim space, there are others there who look like me. ⬜ ⬜ People on the mosque board and other positions of Muslims community leadership speak my mother tongue. ⬜ ⬜ When I enter a Muslim gathering, other Muslims greet me as one of their own. ⬜ ⬜ I hear my mother tongue being spoken regularly in the mosque and other Muslim spaces. ⬜ ⬜ There are multiple translations of the Qur’an and other Islamic works in my mother tongue.        ⬜ ⬜ When there is an Islamic conference, there are speakers who look like me and speak like me. ⬜ ⬜ When a tragedy occurs in my community, members of the broader Muslim community reach out to me to offer their condolences and *duʿāʾ*s. ⬜ ⬜ Islamic scholars reference scholars of my peoples in their lectures and writings.          ⬜ ⬜ No Muslim has ever questioned whether or not I am Muslim. ⬜ ⬜ During Eid or other celebrations within a communal Muslim gathering, I can expect to see others wearing traditional clothing from my culture. ⬜ ⬜ When a tragedy occurs in my community, whether at home or abroad, I expect that members of the Muslim community will participate in political advocacy, rallies, boycotts, fundraisers, etc. to show their support. ⬜ ⬜ Privilege acts as a blinder. If, after this exercise, you notice that you answered yes to the majority of the questions, reflect on what realities of the *ummah* your privilege may be cocooning you from seeing and how you can use your privilege to act as an ally to those who don’t enjoy the same feelings of belonging to the mosque and *ummah*. If you choose to keep these blinders on, how will you conquer the oppressor within you? ### 2\. Bridge the empathic divide Sometimes our empathic distance requires some introspection to uncover the implicit biases we may hold towards certain “out-groups.” It is important to reflect on how the dominant culture has instilled implicit biases in us (whether through the media, school, friends, etc.), whether our parents/caregivers display biases,  whether we have a diverse circle of friends and acquaintances, and what our workplaces, neighborhoods, and mosques look like. This will help us to develop a greater awareness of our own biases and thus an ability to interrogate them. A practical way to bridge the empathic divide is to disrupt any narrow definitions of “Muslimness” by broadening how and where we gather religious knowledge. Going the extra mile to learn history and gather religious knowledge from scholars of non-dominant Muslim groups, such as Uyghur scholars like Sh. Muhammad Salih Hajim, can help deepen our understanding and appreciation for all members of our *ummah*. In order to gain an appreciation for Islam as a religion that stretches beyond those of dominant groups, we need to seek knowledge from Islamic scholars from across the Muslim world who may not be as well-known and accessible because of historical marginalization. As the great scholar of Touba in Senegal, Sh. Ahmadou Bamba once said, “Don't reject my work just because I am black.” As allies we have a duty to amplify these voices. Another practical way to bridge the empathic divide is to disrupt our environments of sameness and homogeneity by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. This might look like going for the weekly Friday (*jumuʿa*) prayer at the Uyghur mosque (if you have one in your city), advocating for your mosque to hold a community event about the Uyghurs or hosting a program on the history of Islam in East Turkestan, joining an Uyghur protest, or attending a Uyghur event. Learning about others allows us to appreciate our shared humanity and we can’t do this from a distance. As Isabel Wilkerson writes, “It is harder to dehumanize a single person standing in front of you, wiping away tears at the loss of a loved one, just as you would…”[^73] As Allah beautifully reminds us, “Human beings, We created you all from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”[^74] ### 3. Get educated True empathy requires active demonstration of allyship. Educating ourselves about the ongoing Uyghur genocide is an important first step. As one Uyghur in the US shared, “Yes, definitely they need to be educated; most of \[the Muslim community\] is just sympathetic, not really politically supportive.” Another Uyghur in the US spoke about feeling hurt, > It’s hard to see that the Muslim community is not taking any action. It hurts. When they trust Chinese media more than us, it hurts. I believe that the Muslim community is good in general, but they are not getting the right information. Chinese people produce more than 450 million bots and stuff as misinformation, and fake videos to cheat \[the\] Muslim community… I want the Muslims here \[in the US\] to advocate for us here. Uncovering the truth in an era of “fake news” and propaganda requires a valiant effort. It is crucial to seek out news sources that offer more balanced coverage of the Uyghur genocide, such as Al Jazeera.[^75] Beyond that, speaking to Uyghur community members and listening to their stories is also an important way to get informed and develop a robust understanding. ### 4. Get active Getting active is the next step. We need to think outside the *ṣadaqah* box. The power of allyship revolves around members of the dominant or majority group working together with marginalized groups to actively support, socially engage, and advocate for oppressed peoples.[^76] As witnesses to oppression, it is imperative for us to stand for justice. Our Messenger ﷺ exhorted us, “Whoever among you sees evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable to do so, then with his tongue. If he is unable to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest level of faith.”[^77] In this case, we are not only witness to the genocide Uyghurs are facing, but our Uyghur brothers and sisters have also bravely offered us a mirror to recognize our own part in that oppression. As the Prophet ﷺ reminded us, “The believer is a mirror to his brother. If he sees something wrong in him, he should correct it.”[^78] Participants shared how important it is for the greater Muslim community to step up and demonstrate their empathy. While it’s likely that Islamophobia/xenophobia contributes to this alienation, as was illustrated in the interviews, the wider Muslim community also has a hand in this. This is heartbreaking. Being connected to the wider Muslim community is an integral part of healthy religious socialization.[^79] We cannot continue to push our brothers and sisters to the margins. Active solidarity can be demonstrated by: 1. **Mobilizing and advocating politically against the Uyghur genocide**. Civic engagement through reaching out to your local political representative or joining a rally are powerful ways you can effect change. 2. **Developing a welcoming program in your mosque** so Uyghurs and other marginalized Muslim community members can feel they have a place of belonging. This is one way we can embody the Prophetic model of the *anṣār* welcoming the *muhājirūn* into Medina.  3. **Contacting your mosque board** seeking ways to get involved. You can also make sure to vote in a more diverse and representative board every year. 4. **Fundraising** to support the Uyghur brothers and sisters in your community to set up a Uyghur prayer area (*musallā*) or a dedicated mosque if there is a large community. As one participant shared, “Religious spaces are important. There is no Ugyhur mosque anywhere \[in the area I live in\]. If the broader Muslim community could support them, that would be useful.” You can educate yourself on what products and brands are linked to forced Uyghur labor in order to boycott them.[^80] As one Uyghur participant recommended, one way the Muslim community can step up is to, “Stop the products that are coming from China that contain Uyghur forced labor or from the concentration camps.” The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has published an excellent [report](https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale) outlining 83 companies that use forced Uyghur labor and should be boycotted.[^81] 5. **Organizing regular community gatherings around Uyghur food, arts, and culture**. This can help our Uyghur brothers and sisters feel a sense of belonging and could be as simple as  including traditional Uyghur foods in *iftar* programs at the mosque in Ramadan.[^82] The more regular such events are, the more visible the Uyghurs will be to us. 6. **Facilitating the** **teaching of Uyghurche, the Uyghur language** by securing a free space at the local mosque, community center, or other suitable premises to accommodate the program. This recommendation repeatedly presented itself  in our participant interviews, > … support Uyghur kids to learn their own culture, language, and tradition. The \[Uyghur\] community \[in Canada\] is \[small in number and\] not enough… to be sustainable, so Uyghurs will be assimilated and integrated into Canadian culture. \[Uyghur\] families hope that their children can learn and preserve their language and traditions. > > \[Rent\] is very costly. \[The Uyghur\] community is small and scattered across the Greater Toronto Area \[in Canada\]. It is difficult for people to bring their children from \[the different corners of the city\]... It is a real challenge. The loss of language, tradition, and knowledge is one of the greatest sources of sorrow for the Uyghur peoples. Robbing a people of their mother tongue is an especially insidious tactic employed in cultural genocide, where the eradication of a people’s language and the imposing of a foreign language leads to the systematic destruction of the bond between parent and child and a sense of unrootedness from one’s history and way of life.[^83] In this, there are harrowing echoes of the brutality of the government-instituted residential school system and how it continues to devastate generations of indigenous peoples in Canada.[^84] Although some Uyghur groups have been able to successfully push their local municipal governments to establish an Uyghurche language school, this only occurs in voting districts with large Uyghur populations. As one participant said, “It doesn't work for small \[Uyghur\] communities because \[there are\] not as many votes. They tend to be marginalized and ignored.” Facilitating spaces for children to learn Uyghurche is a very tangible way for the wider Muslim community to demonstrate their solidarity and nurture a Uyghur sense of belonging to the *ummah*. Allowing oppressed peoples to reclaim ownership of their language and their stories is empowering. One participant spoke about the struggles of this voicelessness, “The Uyghur community gives the impression that they themselves don’t know what's happening, but their struggle is telling their story properly \[and\] not in their own language.” --- ## Conclusion As members of dominant groups within the Muslim community or as those empowered through citizenship or finances, we have the opportunity to step up and act as allies to our Uyghur brothers and sisters. Our strength as an *ummah* is as a people of consciousness—of Allah and of ourselves. Our strength as an *ummah* is as a community of faith, fortified together through the ties of *ukhuwwa*, where all our brothers and sisters work together to serve the *dīn* of Allah and worship our Creator. We have a real opportunity to work as allies with our Uyghur brothers and sisters so they can find their voice again. When an oppressed person tells us that we have, unconsciously or not, contributed to their oppression through exclusion, marginalization, and abandonment, we should pause and listen. There may be unfamiliar faces within our communities, who feel pressed to the margins. *Ukhuwwa* is so critical that without it we cannot call ourselves believers. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, > By Him in Whose Hand my soul is! You will not enter *jannah* until you believe, and you shall not believe until you love one another. May I inform you of something, if you do it, you will love each other? Spread *salām* amongst yourselves (by saying *assalāmu ʿalaikum* to one another).[^85] When one of the *anṣār* expressed concern that the Prophet ﷺ would return to Makkah and leave them, our Messenger replied in one of the most poetic encapsulations saying: > Your life is my life. > > You are mine and I am yours. > > Your enemy is my enemy. > > Your ally is my ally.[^86] In the Prophet’s final sermon, the Mercy to All the Worlds, reminded us that, > O people, your Lord is one and your father is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner, nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white over black nor black over white, except by righteousness.[^87] This exhortation was given to us precisely because it is difficult. Because the tendency to rank, order, and create hierarchies, and the penchant to favor one’s own tribe runs deep within us. This is why fighting racism, casteism, tribalism, and prejudice in all its forms, starting first within ourselves, is a courageous act of worship. May Allah accept our efforts to show compassion to our Uyghur brothers and sisters and welcome them into our communities for His sake, and may He elevate our ranks in *jannah* for doing so. May He grant justice and mercy to all the oppressed peoples of our world. --- ## APPENDIX A ### Rigor ### Self-Reflexivity & Positionality As this paper centers on the intersectionality of identity, the researchers have shared their reflections on their positionality. Dr. Farah Islam identifies as a Muslim from a “dominant” Muslim diasporic group (Brown/South Asian/Bengali), who is from a peoples who have experienced genocide \[when Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan) carried out a genocide of the Bangladeshi people (then East Pakistan), where about three million Bangladeshis died and half a million women were raped.[^88]\] And so the spaces of insider/outsider, diasporic migrant community, and forgotten histories of genocide are ones she inhabits and identifies with in this project. Shahd Fulath Khan is a Muslim living in Canada. Her paternal grandparents migrated from Turkestan (currently Uzbekistan) and settled in Makkah for the freedom of practicing Islam. Her maternal grandparents migrated from Syria to Saudi Arabia, escaping an oppressive regime. The themes of *hijrah* (migration) for a higher purpose and the sacrifices of the *muhājirūn* have been important in informing her work throughout this project. Hala Bucheeri identifies as a Muslim Arab and is currently living in Bahrain. The concept of migration is not a foreign concept in Bahrain, as a minority of its inhabitants come from diverse ethnic backgrounds (Persian, African, South Asian, South East Asian) in hopes of finding a home, financial security, and political stability. Despite Bahrain’s cultural diversity, cultural competency is still lacking. Therefore, this project highlights the importance of understanding and addressing the specific cultural and religious needs of ethnic minorities. Lastly, Arzu Gul and Dr. Dilmurat Mahmut are both Uyghur advocates living in the diaspora. --- ## Notes [^1]: This component is referred to as “Institutional Connection” within Yaqeen’s measure of holistic religiosity BASIC. This refers to a person’s involvement in, and connection with, the Muslim community. It includes one’s feelings toward the *masjid*, Islamic centers, and other Muslim institutions. Connection also includes attendance at community events and the emotional attachment one feels towards the community. Tamer Desouky and Osman Umarji, “The Impact of Muslim Religiosity on Well-Being Outcomes,” *Yaqeen,* September 15, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/data/reports/a-holistic-view-of-muslim-religiosity-introducing-basic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/data/reports/a-holistic-view-of-muslim-religiosity-introducing-basic&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809536547&usg=AOvVaw2adGbQBnJZ5udclRwQRrRl); Jihad Saafir and Osman Umarji, “How to Raise Religious Teens: A Self-Determination Theory Approach,” *Yaqeen*, October 24, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809536860&usg=AOvVaw0GkZAZPmF_abwUt_jt2dQi). [^2]: Abraham H. Maslow, *Toward a Psychology of Being* (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1968), 45. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 6011; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2586; grade of authentication: *muttafaq ʿalayh* (authenticity agreed upon) according to al-Bukhārī and Muslim. [^4]: Svat Soucek, *A History of Inner Asia* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 84. [^5]: Toqa Badran and Aydin Anwar, “A Response To Habib Ali Al-Jifri’s Comments On Uyghurs,” Muslim Matters, 2020, [https://muslimmatters.org/2020/05/13/a-response-to-habib-ali-al-jifris-comments-on-uyghurs/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimmatters.org/2020/05/13/a-response-to-habib-ali-al-jifris-comments-on-uyghurs/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809547407&usg=AOvVaw1azetjeinqW_N-SI6Ffai_). [^6]: Edward Wong and Chris Buckley, “U.S. Says China’s Repression of Uighurs Is ‘Genocide,’” *New York Times*, January 19, 2021, [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/trump-china-xinjiang.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/trump-china-xinjiang.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809549860&usg=AOvVaw18KT806AgFkI2YuZZQgu6B);  Samir Sweida-Metwally, “Spending Ethically for Justice: A Muslim Response to the Uyghur Genocide,” *Yaqeen*, 2021,  [https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/spending-ethically-for-justice-a-muslim-response-to-the-uyghur-genocide](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/spending-ethically-for-justice-a-muslim-response-to-the-uyghur-genocide&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809550070&usg=AOvVaw2blOyXqZBZ-Cr9BQ3By2b4). [^7]: While reports suggest that one million Uyghur men and women have been imprisoned, this number is contested by some Uyghur community members and activists who claim that this is part of the Chinese government’s attempt to suppress the real scale of oppression. Uyghur community members and activists estimate that there could be up to 35 million Uyghurs in concentration camps. [^8]: Eva Dou and Erin Cunningham, “Who Are the Uyghurs, and What’s Happening to Them in China?” *Washington Post*, May 24, 2022, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinjiang/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinjiang/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809537861&usg=AOvVaw3xgLiPRsFcp6jJCQ4T6Eoc). [^9]: “Devastating Blows: Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang,” Human Rights Watch, April 11, 2005, [https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/04/11/devastating-blows/religious-repression-uighurs-xinjiang](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/04/11/devastating-blows/religious-repression-uighurs-xinjiang&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809538875&usg=AOvVaw0ExsLcxxBfPJso21V4TQQU). [^10]: Ewelina U. Ochab, “United Nations Concerned About Organ Harvesting In China,” *Forbes,* July 8, 2021, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2021/07/08/united-nations-concerned-about-organ-harvesting-in-china/?sh=7e514da942dd](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2021/07/08/united-nations-concerned-about-organ-harvesting-in-china/?sh%3D7e514da942dd&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809538179&usg=AOvVaw1MZRVYJQ8fpALju53eiRrC). [^11]: “China Forcing Birth Control on Uighurs to Suppress Population, Report Says,” *BBC*, June 29, 2020, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809537529&usg=AOvVaw1EqgwiogZrNX8VLiGzdPlS). [^12]: Ivan Watson and Rebecca Wright, “Allegations of Shackled Students and Gang Rape Inside China’s Detention Camps,” CNN, February 19, 2021, [https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/asia/china-xinjiang-teacher-abuse-allegations-intl-hnk-dst/index.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/asia/china-xinjiang-teacher-abuse-allegations-intl-hnk-dst/index.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809538509&usg=AOvVaw29-OFa-HRQTYYpGhz7RabA). [^13]: Uyghur American Association, [https://www.uyghuraa.org/latestnews](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.uyghuraa.org/latestnews&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809539249&usg=AOvVaw2t2wXVUobM56YXSgLnCnkb). [^14]: “Census Profile, 2016 Census – Canada \[Country\] and Canada \[Country\],” *Statistics*, February 8, 2017, [www12.statcan.gc.ca](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809539708&usg=AOvVaw3S3M2zN91bY8LWe22AFYnj). This is the number of “self-reported” Uyghurs in Canada and is most likely underreported. [^15]: Biwa Kwan, “Uighur Abuse: Australia Urged to Impose Sanctions on China,” September 18, 2018, [www.sbs.com.au](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.sbs.com.au&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809540253&usg=AOvVaw3Jor3poMnrq7jMHOR14kMl). [^16]: Bertil Lintner, “Where the Uighurs Are Free to Be,” *Asia Times*, October 31, 2019, [https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/where-the-uighurs-are-free-to-be/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/where-the-uighurs-are-free-to-be/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809540633&usg=AOvVaw0FpaxuZlGJin7j9cxMMLtI). [^17]: Yitzhak Shichor, “Nuisance Value: Uyghur Activism in Germany and Beijing–Berlin Relations,” *Journal of Contemporary China* 22, no. 82 (2013): 612–29. [^18]: Jutta Lindert, Ondine S. von Ehrenstein, Stefan Priebe, Andreas Mielck, and Elmar Brähler, “Depression and Anxiety in Labor Migrants and Refugees: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” *Social Science Medicine* 69 (2009): 246–57; Mina Fazel, Jeremy Wheeler, and John Danesh, “Prevalence of Serious Mental Disorder in 7000 Refugees Resettled in Western Countries: A Systematic Review,” *Lancet,* 365 (2005): 1309–14; Zachary Steel, Tien Chey, Derrick Silove, Claire Marnane, Richard A. Bryant, and Mark van Ommeren, “Association of Torture and Other Potentially Traumatic Events with Mental Health Outcomes among Populations Exposed to Mass Conflict and Displacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” *JAMA* 302 (2009): 537–49; Laurence J. Kirmayer, Lavanya Narasiah, Marie Munoz, Meb Rashid, Andrew G. Ryder, Jaswant Guzder, Ghayda Hassan, Cécile Rousseau, and Kevin Pottie, “Common Mental Health Problems in Immigrants and Refugees: General Approach in Primary Care,” *Canadian Medical Association Journal (journal de l'Association medicale canadienne)* 183, no. 12 (2011): E959–E967, [https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090292](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090292&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809548852&usg=AOvVaw2OVK2FZPkub4r5bqlxLpg0). [^19]: Anthony P. Cohen, *Symbolic Construction of Community* (New York: Routledge, 2013); Hansong Zhang, Joshua N. Hook, Jennifer E. Farrell, David K. Mosher, Daryl R. Van Tongeren, and Don E. Davis, “The Effect of Ideological Homogeneity on Religious Belonging and Meaning: The Role of Intellectual Humility,” *Psychology of Religion and Spirituality* 10 (2018): 72–78. [^20]: Eva-Maria Stelzer, Roman Palitsky, Emily N. Hernandez, Eli G. Ramirez, and Mary-Frances O’Connor, “The Role of Personal and Communal Religiosity in the Context of Bereavement,” *Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community* 48, no. 1 (2002): 64–80. [^21]: Christopher G. Ellison and Linda K. George, “Religious Involvement, Social Ties and Social Support in a Southeastern Community,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* 33, no. 1 (1994): 46–61; Robert Wuthnow, “Religious Involvement and Status-Bridging Social Capital,” *Journal for the ScientificStudy of Religion* 41, no. 4 (2002): 669–84. [^22]: William Herberg, *Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology*  (Garden City:  Doubleday and Company, 1955). [^23]: Helen Rose Ebaugh and Janet Saltzman Chafetz, *Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptations in Immigrant Congregations* (New York: AltaMira Press, 2000); R. Stephen Warner and Judith G. Wittner, eds., *Gatherings in Diaspora: Religious Communities and the New Immigration* (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998); Stephanie Nawyn, “Faithfully Providing Refuge: The Role of Religious Organizations in Refugee Assistance and Advocacy,” Working Paper 15*, The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies* (San Diego: University of California, 2005); Jessica Eby, Erika Iverson, Jenifer Smyers, and Erol Kekic, “The Faith Community’s Role in Refugee Resettlement in the United States,” *Journal of Refugee Studies* 24, no. 3 (2011): 586–605. [^24]: Osman Umarji and Tamer Desouky, “T. BASIC Chapter 3,” (forthcoming). [^25]: Beydulla, Mettursun. "Experiences of Uyghur migration to Turkey and the United States: Issues of religion, law, society, residence, and citizenship." In *Migration and Islamic Ethics*, pp. 174-195. Brill, 2019. [^26]: Qur’an 23:52. [^27]: Qur’an 49:10. [^28]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2825. [^29]: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ established an alliance \[of brotherhood\] between the Emigrants and the Helpers in our house. He was asked: ‘Did not the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "There is no alliance in Islam?’"He replied: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ established an alliance between the Emigrants and the Helpers in our house.’ He said \[it\] twice or thrice.” *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 2926. [^30]: This ruling was later abrogated by Qur’an 33:6. [^31]: Qur’an 59:9. [^32]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2487. [^33]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 3780. [^34]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 3782. [^35]: Ruth Marie Wilson, Patricia Landolt, Yogendra Shakya, Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Z. Zahoorunissa, Darren Pham, Felix Cabrera, Sherine Dahy, and Marie-Pier Joly, *Working Rough, Living Poor: Employment and Income Insecurities Faced by Racialized Groups in the Black Creek Area and their Impacts on Health* (Toronto: Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, 2011). [^36]: Farah Islam, Nazilla Khanlou, and Hala Tamim, “Maybe Once I Find a Good Job, I Will Be Better: Seeking Mental Healthcare in Little Bangladesh, Toronto, Canada,” *Journal of Concurrent Disorders* 2, no. 1 (2020): 35–55. [^37]: Living under the constant stress of precarious employment and income insecurity has severe consequences for families and children after migration, including: mental health issues, chronic exhaustion, higher levels of cortisol, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and others. Over time, prolonged exposure to income insecurity results in deteriorating health and disempowerment for immigrant and refugee families. Socioeconomic status has been found to be the single most powerful predictor of human health and development at every stage of life. Boyce, W. Thomas. *The orchid and the dandelion: Why sensitive people struggle and how all can thrive*. Pan MacMillan, 2019, pp. 134–35; Wilson et al., “Working Rough, Living Poor.” [^38]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī,* no. 2477. [^39]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 602. [^40]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2477, grade: rigorously authenticated (*ṣ**aḥīḥ*). [^41]: Carolyn Schwartz, Janice Bell Meisenhelder, Yunsheng Ma, and George Reed, “Altruistic Social Interest Behaviors Are Associated with Better Mental Health,” *Psychosomatic Medicine* 65, no. 5 (2003): 778–85. [^42]: Shireen Salti, “The Impact of Together Project Welcome Groups on Government-Assisted Refugee Social Capital,” 2021; Celine de Richoufftz, “From Research to Outreach to Action: Community-Based Approaches to the Integration of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Montreal,” *Samuel Center for Social Connectedness*, 2018, [www.socialconnectedness.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Community-based-approaches-to-the-integration-of-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-Montreal-1.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.socialconnectedness.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Community-based-approaches-to-the-integration-of-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-Montreal-1.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809546023&usg=AOvVaw2dKFn4eqV8C7sSPhmphUuV). [^43]: Dilmurat Mahmut, “Conflicting Perceptions of Education in Canada: The Perspectives of Well-Educated Muslim Uyghur Immigrants,” *Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education* 15, no. 1 (2021): 34-46; Dilmurat Mahmut and Edmund Waite, “Lost in Translation: Exploring Uyghur Identity in Canada, Taboo,” *The Journal of Culture and Education* 20, no. 1 (2021): 173–91, [https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=taboo](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article%3D1105%26context%3Dtaboo&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809545571&usg=AOvVaw0lbEFSDXnJ3vvGzVMskzE8); Rebecca Clothey and Brian McCommons, “Uyghur Students in Higher Education in the USA: Trauma and Adaptation Challenges,” *Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education* 16, no. 2 (2022): 106–18. [^44]: The questionnaire took approximately 30 minutes to complete. Participants self-identified their ethnicity as Uyghur and/or Uyghur-mixed. As the psychological scales employed in this study have not previously been used with the Uyghur population, scale items and wording were adapted accordingly to make the survey comprehensible and relevant to participants. At the end of the survey, all participants were given the chance to either donate $10 CAD to Darman Foundation, a Canadian-based organization that supports Uyghur immigrants and refugees; receive an Amazon e-gift card worth $10 CAD; receive a Starbucks egift card worth $10 CAD; have $10 CAD sent to their bank accounts using e-transfer; or decline any of those options. [^45]: Interviews were carried out using various platforms of the participants’ choice, such as WebEx, Google Meet, Zoom, email, or WhatsApp. [^46]: Margarete Sandelowski, “The Problem of Rigor in Qualitative Research,” *Advances in Nursing Science* 8, no. 3 (1986): 27–37. [^47]: Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” *Qualitative Research in Psychology* 3, no. 2 (2006): 77–101. [^48]: “Putting In the Work: Service and Advocacy for Mental Health in Muslim Communities,” 11th Annual Muslim Mental Health Conference, April 4–6, 2019. [^49]: Coretta Phillips, “Institutional Racism and Ethnic Inequalities: An Expanded Multilevel Framework,” *Journal of Social Policy* 40, no. 1 (2011): 173–92. [^50]: Sweida-Metwally, “Spending Ethically for Justice.” [^51]: McIntosh, Peggy. "White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack." (1990), pp. 29–34. [^52]: Samia Errazzouki, “Between the ‘Yellow-Skinned Enemy’ and the ‘Black-Skinned Slave’: Early Modern Genealogies of Race and Slavery in Sadian Morocco,” *The Journal of North African Studies* (2021): 1–11; Chouki El Hamel, *Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013); Mariam Durrani, “#BlackOutEid: Resisting Anti‐Blackness in Digital Muslim Life,” *Journal of Linguistic Anthropology* 31, no. 2 (2021): 298–303. [^53]: Delice Mugabo, “On Rocks and Hard Places: A Reflection on Anti-Blackness in Organizing against Islamophobia,” *Critical Ethnic Studies* 2, no. 2 (2016): 159–83; Fatimah Jackson-Best, “Black Muslims in Canada: A Systematic Review,” 2019, [https://blackmusliminitiative.ca/bmic%3A-systematic-review](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blackmusliminitiative.ca/bmic%253A-systematic-review&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809541887&usg=AOvVaw0StweHKCmZEP64flH8OwSm). [^54]: For example, the rank ordering of “Arab Muslims” as superior to all other Muslims is termed ‘Arab chauvinism’ by some scholars. See: Rudolph T. Ware III, *The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa* (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014). [^55]: Pasha-Zaidi, Nausheen, Meg A. Warren, Yvonne El Ashmawi, and Neneh Kowai-Bell. "Promoting allyship among south Asian and Arab Muslims toward black and Latino/a Muslims in American Islamic centers." Toward a Positive Psychology of Islam and Muslims: Spirituality, struggle, and social justice (2021): 307-331. [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72606-5\_14](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72606-5_14&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809542878&usg=AOvVaw2mTOcLbW5ZOgVRcN8Denlv). Further hierarchies exist within this, with Arabs being considered superior in “Muslimness” to South Asians. Finer classifications within these groupings also exist based on shadeism (anti-blackness within one’s race), class, language, etc. For example, Pakistani Muslims may be deemed greater in Muslimness than Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi Muslims (because Urdu-speaking Pakistanis have a language that more closely resembles Arabic and are generally lighter skinned, among other reasons). [^56]: Jeanine Elif Dağyeli, Claudia Ghrawi, and Ulrike Freitag, eds., “Claiming and Making Muslim Worlds: Religion and Society” in *The Context of the Global* (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 299. [^57]: Wilkerson, Isabel. *Caste: The origins of our discontents.* Random House, 2020. [^58]: Jean-Louis Triaud, “Giving a Name to Islam South of the Sahara: An Adventure in Taxonomy,” *The Journal of African History* 55, no. 1 (2014): 3–15. [^59]: Wilkerson, *Caste*, 67. [^60]: Wilkerson, *Caste*, 53. [^61]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no.* 13; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 45, grade: authenticity agreed upon (*muttafaq ʿalayh*) according to al-Bukhārī and Muslim. [^62]: Jayant Venkatanathan, Evangelos Karapanos, Vassilis Kostakos, and Jorge Gonçalves, “A Network Science Approach to Modeling and Predicting Empathy,” in *Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining* (2013): 1395–1400; Pat Dolan, “Social Support, Empathy, Social Capital and Civic Engagement: Intersecting Theories for Youth Development,” *Education, Citizenship and Social Justice* 17 no. 3 (2002): 255–67. [^63]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no*.* 6011; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2586, grade: *muttafaq* *ʿ**alayh* according to al-Bukhārī and Muslim. [^64]: Terri Givens, *Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides* (Bristol: Policy Press, 2021). [^65]: Qur’an 4:135. [^66]: See: Lynne Layton, “Racial Identities, Racial Enactments, and Normative Unconscious Processes,” *The Psychoanalytic Quarterly* 75, no. 1 (2006): 237–69; Lynne M. Jacobs, “Learning to Love White Shame and Guilt: Skills for Working as a White Therapist in a Racially Divided Country,” *International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology* 9, no. 4 (2014): 297–312. [^67]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no.481; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 2585. [^68]: Abū Naʿīm al-Asbahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ wa ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyyaʾ* (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿāda, 1974), 7:5. [^69]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī,* no.1621, grade: authentic (*ṣ**aḥīḥ*). [^70]: Whenever the Prophet ﷺ stepped out of his house, he would say, "*Bismillah, tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh. Allāhumma inni aʿūdhu bika an aḍilla aw uḍal, aw azilla aw uzal, aw aẓlima aw uẓlama, aw ajhala aw yujhala ʿalayy*,” which translates as follows: “I begin with the Name of Allah, I trust in Allah; O Allah! I seek refuge in You from leading or being led astray, or against slipping or being caused to slip; or doing injustice or being done injustice; or doing wrong or having wrong done to me.” Sunan Abi Dawud 5094. [^71]: McIntosh, “White Privilege.” [^72]: McIntosh, “White Privilege.” [^73]: Wilkerson, *Caste*, 141. [^74]: Qur’an 49:13. [^75]: See [https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/uighur/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/uighur/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809551279&usg=AOvVaw2tErc30zwx2oMnHAU9c8Yt). [^76]: Jamie Washington and Nancy J. Evans, “Becoming an Ally,” in *Beyond Tolerance: Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals on Campus*, ed. Nancy J. Evans and Vernon A. Wall (N.p.: American Association for Counseling and Development, 1991), 195–204; Joshua C. Collins and Dominique T. Chlup, “Criticality in Practice: The Cyclical Development Process of Social Justice Allies at Work,” *Advances in Developing Human Resources* 16, no. 4 (2014): 481–98; Kendrick T. Brown and Joan M. Ostrove, “What Does It Mean to Be an Ally? The Perception of Allies from the Perspective of People of Color,” *Journal of Applied Social Psychology* 43, no. 11 (2013): 2211–22. [^77]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 49, grade: authentic (*ṣ**aḥīḥ*) according to Imam Muslim. [^78]: *Al-Adab al-Mufrad,* no. 239, grade: *ḥasan* (fair) according to Al-Albani. [^79]: Saafir and Umarji, “How to Raise Religious Teens.” [^80]: Sweida-Metwally, “Spending Ethically for Justice.” [^81]: Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, Danielle Cave, James Leibold, Kelsey Munro, and Nathan Ruser, “Uyghurs for Sale,” *Australian Strategic Policy Institute* 1 (2020): 20. [^82]: Erin Handley and Sean Manteso, “Uyghurs Are Facing ‘Cultural Genocide’ in China but in Australia They're Fighting for Their History,” ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), November 19, 2019, [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-10/uyghur-culture-under-threat-in-china-thrives-in-australia/1167363](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-10/uyghur-culture-under-threat-in-china-thrives-in-australia/1167363&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809550988&usg=AOvVaw1_yeRPRR95IkQFj4_t_qET). [^83]: Elisa Novic, “The Concept of Cultural Genocide: A Historical–Legal Perspective,” in *The Concept of Cultural Genocide: An International Law Perspective* (Oxford: Oxford Academic, 2016), [https://doi-org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198787167.003.0002](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi-org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198787167.003.0002&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703705809544117&usg=AOvVaw1IxmtBYbVWw3ZGiQizu4Eg); Collins, Patricia Hill. *Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment.* routledge, 2022. [^84]: Kevin Hutchings, “Cultural Genocide and the First Nations of Upper Canada: Some Romantic-Era Roots of Canada’s Residential School System,” *European Romantic Review* 27, no. 3 (2016): 301–8; Elizabeth Hudson and Jeff Benvenuto, “The Cultural Genocide of the Indigenous People of North America,” in *Native American Genocides*, 2021. [^85]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,* no. 54. [^86]: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām, *Sīrat Ibn Hishām: Biography of the Prophet* ﷺ, trans.  ʿAbdus-Salām M. Hārūn (Cairo: al-Falah Foundation for Translation, Publication and Distribution, 2000). [^87]: Aḥmad al-Bayhaqī, *Shuʿab al-imān*, ed. Mukhtār al-Nadawī (Riyadh: Maṭbaʿat al-Rushd, 2003), 7:132, grade: authentic due to corroboration with other hadiths (*ṣ**aḥīḥ l**ī**\- ghayrih*) according to al-Albānī. [^88]: Wardatul Akmam, “Atrocities against Humanity during the Liberation War in Bangladesh: A Case of Genocide,” *Journal of Genocide Research* 4, no. 4 (2002): 543–59; Lisa Sharlach, “Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda,” *New Political Science* 22, no. 1 (2000): 89–102; Susan Brownmiller, *Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape* (New York: Bantam Books, 1975);  Dorothy Q. Thomas and Regan E. Ralph, “Rape in War: Challenging the Tradition of Impunity,” *SAIS review* 14, no. 1 (1994): 81–99. ## Summary The bonds of faith that unite the believers are among the greatest blessings Allah has bestowed upon this community, for the Almighty has declared, "And certainly this ummah of yours is one ummah, and I am your Lord and Cherisher. Therefore fear Me and no other." This oneness transcends the boundaries of nation, ethnicity, culture, race, and language. The Prophet ﷺ gave us a striking image of this unity when he said, "The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever." Connection to the community of believers is not a peripheral matter but a vital component of a thriving religious life, granting a sense of belonging that answers the deep human need for acceptance and to be part of something greater. Drawing upon the prophetic biography and the concept of brotherhood and sisterhood (ukhuwwa), the plight of the Uyghur Muslims fleeing genocide in China is examined as a contemporary parallel to the muhājirūn who critically need integration into the wider Muslim ummah. The Uyghur people, numbering approximately thirteen million and largely of Turkic-speaking Muslim origin, have inhabited their homeland in the northwestern region they call East Turkestan for centuries, having embraced Islam in the fourth/tenth century. Since 2017, they have faced a brutal genocide at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, which has sought to eliminate Uyghur culture and faith through forced assimilation, mass detention in concentration camps, and the outlawing of acts of worship such as prayer, recitation of the Qur'an, and fasting in Ramadan. Reports document horrors including organ harvesting, mass sterilization, and rape. As one participant recounted, the Chinese state deliberately dehumanized the Uyghurs by portraying Islam as "a disease—a virus or cancer spreading hate, which needed to be rooted out," thereby criminalizing pious young men and shattering families. In response, tens of thousands have fled to more than fifty countries, seeking refuge as the emigrants of old once did. The process of migration and resettlement is one of grief and uncertainty, and when compounded by trauma it gives rise to distress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. One participant described the situation of the Uyghur diaspora not as post-trauma but as "ongoing trauma," for they continue to receive news of loved ones being tortured and detained, while living under the constant threat of surveillance that has bred deep mistrust even within their own ranks. Research indicates that participation in a religious community offers solidarity, shared identity, and a sense of belonging, and that shared communal religiosity—unlike private religiosity confined to one's home—serves as a protective factor in grief and strengthens social bonds. Consistent with this, Yaqeen Institute's analysis of different profiles of religiosity found that confining faith to the private domain was not associated with mental health benefits, whereas engaging with faith comprehensively, connecting personal worship to the greater ummah, yielded the fullest benefits. For a people so long persecuted for their faith, reconnecting with a Muslim community after migration is critical to the health of their religion. The Qur'an commands active brotherhood, declaring, "The believers are but one brotherhood, so make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah so you may be shown mercy." These bonds do not arise passively; the Prophet ﷺ urged his followers to take an active role in fostering others' sense of belonging, saying, "If there are three of you, do not let two privately converse to the exclusion of the other," and warning that such exclusion hurts a believer, "and Allah Almighty hates for a believer to be hurt." The supreme example of active integration is found in the hijra to Medina, where the Prophet ﷺ established formal bonds of brotherhood (muʾākhā) between the anṣār and the muhājirūn—bonds so profound that they were initially permitted to inherit from one another. Allah praised the generosity of the anṣār: "They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give them preference over themselves, even though they are in privation." Yet this generosity was matched by the dignity of striving, as when Saʿad b. al-Rabīʿ offered ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf half his wealth and even a wife, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, "May Allah bless your family and property for you. Where is your market?"—preferring to earn his own livelihood. Likewise, when the anṣār offered their date-palms, the Prophet ﷺ insisted the emigrants work, knowing that honest labor confers honor and dignity. The Prophet ﷺ also sheltered the destitute among the emigrants in his mosque as the People of the Platform (ahl al-ṣuffa), feeding them, teaching them, and even providing them opportunities to give charity themselves, so that everyone might participate and belong. This prophetic vision of the mosque as a place of refuge, education, and engagement offers a template for welcoming Uyghur newcomers today through initiatives such as food banks, mentorship, and family-matching programs. The lived testimonies of Uyghurs in the diaspora, gathered through interviews, reveal deepening degrees of isolation—cut off from family, distrustful of one another due to surveillance, and, most painfully for the theme at hand, feeling abandoned by their fellow Muslims. One participant in Canada lamented that his people are not even mentioned in communal supplications: "They forget to mention us while making duʿāʾs… millions of Uyghur are at risk… How can you ignore it?" This abandonment was experienced at multiple levels: at the individual level through empty words of sympathy unaccompanied by action; at the community level through exclusion from mosque supplications, lack of welcome, and absence of fundraising; and at the systemic level through the political silence of Muslim governments allied with China. One participant declared that such conduct is "the totally opposite of what the Holy Qur'an teaches. The Muslim countries are selling out their Uyghur brothers and sisters for money." It is the right of the oppressed that the believers spend upon them from the wealth entrusted to them by their Sustainer. Underlying this abandonment are structures of power and racism that privilege dominant groups and marginalize the "Muslim other." Yet the believer is called to transcend this egocentric (nafsī) framework, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "None of you will have faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself," and he likened the believers to a single body and to bricks of a wall reinforcing one another. Allah commands justice even against one's own interests: "Uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives." Reform of the self (iṣlāḥ) and striving against the lower soul (jihād al-nafs) are the starting point; Sufyān al-Thawrī said, "I never dealt with anything more difficult on me than my own self," and the Prophet ﷺ taught that "the mujāhid is he who strives against his lower-self." The recommendations include unpacking one's privilege, bridging the empathic divide by seeking knowledge from marginalized scholars such as Sh. Muhammad Salih Hajim, educating oneself about the genocide, and becoming active through political advocacy, boycotting products linked to forced labor, welcoming Uyghurs into mosques, and facilitating the teaching of the Uyghur language to preserve a people threatened with cultural erasure. Our strength as an ummah lies in our consciousness of Allah and our unity through the ties of ukhuwwa, without which faith itself is incomplete, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "You will not enter jannah until you believe, and you shall not believe until you love one another," instructing us to spread the greeting of peace. To the anṣār who feared he would leave them, he said, "Your life is my life. You are mine and I am yours. Your enemy is my enemy. Your ally is my ally." And in his final sermon he proclaimed, "There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner… nor white over black nor black over white, except by righteousness." This exhortation was given precisely because the tendency to rank and favor one's own tribe runs deep within us, and so striving against racism and prejudice, beginning within ourselves, is a courageous act of worship. May Allah accept every effort to show compassion to the Uyghur brothers and sisters and welcome them for His sake, and may He grant justice and mercy to all the oppressed of the world. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is making duʿaʾ and giving charity for Uyghur Muslims enough? *Duʿaʾ* and voluntary charity (*sadaqa*) matter deeply, and Uyghur voices describe them as genuinely needed. At the same time, many Uyghurs in the diaspora experience sympathy alone as empty words when it is not paired with visible solidarity. A fuller response means staying connected to Uyghur communities, learning directly from their stories, and moving outside the *sadaqa* box into allyship: speaking up, advocating, organizing for justice, and using our wealth more ethically — including supporting Uyghur causes and boycotting goods tied to forced Uyghur labor. ### How can my local mosque practically support Uyghur refugee families? The mosque can be more than a prayer space — it can be a place of refuge, support, and integration. A simple but powerful starting point is a newcomer family matching program where a newly arrived Uyghur family is paired with an established family to build social ties and belonging. Mosques can also offer resume workshops, parenting support circles, food banks, and volunteer programs. Regular community gatherings that include Uyghur food, arts, and culture make Uyghurs visible and welcomed. Where possible, mosques can provide space for Uyghur language instruction such as free classroom access for Uyghurche lessons. ### What can an ordinary Muslim do to help stop the Uyghur genocide? Start by getting educated. Misinformation makes this harder than it should be, so it takes intention to seek balanced coverage and listen directly to Uyghur community members. Then move from private concern to public solidarity. That can include urging your mosque to host a community event, attending Uyghur gatherings, joining protests, contacting representatives, and boycotting goods linked to forced Uyghur labor. The call is to practice allyship — support, social engagement, and advocacy alongside Uyghurs — not as a burst of emotion but as a sustained commitment. ### What does the Prophetic example of the ansar and muhajirun teach us about welcoming Uyghur refugees today? The migration to Medina shows that belonging does not happen passively. The *ansar* did not merely welcome the *muhajirun* with kind words; they actively built community and shared social support in ways that made newcomers feel seen, protected, and included. Uyghurs in the diaspora face a similar need for integration into the broader umma. The Prophetic model points toward active integration: creating real relationships, expanding access to community spaces, and building support systems that restore social ties and dignity — mosque-based buddy systems, regular communal gatherings that include Uyghur culture, and ensuring Uyghurs are part of the community's public concern. ### What does "radical empathy" for Uyghur Muslims look like in Islam? Empathy asks you to see the world through another's eyes. Radical empathy goes further by demanding change and commitment to justice, even at the cost of comfort or material ease. It is rooted in the Prophetic description of believers as one body, where another Muslim's pain should not remain distant. Radical empathy also pushes against empathetic distancing — the habit of only fully caring for people who look or live like us. In the Uyghur case, it means refusing to let their stories remain abstract: learning, listening, and then aligning our communities with justice through public advocacy, ethical spending, and mosque cultures that make Uyghurs visible, welcomed, and protected. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/abrogated-rulings-in-the-quran-discerning-their-divine-wisdom # Abrogated Rulings in the Qur’an: Discerning their Divine Wisdom **Author:** Anonymous Guest Author **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** December 27, 2023 **Updated:** July 30, 2024 ## Abstract Abrogation in the Qur'an refers to the phenomenon of a later verse changing or altering a ruling established by a verse revealed earlier, either in whole or in part. Later scholars developed diverging technical definitions of abrogation that differed slightly from the linguistic usage of earlier generations, leading to significant disagreements over the nature of abrogation, how many verses were abrogated, and even whether abrogation is a legitimate interpretive mechanism. This article seeks to clarify the meaning of abrogation as it was intended by the righteous predecessors, who often used the word ‘abrogation’ to refer to making exceptions to an earlier rule rather than completely repealing it. The wisdom of abrogation is explored in relation to the gradual prohibition of alcohol consumption, as further evidence of the divine nature of the Qur'an. Finally, the claim that the peaceful verses of the Qur'an were invalidated by the ‘verse of the sword’ is challenged. --- ## Introduction *In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful* One of the most contentious issues in the sciences of the Qur'an is the doctrine of ‘abrogation’ (*naskh*). The English term abrogation implies that a previous rule or teaching in a verse was completely cancelled by a new verse. Critics of Islam have seized on this notion to argue that the Qur'an is contradictory and, therefore, cannot be of divine origin. But is this how the early Muslims understood the phenomenon of Qur'anic abrogation? Did Allah change His mind? Or is there a deeper wisdom as to why some rules should change? The truth is that abrogation is further evidence of the divine origin of the Qur'an because it has delivered appropriate rules to be applied in different situations, reflecting the Wisdom of the Creator who intended Islam to be applicable to all times, places, and people. If the text had a rigid set of rules, it would have been too inflexible for modern people, let alone the early Muslims, to follow its guidance in their lives. Abrogation occurs by the Will and Wisdom of Allah, Who knows what teachings people need in the precise moment that they need it. It can occur between verses of different divine books or within the same divine book. Allah said: > *We do not abrogate a verse and allow it to be forgotten but that We bring what is better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?*[^1] Some specific rules in the previous revelations contained in the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were abrogated by rules laid down in Islam, although the spirit of all the divine books is the same. For example, Jews celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, Christians celebrate their holy day on Sunday, and Muslims perform al-Jumu’ah prayers on Friday. We believe that Allah guided us to single out Friday for the weekly sermon instead of other days. Should Muslims, then, impose their religious law on all others by force? Allah said: > *To each among you We have made a law and a way. If Allah had willed, He would have made you into a single nation, but He tests you in what you have been given. Thus, race towards what is good. Unto Allah will all of you return and He will tell you about that in which you differed.*[^2] The religion of the Prophets is the same single religion, while the laws they followed changed over time and place. As Qatadah said, “The religion is one, but the laws are different.” And he also said, “The Torah has a law, the Gospel has a law, and the Qur'an has a law. Allah permits in them what He wills and forbids what He wills as a trial, that it may be known who obeys Him and who disobeys Him. Rather, the religion is one, besides which none is accepted: monotheism and sincerity to Allah, which was brought by the Messengers.”[^3] Allah could have commanded Muslims to force all people to follow a single code of law but He did not, instead urging us to “race towards what is good,” which is to compete with each other in good deeds. We believe Islam is the final religion, abrogating and perfecting all that came before it, so we should invite others to it by way of good example, behavior, and persuasion, but never by compulsion or deception. In addition to inter-revelatory abrogation is the issue of intra-revelatory abrogation, that is, understanding why some verses of the Qur'an seem to contradict each other and how they can be properly reconciled. Critics claim that abrogation is simply a tool used to explain away confused and contradictory verses. Does the Qur'an contradict itself? Allah said: > *Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had come from another besides Allah, they would have found much contradiction within it.*[^4] The entire Qur'an can be interpreted according to a principled and consistent methodology. Any contradiction between verses is only *apparent*, not an actual contradiction. These apparent contradictions can be reconciled if investigated beyond a mere surface reading; abrogation is just one of several methods of interpretive reconciliation. Why, then, did classical scholars disagree over the number of abrogated verses, with some saying hundreds of verses were abrogated and others saying only a handful were? The source of confusion for laypeople is in the variety of different technical definitions given to ‘abrogation’ by later scholars and how their definitions differed from the linguistic usage of the word by early Muslims. --- ## Abrogation: Technical and linguistic meanings The technical definition of abrogation, which came to be adopted by later scholars, was expressed by Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni in this way: “Its legal definition is an address indicating the lifting of a ruling established by a previous address, without which it would remain in effect.”[^5] Put differently, abrogation was understood as the nullification or invalidation of a ruling mentioned in a previous verse. Some later scholars understood abrogation to be in an absolute sense; i.e., the previous verse was completely canceled. They would support their arguments with plenty of statements of the early Muslims saying such-and-such verse was ‘abrogated.’ But did the early Muslims intend by this phrase the absolute technical meaning ascribed to it later on? According to Ibn al-Qayyim, the early Muslims employed the term ‘abrogated’ in a more fluid manner: > *I say: The general meaning of the righteous predecessors when using the words ‘abrogating’ and ‘abrogated’ is sometimes the complete removal of the previous ruling—and this is the technical term of the latter generations—or sometimes the removal of the general, absolute, and outward meaning or otherwise, whether by specification, restriction, interpreting an absolute as limited, or by explanation and clarification. Even then they would refer to it as exceptional and conditional.*[^6] In other words, the early Muslims would say a verse was ‘abrogated’ if there was any change to the original rule at all, even if the change was partial or exceptional.[^7] These types of partial abrogation came to be known as ‘specification’ (*takhsis*), ‘restriction’ (*taqyid*), ‘explanation’ (*tafsir*), ‘clarification’ (*tabyin*), ‘exceptional’ (*istithna’*), and ‘conditional’ (*shart*). The previous rule was changed or ‘abrogated’ to account for a new situation, but it was not nullified, invalidated, or canceled entirely. Another way of understanding these nuances is to differentiate between actual abrogation and figurative abrogation. Ibn ‘Aqilah al-Makki writes: > *Regarding specification and clarification, I say that this is a type of figurative abrogation, as abrogation is the lifting of the original ruling and this specification and clarification in the verses are mentioned as exceptions. Indeed, it is referred to as ‘abrogation’ because it lifts the general ruling, otherwise it is not truly abrogation.*[^8] A rule that is specified or given as an exception is an instance of ‘abrogation’ only in the figurative sense that a partial change has occurred. The verse containing the previous rule is still in effect but has been limited in a certain way. The English word ‘abrogation’ is therefore not always the best translation as the Arabic term could merely signify a minor amendment to an earlier rule. Failure to appreciate this subtle linguistic shift over generations can have enormous consequences for how Muslims understand the Qur'an, its genre of interpretive literature, and the statements of early authorities. Ibn Abbas (ra) was one of the first authorities on the Qur'an, a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, and a leading Muslim scholar after he passed away. The Prophet ﷺ reportedly placed his hands on him and said, “O Allah, grant him knowledge of the Book.”[^9] Hence, to cite Ibn Abbas is to draw upon his enormous credibility as an interpreter of the Qur'an. Ibn Abbas would frequently use the term ‘abrogation’ but many times in its partial, limited, or figurative sense. Al-Shatibi writes, “Makki said that Ibn Abbas would mention several things in the Qur'an for which an exception was made and he would say: It is abrogated.”[^10] And Al-Sakhawi writes, “In our view, the terms abrogation, specification, and exception occurred after the time of Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Abbas would refer to all of that as abrogation.”[^11] And Al-Qurtubi writes, “The predecessors would intend specification by the word abrogation, figuratively and metaphorically.”[^12] As an example of his use of partial abrogation, Al-Tabari records in his commentary: > *Ibn Abbas said the verse ‘Do not enter houses other than your own houses’ (24:27) was then abrogated and an exception was given by the verse, ‘There is no blame upon you for entering houses not inhabited in which there is convenience for you’ (24:29).*[^13] The verse 24:27 originally laid down a general rule (do not enter other people’s houses without their permission) and then a few verses later in 24:29 made an exception to the general rule (you may enter houses if no one is living there). Muslim travelers at the time might have needed to make use of abandoned or uninhabited houses, so permission to do so was granted by restricting the general prohibition. Although Ibn Abbas said the first verse was ‘abrogated,’ he obviously intended by that specification or exception and not a complete repeal of the original rule. Abrogation here was meant in a figurative sense, not literally, and Al-Tabari explicitly associates it as a type of ‘exception.’ It is clear from this, and dozens of other examples, that many times Ibn Abbas never intended complete abrogation when using the Arabic term *naskh*. The problem, however, is that uninformed Muslims and critics of Islam attempt to utilize the authority of Ibn Abbas to support completely unfounded claims like all the ‘peaceful verses’ of the Qur'an have been invalidated. Scholars of the Qur'an would understand what Ibn Abbas meant by a careful analysis of verses, commentaries, and juristic opinions, but lay people usually do not know about the nuances involved, thus causing confusion and misinterpretation when his statements and others are brought forth in a polemical context. This is not simply a problem that has appeared in the modern day either. For generations, some commentators of the Qur'an misinterpreted the usage of abrogation by early Muslims to infer their own technical definitions developed much later. It is also a loophole of sorts for all kinds of unfounded interpretations to inject themselves into the commentary tradition. Indeed, it is not difficult to see that the doctrine of abrogation has the potential for abuse by simply canceling the verses one wishes to not practice. Al-Zarkashi, a scholar of the classical period, criticized a number of commentators in his time who relied too heavily on the later technical meaning of abrogation: > *The Qur’an has abrogated and oversees all divine scriptures. There will be nothing after it to abrogate it. What is within it of abrogating and abrogated verses is known to be few and Allah clarifies what is abrogated at the time it is abrogated… As for the Qur'an, despite the opinion of many commentators, it is not abrogated (by the Sunnah). Indeed, it is only postponed and delayed, or it is held back as vague until it is clarified in a necessary moment, or it is a directive that alters another directive before it, or it specifies the general meaning, or a general ruling has been specified, or one meaning contributes to another. There are many directives of this kind that they imagine are abrogated but it is not so. It is the Book overseeing all other sacred books besides it, and it is internally consistent.*[^14] We have identified the origin of confusion over the meaning of abrogation and the reason why so many scholars dramatically differed in the number of verses they claimed had been abrogated. They were simply using different definitions of abrogation and they may not have appreciated how the meaning of the term subtly changed over time and within different schools of interpretation. Scholars also found ways in which an allegedly abrogated verse was still applicable, thus removing it from the technical definition of abrogation. They ended up demonstrating that abrogation occurs on a spectrum, not necessarily as all-or-nothing. There were other layers of scholarly debate that further complicated the meaning of abrogation, such as the possibility of a verse being “withdrawn” or abrogated in its writing but not its ruling (*naskh al-rasm wa baqa’ al-hukm*), or whether it is possible for the Sunnah to abrogate the Qur’an. These topics are beyond the scope of this article and have been covered elsewhere.[^15] What really matters is not which technical definition of abrogation succeeds in scholarly forums, but rather that the definition in use helps ordinary Muslims to act upon the Qur'an in the way that Allah intended. From all this it might seem that abrogation is a liability, a troubling issue to be brushed aside and only discussed in an apologetic manner. The reality, though, is that there is decisive wisdom in the phenomenon of abrogation, which further demonstrates the divine nature of the Qur'an. --- ## The wisdom of abrogation There are very few rules in life that are absolutely black-and-white, no exceptions allowed. Just about every rule has an exception, which is why the distinction between ‘general’ (*‘amm*) and ‘specific’ (*khass*) is so important in Islamic legal theory.[^16] We would not be able to construct any legal theory, let alone a moral theory, without appreciating the fact that different situations call for different rules. This idea seems obvious enough if one thinks about it, but the notion of abrogation has always been a line of attack by the critics of Islam, even in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. If the rules change, then has Allah changed His mind? Allah said: > *If We replace a verse in place of another verse, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say: Indeed, he has forged it! No, rather most of them do not know.*[^17] According to Al-Suyuti, the replacement of the verse mentioned here is “by its abrogation or revelation of another in the best interests of people” and what the critics do not understand is “the reality of the Qur'an and the benefits of abrogation.”[^18] Abrogation serves the welfare of people by bringing forth the rule most appropriate to their specific situation, making changes as necessary and building a more comprehensive legal and moral framework. This is how any educational model must work, beginning with the easiest lessons and moving on to more challenging and beneficial lessons as the student advances. Giving advanced lessons to an unprepared student would be detrimental to their education. Perhaps the best example in the Qur'an of a beneficial modification to the rules is the progressive discouragement and eventual prohibition of alcoholic drinks. Alcohol was originally permissible in the early stages of prophethood, as the first verses to be revealed concerned faith and ethics instead of laws. Very few concrete legal rules were established in Mecca; then the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Medina and he needed guidance from Allah in the management of a well-ordered society. People started asking him about alcohol, so the verses of the Qur'an began to mention it.[^19] Allah said: > *They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: In both of them is great sin and some benefit for people, but the sin of them both is greater than the benefit.*[^20] This verse discouraged alcohol consumption but stopped short of prohibiting it outright. As stated by Ibn Kathir, “By this verse, the way was prepared for the decisive unlawfulness of wine, as it is not explicit but rather implied.”[^21] The end goal was to rid society of alcohol altogether in gradual, achievable steps. In a verse revealed later, this initial discouragement was abrogated by the prohibition of alcohol consumption before prayer. Allah said: > *O you who have faith, do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying.*[^22] The original rule of discouragement was now replaced with a limited, contextual prohibition. Muslims were still allowed to drink as long as they did not come to prayer drunk. The final verse on alcohol, which was revealed near the end of the Prophet’s ﷺ mission, forbade drinking completely. Allah said: > *O you who have faith, wine, gambling, idolatrous sacrifices, and divining arrows are the disgrace of the work of Satan, so stay away from them that you may succeed.*[^23] The partial prohibition mentioned in the earlier verse was now repealed and replaced by full prohibition. Mujahid said, “They were prohibited from praying while intoxicated, then it was abrogated by the forbiddance of wine.”[^24] When this last verse was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah Almighty has forbidden wine. Whoever hears this verse and he has some with him, let him not drink it nor sell it.” Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (ra) added, “The people brought into the road of the city whatever they had with them and poured it out.”[^25] The prohibition of wine (*khamr*) was extended to all types of alcohol and intoxicants, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Every intoxicant is unlawful.”[^26] The effective cause (*‘illah*) prohibiting these substances is their capacity to intoxicate; therefore, common drugs of abuse, which have no legitimate medical use, are prohibited because of their intoxicating effects, as well as any new drugs of abuse that might be developed or discovered in the future. Altogether the rules about alcohol moved through four stages: 1. It was originally permissible. 2. Then it was discouraged by verse 2:219. 3. Then it was prohibited to drink before prayer by verse 4:43. 4. Then it was prohibited in general by verse 5:90. There are important lessons to be learned from this experience of gradual prohibition. At the beginning stages of the Prophet’s ﷺ mission, people were simply not ready to give up alcohol for the sake of a greater purpose. Aisha (ra) said, “If the first thing to be revealed was ‘Do not drink wine,’ they would have said, ‘We will never stop drinking wine.’ And if it were revealed ‘Do not commit adultery,’ they would have said, ‘We will never stop committing adultery.’”[^27] Certainly, alcohol can have such a tight grip over people’s lives that only strengthening their faith can break it. Even today, the successful Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program makes explicit references to God as the reason and means to quit.[^28] Likewise, people at the time of the Prophet ﷺ needed to build up their faith and recognize a meaningful purpose to their lives that would make the difficult struggle of quitting alcohol worth it. The same model of gradual, progressive implementation on a societal level can apply to other Islamic teachings as well. Abdul Malik said to his father, the Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (ra), “O father, what is the matter that you do not implement the divine commands? By Allah, I would not mind if it caused discord between us as long as it was the truth.” Umar said, “Do not be hasty, my son. Verily, Allah censured \[drinking\] wine in the Qur'an twice and on the third time, He made it unlawful. I fear that if I compelled people to follow the truth all at once, they would reject it all at once and that would be a tribulation.”[^29] Although some Muslims are zealous in their desire to remake society according to their understanding of Islam, it is simply unwise and counter-productive to impose upon people what they are not yet ready to accept. In an ideal situation, no person should feel the need or desire to drink alcohol. The detrimental effects of alcohol consumption were clear even in ancient times. The general prohibition of intoxicants, in this ideal case, is in the best interests of individuals and societies as a whole. A recent massive study of global alcohol consumption concluded that, despite minor health benefits in some contexts, overall “alcohol is a colossal global health issue and small reductions in health-related harms at low levels of alcohol intake are outweighed by the increased risk of other health-related harms, including cancer.”[^30] The Qur'an’s insistence that the harms of alcohol outweigh its benefits are vindicated yet again by study and experience. That said, might there still be something to learn from the abrogated rulings on alcohol, either from its implicit discouragement or its limited prohibition? No doubt, the default rule of no alcohol consumption at all is usually the safest and most optimal thing to do, but we can imagine and have collectively experienced times when the Qur'an’s gradual method for phasing out alcohol is warranted anew. At the individual level, alcohol is one of the most dangerous substances that a person can suddenly withdraw from his or her system if they are addicted.[^31] A full-blown alcoholic who quits drinking ‘cold-turkey’ might experience insomnia and tremors, even potentially life-threatening seizures and delirium requiring medical intervention.[^32] It would be harmful and possibly fatal for anyone to impose the general prohibition on such a person, which means the general prohibition cannot apply here. An alcoholic in this situation needs an individualized treatment plan for gradually withdrawing from alcohol consumption. As such, the previous verses on alcohol might be ‘abrogated’ but their lesson remains and, in this specific case, could be skillfully applied again to meet the needs of the moment. The same dynamic applies at the societal level as it does to an individual. Suddenly withdrawing alcohol from a society in which it is culturally entrenched can produce terrible unintended consequences and end up making the situation much worse. This actually happened when the American government ratified the 18th amendment to the Constitution outlawing all sale and consumption of alcohol, known in history as the period of Prohibition. The supporters of the amendment surely meant well, but American society was not ready for such a shocking change. Not only was the law impractical in that it was literally impossible to fully enforce, it more ominously led to the rise of violent criminal syndicates. Notorious mobsters like Al Capone acquired millions of dollars and unprecedented power by selling alcohol on the black market. The premature prohibition of alcohol handed over enormous influence in American society to gangsters, thieves, and killers, the worst of the worst. The American experiment with Prohibition was ultimately a catastrophic failure and was repealed by the 21st amendment. This harsh historical lesson was expressed succinctly in the words of industrialist John D. Rockefeller Jr.: > *When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.*[^33] Thus, a gradual withdrawal from alcohol is in the best interests of individuals as it is for societies. In hindsight, it is easy to see how the Qur'an’s wisdom would have aided Americans in their quest to mitigate the harms of alcohol. It is not only the standard rulings in Islamic law that provide guidance, but also the history of how those laws evolved through revelation into what they are now. And this is really the crux behind the wisdom of abrogation. In order to understand the full picture of any topic in Islam, one must gather all of the relevant verses, traditions, and commentaries so that they can be synthesized, contemplated, and interpreted plausibly and consistently. One cannot take a single verse out of its greater context and apply it absolutely when there may very well be important exceptions. The reality of abrogation speaks to a larger point about rules changing in different contexts. Learned Muslim scholars do not just apply statements in the Qur'an and Sunnah literally without consideration of other texts, principles, and priorities. They must evaluate their judgments in light of the ‘spirit of the law’ (*maqasid al-shari’ah*), consideration of social customs (*‘urf*), and any other factor that might negatively influence the intended outcome. Ibn al-Qayyim writes at length on the importance of a jurisconsult (*mufti*) considering time, place, custom, and context in applying Islamic rules: > *As for knowing the circumstances of people, this is a tremendous principle required of the jurisconsult and judge. For if he does not understand it, understand commanding and prohibiting and then prefer one over the other, it will cause more harm than good. Indeed, if he has no understanding of the circumstances of people, the oppressor will appear to him as the oppressed and vice versa, the truth will appear as false and vice versa, and he will aid the cause of deception and deceit. The heretic will appear to him as a righteous person, the liar as a truthful person. He will dress every lie in a false garment underneath which is sin, dishonesty, and wickedness. By his ignorance of the people, their circumstances, their habits, and their customs, he cannot distinguish this from that. Rather, he must have understanding of the plots of people, their deceit, their deceptions, their habits, and their customs. For the judgment (fatwa) changes with a change in time, place, habits, and circumstances. All of that is part of the religion of Allah.*[^34] These are the considerations a Muslim scholar must account for after the period of divine revelation has ceased. Abrogation, on the other hand, involved taking up similar considerations *while the divine revelation was still ongoing*. The community of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions transitioned from one of the most lawless societies to one of the most law-abiding. The wisdom of gradualism through abrogation was essential to this transformational process. We should know that all of the verses in the Qur'an have value and application in some way, either generally, as a specific exception, or a historical lesson. The key is to gather all the relevant pieces of information within the text, and context, to interpret them in a plausible and consistent manner, reconciling apparent contradictions as appropriate and drawing on exceptions as necessary. Muslims in now-established communities are generally responsible for applying the final rules resulting from abrogation, but the spirit of gradualism may still inform the particular judgments of individual jurisconsults. Now, we will make use of what we have learned at this point to approach perhaps the most consequential issue related to abrogation: the alleged ‘verse of the sword’ (*ayat al-sayf*). --- ## Did the ‘sword verse’ abrogate the peaceful verses? Muslims often argue that Islam is a religion of peace by pointing to the dozens and dozens of Qur’anic verses that encourage compassion, forgiveness, and good deeds. However, critics of Islam and even some Muslims have an unsophisticated argument to explain away anything in the Qur'an that contradicts their views: the peaceful verses have allegedly been abrogated by the ‘verse of the sword.’ Needless to say, their argument falls apart upon closer scrutiny. The idea that peaceful verses were abrogated does exist in the classical heritage but was by no means universally accepted. Scholars such as Abu Ja’far al-Nahhas, Ibn al-Jawzi, and Al-Suyuti only accepted about twenty cases of genuine abrogation in the Qur'an, none of which involved the verse or verses of the sword.[^35] Although proponents of sword-verse abrogation disagree over which verse is actually the verse of the sword, it is often cited as verse 9:5: > *When the sacred months have passed, then kill the idolaters wherever you find them, besiege them and lie in wait for them in every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give charity, then let them go on their way. Verily, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.*[^36] It is important to appreciate that the term ‘verse of the sword’ appeared later in the classical tradition. The sword, of course, was considered to be a symbol of justice and not aggression or violence. Regardless, such terminology does not originate with the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. The clause ‘kill the idolaters wherever you find them’ is usually singled out by critics and extremists as the final command regarding relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, as if it were a declaration of all-out permanent holy war on all non-Muslims everywhere. Besides the absurd infeasibility of such a teaching, to interpret this clause as absolute only makes sense if one cynically ignores all of the surrounding verses in the same chapter. The subsequent verses 9:10 through 9:13 state unequivocally that the ‘idolaters’ under discussion are those who habitually broke their peace treaties. The purpose of fighting them is to stop their aggression and, even so, the door of repentance remains open for them: > *They do not observe for a believer any kinship or covenant. It is they who have transgressed. If they repent, establish prayer, and give charity, then they are your brothers in religion. We make clear the signs for people who know.* > > *If they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief. Verily, nothing is sacred to them, that they might cease. Will you not fight people who violated their oaths and determined to expel the Messenger and yourselves and they attacked you first?*[^37] The clause ‘that they might cease’ clarifies that the aim of fighting is to stop their aggression, and ‘they attacked you first’ explains what caused the conflict to begin in the first place. Moreover, the immediately following verse 9:6 grants asylum and immunity to any idolater who lays down their weapons whether or not they individually accept Islam: > *If one of the idolaters seeks your protection, then grant him protection that he may hear the word of Allah, then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are people who do not know.*[^38] As expressed elsewhere in the Qur'an, war is only justified as a response to unprovoked aggression. That principle still holds true when the entire passage surrounding the sword verse is read and interpreted consistently. It becomes evidently implausible to imagine that a single line from verse 9:5 has completely abrogated all of the verses around it and hundreds of verses in other chapters. Interestingly enough, some of the earliest interpreters of the Qur'an such as Al-Dahhak, Sufyan, and Al-Suddi believed that the phrase ‘kill the idolaters wherever you find them’ was itself abrogated by the verse, “Either set them free as favor or ransom them until the war has laid down its burdens” (47:4).[^39] They understood that the command to ‘kill them’ was not absolute in any sense, but rather was restricted by other verses. Verses revealed earlier about peace and warfare were likewise understood by the companions as still operative and legally valid even after the revelation of the sword verses. At least three key verses disprove the idea that Islam advocates a permanent state of war against non-Muslims or that the peaceful verses were invalidated. Allah said: > *Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight you, but do not transgress. Verily, Allah does not love transgressors.*[^40] This verse is relevant to both the justification for starting a war (*jus ad bellum*) and the lawful limits of conduct during war (*jus in bello*), both of which are based upon the Islamic principle of non-aggression.[^41] It warns against transgressing the rules of war, as there can never be a time when Allah loves transgression, indicating that the effective legal cause will remain eternally unchanged. It is also consistent with the authentic statement of the Prophet ﷺ, “Verily, the most tyrannical of people to Allah Almighty is one who kills those who did not fight him,”[^42] among many others. Al-Tabari records several narrations from the early Muslims who did not consider this verse to be abrogated. The distinguished commentator Ibn Abbas (ra) explained the import of the verse this way: > *Do not kill women, children, the elderly, or whoever comes to you with peace and he restrains his hand (from fighting), for if you did so you would have certainly transgressed.*[^43] And the Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz clarifies the meaning, “That verse refers to women, children, and whoever does not wage war among them.”[^44] They believed that the verse 2:190 prohibits attacking those we would describe today as civilians, non-combatants, and non-aggressors. This interpretation is consistent with the greater textual context surrounding the verses of the sword, that warfare is only justified as a response to a physical threat, which is also the legal opinion of the historical majority of Muslim jurists according to the classical scholar Ibn Taymiyyah: > *As for the oppressor who does not fight, then there are no texts in which Allah commands him to be fought. Rather, the unbelievers are only fought on the condition that they wage war, as is practiced by the majority of scholars and is evident in the Book and Sunnah.*[^45] In a treatise devoted to this topic, Ibn Taymiyyah uses verse 2:190 as the primary piece of evidence that unbelievers are only fought on the condition that they wage war. They are not fought just because they are non-Muslims. He then refutes the opinion that the verse was abrogated, writing: > *I say: This opinion (that the verse 2:190 is not abrogated) is the opinion of the majority of scholars. It is the way of Malik, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others. The other opinion (that the verse is abrogated) is weak. Indeed, to claim abrogation requires proof and there is nothing in the Qur’an to contradict this verse. Rather, what is in the Qur’an is consistent with it, so where is the abrogating verse?*[^46] Nevertheless, the critics and extremists try to find support for their theory in some of the classical commentaries. For instance, Al-Tabari records the opinion of Al-Rabia’, “This verse (2:190) was the first to be revealed about fighting in Medina. When it was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fought those who fought him, and restrained from those who did not fight him, until the chapter Bara’ah (verse 9:5) was revealed.”[^47] There are other statements in the classical heritage like this, claiming that the ‘sword verse’ abrogated the previous verses that restrict the scope of fighting. But as we have seen, the early Muslims sometimes used the word ‘abrogated’ in a flexible and figurative sense, not the technical meaning ascribed to it later. Was the verse 2:190 abrogated completely or only partially? If so, in what sense was it abrogated? Al-Baydawi relates the opinion that verse 2:190 was abrogated by the imperative to perform self-defensive preemptive strikes against hostile forces: > *It is said that verse (2:190) was before they were commanded to fight the idolaters altogether, the combatants among them and those who remain in their places. And it is said that it means those who wage war upon you or from whom that is expected.*[^48] A strictly literal reading of 2:190 would only allow Muslims to attack those who are directly attacking them in the moment. They would not be allowed to take the initiative against a hostile enemy who is building up an army at their borders. Accordingly, the verse 9:5 ‘abrogated’ the literal import of 2:190 and allowed for incursions into enemy territory, but the basic principle of non-aggression remained operative. This is sometimes referred to as ‘offensive *jihad*’ (*jihad al-talab*), which is an offensive tactic within an overall defensive strategy. As the Arabs used to say, “When the Romans are not campaigned against, they campaign (against you).”[^49] That is, the best defense, in a world where warring empires were the norm, was a good offense. Even so, abrogation is not necessary to incorporate this interpretation because “those who fight you” in verse 2:190 can include “those who are preparing to fight you.”[^50] The Prophet ﷺ used offensive tactics to preempt the invasions and attacks of aggressive neighbors. The Romans initiated hostilities when one of their allies assassinated the Muslim ambassador, which led to the battle of Mu’tah and later the expedition of Tabuk. The Prophet ﷺ did not simply wait in Medina for the Roman army to arrive. If the earlier verses on fighting were indeed abrogated by the verse of the sword, then it is only in this partial, limited sense of allowing preemptive action against credible threats. The spirit of non-aggression still always applied, such as when the Prophet ﷺ forbade Muslims from attacking peaceful neighbors, saying, “Leave the Abyssinians alone as long as they leave you alone, and leave the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone.”[^51] These nations were not attacked by the early Muslims precisely because they were not threatening. Another key verse commands Muslims to conduct peace treaties with their enemies if they are offered reasonable terms of peace. Allah said: > *If they incline to peace, then incline to it as well and put your trust in Allah. Verily, Allah is the Hearing, the Knowing.*[^52] According to Ibn Kathir, this verse cannot be abrogated because the Prophet ﷺ continued to act upon it as a legal precedent, “If the enemy is too powerful, then it is permissible to conduct a truce with them as indicated by this noble verse, and as was done by the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Al-Hudaybiyyah. Thus, it is not invalidated, nor is it abrogated, nor is it restricted.”[^53] He supports his argument with the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, “Verily, after me, there will be conflicts or affairs, so if you are able to end them in peace then do so.”[^54] The verse and its accompanying traditions demonstrate that peace is preferred whenever possible. Ibn Kathir mentions here an instance when the enemy is too strong to attack, in which case a truce is permissible. Some have understood such peace treaties, then, to be merely a temporary tactic until Muslims are strong enough to fight back. This logic is cited today by activists who try to justify the marginalization of Muslim minorities. However, Ibn Kathir uses this example as simply one case in which a peace treaty is permissible. He is arguing for the majority legal opinion, adopted by Abu Hanifa, Malik, and Al-Shafi’i, that “a peace treaty is permissible if the leader sees benefit in it.”[^55] In other words, the Muslim leader has broad permission to conduct peace treaties if it serves the welfare (*maslahah*) of the Muslim community. Therefore, this verse cannot be abrogated and, in fact, it places limits on the sword verses. Lastly, a third key verse articulates the general rule governing relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Like the other verses, this rule also has not been abrogated or invalidated. Allah said: > *Allah does not prohibit you from those who do not fight you for religion and do not expel you from your homes, that you be benevolent to them and generous to them.*[^56] *Verily, Allah loves those who are fair. Allah only prohibits you from those who fight you for religion and expel you from your homes and assist in your expulsion, that you take them as allies. Whoever takes them as allies, then they are the oppressors.*[^57] Muslims ought to maintain good relations with non-Muslims who do not persecute them for their faith or otherwise harm them, in accordance with another verse, “There is no hostility except against oppressors.”[^58] Al-Tabari disagreed with the opinion of some who said these verses 60:8-9 were abrogated, saying: > *The first opinion in that is correct, those who say that what is meant by ‘Allah does not prohibit you from those who do not fight you for religion,’ are among all types of creeds and religions, that you are benevolent to them, have good relations with them, and be fair to them. Indeed, Allah Almighty generalized in His saying ‘those who do not fight you for religion and do not expel you from your homes,’ to include all of those who can be described in this way and He did not restrict it for some to the exclusion of others. It does not mean as those who say it was abrogated.*[^59] The wording of the verse is stated comprehensively such that it applies to all people, regardless of their religion, anyone who can be accurately described as a non-aggressor. Al-Tabari further supports his argument with the report of Asma bint Abi Bakr (ra): > *My mother was an idolater and she came to me during the truce with the Quraysh. I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my mother has come to me and she is hoping for kind treatment. Should I treat her well?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes, treat your mother well.’*[^60] In another narration of this event, Ibn Uyaynah (ra) adds that the verse 60:8 was then revealed in response to Asma’s question.[^61] It did not matter that her mother was a polytheist or that she came from a hostile community. Asma’s mother came in peace and therefore she should be treated well, full stop. On the basis of this report, according to Al-Qurtubi, the “majority of interpreters say the verse 60:8 is operative (*muhkamah*)... The judge Ismai’l ibn Ishaq entered the home of a non-Muslim citizen and was generous to him. Those who were present held that against him, so he recited these verses to them.”[^62] Each set of verses, whether discussing compassion or justice, peace or war, are applicable to their appropriate situations. The verses of compassion and forgiveness were revealed first to express the default stance, then the sword verses created an exception to this general rule. Peace is the desired state of affairs, but war is sometimes necessary to defend the innocent. Forgiveness is the right attitude to have, but not at the expense of justice for victims. Shaykh Mahmoud Shaltut, the late Grand Imam of al-Azhar, concisely describes the mainstream understanding of the peaceful verses vis-à-vis the sword verses: > *As for the Verses of Forgiveness and Pardon, they aim to shape morality and are to be followed in a context that does not infringe on pride and dignity. Every situation has its own legislation and these verses are also fixed and unassailable.* > > *Legislation that is built upon consideration for different situations, and for the different conditions of individuals and groups, and asks of people that in each situation they follow what is most suitable, cannot be accused of being a contradictory legislation or that some parts of it abrogate others. Indeed, to people with sound minds, it is a wise and extremely precise legislation that promotes the interest of those who fall under its authority and brings happiness to the individual and the community.*[^63] The peaceful verses and the sword verses do not contradict each other, nor do they cancel each other out. Each set of verses serves its own purpose, in its own time and its own conditions, with peaceful, just, and positive relations between human beings as the desired end goal. Or as it is said in the Bible, “For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven… a time for war and a time for peace.”[^64] --- ## Conclusion Abrogation in the Qur'an refers to the revelation of later verses which change or alter the rulings established by earlier verses. Abrogation may completely remove the previous ruling, or it might partially amend it with exceptions or conditions. Scholars disagreed over the number of verses that are abrogated because they would often employ different technical definitions of the word ‘abrogation.’ Rather than exposing alleged contradictions in the Qur'an, the phenomenon of abrogation reflects the divine wisdom of delivering different teachings to suit each appropriate context. This wisdom can be clearly observed by examining the Qur'an’s gradual approach to the prohibition of alcohol consumption. Even though the general rule in Islam is the prohibition of all intoxicants, the evolution of this rule in the Qur'an provides important lessons for mitigating the harms of alcohol in both individuals and societies. The spirit of gradualism revealed by abrogation is also a source of wisdom for dealing with other problems and issues. The claim that the peaceful verses of the Qur'an were abrogated, or invalidated, by the ‘verse of the sword’ is based upon a lack of awareness of the nuanced manner in which the term was employed by early Muslims. Several classical scholars, including the Qur'an’s earliest commentators, rejected the claim that the peaceful verses were abrogated in part or in whole. Those who did claim the peaceful verses were abrogated intended by that partial abrogation, that warfare involves rules that are exceptions to the otherwise general rules of peace, tolerance, and forgiveness. *Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.* --- ## Notes [^1]: Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:106. [^2]: Sūrat al-Mā’idah 5:48. [^3]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān* (Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah, 2000), 10:385 verse 5:48. [^4]: Sūrat al-Nisā’ 4:82. [^5]: Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynī and Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī, *Sharḥ al-Waraqāt fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh* (Filasṭīn: Jāmi’at al-Quds, 1999), 1:58-59. [^6]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, *Iʻlām al-Muwaqqiʻīn ’an Rabb al-‘Ālamīn* (Dar al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyah, 1991), 1:29. [^7]: Louay Fatoohi, *Abrogation in the Qur'an and Islamic Law: A Critical Study of the Concept of "naskh" and Its Impact* (London: Routledge, 2014), 13. [^8]: Ibn ’Aqīlah, *Al-Ziyādah wal Iḥsān fī ’Ulūm al-Qur’ān* (al-Shāriqah: Markaz al-Buḥūth wal-Dirāsāt al-Shāriqah, 2008), 5:298. [^9]: al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* (Bayrūt: Dār Ṭawq al-Najjāh, 2002), 1:26 #75, *kitab al-’ilm bab qawl al-nabi sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam Allahumma ‘allimhu al-Kitab*. [^10]: al-Shāṭibī, *Al-Muwāfaqāt* (al-Qāhirah: Dār Ibn ‘Affān, 1997), 3:346. [^11]: al-Sakhāwī,  *Jamāl al-Qurrā’ wa Kamāl al-Iqrā’* (Bayrūt: Mu’ssasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfīyah, 1999), 2:589. [^12]: al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʻ li-Aḥkām al-Qur'an* (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Kutūb al-Miṣrīyah, 1964) 2:65, verse 2:106. [^13]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 19:153 verse 24:29. [^14]: al-Zarkashī, *Al-Burhān fī ’Ulūm al-Qur’ān* (al-Qāhirah: Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Kutub al-ʻArabīyah, 1957), 2:43-44. [^15]: See for example the chapters “Does the Mushaf contain all of the Qur’an?” and “Abrogation in the Sunna” in Louay Fatoohi’s study *Abrogation in the Qur'an and Islamic Law* (London: Routledge, 2014), 122-128 and 207-218. [^16]: See for example al-Juwaynī’s discussion of ‘general’ and ‘specific,’ with al-Maḥallī’s commentary, in *Sharḥ al-Waraqāt fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh* beginning on page 1:222. [^17]: Sūrat al-Naḥl 16:101. [^18]: al-Suyūṭī and al-Maḥallī, *Tafsīr al-Jalālayn* (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2001), 1:360. [^19]: al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī* (Bayrūt: Dār al-Ġarb al-Islāmī, 1998), 5:103 #3049, *kitab tafsir al-Qur’an bab wa min surat al-Ma’idah*. [^20]: Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:219. [^21]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qur'an al-‘Aẓīm* (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 1998), 1:434, verse 2:219. [^22]: Sūrat al-Nisā’ 4:43. [^23]: Sūrat al-Mā’idah 5:90. [^24]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 8:377 verse 4:43. [^25]: Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Qushayrī, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* (\[Bayrūt\]: Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Kutub al-ʻArabīyah, 1955), 3:1205 #1578, *kitab al-musaqah bab tahrim bay’i al-khamr*. [^26]: Muslim, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, 3:1586 #1733, *kitab al-ashribah bab bayan in kull muskir khamr wa an kull khamr haram*. [^27]: al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, 6:185 #4993, *kitab fada’il al-Qur’an bab ta’lif al-Qur’an.* [^28]: “The Twelves Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,” *Alcoholics Anonymous*. [https://www.aa.org/assets/en\_US/smf-121\_en.pdf](https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/smf-121_en.pdf) [^29]: Ibn ’Abd Rabbih, *Al-’Iqd al-Farīd* (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmīyah, 1983), 5:185. [^30]: Robyn Burton and Nick Sheron, “No level of alcohol consumption improves health,” *The Lancet*, August 23 2018. [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31571-X/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736\(18\)31571-X/fulltext). [^31]: Gar L. Fisher and Nancy A. Roget (eds.), *Encyclopedia of substance abuse prevention, treatment, & recovery* (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2009) 1005. [](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412964500.n343&sa=D&ust=1541699293000000)[http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412964500.n343](http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412964500.n343). [^32]: Bayard M, McIntyre J, Hill KR, Woodside J Jr., “Alcohol withdrawal syndrome,” *Am Fam Physician*, March 2004 15;69(6):1443-50. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15053409](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15053409). [^33]: “Everything you ever wanted to know about Prohibition,” OUPblog (Oxford University Press), October 21st 2011.  [https://blog.oup.com/2011/10/prohibition/](https://blog.oup.com/2011/10/prohibition/). [^34]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, *Iʻlām al-Muwaqqiʻīn*, 4:157. [^35]: Khalid Yahya Blankinship, "Sword Verses," in *The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online*. [http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0979](http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0979) (accessed 29 Aug 2018). [^36]: Sūrat al-Tawbah 9:5. [^37]: Sūrat al-Tawbah 9:10-13. [^38]: Sūrat al-Tawbah 9:6. [^39]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 14:140 verse 9:6. [^40]: Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:190. [^41]: Hassan Shibly, “War, Islam, and the Sanctity of Life: Non-Aggression in the Islamic Code of Combat,” *Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research*. 03 October 2017. [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/en/hassan-shibly/war-islam-and-the-sanctity-of-life-non-aggression-in-the-islamic-code-of-combat/](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/en/hassan-shibly/war-islam-and-the-sanctity-of-life-non-aggression-in-the-islamic-code-of-combat/) [^42]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *Al-Musnad* (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1995), 6:233-234 #6681; declared authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by Aḥmad Shākir in the commentary. [^43]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 3:563 verse 2:190. [^44]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 3:562 verse 2:190. [^45]: Ibn Taymīyah, *Kitāb al-Nubūwāt* (al-Riyāḍ: Aḍwāʼ al-Salaf, 2000), 1:570. [^46]: Ibn Taymīyah, *Qāʻidah Mukhtaṣarah fī Qitāl al-Kuffār wa Muhādanatuhum wa Taḥrīm Qatlahum li Mujarrad Kufrihim* (al-Riyād: ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ibn ʻAbd Allāh ibn Ibrāhīm al-Zayr Āl Ḥamad, 2004), 101. [^47]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 3:561-562 verse 2:190. [^48]: al-Baydạ̄wī, *Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Ta’wīl* (Bayrūt: Dār Ihỵāʼ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, 1998), 1:270 verse 2:190. [^49]: al-Dhahabī, *Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā’* (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2006), 14:85. [^50]: ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Sa’dī, *Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr Kalām al-Mannān* (Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah, 2000), 1:89 verse 2:190. [^51]: Abū Dāwūd, *Sunan Abī Dāwūd* (Ṣaydā, Lubnān: al-Maktabah al-Aṣrīyah, 1980), 4:112 #4302, *kitab al-Malahim bab fi al-nahi ‘an tahyij al-Turk wa al-Habashah*; declared good (*ḥasan*) by al-Albānī in the commentary. [^52]: Sūrat al-Anfāl 8:61. [^53]: Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qur'an al-‘Aẓīm*, 4:74 verse 8:61. [^54]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *Al-Musnad*, 1:469 #695; declared authentic (*ṣaḥīḥ*) by Aḥmad Shākir in the commentary. [^55]: Ibn Rushd (Averroës), *Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid* (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 2004), 2:150. [^56]: The verb *tuqsitu ilayhim* is often translated as “be fair to them.” That is a possible linguistic meaning. However, it more likely means in this context, as Al-Qurtubi said, “give them a payment (*qistan*) from your wealth for the purpose of good relations.” He further explains, “It does not mean ‘justice’ here, because justice is required for those who fight and those who do not fight, as said by Ibn al-’Arabi” (*Jāmiʻ li-Aḥkām al-Qur'an*, 18:59 verse 60:8). [^57]: Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah 60:8-9. [^58]: Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:193. [^59]: al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʻ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān*, 23:323 verse 60:8. [^60]: al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, 3:164 #2620, *kitab al-Hibah wa Fadliha bab al-hadiyyah lil-mushrikin.* [^61]: al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, 8:4 #5978, *kitab al-Adab bab sillah al-walid al-mushrik.* [^62]: al-Qurṭubī, *Jāmiʻ li-Aḥkām al-Qur'an*, 18:59-60 verse 60:8. [^63]: Ghazi bin Muhammad, Ibrahim Kalin, and Mohammad Hashim Kamali (eds.), *War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses in Jihad* (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2013), 17-18. [^64]: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins, *The New Oxford Annotated Bible: with the Apocrypha* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 939. ## Summary Abrogation (*naskh*) in the Qur'an is among the most contested subjects in the sciences of the Qur'an. In its plainest sense, it refers to a later verse changing or altering a ruling established by an earlier verse, whether wholly or in part. Critics of Islam have seized upon this notion, claiming it renders the Qur'an contradictory and therefore unfit to be of divine origin. Yet a careful examination reveals the opposite: abrogation is itself a proof of the divine wisdom of the Qur'an, for through it Allah delivered rulings suited to differing circumstances, reflecting His intention that Islam remain applicable to all times, places, and peoples. Allah says, "We do not abrogate a verse and allow it to be forgotten but that We bring what is better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?" Abrogation occurs by the Will and Wisdom of Allah, who knows what guidance people require at the precise moment they require it, and it may occur between different divine books or within a single book. Concerning abrogation between revelations, some rulings in the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were superseded by rulings established in Islam, even though the spirit of all divine books remains one. Thus the Jews observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the Christians their holy day on Sunday, and the Muslims gather for Jumu'ah on Friday. Allah says, "To each among you We have made a law and a way. If Allah had willed, He would have made you into a single nation, but He tests you in what you have been given." Qatadah expressed this beautifully when he said, "The religion is one, but the laws are different," explaining that the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an each have a law, while the underlying religion — monotheism and sincerity to Allah — brought by all the Messengers is one. Since Allah did not command Muslims to force all people into a single code of law but rather urged them to "race towards what is good," the invitation to Islam, the final and perfecting religion, must be by good example and persuasion, never by compulsion or deception. As for abrogation within the Qur'an itself, any apparent contradiction between its verses is only apparent, not real, for Allah says, "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had come from another besides Allah, they would have found much contradiction within it." Abrogation is merely one of several methods by which apparent contradictions are reconciled. The disagreement among classical scholars — some claiming hundreds of verses were abrogated, others only a handful — arises not from confusion in the text but from differing technical definitions of the word itself. Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni gave the later technical definition: "an address indicating the lifting of a ruling established by a previous address, without which it would remain in effect." Some later scholars understood this as complete cancellation. But the righteous predecessors did not always intend this. Ibn al-Qayyim clarified that the *salaf* used the words "abrogating" and "abrogated" sometimes to mean complete removal — the later technical sense — but often to mean the removal of a general or absolute meaning through specification, restriction, or clarification, even referring to exceptions and conditions as "abrogation." These partial forms came to be known as specification (*takhsis*), restriction (*taqyid*), explanation (*tafsir*), clarification (*tabyin*), exception (*istithna'*), and conditionality (*shart*). Ibn 'Aqilah al-Makki called specification and clarification a kind of "figurative abrogation," since the original ruling is not truly lifted but only limited. Hence the English word "abrogation" is often a poor rendering, for the Arabic may signify only a minor amendment. This distinction bears heavily on how the statements of early authorities are understood. Ibn Abbas, whom the Prophet ﷺ supplicated for saying, "O Allah, grant him knowledge of the Book," frequently used *naskh* in this partial, figurative sense. Al-Shatibi cited Makki that Ibn Abbas would call an exception "abrogation"; al-Sakhawi noted that Ibn Abbas referred to abrogation, specification, and exception all as "abrogation"; and al-Qurtubi affirmed that the predecessors intended specification by the word abrogation, figuratively. For example, al-Tabari records that Ibn Abbas said the verse "Do not enter houses other than your own houses" (24:27) was "abrogated" by the exception in "There is no blame upon you for entering houses not inhabited" (24:29) — plainly an exception for travelers, not a repeal. The failure to grasp this subtlety allowed later commentators, and today critics and uninformed Muslims, to invoke the authority of figures like Ibn Abbas for baseless claims. Al-Zarkashi criticized commentators who over-relied on the later technical meaning, insisting the truly abrogated verses are few, that the Qur'an is not abrogated by the Sunnah, and that much of what commentators imagine to be abrogated is in reality postponement, clarification, or specification, "and it is internally consistent." Other layers of debate — such as abrogation of the wording while the ruling remains (*naskh al-rasm wa baqa' al-hukm*) — lie beyond the present scope. What matters is that the definition in use helps ordinary Muslims act upon the Qur'an as Allah intended. The wisdom of abrogation is manifest, since scarcely any rule is without exception — hence the importance in Islamic legal theory of distinguishing the general (*'amm*) from the specific (*khass*). The objection that changing rules imply Allah changed His mind is answered by His words, "If We replace a verse in place of another verse, and Allah knows best what He reveals, they say: Indeed, he has forged it! No, rather most of them do not know." Al-Suyuti explained the replacement is "by its abrogation or revelation of another in the best interests of people," which the critics fail to grasp. The clearest example is the gradual prohibition of alcohol. Initially permissible, it was discouraged by "In both of them is great sin and some benefit for people, but the sin of them both is greater than the benefit" (2:219) — of which Ibn Kathir said, "By this verse, the way was prepared for the decisive unlawfulness of wine." Then came the partial prohibition, "Do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated" (4:43), and finally the general prohibition, "wine, gambling... are the disgrace of the work of Satan, so stay away from them" (5:90). Mujahid said, "They were prohibited from praying while intoxicated, then it was abrogated by the forbiddance of wine." Upon its revelation the Prophet ﷺ declared wine forbidden, and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported the people poured it into the streets. The prohibition extends to all intoxicants, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "Every intoxicant is unlawful," the effective cause (*'illah*) being intoxication. Aisha explained the wisdom of gradualism: had the first revelation forbidden wine outright, the people would have refused. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz counselled his son not to be hasty, noting Allah censured wine twice before forbidding it, fearing that compelling people all at once would cause them to reject the truth all at once. This gradual method, and the historical failure of American Prohibition, illustrate that sudden withdrawal can produce greater harm. Ibn al-Qayyim stressed that a jurisconsult must understand people's circumstances, customs, and times, for "the judgment (*fatwa*) changes with a change in time, place, habits, and circumstances," and all of that is part of the religion of Allah. Regarding the alleged "verse of the sword" (*ayat al-sayf*) abrogating the peaceful verses, this claim collapses under scrutiny. Scholars such as Abu Ja'far al-Nahhas, Ibn al-Jawzi, and al-Suyuti accepted only about twenty genuine cases of abrogation, none involving the sword verses. The verse 9:5 must be read with its context: verses 9:6 through 9:13 make plain the "idolaters" are those who broke treaties and attacked first, that the aim is "that they might cease," and that any who seek protection are granted it. Early interpreters such as al-Dahhak, Sufyan, and al-Suddi even held that "kill the idolaters wherever you find them" was itself restricted by 47:4. The verse "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight you, but do not transgress" (2:190) remained operative, Ibn Abbas explaining it forbids killing women, children, the elderly, and those who come in peace, and Umar ibn Abdul Aziz affirming the same. Ibn Taymiyyah declared this the position of the majority — Malik, Ahmad, and others — that unbelievers are fought only when they wage war, calling the abrogation claim weak, since "to claim abrogation requires proof." Likewise, "If they incline to peace, then incline to it as well" (8:61) is, per Ibn Kathir, neither invalidated nor abrogated, since the Prophet ﷺ acted upon it at al-Hudaybiyyah, and 60:8-9 remains operative, al-Tabari affirming its comprehensive application, supported by the report of Asma bint Abi Bakr whom the Prophet ﷺ commanded to treat well her polytheist mother. Shaykh Mahmoud Shaltut concluded that legislation built upon consideration of differing situations cannot be charged with contradiction; rather it is wise and precise. The peaceful verses express the default of peace and forgiveness, while the sword verses form exceptions for justice and defense — and where the early Muslims called the peaceful verses "abrogated," they meant only this partial sense. Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/pursuing-yaqeen-how-to-build-unshakeable-faith-and-trust-in-god # Pursuing Yaqeen: How to Build Unshakeable Faith and Trust in God | Blog **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Blog **Published:** December 23, 2023 **Updated:** January 8, 2024 ## The meaning of Yaqeen in Islam > And \[recall\] when Abraham said, “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.” He said, “Do you not believe?” Abraham said, “Of course, I do, but just so my heart can be reassured.”[^1] The fortification of one’s faith should occupy the mind of every virtuous person throughout their lives. Why else would it be etched in the Qur’an until the end of time that even the great Prophet Ibrāhīm (as)—despite “of course, believing”—was determined to attain even greater heights of certainty, except that he feared his faith falling prey to satanic whispers, or being fractured under the hammers of hardship? Allah, the Almighty, says in His Noble Book, > And among humanity are those who worship Allah on the verge \[of faith\]; if some good reaches him, he is reassured by it; but if some trial befalls him, he turns his back \[on faith\]—losing out on this world and the hereafter. That is truly the clearest loss.[^2] Hence, humanity ultimately yields only two classes of people: those reassured by their faith, and those whose faith depends on being reassured. Put differently, people will either invest their lives in active pursuit of certainty like Ibrāhīm (as), or they will be haunted in this life and the afterlife by letting themselves sink into the swamps of doubt. A crystal-clear Qur’anic reality is that while Allah grants this world to those He loves and those He hates, He only grants conviction and certainty to those He loves. But like all treasures, conviction’s value is based on its rarity. Abū Bakr b. Abī Maryam narrates that the early scholars would say, “Nothing has descended to this earth in greater scarcity than certainty.”[^3] However, unlike the limited supply of the finite material world, certainty is available to every sincere seeker who makes the sacrifices needed to drink from its fountains and resist its erosion in their hearts. We find this sacred formula in the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, > The earliest of this nation will find strength in its austerity (*zuhd*) and certainty (*yaqīn*), and its last will face destruction in its stinginess (*bukhl*) and false hopes (*amal*).[^4] Notice the profound interplay between these respective pairs. The certainty of the early Muslims inspired their austerity, for it was their surety of Allah (*yaqīn*) that allowed them to resist clinging to worldly pleasures at all costs. Likewise, it was their indifference (*zuhd*) to this world that allowed them to sacrifice it for faith when necessary. On the other hand, the stinginess of many later Muslims is based on their false hopes, as it is their utopian fantasies (*amal*) about this life that lead to stinginess (*bukhl*) and an inability to sacrifice for God. It is that very stinginess that bars them from attaining greater certainty in their hearts. As uncomfortable a truth as it may be, the root cause behind the frail religious commitment of many later Muslims is the absence of adequate certainty in their hearts more so than the lack of Islamic knowledge in their minds. As Sufyān al-Thawrī (rA) once said, “If certainty were to land in the heart as it should, the hearts would take flight out of longing for Paradise and fearing the Hellfire.”[^5] Similarly, Luqmān the Wise (rA) once advised, “My dear son, the labor \[of faith\] cannot be shouldered except with certainty. Whoever’s certainty wavers, then his actions waver as well.” Similarly, we even find Allah (st) declaring this about the most fundamental acts of submission to Him, the daily prayers, > And seek help through patience and prayer, and it is indeed a burden except for the humble—those certain that they will meet their Lord and to Him they will return.[^6] So whenever the sacred knowledge of Revelation is taken lightly, and its imperatives are observed carelessly, this Qur’anic principle should reverberate in our minds. Highlighting the power of certainty as a driving force towards all good, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (rA) said, > Only through certainty was Paradise ever sought, and only through certainty was the Hellfire ever fled from, and only through certainty were \[proper\] intentions for the obligations made, and only through certainty was adhering to the truth endured. It is a profound favor \[of God\] to be spared of trials, for by Allah, everyone appeared comparable during ease, and then they were separated when the trial descended.[^7] The Prophet ﷺ would often appeal to Allah to be kept armored by an ironclad certainty that would make life’s inevitable blows bearable. In one famous supplication, he would say, > ...and \[grant us, O Allah\] a share of certainty (*yaqīn*) that would lighten for us the calamities of this world.[^8] Indeed, only with the sword of certainty can a person slay the phantoms of grief over the past and anxiety about the future, which paralyze countless souls who are plagued with doubt. Only a heart laced with certainty refuses to blame others for what Allah—in His perfect justice and wisdom—withholds, or risks angering Allah in order to please people, or over-depends on transient beings that were created from dust and will soon be reduced back to it. Only a person whose heart is liberated through certainty is not left stranded to understand life’s hardships solely in materialistic terms. Allah (st) says about the faithless, > They \[only\] know the apparent nature of this worldly life. As for the hereafter, they are with regards to it completely oblivious*.*[^9] As for the people of certainty, what they witness with their eyes and heart converge. They view this transient world through His promise that every pain of the believer here (in this life) will very soon mean pleasure there (in the afterlife). Their insight illustrates for them how they will be elevated for their patience, and how they are being cleansed through their ordeals, thereby enabling them to be content in the shade of their conviction. Finally, and most fundamentally, certainty in faith is a requirement for any good deed to be rewarded in the Hereafter, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I testify that none is worthy of worship but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; no servant meets Allah with these statements—not doubting them—except that he will enter Paradise.” In light of this, Bilāl ibn Sa‘d (rA) would say to people, > O servants of the Most Gracious, know that you are working these short days for truly long days, and in this perishing world for a permanent world, and in this realm of grief and exhaustion for a realm of bliss and immortality. But whoever will not act with certainty in that, let them not trouble themselves.[^10] Similarly, Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī (rA)—a companion of the Prophet ﷺ—said, > Oh, how remarkable is the sleeping of the intelligent and their eating, and how it surpasses the sleeplessness of the foolish and their fasting. A speck’s weight of righteousness from a person with piety (*taqwā*) and certainty (*yaqīn*) is superior to, heavier, and greater than a mountainload of worship from the deluded.[^11] By that, he was referring to both the validity and multiplied value of a good deed in relation to its doer’s degree of conviction. --- ## Three Steps to Certainty ### (1) Build faith by studying islam The sacrifice for certainty must often begin with a dedication to comprehend what makes Islam an objective truth, an undeniable reality, and the farthest thing from blind faith. Being familiar with the explanatory power of Islam, and its intellectual and moral greatness, is the first step for many people to experience the sweetness of faith firsthand. The Qur’an reminds us that the “clear truth” of Islam (among many other proofs) justifies confidence in God: > So put your trust in Allah, for you are certainly upon the clear truth.[^12] Nobody is above learning and relearning this, and hence some of the earliest scholars such as Khālid b. Maʿdān (rA) said, “Study certainty (*yaqīn*) just as you study the Qur’an, so that you can recognize it \[as truth\] for yourselves, for even I study it.” Even among the companions, we find Jundab b. ‘Abd Allāh (rA) saying, “We were strong youngsters alongside the Prophet ﷺ who learned faith before we learned the Qur’an. Then, we learned the Qur’an and were increased in faith by it.”[^13] Ibn Masʿūd (rA), another companion, added, “...and those after us will find it easy to memorize the Qur’an, and difficult to act upon it.”[^14] ### (2) Build faith by avoiding sinful acts The next sacrifice required on the path of certainty is to refrain from sinful acts. One of the dreadful effects of disobeying Allah is that each and every sin committed by a person causes spiritual damage to their heart. Since the heart is the locus of recognizing God on an experiential level, the glorification of God bleeds from every heart in proportion to the wounds it incurs at the hands of sinfulness. For this reason, Allah (st) invites us back to certainty by mending those wounds with repentance, and by reinfusing the heart with glorification anew: > So be patient, for the promise of Allah is certainly true, and seek forgiveness for your sins and glorify the praises of your Lord morning and evening.[^15] Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī (rA) was once asked, “How is being acquainted with God achieved?” He said, “Through obeying Him.”[^16] Note how he wisely linked knowing God to one’s pious conduct and not just their textual knowledge. In another report, when ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. Zayd (rA) encountered a devout monk en route, he insisted to stop to benefit from his advice. The austere worshiper only said, “O ‘Abd al-Wāḥid, if certain knowledge (*‘ilm al-yaqīn*) is what you’re after, erect an iron wall between yourself and your worldly desires.”[^17] ### (3) Build faith by seeking righteous company The third sacrifice necessary for those serious about cementing their certainty is to minimize in their surroundings every factor that threatens it. Just as we must distance ourselves from atmospheres conducive to sinful behavior, we must also quarantine ourselves away from those infected with doubt. As Allah (st) said, > So be patient, for the promise of Allah is undoubtedly true. And do not let those without certainty cause you to waver in faith.[^18] Hence, there should be no ambiguity around the fact that unnecessarily socializing with doubters will gradually erode a believer’s certainty. And once that occurs, a person will not only falter in leading their lives with consistent strides towards Allah’s pleasure, but will also be disqualified from being a guiding light for their brethren in humanity. As Allah (st) said, > And We made from among them leaders, guiding by Our command, when they were patient and \[when\] they were certain of Our signs.[^19] It is from the mercy of Allah that religious leadership is not granted to those with flimsy faith, so that they do not sabotage the faith of others when they inevitably crumble. However, regardless of who lives as a leader, king, knight, or pawn, the “chess match” must someday end and all the players must be returned to the same “box”—the dark box about which the Prophet ﷺ said, > As for the believer (or: “the certain”), he will say, “That \[man you ask about\] was Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. He came to us with clear proofs and guidance, so we accepted him and followed him.” It will be said to him, “Rest in comfort, we have verified that you had actual certainty.” As for the hypocrite (or: “the doubter”), he will say, “I don’t know. I heard the people saying something, so I said it as well.”[^20] --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 2:260. [^2]: Qur’an 22:11. [^3]: Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, *Kitāb al-yaqīn*, ed. Yāsīn Muḥammad al-Sawras (Beirut: Dār al-Bashāʾir, 2004), 33. [^4]: Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, *Kitāb al-zuhd*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Salām Shāhīn (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1999), 12. [^5]: Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Maḥmūd b. Shaʿbān ʿabd al-Maqṣūd et al., (Medina: Maktabat al-Ghurabāʾ, 1996), 1:15; Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, ed. Shuʿayab al-Arnaʾūṭ (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1985), 7:260*.* [^6]: Qur’an 2:45–46. [^7]: Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, *Kitab al-yaqīn*. [^8]: Al-Tirmidhī, *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3502. [^9]: Qur’an 30:7. [^10]: Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, *Kitāb al-yaqīn*. [^11]: Muḥammad Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *al-Fawāʾid*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAzīz Shams (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2019), 1:206. [^12]: Qur’an 27:79. [^13]: Ibn Māja, *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Māja*, no. 61. [^14]: Muḥammad al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī and Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsh (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyya, 1964), 1:40. [^15]: Qur’an 40:55. [^16]: Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, *Istinshāq nasīm al-uns min nafaḥāt riyāḍ al-quds* (N.p.: al-Fārūq al-Ḥadīthah lil-Ṭibāʿah wal-Nashr, 2004), 316, [https://shamela.ws/book/151144/27](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/151144/27&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1703293255559539&usg=AOvVaw12aHcoH52hHW8XHMVq3K8a). [^17]: ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, *Kitāb al-zuhd* (Damascus: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1999), 80. [^18]: Qur’an 30:60. [^19]: Qur’an 32:24. [^20]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1338; Muslim, *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2870. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/why-is-gaza-important-honoring-a-land-of-ribat # Why is Gaza Important? Honoring a Land of Ribat | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** December 11, 2023 **Updated:** January 9, 2024 Gaza and its people hold a unique place in our hearts, but what is the origin of their esteemed status? Whether in honoring the Prophet’s lineage or serving as a strategic stronghold for the defense of Muslim lands, Gaza boasts a history steeped in nobility, virtue, and honor. --- ## Honoring a noble lineage Gaza has been the resting place for many noble figures throughout history. Among them are two individuals who share a lineage with our beloved Prophet ﷺ. In a challenging year during 5th-century Arabia, Mecca faced severe food shortages. Responding to the crisis, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Manāf, a respected Quraysh leader responsible for providing food and water to pilgrims and the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, undertook a remarkable initiative. He traveled to the Levant (*al-Shām*), which comprises areas in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, spending all his wealth to purchase baked cakes, which he then crumbled (*hashama*) to make a nourishing broth (*tharīd*) for the pilgrims. Being the first to feed Meccans *tharīd,* this selfless act earned him the title ‘Hāshim,’ the one who crumbles or breaks. In addition to addressing the food shortage, Hāshim enhanced the water supply by digging multiple wells, implemented a foster-care system in which wealthy families fostered the less fortunate, and introduced a system of two annual trade journeys to al-Shāam in the summer and Yemen in the winter—the Qur’an (106:1-5) documents these trade journeys, underscoring their role in providing provision and security to Meccan society. Predating the advent of Islam, Hāshim’s dedication to preserving human life and fostering social solidarity left a lasting legacy. Whilst returning from a journey to *al-Shām*, Hāshim passed away in Gaza and was buried there. This marked the inception of the region’s esteemed status, with Gaza playing a pivotal role as a hub for Arab trade expeditions. Residents of the Arabian peninsula, including some of Hāshim’s relatives from the Banū ʿAmr ibn Kinānah tribe, were drawn to settle in Gaza, given its strategic location within that trade hub. During the 8th century, in the Zeitoun district of Gaza, a noble descendant of Ḥāshim was born: the esteemed scholar and founder of the Shāfiʿī school of thought, Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820). The place of al-Shāfiʿī’s birth later transformed into an interdisciplinary school that, despite enduring challenges, today persists as a Qur’anic institution, intellectual hub, and library. In this vein, Gaza has continued to honor the Prophet’s ﷺ lineage, becoming known among Muslims as Gaza-Hāshim. --- ## A virtuous land and people According to many exegetes, *al-Shām* is mentioned five times in the Qur’an, identified as “the land which We blessed.” These references include the relocation of the Children of Israel to *al-Shām* (7:137), the location of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey (*isrāʾ*) to Jerusalem (17:1), Prophet Ibrahim’s migration to it (21:70-71), Prophet Solomon’s kingdom (21:81), and the blessed lands made accessible to the people of Sheba (34:18). Additionally, the sacred Mount Sinai, by which Allah took an oath in the Qur’an (95:1), is located in *al-Shām*. Moreover, *al-Shām* is identified by several scholars as the land of gathering (*ḥashr*) at the end of time. Numerous prophetic traditions also extol the virtues of the *al-Shām* region and its inhabitants. Across Islamic history, various collections of hadith have been dedicated to compiling reports on the merits of *al-Shām* in general, and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque in particular. The Prophet ﷺ also extolled the virtues of *al-Shām*, affirming, “Certainly, the home of the believers is *al-Shām*.”[^1] However, this esteemed status is accompanied by enduring trials, a reality persisting to this day. Moreover, the Prophet ﷺ was reported to have said, “While I was sleeping, I saw the pillar of the Book \[a reference to Islam\] being lifted from beneath my head, and I thought it was being taken away from me, so I followed it with my gaze. It was then placed in *al-Shām*. Indeed, faith is situated when tumults occur in *al-Shām*.”[^2] Additionally, *al-Shām* plays a pivotal role as the prophesied location for significant events at the end of time, including the descent of Prophet Jesus (AS) and the demise of al-Dajjāl, as indicated in several hadiths. --- ## Safeguarding Muslim land and honor Throughout human history, control over the lands of *al-Shām* have frequently passed from the hands of one group to another. The strategic, geographic location of *al-Shām* at the crossroads of three continents by land and two continents by sea have made it uniquely prone to conquests by competing empires. Despite its vulnerability to incursions from outside powers, *al-Shām* also represents a powerful gateway—one that can either stop the forces of evil from spreading to other lands, or one that can open the way for the forces of good to expand further. The Prophet ﷺ foresaw many of these dynamics, emphasizing the continual role that the people of *al-Shām* (including those of Gaza and Palestine as a whole) would play in fighting for the sake of God (*jihād*), defending Muslim lands against invaders, and grappling with internal conflicts. The Prophet’s companion, ʿAbdullāh ibn Ḥawālah, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, > The matter will come to the point where you will be enlisted as soldiers: a group in *al-Shām*, a group in Yemen, and a group in Iraq. Ibn Ḥawālah said, “Advise me, O Messenger of Allah, if I live to see that.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Choose *al-Shām*, for it is the chosen land of Allah, where He selects the best of His servants. But if you refuse, then choose Yemen, and drink from your own basins. Indeed, Allah has guaranteed me *al-Shām* and its people.”[^3] After narrating this hadith, the eminent Successor (sing. *t**ā**biʿī* pl. *tābiʿīn*) and the Damascan Judge Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī (d. 80/699) used to remark, “Whomsoever God takes care of, they will not be lost.” A selection of hadiths also extol Ashkelon (ʿAsqalān), a city now located 13 kilometers north of the border with the Gaza Strip. Such hadiths commend the city for being dedicated to defending Muslim lands, an endeavor known as *ribāṭ*. This Qur’anic term has garnered various contextual and interdisciplinary interpretations, but in this context, it has evolved over time to signify diverse military and/or religious establishments designed to defend Muslim territories. Such establishments were situated in perilous regions, on frontiers, along coasts, or on challenging internal routes. The Prophet ﷺ was reported to have said, > The beginning of this affair is prophethood and mercy, then it will be caliphate and mercy, then it will be kingship and mercy, then it will be rulership and mercy, and then it will turn into biting like the bite of a predatory animal. So, upon you is *jihād*, and indeed, the best of your *jihād* is *ribāṭ*, and the best of your *ribāṭ* is in Ashkelon.[^4] Due to the close proximity of Ashkelon to Gaza, some Muslim geographers considered Gaza to be a part of it. Although al-Shāfiʿī is commonly believed to have been born in Gaza, as mentioned earlier, some biographical dictionaries also present an alternate view that he was born in Ashkelon. Acknowledging both perspectives, the eminent Shāfiʿī jurist al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) remarked, “Both are part of the sacred lands that Allah has blessed, being approximately 80 km away (*marḥalatayn*) from Jerusalem.”[^5] This association between Ashkelon and Gaza led them to share the same virtue of *ribāṭ*. The dedication to *ribāṭ* by the people of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, including Gaza, was also emphasized by the Prophet ﷺ in the following hadith, > There will always be a group from my *ummah* manifestly upon the truth, not being harmed by those who forsake them, until the command of Allah comes while they are in that state.[^6] Another rendition of the hadith includes the companions asking the Prophet ﷺ, “O Messenger of Allah, where are they?” To which he replied, “In Jerusalem and its surroundings.”[^7] Though some hadith experts doubt its authenticity, reports attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, and the Successors affirm the existence of this group in *al-Shām*. It’s important to note that Muslim scholars did not attribute the virtuous status of these *ribāṭ* locations to inherent characteristics of the land or its inhabitants. Instead, they associated the virtue specifically with the ongoing activities of *ribāṭ* in these areas. Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) clarified the origin of this virtue as follows, > The majority of the common themes found in the writings of early scholars regarding the virtues of Ashkelon, Alexandria, Acre, Qazvin, and others, as well as the reports about righteous individuals associated with these locations, assert that the virtue is attributed to these places being frontiers, not due to any specific quality inherent to the locations themselves. The categorization of a place as a frontier for Muslims or otherwise is seen as a circumstantial characteristic, not an intrinsic one. It is comparable to a zone of war or peace, a center of knowledge and faith or ignorance and hypocrisy—factors that vary based on the residents and their characteristics.[^8] As such, many righteous Muslims and scholars intentionally selected these specific locations as their places of residence to secure the promised reward of safeguarding the Muslim lands. Among those who relocated to Ashkelon for the sake of *ribāṭ* were the Companion Abū Rayḥānah al-Azdī and the great-grandson of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿUmar ibn Mūḥammad ibn Zayd ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, who died there during his *ribāṭ*, earning the appellation ʿAsqalānī. Furthermore, the *tābiʿī* and Mecca’s mufti ʿAṭāʾ ibn Rabāḥ (d. 114/732) devoted 40 days annually to *ribāṭ* in Ashkelon. Similarly, the renowned Kufan *tābiʿī* Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778) engaged in *ribāṭ* on the Ashkelon coast for a period of 40 days. The aim of *ribāṭ* is to safeguard Muslim lands and honor. Al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) titled one of the chapters in his collection “A Chapter on the Merit of Performing *Ribāṭ* for One Day for the Sake of Allah and on Allah’s Saying, ‘You who believe, preserve, endure, and be ready (*rābiṭū*).’” In his esteemed commentary, the hadith expert Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449), associated with his hometown Ashkelon, asserted that commencing this topic with this verse aligns with the interpretations of the early exegetes (*salaf*). He then referenced several *tābiʿīn*  who interpreted the verse as a call to persevere in obedience to God, endure the hardships of fighting enemies, and be prepared to repel any attack. Whether through its connection to the lineage of the Prophet ﷺ, being chosen by Allah, or being honored as a location of *ribāṭ*, Gaza’s special status is firmly entrenched in our Islamic teachings and history. --- ## Notes [^1]: Aḥmad, *al-Musnad*, no. 16965. [^2]: Al-Ḥākim, *al-Mustadrak*, no. 8601. [^3]: S*un**an* *Abū Dāwūd*, no. 2483 *Mu**snad Aḥmad*, no. 17004. [^4]: Al-Tabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 11138. [^5]: Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ sharḥ al-muhadhdhab lil-Shīrāzī*, ed. Najīb al-Muṭīʿī, 23 vols. (Jeddah: Maktabat al-Irshād, 1980), 1:24. [^6]: Muslim, no. 1920. [^7]: Aḥmad, al-Musnad, no. 22320. [^8]: Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya, *Majmūʿ al-fatāwā*, eds. ʿAbdulraḥmān ibn Qāsim and Muḥammad ibn Qāsim, 37 vols., (Medina: Mujammaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2004), 27:53-4. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-first-codex-abu-bakrs-compilation-of-the-quran # The First Codex: Abu Bakr's Compilation of the Qur’an **Authors:** Ammar Khatib, Dr. Nazir Khan **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** December 11, 2023 **Updated:** September 8, 2026 ## Introduction How exactly did the Qur’an come to be preserved in writing? The Islamic tradition provides a considerably detailed narrative of the Qur’an’s textual preservation. The Qur’an was written down by scribes during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ on various materials. It was the first caliph of Islam, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (rA, d. 13/634, r. 11-13/632-634) who compiled the earliest complete official codex of the Qur’an, according to the traditional narrative found in canonical hadith sources.[^1] Despite this, for a variety of reasons, the compilation of Abū Bakr remains understudied as considerably greater academic attention has been paid to the codices assembled by the third caliph, ʿUthmān b. ibn ʿAffān (rA, d. 35/656, r. 23-35/644-656). Yet, Abū Bakr’s compilation was a major event in the history of the Qur’an’s preservation. It brought together all the written fragments on which the Qur’an was previously written during the Prophet’s lifetime in order to produce a single official unified compilation. The present article analyzes what the hadith literature and historical sources tell us about the nature of this compilation, the reasons and circumstances that led to it, the process by which it was compiled, and some of the scholarly differences of opinion concerning it. Through examining these narratives, a clear picture emerges as to the precision and meticulous detail with which the Qur’an has been preserved. The initial challenge confronting researchers is that there is considerably more information available for the codices compiled by the third Muslim Caliph, ʿUthmān,  in comparison to Abū Bakr’s compilation. For the ʿUthmānic codices, a list has been recorded in the Islamic tradition of approximately forty total differences between the codices and this can be correlated precisely with the surviving material evidence in the form of Qur’anic manuscripts.[^2] With respect to the compilation of Abū Bakr, there was only a single codex and no reports concerning variant readings. There are no data that can be used to analyze manuscripts in relation to Abū Bakr’s compilation. The task of a historian interested in Abū Bakr’s compilation is therefore largely confined to analyzing the content of narrations recorded in the works of hadith, Qur’anic sciences, and Islamic history, as well as the discussions of Muslim scholars. Nonetheless, the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation may also be argued for on the basis of considerations beyond these literary sources. Given the Qur’an’s centrality in the spreading and teaching of Islam, it would be highly improbable for Muslims to forgo having any official written copy of the Qur’an during the reigns of Abū Bakr (r. 11-13/632-634) and ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA, d. 24/644, r. 13-24/634-644).[^3] Given that congregational night prayers in Ramadan became organized and regularly practiced under the reign of ʿUmar, the presence of an authoritative written copy of the Qur’an could potentially be viewed as a prerequisite. Moreover, the efficiency with which the ʿUthmānic codices were produced with minimal variation and rapidly disseminated throughout the Muslim world is better accounted for if the companions were already familiar with the process of producing a codex, having undertaken the process during Abū Bakr’s reign. That the ʿUthmānic codex was based upon, or verified with, Abū Bakr’s codex would also boost its authority, one of many factors in its widespread acceptance. Taken collectively, the historical factors lend credence to the account presented in the Islamic literary sources concerning the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation, as shall be detailed below. In addition to the canonical hadith literature, there are quite a few additional historical sources at our disposal that mention Abū Bakr’s compilation. These include Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224/838), Ibn Saʿd (d. 230/845),[^4] al-Fasawī (d. 277/890),[^5] al-Yaʿqūbī (d. 284/897),[^6] Baḥshal (d. 292/905),[^7] and Ibn Abī Dāwūd (d.316/928),[^8] in addition to numerous authorities from later centuries. While individual historical reports must be treated with caution, elements that are attested across sources can be taken with greater confidence. These sources collectively provide details that corroborate and elaborate on the accounts found in the primary hadith literature. Harald Motzki has noted that most Western academics do not accept the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation because of skepticism concerning the details of such accounts.[^9] However, on closer scrutiny many of these objections appear unfounded. Rather, a close reading of the Islamic sources alongside the elaborations provided by Muslim scholars allows one to reconstruct a coherent account that resolves the perceived discrepancies. These objections will be discussed under the circumstances preceding the compilation. Moreover, reports transmitted from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuḥrī (d. 124/742) which provide a detailed account of Abū Bakr’s compilation were shown by Motzki to reliably date back to the first Islamic century using an *isnād-cum-matn* analysis.[^10] He concludes that claims in Western scholarship that the compilation of Abū Bakr was a later fabrication can therefore be dismissed as untenable. Furthermore, a  review of hadith reports on the subject demonstrates that, in addition to the famous account from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī–ʿUbayd b. Sabbāq–Zayd b. Thābit, narrations on Abū Bakr’s compilation have also been transmitted through independent chains, including Ibn Abī al-Zinād–Hishām b. ʿUrwah–ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr and al-Suddī–ʿAbd Khayr–ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA), among others.[^11] The contents of these accounts and reports will be analyzed below. Given the existence of mutually corroborating independent reliable chains of transmission for reports that describe Abū Bakr’s compilation, as well as the ability to reconcile any perceived discrepancies between such reports, the historicity of Abū Bakr’s compilation can be confidently established. --- ## Reports indicating it was the first codex A number of sources have compiled the narrations concerning the first compilation of the Qur’an under the supervision of Abū Bakr (rA).[^12] However, there are also narrations that suggest other companions possessed personal codices of the Qur’an, which they wrote during the life of the Prophet (ﷺ).[^13] This therefore requires some explanation. The famous account by Zayd b. Thābit (rA, d. 45/665) related in *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*  describing his involvement in Abū Bakr’s compilation indicates that Abū Bakr was taking on a task that had not been previously undertaken during the Prophet’s time.[^14] In this narration, when the idea is suggested to him, Abū Bakr asks, “How can you do something that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?” If such a compilation had already been undertaken by other companions during the Prophet’s life, then Abū Bakr’s question would not make sense.[^15] It is also narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (rA, d. 40/661, r. 35-40/656–661), “May God have mercy upon Abū Bakr. He was the first to gather the Qur’an between two covers (*huwa awwal man jamaʿa al-Qurʾān bayna al-lawḥayn*).”[^16] The authenticity of this report was deemed reliable by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) and Ibn Ḥajar (d. 852/1449), among others.[^17] A similar report records the statement from ʿAlī as, “The greatest of people in terms of reward for their service to the complete codices (sing. *muṣḥaf*) is Abū Bakr, for he was the first to gather it between two covers.”[^18] The early Islamic scholar al-Layth b. Saʿd (d. 175/791) also said, “The first to compile the Qur’an was Abū Bakr and Zayd transcribed it. The people would come to Zayd b. Thābit and he would not write a single verse except with two witnesses.”[^19] There are some narrations, however, that state that the first to compile the Qur’an was other than Abū Bakr. One report states that ʾAlī b. Abī Ṭālib was the first to collect the Qur’an, immediately after the passing of the Prophet (ﷺ).[^20] Another report states that after the events of the Battle of al-Yamāma 11/632, ʿUmar (rA) was the first to compile the Qur’an.[^21] Yet another report states that Sālim (rA, d. 12/633), the tribal client (*mawlā*) of Abū Ḥudhayfa (rA), was the first to compile the Qur’an.[^22] These reports do not possess reliable chains of transmission.[^23] However, it is important to note that there were many companions, like Ibn Masʿūd (rA, d. 32/652-53),[^24] the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾisha (rA, d. 58/678),[^25] and Ubayy b. Kaʿb (rA, d. 21/642), who had personal codices in which they had written some of the Qur’anic chapters (sing. *sūrah*) they had learned during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. Abū Shahbah, for instance, notes that even if the reports concerning ʿAlī’s compilation are taken as authentic, this would simply entail that he wrote a personal copy of the Qur’an (whether complete or partial), which does not carry the same reliability and authority as Abū Bakr’s compilation which enjoyed unanimous consensus (*ijmāʿ*) and was compiled through an official and public process.[^26] Moreover, if personal copies were written down during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, the sequence of chapters may have been chronological, unlike the ʿUthmānic order. They may also have included abrogated verses, in addition to personal notes regarding abrogation as well as exegesis (*tafsīr*). Therefore, Abū Bakr’s effort was a landmark event in preparing the first official copy of the Qur’an. --- ## The circumstances preceding the compilation Although the Qur’an had been written down by many scribes during the lifetime of the Prophet,[^27] a complete compilation had not yet been assembled when he ﷺ passed away in 11 AH/632 CE. This has been stated by none other than the Prophet’s chief scribe, Zayd b. Thābit (rA), who also played a central role in both Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān’s compilations. Zayd said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed away and the Qur’an was not yet collected. It was written on palm branches, trunks, stalks, and leaves.”[^28] In other narrations, there is evidence that the compiling of verses within chapters did take place at the instruction of the Prophet ﷺ. Zayd said, “We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) compiling the Qur’an from parchment.”[^29] Al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) commented, “This seems to mean that he intended by this the compilation of what was revealed from the book, the verses scattered in its chapters, and collecting them together based on instruction from the Prophet.”[^30] Gregor Schoeler notes that the narrations suggest that the majority of the Qur’an had already been compiled into sheets of parchment while it was likely the later revelations just before the Prophet ﷺ passed away that remained on scattered materials. Schoeler writes: > \[T\]he traditional reports about the state of the Qurʾan at the time of the Prophet’s death are not unbelievable if one assumes that part of it—perhaps the greater part of it—had already been written down on sheets of the same format and material, while another, and possibly smaller, part had not yet been committed to writing in this form. This latter part, perhaps consisting of the more recent revelations, may have been written on disparate materials and not yet been transferred to sheets of the same format.[^31] Muhammad Muṣṭafā al-Azami explains that the continuous nature of Divine revelation during the Prophetic period precluded transforming the loose fragments of writing into a single volume until after the Prophet ﷺ passed away. He writes: > Setting up a master volume might have proved challenging; any divine *naskh* (نسخ; abrogation) revealed subsequently, affecting the legal provisions or wordings of certain verses, would have required proper inclusion. And a loose page format greatly simplified the insertion of new verses and new suras, for the revelations did not cease until a short time before the Prophet’s death. But with his death the \[revelation\] *waḥy* ended forever: there would be no more verses, abrogations or rearrangements, so that the situation lent itself perfectly for the compilation of the Qur’an into a single unified volume.[^32] When Abū Bakr assumed leadership of the fledgling Muslim state after the Prophet ﷺ passed away, he was immediately confronted with political turmoil in the form of secession, apostasy, multiple rebellions, and fierce battles. One of the most significant battles was the Battle of Yamāma, in which the Muslims fought against the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylima b. Ḥabīb (d. 11/632), or Musaylima the Liar. The early historian Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ al-ʿUṣfurī (d. 240/854) records from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib (d. 97/715) that the total number of Muslims martyred in the battle was 500, of which 30 or 50 were *ḥamalat al-Qurʾān* (lit. carriers of the Qur’an), a designation typically used for those who had memorized the Qur’an.[^33] For more information on this designation, refer to the section on “the memorizers of the Qur’an among the companions” in [How the Qur’an was Preserved During the Prophet’s Time](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1702320800858919&usg=AOvVaw3SV33h0pIE0etUxfthrhBh). Note that Ibn Kathīr says instead that approximately *500 reciters of the Qur’an* (*qurrāʾ*) were martyred that day,[^34] which likely represents a conflation of the two numbers mentioned by Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib, unless Ibn Kathīr was using the term ‘reciter’ generically for every Muslim martyred. We find among those martyred in Yamāma none other than Sālim (rA), the tribal client (*mawlā*) of Abū Ḥudhayfa.[^35] Sālim was a prolific teacher of the Qur’an, and one of four individuals from whom the Prophet ﷺ specially instructed people to learn the Qur’an (the others were ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd (rA), Muʿādh b. Jabal (rA, d. 18/639), and Ubayy b. Kaʿb (rA, d. 29/649).[^36] Moreover, Sālim used to lead the prayers for the earliest Muslim migrants to Medina from Mecca (*muhājirūn*) in a location close to Qubāʾ.[^37] According to the report of Zayd b. Thābit, the martyrdom of many Qur’an reciters during the battle of Yamāma was the direct reason for the compilation of the Qur’an, as suggested by ʿUmar to the caliph Abū Bakr. ʿUmar said, “Indeed a large number of reciters (*qurrāʾ*) have been killed on the Day of Yamāma, and I fear that more reciters will be killed on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur’an may be lost (*fayadhhab kathīrun min al-Qurʾān*). Therefore, I am of the opinion that you should order that the Qur’an be compiled.”[^38] This narration appears to comport well with the aforementioned reports that the Qur’an was mostly transcribed on scattered fragments at the time, which adds to the weight and urgency of ʿUmar’s request. Although the entire Qur’an had been written in the Prophetic era,[^39] the written fragments had not yet been formally compiled into an official codex. Since a large number of the Qur’an reciters had been martyred, ʿUmar’s concern was directly related to ensuring the textual preservation of the Qur’an. Hadith master and exegete, al-Baghawī (d. 516/1122) comments, “They were afraid that some of it \[i.e., the Qur’an\] would be lost with the deaths of those who had memorized it, so they rushed to the ‘Successor of Allah’s Messenger’ ﷺ (i.e., Abū Bakr), and asked him to collect it. He agreed with their opinion, so he ordered its collection in one place.”[^40] Ibn Kathīr writes similarly.[^41] One could ask why the companions would devote so much effort to preserving the Qur’an after Allah had promised to preserve it. Muslim scholars viewed the companions’ efforts as an instrument of the Divine Will to fulfill the promise of the Qur’an’s preservation. Al-Wāḥidī (d. 468/1076) wrote: > If it is asked: “Why were the Companions preoccupied with collecting the Qur’an in *ṣuḥuf* (parchment sheets), when Allah already promised to preserve it, given that one need not fear (losing) what Allah has preserved?” > The response is as follows: Their collection of the Qur'an was one of the means by which Allah preserved it. When He intended to preserve it, He appointed them for this purpose. Ibn al-Anbārī said: They wanted to facilitate learning the Qur’an for people and make it accessible through what they did, so that it would be easy for anyone who wanted to memorize it and read it when they saw it collected in a scroll. Even if they had not done what they did, it would not have been lost, as Allah guaranteed its preservation.[^42] It is also worth noting that some scholars interpreted ʿUmar’s statement differently. Al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013) offers an interpretation that suggests that the textual preservation of the Qur’an was not what ʿUmar believed to be at stake. Al-Bāqillānī writes: > It is possible that what was meant by this is that they (i.e., those who were martyred) used to study the Qur’an extensively, recite it, and perform night prayers (*tahajjud*) with it. So, ‘what would be lost from the Qur’an’ from what they possessed is interpreted to mean that most of the Qur’an’s study and recitation would be lost, along with the abandonment of its recitation in night prayers and supplication. And this is what was intended.[^43] Al-Bāqillānī argued that since many senior companions were alive, there was no basis to fear that the Qur’an could be lost. However, if we examine ʿUmar’s statement closely, we note that ʿUmar did not only reference the Battle of Yamāma but also expressed concern that future battles would result in similar casualties among the reciters of the Qur’an. Therefore, it remains entirely plausible that ʿUmar would raise such a concern to ensure the textual preservation of the Qur’an. A number of Western scholars, including Theodor Nöldeke, Richard Bell, and William Montgomery Watt, also raise some contentions against the idea that the martyrdom of Qur’anic reciters in Yamāma was a motivation for compiling the Qur’an.[^44] They cite an argument from Leone Catani that the names of those who died in the battle of Yamāma largely included new Muslims and the number of those who knew the Qur’an by heart was too few to have been cause for alarm.[^45] Certainly, this argument is readily reconcilable with al-Bāqillānī’s interpretation of ʿUmar’s statement discussed above. A significant number of casualties of any Muslims could motivate the concern that there would be fewer adherents of Islam to devote themselves to the study of the Qur’an. Therefore, investing the community’s efforts in collectively assembling a codex of the Qur’an would certainly reinvigorate study and recitation of the sacred text. But aside from al-Bāqillāni’s interpretation, it is not clear that Catani’s argument undermines even the conventional interpretation of ʿUmar’s statement. We know that a Qur’anic teacher as prolific as Sālim (rA) was among the martyrs in the battle. His loss alone would have certainly impacted the companions at a time when Qur’an teachers were direly needed to educate the large numbers of tribes that had newly embraced Islam. Other Qur’an teachers who were martyred in the battle may simply not have been recorded by name. There is precedent for this in the massacre of the ‘well of  Maʿūna’ that took place in 4/625 during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, where seventy companions from the Medinan Helpers (*anṣār*) were martyred.[^46] The companions martyred in the incident are left unnamed and are simply described as Qur’an reciters. Moreover, ʿUmar’s concern was realized with the deaths of those who had memorized any significant portion of the Qur’an, not only those who had memorized the Qur’an in its entirety. Ibn Ḥajar for instance mentions that “it could mean that they had collectively memorized the Qur’an, not that every individual had memorized it in its entirety.”[^47] Secondly, Noldeke et al. argue that since the compilation involved gathering materials that had already been written down, there was no way that this could have been jeopardized by the death of any number of reciters of the Qur’an. However, this is overly simplistic. While it is true that the death of those who have memorized the Qur’an does not cause written copies of the Qur’an to vanish, it does increase the importance of those written copies for the continued memorization and teaching of the sacred text, and therefore requires that they be consolidated into a unified text. After all, the fragments on which the Qur’an was written could have been lost or damaged. On the basis of these considerations, there is consequently no reason to doubt the traditional narrative concerning the motivation of Abū Bakr’s compilation. Based on this narrative, the compilation of Abū Bakr can be plausibly dated to 12/633, between the Battle of Yamāma in 11/632 and prior to his death in 13/634.[^48] --- ## The process and method of compiling the Qur’an Zayd b. Thābit (rA) was chosen by Abū Bakr (rA) to lead the task of compiling the Qur’anic text. At the time when he was selected for this task, he would have been 22 years old, given that he was 11 years old at the time of the Prophet’s migration.[^49] Abū Bakr himself gave the reasons for selecting Zayd when he said, “You are a wise young man (*shābun ʿāqilun*), we have no aspersions against you (*lā nattahimuk*), and you used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah.”[^50] Ibn Ḥajar comments: > He mentioned four qualities about him which detailed his unique suitability for the task: being young so that he would have the energy for what was demanded of him, being intelligent so he would be more cognizant in his approach, being beyond reproach so that others could trust him, and having been a scribe of revelation, so he possessed the requisite experience. These qualities that he possessed could also be found in others but separately (rather than combined in one person).[^51] Although not explicitly mentioned by Abū Bakr, there are two other qualities that scholars have often added to Zayd’s credentials. The first is that Zayd himself had memorized the entire Qur’an by heart, as mentioned by Abū Bakr b. al-Anbārī (d. 328/940).[^52] This is unsurprising given his role as the foremost scribe of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. A second credential that is often mentioned by scholars is that Zayd witnessed the “final review” (*al-ʿarḍa al-akhīra*) between the Prophet ﷺ and the Angel Jibrīl (as).[^53] The Prophet ﷺ used to review the entire Qur’an annually with Jibrīl in the month of Ramadan and during the last year of his life, the Prophet ﷺ completed the review with Jibrīl twice.[^54] Al-Baghawī states: > It is said that Zayd b. Thābit attended the final review in which it was clarified what was abrogated and what remained. Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī said, “Zayd recited the Qur’an twice to the Prophet ﷺ during the year in which he passed away, and this recitation is called the reading (*qirāʾa*) of Zayd because he transcribed it for the Prophet ﷺ  and recited it to him and witnessed *al-ʿarḍa al-akhīra*, and he taught its recitation to people until he passed away. That is why Abū Bakr and ʿUmar relied upon him in its compilation and ʿUthmān appointed him in charge of writing the *muṣḥaf*s—may God be pleased with them all.”[^55] Aside from the statement of al-Sulamī (d. 74/693), there are in fact no reports corroborating that Zayd attended the final review.[^56] Qur’anic philologist, Abū Jaʿfar al-Naḥḥās (d. 338/950), simply said that the reading of Zayd was the one confirmed in the final review.[^57] Similarly, Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) said, “And the final review is the *qirāʾah* of Zayd b. Thābit and others, and it is the one that the rightly-guided caliphs—Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī—instructed to be written in the *maṣāḥif*.”[^58] On the other hand, we have reports from Ibn ʿAbbās (rA) (d. 68/687) indicating that it was in fact ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd (rA) who attended the final review,[^59] which he mentioned to explain why Ibn Masʿūd’s reading differed from the ʿUthmānic codex and the reading of Zayd. Al-Ṭāsān dismisses Ibn ʿAbbās’ report as inauthentic for several reasons. However, he suggests that, even if one were to assume the report was authentically transmitted, it was simply a confusion on the part of Ibn ʿAbbās.[^60] Nonetheless, the relevance of the “final review” was never mentioned by the companions during the compilation process of Abū Bakr nor of ʿUthmān. Moreover, given that there is no definite and clear evidence to confirm the claim that Zayd attended the final review, mentioning it as a credential is speculative at best. With respect to the process by which Zayd gathered the Qur’an, the evidence indicates that he undertook a stringent process that utilized both written materials in addition to memorization of the text. He said, “I gathered it from the bark of palm trees, thin white stones, and the men who knew it by heart.”[^61] During the process of compiling the Qur’an, Zayd famously sought corroboration from two witnesses for each verse. As cited earlier, al-Layth b. Saʿd said, “The first to compile the Qur’an was Abū Bakr and Zayd transcribed it. The people would come to Zayd b. Thābit and he would not write a single verse except with two witnesses.”[^62] Zayd did not transcribe verses from memory despite the fact that he and other companions had memorized them. Nor did he simply transcribe the Qur’an from existing written copies. Rather, he followed a meticulous process to ensure that the transcription of every verse was backed by both direct written testimony and memory. ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (d. 643/1245) explained that the requirement for ‘two witnesses’ meant two people who possessed it in writing and could testify to having written down the verse from the Prophet ﷺ precisely as they had learned it.[^63] This interpretation is favored by the majority of Muslim scholars.[^64] Another interpretation mentioned by Ibn Ḥajar takes the “two witnesses” as meaning “memory” and “writing.”[^65] While it is certainly true that both memory and writing were involved, the evidence does suggest that the meaning of two witnesses was two individuals who had learned the verses directly from the Prophet ﷺ. This is particularly confirmed by the story of Abū Khuzayma (rA) discussed below. Thus, the compilation process for each verse in the Qur’an was backed by the combined attestation of written materials, memorization, and direct testimony. --- ## The story of a missing verse During the compilation of Abū Bakr (rA), while seeking two witnesses for each passage, Zayd b. Thābit (rA) came across a passage for which he found only one witness. Zayd reports, “Abū Bakr sent for me, so I collected the Qur’an until I found the last part of *Sūrah al-Tawba* (verses 9:128–129) with Abū Khuzayma al-Anṣārī (d. 37/657) and did not find it with anybody else.”[^66] This narration, found in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, explicitly notes that this took place during the first compilation, and that the witness was Abū Khuzayma (rA). Again, one must clarify that this does not mean that Abū Khuzayma was the only one who knew this verse, as all the companions who had memorized the Qur’an knew it. However, they were seeking a witness who had documented the verse in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).[^67] The very reason they knew exactly which verse was missing was because they had memorized it. Another narration, also from Zayd b. Thābit and related in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, mentions the same incident but with the name Khuzayma al-Anṣarī (rA): > So I started locating Qur’anic material and collecting it from parchments, scapulae, leaf-stalks of date palms, and from the memories of men \[who knew it by heart\]. I found with Khuzayma al-Anṣārī two verses of *Sūrah al-Tawba* that I had not found with anybody else \[he cites Qur’an 9:128–129\].[^68] Such a minor difference in the name (Abū Khuzayma vs Khuzayma) would typically not raise any questions, except that we have a third narration, also in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, about an identical incident involving a different verse with Khuzayma. > When we wrote the Holy Qur’an, I missed one of the verses of *Sūrah* *al-Aḥzāb* which I used to hear Allah’s Messenger ﷺ reciting. Then we searched for it and found it with Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣārī. The verse was “Among the Believers are men who have been true to their Covenant with Allah, Of them, some have fulfilled their obligations to Allah \[i.e., they have been killed in Allah’s cause\], And some of them are \[still\] waiting.” \[33:23\] So we wrote this in its place in the Qur’an.[^69] Notice that this narration does not explicitly mention whether this occurred during Abū Bakr’s or ʿUthmān’s compilation.[^70] In another narration, Zayd states “I compiled the written materials into codices” (*nasakhtu al-ṣuḥuf fī al-maṣāḥif*), which implies it was during the ʿUthmānic project which involved multiple codices.[^71] In that narration he mentions verse 33:23 and Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣārī (rA). There are other narrations of this incident in other sources that use either name for each incident.[^72] Al-Bāqillānī argues that these narrations may be dismissed as contradictory and conflicting with more reliable evidence, or may be reinterpreted in various ways.[^73] Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī and others reconciled the narrations by stating that the first incident took place during the compilation of Abū Bakr,[^74] and that it was the verse from *Sūrah al-Tawbah* that was found with Abū Khuzayma b. Aws b. Yazīd b. Aṣram. Meanwhile, the second incident took place during the compilation of ʿUthmān (rA) with the verse from *Sūrah* *al-Aḥzāb*, which was found with Dhū al-Shahādatayn Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣārī, a different person from Abū Khuzayma.[^75] Al-Azami uses this as evidence for his argument that ʿUthmān repeated the process of summoning witnesses for each verse; otherwise there is no reason they would not be able to find the verse from *al-Aḥzāb* if the compilation of Abū Bakr was in front of them.[^76] Al-Jaʿfarī meanwhile suggests that it is not inconceivable that the written parchment of one verse may have gone missing during the time interval between the two compilations, which exceeded a decade.[^77] On the other hand, scholars like Ibn Kathīr[^78] and others[^79] held that both incidents happened during the time of Abū Bakr. While Muḥammad Ḥasan Jabal agrees with Ibn Ḥajar’s analysis that the incidents described by Zayd refer to two different people, he also concurs with Ibn Kathīr’s opinion that both occurred during the compilation of Abū Bakr.[^80] Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad adduces additional evidence suggesting that the incident of the lost verse happened only during the time of Abū Bakr, but  also that both incidents are in fact one incident that involved the same person. He cites the following narration from the introduction to *Kitāb al-Mabānī*, in which Zayd  describes the compilation during the time of Abū Bakr: > I completed one review and I noticed I was missing this verse \[33:23\] so I asked the Meccan migrants (*Muhājirīn*) and the Medinan Helpers (*Anṣār*) and I did not find it \[in written form\] with any of them, although I knew the verse and the Prophet ﷺ had dictated it to me, however I disliked to establish it until someone else testified alongside me. And then I obtained it from Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣārī whose testimony the Prophet ﷺ had made equal to that of two witnesses. So I wrote the verse and then I conducted another review. And I found that I was missing two verses although I knew them \[9:127–128\]. So I inquired about them from the *Muhājirīn* and the *Anṣār* and I did not find them with any of them except with Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣarī whose testimony the Prophet ﷺ had endorsed. So I wrote them at the end of Barāʾa \[*Sūrah* *al-Tawbah*\].[^81] Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad states that this account alleviates some of the confusion found in other sources. He also notes that “the similarity between the two names (i.e., Abū Khuzayma and Khuzayma) and their mention in different narrations using the very same phrasing indicates that they are both names referring to the same companion and that is Khuzayma b. Thābit al-Anṣārī.”[^82] This is the simplest and easiest explanation for what would otherwise seem to be a rather striking coincidence of the exact same circumstances involving two different individuals with almost identical names. Nonetheless, other ways of reconciling the narrations, such as that of Ibn Ḥajar, were also accepted by many scholars. Finally, it should be mentioned that the verses in question have been attested in the earliest manuscripts, and it is not reported that a single companion’s codex omitted them.[^83] There is of course a remarkable story behind the significance of Khuzayma b. Thābit being the witness for this verse. According to the narration in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ regarded Khuzayma’s testimony as equal to that of two witnesses,[^84] earning him the title of *Dhū al-Shahādatayn* (Possessor of Dual Testimony). The story behind this begins with the Prophet ﷺ purchasing a horse from a bedouin (in other narrations identified as Sawāʾa b. al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāribī). After agreeing upon the price and the purchase, the Prophet ﷺ asked the bedouin to accompany him to retrieve the payment. While on their way, people saw the horse and, unaware that it had already been sold, started bargaining with the bedouin for it. The bedouin took advantage of the situation and told the Prophet ﷺ, “If you want this horse, then buy it \[by bidding higher\], otherwise, I will sell it.” The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Have I not already purchased it from you?” The bedouin asked the Prophet ﷺ to produce a witness. Khuzayma b. Thābit testified on his behalf, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ asked him how he could testify when he hadn’t been present. Khuzayma replied that “Because I believe in you \[as a Prophet\] and know that you do not speak except with that which is truth.” Thereupon, the Prophet ﷺ made the testimony of Khuzayma equal to that of two witnesses.[^85] This was a Prophetic endorsement of the purity of Khuzayma’s faith and character in hastening to testify to the truthfulness of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.[^86] And it is said that the Prophet ﷺ still chose to return the horse to the bedouin, undoubtedly as a gesture of kindness, integrity, and generosity.[^87] This narration underscores the Divine Will behind the miraculous turn of events that caused the one person about whom the Prophet ﷺ had made this declaration to be the same person with whom Zayd found the written copy of the ‘missing’ verse(s). --- ## Differences between the compilations of Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān Scholars have provided a number of explanations for why the codex of ʿUthmān (rA) differed from the compilation of Abū Bakr (rA).[^88] First, the reasons for undertaking the projects differed. The compilation of Abū Bakr was meant to record the Qur’an in its entirety to ensure that verses of the Qur’an would not be lost with the death of those who had memorized them.[^89] The ʿUthmānic codex, meanwhile, was meant to unite the entire Muslim nation upon a single text to eliminate confusion caused by Muslims reciting variant readings of the Qur’an.[^90] Eminent scholar and polymath, Imam al-Ṣuyūṭī (d. 911/1505), cited this explanation of the differences as follows: > Ibn al-Tīn and others have said: The difference between Abū Bakr’s compilation and ʿUthmān’s is that Abū Bakr compiled the Qur’an out of fear that parts of it might be lost with the loss of those who had memorized it, as it was not collected in one place. So, he gathered it into parchments, arranging the verses of its surahs as the Prophet ﷺ had directed. > ʿUthmān’s compilation, on the other hand, was due to the growing disagreement in the ways of recitation, to the extent that they recited it in their own dialects, given the diversity of dialects. This led some to mistake others’ readings. Fearing the exacerbation of this matter, ʿUthmān transcribed those parchments into a single *muṣḥaf* (codex), arranging its surahs, and limited the dialects to the dialect of Quraysh. His argument was that it was revealed in their dialect, even though the recitation was broadened to dialects other than theirs initially to ease difficulty and hardship. He saw that the need for that had ended, and thus he restricted it to one dialect.[^91] Since the reason for the compilations differed, the use of the compilations differed as well. During the time of Abū Bakr, the compilation was simply kept in safekeeping while Muslims continued to read the Qur’an according to the way they had been taught and according to the personal copies that they had in their possession.[^92] Adhering to the ʿUthmānic codex, however, was compulsory, and copies were sent to major cities in the Islamic empire. Any written copies of the Qur’an that did not conform to the ʿUthmānic codex were burned or corrected. These are the fundamental differences between the two compilations. Some scholars also distinguish between the compilation of Abū Bakr and the ʿUthmānic codex on the basis of the fact that the former is termed *ṣuḥuf* and the latter is termed *muṣḥaf*. These scholars understand the former term to refer to loose sheets of parchment and the latter term to refer to written sheets of parchment bound together between two covers, i.e., a codex. It has been further suggested that Abū Bakr’s compilation was not arranged according to chapter sequence.[^93] Al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī (d. 405/1014), provides an interesting comment in this regard after citing a hadith indicating that some compilation took place in the time of the Prophet ﷺ himself.[^94] Al-Ḥākim writes: > The hadith provides clear evidence that the compilation of the Qur’an was not a single event. Some of it was compiled in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, then some of it was compiled in the presence of Abū Bakr as-Ṣiddīq. The third compilation, which involved arranging the surahs, occurred during the Caliphate of the Commander of the Faithful, ʿUthmān bin ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with them all.[^95] This brief comment expresses the opinion that ʿUthmān’s compilation involved arranging the surah sequence, and implies that Abū Bakr’s compilation did not. Ibn ʿAṭiyya (d. 541/1147), an authoritative sunni exegete, is more explicit in stating that the compilation of Abū Bakr was “not arranged by surah sequence” (*ghayr murattab al-suwar*).[^96] Abū Shāma al-Maqdisī (d. 665/1268) explains this with reference to the term *ṣuḥuf* used to describe Abū Bakr’s compilation: > It appears that Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, compiled one, two, or more surahs onto a sheet of parchment, depending on the length of the surah. Hence it is said that he compiled the Qur’an in *ṣuḥuf*,[^97] and similar expressions that indicate plurality. Then ʿUthmān, may Allah be pleased with him, copied from those sheets (*ṣuḥuf*) into a *muṣḥaf* which included them together, arranging the surahs in their current order.[^98]  Ibn Ḥajar writes: > The difference between the *ṣuḥuf* and the *muṣḥaf* is that the *ṣuḥuf* are the separate parchment sheets on which the Qur’an was compiled during the era of Abū Bakr. They contained the surahs \[chapters\] separately, each surah  arranged independently with its verses, but the surahs were not arranged sequentially. When they were copied and arranged in a sequence, they became a *muṣḥaf*.[^99] On the other hand, Ghānim Qaddurī al-Ḥamad does not find the evidence sufficient to conclude that Abū Bakr’s compilation lacked arrangement by surah sequence and he points to the existence of reports that mention that Abū Bakr compiled the Qur’an ‘between two covers.’[^100] There is also some discussion concerning the suitability of the term *jamʿ* (gathering or compilation) for the compilation of Abū Bakr versus the ʿUthmānic codex (see the discussion in “[How the Qur’an was Preserved During the Time of the Prophet](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission).”) While listing the differences between Abū Bakr’s compilation and ʿUthmān’s codex, Ahmed al-ʿAbd al-Karīm writes, “The compilation by Abū Bakr was the closest to the conventional meaning of ‘compilation’ in the Arabic language, which implies bringing together what is scattered and connecting parts to each other.”[^101] For those scholars who consider the ʿUthmānic codex to simply be a direct copy of the *ṣuḥuf* of Abū Bakr, ʿUthmān’s project did not involve gathering or compiling any textual materials; it was rather a gathering or unifying of people upon a single text, and thus may be more appropriately called a project of standardization. However, the ʿUthmānic codex may be considered a compilation of a compilation, in that Abū Bakr’s loose sheets of parchment (*ṣuḥuf*) were combined into a bounded codex. Indeed, the scholars of hadith listed narrations concerning the ʿUthmānic project under the title “the compilation (*jamʿ*) of the Qur’an,” which indicates that they considered it to be part of the compilation process rather than a separate process.[^102] Moreover, as will be explained in a subsequent section, some scholars considered the ʿUthmānic codex to be an autonomously assembled text that was later checked against the *ṣuḥuf* of Abū Bakr; hence, it could also be appropriately termed a compilation per that view. --- ## The variant readings and Abū Bakr’s compilation The Islamic tradition recognizes a multiplicity of correct ways to recite the Qur’an which relates to the hadith that the Qur’an has been revealed according to seven *aḥruf* (ways of reciting, lit. ‘letters,’ sing. *ḥarf*).[^103] The narrations discussed earlier do not provide any direct indications on whether Abū Bakr’s compilation contained more than one reading; however, this was a topic on which Islamic scholars theorized. For instance, Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī (d. 444/1053) replies to a question concerning why ʿUthmān (rA) compiled the Qur’an when it was already compiled in Abū Bakr’s codex (*muṣḥaf*) beforehand: > If someone were to say, “Now that you have clarified what you were asked about in interpreting these two reports, then explain to us the reason that prompted ʿUthmān, may God be pleased with him, to compile the Qur’an in the *maṣāḥif*, although it was already compiled in the *muṣḥaf*, as you have narrated to us in the previous hadith of Zayid b. Thābit.” I would respond that the reason for this is clear, based on the report and the opinion of some scholars. It is that Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, first compiled the Qur’an according to the seven *aḥruf* \[i.e., recitations\] that God, the Almighty, allowed the Ummah to recite and he did not specify a particular *ḥarf*. Thus, when it was ʿUthmān’s time, and a disagreement arose between the people of Iraq and the people of Shām about the recitation, and Hudhayfa informed him of this, he, along with the companions in Madīnah, decided to unite the people on a single *ḥarf* of those *aḥruf*, and to drop the others. This would eliminate the differences and produce agreement.[^104] Interestingly, al-Dānī prefaces this explanation by noting that it is the opinion of some scholars, indicating that there were perhaps differing views on this matter in his time as well. However, the view al-Dānī selected does seem to have become popular and we find his contemporary, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071) echoing a similar view: > As for Abū Bakr’s compilation of the Qur’an, he was the first to gather it between two covers. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib also compiled the Qur’an after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and during Abū Bakr's caliphate. All of this was in accordance with the seven *aḥruf*, unlike ʿUthmān’s compilation based on a single *ḥarf*, the *ḥarf* of Zayd bin Thābit, which is what is in the hands of the people between the covers of the *muṣḥaf* today.[^105] The hadith commentator, Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī (d. 855/1451), similarly wrote: > Abū Bakr’s aim was to compile the Qur’an with all its *aḥruf* and ways in which it was revealed, which are based on the dialect of \[the Meccan tribe of\] Quraysh and others. ʿUthmān’s aim, however, was to isolate the dialect of Quraysh from those other readings.[^106] Other scholars who made similar statements concerning the inclusion of seven *aḥruf* in Abū Bakr’s collection include al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193),[^107] al-Sakhāwī (d. 643/1245),[^108] and al-Jaʿbarī (d. 732/1332).[^109] Many contemporary scholars also endorsed the view that Abū Bakr’s compilation contained the seven *aḥruf* while ʿUthmān’s compilation did not.[^110] However, if this opinion were taken literally it would mean that Abū Bakr’s compilation had to include the same verse or word written multiple times to accommodate all possible readings. Suffice it to say, this would be a convoluted process if logistically feasible at all. In his doctoral dissertation, the Egyptian Azhari scholar ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Faramāwī (d. 2017) theorized that since Abū Bakr’s compilation was not intended to reduce readings as the ʿUthmānic codex was, it is theoretically possible that it included multiple readings of the same verse, either above or below the word or in the margins.[^111] Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad on the other hand dismisses al-Faramāwī’s suggestion along with the claim that Abū Bakr’s compilation contained the seven *aḥruf*, due to the absence of any evidence that such a task was undertaken.[^112] Nonetheless, even if Abū Bakr’s compilation did not include multiple *aḥruf* for the same passage, it remains a possibility that it contained some passages according to one *ḥarf* and other passages according to another, since fixation of one reading was not an express goal of the compilation. This is a plausible way of interpreting the scholarly comments that Abū Bakr’s *muṣḥaf* contained the seven *aḥruf*; it did not contain them in their entirety, but rather incorporated combinations of readings from each of them. --- ## The subsequent use and ultimate fate of the compilation If we return to the narrations concerning the ʿUthmānic compilation, we may note multiple indications that the process consisted of not only transcription and dictation but several stages of review and verification. The narration in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* makes clear that ʿUthmān (rA) requested Abū Bakr’s compilation to be used in the process of transcribing the new codex. Recall that the manuscript of Abū Bakr (rA) had been verified through an extremely meticulous process, not simply relying on the companions who had memorized the Qur’an in its entirety, but also ensuring that each verse had two witnesses who had written it down in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ in a manner that matched the way the companions had memorized it.[^113] With Abū Bakr’s passing, the compilation passed into the hands of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA), and then, after his passing, into the hands of his daughter Ḥafṣa bint ʿUmar (rA, d. 45/665), the widow of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).[^114] > ʿUthmān sent a message to Ḥafṣa saying, “Send us the manuscripts of the Qur’an so that we may copy the Qur’anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you.” Ḥafṣa sent it to ʿUthmān. ʿUthmān then instructed Zayd b. Thābit, ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Zubayr, Saʿīd b. Al-ʿĀṣ and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥārith b. Hishām to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies.[^115] From this narration, one might be inclined to state, as many scholars did,[^116] that ʿUthmān’s compilation was assembled by simply copying the manuscript compiled by Abū Bakr. However, Muḥammad Muṣṭafā al-Azami argues that combining the above account with other narrations paints a more complete picture in which ʿUthmān’s compilation was assembled independently of Abū Bakr’s compilation, which was only used during the verification process *after* ʿUthmān’s committee had finished transcribing the *muṣḥaf*.[^117] The first narration that al-Azami cites in support of this narrative comes from Muṣʿab b. Saʿd: > ʿUthmān delivered a sermon and said, “The people have diverged in their recitations, and I am determined that whoever holds any verses dictated by the Prophet ﷺ himself must bring them to me.” So the people brought their verses, written on parchment and bones and leaves, and anyone contributing to this pile was first questioned by ʿUthmān, “Did you learn these verses \[i.e., take this dictation\] directly from the Prophet ﷺ himself?” All contributors answered under oath, and all the collected material was individually labeled and then handed to Zayd b. Thābit.[^118] The second narration al-Azami cites comes from Mālik b. Abī ʿĀmir (one of the committee members and the grandfather of Imam Mālik b. Anas), who states: > I was among those upon whom the *muṣḥaf* was dictated \[from the written sources\], and if any controversies arose concerning a particular verse they would say, “Where is the scribe \[of this parchment\]? Precisely how did the Prophet ﷺ teach him this verse?” And they would resume scribing, leaving that portion blank and sending for the man in question to clarify his transcription.[^119] These narrations indicate that the *muṣḥaf* of ʿUthmān was prepared autonomously and gathered through an independent process in addition to corroboration with the compilation of Abū Bakr. Another narration that highlights this is the report of Hānī al-Barbarī that Ubayy b. Kaʿb (rA, d. 30/649) performed additional verification of certain words during the ʿUthmānic compilation.[^120] One can further strengthen al-Azami’s argument by noting that ʿUthmān’s instructions to the committee on what to do if they differed concerning a verse only make sense if they were conducting an independent compilation process. If they were simply copying the text of Abū Bakr’s compilation, then there would be no occasion for them to differ in the first place. There is also the testimony of one of the scribes of the ʿUthmānic codex, Kathīr b. Aflaḥ (d. 63/683).[^121] He stated that if the scribes differed over something during the process of writing the ʿUthmānic codex,  they would delay writing it. The transmitter of this report, Muḥammad b. Sirīn (d. 110/729), hypothesized that it was because they would first examine who was closest to the time of the final review (i.e., in terms of when they had learned it from the Prophet ﷺ) so that they could write it according to that reading. This lends more weight to the view that the ʿUthmānic codex was not a simple transcription of the compilation of Abū Bakr. Furthermore, narrations indicating that Zayd (rA) transcribed while Saʿīd dictated also suggest a process more involved than mere copying.[^122] Finally, we have an account which, in spite of its weaknesses, mentions that ʿUthmān requested Ḥafṣa’s copy after the compilation by Zayd was completed, which was then reviewed and compared with the ʿUthmānic codex and confirmed to be in agreement.[^123] As for those reports suggesting ʿUthmān asked Ḥafṣa for the manuscripts first, the wording of such reports provides only an abbreviated description. Perhaps, Ḥafṣa’s copy was requested at the outset but primarily used in the final stage of producing the codices as a source of verification. The question that emerges is why ʿUthmān would undertake this exhaustive process when he could have readily copied the manuscripts already compiled by Abū Bakr. Al-Azami offers the following reasoning: > One may wonder why Caliph ʿUthmān took the trouble to compile an autonomous copy when the end product was to be compared with the \[compilation of Abū Bakr\] anyway. The likeliest reason is a symbolic one. A decade earlier thousands of Companions, engaged in the battles against apostasy in al-Yamāma and elsewhere, were unable to participate in the Ṣuḥuf’s compilation. In drawing from a larger pool of written materials, ʿUthmān’s independent copy provided these surviving Companions with an opportunity to partake of this momentous endeavor. > In the above account, no inconsistencies were found between the \[compilation of Abū Bakr\] and the independent *muṣḥaf* and from this two broad conclusions emerge: first, the Qur’anic text was thoroughly stable from the earliest days and not (as some allege) fluid and volatile until the third century; and second, the methods involved in compilation during both reigns were meticulous and accurate.[^124] If al-Azami’s conclusion is correct, one must note that rather than merely having a ‘symbolic’ reason for conducting an independent compilation, ʿUthmān also had a very practical and tangible reason: reducing differences in the ummah’s readings entailed elimination of some of the variant readings from the seven *aḥruf*. Since the goal of Abū Bakr’s compilation was simply to preserve the text of the Qur’an, arbitrating between variant readings and different dialects was never a stated goal or component of the process. This relates to what was previously mentioned concerning the possibility that Abū Bakr’s compilation included a combination of a greater number of readings from the seven *aḥruf*. Therefore, the advantage of repeating the collection process and independently reviewing every verse from written sources in addition to memory afforded the committee the opportunity to affirm with the highest degree of confidence and certainty that the reading they selected for the writing of the *muṣḥaf* was the reading taught and recited by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself. Al-Jaʿbarī notes that the compilation passed from Abū Bakr to ʿUmar because Abū Bakr himself designated ʿUmar as his successor. On the other hand, ʿUmar did not designate a successor but appointed a committee to consult (*shūrā*) and decide on the successor, and therefore the compilation was inherited from him by Ḥafṣa.[^125] The compilation of Abū Bakr, which remained in the possession of Ḥafṣa, was not erased or burned by ʿUthmān. However, the compilation was later requested by Marwān b. al-Ḥakam (r. 65-66/684-685), who at that time was the governor of Medina before later becoming an Umayyad caliph. Ḥafṣa refused. However, when she passed away in 41 AH/665 CE, Marwān retrieved it and had it destroyed.[^126] Marwān stated, “I only did that because whatever was in it was already written and preserved in the \[ʿUthmānic\] *muṣḥaf*. And I feared that time would pass and people would start to have misgivings about this \[Ḥafṣa’s\] *ṣuḥuf* or would say, “It contained something that has not been written.”[^127] --- ## Conclusion In the quest to understand the timeline of the Qur’an’s textual preservation, the compilation efforts led by the first caliph Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (rA, r. 11-13/632-634) hold substantial significance, although they have been considerably understudied compared to the codices assembled by the third caliph, ʿUthmān (rA, r. 23-35/644-656). This article, through an in-depth exploration of Muslim literary sources and scholarly interpretations, has aimed to illuminate the process, purpose, and implications of Abū Bakr’s contribution to the Qur’an’s preservation. It argues that through analyzing the hadith and scholarly sources, a coherent picture emerges of how, when, and why Abū Bakr undertook this project. The compilation was meant to record the entirety of the Qur’an in writing to ensure that Qur’anic verses would not be lost with the death of those who had memorized them. Under Abū Bakr’s stewardship, an official unified compilation was made through a rigorous process of verifying each verse through the combined attestation of written materials, memorization, and direct testimony. This picture illustrates the deliberate and meticulous effort undertaken by the companions in assembling the first codex of the Qur’an, thereby fulfilling the duty of preserving the words of Allah for generations to come. --- ## Notes [^1]: For an overview, see Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami, *The History of the Quranic Text, from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments* (Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), 77–86. Cf. Theodor Nöldeke, Friedrich Schwally, Gotthelf Bergsträßer, and Otto Pretzl, *The History of the Qurʾān* (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 223–34. [^2]: See for instance, Hythem Sidky, “On the Regionality of Qurʾānic Codices,” *Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association* 5 (2020):133–210; Ala Vahidnia, “Whence Come Qurʾān Manuscripts? Determining the Regional Provenance of Early Qurʾānic Codices,” *Der Islam* 98, no. 2 (2021): 359–93. [^3]: See for instance the argument of Gregor Schoeler in “The Codification of the Qurʾan: A Comment on the Hypotheses of Burton and Wansbrough,” in *The Qurʾan in Context* (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2009), 779–94, 784–85. [^4]: Ibn Saʿd, *al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā* (Cairo: Maktabat Khānjī, 2001), 5:311. Note that other editions of the text are incomplete and do not include mention of the compilation of Abū Bakr. [^5]: Yaʿqūb b. Sufyān al-Fasawī, *al-Maʿrifa wa al-tārīkh* (Baghdad: Maktabat al-Irshād, 1974), 1:410. [^6]: Al-Yaʿqūbī, *Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī*, ed. ʿAbd al-Amīr Mihanna (Beirut: al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 2010), 2:22. [^7]: Abū al-Ḥasan Aslam b. Sahl Baḥshal, *Tārīkh Wāsiṭ*, ed. Kurkīs ʿAwwād (Beirut: ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 1406 AH/1986), 251. [^8]: Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, ed. Abū Usāma Salīm al-Hilālī (Kuwait: Muʾasassat Gharās li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 2006), 139–54. [^9]: Harald Motzki, “Alternative Accounts of the Qur’an’s Formation,” in *The Cambridge Companion to the Qurʼān* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 62. [^10]: Harald Motzki, “The Collection of the Qur’an: A Reconsideration of Western Views in Light of Recent Methodological Developments,” *Der Islam* 78 (2001): 1–34. *Isnād-cum-matn* is a method of analysis that collects all the various iterations for a particular hadith as transmitted by each narrator in order to determine the history of its transmission. [^11]: Akram ʿAbd Khalīfa al-Dalīmī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān: Dirāsa taḥliliyya li-marwiyyātihi* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2006), 129–74. [^12]: See Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 153–69; Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī, *al-Muqniʿ fī maʿrifat marsūm maṣāḥif ahl al-amṣār* (Riyadh: Dār al-Tadmurrīya, 2010), 134; Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib al-Qaysī, *al-Ibānah ʿan maʿanī al-qiraʾāt*, ed. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Ismāʿīl Shalabī (Cairo: Dar Nahdat Misr, 1977), 157–61. [^13]: See for instance, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṭāsān, *al-Masāḥif al-manṣuba li-l-ṣaḥāba wa-al-radd ʿalā al-shubuhāt al-muthāra ḥawlahā* (Riyadh: Dār al-Tadmuriyya, 2016), 88–89. [^14]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an*, *bāb jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, no. 4986. [^15]: One may counter that perhaps he was unaware of the personal copies other companions had, or perhaps he was aware of them and did not agree with them. However, the first possibility seems unlikely given that there is no reason for these copies to have been kept a secret. The second possibility also appears unlikely as one would expect that it would have generated some debate. These scenarios are speculative; however, the most probable scenario suggested by the description found in the hadith is that the first complete copy was indeed Abū Bakr’s. [^16]: Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif,* 140\. Similar narrations from 140–43. [^17]: See Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 140\. The editor, Salīm al-Hilālī, concurs with Ibn Ḥajar’s and Ibn Kathīr’s assessment. The report is transmitted by Ismaʿīl b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Suddī (d.127/745) from ʿAbd Khayr b. Yazīd al-Hamadānī (d. 81/700) from ʿAlī. [^18]: Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 141. [^19]: Reported in the no longer extant work by Ibn Ashtah (d. 360/971), *al-Maṣāḥif*, as cited by al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2008), 131. [^20]: Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 161–62. See editor notes concerning the narration’s inauthenticity. [^21]: Ibn Abī Dawūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 162. See editor notes concerning the narration’s inauthenticity. [^22]: Reported in Ibn Ashtah, *al-Masahif*, as cited by al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 130. Note that al-Suyūṭī suggests this could mean Sālim was one of those who compiled the Qur’an under Abū Bakr, but this cannot be correct if Sālim died during the Battle of al-Yamāma, which was the event that motivated the compilation under Abū Bakr. See ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān al-karīm fī ʿahdi Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq* (Kuwait: Dār al-Ẓāhiriyya 2022), 23. [^23]: Al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, 17–28. [^24]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an*, *bāb taʾlīf al-Qurʾān*, no. 4996. [^25]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an*, *bāb taʾlīf al-Qurʾān*, no. 4993. [^26]: Muḥammad Muḥammad Abū Shahba, *al-Madkhal li-dirāsāt al-Qurʾān al-karīm* (Riyadh: Dār al-Liwāʾ li-l-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1987), 273. Cf. Akram Dalīmī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, 174. [^27]: See for instance, Muhammad Mustafa al-Azamī, *The Scribes of the Prophet* (London: Turath Publishing, 2020). [^28]: Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, *Faḍāʾil al-ṣaḥāba*, ed. Waṣī Allāh ʿAbbās (Mecca: Muʾassasāt al-Risāla 1983), 1:390. [^29]: Ibn Ḥibbān, *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān*, no. 114. [^30]: Al-Bayhaqī, *Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa* (Cairo: Dar al-Rayyān, 1988), 7:147. [^31]: Schoeler, “Codification of the Qurʾan,” 782. [^32]: Al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 77. [^33]: Khalīfa Ibn Khayyāṭ b. Abū Hubayra, *Tārīkh Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ*, ed. Akram Ḍiyāʾ al-ʿUmarī (Riyadh: Dār Ṭaybah, 1985), 111. [^34]: Ibn Kathīr, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, ed. Abū Isḥāq al-Ḥuwaynī (Cairo: Maktaba b. Taymiyya, 1416 AH/1995), 58. [^35]: Ismāʿīl Ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāya wa-l-nihāya*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī (Riyadh: Dar ʿĀlam al-Kutub, 2003), 9:496. [^36]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb manāqib al-Anṣār*, *bāb manāqib Muʿādh b. Jabal*, no. 3806. [^37]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb al-ādhān*, *bāb imāmat al-ʿabd wa al-mawlā*, no. 692. [^38]: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an*, *bāb jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, no. 4986. [^39]: This is the conclusion that has been argued by many Muslim scholars and can be inferred from Zayd’s report concerning the compilation process under Abū Bakr. The fact that he sought testimony for each verse from those who had written the verse in the presence of the Prophet indicates that all the verses had been transcribed. Yousef Wahb also observes: “the organized scribal activities, the appointment of scribes, the encouragement of education through writing, the Divine command to preserve the text, and the authentically reported reliance on written materials transcribed during the time of the Prophet in the subsequent textual compilations of the Qur’an—plainly substantiate the thesis that the entire Qur’an was recorded before the Prophet’s passing.” See Yousef Wahb, “How the Qur’an Was Preserved During the Prophet’s Time: Mechanisms of Oral and Written Transmission,” *Yaqeen*, December 5, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1702320800908840&usg=AOvVaw3rRRrSFN7JlLdtDua9jbj6). [^40]: Al-Baghawī, *Sharḥ al-sunna,* ed. Zuhayr al-Shāwīsh and Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ (Damascus: al-Maktab Islamī, 1983), 4:521. [^41]: Ibn Kathīr, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, 58. [^42]: Al-Wāḥidī, *al-Tafsīr al-basīṭ* (Riyadh: al-Īmām University, 1430H/2009), 12:547. [^43]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār li-l-Qur’an* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2001), 1:400. [^44]: Noldeke et al., 229–30 and Richard Bell, *Introduction to the Qur’an* (Edinburgh: University Press, 1953), 39; cf. Richard Bell and William Montgomery Watt, *Bell’s Introduction to the Qur’ān* (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 41. [^45]: Leone Catani, *Annali dell’Islam* (Milano: Hoepli, 1907), 2:713, 739–54. [^46]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb al-maghāzī*, *bāb ghazwat al-Raji’ wa al-Ri’l wa al-Dhakwan wa Bi’r Ma’una*, no. 4090. [^47]: Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī* (Riyadh: Dar al-Ṭaybah, 2005), 11:167. [^48]: Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ, *Tārīkh Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ*, 107, 121. On the date, see also Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī waḥyan wa rasman wa lughatan wa qirāʾatan* (Istanbul: Dār al-Ghawthānī, 2019), 99 and ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, 31. [^49]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf: Dirāsah lughawīyya tārīkhīyya* (Baghdad: al-Lajnah al-Waṭanīyya, 1982), 112. [^50]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an*, *bāb jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, no. 4986. [^51]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 11:169. [^52]: Cited in Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272), *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān* (Beirut: Muʾassasāt al-Risāla, 2006), 1:88. [^53]: ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm fī ʿahdi Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq*, 35–36; al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text,* 79. [^54]: Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, *kitāb al-manāqib, bāb ṣifat al-nabī ﷺ* , no. 3554; see also *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, *bāb kāna Jibrīl yaʿriḍu al-Qurʾān ʿalā al-nabī ﷺ*, no. 4998. [^55]: Al-Baghawī, *Sharḥ al-sunna* (Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1983), 4:525–26. [^56]: For a detailed discussion concerning the “final review,” refer to the following studies: Usāma al-Ḥayānī, “*al-ʿArḍa al-akhīra li-l-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa-al-aḥadīth al-wārida fīhā jamʿan wa dirāsa*,” *al-Majallat Jāmiʿat al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Qādir*, no. 10; Muhammad Bāzmūl, “*al-Aḥādīth al-wārida fī al-ʿarḍa al-akhīra*,” *Majallah Jāmiʿat Umm al-Qurra li-l-ʿUlūm al-Sharīʿa wa al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya* 62 (Shaʿbān 1435): 83; Nāsir b. Saʿūd al-Qithamī, “*al-ʿArḍa al-akhīra: Dalālatuhā wa atharuhā*,” *Majallat Maʿhad al-Imām al-Shaṭibī li-Dirasāt al-Qurʾāniyya* 15 (2013): 1–69. [^57]: Al-Naḥḥās, *al-Nāsikh wa-al-mansūkh* (Riyadh: Dār al-ʿĀsima, 2009), 2:407. [^58]: Ibn Taymiyya, *al-Fatāwā al-kubrā* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutb aI-ʿIlmiyya, 1987), 4:418. [^59]: Imām Aḥmad, M*usnad Aḥmad*, no. 3422. This was also mentioned by al-Ṭaḥāwī and al-Māturīdī. [^60]: Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Ṭāsān, *Taḥqīq mawqif al-ṣaḥābī al-jalīl ʿAbdullāh Ibn Masʿūd min al-jamʿ al-ʿUthmānī* (Riyadh: Kursī al-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa ʿUlūmuh bi-Jāmiʿat al-Malik Suʿūd, 1435 AH/2014), 58–67. [^61]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, *kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān, bāb jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, no. 4986. [^62]: As cited by al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 131. [^63]: See al-Sakhāwī, *Jamāl al-qurrāʾ wa kamāl al-iqrāʾ* (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyya, 1999), 302–3. [^64]: See al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 80; Muḥammad Ḥasan Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī min Rasūl Allāh ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhī wa sallam ilā ummatihī* (Tanta: Dar al-Ṣaḥāba li-l-Turāth bi-Ṭanṭā, n.d.), 182; al-Judayʿ, *Muqaddima asāsīyya fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Rayān, 2001), 97; Muṣṭafā al-Bughā and Muḥyī al-Dīn Mistū, *al-Wāḍiḥ fī ʿulūm al-Qur’an* (Damascus: Dār al-Kalim al-Tayyib, 1998), 84; Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Quran al-Karīm* (Jeddah: al-Fatḥ, 1946), 49; ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, 40. [^65]: Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 11:171–73. [^66]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, *kitāb al-tawḥīd, bāb wa kāna ʿarshuhū ʿalā al-māʾ wa huwa rabb al-ʿarsh al-aẓīm*, no. 7425. [^67]: Abū Shāma, *al-Murshid al-wajīz*, 61; Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 11:171–73; al-Bāqillānī, *Nukat al-intiṣār* *li-naql al-Qur’ān*, ed. Muḥammad Zaghlūl Sallām (Alexandria: Munsha*ʾ*at al-Maʿārif, 1971), 333. See also al-Sakhāwī, *Jamāl al-qurrāʾ*, 307 for the alternate explanation that Zayd was looking for others who had a copy of the verse to confirm the different possible readings of the verse. [^68]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4679. [^69]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4049. [^70]: Ghanim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 118–19. [^71]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2807. [^72]: Ibn Abū Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 1:146, 148, 154, 203 (which mentions Khuzayma with 9:128 during Abū Bakr’s compilation), 1:149 (which mentions Khuzayma with 33:23 during Abū Bakr’s compilation), 1:198 (which mentions Khuzayma or Abū Khuzayma for 33:23), 2:221 (which mentions Khuzayma with 33:23 during ʿUthmān’s compilation), and 2:225 (which mentions Khuzayma with 9:128 during ʿUthmān’s compilation). See also Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān wa maʿālimuhu wa adābuhu*, ed. Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Khayyāṭī (Rabat: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa al-Shuʿūn al-Islāmiyya, 1995), 2:93, 96. [^73]: Al-Bāqillānī, *Nukat al-intiṣār*, 331. [^74]: Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 11:172. See also Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, *ʿUmdat al-qārī*, 20:19. [^75]: Abū Shāma, *al-Murshid al-wajīz*, 61; Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 11:172; see also Ibn ʿĀshir, *Fatḥ al-Mannān al-marwī bi-mawrid al-ẓamān*, ed. ʿAbd al-Karīm Bū Ghazāla (Egypt: Dār Ibn al-Ḥafṣī 2016), 417–18. [^76]: Al-Azami writes, “These two have caused confusion among some scholars, mainly due to the proximity of the two names. Note that the two are distinct: Khuzaima and Abu Khuzaima. Now if we read the hadiths carefully we see that Zaid used the word *ṣuḥuf* for the collection during Abū Bakr’s reign, and the word *muṣḥaf* or *maṣāḥif* (pl. of *muṣḥaf*) for the work he did under ʿUthmān’s supervision. Thus we may safely conclude that these are two different instances of compilation.…If we consider the second compilation to be Zaid’s work on an independent copy of the *muṣḥaf*, then everything becomes clear. On the other hand, if we assume that Zaid was simply making a duplicate copy for ʿUthmān based on Abū Bakr’s, not an autonomous copy, then we must confront the awkward question of why Zaid was unable to locate verse no. 23 from *Sūrah al-Aḥzāb*, since all the verses should have been right in front of him. Of interest also is that Zaid uses the first person singular pronoun in the first narration and the plural “we,” indicating group activity, in the second. All of this strongly bolsters the view that the second compilation was indeed an independent endeavor.” Al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 92. [^77]: ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān fī ʿahd ʿUthmān* (Kuwait: Dar al-Ẓāhiriyya, 2022), 44–45. [^78]: Ibn Kathīr, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān* (Cairo: Maktabah Ibn Taymiyya, 1416 AH/1996), 86. [^79]: Burhān Ibrāhīm al-Jaʿbarī, *Jamīlat arbāb al-marāṣid fī sharḥ ʿaqīlat atrāb al-qaṣāʾid*, ed. Muḥammad Ilyās Anwar (Amman: Arwiqa, 2017), 340. See also Ahmad Ali al-Imam, *Variant Readings of the Qur’an* (London: IIIT, 2006), 45. [^80]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql*, 185, 201–204. [^81]: Arthur Jeffery, ed., *Muqaddimatān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān: Wa-humā muqaddimāt Kitāb al-mabānī wa muqaddimāt Ibn ʿAtiyya* (Cairo: Maktabat al-Khānjī, 1954), 20–22. On the identity of the author, see Aron Zysow, “Two Unrecognized Karrāmī Texts,” *Journal of the American Oriental Society* 108, no. 4 (1988): 577–87, [https://doi.org/10.2307/603146](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.2307/603146&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1702320800899295&usg=AOvVaw0iLXRvoRvmhVKMW-UpNRPO). [^82]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf*, 119. [^83]: Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi, “*Saṇʿāʾ* 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān,” *Der Islam* 87, nos. 1–2 (2012): 23. They write: “There are some traditions about ‘Uthmān’s team finding the last two verses of sūra 9 with a man named Khuzayma, or Abū Khuzayma, or Ibn Khuzayma. C-1 \[(Sanʿāʾ undertext)\] has these verses in the expected place. Since they are also found in the ‘Uthmānic Qur’an, and since it is not reported that any Companion codex was without them, these verses must have belonged to the prototype from which the C-1 and ‘Uthmānic text types emerged. Therefore, one should not read too much into the report.” [^84]: Al-Bukhārī, *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2807. [^85]: See *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 3607; Al-Nasāʾī, *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 4647; Imām Aḥmad, *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 21883, along with al-Ḥākim, *Mustadrak al-Ḥākim*, no. 2188; al-Bayhaqī, *Sunan al-Bayhaqī*, no. 20516; al-Ṭabarānī, *Muʿjam* *al-kabīr*, no. 3730. [^86]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *I’lam al-muwaqi’in* (Dammam: Dār ibn al-Jawzī, 2002), 3:368. [^87]: Al-Nasāʾī, *Sunan al-Nasāʾī al-musammā bi-l-mujtabā wa bi-hāmishih ḥāshiyat al-Sindī* (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2005), p. 1080, no. 4651. [^88]: See also ʿAbd al-Fattāh al-Qāḍī, *Tārīkh al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf* (Cairo: Maktabat Jindī, 1951), 27; al-Judayʿ, *Muqaddimāt aṣāsīya*, 100–101. [^89]: Al-Dānī, *al-Muqniʿ*, 137. [^90]: Makkī, *al-Ibāna*, 62–64; ʿAbd al-Qayyūm al-Sindī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm fī ʿahd al-khulafāʾ al-rāshidīn* (Medina: Majmaʿ al-Malik Fahd li-Tiba’at al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 1421 AH), 380; Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālah al-naṣṣ*, 105. [^91]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*, 133. [^92]: Al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān*, 49. [^93]: See Abū Shahba, *al-Madkhal*, 273. [^94]: The hadith is as follows: Zayd bin Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: We were with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, compiling the Quran from fragments, when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “Blessings upon Syria.” We asked, “Why is that?” He said, “Because the angels of the Merciful are spreading their wings over them.” [^95]: Al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, *al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-ṣaḥīḥayn*, ed. Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Qadir ʿAṭṭā (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1990), 2:249. [^96]: ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Ghālib Ibn ʿAṭiyya, *al-Muḥarrar al-wajīz*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām ʿAbd al-Shāfī Muḥammad (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1422H/2001), 1:49. [^97]: The word in the text is *muṣḥaf*, which appears to be in error since it is not plural, see al-Ṭāsān, *al-Masāḥif al-manṣuba,* 29. [^98]: Abū Shāma, *al-Murshid al-wajīz ilā ʿulūm tataʿallaq bil-Kitāb al-Aziz*, ed. Ibrāhim Shams al-Dīn (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003), 76. [^99]: Ibn Ḥajar, *Fatḥ al-Bārī,* 11:177–178. [^100]: Ghānim Qaddurī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf*, 123. [^101]: Ahmed al-ʿAbd al-Karīm, “*Al-Farq bayna jamʿ Abī Bakr wa ʿUthmān*,” 15. [^102]: Al-Ṭāsān, *al-Masāḥif*, 514. [^103]: For a more detailed discussion on the meaning of the seven *aḥruf*, refer to the discussion on the nature of the *aḥruf* in Ammar Khatib and Nazir Khan, “The Origins of the Variant Readings of the Qur’an,” *Yaqeen*, August 2019, [https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/the-origins-of-the-variant-readings-of-the-Qur’an](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.ca/read/paper/the-origins-of-the-variant-readings-of-the-Qur&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1702320800913202&usg=AOvVaw1UVVx3KUIYovwGvEwm-NBE). [^104]: Al-Dānī, *al-Muqniʿ*, 613. [^105]: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, *al-Istidhkār* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2000), 2:485. [^106]: Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, *ʿUmdat al-Qārī* (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.), 18:281. [^107]: Al-Shāṭibī, *ʿAqīlat atrāb al-qaṣāʾid*, ed. Ayman Suwayyid (Jeddah: Dār Nūr al-Maktabāt, 2001), 3. [^108]: Al-Sakhāwī, *al-Wasīlah ilā kashf al-ʿaqīla* (Riyadh: Maktaba al-Rushd, 2003), 63. [^109]: Al-Jaʿbarī, *Jamīlat arbāb al-marāṣid*, 334. [^110]: See for instance al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qur’an al-Karīm*, 48, 64; al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān fī ʿahd ʿUthmān*, 56; Abū Shahba, *al-Madkhal*, 273; Aḥmed al-ʿAbd al-Karīm, “*al-Farq bayna jamʿ Abī Bakr wa ʿUthmān raḍiya Allāh ʿanhumā li-l-Qurʾān al-karīm: dirāsa waṣfiyya*,” *Majallat al-Jāmiʿa al-ʿIrāqiyya*  2, no. 50 (n.d.): 11–20. [^111]: ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Faramāwī, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf* *wa nuqṭuh**u*, 108. [^112]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf*, 145. See also the discussion in Sālim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Athar rukhṣat al-aḥruf al-sabʿa fī tadwīn al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī* (London: al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation Centre for the Study of Islamic Manuscripts, 2018), 316–17. [^113]: Al-ʿUbayd, *Jamʿ al-Qurʿān al-Karīm*, 506–7. [^114]: Ibn ʿĀshir, *Fatḥ al-Mannān al-marwī bi-mawrid al-ẓamān*, 415. [^115]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4987. [^116]: Al-Jaʿbarī, *Jamīlat arbāb al-marāṣid*, 353. [^117]: Note that this was also mentioned as a possibility by Abū Shāmah al-Maqdisī, *al-Murshid al-wajīz*, 76. [^118]: As translated by al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 90. One may note that al-Azami has taken some liberties in the translation and paraphrasing and the interested reader may consult the original text in Ibn Abū Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 210. The chain of transmission is declared authentic by the editor, Salīm al-Hilālī, and was also declared authentic by Ibn Kathīr. Note that Muhammad Ḥasan Jabal, following al-Bayhaqi, discounts this narration as evidence on the grounds that Muṣʿab did not hear directly from ʿUthmān and that the compilation process had already taken place during the time of Abu Bakr. See Jabal, *Wathāqah naql al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 197–99. [^119]: As translated by al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 90. As in the previous narration, al-Azami takes some liberties in paraphrasing; cf. Ibn Abū Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 206. The chain of transmission to Malik bin Abī ʿĀmir is declared authentic by the editor, Salīm al-Hilālī. [^120]: Abū ʿUbayd, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, 2:102. [^121]: Ibn Abū Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 213. [^122]: Some scholars also point out that the narrations do not mention a committee assisting Zayd in the time of Abū Bakr, while he was assisted by a committee in the time of ʿUthmān in order to assist in writing the Qurʾān according to one *ḥarf*. See al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qur’an*, 61–62. [^123]: Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, *Tafṣir al-Ṭabarī*, 1:56. Note that parts of this account contain interpolations mixing between the collection at the time of Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān; however, the point of evidence is the detail at the very end of the account which mentions the final review of ʿUthmān’s codex using Abū Bakr’s compilation. See also Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, *al-Fasl li-l-wasl al-mudraj fi al-naql* (Riyadh: Dār al-Hijra, 1997), 1:399. [^124]: Al-Azami, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 93. [^125]: Al-Jaʿbarī, *Jamīla**t arbāb*, 344. See also Al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān*, 44; M. Mohar Ali, *The Qur’an and the Orientalist*s (Ipswich: Jamʿiyat ʾIḥyaaʾ Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 2004), 237; ʿAlī al-Jaʿfarī, *Jamʿ al-Qurʾān*, 50. [^126]: Abu ʿUbayd, *Kitāb al-imān*, 2:98; Ibn Abū Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 204, 212; Makkī al-Qaysī, *al-Ibānah*, 61; see also al-Judayʿ, *Muqaddimāt al-asāsīya*, 121–22. Reportedly, he requested it shortly after Ḥafṣa’s funeral, just after they had finished burying her. [^127]: Ibn Abī Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 212. ## Summary How exactly the Qur'an came to be preserved in written form is a matter upon which the Islamic tradition provides a detailed and coherent account. Although the Qur'an was written down by numerous scribes during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ upon various materials, it was Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him, d. 13/634) who, according to the traditional narrative found in the canonical hadith sources, compiled the earliest complete official codex of the Qur'an. This effort, though of tremendous consequence, has received considerably less scholarly attention than the codices assembled later under the third caliph, ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (may Allah be pleased with him, d. 35/656). Yet Abū Bakr's compilation was a landmark event, for it brought together the scattered written fragments upon which the Qur'an had been recorded during the Prophet's lifetime and unified them into a single authoritative codex. A genuine difficulty confronts the researcher: far more information survives concerning the ʿUthmānic codices than concerning Abū Bakr's compilation. For the ʿUthmānic project, the tradition preserves a list of roughly forty differences between the codices which can be correlated with surviving Qur'anic manuscripts, whereas for Abū Bakr's compilation there existed but a single codex, with no reports of variant readings and no manuscript evidence to examine. The historian is therefore largely confined to the narrations preserved in the works of hadith, the Qur'anic sciences, and Islamic history, along with the discussions of the scholars. Nonetheless, the historicity of this compilation may also be supported by broader considerations. Given the central place of the Qur'an in Islam, it is highly improbable that the Muslims would have remained without any official written copy during the reigns of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him, d. 24/644)—especially as congregational night prayers in Ramadan became regularly established under ʿUmar. Moreover, the speed and precision with which the ʿUthmānic codices were produced and disseminated is better explained if the Companions were already familiar with the process from Abū Bakr's time. Beyond the canonical hadith literature, Abū Bakr's compilation is mentioned by numerous early authorities, among them Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224/838), Ibn Saʿd (d. 230/845), al-Yaʿqūbī (d. 284/897), and Ibn Abī Dāwūd (d. 316/928). Harald Motzki observed that most Western academics have doubted the historicity of this compilation on account of skepticism regarding the details of the reports; yet upon closer scrutiny many such objections appear unfounded. Indeed, Motzki himself, employing an isnād-cum-matn analysis, demonstrated that the reports transmitted from Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 124/742) reliably date back to the first Islamic century, and concluded that the claim of later fabrication is untenable. The account is further strengthened by independent chains, including that of Ibn Abī al-Zinād from Hishām b. ʿUrwah from ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr, and that of al-Suddī from ʿAbd Khayr from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him). Given these mutually corroborating chains and the ability to reconcile apparent discrepancies, the historicity of Abū Bakr's compilation can be established with confidence. That this was the first such official compilation is affirmed by the famous report of Zayd b. Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him, d. 45/665) in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, wherein Abū Bakr, when the idea was first proposed, asked, "How can you do something that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?"—a question that would be meaningless had such a compilation already existed. It is likewise narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, "May God have mercy upon Abū Bakr. He was the first to gather the Qur'an between two covers," a report deemed reliable by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) and Ibn Ḥajar (d. 852/1449). Al-Layth b. Saʿd (d. 175/791) added that Zayd transcribed it and would not write a single verse except with two witnesses. Certain reports name others—ʿAlī, ʿUmar, or Sālim the client of Abū Ḥudhayfa—as the first compiler, but these lack reliable chains. Their reconciliation lies in recognizing that several Companions, such as Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him, d. 32/652–53), ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and Ubayy b. Kaʿb, possessed personal copies. As Abū Shahbah noted, even if the report about ʿAlī were authentic, it would signify only a personal copy, lacking the consensus (ijmāʿ), official character, and public verification that distinguished Abū Bakr's codex; such personal copies might also have followed a chronological order and included abrogated verses and personal exegetical notes. Concerning the circumstances that prompted the compilation, Zayd b. Thābit himself testified, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away and the Qur'an was not yet collected. It was written on palm branches, trunks, stalks, and leaves." Yet in another report he said, "We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ compiling the Qur'an from parchment," which al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) understood to mean the arrangement of verses within their chapters at the Prophet's instruction. Gregor Schoeler suggested that the greater part had already been written upon sheets of a uniform format, while the later revelations remained upon scattered materials. Muhammad Muṣṭafā al-Azami explained that the continuous descent of revelation—and the possibility of abrogation (naskh)—precluded the assembly of a single master volume until the Prophet's death, after which revelation ceased forever and the situation became suited to compilation. The immediate cause was the Battle of Yamāma against Musaylima the Liar (d. 11/632). Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ (d. 240/854) records from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib (d. 97/715) that of the five hundred Muslims martyred, thirty or fifty were among the "carriers of the Qur'an," while Ibn Kathīr mentions approximately five hundred reciters, likely a conflation. Among the slain was Sālim, one of four from whom the Prophet ﷺ directed people to learn the Qur'an. Zayd relates that ʿUmar came to Abū Bakr saying, "Indeed a large number of reciters have been killed on the Day of Yamāma, and I fear that more reciters will be killed on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost." Abū Bakr, after initial hesitation, accepted his counsel. Al-Baghawī (d. 516/1122) and Ibn Kathīr affirmed this motive. When it is asked why the Companions labored thus when Allah had promised to preserve His Book, al-Wāḥidī (d. 468/1076) answered that their compilation was itself one of the means by which Allah preserved it, citing Ibn al-Anbārī that their aim was to ease its learning, though it would not have been lost regardless. Al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013) offered a differing interpretation, holding that ʿUmar feared the loss of the Qur'an's study and recitation rather than its text. Objections raised by Nöldeke, Bell, and Watt—drawing on Caetani's claim that too few memorizers died to cause alarm—are answered by noting that the loss of even Sālim alone was grievous, that other reciters may simply have gone unnamed (as at the Well of Maʿūna in 4/625 where seventy anṣār were slain), and that, as Ibn Ḥajar observed, the concern was the collective memorization of the community. This compilation may thus be dated to about 12/633. Abū Bakr appointed Zayd, then about twenty-two years of age, citing four qualities: "You are a wise young man, we have no aspersions against you, and you used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah." Ibn Ḥajar noted that these traits—youth, intelligence, trustworthiness, and experience—were rarely combined in one man. Scholars add that Zayd had memorized the whole Qur'an, and some, following al-Sulamī (d. 74/693), that he witnessed the final review (al-ʿarḍa al-akhīra); yet apart from al-Sulamī's statement no report corroborates this, and reports from Ibn ʿAbbās name Ibn Masʿūd instead, so this credential remains speculative. Zayd's method was rigorous: "I gathered it from the bark of palm trees, thin white stones, and the men who knew it by heart," requiring two witnesses for each verse—understood by al-Sakhāwī (d. 643/1245) and the majority to mean two who had written the verse from the Prophet ﷺ. The rigor of this method is illustrated by the missing verse. Zayd found the end of Sūrat al-Tawba (9:128–129) with Abū Khuzayma al-Anṣārī alone—not because others did not know it, but because a documented witness was sought. A parallel report mentions the verse of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (33:23) found with Khuzayma b. Thābit. Ibn Ḥajar reconciled these as two distinct incidents involving two men in the two compilations, while Ibn Kathīr held both occurred under Abū Bakr; Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, citing Kitāb al-Mabānī, argued they were a single incident involving one man. Khuzayma was he whose testimony the Prophet ﷺ had made equal to that of two witnesses—Dhū al-Shahādatayn—after he testified to a purchase he had not witnessed, saying he believed the Prophet ﷺ spoke only truth. The two compilations differed in purpose: Abū Bakr's preserved the entire text against loss, and was kept in safekeeping, while ʿUthmān's, as al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) related from Ibn al-Tīn, united the ummah upon one dialect amid disputes over recitation, and was made binding. Some distinguish the ṣuḥuf (loose sheets) from the muṣḥaf (bound codex), and Ibn ʿAṭiyya (d. 541/1147) held that Abū Bakr's was not arranged by sūra sequence, though al-Ḥamad found this insufficiently proven. Regarding the seven aḥruf, al-Dānī (d. 444/1053), Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071), and al-ʿAynī (d. 855/1451) held that Abū Bakr's compilation embraced them while ʿUthmān's was restricted to one; al-Ḥamad, finding no evidence, dismissed this. Al-Azami further argued that ʿUthmān's codex was assembled independently and only verified against Abū Bakr's, citing reports of independent gathering and review. The compilation passed to ʿUmar, then to his daughter Ḥafṣa (may Allah be pleased with her, d. 45/665); after her death Marwān b. al-Ḥakam obtained and destroyed it, saying its contents were already preserved in the ʿUthmānic muṣḥaf and he feared future doubt. Thus a coherent picture emerges of a deliberate and meticulous effort by the Companions to preserve the words of Allah for the generations to come. ## Key Takeaways 1. During the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime, the Qur’an was written down on scattered materials like palm branches, stones, and leaves, but it had not yet been gathered into a single volume. The reason was practical: As long as revelation continued and verses could still be abrogated or rearranged, a single master compilation was premature. Only after the Prophet’s ﷺ death, when revelation had ended for good, did the moment become right to compile the whole text into one unified codex. 2. The catalyst was the Battle of Yamāma, where many who carried the Qur’an in memory were killed, including the prominent teacher Sālim. Fearing that further losses would endanger the Qur’an’s preservation, ʿUmar urged Abū Bakr to have it compiled, and Abū Bakr appointed Zayd ibn Thābit, the Prophet’s ﷺ own scribe, to lead the task. Scholars saw no contradiction with Allah’s promise to preserve the Qur’an, understanding the companions’ effort as one of the very means by which that preservation was fulfilled. 3. Zayd followed a rigorous method rather than writing from memory or existing copies alone, requiring for each verse the corroboration of two witnesses who had recorded it in the Prophet’s ﷺ presence, matched against what was preserved in memory. This care surfaces in the account of a verse from Sūrat al-Tawba, found written only with Abū Khuzayma, though many had memorized it. Abū Bakr’s codex was thus the first official compilation, distinct from the later ʿUthmānic project, which aimed to unite the community around a standardized written text and reduce disputes over variant recitations. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who first compiled the Qur’an into a single book? The first person to gather the complete Qur’an into a single official copy was Abū Bakr (rA), the first caliph after the Prophet ﷺ. Reliable reports, including a well-known account in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, describe how he ordered this task, and a statement from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib praises Abū Bakr as the first to gather the Qur’an between two covers. The entire Qur’an had already been written down during the Prophet’s lifetime, but on scattered materials such as palm branches, thin stones, and pieces of leather, and it had been memorized by many companions. What had not yet happened was bringing all of it together into one unified copy. Abū Bakr assigned this to Zayd ibn Thābit (rA), who had served as a leading scribe of revelation for the Prophet ﷺ. Some reports mention other companions who kept personal copies of parts of the Qur’an, but these were private and partial, while Abū Bakr’s compilation was an official effort carried out publicly and accepted by consensus. This is why it is remembered as the first complete compilation of the Qur’an. ### Why was the Qur’an compiled after the Prophet’s death? The compilation grew out of a crisis in the years just after the Prophet ﷺ passed away. Facing several rebellions, the young Muslim community fought a number of fierce battles, and in one of them, the Battle of Yamāma, a large number of those who had memorized the Qur’an were killed. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (rA) grew concerned that if such losses continued in future battles, a significant portion of the Qur’an could be lost along with those who carried it in memory. He urged Abū Bakr (rA) to have the Qur’an gathered into one written collection. Abū Bakr was initially hesitant to undertake something the Prophet ﷺ had not done himself, but he came to agree that it was necessary. During the Prophet’s life the revelation was still ongoing, with verses sometimes added or abrogated, so keeping it on separate materials made sense at the time. Once the revelation was complete and the Prophet ﷺ had passed, the community could now gather the completed revelation into a single official compilation. The deaths at Yamama gave this effort its urgency, and the result was the first official compilation of the Qur’an. ### How did they make sure the Qur’an was compiled accurately? Zayd ibn Thābit (rA), who led the compilation, followed an extremely careful process rather than relying on memory or existing copies alone. Although he himself had memorized the entire Qur’an, he refused to record any verse from memory by itself. For each verse, he required both written documentation and testimony from those who had learned it directly from the Prophet ﷺ. Reports describe how he would not write down a single verse without two witnesses who could confirm that they had written it in the Prophet’s presence exactly as it had been taught. In this way, every verse was backed by three things at once, written material, memorization, and direct testimony. This illustrates the care taken to verify the Qur’an through more than one form of evidence. ### What is the difference between Abū Bakr’s compilation and ʿUthmān’s? The two projects had different purposes. Abū Bakr’s (rA) compilation was meant to preserve the complete text of the Qur’an in one place so that no part would be lost with the deaths of those who had memorized it. It was gathered and then kept safely, while Muslims continued to recite the Qur’an as they had been taught. About two decades later, under the third caliph ʿUthmān (rA), a new concern arose. As Islam spread and different regions recited the Qur’an, differences in recitation were beginning to generate disputes between Muslims from different regions. ʿUthmān’s project aimed to unite the community on a single standardized written text, with official copies sent to the major cities, and other copies brought into conformity with the standardized text. In short, Abū Bakr’s effort focused on preservation, gathering the scattered text into one collection, while Uthman’s focused on unification, standardizing the written text and curbing disputes over recitation. Uthman’s committee worked again from written materials and testimony, and also checked their work against the copy Abū Bakr had produced. ### If Allah promised to preserve the Qur’an, why did it need to be compiled? This is a question early scholars addressed directly. Allah promises in the Qur’an that He Himself will preserve it, so some wondered why the companions needed to gather it at all. The answer scholars gave is that the companions’ efforts were precisely the means through which Allah fulfilled that promise. Divine preservation does not mean the text is kept safe while people do nothing. It works through the actions Allah guides people to take, and He appointed the companions to carry out this task. One scholar explained that they gathered the Qur’an to make it easy for people to learn, memorize, and access, and that even if they had not done so, Allah would still have preserved it by other means, since His guarantee is certain. The care they took, carefully corroborating written evidence with memorization and testimony,, is itself part of how that preservation was achieved. Rather than contradicting Allah’s promise, the compilation is one of the clearest examples of it being carried out in history. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/confronting-todays-pharaoh-and-the-propaganda-war-on-palestine # Confronting Today's Pharaoh and the Propaganda War on Palestine | Blog **Author:** Faisal Malik **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** November 28, 2023 **Updated:** January 4, 2024 ## Introduction The unthinkable violence being unleashed against our brothers and sisters in Palestine has exposed the violent, inhumane nature of the apartheid state of Israel and the corrupt governments and media outlets that have been enabling it for years. A literal genocide is being carried out before our eyes[^1] while a well-financed propaganda machine continues to perpetuate lies that reach millions; lies that dehumanize Palestinians and seek to justify the use of white phosphorus on civilians; lies that frame the aggression of one of the world’s most well-armed and financed militaries against an oppressed population, half of whom are children, as being defensive. This propaganda machine attempts to justify carpet bombing the most densely populated region of the world, which human-rights experts have called an open-air prison[^2] and which others have called “the biggest concentration camp in the world.”[^3] It seems we are witnessing the time foretold by the Prophet ﷺ: > **وَظُهُورُ الشَّهَادَةِ بِالزُّورِ وَكِتْمَانُ شَهَادَةِ الْحَقِّ** > …false testimony will prevail and truthful testimony will be concealed.[^4] While the propaganda that has been used to justify violence against Palestinians is well-financed and backed by powerful forces, we should understand that history repeats itself. This propaganda machine is a tool that has been used by oppressors for thousands of years. We should also be aware that Allah (SWT) has not left us without guidance on how to deal with it. Indeed, the Qur’an provides us guidance on how to engage with and confront deceit and propaganda. --- ## A perennial struggle To understand the history of propaganda we must first understand that every  prophet or messenger Allah (SWT) sent to guide humanity faced forces who worked against the light of guidance. Allah (SWT) says: > **وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّۭا شَيَـٰطِينَ ٱلْإِنسِ وَٱلْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًۭا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ ۖ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ** > And so We have made for every prophet enemies—devilish humans and jinn—whispering to one another with elegant words of deception. Had it been your Lord’s Will, they would not have done such a thing. So leave them and their deceit.[^5] In the above verse (*āya*), we are confronted with the reality that every prophet faced opposition, one of the most consistent tools of which has been زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًۭا ۚ *elegant words of deception*. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, we know that his opponents were adamant about spreading lies about him. They called him a poet, fortune-teller,[^6] madman,[^7] and a renegade and rebel,[^8] and said he was inspired by the devil,[^9] among many more accusations. It is narrated on one occasion, that every person the Prophet ﷺ would approach to call towards Islam, Abū Lahab would immediately follow him and try to counteract the *dawah*).[^10] Today, the modern manifestation of the falsehood that the prophets  confronted is the multi-million dollar Islamophobia industry. This industry too consists of nothing but *elegant words of deception*. It is an industry that seeks to dehumanize and vilify Muslims and Islam. An examination of anti-Muslim hate-crimes in North America, such as the Quebec city mosque shooting in 2017, the killing of the Afzaal family in 2021 in London, Ontario or the most recent brutal murder of Wadea Al Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy, reveals that the underlying theme of these acts of terrorism were that they were perpetrated by people who had internalized Islamophobic discourse. The Islamophobia industry’s vilification and dehumanization of Muslims not only leads to violence against Muslims in the West, but also justifies the war and violence against Muslims that our brothers and sisters in Palestine are currently facing. The Israeli state’s violence against Palestinians is sustained through a racist state discourse that dehumanizes Palestinians. This was manifest in the statements made by the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who justified the siege in Gaza and cutting off water, electricity and food, stating “We are fighting human animals.”[^11] This dehumanization was likewise clear in the statement by Ezra Yachin, an Israeli soldier who was recorded as encouraging killing families and children, stating that “these animals can no longer live.”[^12] While it is indeed horrifying to confront the fact that there is a well-financed propaganda machine that seeks to justify killing innocent people, it is important to note that this type of propaganda has existed for millennia and the Qur’an itself highlights how propaganda was used to justify violence and oppression. --- ## Tactics of Pharaoh ### Vilifying and dehumanizing the oppressed One of the most repeated stories in the Qur’an is the story of Moses (AS)’s confrontation of Pharaoh. When one reflects on the oppressive Pharaonic regime, one finds that its power rested on five pillars: 1) a dictatorial tyrant, who believed he possessed absolute authority over the people, 2) a hypocritical vice-assistant (Hāmān), 3) a wealthy financier of corruption (Qārūn), 4) a corrupt clergy (the magicians), and 5) media and propagators (the Ḥāshirūn). These five pillars that Pharaoh used have continued to manifest throughout history.[^13] Today these five pillars are embodied by wealthy corporations, powerful media outlets, corrupt politicians and people of influence (such as celebrities) who endorse the current genocide against the people of Gaza. Furthermore, the dialogues of Pharaoh and Moses (AS) give insight into the tactics oppressors use to justify violence against those they subjugate. For instance, when Moses (AS) confronted and exposed the Pharaonic society’s false ideology, corruption and oppression, he was met with a wide range of responses to try to suppress his message.  In Surah al-A’raf, Allah (SWT) says regarding the cabinet of Pharaoh: > **وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ أَتَذَرُ مُوسَىٰ وَقَوْمَهُۥ لِيُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَيَذَرَكَ وَءَالِهَتَكَ ۚ** > > And the eminent among the people of Pharaoh said, “Will you leave Moses and his people to cause corruption in the land and abandon you and your gods?”[^14] The political elite who benefited from the violence and corruption of the Pharaonic state accused Moses (AS) and his people of causing corruption in the land. The irony is that it was actually these people who accused Moses (AS) of causing corruption in the land who were the ones that had set up and sustained a corrupt social order that allowed for the oppression, murder and enslavement of the Children of Israel. They were the ones who caused corruption by tormenting the Children of Israel, killing their male children and sparing their girls[^15] yet they accused Moses (AS) and his followers of what they were guilty of; that is, being corrupt. By accusing Moses (AS) of sowing corruption they were trying to delegitimize his  divine message of *tawh**ī**d* which would expose their false gods and unveil the crimes they were committing. The accusation of the Pharaoh’s cabinet illustrates that the tactic of oppressors is to blame those they oppress in order to maintain power over them and diminish their struggle for truth, justice, and dignity. Indeed, oppressive regimes throughout history have used similar tactics against the populations they oppress. Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, referred to the indigenous people of the land as savages. He stated in 1883: > When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with its parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits, and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write.[^16] Macdonald’s language framed the indigenous people as savages, although it was the colonial settlers who were stealing their land and killing innocent people. Another example can be seen in the 1960s, when Frantz Fanon noted regarding the media coverage of the Algerian struggle for independence against French colonial rule: > When a Western journalist interviews us, however, it is seldom done to render us service. In the war in Algeria, for example, the most liberal-minded French reporters make constant use of ambiguous epithets to portray our struggle. When we reproach them for it, they reply in all sincerity they are being objective. For the colonized subject, objectivity is always directed against him.[^17] Fanon noted how the Algerians were constantly portrayed in a negative light in the media, so that their struggle against the French colonial forces would seem illegitimate. Algerians were portrayed as violent and extreme, despite it being France that was brutally occupying their land. Another example of this type of propaganda was the negative portrayal of Black Americans in the  American media before and during the civil rights era and even in recent times. El Hajj Malik Al Shabazz (famously known as Malcolm X) noted such tactics were used against Black people to delegitimize their struggle against the racism and oppression they faced in American society. He stated: > They take the newspapers and make the newspapers blow you and me up as if all of us are criminals, all of us are racists, all of us drug addicts, or all of us are rioting… They master this imagery, this image-making. They give you the image of an extremist, and from then on anything you do is extreme.”[^18] He noted how the American media portrayed black people in America in a manner that labeled anyone who struggled for freedom, justice, and equality as an extremist while depicting those who benefited from and enabled the racism that oppressed the black community as victims of black extremism. > This is the press, an irresponsible press. It will make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.[^19] What we learn from the above examples is that oppressors create propaganda to blame those whom they oppress for their own oppression. This is done in order to justify their state of oppression and delegitimize any attempt to challenge the system. Pharaoh accused Moses (AS) of causing corruption because his message was causing discord and exposing the corrupt Pharaonic system. The French colonialists did the same against the Algerians, the American media was used against black civil right activists, and we have been witnessing similar tactics against Palestinians for decades now. The propaganda used by an occupying power against those they occupy is based on the fact that for an oppressive state to exist it requires an ideology to legitimize that oppression. The famous Palestinian intellectual Edward Said noted as much when he stated: > Neither imperialism nor colonialism is a simple act of accumulation and acquisition. Both are supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive ideological formations that include notions that certain territories and people require and beseech domination, as well as forms of knowledge affiliated with domination.[^20] Once an ideology can be created that allows for a people to be seen as sub-human, savage, and barbaric, then violence against them is easier to justify. ### Justifying violence and oppression > **قال** سَنُقَتِّلُ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ وَنَسْتَحْىِۦ نِسَآءَهُمْ وَإِنَّا فَوْقَهُمْ قَـٰهِرُونَ > …\[Pharaoh\] said, “We will kill their sons and keep their women alive; and indeed, we are subjugators over them.”[^21] After claiming that Moses (AS) was causing corruption, Pharaoh declared that he was going to kill the sons of the Children of Israel and let their women live. As such, he framed a narrative that because Moses (AS) and his followers were corruptors he was therefore justified in killing them and subjugating them. The statement “we are subjugators over them” made by Pharaoh reflects the derogatory manner in which he viewed the Children of Israel and has strong parallels to the language and statements made about Palestinians, such as the aforementioned Israeli soldier referring to them as animals.[^22] Interestingly, though Pharaoh threatened to kill the Children of Israel’s sons and enslave their women in response to Moses’ (AS) supposed corruption, this violence was present even before Moses’ (AS) birth. Therefore, the violence of the Pharaonic state was not a reaction to Moses (AS), but rather part of its inherent nature. The manner in which Pharaoh justified his violence reflects the fact that oppressors refuse to acknowledge the violence of the system they create and maintain to oppress others. Therefore, when the violent nature of their system is exposed, they blame the resulting violence on the oppressed who simply demand dignity and freedom. Returning to the case of Sir John A. Macdonald, after he portrayed indigenous populations as savages, he then justified putting them in reserve schools where they were forcefully taken from their families. In these reserve schools, indigenous children were often further abused and even killed. Macdonald stated: > It has been strongly pressed on myself, as the head of the Department, that the Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.[^23] The justification of violence towards the children of Canada’s indigenous population bears striking resemblance to the Israeli state’s justifications for the violence it carries out against Palestinian children. Golda Meir, one of the instrumental figures in founding Israel and its fourth prime minister, once stated: “We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children,” she said, “but we can never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.”[^24] El Hajj Malik also noted in the 1960s how the West justified their violence towards the “third world” by seeking to dehumanize those they attacked. He stated regarding the western media during his time: “It always has words to justify their destruction of the people they’re destroying.”[^25] One example he gave was the Western media coverage of the Congo’s attempt  to gain independence from Belgian and Western control. He stated: > Right now, in the Congo, defenseless villages are being bombed, black women and children and babies are being blown to bits by airplanes. Where do these airplanes come from? The United States. The U-n-i-t-e-d S-t-a-t-e-s. Yes, and you won’t write that. You won’t write that American planes are blowing the flesh from the bodies of black women and black babies and black men. No. Why? Because they’re American planes. As long as they’re American planes, that’s humanitarian. > They take the press with their ability to control you with image-making, and they make mass murder, cold-blooded murder, look like a humanitarian project. All these thousands of black people dying, butchered and you have no compassion in your hearts whatsoever for them, because the victim has been made to look like he’s the criminal and the criminal has been made to look like he’s the victim.[^26] His criticism of the bombing of innocent women, children and civilians in the Congo bears a striking resemblance to the current situation in Gaza. The carpet bombing of Gaza that has killed  thousands of innocent people, many of them women and children, and displaced more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza, all of which are violations of international law,[^27] are being justified by the same statement “Israel has a right to defend itself.” ### Feigned benevolence[^28] In Surah al-Shu’ara, Moses (AS) and Aaron (AS) are commanded by Allah (SWT) to tell Pharaoh to free the Children of Israel from slavery and oppression. > **فَأْتِيَا فِرْعَوْنَ فَقُولَآ إِنَّا رَسُولُ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ** > > **أَنْ أَرْسِلْ مَعَنَا بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ** > Go to Pharaoh and say, “We are messengers from the Lord of all worlds, let the Children of Israel go with us.’’[^29] How does Pharaoh respond to this demand from Moses (AS) and Aaron (AS)? Pharaoh accuses Moses (AS) of being ungrateful. > **قَالَ أَلَمْ نُرَبِّكَ فِينَا وَلِيدًۭا وَلَبِثْتَ فِينَا مِنْ عُمُرِكَ سِنِينَ** > Pharaoh protested, “Did we not raise you among us as a child, and you stayed several years of your life in our care?”[^30] Instead of conceding to Moses (AS) and Aaron’s (AS) request to end the oppression of the Children of Israel, Pharaoh reminds Moses (AS) of how he was raised in the Pharaonic palace, and how ungrateful he was, coming from a ‘slave class,’ having had the opportunity to be raised in Pharaoh’s palace amongst the ‘civilized class.’ Of course, what Pharaoh ignores is that he was raised in his palace because his forces were killing the male children of the Children of Israel and Allah (SWT) miraculously saved Moses (AS) by causing him to be found in the river and raised in Pharaoh’s palace without anybody knowing who Moses (AS) was going to be. As such, Moses’ being raised in Pharaoh’s palace was a divine intervention that saved him from Pharaoh’s murderous government and had nothing to do with his magnanimity. The idea that an oppressor sees themselves as a benign and civilizing force towards those they oppress was an idea that permeated European colonial discourse over the past few centuries to justify the colonial project. Mamdani notes: > The idea “imperialism had served civilization by clearing inferior races off the earth” found widespread expression in nineteenth-century European thought, from natural sciences and philosophy to anthropology and politics.[^31] Colonial discourse tried to remain consistent with its alleged humanitarian ideals by claiming that colonialism was a civilizing force for the world. If the colonized population was treated violently by their colonizers, it was not due to the violent nature of colonialism but rather due to the colonized’s failure to reach the level of being “civilized” as determined by their oppressors. Fanon notes this phenomenon in his statement: > Western bourgeois racism toward the “nigger” and the “towelhead” is a racism of contempt—a racism that minimizes. But the bourgeois ideology that proclaims all men to be essentially equal, manages to remain consistent with itself by urging the subhuman to rise to the level of Western humanity that it embodies.[^32] One of the pivotal figures in the founding of Zionism, the Austro-Hungarian Theodore Herzl sought support from European colonial powers for his Zionist vision partly by justifying it through the Euro-centric racist worldview that saw non-Europeans as less civilized. He stated that amongst the benefits of establishing the state of Israel on the land of Palestine would be that: > We should there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism.[^33] Furthermore, Herzl fully acknowledged that his vision of the Zionist state was to be modeled after European colonies, where Europeans colonized and exploited non-Europeans. Herzl wrote to the white supremacist Cecil Rhodes, the brutal colonial dictator of South Africa: > Please send me a text saying you have examined my programme and approve it. You will ask yourself why I address myself to you, Mr. Rhodes. It is because my programme is a colonial state.[^34] ### Devaluing lives of the oppressed Another propaganda tactic used by Pharaoh against Moses (AS) was to minimize or ignore the suffering of Children of Israel but at same time amplify the alleged “crime” committed by Moses (AS). After Pharaoh responded to the request to let the Children of Israel go by highlighting how Moses (AS) was raised in his palace, he then proceeded to discuss Moses’ accidental killing of an Egyptian. > **وَفَعَلْتَ فَعْلَتَكَ ٱلَّتِى فَعَلْتَ وَأَنتَ مِنَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ** > > Then you did what you did, being \[utterly\] ungrateful![^35] When Moses (AS) saw one of the Children of Israel being oppressed by an Egyptian he sought to stop the oppression, causing him to fight the Egyptian and accidently kill him. This incident is what led Moses (AS) to flee from Egypt. Notice how Pharaoh completely ignores the years of violence by his regime and instead amplifies an accidental killing that was actually the result of the oppressive conditions that Pharaoh himself created. Again we can see such double standards practiced throughout the 20th century by various western media outlets in how they covered conflicts in which the West has a vested interest. Fanon noted that the Western media was almost silent when it came to the murder of thousands of Algerians and Malagasy by French colonial rule and the murder of thousands of Kenyans by the British in the 1940s and 1950s.[^36] El Hajj Malik also noted a similar double standard in the media’s coverage of the violence occurring in Congo during the 1950s and 1960s: > If you’ll notice, as long as blacks in the Congo were being slaughtered on a mass scale, there was no outcry. But as soon as the lives of a few whites were involved, the whole world became in an uproar. What caused the world to become involved in an uproar? The press.[^37] Within the context of the current situation in Palestine, it should be noted that  Islamic law condemns the killing of any innocent woman, child or civilian, but it is extremely hypocritical to only focus on the violence that occurred on October 7th against Israel, but completely ignore 75 years of oppression and violence against Palestinians. The media has never batted an eye to the over 650,000 illegal settlers in West Bank and East Jerusalem.[^38] The media never bothered to contextualize the living conditions of the people of Gaza caused by the Israeli blockade over the past 16 years. This brutal blockade resulted in 70% of Gazans being refugees, 82% living in poverty, 63% food insecure, and 95% not having access to clean water.[^39] Nor has there been any coverage of the fact that Israel has killed more than 3000 Palestinian children in the past 20 years prior to this conflict.[^40] The media highlighted the hostage situation on October 7th, but they rarely if ever mention that 20% of Palestinians have been arrested by Israel since 1967,[^41] or that an estimated 500-1000 Palestinian children are held in Israeli military detention each year?[^42] Currently, despite demonstrations around the world, there are still media outlets that refuse to condemn the over 14000 Gazans killed[^43], more than 6000 of whom are children.[^44] The question arises as to what the average person can do against a multi-million dollar propaganda machine that works in favor of oppression and violence. The Qur’an provides us insight into the Pharaonic method of propaganda and it also gives us insight into how to confront it. --- ## Confronting Pharaoh ### Don’t be afraid or feel helpless One of the commands of the Prophet ﷺis وَلاَ تَعْجِزْ “...do not feel helpless.”[^45] Allah (SWT) is aware of everything that is going on and His help will one day come. Throughout the Qur’an when Moses (AS) is commanded to go to Pharaoh, Moses (AS) expresses his fear and reservation, yet Allah (SWT) reassures that His help is with him. In Sura Taha for instance, when Moses (AS) and Aaron (AS) are commanded to go to Pharaoh, they say: > **قَالَا رَبَّنَآ إِنَّنَا نَخَافُ أَن يَفْرُطَ عَلَيْنَآ أَوْ أَن يَطْغَىٰ** > > **قَالَ لَا تَخَافَآ ۖ إِنَّنِى مَعَكُمَآ أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَىٰ** > They said, “Our Lord, indeed we are afraid that he will hasten \[punishment\] against us or that he will transgress.” \[Allah\] said, “Fear not. Indeed, I am with you both; I hear and I see*.*”[^46] We learn from these *ay**ā**t* that Allah (SWT) is with those on the side of the truth when they confront an oppressor. Although the righteous will be severely tested, their cause will always ultimately end in victory. ### Know your history As mentioned earlier in Surah ash-Shua’ara, Pharaoh tried to deflect from his own deceit and oppression by selectively portraying events in Moses (AS)’s life to make it look like Moses (AS) was the extremist and troublemaker. Moses (AS) however knew the true history, so he responded to this deceit by explaining the context of his situation[^47] before returning to the actual issue at hand, which was the oppression of the Children of Israel by Pharaonic society and its false ideology of *shirk*: > **وَتِلْكَ نِعْمَةٌۭ تَمُنُّهَا عَلَىَّ أَنْ عَبَّدتَّ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ** > And is this a favor of which you remind me—that you have enslaved the Children of Israel?[^48] Moses (AS) understood that Pharaoh was trying to spin history, but was able to counter his propaganda by highlighting the obvious injustice of the enslavement of Children of Israel. In this regard, within the current context there are many resources available to get educated. Below is just a small list of relevant resources. #### Documentaries - How Israel Was Created | AJ+ - Occupation 101 - The letter that led to the founding of Israel - Al-Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe - The Price of Oslo #### Books - Ismail Adam Patel, *A Brief History of Palestine* - Rashid Khalidi, *The Hundred Years War on Palestine* - Norman Finklestein, *Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom* ### Amplify your voice When Moses (AS) was commanded to confront Pharaoh, he didn’t run away from the task, but rather asked Allah (SWT) for His support. >  **قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشۡرَحۡ لِى صَدۡرِى • وَيَسِّرۡ لِىٓ أَمۡرِى • وَٱحۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَةً۬ مِّن لِّسَانِى • يَفۡقَهُواْ قَوۡلِى • وَٱجۡعَل لِّى وَزِيرً۬ا مِّنۡ أَهۡلِى • هَـٰرُونَ أَخِى • ٱشۡدُدۡ بِهِۦۤ أَزۡرِى • وَأَشۡرِكۡهُ فِىٓ أَمۡرِى** > \[Moses\] said, “My Lord, expand \[i.e., relax\] for me my breast \[with assurance\]. And ease for me my task. And untie the knot from my tongue. That they may understand my speech. And appoint for me a minister \[i.e., assistant\] from my family. Aaron, my brother. Increase through him my strength. And let him share my task.”[^49] Moses (AS)’s famous *dua* showed how he asked Allah (SWT) to untie the knot of his tongue and allow people to understand his speech. Moses (AS) understood that when Allah (SWT)’s help was with him, then Allah (SWT) would use his Prophet’s *da’wa* to effect change. We know that Moses (AS) *da’wa* led Pharaoh’s own magicians to enter into Islam[^50] as well as others who were originally part of the corrupt Pharaonic system before they repented and accepted Islam. We should never underestimate the power of our words. At the time of the Prophet ﷺ he was constantly confronted with lies and propaganda against his message. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāha (RA) once recited poetry in defense of Islam. When Umar (RA) saw this, he was taken aback that he would dare to recite poetry in front of the Prophet ﷺ, however the Prophet ﷺ told ʿUmar: > **خَلِّ عَنْهُ يَا عُمَرُ، فَلَهِيَ أَسْرَعُ فِيهِمْ، مِنْ نَضْحِ النَّبْلِ** > Leave him alone, O ʿUmar, for it will strike them down quicker than a shower of arrows![^51] We learn from this incident that just as words can deceive people, the opposite is also the case: truthful words can be a means of unveiling the reality of a situation to people. There may be many who are being bullied into silence regarding the situation in Palestine but we should be aware that those who speak out in these difficult times to counteract the multi-million propaganda machine will, by the mercy of Allah (SWT), have the opportunity to fulfill one of the greatest forms of jihad. > عَنْ طَارِقِ بْنِ شِهَابٍ أَنَّ رَجُلًا سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَيُّ الْجِهَادِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ **كَلِمَةُ حَقٍّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ** > A man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “What is the best jihad?” The Prophet said, “**A word of truth in front of a tyrannical ruler.**”[^52] In this regard, we all have opportunities to speak out against what is happening within our spheres of influence through whatever means we have access to such as social media, WhatsApp, friend circles, etc. ### Always make dua to Allah (SWT) In the story of Moses (AS) we constantly see him turning to Allah (SWT) for help, assistance, and strength. Therefore, we should know that Allah (SWT) hears the countless people calling on Him to aid the Palestinians and although the *ummah* is currently facing a great test, the help of Allah (SWT) is near. > **أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ خَلَوْا۟ مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ ٱلْبَأْسَآءُ وَٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ ٱلرَّسُولُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ نَصْرَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٌۭ** > Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such \[trial\] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until \[even their\] messenger and those who believed with him said, “When is the help of Allah?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.[^53] --- ## Notes [^1]: Please see Raz Segal, “‘A Textbook Case of Genocide’: Israeli Holocaust Scholar Raz Segal Decries Israel's Assault on Gaza,” Democracy Now!, YouTube video, October 16, 2023, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWGGjLZNuyg](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DZWGGjLZNuyg&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023788141&usg=AOvVaw1Ro0CvKYuotXcHZFGCiDRi). [^2]: “Gaza: Israel’s ‘Open-Air Prison’ at 15: Israel, Egypt Movement Restrictions Wreak Havoc on Palestinian Lives,” Human Rights Watch, June 14, 2022, [https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israels-open-air-prison-15](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israels-open-air-prison-15&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023788774&usg=AOvVaw1eaVmBolCFEd3NYLtVTzni). [^3]: Basem Naim, “A Letter from Gaza to Justin Trudeau,” Al Jazeera, June 11, 2018, [https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/6/11/a-letter-from-gaza-to-justin-trudeau#:~:text=You%20are%20perhaps%20unaware%20of,concentration%20camp%20ever%20to%20exist%E2%80%9D](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/6/11/a-letter-from-gaza-to-justin-trudeau%23:~:text%3DYou%2520are%2520perhaps%2520unaware%2520of,concentration%2520camp%2520ever%2520to%2520exist%25E2%2580%259D&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023789309&usg=AOvVaw161bcelCkfQZZ-VAay8BfB). [^4]: Al-Bukhārī, *al-Adab al-mufrad*, no. 1049. [^5]: Qur’an 6:112. [^6]: Qur’an 69:41–42. [^7]: Qur’an 81:22. [^8]: Yasir Qadhi, *The Sirah of the Prophet (PBUH): A Contemporary and Original Analysis* (UK: Kube Publishing, 2023), 93. [^9]: Qur’an 81:25. [^10]: *Musnad Ahmed*, no. 16023, [https://www.dorar.net/h/Hp7Bt6lE](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dorar.net/h/Hp7Bt6lE&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023790062&usg=AOvVaw0D7RQotnwuaHxPyC3pb3vS); Ahmed ibn Hanbal, *Musnad Ahmed*, ed. Shuayb al-Arnaut (Beirut: Mussasa Al Risalat, 2000), no. 16023. [^11]: “Israeli Defence Minister Orders ‘Complete Siege’ on Gaza,” Al Jazeera, October 9, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/10/9/israeli-defence-minister-orders-complete-siege-on-gaza](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/10/9/israeli-defence-minister-orders-complete-siege-on-gaza&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023790602&usg=AOvVaw1FfwlWI6qzJ0AzwT54lKxs). [^12]: “‘These Animals Can No Longer Live’ Says Israel’s Oldest Reservist,” Al Jazeera, October 14, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/10/14/these-animals-can-no-longer-live-says-israels-oldest-reservist](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/10/14/these-animals-can-no-longer-live-says-israels-oldest-reservist&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023791070&usg=AOvVaw0NwRIh3LOlfiTkoWUjHYkP). [^13]: Many thanks to Sh. Yousef Wahb for this insight. [^14]: Qur’an 7:127. [^15]: Qur’an 2:49. [^16]: “Residential Schools in Canada: Education Guide,” accessed October 23, 2023, p. 2, [http://education.historicacanada.ca/files/103/ResidentialSchools\_Printable\_Pages.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://education.historicacanada.ca/files/103/ResidentialSchools_Printable_Pages.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023791877&usg=AOvVaw2FCiupJ_-Vc7ZWPkdItqO5). [^17]: Frantz Fanon, *Wretched of the Earth* (New York: Grove Press, 2004), 37. [^18]: George Breitman, ed., *Malcolm X Speaks* (New York: Grove Press, 1990), 92. [^19]: Breitman, Malcolm X Speaks, 93. [^20]: Edward Said, *Culture and Imperialism* (New York: Vintage Books, 1994), 9. [^21]: Qur’an 7:127. [^22]: “These Animals Can No Longer Live.” [^23]: “Residential Schools in Canada.” [^24]: “‘We Can Never Forgive the Arabs for Making Us Kill Children’ - CBS’ Schieffer Quotes Golda Meir,” *Haaretz*, July 28, 2014, [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2014-07-28/ty-article/we-can-never-forgive-them/0000017f-e587-da9b-a1ff-edefe0bd0000](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2014-07-28/ty-article/we-can-never-forgive-them/0000017f-e587-da9b-a1ff-edefe0bd0000&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023793513&usg=AOvVaw19Iu-TerCrP-0Hzwus7mWd). [^25]: Breitman, *Malcolm X Speaks*, 97. [^26]: Breitman, *Malcolm X Speaks*, 93. [^27]: “Is Israeli Bombing of Gaza a Violation of International Laws?,” Al Jazeera, October 12, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/12/is-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-a-violation-of-international-laws](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/12/is-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-a-violation-of-international-laws&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023794277&usg=AOvVaw0WgBwHOof5ACsgm3IUwn4y). [^28]: Many thanks to Sh. Tom Facchine for suggesting this phrase. [^29]: Qur’an 42:16–17. [^30]: Qur’an 26:18. [^31]: Mahmood Mamdani, *Good Muslim, Bad Muslim* (New York: Random House, 2004), 6. [^32]: Fanon, *Wretched of the Earth*, 110. [^33]: Theodor Herzl, *A Jewish State* (New York: Federation of American Zionists, 1917), 12. [^34]: Cited in Isamail Adam Patel, *A Brief History of Palestine* (Leicester: Al-Aqsa Publishers, 2020), 90. [^35]: Qur’an 26:19. [^36]: Fanon, *Wretched of the Earth*, 38. [^37]: Breitman, *Malcolm X Speaks*, 96. [^38]: Patel, *Brief History of Palestine*, 217. [^39]: “Gaza as 100 People,” Visualizing Palestine, October 2023, [https://www.visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/gaza-as-100-people?locale=en](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/gaza-as-100-people?locale%3Den&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023796023&usg=AOvVaw2z5cn90PMCSopP1Tmj-wY1). [^40]: “Know Their Names: Palestinian Children Killed by Israeli Forces,” Al Jazeera, [https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2021/palestine-know-their-names/index.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2021/palestine-know-their-names/index.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023796552&usg=AOvVaw0ib1R5k_PeDslqWdamKSi1). [^41]: Patel, *Brief History of Palestine*, 221. [^42]: “Palestinian Children Abused in Israeli Detention: NGO,” Al Jazeera, July 10, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/palestinian-children-abused-in-israeli-detention-ngo](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/palestinian-children-abused-in-israeli-detention-ngo&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023797184&usg=AOvVaw1Cn2PL1kNKa9_48tUo248G). [^43]: Saric, Ivana. “Gaza Civilian Deaths Outpacing Those of Other Conflict Zones.” Axios, November 27, 2023. [https://www.axios.com/2023/11/27/gaza-civilian-deaths-israel-conflict-zones.](https://www.axios.com/2023/11/27/gaza-civilian-deaths-israel-conflict-zones) [^44]: Sarah Shamin, “Is Israel’s Gaza War the Deadliest Conflict for Children in Modern Times?,” Al Jazeera, November 7, 2023, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/7/is-israels-gaza-war-the-deadliest-conflict-for-children-in-modern-times](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/7/is-israels-gaza-war-the-deadliest-conflict-for-children-in-modern-times&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1701200023797646&usg=AOvVaw06M69uFTSVCwg69F3ZtPnj). [^45]: *Sunan Ibn Mājāh*, no. 4168. [^46]: Qur’an 20:45–46. [^47]: Qur’an 26:20–21. [^48]: Qur’an 26:22. [^49]: Qur’an 20:25–32. [^50]: Qur’an 20:70–73. [^51]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhi*, no. 2847. [^52]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 4209. [^53]: Qur’an 2:214. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/does-thanksgiving-make-a-mockery-of-gratitude # Does Thanksgiving Make a Mockery of Gratitude? | Blog **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Gratitude (Shukr), Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** November 20, 2023 **Updated:** November 28, 2023 I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but I do believe in giving thanks. Gratitude is one of those values that is as close to a universal value that we have. I certainly have not seen any culture actively encourage entitlement. But the trouble with even universal values is that, when kept vague, apparent consensus starts to splinter and crack when we delve into specifics. The devil, as they say, is in the details. What are we grateful for? To whom are we grateful? How do we measure the sincerity of our gratitude? Can gratitude be polluted by the virtue-signaling ego? Let’s consider a certain Christopher Columbus. You might have grown up, as I did, with the story of Columbus at sea, believing against all hope that he would eventually find land. Remember his crew was about to mutiny but he negotiated with them and they gave him a little more time, and then land was miraculously spotted? It was a good story, and really got you rooting for Columbus to succeed, even if it left the details of that mission a little hazy. Anyone in Columbus’ situation would feel indebted, and from indebtedness we would expect gratitude. But what actions would reflect gratitude? We might imagine bowing down to kiss the solid earth, we might imagine a prayer or offering something valuable as a token of thanks. Yale historian Alan Mikhail sheds some light on Columbus’ actual mindset in an article for the LA Times. He points out the virtually (perhaps willfully?) forgotten fact that, six months before he sailed across the Atlantic, Columbus was fighting as a Crusader in Southern Spain, attempting to drive Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula. Mikhail argues convincingly that Columbus took this Crusader attitude with him across the Atlantic. Columbus described indigenous weapons with the same words used to describe Muslim weapons in Southern Spain. He even compared some of the indigenous clothing to Muslim clothing. The Caribbean, then, became a grotesque crucible of anti-Muslim and anti-indigenous sentiment, an old crusader logic expressed in a new venue. We all know what happened next: men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered, the local population enslaved and conscripted into amassing gold. Are these actions that any reasonable person would describe as reflecting gratitude? > Let’s consider the pilgrims, the heroes of the Thanksgiving holiday. Remember in kindergarten making those tall black hats in November? Without indigenous goodwill and hospitality, it is safe to say that Europeans would not have lasted long at least in the northeast, maybe anywhere in North America. And yet the holiday of Thanksgiving and the mythology around it hides the brutal nature of European settler colonialism which violently dispossessed and displaced indigenous people from their lands and traditions. Is this what gratitude looks like? Do we make it all better by revising the story and celebrating it generations later? Let’s consider the Oneida Nation, the indigenous peoples of Utica and the surrounding areas who were defrauded of 90% of their land by the State of New York a few years after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, during which they were a key ally of the colonies. Is that the behavior of grateful, thankful people? Let’s consider Palestine, another venue of crusader logic. Palestinians intimately understand the structure of settler-colonial violence. They understand broken treaties (in this case called accords). They understand internal displacement. They understand being penned into smaller and smaller reservations and camps. They understand the theft of their land and traditions. They understand the dehumanizing language that legitimates their own slaughter and displacement. The self-styled realist will interject at this point: “That’s what everyone does, that’s just history. The Islamic conquests were the same; the Arabs colonized Africa.” It certainly would be convenient if we were all guilty of the same crimes. But not every conquest constitutes colonization and not even every colonization amounts to the type of European settler colonialism practiced in the Americas and Palestine. As scholars like Richard Bulliet have shown, the Islamic conquests mostly involved regime changes, not the displacement or subjugation of the local population seen in settler colonialism. Typically Muslims were garrisoned separately in purpose-built towns like Kufa, Basra, and Fustat. Local indigenous life was left largely intact and Islamization of society happened gradually and organically over a period of several centuries. European settler-colonialism, then, is historically, practically, and epistemically very distinct from Islamic conquests. When we conflate settler colonialism with other types of conquest, we actually diminish and trivialize the particular brutality experienced by indigenous peoples in the Americas and Palestine. But perhaps that is the point, indeed even the explicit intent. A useful phrase has recently entered our lexicon, that “every accusation is a confession.” Part of this phrase’s popularity can be attributed to how intuitive it is, especially for Muslims who have long dealt with the paranoid accusations of Islam being “spread by the sword.” It turns out that this, too, was a confession all along. We are told we are the bloodthirsty ones as we show the world faith and humanity while our enemies foam at the mouth and justify unspeakable horrors. As for the charge that colonial domination is over and done with, simply look at Palestine. Or look at how the US Supreme Court deals with indigenous land claims. In 2005 when the Supreme Court ruled against Oneida land claims in Central New York, Ruth Bader Ginsberg cited none other than the Doctrine of Discovery, the Papal Bull issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 which gave Christopher Columbus and European explorers the right to claim lands inhabited by non-Christians. Crusader logic is coherent and continuous, pervasive and persistent. Indeed, the land grab never really stopped. The internal logic of Airbnb forcing real-estate crises across scenic America and the Zionist settlements in the West Bank resemble each other even if there are degrees of separation. Just as one might not want to pass up on a lakeside vacation home knowing someone else will simply come along and snatch it up, Yaakov Fauci made himself into a meme by saying “If I don’t steal it, someone else is gonna steal it” as he took over the el-Kurd home in Sheikh Jarrah. The commodification and purchase of what was once held in common necessarily creates the trespasser; the violent dispossession and displacement necessarily creates the refugee. > Is gratitude possible in such circumstances, or does a holiday of Thanksgiving make a mockery of the very idea of giving thanks? As so many innocents are being killed, as city blocks are flattened and olive trees are uprooted, when does a holiday purporting to celebrate giving thanks become an obscenity? Given its association with genocide, and the fact that many of our Native American brothers and sisters consider it to be a day of mourning, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, just as I wouldn’t celebrate a day of “thanks” predicated on the dispossession and extermination of Palestinians. But I do believe that true gratitude can redeem us, because gratitude is a choice and true gratitude purifies. Prophet Ibrahim (AS) was asked to put a knife to the throat of his son. But this wasn’t an act of murder; it was an act of humble submission. He was being tested in his willingness, he was being tested in his ability to trust his Creator, he was being tested in his priorities—would he cling desperately to what he loved most in the world, his son, or would he surrender in indebtedness to his Creator who provides all blessings. In short, would he be grateful? Ibrahim wasn’t afraid to lose what he loved because he was truly grateful to the Creator who provided it. Some people, on the other hand, find that they are afraid that the willingness to sacrifice what they really love will result in actually losing it. Maybe it will. Ibrahim didn’t lose what he loved; ironically, the reward for being willing to sacrifice what he loved the most was that he got to keep it. Maybe our reluctance to let go shows our true priorities. It might even show that our gratitude is lacking. And if our gratitude is lacking, do we deserve to keep the blessings we have? Supposedly Israel just wants the right to exist. Supposedly. But the world has now seen clearly that the Israeli government does not merely want a homeland; it does not want merely to exist. It wants to dominate, it wants to exterminate. The level of fear and paranoia in how “from the river to the sea” is interpreted is reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe on his island, suffocated by the logic of scarcity. That logic, however, is based on fear and the absence of trust. Allah says, > The devil threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and abundance. And Allah is all-Encompassing, all-Knowing. (2:268) What are they afraid would happen if Israel ceased to exist, if Palestine were set free? Perhaps out of guilt they are afraid of revenge, that they would be slaughtered as they have slaughtered. But women like Yocheved Lifshitz, who famously turned back to shake her captor’s hand, know different. Maybe in order to gain a true homeland they need to make an Abrahamic sacrifice and give up the idea of a Zionist state. Let Israel be dissolved, let its criminal leaders be imprisoned, pay reparations, give all Palestinians the right of return, and start from scratch as guests on Palestinian land. That is the very least of what it would look like to be grateful. In July 2019, a Quaker woman in Clinton, New York donated her nearly 30 acres of land to a nonprofit organization run in part by Oneida women. Liseli Haines, the donor, said she felt that giving the land back to the Oneida women was the right thing to do. She said “I feel honored to give back the land. The Oneida people have suffered for generations.” Following the example of Ibrahim, her courage is both inspiring and terrifying. Mrs. Haines conquered the fear of loss, and gained something else. She demonstrated that she was grateful. And that can’t be measured in square footage or by a dollar amount. Gratitude, giving thanks, is not as easy as raising your hands in prayer. It requires introspection, it requires courage, it requires living according to principles even when those principles call you to make sacrifices. We ask Allah to make us among the truly grateful. Ameen. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/5-tips-for-muslim-professionals-in-their-pro-palestinian-advocacy-blog # 5 Tips for Muslim Professionals in their Pro-Palestinian Advocacy | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** November 16, 2023 **Updated:** September 12, 2025 Across the globe, we’re witnessing brazen double standards and extreme measures of censure for those who advocate for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. CEOs are blacklisting future employment candidates, professionals are facing disciplinary measures and termination, and students are being expelled from prestigious universities—all as a direct result of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. So, as a Muslim professional working in the corporate world, what is the best way to manage our pro-Palestinian advocacy efforts? Every situation is unique and depends heavily on personal circumstances, but here are 5 tips for taking action in an effective and legally compliant manner. --- ## 1\. Speak to HR and to your colleagues It might be a good idea to let your HR department know you’re going through a period of significant grief and that the events that are taking place in Palestine are impacting your sleep, diet, focus, and thus your productivity. Not only will this invite compassion in the workplace, but it will preemptively set the expectations of your organization and allow them to view your performance, actions, and words in this broader context. That way, if there does happen to be an incident in which you deviate from your organization’s mandate, things are not taken out of perspective. Moreover, don’t underestimate the power of storytelling. Speaking to colleagues about your personal experiences and how the conflict is affecting your life and emotions is a powerful form of advocacy. Remember, it’s likely your colleagues see you daily and have worked with you over a long period of time—what you say matters to them. So, by sharing your personal distress, that of your family, or the story of others, you have the power to change hearts and minds. --- ## 2\. Know your company’s policies Learn your employee handbook inside out. By knowing your company’s culture, values, mission, code of conduct policy, harassment and discrimination policy, DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) strategy, and social media policy, you’ll be equipping yourself to advocate in the most effective and legally compliant manner. Knowing these parameters will help you stay out of trouble, and it will also allow you to advocate for yourself should the time arise. If you think that your rights have been violated or that you’re in an unsafe environment, then knowing your company’s policy and procedures as well as their escalation models puts you in a position to challenge what’s happening and seek appropriate legal counsel. It’s also a good idea to document your company’s previous positions on political issues—what is the precedent your own corporation has taken in the past and how does that compare and contrast to now? This is a great tool to take to your HR department and highlight any bias and unfair treatment you’re experiencing. --- ## 3\. Play the long game Whilst much advocacy focuses on swift and immediate results, be confident to make changes within your company that are long lasting. DEI policies are a tool that we should leverage, and this all begins by working to **identify our faith as Muslims as a primary dimension of diversity.** Advocate for a Muslim ERG (Employee Resource Group) or push your company to organize webinars on Islamophobia and conduct listening sessions with groups of Muslim employees. The companies with these infrastructures already in place are the ones making the most balanced statements on the Palestine issue because they recognize they have a Muslim employee group who have a voice. Remember, this is a marathon not a sprint—we need to be effective, productive, and long-lasting in our contributions. --- ## 4\. Social media There is no hard and fast rule for using social media. After familiarizing yourself with your company’s social media policy, make a sound cost-benefit analysis. If you find your company’s social media policies are hard-line, limit your exposure and risk by sharing information from trusted sources without commenting. This way, you let someone else very eloquently articulate your grievances in a manner that is vetted without you being personally liable for specific comments you might say that are more susceptible to misinterpretation. For example, simply sharing Craig Mokhiber’s publicly available UN resignation letter calling Israel’s military actions in Gaza “textbook genocide” will be less likely to put you in a vulnerable position than making your own comments. Also, make sure you pick the right platforms. Ask yourself, where does it make most sense to do this advocacy? X or Instagram might be better suited than LinkedIn! --- ## 5\. Trust in the promise of Allah Act thoughtfully, sincerely, and wisely, but don’t let your fear paralyze you. One of the first tests that the Muslim community felt in history was the test of wealth through crippling boycotts. Allah (swt) reminds us: And He will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah—then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a \[decreed\] extent. \[Quran 65:3\] For those of us living in the west, we have a luxury that much of the world does not have: the ability to challenge powers and speak up. So, this is a chance for you to really increase your rank with Allah, by actively showing Him that not only are you striving to ward off injustice in whatever way you can, but that you believe in Allah’s promise and will not allow your fears to deter you. Remember, you are an asset to your company and you bring human capital to your organization. If, after doing your due diligence, you simply cannot align with your company’s values this may be a good opportunity to move to a company that is better aligned and within which you can advocate freely. We all have an obligation to act but what we do depends on our context and resources. Speak sincerely and wisely, and trust in Allah. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/palestine-the-steadfast-reflections-on-allahs-names-al-wakil-and-al-mumin # Palestine the Steadfast: Reflections on Allah's Names al-Wakīl and Al-Muʾmin | Blog **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** November 1, 2023 **Updated:** November 2, 2023 The world has layers. There is an apparent, outer layer seen with the eyes: the injustice, the insecurity, and the inability to control. The perpetual lack of accountability. And focusing on this layer can make any sane person despair; but there is a metaphysical layer that can be seen only with perceptive hearts. We are given countless examples of this in the Qur’an. Allah says, > ٱلَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّ ٱلنَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُواْ لَكُمْ فَٱخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَقَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ > > Those who were warned, “Your enemies have mobilized their forces against you, so fear them,” the warning only made them grow stronger in faith and they replied, “Allah \[alone\] is sufficient \[as an aid\] for us and \[He\] is the best Protector.” (3:173) How is it possible for a people to be warned that their (outwardly) more powerful enemies have mobilized against them, and instead of making them despair and crumble, it increases them in faith? The answer is in their response: “Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best Protector (al-Wakīl).” --- ## Allah’s name Al-Wakīl Those are not easy words to utter and even less easy to act upon. Yet the people who are able to do so are those who know Allah. He is enough for them because they have certainty in Him and His attributes, and they can see beyond the immediate and the material. And why al-Wakīl (translated as the Protector, Disposer of Affairs, and the Trustee) in these circumstances? They know that Allah’s promise is true, and that He always follows through on His promises, because He fulfills the trusts He is entrusted with. When a person gives someone *tawkīl*, they are entrusting their affairs to that person, and that person acts for the benefit of the one who has given the entrustment or authorization (*tawkīl*). They are saying “I can’t do this, but I trust you completely to do it for me, and know you will do what is truly best and for my benefit.” In fact, before Allah tells us to take Him as our Wakīl, He reminds us of His authority and ability, “\[He is\] the Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as Disposer of \[your\] affairs.” (73:9) And having trust means that we do whatever it is Allah has put in our power to do, and trust in Him for the result because it is necessarily what is best. This constitutes true submission to Him. And Allah aids such people in ways not perceived by the senses. Allah reminded the believers at the time of the Prophet ﷺ: > إِذْ يُغَشِّيكُمُ النُّعَاسَ أَمَنَةً مِّنْهُ وَيُنَزِّلُ عَلَيْكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً لِّيُطَهِّرَكُم بِهِ وَيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمْ رِجْزَ الشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيَرْبِطَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتَ بِهِ الْأَقْدَامَ > > Remember when He gave you sleep as a reassurance from Him, and sent down water from the sky to cleanse you, to remove Satan’s pollution from you, to make your hearts strong and your feet firm. (8:11) --- ## Allah’s name Al-Mu’min This verse is referring to the Battle of Badr, when the Muslims were outnumbered. Yet Allah sent reassurance (*amanatan*) and strength to the hearts (*rabṭ*). Indeed, Allah is al-Muʾmin: He gives security from fear, He gives His slaves the light of belief, and He is trustworthy. We are secure when it comes to Allah, because we believe and have certainty in the truth of what He tells us. We know the reality of this world and what awaits those who are steadfast for Him. And our hearts are made firm in this way by al-Muʾmin. We are given freedom from fear through this *rabṭ* of the heart. Allah tells us of another group of people whom He gave internal security: > *…* إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ آمَنُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَاهُمْ هُدًى وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِ*مْ…* > > … They were youths who truly believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. And We strengthened (*rabaṭnā*) their hearts... (18:13-14) This verse refers to the youth of the cave who were living under a tyrannical king. The verse above says “*wa rabaṭnā ʿalā qulūbihim*” which is literally ‘tied their hearts,” just like you would tighten a rope to stabilize something or give it strength. Something that is loosely tied unravels quickly and even breaks, but when Allah “ties” hearts, He gives them stability, strengthening them, and granting them peace. In Surat al-Qaṣaṣ, we are told once again of this *rabṭ*: > وَأَصْبَحَ فُؤَادُ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰ فَارِغًا ۖ إِن كَادَتْ لَتُبْدِي بِهِ لَوْلَا أَن رَّبَطْنَا عَلَىٰ قَلْبِهَا لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ > > And Moses’ mother felt a void in her burning heart so that she almost declared him, had We not steadied (*rabaṭnā*) her heart, that she may remain of the believers. (28:10) What do all of these people have in common? They were all those who believed in Allah (they were *muʾminīn*) in extremely difficult circumstances. The believers were about to embark upon the Battle of Badr, where they were decisively outnumbered. The people of the cave were being persecuted for their beliefs. The mother of Moses (as), living under Pharaoh who was murdering newborn baby boys, was separated from her son. In each of these three scenarios, devout believers were faced with not only testing circumstances, but dangerous ones that could cost them their lives. In each of these situations, it might be natural for anyone to doubt and to give up, perhaps even question their faith. But in each of these circumstances, there was no one else to turn to but Allah—and Allah made them firm. The parallels we see with our brothers and sisters in Gaza and the whole of Palestine are clear. Allah al-Mu’min strengthens their hearts and gives them internal security. When it would be normal for the hearts to waiver, Allah gives an internal strength to be able to withstand the external troubles. Ibn al-Qayyim states that this *rabṭ* includes granting the hearts patience and firmness, strengthening them, and supporting them with the light of faith, until they are able to patiently persevere. Part of it is to be connected to Allah through His remembrance, and desiring His pleasure.[^1] --- ## “When will the help of Allah come?” As for us on the outside, the images that we see of the suffering of our people and the sheer injustice naturally anger us and might break us. We might feel exasperated and helpless, and ask the very question quoted in the Qur’an, “When will Allah’s help come?” (2:214) Allah immediately answers, “Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.” (2:214) “Near” is not according to our timing, but on Allah’s timing, based on his ultimate wisdom. And that is what we need to have certainty in. The apparent hopelessness of the material world should never cause us to lose faith. Rather, we should be like believers who increase in faith and say, “Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best Protector.” We know that there is something that is beyond, and our ultimate abode is Paradise, *insha’Allah*. Our brothers and sisters’ test is in being on the ground, and they will be rewarded and elevated accordingly—we have no doubt in that. The Prophet ﷺ reminds us that, “the most miserable people in the world will come on the Day of Resurrection to be dipped in Paradise, then it will be said: O son of Adam, did you see any hardship? Did you have any distress? He will say: No, by Allah, my Lord! I did not once see hardship or distress.”[^2] As for the children who were killed, they “are roaming about in Paradise.”[^3] Our test is being here on the outside. What will Allah ask me about? We [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/how-to-channel-your-anger-for-palestine&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1698870424683961&usg=AOvVaw1CdyoLG9Zqr8qHX20rJPEW)[channel our anger](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/post/how-to-channel-your-anger-for-palestine) in righteous ways. We mobilize, we speak out, and we pray. We continue to build. We supplicate with unshakeable certainty because we know the power and strength of Allah, and that He responds to our supplications and prayers in the best way possible. And we turn to al-Muʿmin to strengthen our own hearts against despair and numbness. In each of the examples in the Qur’an, the believers worked on their faith. They worked on their relationship with Allah, they turned to Him, and they chose truth. And when the most difficult test came, Allah was with them. “*Rabaṭa ʿalā qulūbihim*”—He steadied their hearts, “tied them,” and strengthened them. --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-Sālikīn*, 3/68. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2807. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2635. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-build-resilience-through-palestine-for-palestine # How to Build Resilience Through Palestine, For Palestine | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 30, 2023 In the days that have passed, we have collectively witnessed the inconceivable patience demonstrated by the Palestinian people as bombs soar overhead, razing their homes and desecrating their children. The mainstream media, meanwhile, has not only largely ignored their harrowing experiences, but further contributed to their dehumanization. In the face of such brutality and hopelessness, how can they remain so defiantly resilient? As Muslims around the globe witness the oppression of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, we not only share in their pain but are also awakened to our own spiritual poverty. Generations of Palestinians have survived displacement and relentless occupation by breathing and sustaining themselves with “*la ilaha illa Allah*” and “*hasbuna Allahu wa ni’ma al-wakeel*” (“Allah is sufficient for us, and the best Disposer of affairs). How can we as a community be resilient like them and for them? Watch the video: [Allah’s Plans Never Fail #Palestine | Dr. Omar Suleiman](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DueS4qKB6c2c&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1698682363593176&usg=AOvVaw16vZlvqxZmHmF_S8eZzC4a) --- ## 1\. Carry part of their load > Abu Musa (rA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “A believer to a believer is like a building; its parts reinforce one another.” The Prophet ﷺ then clasped his hands together, interlacing his fingers. This hadith describes the sense of solidarity that Muslims should embody as a community. However, it also provides us with a roadmap for fostering resilience. We must look to each part of the structure, acknowledge the load it carries and recognize that without one another we are incomplete. By doing so, we can take off some of their load. The tears shed in *tahajjud* and our incessant supplications for Palestine help us build our individual resilience, and ultimately become a stronger body. --- ## 2\. Be patient with affliction Imam Hasan Al-Basri (rA) is reported to have said, “Courage is patience for (another) hour.” Our enemies believe we will despair and eventually grow tired. Historically, however, Muslims were always able to outlast their enemies because they drew strength from something deeper. Determination is a process. It is built by learning to be patient with hardships. Through repeated exposure to minor discomfort, we can grow to endure major discomfort for the sake of a greater goal. This is how the Palestinians have become a model of resilience for us all. The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, “Know Allah in prosperity, and He will know you in adversity.” --- ## 3\. Read Surah Ali ‘Imran Scholars recommend reading Surah Ali ‘Imran during times of tribulation, as it especially highlights how the Muslims responded to the trial of Uhud. Verse 173 narrates the Muslims’ response when the hypocrites, impressed by the Quraysh’s numbers and wealth, encouraged them to give up: “Those to whom the hypocrites said ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.’ But it increased them in faith, and they said “Allah is sufficient for us, and the best Disposer of affairs.” --- ## 4\. Study the life of the Prophet ﷺ in Makkah It is worth noting that of the twenty three years the Prophet ﷺ delivered the message, thirteen were spent in tribulation in Mecca. In the early days of his prophethood, his companions were very few in number, but the trials they faced resulted in forming the most resilient generation known to history. One of the most difficult moments in Mecca came when the Prophet and his nascent community were kicked out of Mecca and isolated in one valley, a pre-modern “concentration camp.” The disbelievers tried their utmost to isolate the believers, forbidding them food, water, trade and even marriage from outside the valley. Some of the nonbelievers, still believing in the bonds of kinship, would use the cover of night to smuggle in whatever “humanitarian aid” they could to the starving Muslims. Ultimately, the companions were able to withstand this trial due to their belief in and reliance on Allah. > Gaza has rightly been called the world’s largest open-air prison. Nonetheless, the true believer, for whom Allah is his motivation and destination, views the entire *dunya* as a prison, and the *akhirah* as liberation. The Prophet ﷺ, hiding in a cave, exiled from his hometown, is reported to have said to his closest companion Abu Bakr (rA): “Don’t be sad; Allah is with us.” There in the darkness of the cave he could see the bright future that lay ahead: the inevitable victory. He knew that triumph comes not after trial, but in it. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/5-duas-for-palestine-and-gaza # 5 Du'as for Palestine and Gaza | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Dua, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 24, 2023 **Updated:** September 3, 2026 If the circumstances in Gaza are the catalyst for you to start making more *du'a*, then let it be. If this is what moves you and causes you to turn back to Allah, then let it be. As our strongest weapon, now is the time that we need to teach ourselves, our families, and our communities how to make *du'a*. --- ## Make du'a from an attentive heart Before occupying ourselves with the particular formulas of certain *du'a*, the most important thing is to focus on our hearts. > The Prophet ﷺ said: “Know that Allah does not answer a *du'a* from an inattentive heart.” \[At-Tirmidhi #3479\] Any *du'a* that comes from your heart with sincerity is a good *du'a*, even if it is not a *du'a* specifically mentioned in the Qur’an or Sunnah. A sincere *du'a* from the heart is better than one that has been memorized without understanding or attentiveness. We must let our hearts naturally converse with our Lord–and it is permissible to do so in any language that comes naturally to you. --- ## 5 du'as to recite for Palestine and Gaza when you’re feeling tongue-tied Sometimes we are at a loss for words. Our hearts are attentive but our feelings are so strong that we find ourselves tongue-tied. In these moments, the following 5 *du'a* adapted from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and pious predecessors may help springboard us into our own personal calls to Allah. ### 1\. Dua for patience and victory for the Palestinian people رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِم صَبْراً وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُم وَٱنصُرْهُم عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ Rabbana afrigh ‘alayhim sabran wa thabbit aqdaamahum wansurhum ‘ala al-qawm al-kafireen Our Lord! Shower them with perseverance, make their steps firm, and give them victory over the disbelieving people. Inspired by verse 250 of Surah al-Baqarah, this *du'a* reminds us that Allah is always with us, penetrating our hearts with firmness and tranquility. ### 2\. Dua for the success of the Palestinians رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِهِم فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِى ٱلأخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِهِم عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ *Rabbana aatihim fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan waqihim ‘adhaab an-nar*  Our Lord! Grant them the good of this world and the Hereafter, and protect them from the torment of the Fire. Inspired by verse 201 in Surah al-Baqarah, there is nothing better that we could ask for our brothers and sisters in Palestine than to be granted Paradise and saved from the Fire. As we watch events that seem unbearable unfold, we must remember that one dip in Jannah is all it takes for the cruelty and suffocation of this world to be forgotten. ### 3\. Du'a for their protection اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُرْ عَوْرَاتِهِم وَآمِنْ رَوْعَاتِهِم وَاحْفَظْهُم مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِم وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِم وَعَنْ أَيمَانِهِم وَعَنْ شَمَائلِهِم وَمِنْ فَوْقِهِم Allahumma ustur ‘awraatihim wa-aamin raw’aatihim wahfadhhum min bayni aydeehim wa min khalfihim wa ‘an aymaanihim wa ‘an shamaa’ilihim wa min fawqihim O Allah, conceal their faults, calm their fears, and protect them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and from above them. Taken from the morning and evening remembrances of the Prophet ﷺ, this *du'a* seeks Allah’s protection from every direction. It is a befitting *du'a* for the people of Gaza, who are surrounded by hostility and violence. ### 4\. Du'a when facing an enemy اللَّهُمَّ مُنْزِلَ الْكِتَابِ سَرِيعَ الْحِسَابِ مُجْرِيَ السَّحَابِ هَازِمَ الأَحْزَابِ اهْزِمْهُمْ وَزَلْزِلْهُم وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ Allahumma munzil al-kitabi saree’ al-hisabi mujriya as-sahaabi hazim al-ahzaabi ihzimhum wa-zalzilhum wansurna ‘alayhim O Allah, the revealer of the Holy Book, and the swift in reckoning, and the mover of the clouds, and the defeater of the clans; defeat them, and shake them, and grant us victory over them. This *du'a* is inspired by a combination of *du'a* taken from several hadith detailing the Prophet’s supplications upon facing an enemy – an appropriate reminder of Allah’s ability to gather and bestow, to hold to account, and to take away. ### 5\. Du'a to strengthen their trust in Allah اللَّهُمَّ ارْزُقهُم صِدْقَ التَوَكُّلِ عَلَيكَ وحُسْنُ الظَنِّ بِك Allahumma urzuqhum sidq at-tawakkuli ‘alayka wa husn ad-dhanni bik O Allah grant them true reliance upon You, and good thoughts about You. This is an adaptation of a *du'a* made by Sa’eed ibn Jubayr, a great scholar of Islam and pious predecessor. Through good thoughts we are able to put our trust in Allah and rely upon Him–a state we frequently see from our brothers and sisters in Gaza and one we pray continues. --- ## Never lose hope in the help of Allah As our tragedies increase and intensify, it can often feel difficult to retain hope and optimism. We may be wondering why we aren’t seeing the relief that we’ve been so intensely praying for. While this feeling is, to some extent, entirely natural, we must remind ourselves that it is precisely at the time of our utter depletion that the help of Allah is nearest. It is precisely when we feel exhausted of all worldly solutions that His aid is most imminent and we truly begin to depend on Allah for a way out. Allah tells us in Surah al-Baqarah: > *Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such \[trial\] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until \[even their\] messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is the help of Allah?" Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.* \[Qur’an, 2:214\] We should never lose hope in the help of Allah, and therefore should never stop making *du'a* for the people of Palestine. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/3-spiritual-actions-you-can-take-for-gaza-now # 3 Spiritual Actions You Can Take for Gaza Now | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 23, 2023 **Updated:** September 3, 2026 As the stench of death chokes the pulverized streets of Gaza, know that the indescribable aroma of its martyrs is rising to the heavens. There is a crowd of angels between the heavens and the earth, rushing to receive the souls who have been chosen by Allah. Those beautiful souls are not dead, vowed Allah. They are alive, flying freely in an eternal land promised to them—no longer occupied, and no longer imprisoned. But even as The Most Loving has not only freed but *elevated* them from the pain that the occupying force of Israel confined them in, we are still beholden to our duty as establishers of justice on Earth. The Most Merciful does not burden a soul more than it can bear. Allah has gifted us with the opportunity to stand firm for our *ummah* when it’s hurting, because *this is what we can excel in*. That’s why it is absolutely imperative that as we continue to amplify our voices, to organize, to advocate, and to unite for change, we *must* nourish our own souls to keep up our momentum for our siblings in faith. --- ## How can you re-energize for Palestine? Here are 3 things to remember as you continue your advocacy: ### 1\. The 20 minutes you set aside to breathe is so Palestinians can breathe. Turn off your phone. Make the intention that this break you are taking is so you can come back stronger. Take a walk or engage in intense physical exercise. 20 minutes to take care of the mind and body Allah gave you will give you the rest of the day to care for the siblings in faith He made you an advocate for. ### 2\. This is the time to reflect on the Qur’an with Palestine in mind. When you’re overwhelmed, the Qur’an will give you contentment and perspective. Reflect especially on Surat al-Isra. The solace Allah gives through historical facts in His Own words is unmatched. How did small groups of people in the past face large armies that vastly outnumbered them? Because God was on their side. *Tawakkul*, or complete reliance and trust in Allah, is always weightier and more effective than the mightiest of armies. ### 3\. Your du’a, especially during Tahajjud, is the most powerful weapon you have. Your throats may be torn from screaming in protest, your fingers tired from relentless online advocacy, and your mind reeling from feeling like you’re shouting into a void. But a whisper to the One who gave you the ability to speak is a sure promise that your voice is heard loud and clear, and the fruits of it *will* be seen according to His perfect timing. --- ## Here’s a short list of du’as that you can make right now. ### \- Du’a for that powerful tawakkul: اللهم إني أسألك صدق التوكل عليك وحسن الظن بك Allahumma inni as-aluka sidq at-tawakkuli ‘alayka wa husn adh-dhanni bik O Allah! I ask You to grant me true reliance on You and good expectations of You. \[Sa’eed ibn Jubayr (ra)\] ### \- Du’a to distinguish between fake news, lies, and the truth: اللهم أرنا الحق حقاً وارزقنا اتباعه وأرنا الباطل باطلا وارزقنا اجتنابه Allahumma arina al-haqqa haqqan warzuqna ittiba’ah, wa arina al-batila batilan warzuqna ijtinabah O Allah! Show us the truth as True, and inspire us to follow it. Show us falsehood as Falsehood, and inspire us to abstain from it. \[Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra)\] ### \- Du’a for strength and victory: رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ Our Lord, shower us with patience, make our feet firm, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.  Qur’an, 2:250 Remember this: the *ummah* of the Prophet ﷺ is not rash; it is strong, it is organized, it is wise, and it is a force to be reckoned with when united. Our advocacy is the proverbial tying of our camel in this life, but it is nothing without the help of Allah. And wisdom is in strengthening our crying souls so our feet can stand firmer before tyrants than ever before. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-to-channel-your-anger-for-palestine # How to Channel Your Anger For Palestine | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 19, 2023 **Updated:** September 11, 2025 The Palestinians have been [murdered twice](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/webinars/palestinians-are-murdered-twice) – once by the Israeli army and once by the Western media. Our emotions are intense these days. The horrific images and exposure to propaganda have taken us on an emotional roller coaster, most often leaving us feeling rage. We are infuriated at the Zionist atrocities and misinformation campaign. We are enraged at the lack of support for our brothers and sisters. What do we do with this anger? Is it okay to be furious? The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ embodied the pinnacle of patience, forgiveness, and noble character. His temperament was marked by restraint, yet even he would feel anger for the sake of Allah. > Indeed, the emotion of anger serves a divine purpose: it is a litmus test of the heart's health and a catalyst driving us toward justice. While our faith encourages patience and forbearance, it does not always advocate for turning the other cheek in the face of oppression. There are many stories from the life of the Prophet ﷺ expressing his anger. He would stand on the *mimbar*, his face flushing red when individuals attempted to distort Allah's commands. In early Islam, when the Companion Umar (rA) sought wisdom from the Torah, the Prophet expressed his anger, affirming that even if Prophet Musa (as) were alive, he would be his follower. To feel nothing when injustice prevails is indicative of a dead heart. --- ## 1\. Guide your anger There are two extremes of anger. On one extreme, the total absence of anger can manifest as cowardice. After all, anger is a motivation to establish justice. Conversely, unchecked, excessive anger can devolve into tyranny. > It's within this spectrum that Muslims are urged to find a balanced position—harnessing anger for the sake of Allah and channeling it towards the establishment of justice. When appropriately managed, anger becomes praiseworthy. Imam Al-Shafi’i commented on this, suggesting that someone who is provoked to righteous anger but remains passive is like a donkey. To control and guide our anger: - Distinguish between anger for Allah and personal rage. - Remember the repeated Prophetic advice: "Do not get angry." - Perform *wudu’* to help calm your mind. - Seek protection from Satan's influence by repeating, "*a’udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ar-rajim*.” Properly managed and directed, anger can be a powerful tool in the quest for justice. But left unchecked, it can become a destructive force. As advocates for Palestine, let's ensure our anger aligns with the teachings of Islam and drives us closer to justice. --- ## 2\. Become a better version of yourself True victory comes from both internal transformation and external action. History has shown that many political movements crumble not necessarily due to external pressures, but due to internal moral failings—be it succumbing to bribery or other ethical compromises. > Our faith teaches us about unseen blessings like *baraka*, where outcomes aren't strictly transactional. But how can one hope for such *baraka* if one disregards fundamental responsibilities, like honoring parents or observing daily prayers? Our personal transgressions impede the collective efficacy of our *du’a*. Externally, proactive steps aligned with our faith's teachings are paramount. Our internal spiritual work should never be an excuse to sidestep external responsibilities. Whether it's establishing new media organizations to convey the truth or other initiatives, our internal faith and external actions must work in tandem. --- ## 3\. Stay grounded to prevent burnout Advocacy is a marathon, not a sprint. Pushing ourselves endlessly without pauses can lead to burnout and inadvertently diminish our effectiveness. More so, when we're constantly drained, we risk projecting our anger onto our loved ones and those who share our mission. Achieving justice for Palestine requires consistency and longevity, and for that, we need balance. Recognizing when to intensify our efforts and when to step back for clarity momentarily is key. Such pauses can be transformative, allowing us to come back with renewed energy and perspective. --- ## 4\. Hold one another accountable The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ emphasized the dangers of isolation, likening the lone individual to a sheep astray, vulnerable to being picked off. Numerous hadiths extol the virtues of *jama’ah* (community); it's within this collective that checks and balances emerge, ensuring that the group's collective strength surpasses that of its individual components. For the sake of accountability, clarity, and direction we should always run our ideas by others. Lastly, remember that no one should navigate this journey alone. Implementing a buddy system, where friends or colleagues regularly check in on one another, can serve as a supportive network. By doing so, we remind each other of the importance of balance and the value of rest, ensuring that we're all in it for the long game. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-martyrs-of-gaza-are-soaring-in-the-heavens # The Martyrs of Gaza are Soaring in the Heavens | Blog **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 19, 2023 **Updated:** October 10, 2024 With the unfolding of horrific events in Gaza, our hearts and minds cannot focus on anything else. But these emotions, ranging from sadness to anger, are signs of a beating heart. We must channel these emotions to act courageously in a way that is pleasing to Allah. The senseless killing of innocent souls in Gaza makes one remember the verse in the Qur’an that condemns the pre-Islamic custom of burying newly-born girls alive. These innocent babies will be asked “for what sin she was slain” \[Surat at-Takwir, 9\]. We ask today: for what sins were the bloody, lifeless bodies in Gaza slain? --- ## Martyrs in the Qur’an Look at Gaza and its martyrs through the lens of the Qur’an for a moment. After the Battle of Badr, the following verse was revealed: “And say not of those slain in God's way: 'They are dead'; instead they are living; but you are not aware.” Allah follows this verse with a prophecy that something grave is about to happen, “Surely We will try you with something of fear and hunger, and diminution of goods and lives; yet give good tidings to the patient” \[Surat al-Baqarah,154-5\]. Right now, the people of Gaza fit every one of these descriptions. They are being tested with fear, hunger, thirst, and loss of property. They are being tested with their lives. But we also know the descriptions of their reward. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah, Most High, presented the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud to Himself. > Their souls were in the bodies of green birds hanging from chandeliers from the Throne of the Merciful, flying around, drinking, and eating from the riverbanks of Paradise. Allah gave them whatever they wanted. And what did they want? Remember the man calling his people to Islam and faith in Surat Ya-Sin? He was killed, and upon entering Paradise, he said, “If only my people knew!” \[Surat Ya-Sin, 26\]. Gazzan martyrs are in joy with what Allah has bestowed upon them, waiting for us to join them. We are learning right now the reality of this life in real-time. Allah is teaching us lessons about life and the material world in real-time. We must process that in terms of knowledge and certainty. The Prophet ﷺ had something that we didn't have. He could see beyond the mutilated bodies of his cousins Jaʿfar al-Tayyar and Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. He saw them with one eye as bloodied, dead bodies; with the other, he saw them in Paradise. --- ## Turn your pain into power At our current moment, there are two seemingly conflicting emotions that we have to manage. One of them is the anger at the loss of innocent lives and the desecration of our brothers and sisters. There should be anger and sadness. Both stem from mercy for the victims. But these emotions must be coupled with hope and complete certainty in Allah. If all of the children of Gaza who have been killed could hold a press conference right now, what would they say to the people of *dunya*? They would say, *alhamdulillah*, Allah fulfilled his promise to us. This does not mean, however, that we should not try to stop more murders. We are under the care of our Lord, who is in complete control, but we have to act. --- ## Be strong and courageous Many of are scared, but we must conquer that fear. The people of Palestine are so special because they have driven their enemies crazy with their fearlessness. They are an unbreakable, resilient people. The grandma who refuses to leave Gaza, staying put even without water, is braver than a thousand Israeli soldiers. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “To be truly free, you must overcome the love of wealth and the fear of death.” He also said, “If a man has not discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.” Yet, long before MLK Jr., the Prophet ﷺ warned, “... God will remove the fear in the hearts of your enemies and place in your hearts frailty (*wahn*).’ They said, ‘What is *wahn*, O Messenger of God?’ He said, ‘Love of this world and hatred of death.’” \[Abu Dawud\]. If you conquer your fear of death, you conquer everything less than death: fear of the loss of wealth, security, and everything that comes under that. For some of us, there are real dangers, be it our job or place in school. Do not be reckless, but do be courageous. It's time for us to find the moral courage inside of us. This is not the time to shrink. Allah promises us, “Do not falter or grieve, for you shall have the upperhand if you are \[true\] believers” \[Surat Ali ‘Imran:139\]. Now is the time to act wisely and courageously. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-can-i-help-palestine # How Can I Help Palestine? | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Allah, Faith, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice **Tags:** Blog, Justice in Islam, Palestine **Published:** October 17, 2023 **Updated:** October 24, 2023 *This is a summarized excerpt of a full conversation: [How to Become an Indomitable Ummah between Imam Tom Facchine, Sh. Mikael Smith, and Ust. Sami Hamdi.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/webinars/how-to-become-an-indomitable-ummah)* If there was ever a time to be united, it is now. It is time to find guidance through the Qur’an and the legacy of our Prophet ﷺ to reignite our love for Palestine, amplify our voices for justice, and strengthen our hearts for the *ummah*. What is our role in all of this as Muslims? How can we help our brothers and sisters in [Palestine](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-palestinian-struggle-through-the-prophetic-lens)? --- ## 1\. Make sincere du’a for Palestine Those on the frontlines, facing oppression and death head on, are turning to Allah. Even amongst the rubble, they are in *salah* together. We cannot diminish the power of *du’a,* our strongest weapon, and directly plead with the One in control. We should be uttering heartfelt *du’a*s for those suffering at every opportunity. And we must not give in to hopelessness. Our Palestinian brethren exemplify resilience in the midst of adversity, teaching us the enduring power of hope and *tawakkul*. > “Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer.” \[Sahih Muslim 2999\] *Save and recite the du'a below to help and protect the people of Palestine:* ![Dua against injustice and oppression: Save and recite this du'a to help and protect the people of Palestine](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Dua-for-Palestine-Dua-against-oppression-1024x1024.png) Du'a against injustice & oppression --- ## 2\. Speak up about the oppression of Palestinians As we speak, oppressors are inflicting tremendous suffering upon our Palestinian brothers and sisters while employing a calculated campaign to dehumanize them. We cannot remain silent or impartial in the face of this impending disaster. We all bear a responsibility to speak out against such injustice, for we are the agents of positive change in our society. To be Muslim is to bring good to society and do what we can to stop evil. --- ## 3\. Educate yourself and others, and do what you can Right now, profound changes are sweeping across the world, driven by a groundswell of passion and a growing chorus of voices clamoring for a free Palestine. Political landscapes are shifting, and there's a palpable air of anticipation in the face of this rising public demand. No one wants to be on the opposing side of public opinion. Across the globe, unprecedented numbers of people are converging at protests, shocking governments and the public at large. Ordinary individuals are seizing the power through social media to share and discuss impactful videos and images, forcing the algorithm to amplify them before any removal attempts. In the streets and online, conversations are shaping the collective consciousness, molding it in favor of the truth. We should arm ourselves with knowledge: learn the truth and study current events. Use the language of apartheid and genocide, without falling for the tactics of the media that seeks to distort the narrative. > Recognize that as Muslims, we sometimes undermine our agency. We underestimate the power Allah has given us. Allah has exalted His believers and assured us of success, whether it materializes in our lifetime or not. Allah promises to reward us based on our effort, not the results. "And they will be told, 'All this is surely a reward for you. Your striving has been appreciated.'" (Qur'an, 76:22). We decide if and how we want to strive. We decide in what capacity we can support this cause: spiritually, financially, physically, verbally, and emotionally. So it is now up to us to decide to use the blessings and skills Allah has given us to strive for our *ummah*. Allah will determine the outcome–but we have undeniable strength in our numbers and in our voices. Want to learn more about Palestine and the Palestinian cause? Explore all of our [resources on Palestine](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/tag/palestine). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/are-all-religions-the-same-islam-and-the-false-promise-of-perennialism # Are All Religions the Same? Islam and the False Promise of Perennialism **Author:** Tom Facchine **Topics:** Contemporary Ideologies, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** September 13, 2023 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 ## Martin Lings the perennialist Most English-speaking Muslims are familiar with the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ written by Martin Lings, entitled *Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources*. A staple of book clubs, this book has rightly earned high praise for its readability, erudition, and narrative style.[^1] Few Muslims, however, are familiar with  Lings’ other works. In one such book, *Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions*, Lings offers piercing insights on modern society that remain relevant today. He scathingly critiques evolutionary theory, freedom as a goal, and the very notion of progress. Some of the connections he makes are not only brilliant but beautifully expressed.[^2] However, any keen Muslim reader will quickly pick up on the fact that Islam is largely, though not entirely, absent from *Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions.* Instead, Lings grounds many of his critiques in Hindu and Christian theology.[^3] Rather than seeing these religious traditions as fundamentally contradicting Islam, Lings consistently downplays the differences between them and all religions, calling them a matter of “perspective,”[^4] or merely “manner\[s\] of expression.”[^5] This denial of religious difference is not a marginal element of Lings’ work either. Lings regularly offers bold, sweeping statements such as “the truth that is expressed \[by these religions\] remains the same,”[^6] “all religions are in agreement about what is really fundamental,”[^7] and “in its more general aspects orthodoxy \[across religions\] is always fundamentally the same.”[^8] In one telling passage, Lings writes: > …there tower up the great religions of the world—there is no need to mention their names—each like a vast mountain range with its snow-clad peaks of sainthood. Here and there also, in the background, loom the shadowy summits of a more primordial religion which had to be replaced or reaffirmed because its people, having fallen away from it, had forgotten it.[^9] The imagery of mountain ranges is extremely evocative, but also troubling. Is Lings merely pointing out the rudimentary belief that Islam is the final form of Allah’s guidance, meant to replace everything before it? Or is Lings advocating the perennialist position that Islam is merely one valid religion amongst others? Lings’ words and imagery push the reader toward the latter interpretation. Islam, in his account, came to replace the mysterious primordial religion that is the basis of all contemporary religions, but *it did not come to replace all other religions.* The other ‘mountain chains’—Hinduism, Christianity, and beyond—also came to replace the lost primordial religion, and therefore are still valid paths today. As Lings would have it, all presently-existing religions have no right to claim themselves the absolute truth. --- ## Perennial problems Perennialism holds that there is one Truth that is found in multiple places. This distinguishes it from universalism, which holds that there is not one Truth but rather multiple truths. Because perennialism insists on one Truth, perennialists must engage multiple religious traditions and demonstrate that those traditions possess the same truth, at least in essence. This the perennialists did, but only by regularly omitting, ignoring, or reinterpreting any claim to exclusive Truth found in the religious traditions with which they engaged. When faced with features of a religion particularly difficult to reconcile with perennialism, perennialists emphasized the primacy of personal mystical experience over revelation and scripture. This is perhaps the main problem with perennialism: its utter indifference to revelation, sometimes bordering on antipathy. By marginalizing revelation and scripture, perennialism simultaneously adopts a posture of validating Islam (and other religions) as true while rejecting everything that makes Islam unique, including Islam’s own claim to exclusively and accurately representing God’s truth and command. Islam in fact does have a discernible essence that is constituted by pillars of belief and practice necessary for salvation. Perennialism, however, claims that all religions are ultimately substitutable and therefore initiation into any of them is sufficient for salvation. The thesis of perennialism thus contradicts Islamic teachings on salvific exclusivity and renders many features of Islam, if not the entire venture of Islam itself, superfluous. Allah says in the Qur’an, > Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and he shall be in the Hereafter among the lost.[^10] And, more explicitly, > But whoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on \[the path\] he has taken, and We shall cause him to burn in Hell—what an evil journey’s end![^11] Indeed, if all religions possess the same ultimate truth, why didn’t the Last Prophet ﷺ teach that, instead of calling to Islam specifically? If the perennialist thesis is true, there would have been no need for the Prophet to separate himself and his followers as a distinct religious community; he could have simply joined the Quraysh and tried to discover the “kernel of truth” in their idolatry. Even if perennialists reject idolatry as outside of the one Truth, the Qur’an should still celebrate the Christian doctrines of Trinity and Original Sin as valid truths—as other perennialists, including Lings, have actually done.[^12] Instead, Allah emphatically refutes and dismisses them.[^13] Contrary to perennialist illusions, Islam teaches that revelation and scripture are absolutely essential to right guidance. In fact, faking revelation and manipulating scripture—indeed, even speaking for God out of turn—is one of the most abominable sins. Allah says, > And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie or denies His verses? Indeed, the wrongdoers will not succeed.[^14] Perennialist authors are habitually guilty of this, even if some of them might be sincere in their attempt to defend Islam or accord it a special status. The reality is that perennialism attempts to side-step revelation and in its place artificially constructs a lowest common denominator of religious belief and practice. Perennialists were correct to posit a shared divine origin of all genuine revelation, but ultimately erred in trying to reconstruct that common thread through their own selective reading and motivated interpretations of religious traditions. Islam’s central belief in *tawḥīd* is the real perennial truth, not the creative reconstruction of perennialists. This paper contextualizes perennialism as a response to the problem of religious diversity—a response that relies heavily upon an exaggerated distinction between exoteric and esoteric religion—and evaluates this response in light of Islam’s own solution. It demonstrates that perennialism, far from being a universal esoteric truth, is actually a product of (modern) European thought formed in the wake of Christianity’s collapse and the emergence of the Enlightenment. It further shows that perennialists systematically mischaracterized foreign religious traditions, especially Islam, to bolster their thesis. Finally, it explores how secular tolerance, while having a different intellectual genealogy than perennialism, has conscripted perennialist ideas for its own goal of undermining Truth. --- ## Defining perennialism, traditionalism, and universalism Published in 2001, a mere four years before his death, *Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions* likely represents Lings’ candid beliefs much more accurately than his prophetic biography, which was written decades earlier and constrained by the biographical genre from including much of Lings’ own thought. Nevertheless, the trained eye can detect perennialist doctrines and interpretations even in Lings’ prophetic biography, as others have noted.[^15] Lings himself, despite formally denying the charge of perennialism, is no less than the editor of a volume titled *The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy*![^16] Lings’ understanding of Islam’s place among contemporary religions is not, therefore, indigenous to an Islamic worldview. Rather, it belongs to the philosophy of perennialism that Lings shared with his primary influences, René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon. Technically, Guénon, Schuon, and Lings were Traditionalists, a philosophical movement for which perennialism is the main pillar. As historian Mark Sedgwick explains, “all Traditionalists are perennialists, but not all perennialists are Traditionalists.”[^17] Traditionalism combines perennialism with a critique of modernity and a historical narrative of decline that privileges the past as the location of truth and wisdom. Traditionalists would therefore reject New Age spirituality and syncretism, whereas non-Traditionalist perennialists would accept those movements as valid. Perennialism must also not be confused with universalism, which has a more subjective understanding of truth.[^18][^19] In summary, universalism holds that there are multiple truths, perennialism holds that there is one truth found in multiple places, and traditionalism holds that there is one truth found in multiple places, but more easily and clearly found in the past. This essay will treat perennialism as a whole, in both its traditionalist and non-traditionalist forms. --- ## The problem of religious diversity Perennialism first arose during the Italian Renaissance as a response to the problems of religious diversity and alternative truth claims advanced by  non-Christian peoples, particularly the ancient Greeks. To reformulate these theological problems as questions: how do we account for the existence of other religious groups if we believe ours alone holds the truth? And, how do we account for the fact that other religious groups have some teachings similar to our own? Rather than dismiss pre-Christian philosophers as pagans, Renaissance scholars including Marsilio Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and Agostino Steuco attempted to rehabilitate them as ancient theologians that taught and passed down “perennial wisdom” from the same divine source as Christian teachings.[^20] The claim was not that pre-Christian philosophers were actually prophets that received the same revelation as Biblical prophets, but rather that they merely transmitted the same sacred knowledge. These early perennialists invented now discredited chains of transmission to explain how specific teachings made their way from the ancient world to their own time.[^21] If there were points of overlap between the teachings of Ancient Greece and Christianity, there were certainly points of departure, even contradiction. How to account for those? After all, the Ancient Greeks worshiped a multitude of deities, and Christian theologians at least understood themselves as monotheists. The next wave of perennialists writing in the early modern period, including Ralph Cudworth, William Warburton, and John Toland, proposed that such ancient peoples weren’t *really* polytheistic, but that they merely encased their true, secret monotheistic teachings in a polytheistic shell for the sake of the ignorant masses and public order.[^22] This repurposing of an earlier distinction made in Greek philosophy between esoteric and exoteric teachings proved immensely significant for the viability of Perennialism. The exterior practice, the exoteric aspect of religion, was an incidental feature and could vary widely and even contradict other religions. The perennial truth, however, was not exoteric but esoteric, secretly and orally passed down to our present day. The distinction between the exoteric and the esoteric gave perennialist scholars the necessary room to dismiss teachings that contradicted their thesis and affirm others that coincided with it. Perennialism thus began as a response to a specific theological problem. That response, however, is not credible. First, the chains of transmission offered by the earlier perennialists are now the object of scholarly ridicule. In order to save the thesis, perennialists deemphasized *how* the perennial philosophy was transmitted and instead emphasized *what* the perennial philosophy was. But this response is also unsatisfactory. For starters, the content of perennial philosophy differs little from Neoplatonic philosophy.[^23] Additionally, the deployment of the esoteric/exoteric binary to account for religious variety is riddled with problems: it assumes a remote, indifferent conception of God, underestimates the danger heresy poses to human salvation, downplays the importance of revelation, places too much burden on people to verify the truth of foreign religious traditions, underestimates how flawed transmission or well-meaning noble lies can alter or obscure the essential truth, and is generally too subjective in its content. These problems become glaringly apparent after reflecting upon how Islam accounts for religious variety. --- ## Islam and religious diversity Islam offers a far more credible solution to the problem of religious diversity, a solution that stresses the importance, nature, and history of revelation. Islam teaches that Allah has goodwill, compassion, and mercy toward us and therefore wants salvation for us.[^24] To this end, Allah expresses His care and goodwill through His guidance. The most important means by which He guides humankind is His speech communicated by prophets. Allah’s uncreated speech is His direct instruction whereas His prophets deliver His speech to humankind and demonstrate its proper embodiment and application. These do not exhaust all the types of Allah’s guidance—there are dreams and the felicity one attempts to observe after praying *istikhāra*—however Allah’s speech and His prophets are supreme and primary. The ontological necessity and primacy of revelation leads to two consequences. One is that it creates an urgent imperative to distinguish between genuine and fabricated revelation. If revelation is our primary conduit of guidance, sorting the true from the false becomes an urgent epistemological question. If you can confirm  the revelation as genuine, you can confidently accept its teachings and apply them, even if they are counterintuitive or not to your liking. Within this configuration, false revelation is one of the greatest threats to our salvation because it stands to reroute our otherwise good intentions to follow the truth into a dead end of unwarranted worship and fruitless devotion. The perennialist thesis begins with a poor opinion of God. It supposes that Divine guidance is not revealed to us directly and intermittently but has been transmitted secretly through a select few gurus from the distant past. Rather than creating an epistemological imperative to sort true from false revelation, the remote God of perennialism sends us out on a salvific scavenger hunt, leaving us to first guess what the perennial teachings are (or take the perennialists’ word for it) and then search various traditions to discover them there. It is an implicit command to perform *istiqrāʾ* (exhaustive reading), but without the necessary tools or training to do so and therefore overburdens the truth-seeker while committing to an unreasonable optimism about the accurate transmission of ancient wisdom. Setting aside the difficulties of searching for perennial truth outside one’s native language, there is no mechanism within the perennialist configuration to verify or falsify one’s assertion of the content of the perennial philosophy itself. There are only claims and evidence marshaled to prove them without a final arbiter or criterion to settle the matter. Accordingly, I could simply create a counter-perennial philosophy claiming that an anthropomorphic God (instead of Neoplatonism’s ineffable One) was the perennial truth, or even the belief in no God at all. If one were to challenge my version of the perennial philosophy, I could resort to the same tactic as the perennialists and say that belief in God was just an exoteric feature of religions created for public order, whereas the esoteric truth was actually atheism. Indeed, this itself is not far from the materialist critique of religion. The second consequence of the primacy of revelation in Islam is the recognition given to the danger of idolatry and other heresies. Perennialism downplays idolatry as a mere exoteric feature devised for the public order, thus rendering the most hateful abomination in the sight of God and the most serious threat to human salvation as a mere inconvenience that nonetheless serves functional purposes. This treatment, in addition to neglecting the existential threats of idolatry and heresy, fails to sufficiently account for the ways in which exterior practices are essential to facilitating internal states.[^25] In other words, idolatrous practices and heretical beliefs cannot be limited to external or exoteric impact; they will necessarily damage one’s internal state as well. There is no plausible scenario in which a person adheres to esoteric (presumably monotheistic) truth while embodying exoteric polytheism. --- ## The anatomy of Revelation: Belief and practice Islam resolves the problem of religious difference by first addressing the scope of the problem. Classical Islamic scholarship categorizes the linguistic content of revelation as either *khabr* or *inshāʾ*. *Khabr* signifies information about reality whereas *inshāʾ* represents instructions for what to do (or not to do) given the facts of that reality. This twofold distinction roughly corresponds to the fields of theology (*ʿaqīda*) and law (*sharīʿa*). Significant religious diversity in the realm of *khabr/ʿaqīda* is inherently problematic since two contradictory things cannot simultaneously be true. Hell cannot both exist and not exist. Reincarnation and the *barzakh*, the actual vs. merely apparent crucifixion of Jesus cannot simultaneously be true. Therefore, significant religious diversity of this type always indicates that at least one party is in error and misguidance (or both are), and significant differences here are not legitimate.[^26] What standard, then, do we use to evaluate the truthfulness of a claimant to revelation? Allah says that the ultimate mark of genuine revelation is that it calls to the same theology: *tawḥīd*. > And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, “There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.”[^27] Any purported revelation in which a prophet claims or is said to claim other than *tawḥīd* is categorically rejected as false, either because the claim was made by a false prophet or because a true prophet’s revelation was lost or corrupted after his death or disappearance. And while it is true that significant diversity in this field indicates sure error, it is not conversely true that anything that agrees necessarily indicates timeless truth. This was a logical error into which the perennialists repeatedly fell. Lies can be held in common as much as truth can. Idolatry itself follows patterns and those patterns can be traced across eras and cultures.[^28] With respect to *inshāʾ*/*sharīʿa*, religious diversity is not necessarily problematic. Legitimate differences result from the fact that Allah has granted each prophetic community a distinct *sharīʿa*. Allah says: > To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation \[united in religion\], but \[He intended\] to test you in what He has given you…[^29] This is not a universalist claim; rather it merely recognizes that *sharīʿa*, which is ultimately about human benefit (*maṣlaḥa*), is subject to change in ways that *ʿaqīda* is not. Therefore, it need not be troubling or a sign of false revelation if different prophetic communities have different laws.[^30] However, to have different teachings about God, the soul, the afterlife, etc. indicate a situation in which at least one party must be wrong.[^31] If we take revelation seriously enough to care about distinguishing genuine revelation from fabrication, we need a history of revelation and prophethood that accounts for the real observable differences that exist between religious belief and practice. The fact that revelation is easily lost and corrupted necessitates the commission of more prophets bringing new revelations (same *ʿaqīda*, different laws). The advent of a new prophet wipes the slate clean, leaving contemporaries responsible for following the new prophet’s teachings rather than trying to reconstruct those that are lost to history. In this way there is a lot less guesswork in the Islamic account than in the perennialist one, since rather than optimistically relying on humans to pass things down across civilizations since time immemorial, Muslims rely on Allah to intervene in history with more revelation until that revelation is preserved, as is the case with the Qur’an. What does this mean for the major world religions beyond those traditionally recognized as ‘People of the Book’? Does this entail that the founders of these religious communities were false prophets because their scriptures are filled with teachings that directly contradict our own? Not necessarily. In the Islamic scheme there is an argument for the divine *origin* of the major world religions. We already know with certainty from the Qur’an that Judaism and Christianity began as valid religious communities established by Allah’s true messengers, but that later the teachings were contaminated through the forgery and manipulation of scripture. It is possible that Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and others also began with one of Allah’s messengers only to be later corrupted by human intervention. Consider the following verse of the Qur’an, > And \[We sent\] messengers about whom We have related \[their stories\] to you before and messengers about whom We have not related to you. And Allah spoke to Moses with \[direct\] speech. Commenting on this verse, Dr. Al-Muthannā ʿAbd Al-Fattāḥ[^32] said that we can’t rule out the possibility that today’s world religions originated in genuine divine guidance. It is plausible that if the Gospel of *ʿIsā* could be so quickly and dramatically corrupted to justify the worship of Jesus, a similar process could have happened to Allah’s messengers sent further East about whom we have little reliable information. This distant but possible common divine origin could explain the loose similarities of certain features across religions such as prayer, fasting, alms, and pilgrimage, without resorting to the perennialist thesis that these loose commonalities prove that each religion possesses the same esoteric core and is valid as currently construed. --- ## Perennialism as a European ideology Implicit in perennialism’s insistence on divorcing esoteric truth from exoteric formality is contempt for religious authorities, organized religion, and official religious teachings. Today these sensibilities are immensely popular, perhaps even the default in many places. But sensibilities, no matter how seemingly self-evident, must come from somewhere. If we mine and probe our sensibilities, we can trace their genealogy—sometimes to surprising origins. The modern distrust of organized religion, orthodoxy, and religious authorities is not simply the wise voice of experience, nor is it a universal truth uncovered by the progress of reason. Rather, it results from a particular set of metaphysical commitments rooted firmly in European history and ideology. Of course, a certain degree of epistemic humility is necessary and good. For example, in Islam we refrain from commenting on the final destiny of specific individuals unless we have a scriptural warrant to do so. When a fatwa is issued on a new issue, it is standard practice to end with “Allah knows best.” That is because Allah knows these things with certainty whereas we do not. Within European history, the Renaissance was also animated by a marked sensitivity to human limitations.[^33] Erasmus and Montaigne typified this attitude, the latter of which once famously remarked, “What do I know?” But the equivocations of the Renaissance would later give way to full-blown skepticism when the Enlightenment took hold.[^34] This shift can be attributed to the extremely consequential events that bridge the Renaissance and the Enlightenment: the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent European Wars of Religion. According to British philosopher Stephen Toulmin, who wrote about the shifts in attitude that took place over this period, > In the High Middle Ages, Christian Theology…was more relaxed and adventurous than it became after the late 16th century…In short, the Church operated with an academic freedom that ceased to exist, once the Protestant and Counter-Reformation theologians were joined in confrontation. After the Council of Trent, ecclesiastical censors in Rome started to monitor the work of theologians in the Provincial Churches in a new way; the Holy Office, rooting out “heretics” in ways that are all too familiar, became more widespread and vigorous; and for the first time Catholic teaching hardened into theses (or “dogmas”) that were no longer open to critical discussion, even by sympathetic believers, and whose immutable truth it was politically indispensable to assert, for fear of yielding to the heresies of the Protestants. Instead of free-wheeling *Summas*, the 17th century was fed a diet of centrally authorized *Manuals*; and the Roman authorities began to intervene formally in moral theology by laying down general rulings about moral issues, or *responsa*, with the full force of authority…With the transition from Summas to Manuals, from speculative and revisable doctrines to immutable and infallible “dogmas,” theology and rationalism entered into an ambiguous alliance.[^35] This period of theological and ideological polarization had political consequences. Toulmin elaborates, > Despite all its turmoil and religious divisions, the 16th century had been, by comparison, a time when the voice of sweet reasonableness made itself heard, and was widely valued. From 1610 on, and most of all after 1618, the argument became active, bloody, and strident. Everyone now talked at the top of his voice, and the humanists’ quiet discussions of finitude, and the need for toleration, no longer won a hearing.[^36] The rest is history. Peaking with the 30 Years’ War fought between 1618-1648, Europe would endure a deluge of religiously-motivated conflicts into the 1700s. The cost was astronomical; the 30 Years’ War alone depleted parts of Germany of half their population.[^37] It is difficult to overstate the impact of these religious wars on European attitudes toward organized religion, religious authorities, and official religious teachings. Whether the perpetrators of the violence were sincerely religious or merely using religion as an excuse is beside the point; the undeniable consequence was that people were sick of war and sick of absolutist religious claims used to justify war.[^38] Alexander Pope, who lived in the immediate wake of these conflicts, captured this sentiment well when he wrote, > For forms of government let fools contest; > > Whate’er is best administered is best; > > For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; > > His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right[^39] Indeed, the Enlightenment, which really got going in the immediate aftermath of the European Wars of Religion, is partly a story of how Europe responded to its own entrenched religious violence. Since theological certainty was now associated with political violence, the natural response was to ground certainty elsewhere, such as in human reason or empiricism. --- ## Universalizing the European Christian experience Christian institutions, authorities, and teachings became the prime target of the new skepticism. The door to this skepticism had already been cracked open by the Protestant Reformation, during which the theologian-led development of historical criticism, broke the Catholic Church’s monopoly on valid scriptural interpretation. By the end of the European Wars of Religion, the door to skepticism had been blown off its hinges. Philosophical naturalism waited on the other side, and together with the breakneck pace of scientific discoveries only accelerated Christianity’s decline. European Christianity was at a crossroads, and the question everyone had to answer was: how much of pre-Reformation Christianity could people trust? The various reconfigurations of beliefs and religious identities that emerged during and after this period fell on a spectrum according to how one answered this question. Maintaining faith in Roman Catholicism represented complete trust in Western Christianity as received, whereas full-blown atheism meant completely rejecting it. The Mainline Protestant confessions and Anabaptist movements that emerged from the Reformation certainly fell closer to Catholicism than atheism, since they maintained that Christian revelation was basically true but that the Catholics had hijacked its interpretation and application. Meanwhile, the newly-popularized doctrine of deism—maintaining belief in a Creator but rejecting revelation—fell closer to atheism than Catholicism on the spectrum. Perennialism provided another, ready-made alternative falling somewhere between deism and the Protestant confessions. Perennialism was closer to traditional Christianity than deism in that it affirmed the phenomenon of revelation. However, rather than merely criticize the Church’s interpretation of revelation, perennialists would claim that Christianity did not possess a monopoly on revelation, and that therefore Christianity, while valid and true, was not exclusively so. Perennialists were essentially willing to relinquish Christianity’s claim to exclusive truth in exchange for the general validity granted to religion as a whole. This was a shrewd trade, insofar as it deflected the corrosive skepticism visited upon Christianity away from the category of religion itself. That being said, perennialism enjoyed only limited appeal at first. Among the reasons for this was that perennialist arguments were not historically credible. Recall that perennialist thinkers emphasized the historical transmission of sacred knowledge at the expense of unique revelatory events, inventing imaginative paths of transmission between ancient civilizations. The same historical methods that allowed Protestant scholarship to attack the Catholic Church also discredited the transmission routes proposed by the Renaissance and early modern perennialists. Perennialism would have to wait for the Traditionalists of the 19th century to solve this issue by shifting the focus away from *how* perennial truth made its way from place to place and instead focusing on *what* the perennial truth actually was.[^40] Traditionalist perennialism also capitalized on growing disillusionment with Enlightenment rationalism, as its negative consequences—for example, environmental degradation—began to be felt at the same time that Eastern religious texts started to become more widely available in European languages. This puts Traditionalist perennialism in the same ranks as the other movements of what Isaiah Berlin calls the Counter Enlightenment. Among perennialism’s intellectual peers were transcendentalism as well as German and English romanticism.[^41] Even if perennialism’s roots stretch further back than early modern Europe, placing it on our spectrum of Christian disillusionment helps highlight its more relevant history as one of several European responses to the European Wars of Religion and the subsequent Enlightenment. Christianity was in retreat and every emerging movement was making decisions about where to lay the blame and what to salvage of Christianity. Whereas Protestants identified the Catholic Church as the problem, perennialists blamed Christianity’s absolute and exclusive truth claims, which they saw as a chauvinistic attachment to their own exoteric forms and a failure to see the essential truth running through all religion. Traditionalist perennialists, mostly writing on the other side of the Industrial Revolution, also accused the Modern era of having strayed from ancient wisdom. To them, this was a universal problem, not merely a Christian one, and so they called on all religions to return  to their roots and, presumably, what they had in common. The distinction between critiquing Christianity versus critiquing religion as a whole is a crucial one with enduring import. Perennialists would not identify themselves as Christian, yet there’s no denying that perennialism was historically tied to Christianity as one of several European responses “filling the gap after the collapse of Christian structures.”[^42] In an odd way, the perennialist critique actually takes the spotlight off Christianity itself, since addressing “religion” in general implies that all religions, or at least their exoteric forms, suffered from the same shortcomings that Christianity did. As Gil Anidjar has remarked, “Christianity made itself increasingly forgettable by foregrounding religion as a generic category and a target of criticism.”[^43] In this vein, some perennialists confessed a desire to save Europe and the West, providing a potential motive behind this overgeneralized critique. But for our purposes, the important takeaway was that disillusionment towards Christianity became experienced as disillusionment towards religion as a whole. French Orientalist and mystic De Pouvourville summed this notion up when he said, “love religion, and distrust religions.”[^44] De Pouvourville, a perennialist, was implying that religion signifies the esoteric Truth whereas religions are the exoteric, partial, and imperfect attempts by humans to interpret, live, and propagate that Truth. Martin Lings isn’t the only perennialist author whose claim to fame is a work not obviously identifiable with perennialism. Aldous Huxley, author of *A Brave New World*, was an ardent perennialist. He reproduces the typical perennialist criticisms of organized religion, religious authorities, and religious doctrine in his appropriately titled manifesto, *The Perennial Philosophy*. At one point, Huxley recounts ‘the allegory of ships,’ a Sufi tale in which Allah allegedly shows a mystic a vision in which there are ships sinking into the sea and mere planks floating on the water, which eventually sink as well. The mystic is told that those who attempt to ride the ships across the sea or cling to the planks will perish, but those who cast themselves overboard will be saved.[^45] Commenting on this allegory, Huxley writes, > The allegory is fairly clear. The ships that bear the individual voyagers across the sea of life are sects and churches, collections of dogmas and religious organizations. The planks which also sink at last are all good works falling short of total self-surrender and all faith less absolute than the unitive knowledge of God.[^46] The main takeaway here is that sects and churches, dogmas and religious organizations are to be treated with categorical suspicion. They obscure the Truth and obstruct the right path rather than elucidating it and facilitating the journey upon it. Note again how what began as a criticism of Christianity specifically has been scaled up to apply to religion as a whole. Perennialism did not necessarily cause the skepticism of organized religion, religious authorities, and official religious doctrine so rampant today. However, it represented a readily available framework to which more and more people resorted as Christianity declined and Enlightenment-style skepticism ascended. Perennialists of the Traditionalist and non-Traditionalist variety not only attracted people already disillusioned with traditional forms of religiosity, they actively facilitated and furthered suspicion of “organized religion.” --- ## Perennialism’s conscripts It is significant that Huxley resorted to Sufism to make his point. Huxley was following the perennialist playbook of mischaracterizing foreign religious traditions by cherry-picking statements and concepts that seemed to support perennialist positions, thus making those positions seem more universally held than they really were. In *Ancient Beliefs*, Lings manages—in the space of one short paragraph—to marshall the concept of reincarnation in Hinduism, Original Sin in Christianity, and  *fiṭra*, or innate disposition, in Islam as evidence that human beings come into this world with a responsibility that predates their birth.[^47] This misappropriation of the *fiṭra* clearly contradicts Islamic teachings on the fundamental innocence of children and the uninheritable nature of sin.[^48] Another example can be found in the work of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, a key early collaborator of René Guénon and fellow perennialist. Originally an art historian, Coomaraswamy wrote a book titled *Hinduism and Buddhism* which attempted to make the case that both religions were expressions of the original Perennial Philosophy.[^49] The book was pilloried in academic circles. One reviewer wrote in *The Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies*, “any interpretation motivated by such a fixed idea tends to force etymologies and meanings on words and passages in order to make them conform to a preconceived idea.”[^50] Lings and Coomaraswamy both follow Guénon in this respect, whose doctoral thesis, later published as *A General Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines*, was rejected for being similarly ahistorical and ideologically motivated.[^51] Consider the positivist nature of the academy at the time and you get a true sense of just how far off the mark they were to provoke this accurate, if ironic, critique.[^52] Perennialists not only mined religious traditions for evidence that justified their own philosophy, they adopted the incredibly arrogant posture that they understood these religious traditions better than the vast majority of practitioners of those traditions. Realizing that they had to account for the discrepancy between their own interpretations and those of the native masses, perennialist thinkers often leaned on their aforementioned inheritance of European anti-clericalism. Like Huxley with his allegory of the ships, the masses were getting it wrong, clinging to exclusionary creeds and institutions that were in fact the production of the clerical establishment, not the Religion itself. In other words, whenever a religion seemed to espouse teachings that claimed exclusive access to the Truth or to salvation, it could be blamed on either the folly or manipulation of rigid clerics. The perennialists, always, were in touch with the real Truth. As previously noted, perennialists also relied heavily on their distinction between the exoteric shell of religion whose purpose was public order and the esoteric or mystical forms of religion more amenable to the perennialist narrative. Perennialist authors regularly championed their preferred mystical strains and summarily dismissed the rest, propping them up as the true representatives of tradition and the only ones that should be trusted.[^53] As far as Islam is concerned, perennialists like Huxley eagerly seized upon Sufism  as their point of entry to mischaracterize Islam and to that end even attempted to paint Sufism as a separate religion distinct from Islam. Sufism and Islam have been treated as two empty signifiers, the former upon which Western minds could project their own religious ideals and the latter upon which they could project their religious fears, again largely informed by Europe’s traumatic experience with Christianity. One need look no further than the vast discrepancy between the Western imagination and actual reality of Sufi poets such as Rumi to appreciate this point.[^54] This is not to say that the actual Rumi can and must be upheld as the epitome of orthodox Islam. Rather, the point is simply to draw attention to the unfaithful and inaccurate ways in which perennialists and their contemporaries engaged, interpreted, and conscripted foreign religious texts and figures toward their own ends. Rumi’s words are instructive here: > A wretch steals the words Sufis spoke, > > and tells tall tales to simple folk. > > The work of real men will shine bright, > > the vile have shameless tricks—not light.[^55] --- ## Revisionist traditions The conscription of older traditions in novel ways continues today, albeit in subtler ways. One widely-conscripted tradition in modern times is the story of “The Blind Men Who Touch the Elephant.” Sarah Conover has collected and adapted dozens of ancient stories from different traditions and published them in a series of books, one of which—*Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs*—might be familiar to Muslim readers. Other titles in the series include *Kindness*, a collection of Buddhist stories, and *Harmony*, a collection of stories from China. Conover retells the story of “The Blind Men Who Touched the Elephant” in the latter book, *Harmony*. Like many ancient stories, it began with a troubled king: > This particular king was a follower of the Buddha, and he studied the sacred books and meditated every day. But in his kingdom at that time many other religions also drew followers. In the parks and markets, in the temples and schools, arguments erupted between defenders of different philosophies. Some people believed that they alone understood life’s deepest secrets, while others held opinions that were exactly the opposite. Consequently, the king’s subjects argued day and night.[^56] Leaving aside the conflation of religion and philosophy, Conover’s modern rendition lays blame on religious difference, and above all theological certainty, for conflict and discord. Believing that you are correct to the exclusion of others brings unnecessary division, we are being implicitly told. The king decided to teach his subjects a sagacious lesson. He summoned several men who had been blind since birth and had an elephant brought to them. Then he called all the subjects of his kingdom to the town square to watch the ensuing spectacle. The king asked the blind men, > “Do you want to know what an elephant looks like?” > > “Yes!” they replied in one voice. > > “But you cannot see it, so how will you learn what it is like?” asked the king. > > “We will feel it!” one man replied. > > “We will touch it,” said another. > > “We will hear it,” said a third. The men slowly approached the elephant and began touching it. Each of them grabbed on to a different part of the elephant, so the descriptions they reported back to the king were vastly different. If that weren’t enough, in Conover’s rendition the blind men mocked the other descriptions of the elephant, each insisting that he alone was right. The crowd looked on, amused and ready to receive the lesson from the king, who finally said, “Those of you who don’t follow the teachings of the Buddha also seem to be quite convinced that you alone grasp the nature of life… and you want to argue on and on about it… Do you now understand that you are just as confused as these quarreling blind men who know only a small part of the elephant yet are so certain of the whole?”[^57] Storytelling is powerful not because of what is stated, but because of what is implied. In Conover’s rendition, those who claimed certain metaphysical truths are likened to the blind. Here, claims of certain belief are blameworthy because they are a categorical impossibility, only creating division and strife. If the chief mouthpieces of metaphysical certainty are organized religion, religious authorities, and religious doctrine, then those mouthpieces are guilty of spreading division and conflict. Conover’s retelling of this story, the conflation of religion and philosophy, and indeed the concept of the book series as a whole, have distinctly perennialist undertones. In Lings’ language, the entire elephant would represent the towering, shadowy mountain chain of primordial truth whereas the observations of the blind men are today’s world religions, Islam included among them. But stories are open to interpretation, and upon further inspection this story might be an indictment of perennialism rather than an argument for it. Notice the means by which the blind men endeavor to know the elephant: their senses. The story demonstrates the limits of empirical knowledge, but it would be premature to assume that the same conclusion applies to knowledge of revelation. We assume we are the blind men of the story—but are those with genuine revelation from a prophet more like the blind men, or more like the king who can see the whole elephant and thus assess the descriptions of others? Perhaps, then, the story should be retold as demonstrating the need to submit to the guidance of a prophet who knows the unseen rather than those who, like perennialists, dubiously claim to speak for all religions. Perhaps the perennialists are, in fact, the blind men. A similar attitude toward religion is found in the popular children’s book, *Old Turtle*. Winner of the 1993 American Booksellers’ Children's Book of the Year, *Old Turtle*’s basic plotline is that all the creatures of the earth lived in harmony with one another until they started arguing about God. Each animal described God in a way that echoed their own particular experience, and their arguments are only ended when the sage-like Old Turtle authoritatively tells everyone that God is everything that they describe and more. The story goes on to foretell the coming of humans, the initial period of harmony they would enjoy, and then their own devolution into arguing about God, followed by subsequent war and ecological disaster. Harmony will be restored, Old Turtle tells us, when people stop arguing about God and learn to see God in each other.[^58] While not mentioning religion explicitly, it is clear that religion—as an enterprise that delimits what God is and is not, that makes truth-claims about the Divine—comes into Old Turtle’s crosshairs. We can’t really say anything definitive about God, Old Turtle tells us, and if we try, we must immediately realize that what we say isn’t more valid than what anyone else could say. As in Conover’s modern rendition of ancient tales, to think otherwise is to invite not only conflict, but disaster. The themes animating these stories are popular enough in contemporary society to be cliché. Organized religion, orthodoxy, and religious authorities are treated with profound suspicion, even ridicule. But is this really ancient wisdom, or simply a modern posture? --- ## Religious experience and the “playlist-ification” of faith From the very beginning, perennialism sidelined scripture by emphasizing the transmission of ancient wisdom at the expense of intermittent revelation and prophetic intervention. It further marginalized scripture by deploying the esoteric/exoteric dichotomy, by which perennialists could easily dismiss even scriptural content that violated the perennialist thesis. In its place perennialists emphasized the primacy of personal mystical experience for uncovering Truth. Showing how this feature goes back to Neoplatonism, Mark Sedgwick writes, > The result of this spiritual process was the mystical experience: homoiosis to theo for Plotinus, fana for the Sufis, “union” for other purposes. And one result of union, according to Plotinus’s later follower Iamblichus, was that one who had achieved homoiosis could access and communicate divine knowledge.[^59] The key point here is the idea that union grants the practitioner unique access to divine knowledge. Orientalists in general and perennialists specifically sought out even superficially similar concepts in other traditions as a convenient avenue to undermine more identifiable forms of adherence to organized religion, its authorities, and doctrines. In the contemporary Western context our concern is not so much that mystical experience has been overemphasized but rather the fact that one’s personal experience of religion has been so infused with a quasi-mystical authority that it is seen as being more authentic and true than Divine revelation itself. As one non-Muslim college student put it to me bluntly, “I don’t want an external religious authority to tell me that my spiritual experience isn’t ok.” This shift contributes to an emergent sentiment among Muslim youth that they benefit from other religious traditions and spiritual practices in ways that displace or marginalize Islamic ones. Some people claim to benefit more from yoga and meditation than from *ṣalāt*, despite the latter’s lofty and unambiguous status as the preeminent expression of gratitude in our sacred law. To privilege practices not directly communicated by our Creator nor by the best of creation belies a personal disposition that values personal experience over revelation. Scripture here receives the same dismissive wave of the hand as organized religion.[^60] As we have seen, however, it is not “organized religion” as a whole that is problematic but the specific way in which the Christian church was organized and wielded power. Realizing that European religious experience is particular rather than universal enables us to think about religion in a much more nuanced way than the crude binary of organized/not organized. Now we can ask: “Who is doing the organizing?” Or, “by what principles and methods is my religion being organized?” We do ourselves no favors by railing against “organized religion” as a whole when our problem is really something more specific, such as the ecclesiastical authoritarianism of European Christianity. In fact, we set ourselves up to overcorrect to the other extreme. Convictions and commitments have to be organized by someone and in some manner. No one’s convictions and commitments are random; even if people style themselves “spiritual but not religious,” there is still a structure beneath the surface that organizes those commitments. Being “spiritual,” then, does not describe a space that is outside of religious organization but rather a situation in which *the practitioners themselves* have assumed responsibility for organizing their own beliefs and practices. Put in these terms, the potential unforeseen problems in organizing your religious practice for yourself become clearer. One of the main issues is avoiding confirmation bias. A relative of mine once told me, “I don’t need to go to church to worship God.” That might be technically true, but if you don’t have the input of a third party, someone outside of yourself, how can you be sure that you’re not creating an echo-chamber of all the affirming messages you want to hear while avoiding the messages that challenge you to take accountability and grow? Or, if you skew more self-critical, what’s to say you’re not surrounding yourself with crippling messages confirming your own poor self-perception instead of messages that will build you up? In its suspicion of organized religion, perennialism has overestimated the ability of the individual to fairly and holistically organize their own spiritual practice. Social media algorithms provide a helpful illustration. Scrolling through our feeds, we might feel like we’re in control, even be impressed with the amount of material to which we have access. But we don’t see the way that the algorithm uses our own preferences to limit our exposure to things we’ll never know about. When we take responsibility for organizing our own religious and spiritual practices the result is a sort of ‘playlist-ification’ of faith where our own preferences and desire for affirmation (or self-critique) might preclude our exposure to what we really need spiritually. A trend toward rediscovering the importance of the body (after being marginalized by the hyper-rational Enlightenment) has further buttressed these sensibilities. Books like *The Body Keeps the Score* by Bessel van der Kolk are serial best-sellers, paying long overdue attention to the effects of trauma and taking the body seriously in an epistemic way.[^61] But, as with every swing of the historical pendulum, we need to make sure that we maintain balance instead of oscillating from one extreme to the other. The fact that there are limits to what the body can sense and experience should give us a healthy amount of uncertainty about the capacity of personal experience to reveal Divine truths. There is a Chinese saying that reflects this reality: “He mistakes the reflection of a bow in the cup for a worm.” It refers to an old story about a guest being served tea by his host. Looking down into his cup, the guest noticed what he thought was a worm in his cup, but not wanting to offend his host, he drank the contents of the cup anyway. The guest returned home but couldn’t stop worrying about having swallowed the worm. Sure enough, the next day he awoke and felt horrible nausea and fever. He lay in bed ill for days until the friend who had served him the tea came to pay him a visit. The ill man confessed that there had been a worm in his teacup that day and that he had swallowed it to avoid seeming like a bad guest. His friend was surprised and rushed home to see if there were really worms in his tea. Once he poured up a cup, however, he realized that there were no worms—  only his bow, hanging on the wall, being reflected in the contents of the teacup. He rushed back to his friend to tell him the good news, and upon learning the reality of what had transpired, his symptoms vanished instantly.[^62] This story is not a justification for gaslighting or denying the experiences of others, but it is a recognition that the body, and thus experience, has limits. Put another way, there is truth in the body, but the body does not hold a monopoly on the truth. If there were no truth outside the self, religion would in fact be useless. There is also an irony at play here: if we shun, as perennialism would have us do, organized religion and religious authorities because we are suspicious of others’ religious interpretations, what makes us so confident in our own? Such one-sided skepticism could only make sense if we assume that others misinterpret scripture solely because of their ill intent or the positions of power and privilege from which they speak. But there are other factors behind religious misinterpretation, such as delusion, conflicts of interest, and wishful thinking. More importantly, if religious authorities are not immune to these forces, what makes us think that we are? We have to face the sober fact that we are not immune, that the factors behind misinterpretation are not just political and historical, they are also moral and could happen to anyone. Perennialism does not meaningfully deal with this reality. Islam occupies the middle ground when it comes to the capacity of human experience to arrive at Divine Truth. On the one hand the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, when asked about the nature of sin, replied that one should ask their own heart.[^63] The Prophet ﷺ also referred to experiencing the “sweetness of faith,” a nonsensical notion if our personal experience counted for nothing.[^64] That being said, there are important warnings about the limits of human experience. Allah says, > But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.[^65] Allah also tells us that the Devil is so successful precisely because he makes the evil seem good. Allah says that Iblīs says, > “And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them \[sinful\] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah.” And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss. Satan promises them and arouses desire in them. But Satan does not promise them except delusion.[^66] These verses demonstrate the need for an authority outside ourselves to help regulate our experiences, organize our religious practice, and keep us in check. Without such checks, what we experience as spiritual development might be in reality self-destruction. Despite the claims of secular academics, religion is not primarily a human venture, but rather a divinely communicated regimen of internal states and external practices that are registered by the Creator as valid expressions of gratitude. The concept of love languages is instructive here; just as I can waste my time, money, and effort buying flowers for an allergic spouse, I can toil away at something I believe (or experience) is worshiping my Creator only for Allah to tell me in the afterlife that it in fact was not worship—not a valid expression of gratitude—at all. There is a role, certainly, for our subjective experience *within* worship, to taste the sweetness of faith, to stand in awe of the Creator, to worship as if we are witnessing Allah. But we must not mistake the sublime experience of worship as an end in itself. It is but a means to an end: paradise and Allah’s approval. When we prioritize the *experience* of worship over the *object* of worship, our own experience of worship becomes an end in itself, perhaps even to the point where we are willing to leave the firm footing of Islam to chase a sublime experience elsewhere, and thus actually center the ego and its experience rather than the Creator. Surely there are cautionary tales in self-styled gurus and false prophets throughout history. Consider Frithjof Schuon’s esoteric visions of the Virgin Mary. It’s worth quoting Sedgwick, who is drawing from Schuon’s own journals and correspondences to note Schuon’s internal justifications for his descent into misguidance. > Schuon was not sure at first how to interpret his experiences of 1965. The first question was whether they amounted to a true or a false vision. A true vision, Schuon decided, could be distinguished from a false one by the beneficial effect it had on its recipient, and this vision had the beneficial effect of freeing him from the love of books, newspapers, and the theater, in which he found he could no longer lose himself. Schuon did not consider, in this context, another effect of his vision: the “almost irresistible need to be naked like her \[the Virgin Mary’s\] baby.” For some time thereafter, Schuon took off his clothes whenever he was home alone. > > Once Schuon decided that his experiences were a true vision, the next question was how to interpret them. His final conclusion was that the vision marked the coming of  “a special relationship with Heaven.” “\[...\] It seems clear that Schuon took it as a change in his role from being shaykh of the Alawiyya (the position given him in his earlier vision of 1937) to a more universal role, above and beyond Islam. [^67] Schuon’s later abominations include painting the Virgin Mary naked, multiple sexual indecencies,[^68] and a slew of cult-like antics.[^69] His treatment of the Virgin Mary and subsequent philandering proved scandalous to even his fellow perennialists, exacerbating the earlier split between Schuon and René Guénon. If subjective experience is our main guide, the Devil is right next to us ready to delude us. In our Islamic tradition there is a famous story involving Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī in which he experiences what seems at first to be a mystical vision. Clouds gather and from the great beyond comes a booming voice declaring that it is none other than Allah Himself, and that Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī had reached such an advanced spiritual state that he was now permitted to do what was impermissible for everyone else. The Shaykh immediately spat in disgust and cursed the voice, which then revealed itself to actually be the Devil. In one version of the story, the Devil notes his surprise in being exposed, having fooled countless scholars and worshipers before al-Jilānī.[^70] Indeed, experience can only take us so far before it becomes prone to delusion. One of Allah’s names is *al-Ḥaqq* because He is the Ultimate Reality and the most reliable source of guidance for what is Real. With both our engagement with religious texts and our interpretation of our own experiences, we need an outside authority to keep us honest and prevent our own biases from leading us down the road of self-indulgent destruction. Indeed, the name of our religion—chosen by Allah, not us—is submission, Islam. --- ## Perennialism conscripted Although diverging in important ways, Perennialism has been both amplified and conscripted by another, more powerful and dominant ideology that also originated in Renaissance Europe: secularism. Initially a term to describe the transition from monastic life to the life of canons, and then the transfer of ecclesiastical property to lay persons, secularism eventually emerged as one of several hegemonic political projects of modernity that radically reconfigured the way much of humanity experiences life on earth.[^71] One such transformation was the displacement of previous religio-social identities with a transcendent political identity. This shift is why much of the world thinks and identifies primarily with the nation-state and its category of citizen and only secondarily with the *ummah*, Christendom, or some other community of souls. Perennialism makes a similar move, but rather than substituting a political category for a religious one, it substitutes one transcendent spiritual identity for another, supposedly *more* transcendent spiritual identity. French Occultist Gérard Encausse summed up this sentiment well when he said, > Truth is One, and no school, no religion can claim it for itself alone…In every religion can be found manifestations of the single truth.[^72] Perennialism thus styles itself as a meta-faith, a transcendent truth that trumps the supposedly transcendent (but in its own estimation parochial) truths of other religions. In claiming neutrality, secularism and perennialism mask both their historical embeddedness and particular regime of metaphysical commitments. Both are heavily indebted to the European Enlightenment, though secularism more so. Perennialism historically depends on Enlightenment-style skepticism to clear the field of other claimants to transcendent truth, but its actual content is Neoplatonist metaphysics repackaged. Secular power forces religions to change in the process of transcending them and rendering them governable. Perennialism, too, mutilates other faith traditions in its act of transcendence. In order to maintain the thesis that there actually is a common esoteric core running through all religions, perennialism must excise those inconvenient tenets and practices that contradict its thesis, usually deploying the charge of exotericism to dismiss them. This, in addition to perennialism’s marginalization of revelation and scripture at the expense of individual religious experience, also folds nicely into the secularist, materialist conception of the self, with beliefs conceptualized as non-essential, substitutable, and thus discardable. Similarly, the perennialist emphasis on the transmission of sacred knowledge rather than its revelation through Prophets resembles the secularist assumption that religion is a human venture rather than a divine one. In its depiction of exotericism as an incidental rather than essential feature of religion and salvation, perennialism taps into the skepticism and disdain for religious authority, organized religion, and orthodox teachings that it shares with secularism. Secularism’s will to transcendence was supposedly meant to facilitate political stability and governability by discovering an agreeable lowest common denominator. Perennialism makes a parallel move, searching out the lowest common denominator of religious belief and practice, and in the process watering down and depoliticizing its notion of truth. This neutered vision, in turn, provides secularism with an important tool for neutralizing rival claimants to transcendent truth and alternative transcendent political imaginations. The perennialist project of lending theological legitimacy to other religions sits  comfortably adjacent to liberal political values of tolerance, inclusion, and multiculturalism. Indeed, perennialism, in addition to universalism, postmodernism, and other ideologies that undermine alternate claims to ultimate truth, are actually key conscripts of secularism allowed to flourish in order to undermine its Others. Accordingly, perennialists are more common than you think, especially in academia. Mircea Eliade, Huston Smith, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr are perennialists. Julius Evola, Aleksandr Dugin, and King Charles III are perennialists. Even Jordan Peterson is a perennialist.[^73] Perennialist ideas and sensibilities are even more nearly ubiquitous in North American religious culture. Remember that from the European experience, theological certainty and exclusivity is a powerful trigger, one that is assumed to result in political violence and oppression.[^74] There is a real concern shared by many that in order to successfully tolerate others, we must accept as valid their theology too. Thankfully, Islam can disentangle these concerns. --- ## Will the real perennial truth please stand up? For all their shortcomings, the perennialists sensed something important, that there is a degree of commonality between the major religions of the world and that such commonality plausibly indicated a common Divine rather than human source. However, they sorely missed the mark in identifying what that common thread was and interpreting what it meant. The perennialists latched onto the thread of mysticism as the common essence of all religions. To make this tenable, however, they had to actively downplay the fundamental and unresolvable differences between religions, emphasizing instead the divide between exoteric and esoteric religion. In latching onto the latter, the perennialists were victims of their own inherited sensibilities, distinctly European, that cast a skeptical eye on organized religion, religious authorities, and religious doctrine. Even more problematic was the Traditionalist interpretation that all contemporary religions were imperfect but valid manifestations of the lost primordial religion. This interpretation suffered from a major oversight: the assumption that all current religions only possessed mere remnants of the truth. This was true of Christianity, but Traditionalists assumed that what was true of Christianity was true of all religions. Rather than do their due diligence to determine if there was in fact a religion that properly preserved the Original Teachings, they painted all traditions with the same brush and pivoted to the idea of a lost primordial one. The real primordial religion is, and always was, Islam. The common thread that the perennialists were searching for but failed to find is in fact *tawḥīd*. Allah says, > And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, “There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.”[^75] Rather than downplay the often fundamental and mutually exclusive differences between the religions we see practiced today, Islam acknowledges and accounts for them, > And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them—out of jealous animosity between themselves.[^76] These man-made differences, joined with the regional character of earlier  prophetic missions, necessitated the commission of subsequent prophets to bring the people back to the primordial teaching of *tawḥīd*. If at any point in time human communication became global *and* the Divine communication was preserved, there would be no justification for any more Divine revelation or prophets. Christianity is the first world religion in the true sense, spread (often violently) in a significant way to every continent. However, the message given to Prophet Jesus (as) was lost, necessitating the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ. Allah preserved the Qur’an in a way no other Divine revelation was preserved, making it the standard for understanding the Creator’s wishes, replacing the remnants of what came before it, and slamming the door shut on future prophets or Divinely revealed scriptures. Allah said, > And We have revealed to you, \[O Muhammad\], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth.[^77] Hence, Islam is the only acceptable religion to Allah, as He says explicitly, > And whoever desires other than Islam as religion—never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.[^78] This is precisely why the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ criticized the Companion and second Rightly Guided Caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb for reading the Torah, declaring that if Moses had been alive at that moment he would have had no choice but to follow Muhammad.[^79] This is also why Allah stressed that the Christians and the Jews living at the time of the Prophet ﷺ would have to follow him in order to be guided, saying, > So if they believe in the same as you believe in, then they have been \[rightly\] guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension, and Allah will be sufficient for you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.[^80] Recall that perennialism emerged from the ruins of a collapsing Christianity and thus was indelibly marked by the problems of an increasingly post-Christian Europe. As Muslims, post-Christian problems do not have to be our problems. We do not need to accept the coupling of theological certainty with political violence. In fact, we can draw on our own tradition to teach others that it is possible to be certain of one’s religious beliefs and categorically reject the beliefs of others, yet still live side by side in relative peace and harmony. A large segment of the North American Muslim population migrated from non-European lands within living memory. We can’t lose sight of the fact that settling in any new place also entails stepping into a conversation of ideas, often contentious, that predates our presence. We have to pay careful attention to infer what was said in the conversation before we arrived, to understand the things that brought the conversation to its current point. If you walked in on two people engaged in heated debate, it wouldn’t make much sense to hastily enter the fray and support one side over the other. Doing so would preclude the possibility of ending the debate in a more amicable way, especially if you as an outside observer were in possession of some insight that could help both parties. As Muslims, joining the chorus against organized religion, religious authorities, and religious doctrines would be premature and a missed opportunity to redeem and heal the space we live in from the trauma of its particular religious history. We as Muslims have a different story; our scripture was preserved as revealed, our scholars were decentralized and independent, and our tradition is defined by a balance between respecting the authority of expertise and thinking critically. Our legacy involves combining certain faith with fairness and respect for life. Islam is the last hope for the world to learn this lesson. To refer back to the imagery of Lings, it is not merely the mysterious lost primordial religion that sits in the background as a shadowy mountain range. Every other religion, changed irrevocably from its original divine communication, also sits in the background, covered in shadow and fog. It is only the mountain of Islam that stands in the foreground, crystal clear, as the final and preserved expression of Divine guidance for all mankind. --- ## Notes [^1]: “Scrupulous and exhaustive in its fidelity to its sources, *Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources* is presented in a narrative style that is easily comprehensible, yet authentic and inspiring in its use of language, reflecting both the simplicity and grandeur of the story it tells.” Martin Lings, *Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources* (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2007), back cover. [^2]: For example, Lings observes that the human search for spiritual transcendence has been symbolically replaced by space exploration as a materialist equivalent of going “up and beyond” (24), that humanism, by neglecting our spiritual potential, in fact entails the abolition of humanity (30), and that modern medicine, by neglecting the maladies of the soul, entails the abolition of health. Martin Lings, *Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions* (Cambridge: Arche Type, 2019), 31. [^3]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,* 8, 15, 18–23, 32–33, 43, 47–48, 53, 56, 58–59. [^4]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,*15. [^5]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,*19. [^6]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,* 19. [^7]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,* 53. [^8]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,* 63. [^9]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs,* 62. [^10]: Qur’an 3:85. [^11]: Qur’an 4:115; see also 48:13. These passages are more explicit since they undermine the claim that “Islam” in 3:85 is actually “lower-case islam,” i.e., surrender to God in any form, not necessarily through the teachings of the last Prophet ﷺ. [^12]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs*, 56. [^13]: For refutations of original sin, see Qur’an 6:164, 17:15, 35:18, 39:7, and 53:38. For refutations of trinitarianism, see Qur’an 3:59, 4:171, 5:73, and 5:116. [^14]: Qur’an 6:21. [^15]: Aboo Bilaal Mustafaa al-Kanadee, “Perennialist Poison in Martin Lings’ Biography of the Prophet,” [https://muslimanswersfiles.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/perennialist-poison-in-martin-lings-biography-of-the-prophet/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimanswersfiles.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/perennialist-poison-in-martin-lings-biography-of-the-prophet/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636717527&usg=AOvVaw2XDOSi5OisEsr3V222VaP8). See also G. F. Haddad, “A Critical Reading of Martin Lings’ *Muhammad: His Life Based On The Earliest Sources*,” [https://britishmisk.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/52879411-critical-reading-of-martin-lings-gf-haddad.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://britishmisk.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/52879411-critical-reading-of-martin-lings-gf-haddad.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636718526&usg=AOvVaw0biLhb-RcyR6Fr6n_AksE5). [^16]: Martin Lings and Clinton Minnaar, *The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy* (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2007)*.* [^17]: Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 359. [^18]: “Universalism remains widely popular, though the term is not now widely used. People who read poems by Rumi or Kahlil Gibran at Christian funerals are universalists, whether or not they realize it. Universalism is the default position of many contemporary Westerners, even if that position is not often named.” Sedgwick, *Traditionalism, 33.* [^19]: In presenting a draft of this paper, I likened perennialism to an interlocutor who annoyingly insists that they are really saying the same thing you are, or that the differences between you are semantic, when in reality they are not actually agreeing with you and the differences between you are quite substantial. [^20]: Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 27–29. [^21]: “Ficino thus proposed a transmission of ancient theology from Moses and Zoroaster, to Hermes Trismegistus, Orpheus, Iambliches (a follower of Plotinus), Pythagoras, and finally Plato. This chain of transmission makes no historical sense in terms of current knowledge, but seemed plausible in the fifteenth century.” Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 28. [^22]: Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 30–31. [^23]: Specifically in that the universe emanated from a universal soul which emanated from an indescribable singular Divine being, with the purpose of life being to transcend and return towards the One through the practice of mysticism. See Sedgwick, *Western Sufism*, 18–23. [^24]: These qualities are both the definition of Allah and consequences of who He is derived from His names, such as *al-Barr*, *al-Raḥmān*, *al-Rahīm*, and *al-Hādī*. [^25]: For more on the relationship between interiority and exteriority, see Saba Mahmood, *Politics of Piety* (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005). [^26]: Minor differences can occur within certain limits, but this is outside the scope of this essay. [^27]: Qur’an 21:25. [^28]: For example, the ubiquity of a rain god or that divine beings can have offspring. [^29]: Qur’an 5:48. [^30]: Examples in the Quran include the Sabbath, which was legislated for the Jews but abrogated for Muslims. See Qur’an 4:47, 7:163, 16:124; 6:146; 3:49. [^31]: This is one of the most glaring flaws in Christian theology, namely that the idea of God supposedly preached by Jesus in the New Testament and canonized by Church authorities so starkly differs from the idea of God preached by Abraham and Moses in the Old Testament. The doctrines of dispensationalism and progressive revelation implicitly recognize this problem. [^32]: Dr. Al-Muthannā ʿAbd Al-Fattāḥ is a Professor of Qur'anic Exegesis  (*tafsīr*) at the Islamic University of Madinah. [^33]: Stephen Toulmin, *Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 25. [^34]: Wael Hallaq writes in *Restating Orientalism*: “Under the command of human reason finally divorced of traditional principles of morality, the project \[of Enlightenment\] would aim to create a universal civilization, one premised upon a particular notion of rationality, materiality, individualism, autonomy, and, crucial for us, domination of nature.” Wael Hallaq, *Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge* (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018), 36–37. [^35]: Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 78. [^36]: Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 79. [^37]: Geoffrey Parker, *The Thirty Years’ War* (New York: Routledge, 1987), 210–11. [^38]: While this history is important, it is also true that secular modernity exaggerates and exploits this historical memory to mythologize its own salvific role in European history. See William T. Cavanaugh’s *The Myth of Religious Violence* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). [^39]: Alexander Pope, “Essay on Man,” Epistle III, quoted in Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 131. [^40]: Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 45. [^41]: Isaiah Berlin, “The Counter-Enlightenment,” in *Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas* (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 1–32. [^42]: Mark J. Sedgwick, *Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 261. [^43]: Gil Anidjar, “Secularism,” 69, quoted in Hallaq, *Restating Orientalism*, 55. [^44]: Jean-Pierre Laurant, *Le sens caché selon René Guénon* (Lausanne: L’Age d’homme, 1975), 53. [^45]: Aldous Huxley, *The Perennial Philosophy* (New York: Harper Perennial, 2005), 210. [^46]: Huxley, *Perennial Philosophy,* 210. [^47]: Lings, *Ancient Beliefs*, 56. [^48]: Importantly, Allah accepts Adam’s repentance. Qur’an 2:37. [^49]: In yet another example, Guénon’s collaborator Ivan Gustaf Aguéli wrote an article “on the doctrinal identity of Taoism and Islam” for *La Gnose*, a journal they worked on together. See Robin Waterfield, *René Guénon and the Future of the West: The Life and Writings of a 20th-Century Metaphysician* (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2002), 30. [^50]: Walter E. Clark, “Review of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Hinduism and Buddhism,” *Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies* 8, no. I (March 1944), 63–70. Quoted in Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 35. [^51]: Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 22. [^52]: Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 22. [^53]: This is a nearly ubiquitous feature of Perennialist writers, including Guénon, his biographer Waterfield, Lings, Schuon, Huxley, and beyond. The same figures and movements are repeatedly marshaled: Vedanta from Hinduism, Eckhart and Merton from Christianity, Ibn ʿArabī and Rumi from Islam, etc. There is rarely a serious treatment of the traditions within Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity that contradict the perennialist narrative constructed from these sources. [^54]: See, for example, [https://www.rumiwasmuslim.com/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rumiwasmuslim.com/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636736411&usg=AOvVaw2NtPzok91hsO02zxVCDBEC). [^55]: Rumi, *Masnawi*, bk. 1, pt. 11, trans. @sharghzadeh, [https://www.rumiwasmuslim.com/translations](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rumiwasmuslim.com/translations&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636729072&usg=AOvVaw1WtcKl-vrdHgFxbu6hvrhf). [^56]: Sarah Conover and Chen Hui, *Harmony: A Treasury of Chinese Wisdom for Children and Parents* (Spokane: Eastern Washington University Press, 2008), 16. [^57]: Conover and Hui, *Harmony*, 19. [^58]: Douglas Wood and Cheng-Khee Chee, *Old Turtle* (New York: Scholastic Press, 2001). [^59]: Sedgwick, *Western Sufism*, 252. [^60]: For data on the rising phenomena of “the nones” and “SBNRs,” see [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636719795&usg=AOvVaw2be3ETA--ag4CwlKLhjW5r) and [https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/10/513](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636720422&usg=AOvVaw0LgbD5s6xpBEZ4NyfpidZ1). [^61]: For an important critique of *The Body Keeps the Score*, see Kristen Martin, “‘The Body Keeps the Score’ Offers Uncertain Science in the Name of Self-Help. It’s Not Alone,” *Washington Post*, August 2, 2023, [www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/08/02/body-keeps-score-grieving-brain-bessel-van-der-kolk-neuroscience-self-help/](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/08/02/body-keeps-score-grieving-brain-bessel-van-der-kolk-neuroscience-self-help/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636737540&usg=AOvVaw3H79jGGSCmFlW9ZTh_8JUp). [^62]: [http://www.admissions.cn/culture/349792.shtml](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.admissions.cn/culture/349792.shtml&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636725135&usg=AOvVaw0qGafRUqKR_Oj-kWbJ0mue). This is known as the “nocebo” effect, the opposite of the better-known placebo effect. For more information, see [https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/is-the-nocebo-effect-hurting-your-health](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/is-the-nocebo-effect-hurting-your-health&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636725677&usg=AOvVaw1Vh9B1PD9G5T27WUdXZou_). [^63]: *Musnad al-Imām* *Aḥmad*, no. 18028. [^64]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 6941. [^65]: Qur’an 2:216. [^66]: Qur’an 4:119–20. [^67]: Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 150–51. [^68]: Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 153. [^69]: Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World*, 173–74. [^70]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK75qZ6qGZk](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DJK75qZ6qGZk&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1694628636727265&usg=AOvVaw2aM4hb4iYjVOJdB7MxF2mN). [^71]: See Talal Asad, *Formations of the Secular* (Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003). [^72]: Gérard Encausse founded the Martinist Order, in which Guénon was initiated. Quoted in Mark Sedgwick, *Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 47. [^73]: “He has described himself as a Traditionalist, however, and the conclusions that he drew from Eliade’s understanding of myth are comparable to those drawn by Traditionalists who did draw explicitly on Guenon, Evola, and Schuon . . . Peterson’s perennialism is as agnostic as Eliade’s. He sees myth as a repository of human wisdom rather than as the product of any sort of revelation. Rather than investigating myth himself, he relies largely on Eliade’s account.” Sedgwick, *Traditionalism*, 59. [^74]: For an excellent treatment of this subject, see William T. Cavanaugh, *The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). [^75]: Qur’an 21:25. [^76]: Qur’an 3:19. [^77]: Qur’an 5:48. [^78]: Qur’an 3:85. [^79]: *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad*, no. 14736; graded fair (*ḥasan*) by al-Albānī. [^80]: Qur’an 2:137. [^81]: Stephen Toulmin, *Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 25. [^82]: Wael Hallaq writes in *Restating Orientalism*: “Under the command of human reason finally divorced of traditional principles of morality, the project \[of Enlightenment\] would aim to create a universal civilization, one premised upon a particular notion of rationality, materiality, individualism, autonomy, and, crucial for us, domination of nature.” Wael Hallaq, *Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge* (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018), 36–37. [^83]: Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 78. [^84]: Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 79. [^85]: Geoffrey Parker, *The Thirty Years’ War* (New York: Routledge, 1987), 210–211. [^86]: Alexander Pope, “Essay on Man,” Epistle III, quoted in Toulmin, *Cosmopolis*, 131. [^87]: Sedgwick, Traditionalism, 45. [^88]: Isaiah Berlin, “The Counter-Enlightenment”, in Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas (1979; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 1-32. [^89]: This is not to say that Perennialism began in the nineteenth century. Founding Perennialists include Marsilio Ficino (d. 1499).,  Tellingly, for reasons which will become clear later in this article, Ficino who, tellingly, was a major reviver of Neoplatonism. But Perennialism did not become influential until the nineteenth century. [^90]: Mark J. Sedgwick, *Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 261. [^91]: Gil Anidjar, “Secularism,” 69, quoted in Hallaq, *Restating Orientalism*, 55. [^92]: Jean-Pierre Laurant, *Le sens caché selon René Guénon* (Lausanne: L’Age d’homme, 1975), 53. [^93]: Aldous Huxley, *The Perennial Philosophy* (New York: Harper Perennial, 2005), 210. [^94]: Huxley, *Perennial Philosophy,* 210. ## Summary ## Martin Lings and the Perennialist Problem: An Islamic Assessment Many English-speaking Muslims have come to know Martin Lings through his celebrated biography, *Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources*, a work justly praised for its beauty and readability. Yet fewer are acquainted with his other writings, such as *Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions*, in which Lings offers penetrating critiques of evolution, the modern notion of "freedom," and the idea of "progress." What a discerning Muslim reader soon notices, however, is that Islam is largely absent from that work. Lings instead grounds his arguments in Hindu and Christian theology, and rather than treating these traditions as contradicting Islam, he consistently minimizes their differences, calling them a mere matter of "perspective" or "manner of expression." This is no marginal feature of his thought. He writes that "the truth that is expressed remains the same" and that "all religions are in agreement about what is really fundamental." His striking image of the great religions as "mountain ranges" that came to replace a lost "primordial religion" pushes the reader toward a troubling conclusion: that Islam did not come to replace other religions but stands merely as one valid path among many. This is the doctrine of perennialism, which Lings shared with his chief influences, René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon—despite his formal denial, he even edited a volume titled *The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy*. Perennialism holds that there is one Truth found in multiple places, distinguishing it from universalism, which posits multiple truths. Yet perennialists could only sustain this thesis by omitting, ignoring, or reinterpreting each tradition's claim to exclusive truth, and by exalting personal mystical experience above revelation and scripture. Herein lies its gravest error: an indifference to revelation bordering on antipathy. By marginalizing scripture, perennialism claims to validate Islam while rejecting everything that makes Islam distinct—above all its claim to represent Allah's command exclusively and accurately. This directly contradicts the Qur'an, for Allah says, *"Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and he shall be in the Hereafter among the lost"* (Āl ʿImrān 3:85), and, *"Whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on the path he has taken and cause him to burn in Hell"* (al-Nisāʾ 4:115). Were all religions equal in truth, why did the Final Prophet ﷺ call specifically to Islam rather than seeking the "kernel of truth" in the idolatry of Quraysh? Why does the Qur'an emphatically refute the doctrines of Trinity and Original Sin that perennialists like Lings celebrate? Indeed, fabricating revelation is among the most abominable sins, for Allah asks, *"And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie or denies His verses?"* (al-ʿAnkabūt 29:68). The true perennial truth is *tawḥīd*, not the creative reconstructions of the perennialists. Historically, perennialism arose in the Italian Renaissance as a response to religious diversity, when scholars such as Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and Steuco sought to rehabilitate pre-Christian philosophers as transmitters of a "perennial wisdom" from the same divine source. To explain contradictions—such as Greek polytheism—later thinkers like Cudworth, Warburton, and Toland argued that ancient peoples concealed a secret monotheism within a polytheistic shell for the masses. This revived the Greek distinction between exoteric (outer) and esoteric (inner) religion, granting perennialists the room to dismiss whatever contradicted their thesis and affirm whatever agreed with it. Yet their invented chains of transmission are now objects of scholarly ridicule, and the esoteric/exoteric binary assumes a remote, indifferent God, underestimates the danger of heresy, and overburdens the seeker with an impossible task of verification. Islam offers a far more credible solution. Allah, out of His mercy, wills our salvation and guides us chiefly through His uncreated speech delivered by His prophets. This primacy of revelation yields two consequences: an urgent imperative to distinguish genuine revelation from fabrication, and a serious recognition of the danger of idolatry and heresy—which perennialism reduces to a mere matter of public order. Classical scholarship divides revelation's content into *khabr* (information about reality, corresponding to *ʿaqīda*) and *inshāʾ* (instruction, corresponding to *sharīʿa*). In matters of *ʿaqīda*, diversity signals error, for two contradictory claims cannot both be true; the reality of Hell, the *barzakh*, and the crucifixion of Jesus cannot be simultaneously affirmed and denied. The mark of genuine revelation is that it calls to *tawḥīd*, for Allah says, *"And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, 'There is no deity except Me, so worship Me'"* (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:25). Yet mere agreement does not prove truth, for lies too can be held in common. In matters of *sharīʿa*, however, diversity is legitimate, since Allah granted each community its own law: *"To each of you We prescribed a law and a method"* (al-Māʾidah 5:48). This framework allows for an argument regarding the divine *origin* of the world's religions. We know with certainty that Judaism and Christianity began as valid communities established by Allah's messengers before their scriptures were corrupted. It is possible that Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism likewise began with a messenger, since Allah says, *"And messengers about whom We have not related to you"* (al-Nisāʾ 4:164). Commenting on this, Dr. Al-Muthannā ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ noted we cannot rule out that today's world religions originated in genuine guidance later corrupted—explaining loose similarities like prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage without conceding the perennialist thesis. Perennialism must further be understood as a European ideology. Its distrust of organized religion is not universal wisdom but the fruit of particular history. Following the philosopher Stephen Toulmin, medieval Christian theology was relatively "relaxed and adventurous" before hardening into rigid dogma after the Reformation and the Council of Trent. The subsequent Wars of Religion—the Thirty Years' War alone depleting parts of Germany of half their population—left Europeans "sick of absolutist religious claims used to justify war." As Alexander Pope wrote, "For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight." The Enlightenment thus grounded certainty in reason rather than theology. Perennialism offered an alternative on this spectrum of Christian disillusionment: unlike deism, it affirmed revelation, but it relinquished Christianity's exclusive claim in exchange for the general validity of religion, thereby deflecting skepticism away from religion as a whole. As De Pouvourville put it, "love religion, and distrust religions." Crucially, what began as a critique of Christianity was universalized into a critique of all religion. Perennialists systematically mischaracterized foreign traditions, cherry-picking to make their views seem universal. Aldous Huxley, in *The Perennial Philosophy*, retold a Sufi "allegory of ships" to cast churches and dogmas as vessels that must sink. Lings, in a single paragraph, conflated Hindu reincarnation, Christian Original Sin, and Islamic *fiṭra*—a misappropriation contradicting Islam's teaching on the innocence of children and the uninheritable nature of sin. Coomaraswamy's and Guénon's works on Hinduism were rejected in academic circles as "ahistorical and ideologically motivated." Sufism and Islam were treated as empty signifiers upon which Western ideals and fears were projected, as the gap between the imagined and actual Rumi demonstrates. This conscription of tradition continues in modern retellings, such as "The Blind Men and the Elephant" and *Old Turtle*, which subtly blame theological certainty for conflict. Yet the elephant story may indict perennialism itself: perhaps the prophet who receives revelation is like the king who sees the whole, while the perennialists who claim to speak for all religions are the blind men. This exaltation of personal experience over revelation produces what may be called the "playlist-ification" of faith, where some Muslim youth claim to benefit more from yoga or meditation than from *ṣalāt*, the preeminent expression of gratitude in our law. Yet all commitments are organized by someone; being "spiritual but not religious" merely means organizing one's own beliefs, inviting confirmation bias and self-created echo-chambers, much like a social media algorithm. Islam occupies the middle ground: the Prophet ﷺ told the questioner to "consult your heart" regarding sin and spoke of the "sweetness of faith," yet Allah warns, *"Perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not"* (al-Baqarah 2:216). Satan succeeds by making evil seem good, promising "nothing except delusion" (al-Nisāʾ 4:120). Schuon's descent—his visions of the Virgin Mary and subsequent scandalous conduct, justified by his own criterion of a vision's "beneficial effect"—shows where subjective experience unchecked can lead. So too the story of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, who spat at and cursed a voice claiming to be Allah lifting the law from him, only for it to reveal itself as the Devil who had deceived many before. Because Allah is *al-Ḥaqq*, the Ultimate Reality, we require an authority outside ourselves; the very name of our religion, chosen by Allah, is submission. Perennialism has likewise been conscripted by secularism, which similarly claims a false neutrality while masking its Enlightenment debts. Just as secularism substitutes political identity for religious, perennialism substitutes a supposedly higher spiritual identity, styling itself a "meta-faith" that transcends and thereby mutilates other traditions. This makes it a useful tool for neutralizing rival claims to transcendent truth, sitting comfortably beside liberal tolerance—which is why perennialists, from Eliade and Nasr to Peterson, are so common. For all their failure, the perennialists sensed something real: a commonality among religions pointing to a common Divine source. But they misidentified it as mysticism rather than *tawḥīd*, and wrongly assumed all religions preserved only remnants of truth—true of Christianity, but not universally so. The real primordial religion is, and always was, Islam. Differences arose through human corruption, as Allah says, *"And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them—out of jealous animosity"* (Āl ʿImrān 3:19). Christianity was the first truly global religion, but its message was lost, necessitating the Prophet ﷺ, whose Qur'an Allah preserved as "a criterion over it" (al-Māʾidah 5:48), closing the door on further prophethood. Thus the Prophet ﷺ rebuked ʿUmar for reading the Torah, declaring that were Moses alive he would have to follow him. As Muslims, post-Christian problems need not be our own; we can hold certain conviction, reject others' beliefs, and yet live in peace. To return to Lings's imagery: it is not merely a shadowy primordial mountain that looms in the background, but every other religion, altered from its origin. Only the mountain of Islam stands in the foreground, crystal clear, as the final and preserved guidance for all mankind. ## Key Takeaways 1. Perennialism is the philosophical claim that all religions share a single underlying truth at the esoteric level, with their outward differences treated as incidental. Though often presented as a universal insight, it is in fact a product of European intellectual history. It first emerged during the Italian Renaissance, in the idea of *philosophia perennis*, as a response to encounters with non-Christian traditions. Its Renaissance formulation later developed into the modern perennialist school, especially in the twentieth century. 2. Perennialism is incompatible with Islam because it sidelines the role of revelation, the primary means through which Allah guides humanity. Rather than relying on prophets to convey divine truth directly, perennialism leaves the seeker to piece that truth together by selectively reading across religious traditions. If perennialism were correct, there would have been little reason for the Prophet ﷺ to call to Islam as a distinct path in the first place. 3. Islam offers a more credible account of religious diversity than perennialism does. It distinguishes between matters of belief (*ʿaqida*), where contradictions cannot all be true and at least one party must be in error, and matters of law (sharia), where Allah has prescribed different paths for different prophetic communities. Islam also leaves open the possibility that the world’s major religions originated in genuine divine guidance that was later corrupted, explaining their loose similarities to Islam without conceding that they remain valid paths to salvation today. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Many religions claim to be the truth. Why should Islam’s claim be any different? Most religions do claim some form of truth, but the question is not who makes the claim. The question is which claim can actually be substantiated. Islam offers a distinct answer grounded in three points. First, all genuine revelation has called to the same core message: the oneness of God. The Qur’an states, “We sent no messenger before you except that We revealed to him, there is no deity except Me, so worship Me.” This common thread across prophetic history is what perennialists sensed but misidentified, mistakenly searching for it in mysticism rather than in *tawhid*. Second, the differences between major religions today are real and consequential, not superficial. Religions make competing claims about the nature of God, the fate of the soul after death, the purpose of human life, and the path to salvation. These are claims about reality, and where they contradict, at least one must be wrong. Third, the Qur’an has been preserved exactly as revealed, while earlier scriptures were lost or altered over time. Islam acknowledges that other religions may carry remnants of earlier divine guidance, but only the final revelation remains intact and uncorrupted, which is why no further prophet was sent after Muhammad ﷺ. Allah says, “Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it will never be accepted from him.” ### Where did the idea that “all religions teach the same truth” come from? It originated in Europe, not in the Islamic tradition or in any of the religions it claims to unify. The philosophy is called perennialism. It first emerged during the Italian Renaissance as a way to reconcile Christian teaching with the wisdom of pre-Christian Greek philosophers like Plato and Pythagoras. Renaissance scholars argued that these philosophers had transmitted the same sacred knowledge as the biblical prophets, though through different channels. The idea gained renewed appeal after the European Wars of Religion in the seventeenth century, which left Europe exhausted by religiously motivated conflict and deeply suspicious of any religion claiming exclusive truth. Theological certainty had become associated with political violence, so Europeans began grounding certainty elsewhere, in reason, empiricism, or in a vague universal religious essence that no one could fight over. Perennialism offered a way to keep some form of religion alive while stripping away the exclusivity that had caused so much bloodshed. The content of perennialism is largely Neoplatonist philosophy repackaged. It is a particular product of European history and ideology, not a universal truth uncovered by mystics across cultures. ### Can Muslims benefit spiritually from practices in other religions like yoga, meditation, or chanting? A growing sentiment among some Muslims is that they get more from practices like yoga, meditation, or chanting than from salah. There is a distinction worth drawing first. Stretching, breathing exercises, and stillness used for health, focus, or relaxation are neutral, even when their popular packaging borrows names or aesthetics from other traditions. The concern is when a devotional ritual from another religion is adopted as a form of spiritual worship, or treated as a more authentic path to God than the one He has already revealed. That move privileges personal experience over revelation. Salah is not just one option among many for connecting with the Creator. It is the form of worship Allah Himself prescribed, communicated through His Messenger ﷺ, and described in scripture as the foremost expression of gratitude to God. To prefer a practice Allah did not designate over one He did is to assume that one’s own subjective experience is a more reliable guide than divine instruction. The Qur’an warns of this directly: “Perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you, and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not” (Qur’an 2:216). The body can be deceived. Even feelings of spiritual elevation can be illusions, which is why the analogy of love languages is useful here. A person can spend their entire life buying flowers for a spouse who is allergic, sincerely believing they are expressing love, only to find their effort unrecognized. The same applies here. Sincere effort, disconnected from divine instruction, does not guarantee that the effort is received as worship at all. ### Is it intolerant for Muslims to believe Islam is the only true religion? The assumption behind this question is that certainty about religious truth automatically leads to disrespect or hostility toward others. That assumption is rooted in a specific European historical experience, not a universal truth. After Europe’s brutal Wars of Religion, theological certainty became associated with violence, and the natural response was to demand that everyone treat their beliefs as tentative or relative in order to maintain peace. But this is not the only way to coexist. Muslims do not need to adopt the post-Christian solution to a post-Christian problem. Islam itself models how to hold firm theological convictions while living respectfully alongside people of other faiths. The Qur’an, while clear that Islam is the only acceptable religion to Allah, also commands justice and kindness toward non-Muslims, protection of their lives and property, and honest engagement with their beliefs. Muslims have not only lived alongside people of other faiths but governed religiously diverse societies in ways that became historic models of pluralism. Muslim states from al-Andalus to the Ottoman Empire allowed Jewish, Christian, and other religious communities to maintain their own places of worship, follow their own personal and family laws, run their own courts, and preserve their own traditions, all under a system that protected their religious life rather than suppressing it. This was not a reluctant tolerance forced by exhaustion after religious war. It was a positive framework for managing difference, grounded in Islamic principles, that allowed entire communities to flourish within Muslim governance for centuries. Treating tolerance and certainty as mutually exclusive is a particular ideological move imported from a particular history, not a moral requirement. A person can be fully convinced of the truth of their faith and still treat their neighbor with dignity, fairness, and care. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islamic-parenting-strategies-how-to-help-children-feel-safe-in-their-attachment-to-god-and-parents # Islamic Parenting Strategies: How to Help Children Feel Safe in their Attachment to God and Parents **Authors:** Sarah Sultan, Najwa Awad **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** August 31, 2023 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 For part one of this parenting series, read: **[Building Resilience in Children: An Islamic Model of Parenting](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-in-children-an-islamic-model-of-parenting)** --- ## I. Case Study Before they got married, Mona and Ibrahim grew up in traditional households that valued high achievement and reverence for those in authority. They looked forward to building a similar household together, one centered on a cohesive family unit committed to Islam and characterized by continuous spiritual growth. Mona and Ibrahim had three children, but they found parenting much more difficult than they had anticipated. Growing up, they felt that when their parents asked them to do something they almost always did it without hesitation, whereas their children were curious and had questions. They knew their children were not “bad,” but they couldn’t understand why they questioned so many of their orders and sometimes seemed lazy about important things like prayer. Most days were very difficult, overshadowed by a lot of yelling and power struggles. In their desperation, Mona and Ibrahim found themselves using threats of punishment to get their children to comply. They didn’t want  to be consistently negative and threatening, but they didn’t know what else to do. How could they help their children spiritually so they could grow up to be good Muslims? How could [they teach their children the monumental importance of striving for paradise (*jannah*) and avoiding hellfire (*jahannam*)](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach) without threatening them? Mona and Ibrahim felt like they did a good job in teaching their children about key concepts and rulings in Islam, but couldn’t wrap their heads around why their children were not connecting with Allah. What could they do? --- ## II. Introduction For many, if not most, Muslim parents in the West, Mona’s and Ibrahim’s familial challenges are painfully familiar. This paper, the latest chapter in our ongoing parenting series, attempts to offer a solution to such parental challenges through the idea of attachment. Our Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model (IIRM) asserts that attachment is a foundational concept in parenting and in fostering both mental and spiritual health in children. While some resilience theories address the importance of attachment to caregivers, there is strong evidence that attachment to Allah is essential as well. Our model incorporates research findings as well as Islamic principles like *tawḥīd* (belief in the oneness of God) that are necessary for Muslim parents trying to raise children who are intrinsically motivated to seek Allah. How can we set our children up for success in the hereafter (*ā**khira*) if we are only using parenting paradigms designed to ensure success in this world (*dunyā*)? Is any resiliency model holistic and complete if it does not address the hereafter? In the introductory chapter of this parenting series, we discussed how our resiliency model is based on the *ayāt* in which Luqmān (peace be upon him) gives prudent advice to his son about navigating life, relating to others, and developing good character.[^1] His God-given wisdom includes important and timeless concepts that are still useful for Muslim parents today. In this chapter, we discuss the crucial links between resilience in children and attachment to Allah, parents, and the righteous. We also hope to help equip parents with easy-to-use strategies and conversation starters (see appendix) to make the transition from theory to practice easy. --- ## III. Chapter goals - What is the importance of attachment in parenting and how can it affect spiritual and mental health? - What do the Qur’an and Hadith teach us about attachment? - How can parents foster their children’s attachment to Allah? - What are concrete everyday actions I can take to help increase my child(ren)’s attachment to Allah? - What are some important considerations I should keep in mind as I’m trying to foster healthy attachment in my child(ren)? --- ## IV. Attachment theory: The importance of attachment in parenting Though the idea may seem basic, attachment is a layered concept in the field of psychology. In simple terms, attachment is a type of relational pattern one person has to another. Attachment between a primary caregiver and the child begins to form in infancy, establishing that child’s relationship template; i.e., how that child relates to the world and those around them. The general types of attachment are secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized, and avoidant. The following points lay the groundwork for the next sections: - Your attachment style predicts how you relate to your spouse, your children, and your overall parenting style.[^2] - Your attachment style shapes and affects how your child relates to others.[^3] - Having a healthy attachment style will set your child up for better mental health and healthier relationships in life.[^4] - Unhealthy attachment styles can negatively affect the quality of relationships and can be a major contributor to poor mental and physical health.[^5] - Positive relationships increase resilience by offsetting the harmful effects of difficult life experiences.[^6] Many parents focus on providing material and educational resources to their children, but overlook the importance of fostering relational and emotional resources. They prioritize providing food, housing, good schooling and extracurricular activities and teaching their children manners, right from wrong and religious teachings, but overlook the *quality* of their relationship with their children. Look at it this way—if you were taking a class online with excellent material, but the internet connection kept freezing, the content kept lagging, and sometimes the volume level fluctuated, would you be able to learn anything? Would you want to engage with the content or even deal with the instructor? Similarly, if you taught your children what they needed for developmental and spiritual growth but often yelled at them, demeaned them, or even just disengaged from them, do you think they would ultimately benefit much? Do you think they would retain anything, have the motivation to heed your advice, or even want to spend time with you? In other words, [the quality of your interactions with your child will almost certainly have a tremendous effect on your child’s wellbeing](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/cosmic-cop-or-loving-lord-the-influence-of-parenting-on-our-view-of-god-submission-and-contentment). If your child feels respected, secure, and supported in their relationship with you, they are much more likely to relate to their environment and others in a grounded and healthy way. If your relationship with your child is disorganized or inconsistent, your child is much more likely to interact with their environment and others in a frazzled, disruptive, or unhealthy way. ### Attachment to God > And remember when Luqmān said to his son, while advising him, “O my dear son! Never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs.”[^7] While most attachment theories focus on the relationship between a child and parent, it’s important to recognize that attachment can extend to others—and most importantly, to God. Understanding the importance of  attachment to God, and how to foster it in children, is a necessary component in parenting and resiliency building. Scientific research suggests that just as there are benefits of attachment to parents, there are also benefits of attachment to God. In fact, God can be a “substitute attachment figure,”[^8] which is very powerful, given the importance of attachment in resilience and our natural imperfection as human beings and parents. > Central to the application of attachment theory to religion is the idea that for many people God may function psychologically as an attachment figure (Kirkpatrick, 1992, 1999). People perceive God to be a safe haven in times of crisis (cf. Collins and Feeney 2000; Kirkpatrick 1999) and a secure base from which to explore when out of harm’s way (cf. Ainsworth et al. 1978; Bowlby 1988; Kirkpatrick 1999).[^9] Attachment to God has been linked to increased life satisfaction,[^10] religiosity,[^11] decreased psychopathology, and lower psychological distress.[^12] Secure attachment has also been linked to a healthier perception of negative events and greater emotional resilience.[^13] Other benefits of attachment to Allah can be seen in the following hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās (ra): > One day I was riding \[a horse/camel\] behind the Prophet ﷺ when he said, “Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry.”[^14] This hadith beautifully articulates that primary attachment is to Allah. Here, the Prophet ﷺ shares his wisdom on several key points: 1. ***Mindfulness of Allah***: Although we don’t see Allah directly with our eyes, can’t hear Him directly with our ears, or otherwise interact with Him the way we do with other humans, everyone can have a relationship with Allah. This relationship is a two-way street as pointed out, “Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side.” As one brings oneself closer to Allah, one will find that Allah comes closer to oneself as well. Considering that today there’s so much talk about the benefits of mindfulness,[^15] it’s interesting that the concept was brought up almost 1400 years ago. But while contemporary discourses of mindfulness tend to emphasize being “present”—aware of how one’s body feels, living in the moment, and so on—the Islamic tradition presents an alternative understanding. *Murāqaba*[^16] is a different kind of mindfulness in which one is conscious of Allah’s presence. [Being mindful of Allah means you feel He is with you, that He is watching over you, and that you are never truly alone.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness) This presence can not only feel comforting, but can help build integrity; a person is less likely to fall into risky behaviors or situations if they have internalized a sense that Allah is always watching over them, even in the absence of a parent, teacher, or authority figure. 2. ***Prioritization of Connection with Allah***: In most places around the world, it’s not unusual for wise elders to speak with youth about listening to their parents and spending time with them before they pass, always spotlighting how parents know what is best. While these values are congruent with Islam and demonstrated in other Islamic texts, this particular hadith makes no mention of them. In this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ prioritizes Allah—a connection and relationship with Him is made superior to any other. This interaction is an excellent example of the Prophet ﷺ building attachment between a youth and Allah. 3. ***Finding Safety in Attachment to Allah***: Many of the qualities that researchers identify as constitutive of a healthy attachment between a child and parent, such as security, responsiveness, and being a safe haven,[^17] are identified with Allah in this very hadith: > ***Security:*** “Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you.” > > ***Responsiveness:*** “Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side.” > > ***Strength/Safe Haven:*** “And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so.” Another noteworthy point about this specific hadith is that by teaching our children the superiority of attachment to Allah we are not only bolstering their belief (*īmān*), but their ability to bounce back from adversity. Here, the Prophet ﷺ doesn’t try to shelter the young man by suggesting that adverse events will not happen; acknowledging adversity is an essential component in coping. Many times our first inclination as parents is to shelter our children from any pain or hardship. This hadith almost does the opposite. While maintaining a tone of empathy and kindness, the Prophet ﷺ strongly asserts that if anything negative were to happen it would be by the will of Allah, who knows best and is the Ultimate Protector: > If you ask, ask God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry. This last part of the hadith also highlights the importance of reliance on Allah for the believer. When raising children, we often emphasize their reliance on us as parents, which is certainly needed especially at an early age, but how often do we emphasize reliance on Allah? Children can feel further empowered knowing that they have dependable and reliable parents, and an even more dependable and reliable caretaker: Allah. This hadith makes that care clear: even if the whole world came together, they would still not be able to change the will of Allah, so in times of desperation, or even separation from parents, the child will always have Allah. As Allah reminds us in the Qur’an, > And He will provide for them from sources they could never imagine. And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He \[alone\] is sufficient for them. Certainly Allah achieves His Will. Allah has already set a destiny for everything.[^18] ### The specific role of tawhid in building resilience While feeling protected by Allah is important for both spiritual and mental health, there is a type of resilience that can only come from completely submitting to Allah alone. When a person truly submits to Allah and His Will, and has a firm belief that tribulations can be a means of nearness to Him, that everything good a Muslim does should be for Him, and that the purpose of life is to worship Him, it is extremely hard to shake that core. Major afflictions, stressors, and tragedies take on new meaning when one understands that life is short and temporary, and that the slightest bit of pain will be recompensed: > Narrated by ʿAbd-Allāh: I visited Allah’s Messenger ﷺ while he was suffering from a high fever. I said, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! You have a high fever.” He said, “Yes, I have as much fever as two men.” I said, “Is it because you will have a double reward?” He said, “Yes, it is so. No Muslim is afflicted with any harm, even if it were the prick of a thorn, but that Allah expiates their sins because of that, as a tree sheds its leaves.”[^19] > Zayd b. Arqam said: I had a pain in my eyes and the Prophet ﷺ visited me and said, “Zayd, if your eyes were to go blind because of their illness, what would you do?” I said, “I would be steadfast and reckon my reward to be with Allah.” He said, “If that happens to your eyes and you are steadfast and reckon your reward to be with Allah, then your reward will be the Garden.”[^20] In a society as goal-oriented and accolade-driven as our own, it is easy for both children and adults to lose sight of what is important in life. For children, these instinctual and existential questions manifest in interests, fixations, and drives. A child may not verbally tell you that academic achievement or popularity are their goals in life, but their behavior will, especially when variations in these external factors cause tremendous amounts of anxiety, depression, or stress. A firm sense of purpose helps protect children from unhealthy external validation. When a child can see the bigger picture, the inevitable disappointments of life—a bad grade, a hurtful interaction with a friend, a defeat in the school election—will still sting, but will not carry as much weight or have as much influence on self-esteem. Unsurprisingly, a sense of purpose is linked to better recovery skills and protection against trauma.[^21] A proper understanding of the doctrine of the oneness of Allah (*tawḥīd*) is what leads to a secure relationship with Allah, and is a great way to set up your child for resilience and success in this world (*dunyā*) and in the hereafter (*ākhira*). All three branches of *tawḥīd* can provide us with a treasure trove of gems to share with our children to increase attachment and foster resilience. i.  **Oneness of Divine Nature (*tawḥīd al-ulūhiyya*):** With a firm grounding in love of Allah, acknowledging and embracing our purpose to worship Allah alone, and how to worship Him. This foundation provides a sense of purpose and inner strength that helps transcend worldly difficulties. When we internalize that our ultimate goal is to please Allah and live in accordance with His teachings, we are more likely to develop a resilient mindset that helps us navigate hardships with patience and trust in His plan. For more information on this topic, check out this Yaqeen article about [why God asks people to worship Him](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him). ii. **Oneness of Divine Lordship (*tawḥīd al-rubūbiyya*):** Knowing Allah as our Creator, and acknowledging that He creates and provides and sustains everything. When we recognize Allah as our Maker and acknowledge His role as the Creator, Provider, and Sustainer of everything, we come to realize that our ultimate source of provision lies with Him. It’s this awareness that nurtures a profound reliance (*tawakkul*) solely upon Him, rather than upon any being or thing within His creation. For more information on this topic, check out this Yaqeen article about the [influence of parenting on our view of God, submission, and contentment](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/cosmic-cop-or-loving-lord-the-influence-of-parenting-on-our-view-of-god-submission-and-contentment). iii. **Oneness of the Divine Names and Attributes (*tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt*):** Getting to know Allah through His Names and Attributes. After all, how can a person love, trust, and build an attachment to someone they do not know? Contemplating on certain attributes and calling on Allah by those names in *duʿāʾ*, such as *al-Qadīr* (the All-Capable, the All-Powerful), can be both empowering and comforting during all times, but particularly when going through difficulty. For more information on this topic, check out this Yaqeen series about the [names of Allah](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/names-of-allah). --- ## V. Parenting strategies for building secure attachment and reliance on God The same characteristics that facilitate attachment between a child and their caregiver can also facilitate attachment between that child and God. According to Mary Ainsworth, a major attachment theorist, characteristics that contribute to secure attachment include maintaining proximity, providing safety, and being a secure base.[^22] ### Proximity, accessibility, and responsiveness One of the key components of attachment is a sense that the caregiver is accessible. Within a parent-child relationship, this means that a child can find and access their parent when they need them. These days, an inaccessible parent is one who avoids being home, is always busy on the phone or computer, and doesn’t show up physically when needed, at least not consistently. A parent-child attachment forms the internal working model or default attachment style that a child will use to interact not just with other people, but with God as well. If a parent cultivates a relationship defined by proximity, accessibility, and responsiveness, then the child will be able to project this onto his or her relationship with others.[^23] It’s not *how much* time one spends with their child as the *quality* of that time that matters,[^24] so parents should not mistake mere presence for responsiveness. Responsiveness in day-to-day life might look like: - Answering your child when they call you. If you are busy, be available when you say you will be available (“I’m in the middle of something, give me 10 minutes”). - Showing undivided attention when your child is talking about something important. - Following through with commitments and promises. - Physical touch, like a pat on the back or a hug. In order to build their children’s attachment to Allah, parents also need to demonstrate that Allah is close in proximity, is accessible, and is responsive. This proximity is demonstrated by the following verses and reports: > When My servants ask you \[O Prophet\] about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me. So let them respond \[with obedience\] to Me and believe in Me, perhaps they will be guided \[to the Right Way\].[^25] > Indeed, \[it is\] We who created humankind and \[fully\] know what their souls whisper to them, and We are closer to them than \[their\] jugular vein.[^26] > Abū Saʿd al-Khudrī reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “No Muslim makes supplication—unless he is someone who has cut off his relatives—but that he is given one of three things: either his supplication is answered quickly, or it is stored up for him in the next world, or an evil equal to it is averted from him.” It was said, “Then many supplications will be made.” He ﷺ replied, “Allah has more still to give.”[^27] Besides being responsive themselves, parent can help demonstrate that Allah is responsive by: - Discussing the above verses (*āyāt*) and hadith in an age-appropriate manner, emphasizing in a comforting way that Allah is always with your child. - Exploring and talking about related names of Allah like: the  All-Knowing (*al-ʿAlīm*), the All-Hearing (*al-Samīʿ*), the All-Seeing (*al-Baṣīr*), the Responder (*al-Mujīb*), and the Provider (*al-Razzāq*). - Teaching your child the etiquette of supplicating (*duʿāʾ*), and emphasizing that Allah always hears their call. - Teaching the practice of gratitude. Oftentimes, after a *duʿāʾ* has been answered, we forget how badly we wanted that coveted thing before we got it. If you observe one of your child’s *duʿāʾ*s being answered, point it out to them and practice gratefulness with them. - Share stories with your child about the beautiful ways Allah has responded to your *duʿāʾ* and guided you through different stages in your life. Children love to hear stories from their parents’ lives and in this way a connection and attachment to Allah is brought to life for them. - Talk to your older children about how Allah responds to Muslims in formal prayer. The following hadith illustrates Allah’s responsiveness: > It was narrated that Abū Hurayra said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: Allah said: ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave into two halves, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’ When the slave says: ‘*Al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn* (All praise is for Allah, the Lord of all that exists),’ Allah says: ‘My slave has praised Me, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’ And when he says: ‘*Al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm* (The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful),’ Allah says: ‘My slave has extolled Me, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’ And when he says: ‘*Māliki yawm al-dīn* (The Only Owner \[and the Ruling Judge\] of the Day of Recompense),’ Allah says: ‘My slave has Glorified Me. This is for Me, and this verse is between me and My slave in two halves.’ And when he says: *Iyyāka naʿbudu wa iyyāka nastaʿīn* (You \[Alone\] we worship, and You \[Alone\] we ask for help),’ He says: ‘This is between Me and My slave, and My slave shall have what he has asked for. And the end of the Qur’anic chapter (*sūra*) is for My slave.’ And when he says: *Ihdinā al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, ṣirāṭ al-ladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ghayr-il-maghḍūbi ‘alayhim wa lā al-ḍāllīn* (Guide us to the Straight Way, the way of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace, not \[the way\] of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray),’ He says: ‘This is for My slave, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.’”[^28] ### A Protector providing safety Also necessary for the development of healthy child attachment is a caregiver who provides a safe haven and acts as a dependable protector. Children are vulnerable and they need financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual help from consistent caregivers who have their best interests at heart. While this sounds like common sense, you may be surprised how often we as psychotherapists encounter parentified children—children who inappropriately had to take care of their parents due to their parents’ emotional immaturity or neglect.  As a parent, you can demonstrate that you are a safe haven or protector by: - Believing your child when they come to you with concerns. Validate and take their concerns seriously. - Valuing your child’s opinions and perspectives. Don’t automatically discredit your child if someone makes an accusation against them. Truth and justice are not based on age. - Assuring your child that you always have their best interests in mind even if they might not like your rules (e.g., setting healthy limits). - Comforting your child when they get hurt emotionally or physically. - Keeping discussions about adult concerns (i.e., finances, health, marital issues, etc.) between adults and not involving your child in these matters. To show that Allah is the ultimate Protector, *al-Walī*,[^29] parents should talk through some of the following verses and hadith (an example of how you might share this with your children is provided at the end of this paper): > Allah is the Guardian of the believers—He brings them out of darkness and into light. As for the disbelievers, their guardians are false gods who lead them out of light and into darkness. It is they who will be the residents of the Fire. They will be there forever.”[^30] > But no! Allah is your Guardian, and He is the best Helper.[^31] > Say, “Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us. He is our Protector.” So in Allah let the believers put their trust.[^32] Supplemental activities can also include: - Discussing prophetic stories that demonstrate Allah’s protection against evil people and things, as well as narratives that show perseverance of Muslims in the face of powerful adversaries who plotted against them. A few stories that beautifully highlight Allah’s protection and guidance are the stories of the prophets Joseph (Yūsuf), Moses (Mūsa), and Abraham (Ibrāhīm) (peace be upon them). - Helping children to understand that Allah as our *Walī* manifests in ways that are not always what we want. He aids us in accordance with the infinitely wise perspective of the Divine and not from the limited perception of the human. Therefore, the presence of Allah’s care is not synonymous with the fulfillment of our wants. Indeed, His aid and care will often manifest in worldly pain and loss. For example, the People of the Ditch mentioned in Surat al-Burūj[^33] were all killed by a tyrant ruler despite their unshakeable belief in Allah. Although people might see this as a great loss rather than success, Allah declared their martyrdom and entrance to Paradise as the great victory.[^34] Thus, His aid and support is not understood as making us outwardly victorious over our enemies, but rather making no enemy able to overpower our will to worship Allah. - Reading age-appropriate versions of the prophetic biography (*sīra*). Discuss Allah’s protection of Prophet Muhammed ﷺ throughout his life, from infancy through late adulthood. - Exploring and talking about related names of Allah, like The Guardian (*al-Muhaymin*), The Capable, The Powerful (*al-Qādir*), The Judge, Giver of Justice (*al-Ḥakam*), and The Helper, The Supporter (*al-Walī*). Examples are provided at the end of the paper. - Teaching your child *duʿāʾ*s to help them seek Allah’s protection and empowering them to call on Allah on their own. An excellent *duʿāʾ* that is easy for children to remember is: >  بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي لاَ يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَىْءٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلاَ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ > > *Bism-illāhi al-ladhī lā yaḍurru maʿa ismihi shayʾun fī-l-arḍi wa lā fī-l-samāʾi wa huwa al-Samīʿu al-ʿAlīm.* > > Translation: In the Name of Allah, with Whose Name nothing is harmed on earth nor in heaven, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Repeat three times) > > Abān ibn ʿUthmān said: I heard ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān \[his father\] say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: If anyone says three times: “In the name of Allah, when whose name is mentioned nothing on Earth or in Heaven can cause harm, and He is the Hearer, the Knower,” he will not suffer sudden affliction till the morning, and if anyone says this in the morning, he will not suffer sudden affliction until the evening.[^35] ### A secure base Another aspect of attachment is that the caregiver provides a sense of comfort in the face of uncertainty. In the context of parent-child attachment, this means that even if the child has a desire to explore, they are able to return to the caregiver when they desire refuge from unfamiliarity. With secure attachment the child can also rely on their caregiver for solace and soothing when experiencing discomfort or pain. Warmth in the parent-child relationship can be demonstrated through: - Physical touch, such as hugging, high-fiving, or sitting close to each other. - Genuine interest in helping your child when they are in distress—taking care of them when they are sick, wiping their tears when they are hurt, and empathic attunement when they are experiencing difficult feelings. - Verbally assuring them of support when they are uncertain about what to do next: “You can do it,” “I’m here behind you,” “I’ve got your back if you fumble.” - Telling your child that they can always turn to you no matter how advanced their age or how big their mistakes might be. Sadly, in many places around the world, parents overlook the importance of fostering attachment to Allah through warmth and love. Many families solely focus on Allah’s punishment to dissuade their children from undesirable behavior. While there is a place for stressing the ramifications of deeds that are displeasing to Allah, it is essential to create a foundation of love and security by highlighting Allah’s mercy: > Narrated by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: Some war prisoners were brought before the Prophet ﷺ and a woman amongst them was breastfeeding any child in need. Whenever she found a child amongst the captives, she took it to her chest and nursed it (she had lost her child but later she found him). The Prophet ﷺ said to us, “Do you think that this lady would throw her son in the fire?” We replied, “No, if she has the power not to throw him \[in the fire\].” The Prophet ﷺ then said, “Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son.”[^36] > Say, \[O Prophet\] “If you \[sincerely\] love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”[^37] > Ask forgiveness from your Lord and repent to Him. Verily, my Lord is Merciful and Loving.[^38] > Remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me, and never be ungrateful.[^39] > Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks of Me when he remembers Me.’ By Allah! Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than one of you who unexpectedly finds in the desert his lost camel. ‘He who comes closer to Me one span, I come closer to him a cubit; and he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.’”[^40] > Abū Hurayra narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When Allah loves a slave He calls Gabriel \[saying\]: ‘Indeed I love so-and-so, so love him.’ He said: “So he calls out in the heavens. Then love for him descends among the people of the earth. That is as in the saying of Allah: Verily, those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, the Most Gracious will grant love for them (19:96). And when Allah hates a slave, He calls out to Gabriel, \[saying\]: ‘Indeed I hate so-and-so.’ So he calls out in the heavens. Then hatred for him descends upon the earth.”[^41] Parents can help show that Allah is a source of both comfort and warmth by: - Developing a sense that Allah wants best for His creation by illustrating how Allah provides for all of His creation, big and small. - Exploring and discussing the names of Allah like *al-Laṭīf* (The Subtle, Most Gentle), *al-Raḥmān* (Most Gracious), *al-Raḥīm* (Most Merciful), *al-Wadūd* (Most Loving), *al-Raʾūf* (Most Kind) and *al-Shakūr* (Most Appreciative). - Explaining that during times of distress one can always call on Allah and seek comfort from Him. Children can always vent to Allah, seek His support, and ask for His help. - Talking with children about how Allah is the Most Merciful and that while sins are to be avoided, Muslims should never despair of the mercy of Allah or think that their sins are too great for Allah to forgive. ### Integral supplemental attachments The foundational principle of [our Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model (IIRM)](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-in-children-an-islamic-model-of-parenting) is that secure attachment to Allah and primary caregivers is ideal for resilience and success in this world (*dunyā*) and the hereafter (*ākhira*). As Muslims, however, our faith would not be complete without attachment to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Qur’an. Attachment to the community is also spiritually and psychologically important. Here we mean “attachment” in the colloquial sense of love and connection, rather than the specific and technical definition we invoked when discussing parental and Godly attachment. This is the type of attachment we will discuss in the following section, in the context of the Prophet ﷺ, the Qur’an, and the Muslim community. Each subsection will conclude with recommendations on how parents can nurture all of these relationships with their children. ### Attachment to the Qur’an The Qur’an, as the word of Allah that was revealed to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, illuminates our lives and heals our hearts. Allah describes it as, “Truly it is a mighty Book. It cannot be proven false from any angle. \[It is\] a revelation from the \[One Who is\] All-Wise, Praiseworthy.”[^42] Nurturing an attachment to the Qur’an further solidifies a strong relationship with Allah, and is a means toward righteousness in this life and the next. Allah describes the Qur’an saying, > This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah.[^43] > O mankind, there has come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.[^44] As mentioned earlier, building a relationship with Allah bolsters our children’s resilience. In order to develop a strong, healthy attachment to someone, you need to know them. Allah provides us the opportunity to know Him on a deeper level through His words in the Qur’an. Consider the feeling you get as you learn about Allah through His words in the greatest verse revealed,[^45] the Verse of the Throne (*a**yat al-kursī*): > Allah! There is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of \[all\] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Seat \[of power\] extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.[^46] In this verse, Allah shares a beautiful description of His Names and Attributes, His knowledge and power. This strengthens our trust in and knowledge of Him, which in turn builds immunity to the difficulties of life. Allah tells us, “O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light (i.e., the Qur’an). So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him—He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path.”[^47] Our children can develop a deeper relationship with Allah by truly understanding that His direct words are accessible to them. In this way, the wisdom, guidance, and reassurance provided in the Qur’an takes on a different depth of meaning for our children during moments of difficulty. The Qur’an provides unwavering guidance in a world fraught with ever-changing standards and expectations. Indeed, the Qur’an and its exegesis (*tafsīr*) anchor us during the times we yearn for healing, peace, and tranquility. It is upon this stable foundation that fortresses of resiliency are built.[^48] Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, said, > Allah has guaranteed for one who follows the Qur’an that he will not be led astray in the world, nor be damned in the hereafter. Then, he recited the verse, “Thus, whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray \[in this life\] nor suffer \[in the next.\]”[^49], [^50] Yet some people are unable to connect with the Qur’an and therefore unable to connect with Allah, hindered as they are by negative preconceptions of God’s Word. While we can acknowledge academically that an attachment to the Qur’an brings mental and emotional health benefits, *how* to build this attachment is just as important. Looking back on your own upbringing, in what contexts were verses from the Qur’an cited? For some children, the Qur’an is used as a weapon wielded by adults to frighten rather than inspire, its warnings of otherworldly punishment extracting obedience from misbehaving children. Many have memories of struggling to memorize and dreading reciting in front of their Sunday school class. Many children are spanked, yelled at, and punished harshly for making mistakes in the process of learning to read and memorize the Qur’an. The painful memories during this process can make it hard to connect with the Qur’an later in life. Parents and community members often overemphasize Arabic reading and pronunciation and underemphasize understanding and personal connection, leading children to feel alienated from the words they are asked to read, recite, and recall. Building an attachment with the Qur’an, and thereby strengthening one’s attachment to Allah, cannot be achieved through a pedagogy that stresses fear and punishment at the expense of love and reward. Ibn al-Qayyim expressed this beautifully, saying, > The heart on its journey towards Allah the Exalted is like that of a bird. Love is its head and fear and hope are its two wings. When the head is healthy, then the two wings will fly well. When the head is cut off, the bird will die. When either of its two wings is damaged, the bird becomes vulnerable to every hunter and predator.[^51] Furthermore, it’s imperative for our children to gain an understanding of the Qur’an through translation and *tafsīr*. In the Qur’an, Allah describes the journeys of many of the righteous predecessors we seek to emulate. These Qur’anic stories of perseverance through hardship provide solace during life’s difficulties. Helping our children to learn these stories facilitates a much stronger emotional connection with the Qur’an. (For some examples of easy-to-follow stories and lessons, please see the final section of the paper “Conversation Starters and Stories”). It can be an incredibly powerful experience to turn to the Qur’an during moments of hardship and suddenly find yourself reading a verse that resonates with you in a special way, gently applying a balm to your heart and motivating you to keep moving forward. Allah revealed chapters (sing. *sūra*) to the Prophet ﷺ explicitly for the purpose of building his resilience during times of great difficulty. The timing of the revelation was not random. For example, Sūrat Yūsuf came to him during the Year of Sadness to console him after the death of two people who were deeply beloved to him, and to show him that along with hardship comes victory. In connecting with Allah in this way, we give our children the opportunity to nurture a personal relationship with the Qur’an and experience its tranquility, allowing them to feel grounded in these unchanging words of eternal wisdom. > Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.[^52] > No people gather to remember Allah Almighty but that the angels surround them, cover them with mercy, send tranquility upon them, and mention them to Allah among those near to Him.[^53] > Al-Barāʾ b. ʿĀzib reported: A man was reciting Sūrat al-Kahf and in his barn was an animal which became unsettled. As he looked, there was a mist or a cloud overshadowing him. He mentioned that to the Prophet ﷺ and he said, “Continue reciting, for it was calm that descended with the Qur’an.”[^54] As parents, we can foster love and attachment for the Qur’an in our children by: - Nurturing frequent family Qur’an time. Depending on the age of your child, this can include listening to *sūra*s in the car, reading a few verses together each day, listening to a lecture on the *tafsīr* of a certain *sūra*, and learning the meaning of a few verses together. - Engaging with the Qur’an as a source of stability. For example, listening to Qur’an during calm moments (i.e., before bed), allows children to unwind and provides a stable, consistent routine. The Qur’an should also be invoked during moments of emotional turmoil to provide a sense of connection with both Allah and you, as their parent (e.g., reciting *innā li-llāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn* when something difficult happens).[^55] - Discussing the way that certain verses resonate with you and apply to your daily life. For example, since gratitude plays a role in resilience-building,[^56] when discussing the verse in Sūrat al-Fātiḥa, “All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds”[^57] you may ask your children what they are grateful to Allah for and list some of your more cherished blessings. - Exploring the Qur’anic stories of the Prophets, righteous individuals, and individuals who gained the love of Allah, as well as the lessons derived from them. - Identifying positive traits exemplified in the Qur’an as the qualities of the people of *jannah* and how these traits might show up in daily life. Ask them if they’ve ever exemplified these traits, and to imagine when these traits would be helpful (e.g., waiting for their turn in line showing patience). For older children, also identify the traits of the people of the hellfire and discuss ways to protect ourselves from these qualities (i.e., arrogance). - Going through verses describing *jannah* and having your child share what they visualize as they hear these verses. Ask them what they are praying for in *jannah*. For younger children, encourage them to draw a picture of their house in *jannah* and put it in a place they can see frequently. This is similar to a safe space exercise often used in therapy to manage anxiety, so it can help with emotional regulation and therefore resilience building.[^58] - Asking your child if they have a favorite verse from the Qur’an. If they don’t, help them to choose one. Have them write or print this verse, decorate it, and place it somewhere visible in their room as a beneficial reminder and a way to personally connect with the Qur’an. Repeating this verse as a mantra can help promote emotional regulation and increased wellbeing.[^59] ### Attachment to the Prophet ﷺ One of the key ways we attach to Allah is through attachment to his Prophet ﷺ. This is based on several hadiths that indicate a Muslim does not have complete faith until they love the Prophet ﷺ more than anyone else, including themselves. > It was narrated that Anas ibn Mālik said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his child, his father, and all the people.”[^60] > Narrated Anas: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness of faith: > > 1\. The one to whom Allah and His Apostle become dearer than anything else. > > 2\. Who loves a person and he loves him only for Allah's sake. > > 3\. Who hates to revert to disbelief as he hates to be thrown into the fire.”[^61] > Narrated ʿAbd Allāh b. Hishām: We were with the Prophet ﷺ and he was holding the hand of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. ʿUmar said to him, “O Allah's Messenger! You are dearer to me than everything except my own self.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, \[you will not have complete faith\] till I am dearer to you than your own self.” Then ʿUmar said to him, “However, now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my own self.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Now, O ʿUmar, \[now you are a believer\].”[^62] We are asked to love the Prophet ﷺ more than our parents, children, and even ourselves. This presents the Muslim with something of an emotional challenge: how do we achieve such a deep love for the Prophet ﷺ when he no longer lives among us? This is difficult for a full-grown adult to grasp and achieve, never mind a child. Yet the foundations can be laid early. We develop an attachment to the Prophet ﷺ by attaching to his impeccable behavior, noble character, and inspirational perseverance. The Prophet ﷺ was a model of resilience, as seen in his ability to always maintain a good attitude, excel in his interpersonal relationships, preserve his mental health, and and diligently pursue his goals (spreading the message of Islam) in the face of staunch and often bloody resistance. His consultation of his Companions and unconditional trust in Allah, paired with frequent *duʿāʾ* and prayer, reminds us of how to engage in spiritually-based coping during times of distress. Seeing a loved one overcome struggles can motivate us to overcome our own, especially when that person wants what is best for us. The Prophet ﷺ cared very deeply for his *ummah*, which includes us and our children. > There certainly has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. He is concerned by your suffering, anxious for your well-being, and gracious and merciful to the believers.[^63] > Anas b. Mālik reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I wish I could meet my brothers.” The Prophet’s companions said, “Are we not your brothers?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “You are my companions, but my brothers are those who have faith in me although they never saw me.”[^64] > ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Prophet ﷺ recited the Words of Allah, the Exalted, and the Glorious, about Ibrāhīm (as) who said: “O my Lord (*Rabb*)! They have led astray many among mankind. But whosoever follows me, he verily, is of me” (14:36) and those of Jesus (ʿĪsā) who said: “If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise” (5:118). Then he ﷺ raised up his hands and said, “O Allah! My *ummah*, my *ummah*,” and wept; Allah, the Exalted, said: “O Gabriel (Jibrīl)! Go to Muhammad and ask him: ‘What makes you weep?’” So Jibrīl came to him and asked him \[the reason for his weeping\] and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed him what he had said (though Allah knew it well). Upon this Allah said: “Jibrīl, go to Muhammad and say: ‘Verily, We will please you with regard to your *ummah* and will never displease you.’”[^65] > Abū Hurayra said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Every Messenger is endowed with a prayer which is granted and by which he would (pray to his Lord) and it would he granted for him. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my *ummah* on the Day of Resurrection.”[^66] As parents, we can foster our children’s love for and attachment to the Prophet ﷺ by: - Reading the Prophet’s biography (*sīra*) together, beginning with simple stories in early childhood and more in-depth biographies later. - Discussing the adversities the Prophet ﷺ experienced in his lifetime (from the stress of first hearing the message of prophethood, to the death of Khadīja or Ibrāhīm, to remorseless persecution meted out by the Quraysh, etc.) and the ways he coped (praying, making *duʿāʾ* to Allah, seeking help from dependable people, etc.). For more details about the experiences of the Prophet ﷺ, consider some of the book recommendations listed at the end of this paper. - Identifying and discussing some of the most admirable attributes of the Prophet ﷺ such as his  perseverance, dedication, and integrity. Discuss why these qualities are desirable, and how they might look in your child or in people your child knows. - Discussing the Prophet’s ﷺ love for the *ummah* and how that includes your child as well. Visualize with your child the happiness of meeting him in *jannah*. - Describing the appearance of the Prophet ﷺ to your child so they can feel closer to him. ### Community and group affiliation Group and community affiliation, like religious institutions and schools,[^67] can be instrumental sources of emotional support. When one is faced with hardship, they are limited in their resources, ability to problem solve, and ability to cope. Joining a group can make a person feel less alone, increase comradery, and tap into a network of physical resources, social connections, and intergenerational wisdom. Membership in a group has been found to enhance the ability to cope with stress, trauma, and anxiety.[^68] Being part of a group has also been shown to help preempt depression, mitigate depressive episodes, and prevent relapse. In adolescents specifically, group support bolsters mental health, academic success, and self-esteem. Highly recommended and mandatory communal activities in Islam, such as attending the Friday sermon and praying the funeral (*janāza*) prayers, offer not just a great source of good deeds, but a convenient way to reap the resiliency benefits of being part of a group: ***Micro Scale:*** *Mentors, Muslim peers, Muslim Student Associations, study circle (*ḥalaqa*) groups, and close friends.* These relationships can provide close attachments outside of the primary-caregiver relationship, and can help your child feel guided and supported during times of need. A parent should never substitute these attachments for their own personal involvement, but in the absence of healthy parental figures, these relationships can be very powerful in building resilience. ***Meso Scale:*** *Local mosque, Islamic school, and/or community organizations.* Relationships on this scale can help your child feel like they are a part of the local community and provide them with a sense of belonging. This may be especially important for Muslims growing up in a place where they are a minority. These kinds of connections can help foster a more secure sense of identity and inclusion. ***Macro Scale:*** *The ummah.* It is important for older children and emerging adolescents to know that they are part of a community that transcends space and time. Muslims are not just part of a global group that shares commonalities in thinking, behavior, and belief, but a transhistorical brotherhood and sisterhood that includes every Muslim in the *ummah* of the Prophet Muhammed ﷺ—now, before, and in the future. Every person in the *ummah* has a role to play based on the blessings Allah has given them. Encouraging your child to use their natural talents and interests to contribute to the *ummah* can give them a greater sense of purpose and belonging. --- ## VI. Important considerations There are some important considerations to keep in mind as you invest in the journey of building an attachment with your child. The first is that while attachment can in theory be cultivated at any point in either the parent’s or the child’s lifetimes, early childhood attachment leaves the strongest impression on mental and spiritual health. Parents should not give up if their child is now a teenager, but they should know that the more time that elapses, the more challenging it will be to instill new thought patterns in their grown “child” (from an Islamic standpoint: young adult). It is best to start developing a robust attachment between you and your child from the day they are born, and between your child and Allah as soon as they are able to understand (around 3 years of age). However, you are less likely to develop a healthy attachment with your child if your own attachment to your parents or to Allah is in any way compromised. When we have strained relationships with our own parents or with Allah, we can inadvertently model unhealthy behaviors to our children. Introspection is one of the best tools a parent has, so reflect on your own attachment style with Allah and loved ones to determine if there is any healing needed on your end. This healing is important not just for the sake of your child, but for your own mental and spiritual health. --- ## VII. Case study revisited Mona and Ibrahim began to reflect on their relationship with their children and came to terms with the fact that their authoritarian style of parenting was not conducive to raising healthy children or fostering a nurturing home environment. Their children lived in a different world than the one they grew up in, and the way they were parented was not going to work for their children. Their children were struggling because they had no attachment to Allah or sense of *wanting* to be Muslim versus *having* to be Muslim. Mona and Ibrahim knew it would be easier to keep doing what they had already been doing, but decided to take the scarier but more rewarding path of trying something new. Initially it felt strange to talk about loving Allah and explain the wisdom behind various Qur’anic and prophetic stories. But as Mona and Ibrahim became more open and flexible, their children began to very slowly soften. The harshness in their dealings with their children didn’t disappear overnight and it took a lot of intentionality, persistence, and patience to mitigate slip-ups and bumps in the road, but Mona and Ibrahim knew this was par for the course. As time passed and they continued to have more conversations about Allah and engaged in more family activities and discussions, they began to notice a shift where their children began to engage in acts of worship on their own, without being told to do so.[^69] In parallel, Mona and Ibrahim also made a conscious effort to build up attachment between their children and themselves. What were once transactional relationships were now growing into relationships that felt more loving, secure, and reciprocal. --- ## VIII. Conversation starters Sometimes putting theory into practice can feel like a daunting task. Please note that trying to implement everything in this article at once would be unnatural and overwhelming. Building a relationship with Allah is a long-term journey. It cannot be rushed. To help you on this journey we have made a list of *conversation starters*. These prompts can be a great supplement to family rituals you already have. For example, if like many families you watch a movie or hold a game night every Friday to help unwind and kick off the weekend, you can use one of these prompts for a mini-lesson beforehand. You can begin with a brief check-in on the past week and upcoming weekend, before discussing one weekly question as a family. These questions would ideally open the door to talking about important topics and bonding as a family. We’ve included a list of sample conversation starters below, divided by theme. Before incorporating them into your routine, however, please note the following tips: - Make the duration of any mini-lesson appropriate for its audience. If these conversations are too lengthy, neither you nor your children will look forward to them because they are draining. Around 15-20 minutes is usually a good length . - Make mini-lessons appropriate for the audience in terms of content. Small children are naturally drawn to arts and crafts, so drawing pictures with markers, for instance, can be appealing to them. If your oldest and youngest are separated by a wide age gap, consider splitting responsibilities so that one parent works with the older children and the other parent works with the younger children. - Do not make this activity/conversation too burdensome in terms of preparation because you most likely will not follow through. Prepare for 5-10 minutes by pulling relevant *ā**yāt*, hadiths, or even material from this article. - If you ever get stuck with a tough question from your child, don’t fret. Tell your child that you will look into it further and get back to them. This can be a learning moment for you both. ### Building proximity - What does physical, spiritual, and emotional closeness (proximity) mean to you? - How do we know that Allah is close to us and can hear us? - What are examples of times your *duʿāʾ* was answered? (topic: responsiveness) - Why might it appear that a *duʿāʾ* is unanswered? What are the different ways *duʿāʾ* can be answered? - What acts of worship make you feel closer to Allah? - What are acts of worship that make you feel closer to us (family, parents, siblings)? - What are acts of worship that make you feel closer to the community? - On a scale of 0 to 10, how close do you feel we are as a family? What things can be done to increase that closeness? - Is there anything you are going through right now that would be helpful to talk about? - If there ever is something that might be tough to talk about, how would you envision talking to us about it? What steps would you take? - What are ways that we can show each other that we care and are close through our words and actions? - What are ways that we can show Allah that we love Him and are grateful for Him? ### Safety - What do physical, spiritual, and emotional safety mean to you? - What are tools Allah has blessed us with to protect our sense of safety? - Let's look through the names of Allah together. Which ones related to safety jump out at you? Pick one name that you can start using in your *duʿāʾ*s or when you are feeling scared. - Can you think of examples in which Allah protected the prophets? - Can you think of examples in which Allah kept you safe or protected you from harm? - What are precautions we take as a family to promote physical and emotional safety? - On a scale of 0 to 10, how safe do you feel in this family? What are things we can do to increase your sense of safety? - When you are outside of the home or away from the family, what things can you use to feel safe? - What are tools you can use to feel emotionally safe in general (*duʿāʾ*, deep breathing, grounding, etc.)? ### A secure base - What is a secure base? Is it like a baby bird that can come back to its nest anytime he or she wants? Is it like a safe tree when you are playing tag, or perhaps home base out on the baseball field? Let’s draw a picture of what a secure base means to you. - How is our relationship with Allah like a secure base? - Can you think of any examples in which the prophets or other people in the Qur’an used Allah as a secure base during a difficult time? - Is it possible that a Muslim can ever mess up so badly that Allah can no longer be their safe base? - Is it possible that you can ever mess up so badly that we, your parents, can no longer be your safe base? - If you don't know how to get back to your safe base with Allah, what *dhikr* or *duʿāʾ* can you recite? (I seek Allah’s forgiveness (*astaghfiru-llāh*), there is no power nor might except with Allah (*lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā bi-llāh*), etc.) - What might be a code word for when you want to talk to us about something but feel shy or scared? - If anyone ever says something that doesn't sound right (maybe it breaks a rule or goes against something that was taught to you), what should you do? Is it better to figure it out on your own or can you talk to adults you trust like us (your safe base)? - If something bad happens to you, should you tell your parents only, talk to Allah about it only, or do both? - If something really difficult happens to you, how would you feel about talking to us (parents) about it? If you are in trouble, is it better to come straight away to us and risk punishment, or is it better to wait it out? --- ## IX. Conversation starters and stories Storytelling is a powerful way to illustrate concepts for people of all ages, but especially for children. Below you will find stories that bring to life different attributes of Allah needed to foster healthy attachment: responsiveness, protection, and a secure base. ### Lesson 1 ### i. Allah as Our Protector This first story from the life of the Prophet ﷺ emphasizes Allah as our Guardian and a description of the Name of Allah, *al-Muhaymin* (the Guardian, the Ever-Watchful Protector), as well as follow-up questions to promote discussion and reflection as a family. #### A lesson in the Ultimate Protection of Allah > Say, “Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us. He is our Protector.” So in Allah let the believers put their trust.[^70] Prophet Muhammad ﷺ always knew the path of prophethood would be hard, but now things had gotten out of hand. His life and the life of his followers, the Muslims, were being threatened. He had made a lot of enemies in Mecca since he began teaching people to worship Allah alone. People in Mecca had worshiped idols for a long time, and they were furious when the Prophet ﷺ encouraged change. Now, some of them were plotting to kill the Prophet ﷺ. He knew this was happening because Allah told him about these plans. The big question was, when were they going to strike? The Prophet ﷺ wasn’t going to wait around for this to happen. He needed a plan. On the night of the attack, his cousin, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ra) volunteered to hide in the Prophet’s ﷺ bed. This way the assassins, thinking the Prophet was still fast asleep in his home, wouldn’t notice when the Prophet ﷺ and his close friend Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (ra) slipped away quietly in the night. When the assassins entered the house of the Prophet ﷺ in the morning, they were disappointed and angry to find young Ali in his place and, in their surprise, allowed him to walk out of the house. Meanwhile, the Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr (ra) were long gone from Mecca and on the road to a place where Muslims were welcome and wouldn’t face persecution: Medina. Tired from their long journey on foot, the Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr (ra) suddenly heard the sound of hooves. Their enemies had caught up with them! They darted into the nearest cave, but could hear the footsteps of their pursuers close behind. They came closer and closer, until the would-be assassins were standing right outside of the cave their prey was hiding in. Abū Bakr (ra) was worried and said, “If any of them should look under his feet, he would see us.” The Prophet ﷺ, however, was the image of calm. “O Abū Bakr!” he exclaimed. “What do you think of two \[persons\] the third of whom is Allah?”[^71] As the assassins approached the entrance of the cave, what do you think they saw? They saw that the entrance was covered in a spider’s web! They said to one another, “Look at this web. If anyone had just entered here, the spider would not have spun a web over the entrance.”[^72] Convinced that the cave was empty, the assassins turned around and left, not knowing that they were mere feet from capturing their targets. Once the Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr (ra) were certain the enemy was gone, they left the cave and descended the mountain, continuing their journey safely to Medina where they were warmly welcomed and embraced. #### Al-Muhaymin (The Guardian, The Watchful Protector)[^73] *Al-Muhaymin* is a special and beautiful Name of Allah. It means the Guardian, the Protector. *Al-Muhaymin* is the One who safeguards us from all types of danger.  He is the One who watches us, guards us, and gives us peace and security. Picture yourself wrapped in a warm blanket as a chilly wind blows in. Similarly, Allah embraces us with His protection. Can you think of a time when you were protected? Have you ever had a moment when you realized that something bad could have happened, but didn’t? Maybe you wanted to go somewhere but couldn’t, and all of your friends who did go ended up getting sick. Maybe you remember a severe fall that only resulted in a minor scrape and not a broken bone. Or have you ever wanted something so badly and didn’t get it only to get something better? Allah’s protection of us is constant so it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s an invisible force always present in our daily lives, protecting our bodies, our hearts, and our loved ones. Take a moment and think of all of the parts of your life that have been guarded for you today—your parents, your home, your health, your faith, even your favorite toys. There are too many to count, right? Whenever you feel afraid or helpless, remember that Allah is *al-Muhaymin*, your Guardian and Protector. Remember that He is always watching over you, and that His protection surrounds you in too many ways to count. #### Questions for discussion - How do we see the protection of Allah in the story of the spider and the cave? - Can you name five things *al-Muhaymin* has kept safe and protected for you today? - Can you remember a time when something bad could have happened but it didn’t? What happened? How did Allah protect you? - Visualize: Does an image come up when you picture the protection of Allah? (e.g., being surrounded by beautiful light; being wrapped in a protective blanket; Allah sending an angel to protect you, etc.). Describe it and think about how it makes you feel when you picture yourself surrounded by His protection. ### Lesson 2 ### ii. Allah is always near The story below beautifully demonstrates that no matter how dark your surroundings or how difficult your circumstances, Allah is always near and will always respond to you when you call upon Him. This is a story of hopefulness that provides us with reassurance and support even in the darkest of times, illustrating that Allah is *al-Qarīb*, the Near. #### The companion of the whale Prophet Jonah (Yūnus as) was sent to the people of Nineveh (Naynawa) to help them become Muslim. As you can imagine, prophethood is not an easy task. Sometimes communities are accepting of Islam, whereas other times it’s much more difficult to get people to believe. When Prophet Yūnus found out that his people rejected the message of Islam, he decided to leave. He got on a ship and left the town. While at sea, the waves began to toss the ship around violently. The tossing became so bad that the ship’s crew decided someone would need to be thrown overboard. They cast lots three times, and every single time the results chose Yūnus. He would be the one who would have to jump overboard. Imagine how this must have felt! Imagine looking out over the side of a ship and seeing huge waves, stormy weather, and a seemingly endless sea, knowing you would soon be within it. How terrifying! Prophet Yūnus knew this was it. This was his destiny. He had been chosen all three times; there was no escape. He leapt from the ship. Now stranded in  the middle of a stormy sea, Prophet Yūnus saw something that must have made his blood run cold: the looming shape of a massive beast cutting through the waves. It was a whale! There was no way to swim faster than something created for speed and agility in the water. Within moments, Prophet Yūnus found himself swallowed by the whale. It was over! But then, somehow, miraculously, it wasn’t. This whale was inspired by Allah to keep Yūnus safely within him rather than eat him. Imagine this experience—to be in a place no human being has ever witnessed and lived; to be in the darkest depths of the ocean within the belly of a huge whale. It was during this time that Yūnus called out to Allah and said: “There is no god worthy of worship except You), exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.”[^74] It has been narrated that: > When it occurred to the Prophet Yūnus, upon him be peace, to call upon Allah in these words when he was in the belly of the great fish, he said, “There is no god worthy of worship except You, exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” This call went and hovered around the (mighty) Throne, and the angels said, “O Lord, this is the voice of one who is weak but known, in a faraway strange land.” Allah, may He be exalted, said, “How do you know this?” They said, “O Lord, who is he?'” Allah, may He be exalted, said, “My servant Yūnus.” They said, “Your servant Yūnus, from whom there kept coming acceptable deeds and supplications which were answered!” They said, “O Lord, will You not have mercy on him for what he did during his time of ease, and save him from this trial and tribulation?” He said, “Of course.” So, He commanded the great fish, and it cast him forth on the naked shore.[^75] And so, even beneath layer upon layer of darkness, Allah responded to Prophet Yūnus’s prayer and freed him from the depths, returning him to safety. #### Al-Qarīb (The Near) The name of Allah, *al-Qarīb*, means the Near One. Allah is close to us by His knowledge and ability to respond to us, not just when we say words out loud, but when the thoughts and feelings are hidden inside us as well: > Indeed, it is We who created humankind and fully know what their souls whisper to them, and We are closer to them than their jugular vein.[^76] There are many lessons that can be derived from the story of Yūnus, but we’ll share just a couple: 1. Allah is always with you through His knowledge. Unlike anyone else—even your loved ones—He knows when you are sad, need Him, or want to be closer to Him. The Heavens might feel far away, but Allah is not. 2. Any time you make a mistake you can turn back to Allah through the power of *duʿāʾ*. Allah is not like a friend or family member, where when you mess up the relationship could be over or beyond repair. Allah always wants you to come back to Him. ### Exercise Imagine what a tiny speck you must look like on Earth from space. Or go out even further—what about all the way from the Heavens?! Imagine zooming into the Earth until you start to see continents more clearly, and then countries, and then cities, and then homes. Imagine looking at the vast ocean, past the crest of the waves, deep into the water and all the way to the bottom where you can see the fish. Zoom in further with your imagination… Can you imagine Prophet Yūnus (as) in the bottom of the ocean in the belly of the whale? Despite all that distance Allah heard him in the heavens, and despite his mistake Allah forgave him. Whenever you feel all alone, or lonely, or don’t have someone to talk to—know Allah is there. Or when it feels like everyone has turned their back on you, know that Allah is with you by His knowledge and is ready to hear your *duʿāʾ*. You can turn to Allah for help, comfort, and safety. Write down some of these *ā**yāt* in a safe place to remind you of the special connection you have with Allah: > And when My servants ask you, \[O Muhammad\], concerning Me – indeed I am near (*qarīb*).[^77] > Indeed, He is Hearing and near.[^78] > Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive.[^79] --- ## X. Suggested books and resources \*Please note all these books have been read, reviewed, and vetted according to Islamic guidelines by Shifa Saltagi Safadi (@muslimmommyblog [www.muslimmommyblog.com](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.muslimmommyblog.com/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477800701&usg=AOvVaw3hQiTVZBlSUTwppa6HWgKy)) Ages 0-3 (Board Books): 1.     [Allah Knows All About Me](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/allah-knows-all-about-me&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477801453&usg=AOvVaw0RL37dyL9M_eiEqcKEa6Pi) by Yasmin Mussa 2.     [The ABCs of Allah Loves Me](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/the-abc-of-allah-loves-me&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477801797&usg=AOvVaw2GC8DrUHd8MuVdw2pD946N) by Learning Roots Ages 4-8 (Picture Books): 1.     [How Much Does Allah Love Me](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/maymunah-s-musings&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477802321&usg=AOvVaw1N-YjoulWwaeOHOIJeZVne) by Heba Subeh-Hyder 2.     [Basirah the Basketballer Says InshaAllah](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/basirah-the-basketballer-says-inshaallah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477802656&usg=AOvVaw0xkgiLAkEYPoybyk1kisy0) by Hafsah Dabiri 3.     [In My Mosque](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/in-my-mosque&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477802935&usg=AOvVaw0559YrXj1upkUXRhFdoZwZ) by Mindy Yuksel and Hatem Aly 4.     [Yan’s Hajj](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/yan-s-hajj&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477803203&usg=AOvVaw2GDeBnP5coj8aaMPRGO63F) by Fawzia Gilani 5.     [Zak and His Good Intentions](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/zak-and-his-good-intentions&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477803503&usg=AOvVaw3IJS_iUi58GzIkfWp_MpRt) by J. Samia Mair Ages 9-12 (Chapter Books): 1.     [Turning Back to Allah](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/turning-back-to-allah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477803965&usg=AOvVaw3syeVGWxfVWXOFJnuV736Q) by Aliya Vaughn 2.     [Salaam Mindfulness Journal](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/salaam-mindfulness-journal&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477804250&usg=AOvVaw2u0oMzq7lPGc1mDayClE45) Ages 12-15 (Middle School Books): 1. [Sophia’s Journal](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/sophia-s-journal&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477804665&usg=AOvVaw2opLAsLXAoe6Lo0Zf8M5mm) by Najiyah Maxfield 2. [Allah Loves](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/allah-loves&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477804940&usg=AOvVaw2Zaoav4WX4jRRLuBq6xCgh) by Omar Suleiman Ages 16 and up (Young Adult/Teen Books): 1. [A Place of Refuge](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/a-place-of-refuge&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477805370&usg=AOvVaw0O-cj9jG8vwAd2xo-_9f_W) 2. [She Wore Red Trainers](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.muslimmommyblog.com/post/she-wore-red-trainers&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477805628&usg=AOvVaw1Pmh5FLGMIt5uTwiS5G-eM) To help children build a positive relationship with the Qur’an, which is key in strengthening their connection to Allah, consider making use of Learning Root’s [Kitab](https://www.learningroots.com/products/kiitab). It is an excellent resource which allows for interactive games to encourage a positive experience as children learn to read, understand, and memorize the Qur’an. For stories to listen to with your child that are filled with wonderful lessons and values to help them to build a stronger connection to Allah, take a look at **[Once Upon a Crescent](https://mrshashimi.com/),** a podcast geared toward Muslim children. --- ## Notes [^1]: Sarah Sultan and Najwa Awad, “Building Resilience in Children: An Islamic Model of Parenting,” *Yaqeen*, March 22, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-in-children-an-islamic-model-of-parenting](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-in-children-an-islamic-model-of-parenting). [^2]: Linda C. Gallo and Timothy W. Smith, “Attachment Style in Marriage: Adjustment and Responses to Interaction,” *Journal of Social and Personal Relationships* 18, no. 2 (2001): 263–89. [^3]: Barbara H. Esbjørn, Signe H. Pedersen, Sarah I. F. Daniel, Helle H. Hald, Jon M. Holm, and Howard Steele, “Anxiety Levels in Clinically Referred Children and Their Parents: Examining the Unique Influence of Self‐Reported Attachment Styles and Interview‐Based Reflective Functioning in Mothers and Fathers,” *British Journal of Clinical Psychology* 52, no. 4 (2013): 394–407. [^4]: Jane Barlow, Anita Schrader‐McMillan, Nick Axford, Zoe Wrigley, Shreya Sonthalia, Tom Wilkinson, Michaela Rawsthorn, Alex Toft, and Jane Coad, “Attachment and Attachment‐Related Outcomes in Preschool Children: A Review of Recent Evidence,” *Child and Adolescent Mental Health* 21, no. 1 (2016): 11–20. [^5]: Darrin J. Knapp, Jonathan G. Sandberg, Josh Novak, and Jeffry H. Larson, “The Mediating Role of Attachment Behaviors on the Relationship between Family-of-Origin and Couple Communication: Implications for Couples Therapy,” *Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy* 14, no. 1 (2015): 17–38. [^6]: Shelia M. Kennison and Victoria H. Spooner, “Childhood Relationships with Parents and Attachment as Predictors of Resilience in Young Adults,” *Journal of Family Studies* 29, no. 1 (2023): 15–27, [https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2020.1861968](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2020.1861968&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477819607&usg=AOvVaw2n7Rz0V_c-C33DI8bGrZiM). [^7]: Qur’an 31:13. [^8]: Richard Beck and Angie McDonald, “Attachment to God: The Attachment to God Inventory, Tests of Working Model Correspondence, and an Exploration of Faith Group Differences,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 32, no. 2 (2004): 92–103. [^9]: Wade Rowatt and Lee A. Kirkpatrick, “Two Dimensions of Attachment to God and Their Relation to Affect, Religiosity, and Personality Constructs,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* 41 (2002): 637–51. [^10]: Rowatt and Kirkpatrick, “Two Dimensions of Attachment.” [^11]: Hassan Elwan and Osman Umarji, “The Alchemy of Divine Love: How Our View of God Affects Our Faith and Happiness,” *Yaqeen*, December 29, 2022, updated June 9, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477819140&usg=AOvVaw0zmqPEguIjBv12-31Cfxth). [^12]: Julian Culver and Melinda Lundquist Denton, “Religious Attachment and the Sense of Life Purpose among Emerging Adults,” *Religions* 8, no. 12 (2017): 274, [https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8120274](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8120274&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477809217&usg=AOvVaw34jk4a0ZiscXQeOOBZsfrF). [^13]: Culver and Lundquist Denton, “Religious Attachment.” [^14]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2516. [^15]: Daphne M. Davis and Jeffrey A. Hayes, “What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness? A Practice Review of Psychotherapy-Related Research,” *Psychotherapy Theory Research Practice Training* 48, no. 2 (2011): 198–208. [^16]: Parrott, Justin. “How to Be a Mindful Muslim: An Exercise in Islamic Meditation,” *Yaqeen*, November 21, 2017, updated June 12, 2023, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-be-a-mindful-muslim-an-exercise-in-islamic-meditation. [^17]: Beck and McDonald, “Attachment to God.” [^18]: Qur’an 65:3. [^19]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5647. [^20]: Al-Bukhārī, *al-Adab al-mufrad*, no. 532. [^21]: Stacey M. Schaefer, Jennifer Morozink Boylan, Carien M. van Reekum, Regina C. Lapate, Catherine J. Norris, Carol D. Ryff, and Richard J. Davidson, “Purpose in Life Predicts Better Emotional Recovery from Negative Stimuli,” *PLOS ONE* 8, no. 11 (2013): e80329, [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080329](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080329&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477823494&usg=AOvVaw0RuxEKu-8z6jWIS5tETTEf). [^22]: Angie McDonald, Richard Beck, Steve Allison, and Larry Norsworthy, “Attachment to God and Parents: Testing Correspondence vs. Compensation Hypotheses,” *Journal of Psychology and Christianity* 24 (2005): 21–28. [^23]: Elwan and Umarji, “Alchemy of Divine Love.” [^24]: Stewart D. Friedman, “How Our Careers Affect Our Children,” Harvard Business Review, November 14, 2018, [https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-our-careers-affect-our-children?utm\_medium=social&utm\_campaign=hbr&utm\_source=facebook&tpcc=orgsocial\_edit&fbclid=IwAR3LripQ4B5j9HjyMB-niPElQWP75361brbHAJCyjIF82oVBFzCIT9VedU0](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-our-careers-affect-our-children?utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dhbr%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26tpcc%3Dorgsocial_edit%26fbclid%3DIwAR3LripQ4B5j9HjyMB-niPElQWP75361brbHAJCyjIF82oVBFzCIT9VedU0&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477811019&usg=AOvVaw1MtUWRPz6UxBpr57C2sgua). [^25]: Qur’an 2:186. [^26]: Qur’an 50:16. [^27]: Al-Bukhārī, *al-Adab al-mufrad*, no. 710. [^28]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 3784. [^29]: A resource to explain Allah being *al-Walī* in detail can be found here: Hassan Elwan and Osman Umarji, “Comic Cop of Loving Lord: The Influence of Parenting on Our View of God Submission and Contentment,” *Yaqeen*, June 20, 2023, updated August 9, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/cosmic-cop-or-loving-lord-the-influence-of-parenting-on-our-view-of-god-submission-and-contentment](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/cosmic-cop-or-loving-lord-the-influence-of-parenting-on-our-view-of-god-submission-and-contentment&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477824281&usg=AOvVaw0dIQoHASn-kblc6ch0imzY). [^30]: Qur’an 2:257. [^31]: Qur’an 3:150. [^32]: Qur’an 9:51. [^33]: Qur’an 85. [^34]: Qur’an 85:11. [^35]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 5088. [^36]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5999. [^37]: Qur’an 3:31. [^38]: Qur’an 11:90. [^39]: Qur’an 2:152. [^40]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7505; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2675. [^41]: *Jāmiʾ at-Tirmidhī*, no. 3161. [^42]: Qur’an 41:41–42. [^43]: Qur’an 2:2. [^44]: Qur’an 10:57. [^45]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2878. [^46]: Qur’an 2:255. [^47]: Qur’an 4:175. [^48]: Karen Caldwell and Karolyn Senter, “Strengthening Family Resilience through Spiritual and Religious Resources,” in *Handbook of Family Resilience*, ed. Dorothy S. Becvar (New York: Springer, 2012), 441–55. [^49]: Qur’an 20:123. [^50]: *Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah*, no. 34781. [^51]: Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawjiyya, *Madārij al-Sālikīn* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1996). [^52]: Qur’an 13:28. [^53]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2700. [^54]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3614; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 795. [^55]: Qur’an 2:156. [^56]: Jane Taylor Wilson, “Brightening the Mind: The Impact of Practicing Gratitude on Focus and Resilience in Learning,” *Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning* 16, no. 4 (2016): 1–13. [^57]: Qur’an 1:2. [^58]: Sophie A. Kay, “Emotion Regulation and Resilience: Overlooked Connections,” *Industrial and Organizational Psychology* 9, no. 2 (2016): 411–15. [^59]: Julie Lynch, Lucia Prihodova, Pádraic J. Dunne, Caoimhe O’Leary, Rachel Breen, Áine Carroll, Cathal Walsh, Geraldine McMahon, and Barry White, “Mantra Meditation Programme for Emergency Department Staff: A Qualitative Study,” *BMJ Open* 8, no. 9 (2018): e020685. [^60]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 67. [^61]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 16. [^62]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6632. [^63]: Qur’an 9:128. [^64]: *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad*, no. 12169. [^65]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 202. [^66]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 199b. [^67]: Clare Marriott, Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis, and Chris Harrop, “Factors Promoting Resilience Following Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Structured, Narrative Review of the Literature,” *Child Abuse Review* 23 (2014): 17–34, [https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2258](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2258&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477815147&usg=AOvVaw1MO_82rWWHZUC-F3NlWaEV). [^68]: Tegan Cruwys, Genevieve A. Dingle, Catherine Haslam, S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, and Thomas A. Morton, “Social Group Memberships Protect against Future Depression, Alleviate Depression Symptoms and Prevent Depression Relapse,” *Social Science and Medicine* 98 (2013): 179–86, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.013](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.013&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477815663&usg=AOvVaw0_N_RYsK_kzEwq_l5Se3zM). [^69]: For more on motivation and inculcating intrinsic religious motivation: Jihad Saafir and Osman Umarji, “How to Raise Religious Teens: A Self-Determination Theory Approach,” *Yaqeen*, October 24, 2022, updated March 30, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477820212&usg=AOvVaw0i0AuGrQCxj0ifNa9BVDL-). [^70]: Qur’an 9:51. [^71]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3653. [^72]: *Musnad al-Imām* *Ahmad*, no. 3241; authentication grade is fair (*ḥasan*). [^73]: [https://wahiduddin.net/words/99\_pages/muhaymin\_7.htm](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wahiduddin.net/words/99_pages/muhaymin_7.htm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1693498477816642&usg=AOvVaw3wl9PjPtorlz4goDHd_v0u). [^74]: Qur’an 21:87. [^75]: Ibn Kathir, *Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr* (Riyadh: Dar al-Salām, 2000), 37:142. [^76]: Qur’an 50:16. [^77]: Qur’an 2:186. [^78]: Qur’an 34:50. [^79]: Qur’an 11:61. ## Summary Attachment is not a peripheral matter in the raising of children; it is foundational to both their psychological and spiritual flourishing. When we speak of attachment, we mean the relational pattern that first forms between a child and their primary caregiver in infancy, establishing the template through which that child comes to relate to the world, to others, and ultimately to their Lord. The general categories identified in this field are secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized, and avoidant attachment. A healthy, secure attachment prepares a child for better mental health and healthier relationships, while unhealthy attachment can contribute to poor mental and physical wellbeing. Many parents attend diligently to material and educational provision—food, housing, schooling, manners, and even religious instruction—yet overlook the *quality* of their relationship with their children. Yet just as a lesson delivered over a faltering internet connection cannot truly be learned, so too knowledge transmitted through yelling, demeaning, or disengagement is unlikely to take root. It is the quality of interaction, not merely its content, that shapes a child's wellbeing. The Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model advanced here rests upon the conviction that resilience models designed only for success in the *dunyā* are incomplete, for they neglect attachment to Allah, which is essential for success in the *ākhira*. This model draws upon the counsel of Luqmān to his son, and it is fitting that its foundation begins with the first advice Luqmān gave: *"O my dear son! Never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs"* (Qur'an 31:13). Attachment need not be confined to parents; it can and must extend to God. Research cited here suggests that God may function psychologically as an attachment figure, a "safe haven in times of crisis and a secure base from which to explore," and that attachment to Allah is linked with greater life satisfaction, religiosity, emotional resilience, and lower psychological distress. The clearest articulation of this primary attachment to Allah is found in the counsel the Prophet ﷺ gave to the young Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him): *"Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so… The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry."* From this we draw several lessons. First is mindfulness of Allah, which in the Islamic tradition (*murāqaba*) differs from contemporary notions of mindfulness centered on being "present," for it means being conscious of Allah's presence and watchfulness—a consciousness that builds integrity even in the absence of any human authority. Second is the prioritization of connection with Allah above every other; notably, this particular hadith makes no mention of parents, though such reverence is affirmed elsewhere in the tradition. Third, the qualities researchers associate with healthy attachment—security, responsiveness, and being a safe haven—are here all identified with Allah. And crucially, the Prophet ﷺ does not shelter the youth from the reality of adversity but affirms it, teaching reliance upon Allah, as the Qur'an confirms: *"And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He alone is sufficient for them"* (Qur'an 65:3). There is, moreover, a resilience that arises only from complete submission to Allah alone through the doctrine of *tawḥīd*. When one grasps that trials may be a means of nearness to Allah and that even the slightest pain is recompensed, hardship takes on new meaning. As the Prophet ﷺ said, *"No Muslim is afflicted with any harm, even if it were the prick of a thorn, but that Allah expiates their sins because of that, as a tree sheds its leaves."* Likewise he promised Zayd b. Arqam that steadfast endurance of blindness, reckoning the reward with Allah, would be rewarded with the Garden. A firm sense of purpose protects children from unhealthy dependence on external validation. All three branches of *tawḥīd* offer treasures for building this resilience: *tawḥīd al-ulūhiyya*, grounding the child in love of Allah and the purpose of worship; *tawḥīd al-rubūbiyya*, nurturing reliance (*tawakkul*) upon Allah as Creator, Provider, and Sustainer; and *tawḥīd al-asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt*, allowing the child to know, and thus love and trust, Allah through His Names and Attributes. The very characteristics that foster attachment between child and caregiver—identified by the attachment theorist Mary Ainsworth as maintaining proximity, providing safety, and being a secure base—can also foster attachment to Allah. Regarding proximity, accessibility, and responsiveness, parents should be reachable and attentive, for the parent-child bond becomes the working model a child projects onto their relationship with God. Parents demonstrate Allah's nearness and responsiveness through the verses: *"I am truly near. I respond to one's prayer when they call upon Me"* (Qur'an 2:186) and *"We are closer to them than their jugular vein"* (Qur'an 50:16), and through the Prophet's ﷺ teaching that no supplication is made but that Allah answers it swiftly, stores it, or averts an equal evil. The hadith of the divided prayer, in which Allah responds to each verse of al-Fātiḥa recited by His slave, further illustrates this responsiveness. As a protector providing safety, the parent must be believed, trusted, and relied upon, never burdening the child with adult concerns. To show that Allah is the ultimate Protector, *al-Walī*, parents may reflect on verses such as *"Allah is the Guardian of the believers"* (Qur'an 2:257) and *"Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us"* (Qur'an 9:51). Importantly, Allah's care does not always manifest as worldly victory; the People of the Ditch in Sūrat al-Burūj were slain yet declared victorious through their martyrdom and entry into Paradise, teaching that His aid ensures no enemy can overpower our will to worship Him. Children may also be taught the supplication *"Bism-illāhi al-ladhī lā yaḍurru maʿa ismihi shayʾun…"*, which, as ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān narrated from the Prophet ﷺ, protects one who says it thrice from sudden affliction. As a secure base, the caregiver offers comfort and solace amid uncertainty, expressed through warmth, physical affection, and genuine care. Regrettably, many families dwell solely upon Allah's punishment to deter misbehavior, neglecting His mercy. Yet the Prophet ﷺ, observing a captive woman nursing children, said, *"Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son."* The Qur'an affirms this love: *"If you sincerely love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you"* (Qur'an 3:31), and the Prophet ﷺ related that Allah says, *"I am just as My slave thinks of Me… he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running."* Beyond attachment to Allah and parents, our faith is incomplete without love and connection to the Qur'an, the Prophet ﷺ, and the community—here "attachment" is meant in the colloquial sense. The Qur'an, of which there is no doubt and which is *"a guidance for those conscious of Allah"* (Qur'an 2:2) and *"healing for what is in the breasts"* (Qur'an 10:57), draws us nearer to Allah, for we come to know Him through His words, as in Āyat al-Kursī. Ibn ʿAbbās affirmed that whoever follows the Qur'an will neither go astray nor be damned. Yet an attachment to the Qur'an cannot be built through fear and harsh punishment during its learning; as Ibn al-Qayyim said, the heart journeys to Allah like a bird whose head is love and whose wings are fear and hope—when the head is severed, the bird dies. Attachment to the Prophet ﷺ is likewise obligatory, for as he said, *"None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his child, his father, and all the people."* We attain this love by knowing his character, his resilience, and his deep concern for his *ummah*, for whom he reserved his answered supplication and over whom he wept, *"My ummah, my ummah."* Finally, community affiliation—at the micro scale of mentors and peers, the meso scale of mosque and school, and the macro scale of the transhistorical *ummah*—provides emotional support and belonging that bolster resilience. Several considerations remain. Though attachment may be cultivated at any age, early childhood leaves the deepest impression, so it is best begun from birth with the parent and, once the child can understand around age three, with Allah. Yet parents cannot instill healthy attachment if their own bond with their parents or with Allah is compromised; introspection and personal healing are therefore essential. This is not a task to be rushed but a long-term journey, best supported through gentle, age-appropriate conversations and storytelling, keeping in mind that patience and persistence, not perfection, are what the path requires. ## Key Takeaways 1. Attachment is the foundation on which resilience in children is built, and within the Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model (IIRM), the first and most essential attachment is the child’s bond with Allah. When children grow up feeling securely connected to God, viewing Him as a source of love, mercy, and refuge, they develop the emotional and spiritual anchoring that helps them navigate hardship without losing their grounding. 2. Attachment to parents is the second pillar and the most influential human relationship in shaping a child’s sense of safety. Securely attached children form a positive view of themselves and others, learn to trust, and develop the ability to depend on others without becoming overly dependent. These early bonds shape how children later relate to Allah, since the parental relationship serves as the lens through which a child’s image of God begins to take form. 3. Beyond Allah and parents, children benefit from a wider web of attachment that strengthens resilience. Relationships with mentors, Muslim peers, study circles, mosques, and Islamic schools provide additional sources of belonging and guidance, which can be especially important for children growing up as religious minorities. These broader attachments cannot replace parental involvement, but they supplement it and help children feel rooted in a larger community of faith. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How can I raise children who genuinely want to be Muslim, rather than feel forced into it? The key lies in cultivating attachment, both to the parent and to Allah. When children feel secure, responded to, and loved, they develop a relational template that shapes how they connect to everything else, including their Creator. Parents who focus only on enforcing rituals and behaviors often produce short-term compliance but long-term distance, because the child has never internalized the practice as their own. The Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model proposes that a child who feels safely attached to Allah, to their parents, and to the wider Muslim community is far more likely to embrace Islam from the inside rather than perform it from the outside. This means parents must invest as much in the quality of their relationship with their child as they do in teaching beliefs and rituals. A child who is yelled at, dismissed, or only addressed when they have done something wrong will struggle to internalize the religion being taught to them, no matter how technically correct the teaching is. A child who feels respected, heard, and supported is far more open to receiving the message of Islam as something good rather than something imposed. ### How can I help my child feel that Allah is close, loving, and listening to them? Several concrete habits can build this sense over time. Talk openly about Allah being near, drawing on the Qur’anic verse, “When My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to one who calls upon Me” (Qur’an 2:186). Discuss the names of Allah that highlight closeness and responsiveness, such as al-Samiʿ (the All-Hearing), al-Mujib (the Responder), al-Qarib (the Near), al-Wadud (the Most Loving), and al-Rahman (the Most Gracious). Teach your child the etiquette of *dua* and stress that Allah always hears their call. When one of their *dua*s is answered, point it out and practice gratitude together. Share stories from your own life about times Allah responded to your *dua* and guided you. Children love hearing personal stories from their parents, and this brings the relationship with Allah to life rather than leaving it abstract. The foundation of all of this is love. The Prophet ﷺ taught that Allah is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child, using the image of a captive woman who would never throw her son into a fire to convey how unimaginable Allah’s mercy is. Children who first know Allah through His mercy, gentleness, and care develop a relationship that endures through life’s challenges. ### How do I help my child build a love for the Qur’an instead of dreading it? Looking back on your own upbringing, in what contexts were verses from the Qur’an cited? For many, the Qur’an was used as a weapon to frighten rather than inspire, with warnings of punishment deployed to extract obedience. Many people have memories of struggling to memorize, dreading reciting in front of their Sunday school class, and being spanked, yelled at, or harshly punished for mistakes in learning to read and memorize. These painful associations can make it difficult to connect with the Qur’an later in life. Parents and community members often focus heavily on Arabic reading and pronunciation, which are important, but neglect equally important aspects like understanding the meaning, building a personal connection with the text, and helping children see how its lessons apply to their lives. Without these, children often feel alienated from the very words they are asked to recite. Building a love for the Qur’an requires the opposite approach. Read it together as a family, discuss the meaning of verses in age-appropriate ways, listen to it during calm moments, such as before bed, and turn to it during emotional turmoil. Share which verses resonate with you personally and why. Explore the Qur’anic stories of the prophets and the lessons they hold. Ask your child if they have a favorite verse and let them write it out and place it somewhere visible. The aim is for the Qur’an to become a source of comfort and meaning, not a source of stress. ### How do I explain Allah’s protection to my child when bad things still happen to good people? This is one of the most common questions children raise, and how parents answer it shapes how the child relates to Allah well into adulthood. The Prophet ﷺ did not shelter children from the reality of hardship. When he advised the young Ibn ʿAbbas, he told him plainly that if the entire world gathered to harm him, they could only harm him by what Allah had already written. This acknowledges adversity directly rather than denying it. Allah is the Protector, but His protection does not always mean a person gets what they want or avoids what they fear. The story of the People of the Ditch, mentioned in Surah al-Buruj, illustrates this. They were all killed by a tyrant ruler despite their unshakeable belief in Allah, yet the Qur’an declared their martyrdom and entrance to Paradise as the great victory. Allah’s protection is not about always making someone outwardly victorious over their enemies. It is about making no enemy able to overpower their will to worship Him. Children who understand this are protected from the fragile belief that faith should shield them from all pain, and are given a more durable framework for making sense of difficulty when it inevitably arrives. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-overcome-racism-lessons-from-west-african-scholars-tafsir-of-surat-al-hujurat # How to Deal With Racism: Lessons From West African Scholars’ Tafsīr of Sūrah al-Ḥujurāt **Author:** Imam Dawud Walid **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Black Heritage, Black History Month, Islam in Africa, Justice in Islam, Paper, Publication, Racism **Published:** June 23, 2023 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 ## Introduction Of the chapters in the Qur’an, *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* is the most concise and comprehensive in regards to conflict resolution and management. One of the socio-political conflicts which this chapter addresses is the proactive mitigation and prevention of racism. As racism, which is an extension of blameworthy tribalism (*ʿaṣabiyya*), has become more frequently discussed in the public discourse in the West, this particular ‘ism’ has also become a more frequent topic of discussion among Muslims. Any Muslim analysis of societal challenges should begin with the Qur’an, as well as those Muslim communities with the most wisdom regarding the specific challenge of racism. As such, here we will focus on two relevant verses in *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* and how they were addressed in the commentaries of two West African exegetes. They offer profound insights for how Muslims should mitigate racism within their communities. *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* directly addressed a societal context in Medina that differed drastically from the pre-migration environment of Makkah. Makkah was a fairly homogenous society ruled by the Arabs of the Quraysh tribe, while Medina’s population included Arabs from more diverse tribal backgrounds as well as non-Arabs of Jewish, Abyssinian, and Persian ancestries.[^1] It was in this community, at once quintessentially tribal yet diverse in lineage and phenotype, that this chapter was revealed. --- ## West African Scholars and Anti-Black Racism This article will focus on commentaries written by West African scholars on the 11th and 13th verses of *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt*. I first encountered these commentaries while in Mali and Senegal, during my studies in West African scholarship and in particular my studies of the exegetical sciences of the Qur’an with Shaykh Ali Sulaiman Ali (may Allah preserve him), who is from Ghana and is affiliated with the Hausa tribe. I do not claim that these two commentaries are superior to others produced inside or outside West Africa, nor do I claim that they bring forth any novel interpretations. But the perspectives of their authors are at once analogous to ours—they are surrounded by the dynamics of [anti-black racism](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-and-anti-blackness-leaving-ignorance-behind)—and yet refreshingly different, as they meet that challenge as Muslim scholars untrammeled by the identity crises and insecurities of Muslims living as marginalized communities. ### Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī The first exegete is Shaykh Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdū (1180AH/1766CE–1245AH/1829 CE), may Allah have mercy upon him. Hailing from the Fulani people of West Africa,[^2] his family settled in Hausaland, now within contemporary Northern Nigeria, Niger, and much of Chad. It was there that his famous brother Shaykh ʿUthmān ibn Fūdī, aka Uthman dan Fodio (may Allah have mercy upon him), established the Sokoto caliphate, in which Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī was a senior minister.[^3] The socio-political backdrop of this era involved, on the one hand, the struggle to purify the beliefs and practices of Muslims in the area from pre-Islamic practices such as animism and, on the other, the combating of corrupt Muslim chiefs who enslaved fellow Muslims for sale, including the enslavement of over 300 memorizers (*ḥuffāẓ*) of the Qur’an.[^4] Shaykh Ibn Fūdī was a prolific scholar in the Islamic sciences. He was not only a *ḥā**fiẓ* of the Qur’an but was also a master of hadith, having memorized over 100,000 Prophetic narrations. He was also a chief jurist in his time of the Mālikī tradition in which he wrote three treatises on Islamic rulings and governance entitled *Ḍ**iyāʾ al-ḥukkām* (Light Regarding the Magistrate), *Ḍ**iyāʾ al-siyāsa* (Light Regarding Politics), and *Ḍ**iyāʾ al-khulafāʾ* (Light Regarding the Caliph). His first exegesis, entitled *Ḍ**iyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl* (Light of Interpretation Regarding the Meaning of the Divine Revelation)*,* shall be referenced later in this article; however, he wrote a second exegesis titled *Kifāya ḍu’afāʾ al-sudān* (Sufficiency for the Blacks of Weak Understanding) which dealt more specifically with commentary based upon the Warsh reading of the Qur’an as well as verses with legal implications based upon his studies of the Mālikī tradition in Hausaland. Regarding the sciences of Qur’anic interpretation, he also skillfully condensed the meaning of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s book *Al-Itqān fī ‘ulūm al-Qurʾān* (The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qur’an) into Arabic poetry (*naẓm*) which he entitled *Sulālat al-tafsīr* (Descent of the Qur’anic Exegesis). He wrote two dozen other works on subjects such as Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence (*u**ṣūl al-fiqh*), sciences of Prophetic narrations, and spiritual purification. ### Shaykh Aḥmad Dem The second exegete is Shaykh Aḥmad Dem b. Muḥammad al-Amīn Dem (may Allah have mercy upon him). Shaykh Aḥmad Dem, who passed away relatively recently in 1973, was also Fulani and lived in Sokone, Senegal. He too followed the Mālikī tradition, which has long been the predominant *madhhab* in West Africa. Like Shaykh Ibn Fūdī, Shaykh Dem produced a commentary on the Qur’an. He was less prolific as a jurist and writer, perhaps because he did not enjoy the support of an Islamic government. Shaykh Dem was born into an environment in which racist French colonial rule dominated Senegal until the nation achieved quasi-independence in 1959. Shaykh Dem primarily dealt with two intellectual challenges. The first was the influence of French thought due to the colonial control of public education, which included the use of Christian missionaries.  None of the indigenous Senegalese population had been Christian prior to the advent of  colonialism, after which up to five percent converted. Shaykh Dem’s second challenge, more theological in character, was his public dispute with the Senegalese Mālikī scholar Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niasse (may Allah have mercy upon him), who authored an exegesis of the Qur’an entitled *Fī riyāḍ al-tafsīr li-l-Qurʾān al-karīm* (In the Meadows of the Exegesis of the Noble Qur’an) that argued it was possible to see Allah ﷻ in dreams. Shaykh Dem staunchly opposed this claim.[^5] Such theological debates were without precedent at that time, as theologians in Senegal unanimously followed the Ashʿarī creed. Niasse’s view was seen by Dem as firmly unorthodox. Shaykh Dem and Shaykh Niasse eventually reconciled before the former passed away, though they still disagreed on the issue. Compared to Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī’s concise four-volume exegesis, Shaykh Dem’s is far more comprehensive at a length of twenty volumes. It delves deeper into such subjects as the occasions of revelation (*asbāb al-nuzūl*), the abrogating and the abrogated (*al-nāsikh w-al-mansūkh*), and the variations of the Warsh and Qālūn recitations of the Qur’an as transmitted from the early successor (*tābiʿī*) Nāfiʿ al-Madanī (may Allah have mercy upon him), which he had authorization (*ijāza*) in. Shaykh Dem’s *tafsīr* also makes frequent reference to the *tafsīr* of *Rūh al-Ma'ānī* (Spirit of Meaning) by Sayyid Maḥmūd al-Alūsī (d. 1217/1802-1270/1854).[^6] His exegesis *Ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn al-jāmiʿ bayna ʿulūm al-tifatayn* (Light of the Bright Stars Between the Sciences of the Two Readings) will be referenced in the succeeding comments as well. ### Surah al-Hujurat, Ayah 11: Do not make fun of others The 11th verse of *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt*  states: > O you who believe, let not a *qawm* ridicule \[another\] *qawm*; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule \[other\] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another nor call each other by \[offensive\] nicknames. Wicked is the name \[i.e., mention\] of disobedience after \[one's\] faith. And whoever does not repent, then it is those who are the wrongdoers. Shaykh Ibn Fūdī stated that people (*q**awm*) in this verse specifically means “the men from them \[a people\],” not people in general meaning women and men, as the verse addresses women separately.[^7] Shaykh Dem stated regarding the verse: > It was revealed pertaining to three occasions. The first occasion of those of His speech “better than them” according to Ibn ʿAbbās \[may Allah be pleased with him\] stated, “It was revealed about Thābit b. Qays b. Shammās that he was told to make room in a gathering for someone in which he referred to him as the son of his mother, then made light of his status in the Era of \[pre-Islam\] Ignorance which predated them coming to Islam.[^8] The second is narrated from al-Ḍaḥḥāk that Tamīm mocked some of the poor companions, including ʿAmmār, who was a Black Arab, Ḍaḥḥāk, Ibn Fuhayra, who was African, Bilāl the Abyssinian, Ṣuhayb the Roman, Salmān the Persian, and Salīm Mawlā Abī Ḥudhayfa, who was also Persian.[^9] Shaykh Dem mentioned the same.[^10] The third is that some of the Muslims referred to ʿIkrima b. Abī Jahl upon him entering Medina as the Son of the Pharaoh of this Nation (*ibn firʿawn hādhihi al-umma*), about which he then complained to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).[^11] Shaykh Dem, commenting on the verse, wrote that “it is concluded that the associate of one making mockery of anyone is one who is involved in the mockery.”[^12] Such an individual shares the burden of responsibility of judgment, because s(he) is complicit by not speaking out against the mockery. Moreover, the companion of mockery collects sin along with the active mocker. In all three occasions relayed by Shaykh Dem, the mockery targeted matters of lineage. Although the mockery in the second instance was fueled in part by socioeconomic disparity, there was a clear connection at that time, as in many instances today, between lineage and socio-economic status. Shaykh Dem also mentioned that a man reportedly said to Luqmān (peace be upon him), who was Abyssinian, “What an ugly face you have!” Luqmān replied to him, “You find fault with what has been engraved upon or created \[by Allah\]?!”[^13] “Nor let women ridicule \[other\] women”—Shaykh Ibn Fūdī stated that this part of the verse addresses some of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ who mocked his wife Ṣafiyya (may Allah be pleased with her) by calling out to her, “O Jew, the daughter of a Jew” (*y**a yahūdiyya bint yahūdī*).[^14] These wives were Arabs, whereas Ṣafiyya was not. Shaykh Dem, referencing the same narration from al-Tirmidhī (may Allah have mercy upon him), said that Ṣafiyya came to the Prophet ﷺ in tears and told him what had been said to her. He ﷺ replied, “Surely you are the daughter of a prophet, your uncle was a prophet, and you are under the guardianship of a Prophet, so how can one take pride over you?”[^15] Shaykh Ibn Fūdī stated that the command in the verse to not make mockery means, “Do not find fault with one another for the believers are like one body.”[^16] Shaykh Dem concurred with this meaning, noting the Prophetic promise of “glad tidings to whom is preoccupied with his \[own\] faults instead of the faults of other people.”[^17] He also stated that this verse “indicates that no human being will completely rid themselves of faults.”[^18] One’s faults, however, do not relate to lineage or skin color, as these are given by the decree of Allah (Mighty and Sublime) and are not mistakes, nor errors. Shaykh Dem commented that not calling people by bad names carries the meaning of not belittling converts from Judaism and Christianity by referring to them as “O Jew” or “O Christian.”[^19] However, he stated that it is not prohibited to give people nicknames that are praiseworthy, such as “how ʿUmar \[b. al-Khaṭṭāb\] is referred to as Distinguisher Between Truth and Falsehood (*a**l-Fārūq*), ʿUthmān \[ibn ʿAffān\] is known as the Possessor of Two Lights (*Dhū al-Nūrayn*), and ʿAlī \[ibn Abī Ṭālib\] is known as Father of the Dust (*Abū Turāb*).”[^20] Shaykh Dem also mentioned that those who refuse to repent of their mockery are of the wrongdoers that are on the accursed path of Satan (Iblīs)—Iblīs, who refused to repent, who fancied himself to be better than Adam (peace be upon him). This is the path of being accursed, meaning being deprived of Divine mercy, as referenced in *Sūrat Hūd*, verse 18: Surely the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers. --- ## What the Quran says about mockery ### Surah al-Hujurat, Ayah 13: Do not be proud The second verse from *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* to be discussed is the 13th, which states: > O humankind, surely We created you from a single male and female, and We made you into different nations and tribes in order that you may know one another. Surely the most honorable of you with Allah are those of you who are most pious. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. Shaykh Ibn Fūdī, commenting on the opening of the verse, said that one of its meanings is:[^21] > From Adam and Eve, We created all of you from a single father and mother; thus all are equal in that, so there should be no seeking pride in lineage. Shaykh Dem mentioned that there is a difference of opinion surrounding the circumstances of this verse’s revelation. He relayed that Ibn ʿAbbās said that this was revealed at the time of the Conquest of Makkah, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) to call the *adhān* from on top of the Ka’bah. It is said that one man praised Allah that his father did not live to see this day. Another stated, “Could not Muhammad find someone to be the prayer-caller other than this Black crow (*al-ghurāb al-aswad*)?”[^22] It is said that Gabriel (Jibrīl) (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him what was said, after which the verse was recited.[^23] Another explanation given by Shaykh Dem is that the verse was revealed when the Prophet ﷺ instructed men from Banī Bayāḍa, an Arab tribe among the Anṣār, to have a woman from among them marry Abū Hind (may Allah be pleased with him).[^24] They replied to him, “Marry our daughter to a client \[meaning ex-slave\]?!”[^25] According to a different account, Thābit b. Qayṣ would not make room for a man in an assembly because he perceived him to be of lesser lineage. The Prophet ﷺ told him, “Look at the faces of the people.” Thābit said, “I see white, black, and red.” The Prophet ﷺ then told him, “Surely you have no merit over them except in piety (*taqwā*).”[^26] Shaykh Ibn Fūdī mentioned that nation (*shaʿb*) and tribe (*qabīla*) have two different interpretations. The first relates to more direct lineage. For example, the nation of the Prophet’s lineage was from Khuzayma, and his tribe was Kinānh, from which Quraysh comes. The second relates one coming from a non-Arab or an Arab in lineage.[^27] Shaykh Dem also conveyed the same. According to Shaykh Dem, we should know our lineages and those of others, but there is no seeking pride through our forefathers and tribes and calling to superiority through lineages:[^28] > Honor is but in piety, meaning praiseworthy pride in being above the people of disbelief by leaving polytheism (*shirk*) and sticking to Islam and its symbols. He continued in his commentary by saying:[^29] > Of its meanings is that the most noble with Allah the Most High is the one who is most pious, even if a Black Abyssinian slave like Bilāl was. So, if you seek honor, then find honor in piety and through the grace of Allah and His loving compassion. And by Allah the Most High, surely you look to the speech of him \[the Prophet\] ﷺ “I am the master of the Children of Adam but I have no pride,” means that there was not pride for him in being from nobles nor from him being given the Divine message. Of course not, it was through his servitude and worship. And that was his honor, meaning it was enough of an honor for him that being a slave took precedence over being the Messenger as conveyed in his speech, “And I witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger.” Shaykh Dem proceeded to reference the Prophetic narration:[^30] > Surely your Lord is One, and your father is one. There is no virtue of the Arab over the non-Arab, nor the non-Arab over the Arab. And there is no merit of the White over the Black, nor the Black over the White except in piety. Then he quoted:[^31] > Surely Allah does not look to your forms nor your outward actions, but He looks to your hearts and your intentions. This is based upon the reality that Allah ﷻ is the only One who truly knows the inward states of persons; thus, no one can judge the actual piety of another to make the claim that they are more beloved to Allah ﷻ. Although there are Prophetic narrations that speak to the merits of the Arab clan of Quraysh, these reports do not mean that everyone from Quraysh is superior to those who are not from among them. Furthermore, the tribe of Quraysh does not denote a phenotypic racial identity group. For instance, ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (may Allah ennoble his countenance), who was from Quraysh, was usually described as very dark (*a**dam shadīd al-udmah*),[^32] meaning he had the same skin color as most Abyssinians of his time. Yet his son al-Ḥasan (may Allah be pleased with him), who was equally a member of Quraysh, was light in skin tone and did not physically resemble his father.[^33] The commentaries of Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī and Shaykh Aḥmad Dem on these two verses in *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* indicate that Muslims must shun racism both within their individual selves and within their communities. The 11th verse commands desisting from rhetorical racism in four different ways. One who does not repent from such derogatory language takes on the attribute of Iblīs, the original non-repentant racist. The 13th verse elaborates upon the reality that humans have a single Creator and common ancestry through two parents, and that true honor is secured through humble servitude to Allah ﷻ, not through lineage or phenotypic traits. Both commentators suggest that Muslims, irrespective of ethnicity, should be given space in the community safe from derogatory mockery, should be allotted opportunities to serve based upon merit of character, and should be allowed to marry other Muslims without lineages and phenotypes being automatic disqualifiers. Racialized language mockery is disavowed due to its destructive consequences. For one, those who are subjected to derogatory racialized language can begin to view themselves as inferior, an issue which prompted Ibn al-Jawzī (may Allah have mercy upon him) to write the book *Tanwīr al-ghabash fī faḍl al-sudān wa al-ḥabash* (Illumination of Darkness Regarding the Merit of Blacks and Abyssinians) to help Muslims who were Black in curing their self-loathing. The use of racialized slurs by those with positional power can socially marginalize persons from economic opportunities, from access to safe educational environments, from the ability to marry. In the worst possible case, dehumanization of entire groups based upon racial and ethnic differences could lead to violence or ethnic cleansing as has unfortunately been the case in some societies in which Muslims now reside. Hence, the affirmative stance against the usage of racist language and mockery has real social implications. --- ## Conclusion Though written in Africa decades and centuries ago, these two commentaries offer valuable guidance to Muslims in the West. Effectively mitigating racial conflicts requires Western Muslim communities to take more aggressive steps than they have historically done. For starters, congregations  should consider inviting trained scholars and experts who don’t share their predominant racial background. The same should be the case in regional and national conferences on community development. These invitations, however, need to go beyond Black History Month programs and commemorations of the life of Malcolm X. They should not wait for such tragedies as the police homicides of Black folks like Eric Garner and George Floyd; they should not wait for when the Black community again pleads, “I can’t breathe.” The Prophet ﷺ appointing Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) as both the *muʾadhdhin* and the dispenser of charity even though other (Arab) companions could have done so reflected a commitment to including non-Arabs against a recent societal context of exclusion based upon origin. Just as the Prophet ﷺ fostered intercultural, intertribal, and interracial brotherhood by pairing together Medina’s natives and immigrants after the Prophet’s migration (*hijra*), so too must our communities institute programs that pair together youth across socio-economic and cultural divides. Experiential knowledge obtained through regular social interaction is the antidote for racial ignorance. As ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib stated, “people are adversaries of what they are ignorant of.”[^34] *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* should be regularly taught, perhaps even in annual seminars on managing racial and ethnic differences. These seminars must be organized in multiple countries and cities, with preference given to exegetes’ commentaries, as they offer in-depth and practical meditations on questions of tribalistic prejudice. The Qur’an is healing for all spiritual and social maladies, and our discourse on racism must be rooted in it rather than postmodern thought or secular critical theory. The goal, ultimately, is to foster a communal intolerance for derogatory name-calling based on phenotype and ethnicity. This was the example of the Prophet ﷺ, and it is an example that the *umma* must follow. May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī and Shaykh Aḥmad Dem, and may He have us implement the lessons of these two verses. --- ## Notes [^1]: The Quraysh were among the Arabs who trace their lineage to ‘Adnān and back to Prophet Ishmael (Ismā’īl). [^2]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl* (Sokoto: Al-Hajj Muhammad Ali Agha, n.d.), 1:3. [^3]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, 1:4. [^4]: Abdullah Hakim Quick, *In the Heart of a West African Islamic Revival: Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio, (1774–1804)* (Cairo: Al-Falah Foundation, 2007), 43–46; Muhammad Shareef and Rudolph Ware, *Jihad of the Pen* (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2018), 28. [^5]: Zachary Wright, “The Kashif al-Ilbas of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse: Analysis of the Test,” *Islamic Africa* 1, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 109–123, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/42656318?read-now=1&seq=6](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42656318?read-now%3D1%26seq%3D6&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1692121265401884&usg=AOvVaw29yioMw-1JQSy6uTIMke1i). [^6]: Maḥmūd al-Alūsī was a nineteenth-century Iraqi scholar who was a descendent of the Prophet’s grandson al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī. He was a mufti who judged according to the Hanafī school of jurisprudence during the reign of the Ottoman empire. [^7]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-ta’wīl fī ma’ānī al-tanzīl*, 4:130. [^8]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn* (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, n.d.), 17:122. [^9]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*. [^10]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-ta’wīl fī maʿnī al-tanzīl*, 4:130. [^11]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:122–123. [^12]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:122–123. [^13]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:124. [^14]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, 4:130; the hadith chain is graded authentic (*ṣahih*) in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*. [^15]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:129. [^16]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, 4:130. [^17]: The hadith chain is graded weak in *Musnad al-Bazzār*. [^18]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:127. [^19]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:128. [^20]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:128. [^21]: Ibn Fūdī, *Diyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, 4:132. [^22]: The hadith chain is graded weak in *Asbāb al-nuzūl* by al-Wāḥidī; the narration first appeared without a chain of narrators in the *tafsīr* of Muqātil b. Sulaymān. [^23]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:159. [^24]: The hadith chain is graded *ḥasan* in *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*. [^25]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:159 [^26]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:159; the hadith chain is graded weak in *Mukhtaṣar itḥāf al-sādah al-maharah bi-zawa’īd al-masānīd al-’ashara* by al-Buṣrī. [^27]: Ibn Fūdī, *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, 4:132. [^28]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:160. [^29]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:160. [^30]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, 17:161; the hadith chain is graded authentic in *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal*. [^31]: Dem, *Tafsīr ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirin*, 17:159; the hadith chain is graded authentic in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*. [^32]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Ṣifat al-ṣafwah* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1989), 1:169. [^33]: Al-Suyūṭī*, ‘Uqūd al-zabarjad ‘alā al-Imām Aḥmad* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1987), 1:94. [^34]: Al-Khuḍarī, *Itmām al-wafā fi sirat al-khulafā* (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Thaqāfiyya, 1982), 130. ## Summary Among the chapters of the Qur'an, *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* stands as the most concise and comprehensive with respect to conflict resolution and management. One of the socio-political conflicts it addresses is the proactive prevention of racism, which is understood here as an extension of blameworthy tribalism (*ʿaṣabiyya*). As discussions of racism have grown more frequent in Western public discourse and among Muslims, it is fitting that any Muslim analysis of this challenge begin with the Qur'an and with those Muslim communities possessing the most wisdom regarding it. To this end, attention is directed to the 11th and 13th verses of *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* as explained in the commentaries of two West African exegetes, whose insights bear directly upon how Muslims should mitigate racism within their communities. It is worth recalling that this chapter was revealed in Medina, a society that was at once deeply tribal yet diverse in lineage and phenotype—comprising Arabs of varied tribes as well as non-Arabs of Jewish, Abyssinian, and Persian ancestries—a setting markedly different from the more homogenous Makkah ruled by the Quraysh. The two commentaries examined were first encountered during studies in West African scholarship in Mali and Senegal, including exegetical study under Shaykh Ali Sulaiman Ali of Ghana. No claim is made that these two works are superior to others or that they offer novel interpretations. Rather, their value lies in the position of their authors: surrounded, as we are today, by the dynamics of anti-Black racism, yet meeting that challenge as scholars free from the identity crises that afflict Muslims living as marginalized minorities. The first exegete is Shaykh Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī (1180AH/1766CE–1245AH/1829CE), may Allah have mercy upon him, of the Fulani people, whose family settled in Hausaland. His brother, Shaykh ʿUthmān ibn Fūdī, established the Sokoto caliphate, in which Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī served as a senior minister. The era's struggles included purifying Muslim belief from pre-Islamic animism and combating corrupt Muslim chiefs who enslaved fellow Muslims—among them over three hundred memorizers (*ḥuffāẓ*) of the Qur'an. A *ḥāfiẓ* of the Qur'an, a master of hadith with over 100,000 narrations memorized, and a chief Mālikī jurist, he authored numerous works, including his exegesis *Ḍiyāʾ al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī al-tanzīl*, a second exegesis titled *Kifāya ḍuʿafāʾ al-sūdān* based upon the Warsh reading, and a versification (*naẓm*) of al-Suyūṭī's *Al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* titled *Sulālat al-tafsīr*. The second exegete is Shaykh Aḥmad Dem b. Muḥammad al-Amīn Dem, may Allah have mercy upon him, who died in 1973, also of Fulani origin, residing in Sokone, Senegal, and following the Mālikī *madhhab*. He was less prolific, perhaps for lacking the support of an Islamic government. He contended with two challenges: the influence of French colonial thought, spread through missionary-influenced public education under which up to five percent of the previously non-Christian population converted; and a theological dispute with Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niasse, may Allah have mercy upon him, whose exegesis *Fī riyāḍ al-tafsīr* argued that Allah ﷻ could be seen in dreams—a view Shaykh Dem opposed as departing from the Ashʿarī creed then unanimously held in Senegal, though the two later reconciled while still disagreeing. His twenty-volume exegesis, *Ḍiyāʾ al-nayyirīn*, is more comprehensive than Ibn Fūdī's four-volume work, treating the occasions of revelation, the abrogating and abrogated, and the Warsh and Qālūn recitations transmitted from Nāfiʿ al-Madanī, and drawing frequently upon al-Alūsī's *Rūḥ al-Maʿānī*. On the 11th verse—"O you who believe, let not a *qawm* ridicule [another] *qawm*... nor let women ridicule [other] women... And do not insult one another nor call each other by [offensive] nicknames"—Shaykh Ibn Fūdī held that *qawm* here means specifically the men, since women are addressed separately. Shaykh Dem related three occasions of revelation. The first, from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him), concerns Thābit b. Qays b. Shammās, who belittled a man by his mother's status in the manner of the pre-Islamic Era of Ignorance. The second, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerns Banū Tamīm mocking poor companions including ʿAmmār (a Black Arab), Ibn Fuhayra (an African), Bilāl the Abyssinian, Ṣuhayb the Roman, and Salmān and Salīm the Persians. The third concerns Muslims calling ʿIkrima b. Abī Jahl "the son of the Pharaoh of this Nation," which he complained of to the Messenger ﷺ. Shaykh Dem concluded that the companion of one who mocks shares in the sin by failing to speak against it. In all three cases the mockery concerned lineage, though the second was also tied to socio-economic status—a connection then as now. He further cited that a man told Luqmān (peace be upon him), an Abyssinian, "What an ugly face you have!" to which Luqmān replied, "You find fault with what has been engraved or created [by Allah]?!" Regarding the mockery of women, Shaykh Ibn Fūdī noted that some of the Prophet's Arab wives mocked Ṣafiyya (may Allah be pleased with her) by calling her "O Jew, daughter of a Jew." Shaykh Dem, citing the narration from al-Tirmidhī (may Allah have mercy upon him), related that the Prophet ﷺ consoled her: "Surely you are the daughter of a prophet, your uncle was a prophet, and you are under the guardianship of a Prophet, so how can one take pride over you?" Ibn Fūdī explained the prohibition as meaning, "Do not find fault with one another, for the believers are like one body." Shaykh Dem concurred, citing the glad tidings for one preoccupied with his own faults over those of others, and observing that no human is entirely free of faults—yet lineage and skin color are not faults, being the decree of Allah, Mighty and Sublime, and neither mistakes nor errors. He added that offensive naming includes belittling converts as "O Jew" or "O Christian," while praiseworthy nicknames remain permissible, as with ʿUmar being called al-Fārūq, ʿUthmān Dhū al-Nūrayn, and ʿAlī Abū Turāb. Finally, he warned that those refusing to repent walk the accursed path of Iblīs, who deemed himself better than Adam (peace be upon him), citing *Sūrat Hūd* (11:18): "Surely the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers." On the 13th verse—"O humankind, surely We created you from a single male and female, and We made you into different nations and tribes in order that you may know one another. Surely the most honorable of you with Allah are those of you who are most pious"—Shaykh Ibn Fūdī explained that all are created from Adam and Eve, equal in origin, so there is no pride to be sought in lineage. Shaykh Dem noted differing reports on its occasion. Ibn ʿAbbās held it was revealed at the Conquest of Makkah when Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) called the *adhān* atop the Kaʿbah and someone sneered, "Could Muhammad find no caller other than this Black crow?" Another report ties it to the tribe of Banī Bayāḍa refusing to marry a woman to Abū Hind (may Allah be pleased with him), an ex-slave. In a further account, when Thābit b. Qays refused a man a seat over his lineage, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Surely you have no merit over them except in piety (*taqwā*)." Shaykh Dem affirmed that one may know lineages without seeking pride through them; honor lies solely in piety, meaning praiseworthy elevation above disbelief through leaving *shirk* and adhering to Islam. The most noble before Allah is the most pious, "even if a Black Abyssinian slave like Bilāl." He cited the Prophet's words, "I am the master of the Children of Adam but I have no pride," understanding his honor to lie in servitude—hence "I witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger" places servanthood before messengership. He further cited the narration, "There is no virtue of the Arab over the non-Arab... nor the White over the Black... except in piety," and, "Surely Allah does not look to your forms nor your outward actions, but He looks to your hearts and your intentions." Since Allah ﷻ alone knows the inward, none may claim another is more beloved to Him. Narrations praising Quraysh do not render every Qurashī superior, nor is Quraysh a phenotypic group: ʿAlī (may Allah ennoble his countenance) was described as very dark (*adam shadīd al-udmah*), while his son al-Ḥasan (may Allah be pleased with him) was light—both of Quraysh. Taken together, these commentaries indicate that Muslims must shun racism within themselves and their communities. The 11th verse forbids rhetorical racism in four ways, and the unrepentant assumes the attribute of Iblīs, the original unrepentant one. The 13th verse establishes a single Creator and common ancestry, with true honor in humble servitude rather than lineage or phenotype. Both scholars imply that Muslims of every ethnicity deserve a space safe from mockery, opportunity based on merit of character, and freedom to marry without lineage or phenotype as automatic disqualifiers. Racialized mockery is disavowed for its destructive consequences: it can breed self-loathing—an affliction that moved Ibn al-Jawzī (may Allah have mercy upon him) to write *Tanwīr al-ghabash fī faḍl al-sūdān wa al-ḥabash*—and, wielded by the powerful, can marginalize people from livelihood, education, and marriage, and at worst lead to violence or ethnic cleansing. Though composed in Africa long ago, these commentaries offer guidance to Muslims in the West, who must act more decisively against racial conflict: inviting trained scholars of differing backgrounds beyond Black History Month or the commemoration of Malcolm X, and not awaiting tragedies such as the deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd. Just as the Prophet ﷺ appointed Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) as both *muʾadhdhin* and dispenser of charity, and paired the natives of Medina with the immigrants after the *hijra*, so too must communities pair youth across divides, since experiential knowledge is the antidote to racial ignorance—as ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib said, "People are adversaries of what they are ignorant of." *Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt* should be taught regularly, even in annual seminars across cities and countries, with preference given to the exegetes' commentaries, for the Qur'an is healing for every spiritual and social malady, and our discourse on racism must be rooted in it rather than in postmodern or secular critical theory. The aim is a communal intolerance for derogatory name-calling based on phenotype and ethnicity, following the example of the Prophet ﷺ. May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon Shaykh ʿAbdullāhī ibn Fūdī and Shaykh Aḥmad Dem, and grant us the implementation of the lessons of these two verses. ## Key Takeaways 1. Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt is the most concise and comprehensive chapter of the Qur’an on conflict resolution, and it directly addresses racism as an extension of blameworthy tribalism (*ʿaṣabiyya*). Revealed in Medina, a society far more diverse in lineage and physical appearance than Mecca, the chapter speaks to the reality of a multicultural Muslim community navigating tribal tensions and prejudice. 2. Verse 11 prohibits mockery, insults, and offensive nicknames, with the West African exegetes noting that even those who stand by while others mock are complicit in the sin. The verse was revealed in response to specific incidents involving racial and ethnic ridicule, targeting companions of African, Abyssinian, Roman, and Persian origin as well as those of Jewish ancestry. Refusing to repent from such mockery places a person on the same path as Iblīs, who fancied himself better than Adam and refused to acknowledge his wrong. 3. Verse 13 grounds the Islamic stance against racism in the shared origin of all humanity from a single father and mother, with diversity of nations and tribes intended for mutual recognition rather than hierarchy. True honor before Allah lies in *taqwā*, not lineage or ancestry, as the Prophet ﷺ affirmed when he told a companion that the only merit over others is in piety. Western Muslim communities must move beyond symbolic gestures and confront racism at both the interpersonal and institutional levels through inclusive leadership, intercultural programs, structural reforms within community spaces, and a sustained engagement with the Qur’an as the primary source for addressing prejudice and division. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does the Qur’an say about racism? The Qur’an addresses racism directly and treats it as an extension of blameworthy tribalism. Two verses of Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt in particular form the spine of the Islamic response. Verse 11 forbids mocking or ridiculing others, insulting them, or calling them by offensive nicknames, warning that those who do not repent are wrongdoers. Verse 13 grounds the equality of all human beings in their common origin: Allah created all of humanity from a single male and female, made them into nations and tribes so they would come to know one another, and declared that the most honorable in His sight is the most pious. Together these verses dismantle any claim that race, ethnicity, lineage, or phenotype confer superiority. The Prophet ﷺ reinforced this when he said there is no virtue of the Arab over the non-Arab, nor the non-Arab over the Arab, nor the white over the black, nor the black over the white, except in piety. Skin color and lineage are decreed by Allah and cannot be sources of pride or grounds for contempt. ### Is making fun of someone’s ethnicity, accent, or skin color really a sin in Islam? Yes, and the early Muslim community itself was warned against exactly this. The eleventh verse of Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt was revealed in response to multiple incidents of mockery. In one, some Muslims mocked poor companions for their backgrounds, including ʿAmmar ibn Yāsir, a Black Arab and one of the earliest believers; Bilāl, the Abyssinian companion known as the first muezzin in Islam; Suhayb, who was Roman; and Salmān, who was Persian. In another, a convert was insulted with the phrase “O Jew, the daughter of a Jew.” This was directed at Ṣafiyya, the Prophet’s wife, who came to him in tears. He ﷺ comforted her by reminding her that she was the daughter of a prophet, the niece of a prophet, and the wife of a prophet, and asked how anyone could claim superiority over her. The Qur’an’s response to these incidents was unambiguous: Do not ridicule one another, perhaps they may be better than you. Faults relate to a person’s choices, not to lineage or skin color, which are gifts from Allah. To mock those gifts is to find fault with what the Creator Himself has fashioned. ### Is racism a problem in Muslim communities? It is, and pretending otherwise contradicts both the Qur’an’s own framing and the lived reality of many Muslims. Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt was not revealed to a society that had already overcome tribal prejudice. It was revealed in Medina, a community of Arabs from diverse tribes alongside Muslims of Jewish, Abyssinian, and Persian ancestry, precisely because mockery based on lineage and ethnicity was happening among the believers themselves. The Qur’an does not address racism as a problem of outsiders; it addresses it as a problem inside the early Muslim community. That pattern continues today. Muslims who are subjected to derogatory racialized language by other Muslims can internalize a sense of inferiority, a harm serious enough that the classical scholar Ibn al-Jawzī wrote an entire book to help Black Muslims overcome the self-loathing that such mockery produced. Racial slurs from those with social or institutional power can marginalize people from economic opportunities, safe educational spaces, and marriage prospects. In the most severe cases throughout history, dehumanization based on race or ethnicity has escalated into violence and ethnic cleansing. The Qur’an’s stance is not abstract idealism. It is a direct response to a real and recurring problem that Muslim communities must confront honestly. ### What can Muslim communities do practically to address racism? Lessons drawn from these verses point to several concrete steps. Communities should invite trained scholars and experts who do not share the predominant racial background of the congregation, and these invitations should not be confined to occasional observances or sparked only by tragedy. Just as the Prophet ﷺ paired the Meccan migrants with the Medinan helpers in brotherhood after the hijra to build bonds across origin, communities today should create programs that pair youth across racial, cultural, and socioeconomic divides. Roles in the community, from giving the call to prayer to dispensing charity to leading initiatives, should be allotted based on merit of character rather than ethnic familiarity. Marriages between Muslims should not treat lineage or phenotype as automatic disqualifiers. Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt itself should be regularly taught, with deeper exegetical engagement, in seminars on managing racial and ethnic differences. The discourse on racism within Muslim communities should be rooted in the Qur’an and Sunna rather than imported wholesale from secular frameworks. The goal is to cultivate a communal intolerance for derogatory language and racialized contempt, which was the Prophetic standard. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/parenting-style-and-our-relationship-with-god-the-influence-of-parental-love-on-our-perception-of-god # Parenting Style and Our Relationship With God: The Influence of Parental Love on Our Perception of God **Authors:** Dr. Osman Umarji, Dr. Hassan Elwan **Topics:** Data, Family & Community, Parenting, Reports **Tags:** Names of Allah, Paper, Publication, Trending Papers **Published:** June 20, 2023 **Updated:** April 2, 2026 ## Introduction One of the most foundational Islamic beliefs is the acknowledgment of Allah’s sovereignty. Sovereignty refers to Allah’s absolute ownership, power, and supreme authority over the universe. Allah refers to Himself as ‘the Owner of Sovereignty’[^1] (*Mālik al-mulk*), and *Sūrat al-Mulk* begins with the proclamation, “Blessed is He in whose hand is all sovereignty.”[^2] “Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the throne. He covers the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it; and the sun, the moon, and the stars are subservient to His command. **Unquestionably, to Him belongs the creation and the command**; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.”[^3] As the absolutely sovereign, Allah creates what He wills and commands as He desires. Thus, His sovereignty includes universal decrees (*awāmir kawniyya*) and legal commands (*awāmir sharʿīyya*). Universal decrees refer to Allah simply saying “Be” to bring something into existence, whether an object or an event. We generally have no choice regarding the occurrence of His universal decrees. Allah’s legal commands, meanwhile, inform us of what to engage in and what to refrain from. We have been given the volition to obey or disobey these legal commands. Allah’s sovereignty to create and command is not intellectually difficult for people to understand, but it can be psychospiritually difficult for them to accept. Just as people object to trying turns in life, from the loss of a job to a decline in health, so too do people sometimes object to God’s legal commands—such as inheritance laws or the prohibition of interest—and refuse to follow them unless they understand their underlying wisdom. Why do some people accept Allah’s sovereignty intellectually, but not spiritually?  Why do they struggle to surrender to His decrees and commands? This spiritual struggle, which we refer to as submission reluctance, manifests in such responses to hardship as “Why did God do this to me? I don’t deserve this,” or, “Why did God allow that evil thing to happen?”[^4] Although asking ‘why’ out of a desire to better appreciate the situation is understandable; what we are referring to here are questions rooted in anger or resentment. The angels asked Allah why He would create humanity, but they asked out of curiosity, not hostility. We believe that at the core of submission reluctance is a distortion in people’s perceptions of Allah. A distorted image of God fosters misunderstandings of the intent behind His commands and decrees, and subsequently rebellion. In this paper, our aim is to unpack how divergent understandings of God develop and, in turn, impact our worship, surrender to Him, and religious doubts. --- ## Submission to God and submission reluctance The concept of submission (*taslīm)* is tied to our [image of God](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/belief-in-divine-love-discovering-spiritual-attachment-styles) and recognition of His sovereignty. Submission is not only the heart of Islam, it is the way of the entire universe. Allah informs us that every creation in the universe submits to Him, “So is it other than the religion of Allah they desire, while to Him have submitted \[all\] those within the heavens and earth, willingly or by compulsion, and to Him they will be returned?”[^5] Ibn al-Qayyim explicitly ties trust in God to our image of Him, as he states, “The key to trust (*tawakkul*) is having good assumptions of Allah. A person’s trust in God is commensurate with their good assumptions of Him and hope in Him.”[^6] The person who trusts God is able to submit to His will, and true submission implies complete acceptance of His legal commands and universal decrees.[^7] The Prophet ﷺ demonstrated how acceptance of universal decrees is tied to our faith when he said, “Everything has a reality, and the servant will not reach the reality of faith until he knows that what afflicted him could never miss him, and that what missed him could never have afflicted him.”[^8] The Qur’an elaborated on the connection between submission to commands and faith when Allah said, “But no, by your Lord, they will not \[truly\] believe until they make you, \[O Muhammad\], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves. Then, they will not find within themselves any discomfort from what you have judged and they will submit in complete submission.”[^9] This verse delineates the elements of submission that comprise complete faith, including (1) seeking out Islamic guidance on any disputed or unknown matter, (2) finding no discomfort in one’s heart upon learning what Allah has commanded, and accepting the guidance without complaint.[^10] Similarly, submission to His universal decrees involves satisfaction, acceptance, and contentment with whatever events Allah has not ordered us to fight against (e.g., injustice), especially those events that we have no power over, such as the tribulations of life that are unavoidable (e.g, losing a loved one, sickness). Ibn al-Qayyim concludes that a state of contentment and satisfaction (*riḍā*) is the fruit of trusting Allah and submitting to Him, all of which is built upon a healthy image of Him.[^11] The fruits of submission are as sweet as the fruits of submission reluctance are bitter. Submission reluctance to both decrees and commands is a major contributing factor to psychospiritual pathologies, including anxiety and depression. Behavioral therapies acknowledge this and have recently included acceptance as a major component in the treatment of mental illness. For example, dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT) includes radical acceptance as an essential skill to enhance distress tolerance, stating “Acceptance and surrender is the only way out of Hell in this life.”[^12] (We would add that surrender is also essential to escaping Hell in the afterlife). Acceptance is what differentiates the experience of pain as a path to growth (i.e., post-pain growth) rather than a path to suffering due to objection (i.e., post-pain withering or stagnation). Although it may not be difficult for people to intellectually appreciate the necessity of acceptance of God’s decrees and commands, it is easier said than done. People may experience submission reluctance when they don’t understand the intent behind God’s decrees or if they fundamentally misunderstand who God is. --- ## Cosmic cop God image People will struggle to love God, submit to His commands, and surrender to His decree if they internalize a distorted image of Him. Based on our empirical research and counseling sessions with community members, we find evidence that distortions in specific attributes of Allah lead to specific pathologies. For example, a perception of God as unforgiving is associated with elevated levels of anxiety and depression.[^13] Unfortunately, this conception of God as cosmic cop is widespread. The cop-like image of God is often perpetuated in popular culture.[^14] God the cosmic cop is cold, distant, and only concerned with strict adherence to His commands. He is a stringent lawmaker and callous enforcer less interested in our success than in our minute infractions of divine rules. We hypothesize that this false image of God develops due to an overemphasis on God’s role as rule-maker (*al-Ḥakam*) coupled with neglect of His care, nearness, and love. While not an inherently malignant figure, the cop is more likely to be associated with fear and punishment than love and compassion. Thus, people who develop a cop-like image of God might fearfully wonder what wire they’ll trip next, what wrath they will accidentally incur. They are likely to look at religion and scripture as a list of “dos and don’ts,” blind to the majesty of God’s message and estranged from a deeply intimate relationship with Him. They may perceive God’s laws as barriers to a more pleasurable life. Thus, the relationship a person has with God when they perceive Him primarily as a “cop” may be one of distance, resentment, objection, and excessive fear. --- ## The active ingredient of worship: Love of God The human being was created to worship Allah.[^15] Nonetheless, many people question why Allah asks us to worship Him.[^16] Unfortunately, this question often results from confusing the concept of “worship” with ritual obedience. However, worship cannot be confined to ritual. It was beautifully defined by Ibn Taymiyya as the ultimate fusion of love and humble submission to Allah.[^17] He states that a loving relationship with Allah cannot occur without properly understanding Him and cultivating appropriate feelings for Him. Ibn al-Qayyim, his illustrious student, further elaborates that complete servitude (*ʿubūdiyya*) is a byproduct of complete love, and complete love is a byproduct of the beloved’s perceived perfection.[^18] **He added that love makes servitude delightful, lightens the weight of afflictions, and frees the mind from the enslavement of ruminating thoughts.**[^19] Thus, perceiving God’s perfection facilitates loving Him, and loving Him facilitates our voluntary submission to His universal and legal commands. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ reinforced the notion that love and its opposite, hatred, are the elements necessary not only for making submission easier, but also for making it delightful and sweet. He ﷺ said, “Whoever has three within himself will find the sweetness of faith: one who loves Allah and His Messenger more than anything else, one who loves a servant only for the sake of Allah, and one who hates to turn back to disbelief after Allah has saved him, just as he hates to be thrown into the fire.”[^20] As Sheikh Mohammad Elshinawy beautifully said, “*ʿIbāda* (worship) represents a declaration of love for God, for ‘worshiping’ God without loving Him first is not *ʿibāda*, and the more one ascends the staircase of love, the more comfortable they become in the gardens of servitude.”[^21] One may imagine submission as a staircase (see Figure 1), whereby each step leads to a deeper manifestation of ʿ*ibāda.* The first steps include compliance with the obligatory and recommended behaviors, followed by finding these behaviors easier and less burdensome, and culminating in the experience of sweetness and joy in worship. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-1.-The-Staircase-of-Submission.png) We can illustrate how love makes obligations easier and enjoyable through the relationship between a mother and her child. Despite a mother having many obligations towards her child, such as waking up at night, feeding, changing, bathing, and so much more over time, a mother who loves her child deeply will be able to handle these obligations much easier than a mother who does not, and even with a sense of satisfaction. Even though she may be tired and exhausted, she sees her child as an immense blessing and her love fuels her commitment to meeting the child’s demands. It is only because of her intense love that the demands of motherhood are not only bearable but sometimes delightful. However, a mother might struggle much more to fulfill these same demands for someone else’s child. Thus, we can see that love is the difference between satisfaction and frustration in carrying out and accepting divine decrees and commands. --- ## The Loving Caretaker God image There exists an alternative to the cosmic cop God image, captured by Allah’s name *al-Walī* (The Loving Caretaker). This name encompasses many other Divine names and attributes, including *al-Qarīb* (The Intimately Close), *al-Wadūd* (The Loving), *al-Raḥīm* (The Compassionate), *al-Wakīl* (The Trustworthy), and *al-Muʿīn* (The Supporting and Helpful). Thus, the attributes of Allah subsumed under *al-Walī* combine acknowledgment of His sovereignty with His love, care, support, and the wisdom in what He decrees and commands. *Al-Walī* sets regulations out of His care and love for us, and imposes rules that facilitate human flourishing. Additionally, He provides help to those trying to obey Him and is Patient and Forgiving with mistakes. ***Al-Walī* is the Intimately Close who supports you and the Beloved who cares for and protects you.** Allah refers to Himself as the *Walī* of the believers multiple times in the Qur’an.[^22] The Loving Caretaker (*al-Walī*) image of Allah facilitates trust in Him, as one realizes that Allah only advises and commands us towards beneficial behaviors. Thus, people who develop an image of God as The Loving Caretaker (*al-Walī*) will not look at Islam as merely a list of “dos and don’ts.” Rather, they will enthusiastically seek out His guidance because they know the secret to happiness is found in following His commands and accepting His decree. Thus, their relationship with God is one of nearness, trust, submission, and love. Furthermore, they understand that although His legal and universal decrees are ultimately rooted in care for the believers, He is Absolutely Powerful and can hold people accountable. Thus, they possess a reverence for His attributes of strength and might, along with the understanding that He loves and supports the believers throughout the journey of life. “That is because Allah is the protector of those who have believed and because the disbelievers have no protector.”[^23] --- ## The loving wisdom behind Divine commands In a profound *ḥadīth* *qudsī*, Allah explains the connection between His commands and His love. The Prophet ﷺ narrates that Allah said, “Whosoever shows enmity to a *walī* (intimate friend) of Mine, then I have declared war against him. My servant does not draw closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the religious obligations I have enjoined upon him. My servant then continues to draw nearer to Me with supererogatory actions until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask \[something\] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant it to him…”[^24] This *ḥadīth* *qudsī* establishes that Allah commands us to perform the behaviors that bring us nearest to Him to maximize the love between the Creator and His creation. In other words, Allah desires proximity with His creation, and He helps us achieve this proximity. As our Creator, He knows what actions enhance our emotional bond with Him and it is those very actions that He makes obligatory. Once a reciprocal loving bond is established, we see the world as God wants us to see it, we hear as God wants us to hear, and even our limbs move as God wants them to move. Thus, the fruits of true worship free us from estrangement from our Creator to intimacy with Him. Reflecting on this *ḥadīth* from another perspective, Ibn ʿAṭāʾillāh commented that Allah knew that people, when left to their own devices, would not seriously seek the path of Divine love and intimacy (*wilāya*). Therefore, He made the actions that lead to Divine love and intimacy obligatory upon them, which ultimately leads them to paradise. Thus, by imposing these obligations upon us, He is in reality making entrance to paradise an obligation!”[^25] In another profound reflection, Ibn Taymiyya said, “I long contemplated what the most beneficial supplication might be and came to the conclusion that it is to ask for divine aid in fulfilling our obligation to worship Him. Then, I came to the realization that it was already in *Sūrat al-Fātiḥa* when Allah said, ‘And You alone we worship and You alone we ask for support.’”[^26] Thus, whether we realize it or not, out of His profound love, Allah made the most important thing to pray for an obligation on us at least seventeen times a day! To illustrate this concept, imagine if a loving father told his children that he would grant them whatever they wished for. A young child might ask for the greatest toy or the biggest home, whereas a wiser child may realize that they don’t actually know the best thing to ask for. After contemplating the matter further, the wise child says, “Dad, I am just a kid and don’t really know the best thing to ask for. However, I do know that you love and care for me deeply and are always looking out for my best interest. Therefore, the best thing I can ask for is your help in doing the things that you know are best for me, even when I don’t fully understand why.” The image of Allah as *al-Walī* necessitates that His legal commands and universal decrees are rooted in our best interests, even when we may find them difficult to follow or hard to understand. Allah tells us in *Sūrat* *al-Baqarah*, “Fighting has been ordained for you although it is disliked to you; and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.”[^27] To understand Allah as our *al-Walī* is to understand that He aids us in accordance with the infinitely wise perspective of the Divine and not from the limited perception of the human. Therefore, the presence of Allah’s care is not synonymous with the fulfillment of our wants. Indeed, His aid and care will often manifest in worldly pain and loss. For example, the People of the Ditch mentioned in *Surat al-Burūj* were all killed by a tyrant ruler despite their unshakeable belief in Allah. Although people might see this as a great loss rather than success, Allah declared their martyrdom and entrance to Paradise as the great victory.[^28] **Thus, His aid and support is not understood as making us outwardly victorious over our enemies, but rather making no enemy able to overpower our will to worship Allah**. It has been beautifully said that sailing with Allah does not mean that we don’t encounter any waves, but that we sail in a ship that no wave can sink. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sailing-with-Allah-quote.png) --- ## Developing a God image Despite Allah repeatedly telling us in the Qur’an that He is our *Walī*, people sometimes fail to internalize His love, nearness, care, and support for us. Sadly, many people internalize the opposite God image of a distant cop-like deity who does not help us. How do people develop such differing God images? Throughout our lives, we develop a perception of God based on information we are explicitly taught and through our own experiences. Simply telling someone that Allah is loving is not enough to internalize a proper God image. Rather, they have to actually experience love, care, and support through human relationships to best attribute such experiences to Allah. This is what we refer to in our [prior paper](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness) as an affective experiential perception of Allah, which is influenced by our relationship with our parents and others. Parent-child interactions in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood collectively influence the development of our God image. We have previously written about parental attachments as foundational in shaping our relationship with Allah. We want to build on our prior work by focusing on specific methods of parenting that we believe are related to how children grow up to perceive God as either a loving Creator to run towards or as a punishing power to flee from. Ultimately, a believer must internalize both hope for His forgiveness and fear of His punishment. Therefore, a healthy God image leads the believer to run towards God out of both love and fear—as the Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no refuge nor escape from You except to You.”[^29] However, the person with a healthy God image of Allah recognizes the divine balance of attributes, as Allah said, “Indeed, My mercy prevails over My wrath.”[^30] --- ## Parenting styles Every parent develops an approach to raising their children based on their beliefs and life experiences. This approach to parenting is referred to as a parenting style. A parenting style can be defined as a constellation of attitudes that are communicated to the child that, taken together, create an emotional climate in which the parent’s behaviors are expressed.[^31] Research on parenting has identified two central dimensions that constitute a parenting style: the (1) responsiveness and (2) demandingness of a parent towards their child.[^32] Responsiveness refers to the degree to which parents foster self-confidence and independence by being supportive, accepting, and attuned to their children’s needs and preferences. Responsiveness includes showing warmth, being appropriately supportive of their autonomy, and engaging in reasoned bi-directional communication when appropriate.[^33] Demandingness refers to the claims parents make on the child to become integrated into the family and society by their expectations, supervision, disciplinary efforts and willingness to confront the child who disobeys.[^34] Demandingness includes parental monitoring, rules, consequences, and methods of controlling the child’s behavior. To summarize, responsiveness refers to the dimension of parenting concerned with recognizing the child’s sense of self and independence, whereas demandingness is concerned with the willingness to act as a socializing agent.[^35] Based on the two dimensions of responsiveness and demandingness, researchers have identified four common styles of parenting.[^36] If we place responsiveness on the vertical axis and demandingness on the horizontal axis, we can visualize (see Figure 2) four parenting styles: 1. Authoritative parenting (top right) 2. Authoritarian parenting (bottom right) 3. Permissive parenting (top left) 4. Neglectful parenting (bottom left) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image6.png) A neglectful parenting style is low in responsiveness and low in demandingness. This parenting style reflects a general lack of warmth, supportiveness, and attempts to regulate or control a child’s behavior. Neglectful parents do not make time for their children and are generally disinterested in their children’s lives. Neglectful parenting is related to many maladaptive outcomes in children’s lives. A permissive parenting style is high in responsiveness and low in demandingness.  This parenting style reflects a high level of warmth and supportiveness, but does not include parental expectations of particular behavior or proper conduct. Permissive parents often desire to be their child’s best friend and want their child to see them as cool. Permissive parenting is also related to many maladaptive behaviors in children and adolescents. An authoritarian parenting style is low in responsiveness and high in demandingness. This parenting style reflects low levels of emotional support and autonomy, but high levels of control. Authoritarian parents typically demand that their children obey them without reasoned explanation and attempt to control their children’s behavior by resorting to punishment and psychological manipulation of their children’s emotions (e.g., withholding affection to punish the child). An authoritative parenting style is high in responsiveness and high in demandingness. This parenting style reflects high levels of emotional support and autonomy accompanied by high expectations. Authoritative parents typically show plenty of love and create an emotional climate where kids can express their thoughts and concerns about parental expectations. Authoritative parents engage in reasoned explanation when appropriate and attempt to regulate their children’s behavior by setting clear behavioral guidelines. Baumrind, describing the authoritative parent, says, “She encourages verbal give and take, and shares with the child the reasoning behind her policy. She values both expressive and instrumental attributes, both autonomous self-will and disciplined conformity. Therefore, she exerts firm control at points of parent-child divergence, but does not hem the child in with restrictions. She recognizes her own special rights as an adult, but also the child’s individual interests and special ways. The authoritative parent affirms the child’s present qualities, but also sets standards for future conduct. She uses reason as well as power to achieve her objectives. She does not base her decisions on group consensus or the individual child’s desires; but also does not regard herself as infallible or divinely inspired.”[^37] Parenting styles play an important role in child development. Children with authoritative parents typically have the most favorable academic and psychological outcomes, such as positive self-esteem, self-reliance, and high academic achievement. Children with neglectful parents have the least favorable developmental outcomes, such as low self-esteem, poor self-regulation, poor mental health, and poor academic performance.[^38]Children of permissive households don’t do well academically and engage in maladaptive behaviors, such as drug use, alcohol use, and school misconduct. They have also been found to be more dependent on others, irresponsible, and selfish.[^39] Finally, children of authoritarian households generally do well academically, follow the rules, and are obedient to adults. However, their conformity and obedience appear to have come at a heavy price to their sense of self. They lack self-confidence and have higher rates of depression than their peers from authoritative homes.[^40] Through being “overpowered into obedience” they appear to have lost the ability to see themselves as autonomous and efficacious young people.[^41] Although the aforementioned outcomes are important, our fundamental concern as believers is to raise children who worship Allah and have a strong attachment to Him and His religion. Research on non-Muslim samples suggests that parents’ God image influences their parenting and their children’s God image. Parents with a loving God image are more likely to raise children who perceive God as loving, whereas parents who imagine God as distant are more likely to have children who think the same of God.[^42] In a comprehensive study of five- and six-year-olds, mothers who imagined God as distant and strict resorted to stricter parenting and reported less affection, acceptance, and playful interactions with their children, which in turn predicted children’s images of a punishing God. Mothers who imagined God as loving gave their children more autonomy, and had children who also imagined God as loving.[^43] In this study, we examined how parenting styles amongst Muslim parents predicts children’s God image, submission to God, and religious doubt. --- ## Parental socialization The goal of parenting is to instill the proper beliefs, values, and behaviors in the hearts of our children so that they ultimately internalize these beliefs and behaviors as their own. We are not successful as parents if our children only do what they are requested under the threat of punishment or constant surveillance. Amongst the goals of parents is to socialize their children to conform to the necessary demands of others while maintaining a sense of personal integrity.[^44] From a religious perspective, the demands of others include adherence to the demands of Allah first, followed by \[reasonable\] demands of parents.[^45] How do parents get their children to conform to religious and parental demands? Permissive and neglectful parents are not very interested in compliance and obedience, so they generally ignore the child’s lack of adherence to commands or they make excuses for the child and absolve the child of any responsibility to follow rules. On the other hand, both authoritarian and authoritative parents desire adherence to demands. Therefore, for the remainder of this paper, we focus on the two pathways that parents may follow that lead to drastically different results: the authoritarian and authoritative ways of instilling obedience in children. Authoritarian parents treat the parenting process as unidirectional. They consider themselves the ultimate authority and believe that rules are not meant to be questioned. They do not think about getting their children to buy into their rules, as observable compliance is the main concern. Therefore, the need to motivate them through a loving and supportive environment is not deemed necessary, as they believe that children should be motivated to comply through deference to parental authority. They believe that their love is expressed through their firmness and continuous monitoring of their children’s behavior. When children ask for justification for rules or explanations for behavioral demands, authoritarian parents typically believe it is unnecessary to elaborate in any way. Through their harshness, authoritarian parents may unknowingly increase their children’s resistance to parental advice, and this resistance might attenuate the otherwise beneficial effects of their involvement. Authoritative parents, on the other hand, understand that the parenting process is bi-directional and dynamic. Children are not passively waiting to fulfill parental demands, as they have their own desires and thoughts about how to spend their time. The authoritative parent knows that they need to get their growing child to internalize the values and behaviors they are promoting. Therefore, through creating an emotional climate that is warm, supportive, and connected, they more effectively transmit beliefs and behaviors to their child, as the child becomes more open to being socialized in such a loving climate. Authoritativeness increases the effectiveness of parenting by altering the child’s receptiveness that, in turn, strengthens the parents’ ability to act as socialization agents.[^46] For example, if a child has an intimate relationship with the parent, they will be more inclined to make their parents proud by adhering to a behavior known to be important to them. Additionally, authoritative parents sufficiently respond to their children’s questions about rules and requirements by explaining why certain rules exist and why certain behaviors are required. When parents sufficiently articulate the intent behind their demands, children are more likely to internalize these rules and behaviors as their own. --- ## Trusting parental and Divine authority Research on parenting styles does not provide guidance on how often parents should articulate to their children the purpose behind their demands. Rather than have a long conversation every time a child asks why they must do something, we believe that parents should only **sufficiently respond** to the extent that children learn to trust their judgment. In other words, parents should be judicious in considering under what circumstances they explain their reasoning. We find this to be in line with how Allah communicates His commands to us. Although there are numerous examples where Allah explains to us the wisdom and purpose behind our actions,[^47] there are other times He doesn’t explain. For example, when Allah informed the angels that He would create humanity on earth, they asked why. Rather than give a response, He simply said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”[^48] As part of our submission to Allah, there are many ritual aspects that we cannot fully rationalize (*ta’abbudi* actions) and that Allah chose not to explain to us. These ritual obligations, such as the number of units in a particular prayer or the number of stones to throw at the *jamarāt* (stone pillars/walls) in Hajj, require submission regardless of whether we fully appreciate the wisdom behind them or not. Thus, parents should be mindful of not overindulging a child’s requests for explanation, as it may well be a part of properly preparing the child to submit to the demands of Allah once a proper God image has been established. Both authoritarian and authoritative Muslim parents are well-intentioned and hope to raise their children to be righteous and competent human beings. That is why both have high expectations of their children and set demands for their conduct. However, they have different ways of expressing their demandingness and responding to their children’s needs. For example, they both want to teach their children that Allah is *al-Ḥakam*, the Lawgiver. However, they resort to different techniques to communicate God’s authority. Authoritarian parents may rely more on extrinsic motivators, such as fear and punishment, as deterrents to disobedience. In contrast, authoritative parents will likely rely more on building intrinsic motivation, encouraging their children by invoking God’s pleasure and appreciation of their efforts. Thus, authoritarian parents may unknowingly transmit to their children an image of God as cosmic cop, whereas the authoritative parent may transmit an image of God as loving and protective lawgiver. It may be these differences in parenting that lead to drastic differences in their children’s God image, and subsequently their submission to Him and experiences of religious doubt (or lack thereof). Let us demonstrate with an example. Imagine that a parent expects their teenager to pray *Maghrib* and complete their homework before going out with their friends. The parent wants to teach their children to prioritize tasks. If the teen fails to pray and complete the assigned tasks, the parent can deal with the situation in an authoritarian or authoritative manner. An authoritarian parent might yell at their teen, ridicule them for being irresponsible, shame them for being disobedient, and ultimately prohibit them from further outings with friends. The authoritative parent, meanwhile, may issue the same consequences, but will do so calmly, maybe even taking a moment to explain their reasoning while also permitting their child to respond with their own thoughts on the matter. The authoritative parent may also empathize with the child and explain the importance of prayer and completing our tasks. By clearly expressing their sadness at prohibiting their child from enjoying an outing with friends but insisting on the necessity of following the rules, the authoritative parent maintains a loving emotional climate even while insisting on consequences for negative behaviors. Though the consequences in both situations appear identical, the delivery makes the difference. The authoritarian parent transmits additional psychological pain to the child, encouraging a sense of shame and worthlessness. The authoritative parent transmits the opposite: the child is able to identify that their conduct was wrong but does not internalize a diminished sense of self. Additionally, the child recognizes that the consequences bring their parents no pleasure whatsoever but are nonetheless necessary to maintain accountability. The child thus feels the loving warmth of their parents even when they are losing a source of pleasure. Thus, there are two primary differences between the authoritarian parent and authoritative parent.[^49] First, the authoritarian parent resorts to using psychological tactics, such as shaming or withholding love, as part of their expression of demandingness to control their child’s behavior. Second, the authoritarian parent does not cushion their demandingness with a warm and emotionally supportive environment. This tends to create a climate of fear, resentment, and alienation. The child does not interpret parental demands as expressions of love, which may facilitate feelings of resentment towards those demands. We depict the differences in parental control in Figure 3 below. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-3.-The-Sweet-Spot-Between-Too-Little-Too-Much-Control.png) --- ## Empirical study We have presented a theory of parenting that we believe predicts children’s God image and later religious outcomes. In order to test this theory, we surveyed 701 Muslims in Canada across various ethnicities and age groups.[^50] Approximately 55% of the sample (*n*\=384) had children and 45% did not (*n*\=317). Parents were asked about their own perceptions of being authoritative or authoritarian, and adolescents and young adults without children were asked about their perceptions of their parents’ authoritativeness or authoritarianism. The primary questions we addressed were the following: 1. Are submission reluctance and religious doubt associated with cop-like and *al-Wal**ī* images of God? 2. Does parental God image predict authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles? Does parenting style, in turn, predict how parents speak to their children about God? 3. Do adolescent and young adult perceptions of authoritarian and authoritative parenting predict their overall God image? 4. Do adolescent and young adult perceptions of authoritarian parenting predict their image of a cop-like God? How do these parenting perceptions and God image, in turn, predict their religious doubts and submission reluctance? 5. Do adolescent and young adult perceptions of authoritative parenting predict their image of God as supportive and caring *(al-Walī*)? How do perceptions of authoritative parenting and God image, in turn, predict their religious doubts and submission reluctance? --- ## Survey measures and analytic method We asked a number of questions pertaining to various aspects of God image, authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles and behaviors, religious doubts, and submission reluctance. The list below captures the constructs of interest; measures and a full list of the questions can be found in Appendix A. - **God image**. Perceptions of God as Forgiving, Caring, Helpful, and cop-like. Caring and Helpful perceptions were combined to create a measure of *al-Wal**ī*.  - **Authoritarian Parenting**. The dimensions of authoritarian parenting included verbal hostility, corporal punishment, punitive strategies, and directiveness (e.g., scolding and criticizing). - **Authoritative Parenting**. The dimensions of authoritative parenting included warmth,  involvement, and reasoning/induction.   - **Parental conditioning of God image**. Frequency of parents invoking God’s love or anger to motivate their children. - **Religious doubt**. The frequency, severity, and distress that religious doubts cause a person. - **Submission reluctance.** The level of frustration when not understanding God’s wisdom, experiencing aversive events, and prayers (i.e., *duʿāʾ*) not being answered. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relations among these variables. SEM helps us understand how processes work, as it permits us to test the associations between a series of constructs that we believe are related to each other. --- ## Results Before delving into the main results, we share some general findings of interest. Age was correlated with a more benevolent God image (*r* \= .31). Mothers self-reported slightly higher levels of authoritative parenting compared to fathers. Youth and young adults also reported that their mothers were more authoritative than their fathers. There were no significant differences between ethnicities in God image or parenting styles. All tables of results are reported in Appendix B. Our first question was whether God images would be related to submission reluctance and religious doubts. We found that having a cop-like image of God was associated with more submission reluctance (*r* \= .49) and religious doubts (*r* \= .54). We also found that imagining Allah as a Loving Caretaker was associated with less submission reluctance (*r* \= -.68) and fewer religious doubts (*r* \= -.61). Our second question was whether parents’ own God image would relate to their parenting styles and whether their parenting style would predict how they speak to their children about God. We found that parental God image is associated with parenting style and how parents invoke the name of God to get their children to comply with their demands. We split the results into two diagrams for ease of understanding. Figure 4 shows that parental benevolent God image is associated with less authoritarian parenting (*B* = -.18)[^51], and that authoritarian parenting is associated with parents more frequently invoking God’s anger and punishment as a way to discourage undesirable behavior (*B* = .27). In other words, the more parents imagine Allah as Caring, Compassionate, Forgiving, and Lenient, the less they report utilizing authoritarian parenting practices. This is meaningful because parents who report utilizing authoritarian parenting practices report invoking God’s anger and punishment more frequently. Figure 5 shows that parental benevolent God image is associated with more authoritative parenting (*B* = .20), and that authoritative parenting is associated with parents more frequently invoking God’s love and appreciation as a way to encourage desirable behavior (*B* = .43). In other words, the more parents imagine Allah as Caring, Compassionate, Forgiving, and Lenient, the more they report utilizing authoritative parenting practices. This is meaningful because parents who report utilizing authoritative parenting practices report invoking God’s love and appreciation more frequently. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-4.-Consequences-of-Authoritatian-Parenting.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-5.-Consequences-of-Authoritative-Parenting.png) Our third question was whether adolescents’ and young adults’ perceptions of their own parents’ parenting styles as authoritarian or authoritative would predict their own God image. We found that perceptions of parenting styles were related to God image. Youth and young adult perceptions of maternal authoritarianism (*r* = -.12, *p* = .04) and paternal authoritarianism (*r* = -.14, *p* < .001) predicted less benevolent God images. Perceptions of maternal authoritativeness (*r* = .15, *p* = .01) and paternal authoritativeness (*r* = .24, *p* < .001) predicted more benevolent God images. This finding tells us that perceptions of authoritarian and authoritative parenting predict the overall God image of adolescents and young adults. Our fourth and fifth research questions investigated whether perceived parenting styles would predict the two specific God images we presented earlier: the cop-like God image and the Loving Caretaker *(al-Walī*) God image. We also wanted to understand how those God images relate to religious doubt and submission reluctance. Figure 6 (paternal authoritarianism) and Figure 7 (maternal authoritarianism) depict the results that address question four, illustrating the relation between authoritarian parenting, a cop-like God image, and suffering from religious doubts and lack of submission to God. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-6.-Effects-of-Paternal-Authoritarianism.png) The results show that perceiving one’s parents as authoritarian correlates with reporting a more cop-like image of God. Subsequently, holding a cop-like image of God is associated with religious doubts and submission reluctance. Interestingly, perceiving one’s father as authoritarian was also directly related to religious doubt (*B* = .13) and reluctance with submission (*B* = .19), whereas perceptions of an authoritarian mother were only indirectly related to these outcomes through a distortion in God image. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-7.-Effects-of-Maternal-Authoritarianism.png) Figure 8 (paternal authoritativeness) and Figure 9 (maternal authoritativeness) depict the results that address question five, illustrating the relation between authoritative parenting, developing an image of God as *al-Walī*, and suffering from religious doubts and lack of submission to God. The results show that perceiving one’s parents as engaging in authoritative parenting correlates with reporting a more benevolent image of God as *al-Walī*, as One who is a caring, helpful, and loving protector. Subsequently, perceiving God as *al-Walī* is associated with fewer religious doubts and more submission to God’s decree. See Appendix B for the full results of the SEM. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-8.-Effects-of-Paternal-Authoritativeness.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-9.-Effects-of-Maternal-Authoritativeness.png) --- ## Discussion This paper has further developed our theory on the relations between God image and various spiritual struggles and religious outcomes. We found that adolescents and young adults who perceive their parents as authoritative also perceive Allah as more caring and supportive, whereas those who perceive their parents as authoritarian perceive Allah as more cop-like. **Ultimately, perceiving Allah as a cosmic cop correlates with** **submission reluctance and religious** **doubt****, whereas perceiving Him as a Loving Caretaker correlates with the opposite.** ### Possible roots of religious doubts and submission reluctance Our results strongly suggest that a distorted God image may be a major cause of psychospiritual issues. Specifically, a distorted perception of God as a cosmic cop is associated with submission reluctance and religious doubts. Therefore, we recommend that parents, mentors, and religious educators consider assessing a person’s God image before answering their doubt-related questions. Rehabilitating one’s image of Allah should always be prioritized and requires patience, as the process requires substantial unlearning of distortions that may have hardened over years based on incorrect information and negative emotional experiences. Adult socializers are encouraged to convey an image of God through both textual and relational means. We have [previously](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness) emphasized the relational approach, which centers on spiritual modeling of warmth, compassion, love, and appropriate levels of demandingness.[^52] ### Breaking the intergenerational transmission of distorted God images Our results suggest that parents’ God image shapes parenting style. Parents who imagine Allah as benevolent report engaging in more authoritative parenting, whereas parents who imagine Allah as strict and cold report engaging in more authoritarian parenting. Therefore,  parents are highly encouraged to enhance their own God image for the sake of their own faith and as a gift for their spouse and children. Parents can end the intergenerational transmission of distorted God images by reflecting on their own upbringing. They should focus on learning about [God’s names and attributes](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/names-of-allah) and forming personal relationships with religious educators who will help them emotionally experience Allah’s attributes holistically. Figure 10 illustrates our theoretical framing, linking psychospiritual struggles to the intergenerational transmission of a distorted God image. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-10.-Unconscious-intergenerational-roots-of-doubts-and-submission-reluctance.png) ### Love and fear: The forces driving parenting Children are gifts from Allah, and they are the recipients of the most profound parental love. Yet this love brings with it fear—fear of harm and fear of loss. Religious parents in particular fear their children disobeying God and bearing the subsequent consequences in both this world and the hereafter. This fear often drives parents to resort to threats of punishment to ensure compliance with both their demands and God’s demands. Unfortunately, our results indicate that this type of authoritarian parenting, despite its good intentions, actually undermines children’s understanding of and submission to God. Even when harsh parenting tactics appear to ensure children’s compliance with religious commands, this compliance is often a skin-deep performance masking deep resentment towards both parents and God. Children may internalize their acts of obedience as burdens, stripping their worship of its intended joys and benefits. Furthermore, perceptions of paternal authoritarianism appear more detrimental than maternal authoritarianism. Thus, fathers need to be especially cognizant of the effects of their harshness.  Inculcating a warm and emotionally secure bond may be more effective in transmitting religious beliefs and behaviors and preventing submission reluctance and religious doubts. As beautifully expressed by Ibn al-Qayyim, fear alone does not motivate anyone. It is love that motivates, fear that spurs, and hope that leads.[^53] While fear of failure may facilitate authoritarian parenting, another type of fear may facilitate its opposite. If parents fear upsetting their children or losing out on their love, they may resort to permissive parenting, defined as being overly warm and responsive without exerting any control. Although we did not explicitly measure permissive parenting in this study, we believe this parenting style may cultivate in children a sense of entitlement and a perception of God as a cosmic wish-granter. Children may then experience religious doubts when God does not give them what they demand. We hope to investigate pathways to entitlement and its consequences in future studies. Our goal here is to caution parents against either extreme of fear-based parenting, as overcorrecting from authoritarian to permissive or vice-versa may lead to distortions in God image and maladaptive psychospiritual outcomes. It is possible that these excessive fears and anxious parental dispositions may reflect parents’ own submission reluctance, as they struggle to accept that they cannot prevent hardships in their children’s lives. Figure 11 below depicts the potential consequences of these two forms of fear-based parenting. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Figure-11.-Fear-based-Parenting-and-Associated-Outcomes.png) ### From the parent as walī to God as al-Walī Parents are supposed to be loving caretakers and protectors of their children. This requires that they set boundaries within an atmosphere of love. Warmth without demands (i.e., permissive parenting) or demands without warmth (i.e., authoritarian parenting) both lead to suboptimal outcomes. Therefore, parents are advised to strive for the middle path, balancing warmth and demandingness. Our results show that perceptions of parental authoritativeness are associated with perceptions of Allah as *al-Walī*, and accordingly with high levels of submission. Thus, through acting as a *walī* to our children, we build their understanding of Allah as their *Walī*. Children nestled within loving bonds find it easier to submit to the demands placed on them by both their parents and their Creator. The Prophet ﷺ showed immense warmth and love to the youth and rebuked those who withheld it from their children. Upon hearing a man say that he had ten children whom he had never kissed, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever does not show mercy will not receive mercy.”[^54] The Prophet ﷺ habitually used warmth to encourage obedience. Muʿādh ibn Jabal narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once held his hand and said, “O Muʿādh, I swear by Allah that I love you. I swear by Allah that I love you,” and advised him to say at the conclusion of every prayer (*salāh*), "O Allah, help me remember You, express gratitude to You, and worship You in the best manner.”[^55] Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet ﷺ hugged him and said, “O Allah, teach him the scripture.”[^56] Whenever Fāṭima entered the Prophet’s home, he would stand for her, take her by the hand, kiss her, and seat her in his place.[^57] In all of these examples, one can see the importance of physical affection in nurturing children. In addition to the warmth that the Prophet ﷺ showed his daughter and his companions, he set appropriate limits by not giving in to every request. By sometimes denying our children the things they ask for, we prevent entitlement and build resilience. Fatima once asked the Prophet ﷺ for a servant to help her with housework. Rather than grant her a servant, he went to her home in the evening and told her and her husband, Ali, “Shall I offer you something better than that?” and taught them to say ‘How transcendently exalted is Allah’ (*subḥān Allāh*) thirty-three times, ‘Praise be to Allah’ (*al-ḥamd li-Allah*) thirty-three times, and ‘Allah is the greatest’ (*Allah akbar*) thirty-three times before they went to sleep.[^58] Due to the loving bond and trust that they had with the Prophet ﷺ, they were grateful rather than resentful. Ali said that he never skipped saying this any night of his life. They were confident that the Prophet ﷺ truly knew what was better, a confidence rooted in the love and care they received from him. Appropriate levels of demandingness are necessary for children to thrive. However, excessive fear of our children’s failures may result in over-controlling behavior, where parents involve themselves in every minor affair to ensure success. Risk-averse parenting is detrimental to the long term well-being of children. Allah Himself, who loves us more than we love our children, does not shield us from all perceived failures or harms. Rather, in His Infinite Wisdom, He sometimes allows us to fail and fall into dark places so that we may grow stronger from our experiences. Parents have to accept that their children will indeed make mistakes in the journey of life, and that some of those mistakes are necessary for their success. Once parents grant their children age-appropriate autonomy, they must teach them about repentance (*tawba)* and its fruits. Parents must remind their children that when they inevitably fall into sin, Allah loves it when they repent.[^59] Stories of righteous people who slipped and repented, such as Kaʿ’b b. Mālik or the archers at Uḥud, should be regularly communicated to children to remind them to never despair of God’s compassion and mercy.[^60] It is important to forgive their mistakes so they internalize Allah’s forgiveness. ### Between letting go and holding on The delicate balancing act of allowing our children to explore the world and ensuring their safety by regulating their behavior is the hardest aspect of parenting today. Our Islamic values are often at odds with the secular values that surround our children. The more stock we put in our Islamic values, the more we will vigorously defend them, especially if we think they are threatened by the dominant culture.[^61] The dilemma for religious parents is that their otherwise beautiful love of Islam may manifest in oppressively controlling parenting styles, ultimately alienating their children from the *dīn*. This dynamic appears the moment toddlers begin to walk on their own. Parents are initially enthusiastic about their infants learning to explore the world on their own two feet. They motivate their children to take steps with words of encouragement, smiles on their faces, and arms wide open. However, as many parents can attest, that enthusiasm may diminish as they realize their child can now get into all kinds of trouble, such as falling down stairs, walking onto the street, or climbing a table and falling off. Thus, a parent begins to set limits to keep their child safe. They may tell the child not to walk down the stairs, wander outside, or climb the table. It is at this stage of life that a child begins to be socialized to behave in a certain way. It is at this time that the child must learn to tame their personal desire for adventure and learn to comply with the demands of their parents and other adults. The key issue for parents is how they communicate these rules to the child, since no child happily complies after the first parental directive. This is where responsiveness and demandingness come into play. If the parent gets frustrated that the child does not immediately comply, do they resort to threats, punishments, and psychological manipulation to ensure the child obeys? For example, if the parent begins to spank the child, scream at the child, or withhold hugs and kisses, the child is likely to learn to submit out of fear of punishment or fear of losing the love and approval of the parent. Alternatively, the parent may choose to communicate the rules through love coupled with firmness recognizing that children will not comply immediately and that they are only following their natural curiosity and trying to learn about the world. In such an environment, the act of submission to authority develops free from the fear of losing love, and the balance of freedom and security through obedience to rightful authority is acquired.[^62] Ultimately, if the child’s experience of submitting to human authority is associated with excessive threats of punishment, withdrawal of love, bribery, or coercion, they may grow to imagine submission to God in a similar manner. --- ## Concluding thoughts Our image of God has profound effects on our ability to submit to Him. Perceiving Him as cold, distant, and cop-like leads to submission reluctance and religious doubts. This distorted image of God leads to appeasement at best and objection or rejection of the faith at worst. Imagining God as *al-Walī*, however, facilitates loving submission to Him, even when His decrees are difficult to understand. When we understand that Allah is our *Walī*, we understand that everything He commanded is a manifestation of His care and compassion for the believers. God’s benevolence is not expressed through His granting us what we wish for, because ultimately we do not know what is best for us personally or collectively. Rather, as our Loving Caretaker, He sets appropriate limits to human behavior that maximize our well-being in this life and the next. Parents have an important influence on their children’s God image. In an ideal society with strong communal bonds and healthy institutions, other adults would help inculcate a proper image of Allah in the hearts of the youth. Unfortunately, in the individualistic societies that many of us reside in, parents play a larger role than they should have to. However, they are still not the only influence and not all distortions in God image are due to parents. In fact, children are quite resilient even when their parents make mistakes, and the role authoritarian parenting plays in cultivating a cop-like God image is small to moderate (neither trivial nor immense). Thus, parents don’t need to be perfect—just good enough to facilitate healthy development. Nonetheless, parents should strive to continuously improve their own God image. They may also benefit from surrounding their children with other socializers who reinforce a healthy image of God. Through building a relationship on love without sacrificing appropriate levels of control, parents can teach their children not only to submit to Allah in a state of contentment and satisfaction, but also taste the sweetness and joy of worship, *in shāʾa Allāh*. --- ## Appendix A All survey items used in this study by construct. Cop-like God image - On a scale of 1 (Does not describe my feelings) to 5 (Clearly describes my feelings) - I tend to feel that God is like a “cop” enforcing rules with rewards and punishments. - How much do you feel that your religion is mainly a list of rules and restrictions? - My religion seems like a list of obligations to me. *Al-Wal**ī* God image - On a scale of 1 (Does not describe my feelings) to 5 (Clearly describes my feelings) Support Dimension - In difficult situations, how often do you feel that God isn’t at your side? - Sometimes, when I really need God, I tend to feel left on my own. - In difficult situations, I tend to feel that I don’t get enough help from God. Care Dimension - I feel God’s compassionate love filling my heart. - I feel that God has always been reaching out to me. - How often do you feel God’s deep care for you? Forgiveness - On a scale of 1 to 5 - How often do you feel that God is angry with you? - I feel that God is not answering my prayers because I am not good enough or because of my mistakes. - When I face affliction, I tend to feel it is because God is not pleased with me. Religious Doubts - How frequently do you experience religious doubts? - Sometimes, religious doubts shake my faith. - When I face hardships, I feel troubled by doubts about my religious beliefs. - I am troubled by some of God’s commands and rulings. Surrender to God - I feel upset/frustrated when I can’t understand God’s wisdom in my life. - I feel frustrated/upset when God lets bad things happen to me or my loved ones. - There are times I get frustrated/upset that God did not answer my prayers. Authoritarian Parenting Perceptions (PSDQ) - On a scale of 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Separate ratings were given for each parent. - My mother/father punishes me by taking privileges away from me (e.g., TV, games, computer, phone, visiting friends). - My mother/father yells when she disapproves of my behavior. - My mother/father explodes in anger towards me. - My mother/father spanks me when I don’t listen to what she says. - My mother/father withholds her love when she is upset with me (e.g., she doesn't give me hugs and kisses). - My mother/father scolds and shames me when my behavior doesn’t meet her expectations. Authoritative Parenting Perceptions (PSDQ) - On a scale of 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Separate ratings were given for each parent. - My mother/father is responsive to my feelings and needs. - My mother/father encourages me to talk about my troubles. - My mother/father provides me with comfort and understanding when I am upset. - My mother/father compliments (praises) me. - My mother/father and I have warm and intimate times together. - My mother/father explains why I have to follow her/his rules. --- ## Appendix B ![Table 1a. Descriptive Variables of God Image and Religious Outcomes](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Table-1A-Descriptive-Variables-of-God-Image-and-Religious-Outcomes.png) ![Table 1B - Descriptive Statistics of Parenting Variables](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Table-1B-Descriptive-Statistics-of-Parenting-Variables.png) ![Structural Model for RQ2 - Authoritarianism.png](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Structural-Model-fo-RQ2-Authoritarianism.png) ![Structural Model for RQ4 (Paternal Authoritarianism)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Structural-Model-for-RQ4-Paternal-Authoritarianism.png) ![Structural Model for RQ4 (Maternal Authoritarianism)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Structural-Model-for-RQ4-Maternal-Authoritarianism.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Structural-Model-for-RQ5-Paternal-Authoritativeness.png) ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Structural-Model-for-RQ5-Maternal-Authoritativeness.png) --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an, 3:26. [^2]: Qur’an, 67:1. [^3]: Qur’an, 7:54. [^4]: See Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy’s paper for more on this question. Elshinawy, Mohammad, “Why Do People Suffer? God’s Existence & the Problem of Evil,” *Yaqeen*, July 2, 2018, updated February 14, 2021,  [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-do-people-suffer-gods-existence-the-problem-of-evil](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-do-people-suffer-gods-existence-the-problem-of-evil&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534209044&usg=AOvVaw3vtBfjZKxEhka533fibypU). [^5]: Qur’an 3:83. [^6]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, “faṣl fi manzilat al-tawakkul,” in *Madārij al-sālikīn bayn manāzil* *īyyāka* *na‘budu wa* *īyyāka* *nasta‘īn* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2018), 397-415. [^7]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, “faṣl fi manzilat al-taslīm,” in *Madārij*, 421-424. [^8]: *Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad*, no. 26944. [^9]: Qur’an, 4:65. [^10]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij*, 421-424. [^11]: Ibid. [^12]: Marsha Linehan, *DBT Skills Training Manual* (New York: Guilford Publications, 2015). [^13]: This finding comes from our analysis and will be published, *inshaAllah*, in a forthcoming paper. [^14]: Joseph Holmes, “Why Marvel Has Issues With God,” Religion Unplugged, July 13, 2022, [https://religionunplugged.com/news/2022/7/13/marvel-has-issues-with-god](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://religionunplugged.com/news/2022/7/13/marvel-has-issues-with-god&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534210738&usg=AOvVaw3-rTWp4XfUVlYqMundbtan). [^15]: Qur’an, 51:56. [^16]: Mohammad Elshinawy, “Why Does God Ask People to Worship Him?,” *Yaqeen*, December 26, 2017, updated: October 21, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534211453&usg=AOvVaw3S97Iiq3BMOdVBQWltydMH). [^17]: Ibn Taymiyya, *Al-‘Ubudiyyah: Being a True Slave of Allah* (London: Ta-Ha, 1999); Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, *Maḥabbat Allāh* *ʿazz wa jall* (Beirut: Dār al-Yamāma, 2007); Ibn Taymiyya, *Majmu’ al-fatāwa*, [https://shamela.ws/book/7289/4733](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/7289/4733&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534211905&usg=AOvVaw2qEd4XrIxfyt2SFUb-9uDN). [^18]: Muḥammad Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Miftāḥ dār al-sa‘ādah wa manshūr wilāyat al-‘ilm wa al-irādah* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyya, 2002), 2:88–89. [^19]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij al-sālikīn* *bayn* *manāzil* *īyyāka* *na‘budu wa* *īyyāka* *nasta‘īn* (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2018). [^20]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 16; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 43. [^21]: Elshinawy, “Why Does God Ask People to Worship Him?” [^22]: Qur’an, 2:257; 4:45; 42:38. [^23]: Qur’an, 47:11. [^24]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6502. [^25]: Ibn ʿAṭaʾillah, *The Book of Aphorisms* (Malaysia: Islamic Book Trust, 2008). [^26]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Madārij al-sālikīn*. [^27]: Qur’an, 2:216. [^28]: Qur’an, 85:11; see the following link for details of the story, accessed 30 May 2023 [https://en.islamway.net/article/20357/the-people-of-the-ditch-soorat-al-burooj](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.islamway.net/article/20357/the-people-of-the-ditch-soorat-al-burooj&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534215460&usg=AOvVaw3Tmwk5XdiIsDsQGlrroDAC) [^29]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 247; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2710. [^30]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no.  3194; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2751. [^31]: Nancy Darling and Laurence Steinberg, “Parenting Style as Context: An Integrative Model,” *Psychological Bulletin* 113, no. 3 (1993): 487. [^32]: Diana Baumrind, “Current Patterns of Parental Authority,” *Developmental Psychology* 4, no. 1p2 (1971): 1. [^33]: Diana Baumrind, Diana. “Patterns of Parental Authority and Adolescent Autonomy,” *New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development*, no. 108 (2005): 61–69. [^34]: Darling and Steinberg, “Parenting Style as Context,” 487. [^35]: Darling and Steinberg, “Parenting Style as Context,” 487. [^36]: Eleanor E. Maccoby and John A. Martin, “Socialization in the Context of the Family: Parent-Child Interaction,” *Handbook of Child Psychology*, formerly *Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology* ed. Paul H. Mussen, 1983. We acknowledge that much of this research has been developed in Western individualistic cultures and that there are newer parenting styles that are emerging in various cultures. However, we found the four styles to be a helpful heuristic for the purposes of this paper. [^37]: Diana Baumrind, “Authoritarian vs. Authoritative Parental Control,” *Adolescence* 3, no. 11 (1968): 255. [^38]: Sofie Kuppens and Eva Ceulemans, “Parenting Styles: A Closer Look at a Well-Known Concept,” *Journal of Child and Family Studies* 28 (2019): 168–181; Laurence Steinberg, Nancy E. Darling, and Anne C. Fletcher,“Authoritative Parenting and Adolescent Adjustment: An Ecological Journey,” 1995; Laurence Steinberg, Susie D. Lamborn, Nancy Darling, Nina S. Mounts, and Sanford M. Dornbusch, “Over‐Time Changes in Adjustment and Competence among Adolescents from Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, and Neglectful Families,” *Child Development* 65, no. 3 (1994): 754–770. [^39]: Marwan Dwairy and Kariman E. Menshar, “Parenting Style, Individuation, and Mental Health of Egyptian Adolescents,” *Journal of Adolescence* 29, no. 1 (2006): 103–117. [^40]: Adrian Furnham and Helen Cheng, “Perceived Parental Behaviour, Self-Esteem and Happiness,” *Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology* 35, no. 10 (2000); Keith A. King, Rebecca A. Vidourek, and Ashley L. Merianos, “Authoritarian Parenting and Youth Depression: Results from a National Study,” *Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community* 44, no. 2 (2016): 130–139. [^41]: Susie D. Lamborn, Nina S. Mounts, Laurence Steinberg, and Sanford M. Dornbusch, “Patterns of Competence and Adjustment among Adolescents from Authoritative, Authoritarian, Indulgent, and Neglectful Families,” *Child Development* 62, no. 5 (1991): 1049–1065. [^42]: Bradley R. Hertel and Michael J. Donahue, “Parental Influences on God Images among Children: Testing Durkheim’s Metaphoric Parallelism,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* (1995): 186–199; De Roos, Iedema, and Miedema, “Young Children’s Descriptions of God”; Pehr Granqvist, Tord Ivarsson, Anders G. Broberg, and Berit Hagekull, “Examining Relations among Attachment, Religiosity, and New Age Spirituality Using the Adult Attachment Interview,” *Developmental Psychology* 43, no. 3 (2007): 590; Pehr Granqvist and Lee A. Kirkpatrick, “Religion, Spirituality, and Attachment,” in *APA Handbook for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality* (Vol 1): *Context, Theory, and Research*, ed. K. Pargament (Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2013), 129–55; Rosalinda Cassibba, Pehr Granqvist, Alessandro Costantini, and Sergio Gatto, “Attachment and God Representations among Lay Catholics, Priests, and Religious: A Matched Comparison Study Based on the Adult Attachment Interview,” *Developmental Psychology* 44, no. 6 (2008): 1753. [^43]: Simone A. De Roos, Jurjen Iedema, and Siebren Miedema, “Influence of Maternal Denomination, God Concepts, and Child‐Rearing Practices on Young Children’s God Concepts,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* 43, no. 4 (2004): 519–535. [^44]: Darling and Steinberg, “Parenting Style as Context,” 487. [^45]: “The pleasure of the Lord is in the pleasure of the parents, and the displeasure of the Lord is in the displeasure of the parents.” *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1899. [^46]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 1899. [^47]: Allah explains some of the benefits and reasons behind obligations and prohibitions in the Qur’an. For example, prayer (29:45; 20:14), alcohol and gambling (2:219; 5:90–91), and many rules are explained as having particular benefits or harms. [^48]: Qur’an, 2:30. [^49]: No parent is consistently authoritative/authoritarian in every situation. Rather, parenting styles are convenient labels that refer to the relative use of different parenting practices. [^50]: Of the sample, 78% were female and 22% were male. Approximately 8% were aged 12–17, 15% were 18–25, 29% were 26–35, 29% were 36–45, and 19% were 46+ years. The sample was 56% South Asian, 21% Arab, and 10% Black, and 13% were from other racial backgrounds. [^51]: The standardized Beta coefficient (*B*) can be interpreted as follows: A one standard deviation increase in benevolent parental God image is associated with a -.18 standard deviation decrease in perceptions of being an authoritarian parent. More generally, the standardized Beta is interpreted as “a one standard deviation increase in X is associated with a *B* standard deviation change in Y.” [^52]: Hassan Elwan and Osman Umarji, “The Alchemy of Divine Love: How Our View of God Affects Our Faith and Happiness,” *Yaqeen*, December 29, 2022, updated June 9, 2023, accessed on 1 May 2023. [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1687292534217434&usg=AOvVaw3WV7N33-i1ph2RvBhdB3v_). [^53]: Ovamir Anjum, *Ranks of the Divine Seekers: A Translation of Madārij al-sālikīn bayna manāzil iyyāka naʻbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʻīn by Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (d. 750/1351):* Volume 1 (Leiden: Brill, 2022). [^54]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5997; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2318. [^55]: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 1522; *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 1303. [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 75. [^57]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidh**ī*, no. 3872; *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, no. 5217. [^58]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5362. [^59]: Qur’an, 2:222. [^60]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2747. [^61]: Karen Bogenschneider, Ming‐yeh Wu, Marcela Raffaelli, and Jenner C. Tsay, “Parent Influences on Adolescent Peer Orientation and Substance Use: The Interface of Parenting Practices and Values,” *Child Development* 69, no. 6 (1998): 1672–1688. [^62]: Daniel J. Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven: Parataxic Distortions in the Image of God,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 10, no. 2 (1982): 120–129. ## Summary Our image of God stands at the very heart of our worship and our capacity to surrender to Him. The foundation of the entire discussion rests upon the acknowledgment of Allah's sovereignty—His absolute ownership, power, and supreme authority over creation. Allah names Himself the Owner of Sovereignty (Mālik al-mulk), and Sūrat al-Mulk opens with the proclamation, "Blessed is He in whose hand is all sovereignty." As the absolutely sovereign, Allah both creates as He wills and commands as He desires. His authority thus encompasses two categories: universal decrees (awāmir kawniyya), by which He says "Be" and a thing comes into existence, and legal commands (awāmir sharʿiyya), which direct us toward what to do and what to avoid, and over which we have been granted the will to obey or disobey. Allah declares, "Unquestionably, to Him belongs the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds." Accepting this sovereignty is rarely difficult intellectually, yet it can prove difficult psychospiritually—people sometimes object to His decrees in hardship, or refuse His legal rulings, such as inheritance laws or the prohibition of interest, until they grasp their underlying wisdom. This spiritual struggle may be termed submission reluctance, and it manifests in resentful questions such as, "Why did God do this to me?" This is to be distinguished from questioning that arises from a sincere desire to understand—for the angels asked Allah why He would create humanity, but they did so out of curiosity, not hostility. At the root of submission reluctance lies a distortion in one's perception of Allah, for a distorted image of God fosters misunderstanding of His commands and decrees, and in turn breeds rebellion. Submission (taslīm) is inseparable from our image of God. It is not only the heart of Islam but the way of all creation, for Allah says, "So is it other than the religion of Allah they desire, while to Him have submitted all those within the heavens and earth, willingly or by compulsion?" Ibn al-Qayyim ties trust in God directly to one's image of Him, stating, "The key to trust (tawakkul) is having good assumptions of Allah." The Prophet ﷺ tied acceptance of universal decrees to faith when he said that the servant will not reach the reality of faith "until he knows that what afflicted him could never miss him, and that what missed him could never have afflicted him." The Qur'an likewise links submission to legal commands with faith: "But no, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you, O Muhammad, judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves. Then they will not find within themselves any discomfort from what you have judged and they will submit in complete submission." From this verse are drawn the elements of complete submission: seeking Islamic guidance, finding no discomfort at what Allah has commanded, and accepting without complaint. Ibn al-Qayyim concludes that contentment (riḍā) is the fruit of trusting Allah and submitting to Him, all built upon a healthy image of Him. Submission reluctance, by contrast, is a major contributing factor to psychospiritual pathologies such as anxiety and depression, and behavioral therapies have accordingly incorporated acceptance as a component in treating mental illness. A distorted image is here identified as the cosmic cop, in which God is imagined as cold, distant, and concerned only with strict adherence to rules—a stringent lawmaker and callous enforcer. This false image is hypothesized to develop from an overemphasis on God's role as rule-maker (al-Ḥakam) coupled with neglect of His care, nearness, and love. Empirical research and counseling suggest that perceiving God as unforgiving is associated with elevated anxiety and depression. Such a person views religion as a mere list of "dos and don'ts," estranged from an intimate relationship with Him. The alternative and corrective is love of God, which is the active ingredient of worship. Ibn Taymiyya defined worship as the ultimate fusion of love and humble submission to Allah, holding that a loving relationship cannot occur without properly understanding Him. Ibn al-Qayyim added that complete servitude (ʿubūdiyya) is a byproduct of complete love, which itself springs from the beloved's perceived perfection, and that love makes servitude delightful and lightens afflictions. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever has three within himself will find the sweetness of faith," naming first the one who loves Allah and His Messenger above all else. Shaykh Mohammad Elshinawy said that worship "represents a declaration of love for God." Just as a mother's deep love makes the burdens of caring for her child bearable and even delightful, love is what distinguishes satisfaction from frustration in obeying Allah. The corrective image is captured by Allah's name al-Walī, the Loving Caretaker, which encompasses al-Qarīb (the Intimately Close), al-Wadūd (the Loving), al-Raḥīm, al-Wakīl, and al-Muʿīn. This name combines Allah's sovereignty with His love, care, and wisdom; al-Walī sets regulations out of care and imposes rules that facilitate human flourishing, while remaining Absolutely Powerful and able to hold people accountable. Allah repeatedly names Himself the Walī of the believers: "That is because Allah is the protector of those who have believed." In the ḥadīth qudsī, Allah declares war upon whoever shows enmity to His walī and says that the servant draws nearest to Him through the obligations enjoined, then through voluntary acts until He loves him and becomes his hearing, sight, hand, and foot. This establishes that Allah commands the very actions that bring us nearest to Him. Ibn ʿAṭāʾillāh commented that Allah made the actions leading to divine intimacy obligatory, thereby in reality making entrance to paradise obligatory. Ibn Taymiyya reflected that the most beneficial supplication—asking Allah's aid in worshipping Him—was already made obligatory in al-Fātiḥa: "And You alone we worship and You alone we ask for support." Yet al-Walī's care is not synonymous with the fulfillment of our wants, for Allah says, "It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you." The People of the Ditch in Sūrat al-Burūj were killed by a tyrant, yet Allah declared their martyrdom the great victory. Sailing with Allah does not mean encountering no waves, but sailing in a ship no wave can sink. Our God image develops through what we are taught and through experience, particularly an affective experiential perception shaped by relationships with parents. A believer must ultimately internalize both hope and fear, running toward God, as the Prophet ﷺ said, "There is no refuge nor escape from You except to You," while knowing that Allah said, "Indeed, My mercy prevails over My wrath." Research identifies parenting styles along two dimensions—responsiveness and demandingness—yielding four styles: neglectful, permissive, authoritarian (low warmth, high control, relying on punishment and psychological manipulation), and authoritative (high warmth and high expectations, using reasoned explanation). Both authoritarian and authoritative parents desire obedience, but differ in delivery. The authoritarian parent transmits shame and creates a climate of fear and resentment; the authoritative parent maintains a loving climate even while enforcing consequences. Regarding explanation, parents should respond sufficiently rather than exhaustively, mirroring how Allah at times explained His wisdom and at other times did not, as when He told the angels, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know," and how certain ritual (taʿabbudī) acts require submission without full comprehension. An empirical study of 701 Muslims in Canada tested these relationships. It found that a cop-like image of God was associated with more submission reluctance (r = .49) and more religious doubts (r = .54), while imagining Allah as al-Walī was associated with less of both (r = -.68 and r = -.61). Parents with a benevolent God image reported less authoritarian and more authoritative parenting, and correspondingly invoked God's anger less and His love more. Youth perceptions of authoritarian parenting predicted less benevolent God images and cop-like images linked to doubt and reluctance, while perceptions of authoritative parenting predicted an al-Walī image linked to submission. Notably, paternal authoritarianism appeared more detrimental than maternal, being directly related to religious doubt and submission reluctance. From these findings flow several counsels. Rehabilitating one's image of Allah should be prioritized before answering doubt-related questions, through both textual and relational means. Parents are urged to enhance their own God image and thereby break the intergenerational transmission of distortion. Ibn al-Qayyim observed that fear alone motivates no one: "It is love that motivates, fear that spurs, and hope that leads." The Prophet ﷺ embodied warmth, saying, "Whoever does not show mercy will not receive mercy," telling Muʿādh, "By Allah, I love you," praying for Ibn ʿAbbās, and honoring Fāṭima. Yet he also set limits, teaching Fāṭima the tasbīḥ rather than granting her a servant, a denial met with gratitude because of the trust between them. Parents are cautioned against both extremes—authoritarian harshness and permissive indulgence, which may foster entitlement and an image of God as a wish-granter. They should grant age-appropriate autonomy, teach repentance (tawba), and recall the stories of Kaʿb ibn Mālik and the archers at Uḥud. Through acting as a walī to their children—balancing warmth and firmness—parents build their children's understanding of Allah as their Walī, so that they may not only submit in contentment but taste the sweetness of worship, in shāʾa Allāh. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/why-our-perception-of-god-matters # Why Our Perception of God Matters | Blog **Author:** Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Blog, Names of Allah **Published:** May 22, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 I was having breakfast with a good friend of mine, and we were catching up on our professional and family lives. He asked me what I was researching these days, and I told him I was researching how people imagine God to be and how they interpret life events based on their perceptions of Him. His eyes got wide as he sat up, and he disclosed a sensitive encounter he recently had. > “You know that my wife and I have wanted kids for some time but that we are having trouble conceiving. The other day, one of our family members was talking to us about it and said, ‘God must be punishing you for something you did.’ Hearing this caused my wife so much pain.” I sat there a bit shocked, empathizing with my friend as I reflected over how this person must have imagined God in order to interpret life in such a fashion. People imagine God in vastly different ways. Some people imagine Him to be incredibly kind and loving, whereas others perceive Him as angry and punishing. What are the consequences of how we imagine Him to be? Does it matter if we feel He is intimately close or distant? Does it matter if we believe He loves to help us or if we believe He is a divine proctor watching us take the test of life alone? Yes! It absolutely matters. In fact, there is perhaps nothing more important in life than our perception of who God is. We make sense of the world based on how we imagine Him to be. We see and interpret the events that unfold in life through our God image filter. If we imagine Him as beautiful, we will see beauty in the world. If we imagine Him as merciful, we will see mercy all around us. If we imagine Him as loving, we will see His Love everywhere. Unfortunately, if we imagine Him as harsh, we will see harshness everywhere. Our image of God shapes how we see ourselves and it shapes our relationships with others. People who imagine God as loving see themselves as more loveable. Those who imagine God as forgiving are more forgiving of others. Those who view God more benevolently have better self-esteem and fewer religious doubts and struggles. God is very concerned with our perception because He knows the devastating effects of having a distorted image of Him. He informs us that many people have a distorted God image, saying, > “In no way have they estimated Allah in His true estimation.” He is telling us that He is far more majestic, beautiful, sublime, and wise than people imagine. In essence, Allah wants us to always have positive assumptions and expectations of Him because He knows that is essential to our thriving. So how do we form our God image? We believe that our God image comes from two sources of knowledge: the head and the heart. Head knowledge refers to what we have been intellectually taught about God, such as theological beliefs derived from books, lectures, and school. It also includes messages about God that are promoted in popular culture, such as music, movies, and social media. Heart knowledge refers to what we have emotionally and relationally experienced about God. Unfortunately, people often experience a mismatch between their head knowledge and heart knowledge. > In other words, they know that the Qur’an says that God is compassionate, but they don’t feel His Compassion in their lives. Why does this happen and what can we do about it? Our ongoing research into this topic suggests that our emotional experiences with God (i.e., heart knowledge) are influenced by our relationships with human beings, especially our parents. We often project onto God what we experience with our parents. If we felt our parents were loving, forgiving, and helpful, we are more likely to imagine God as loving, forgiving, and helpful. If we felt our parents were strict, cruel, and unfair, we are more likely to imagine God the same way. In fact, we even find that parents’ God images predict their parenting behavior. Parents who imagine God as warm and supportive are more likely to report being warm and supportive of their children. Parents who imagine God as strict are more likely to report being strict and controlling with their children. As parents, we have a tremendous ability to teach our kids who God is through our actions and words. We should also remember that actions speak louder than words. Regardless of how we imagine God to be today, there is always hope to restore a healthy and accurate image of Him. One of the most important things we can do is to develop a relationship with a *murabbi*, a person whose knowledge, character, and behavior teaches us about Allah intellectually (head knowledge) and relationally (heart knowledge). To learn relationally about Allah through proper companionship (*suhbah*) means to learn from someone whose character is molded by intimate knowledge of the attributes of Allah. A *murabbi* is someone you build a personal relationship with through frequent interactions. You are most likely to find such a person in your local community. Spending time in the pursuit of a benevolent God image is one of the most satisfying pursuits in life. The more positively we imagine Allah, the deeper our bond and attachment to Him will be. Once we form a bond with our Creator based on obedience and love, we will experience the gardens of this life before the gardens of the hereafter. > To learn more about God image and attachment, read [The Alchemy of Divine Love: How Our View of God Affects Our Faith and Happiness](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-role-of-islamic-scholars-in-modern-society # The Role of Islamic Scholars in Modern Society | Blog **Author:** Dr. Usaama al-Azami **Topics:** Jurisprudence (fiqh), Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Ijtihad, The Straight Path - Finding Guidance in an Age of Confusion **Published:** May 8, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 *The issues addressed in this blog are dealt with in far greater detail in a full-length paper on the same topic, which can be read* ***[here](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-we-need-ulama-islamic-knowledge-in-a-secular-age)****.* Contemporary Muslims often find themselves confronting a seeming paradox that has emerged in our times. They ask themselves what role, if any, the ulama—Islamic religious scholars—have to play in modern societies. This question may arise in a number of different contexts. Some may see Muslim communities functioning just fine without significant numbers of ulama. Their limited visibility may give the (mis)impression of their irrelevance. Others might feel that modern educated Muslims in search of divine guidance can simply pick up a good translation of the Qur’an or an authoritative collection of hadith, like *Sahih Bukhari* or *Sahih Muslim*, and thereby directly access divine guidance unmediated by any scholar. There may even be some who look down at the “so-called ulama” who they believe, not always without some justification, are poorly educated and have little to offer graduates from modern universities who enjoy considerable success in their worldly lives. My paper explains that, contrary to the above views, there are actually very good, and arguably quite obvious, reasons that the ulama have historically been and will inevitably continue to be indispensable to Muslims. My answer draws on the Qur’an and Sunnah and the statements of scholars of the past to illustrate this point in several ways, before addressing some challenges Muslims face today in finding the sorts of scholars we need. I also reflect on how contemporary challenges first emerged; Muslims’ own responsibility in dealing with them; and what kinds of steps we should take, as local communities and as an *ummah*, to try and address these challenges. --- ## “Heirs of the prophets” One dimension of the need for ulama is highlighted by the Prophet ﷺ in [his statement](https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1388) that “the ulama are the heirs of the prophets.” In particular, he ﷺ highlighted that the task of prophets was the convey knowledge, and that this is a role that the *scholars* would undertake after a prophet passes. Naturally, the ulama of our community—the standard bearers of Islam—refer to this hadith when highlighting their role as transmitters of sound Islamic teachings. This role is especially important because any area of knowledge has its experts who should be consulted if there is any confusion. > As I elaborate in the full-length paper, there are often instances in which the interpretation of the Qur’an or the Sunnah needs to be undertaken by someone who is an expert, who understands the nuances of the Arabic language, and who possesses a holistic understanding of the message of Islam through its main scriptural sources. Oddly enough, the questioning of the need for ulama in modernity occurs in a context in which our dependency on expertise is perhaps the greatest in any time in human history given the complexities of modern life. Whether it is the scientific expertise that runs our devices, or the complex legal norms that govern our existence in modern societies, we are entirely attuned to the notion of expertise. However, part of the secularist prejudice of the modern contexts many of us live in is the suggestion that religious knowledge is not also a form of expertise. This is little more than a “secularist prejudice” as I have just labeled it—something even some secular philosophers will confess in their moments of candor. Given that the Qur’an was revealed over a millennium ago in “[a clear Arabic tongue](https://quran.com/26/195),” it stands to reason that Muslims need to resort to scholarly experts of the ancient Arabic language to understand its message. Add to that the fact that there has been a long and illustrious tradition of scholarly reflection on the Qur’an and the Sunnah in Arabic and it becomes clear that we need to have dedicated specialists in this tradition to inform us about what we need to live as faithful Muslims today. --- ## Finding reliable scholars The Qur’an advocates that scholars’ expertise is sought in questions of doubt. > Allah says: “[Ask those who know if you do not know](https://quran.com/16/43),” a verse that scholars throughout history have understood to mean that scholarly expertise should be resorted to in moments of doubt. Yet, this also means that we need to recognize reliable scholars and distinguish between them and those who may claim to be scholars but would not be recognized as such by other scholars. As I note in the full-length paper, there are ways that can be used to recognize a genuine scholar, and such discernment is essential in our communities. Other questions this raises include our responsibility as a community to cultivate scholars through incentivising the formal study of Islam and through the recognition of the importance of Islamic scholarship as an enterprise that is essential to the well-being of our communities. Such scholars should be from both genders, and crucially, they need to reflect the very best talent of our communities. Only then will we start to have the kind of ulama that we so desperately need—dynamic individuals who can galvanize the best of our community to bring about good for society as a whole. The ulama are an indispensable part of any project of Islamic revival. By raising awareness of the vitally important role they must play in our community’s faithful growth and development, each of us can contribute in a small way to the revival of a vibrant Islamic *ummah*, one that has been held back from contributing to humanity for far too long. For more on this topic read the full paper *[Why We Need ʿUlamāʾ: Islamic Knowledge in a Secular Age](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-we-need-ulama-islamic-knowledge-in-a-secular-age)* --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-we-need-ulama-the-importance-of-seeking-islamic-knowledge-from-scholars # Why We Need Ulama: The Importance of Seeking Islamic Knowledge From Scholars **Author:** Dr. Usaama al-Azami **Topics:** Jurisprudence (fiqh), Sharia **Tags:** Da'wah in Islam, Ijtihad, Paper, Publication, The Straight Path - Finding Guidance in an Age of Confusion **Published:** May 4, 2023 **Updated:** April 14, 2026 ## Author Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Yaqeen team for their painstaking diligence in shepherding this article from its earliest stages all the way to publication. So many amazing people work within this inspiring organization, many of whom remain anonymous to me. They are in my heartfelt prayers in the depths of the night. In particular, I would like to thank Julio Rivera, Ayesha Bakali, Ovamir Anjum, Ahmed Elbenni, Nameera Akhtar, my anonymous reviewers, and the various other members of the production team working behind the scenes. *Jazakum Allah khayran wa-baraka fikum*! --- ## Introduction Why do Muslims need to refer to scholars? If God has revealed guidance through his Prophet ﷺ in the form of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and if modern technology allows us to access these sources of guidance with ease, why must our relationship with God be mediated by such fallible human beings? Can Muslims depend on books and/or websites to arrive at their own judgments on religious issues? Can they reflect directly on the Qur’an and the Sunnah (Prophetic example)? If it turns out that we must at times depend on scholarly expertise, how can we know whether a scholar is reliable or not?  What if some of the scholars we hold in high esteem as moral exemplars turn out to be the opposite of exemplary? If Muslims esteem their scholars so much, but then some prominent scholars turn out to exhibit serious moral failings in their personal and/or political dealings, does that not create the circumstances for serious crises of faith or religious disillusionment? What about women—can they become scholars, and if so, why do there seem to be so few of them? These are some of the questions I address in this article. My aim is to illustrate not only the necessity of relying on authentic Islamic scholarship, but also that such a recognition of religious authority does not entirely absolve Muslims from exercising their own moral judgment in cases of doubt. Muslims from every era have recognized the importance of scholarship in explaining how the Qur’an and the Sunnah, first revealed in an Arabian context nearly fifteen centuries ago, should apply to Muslims in subsequent eras. Yet socio-cultural transformations in Europe that coincided with the industrial revolution and colonialism have globalized the ideas of a small sliver of the human population, and in the process rendered the *ʿulamāʾ* irrelevant in many people’s eyes today. The causes of this shift in perspective are multifaceted. Some, caught in the embrace of secular ideologies, do not understand why Muslims need to remain wedded to their tradition. They wonder why Muslims cannot simply embrace secularism and recognize their cultural heritage as a matter of the past available for occasional inspiration. Others, who have maintained a deeper commitment to God’s revelation, might ask: “If I have the infallible Qur’an and Sunnah at my fingertips through Google, why do I need to pay attention to fallible *ʿulamāʾ*?” Still others argue that Islam cannot be known by anyone but those who have received formal authorization (*ijāza*) to transmit Islamic knowledge as part of a chain of authorities (*sanad*): “These are the true *ʿulamāʾ*,” they declare, “and no one may interpret the Qur’an and Sunnah apart from them.” The present article reflects on the role that the *ʿulamāʾ* play in society, both today and in the past. It considers this role in both Muslim minority and majority contexts. In addressing this topic, I will reference the Qur’an, Sunnah, and past scholars’ works. A short article like this one cannot hope to exhaustively address the issues under discussion—ones deserving of multiple articles by many authors. But I hope that by the end of the article, the reader will come to recognize the urgent need for a balanced approach that respects scholarly authority without absolving the average Muslim of moral responsibility in their personal and social lives. Throughout the article, I will consider what role scholarship ought to play in the life of modern Muslims living in a world in which many advocate for a secular public sphere. The article will conclude by recognizing that the collective obligation of producing scholars adequate to our needs is simply not being fulfilled in the modern West, and arguably, in much of the modern world. This calls for a recognition that producing scholars is not the job of scholars alone, but the Muslim *umma* as a whole. The frequent failure of our scholars to persuasively articulate the role Islam should play in the modern world is, in fact, a failure of all Muslims, one we must take seriously and make an effort to reverse. --- ## Why do we need ʿulamāʾ? The Prophet ﷺ once rebuked certain Companions of his who had advised a wounded man to undertake the ritual bath (*ghusl*) after a nocturnal emission while they were traveling. The man had asked if he could perform dry ablutions (*tayammum*) instead of a full ritual bath, but his fellow travelers insisted that he should perform *ghusl*. He did so and subsequently died, presumably from infection and/or exposure—the hadith does not specify. The Prophet ﷺ was so angered by the people who insisted that he bathe that he castigated them saying: “They killed him. May God kill them!” The harshness of this rebuke does not negate the Prophet’s merciful nature. Indeed, its rarity only underlines the severity of the sin committed by those he was criticizing. As Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya notes, this was the severity of the Prophet’s prayer against “a group of people who gave a *fatwa* without knowledge,” leading to the death of the questioner.[^1] The episode reminds us of the gravity of *fatwa*\-giving, a notion that is repeatedly conveyed in the Islamic scholarly tradition. The remainder of the hadith reports the Prophet’s advice with respect to the sorts of scenarios faced by these travelers. After condemning those who had given their *fatwa* without any knowledge, the Prophet ﷺ added: “Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is asking.”[^2] Islam as a lived practice is grounded in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The Qur’an is a richly textured revelation that cannot be understood in many of its finer details without recourse to the Prophetic Sunnah, and both contain texts that are possible to interpret in myriad ways.[^3] The same is true for any text that is valued by a community. Consider the United States Constitution. At 4,543 words, it is considerably shorter in length than this article. Yet the US has developed an enormous judicial infrastructure, as well as innumerable legal institutions ranging from firms to schools, to train legal scholars and practitioners in the interpretation and implementation of the norms laid down by this document—a document that governs the running of the most powerful nation on earth today. Similarly, the Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ have served as guides for one of the most important civilizations in human history, one that flourished as a spiritual, intellectual, economic and geopolitical superpower for much of the past thousand years. --- ## What is the ʿulamāʾ? [In this context, it is quite obvious that scholarly expertise needs to be developed to properly understand how the Qur’an and Sunnah should guide the Muslim *umma* through its worldly existence.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/what-is-a-madhhab-exploring-the-role-of-islamic-schools-of-law)  While the necessity of scholarly expertise may seem obvious at the level of high politics and intellectual debate, one might ask how the average Muslim is, or ought to be, affected by the ruminations of the *ʿulamāʾ* over the sacred revelation preserved in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Here, too, the constitutional analogy may be of some use. The wider legal structures that impinge on all citizens are built upon the basis of the US Constitution as well as the local constitutions of each of the country’s 50 states. These laws directly shape people’s lives. Everybody recognizes the need to stay on the right side of the law. It is not only that the consequences of not doing so may be serious, but also that we generally believe this to be the right thing to do. Once again, this requires learning what the law is, and this is usually done by using sources produced by scholars of the law. Essentially, given the interdependent nature of human social existence, it is not possible for human societies to thrive without a degree of specialization. This allows for people to develop expertise in individual areas which others do not have the opportunity to develop for themselves. We all depend on specialists in every aspect of our lives, whether in medicine, engineering, economics, or beyond. This is true for scholars too, of course. Scholars need to rely on specialists for access to the resources they need to survive, whether they are the doctors who vaccinate them, the engineers who design their houses and cars, or the public servants who manage the towns and cities in which they reside. Just as we all need these experts to provide us the amenities we need to live fruitful lives, the lay Muslim needs *ʿulamāʾ* to access the wisdom of the Qur'an and Sunnah. If human affairs require specialist knowledge, the *ʿulamāʾ* can be viewed as specialists regarding the Divine revelation that directs us concerning how we must live our lives. To be clear, lay Muslims are encouraged to deepen their understanding of the *dīn*, and some of them should indeed pursue specialization in the *ʿulūm Sharʿiyya* or Sharia sciences; such expertise is particularly lacking among Muslims in the West. However, those who do not specialize in these sciences must defer to the experts. Similarly, Muslims can benefit from reading the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah for themselves, and we live in a time when these texts have become readily accessible. Yet, if Muslims experience any confusion about how to understand these texts, they need the *ʿulamāʾ* for clarification. In this regard, the *ʿulamāʾ* often cite a verse from Sūrat al-Naḥl 16:43 which reads: “Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.” As the Andalusian exegete al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) notes, the scholars agree that this verse refers to the need for laypeople (*al-ʿāmma*) to follow their *ʿulamāʾ*.[^4] The vast majority of the world’s Muslims are not able to understand the language of the Qur’an and Sunnah without the aid of translation. These translations are ultimately undertaken by scholars who are qualified enough to understand the Arabic of first/seventh century Arabia and convey its meaning to readers and listeners living nearly a millennium and a half after the epoch of revelation. As Jonathan A. C. Brown argues in his masterful work *Misquoting Muhammad*, efforts to understand the Qur’an without the aid of the interpretive exertions of the *ʿulamāʾ* are doomed to failure. To understand the powerful language of the Qur’an, the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ would at times resort to pre-Islamic poetry that could authoritatively elucidate the meaning of some of the Qur’an’s elegant literary word choices. Brown notes how misguided efforts by certain modernist Muslims to marginalize extra-Qur’anic sources of religious authority, such as the hadith, are self-defeating when they themselves clearly need to resort to the extra-Qur’anic scholarly work of Arabic lexicographers to determine the meanings of certain words in the Sacred Text.[^5] --- ## Interpreting a single letter This is true down to individual letters in the Qur’an. For just one example, we can take the verse on *wuḍūʾ* in the Qur’an, namely al-Māʾida 5:6, which contains a phrase that is typically translated as “wipe your heads.” This translation papers over a complication in the original Arabic, namely how one is to understand the letter *bāʾ* in the Arabic phrase: *wa’msaḥū* ***bi****\-ruʾūsikum*. This single letter has become a locus of considerable discussion, resulting in several different opinions among the scholars as to how much of the head needs to be wiped. The grammarians note that the letter *bāʾ* has fourteen different meanings.[^6] The jurists therefore disagree whether the “wiping” demanded in the verse refers to wiping the whole head, or only part of it. If the whole, is the wiping invalidated by a single hair being missed? On the other hand, if it’s only a part, is wiping valid if only a single hair is wiped? The jurists have adopted a range of positions between these two extremes. Now extend this problem to the rest of the Qur’an’s 6,000 or so verses, and then to the tens of thousands of hadith reports attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, and one can come to understand how challenging arriving at the correct interpretation—i.e., the one that truly exemplifies the divine intent—can be. For some readers, such a debate might seem “academic” in the worst sense of that term. God presumably does not expect humans to be needlessly preoccupied with arguments over such minute details in His Sacred Text. Some scholars from the past have indeed talked about the perils of pointless pedantry, much of it potentially driven by egotistical point scoring.[^7] Yet interpretative disagreements of the sort presented above do not seem minimal or irrelevant to the scholars in question. The same could be said for many verses that *Ahl al-Sunna* may hold to be correctly understood in a particular way, but which misguided people past and present may wish to twist in other directions. Allah ﷻ, as the All-Knowing Creator, is fully aware of the nature of language and the necessity of interpreting a text like the Qur’an for human beings. If we feel the need to problematize the preoccupation of Islamic jurists with such “irrelevant” details, we would do well to recognize that modern states expend vast sums of money to establish gargantuan institutions to engage in the interpretation of their laws. In the United States, for example, the judiciary is one of three equal branches of the federal government. When the federal and state judiciaries are considered together, they boast a body of roughly 32,000 judges.[^8] These figures are dwarfed by the numbers of licensed, active lawyers in the US. In a recent survey by the American Bar Association, there were roughly 1.3 million lawyers practicing in the country.[^9] This is to say nothing of the vast supporting infrastructure of paralegals and other non-legally trained personnel, upon whose legal literacy these institutions depend to properly function. This also does not include the considerable educational and research infrastructure necessary to maintain a steady flow of newly-trained lawyers, as well as to host spaces where legal intellectuals can reflect on complex problems outside of the high-pressure environments of litigation and the offering of costly legal services. The job of these hundreds of thousands of people is to interpret codified texts to inform clients or litigants of their legal rights and obligations with reference to said texts. This is because the laws in any system are based on language, and language is inherently ambiguous when it comes to problems as complex as governance, social organization, and dispute resolution. In a sense, the feeling of many modern people (and even some modern Muslims) that religious experts should not need to be consulted on religious practice, whereas experts should be consulted on secular law, reflects the acceptance of secularism as a norm that governs modern legal culture. For non-Muslims, who often will not have any religious reference to speak of on legal questions, this may seem entirely reasonable. For Muslims to think so, however, reflects their absorption, even if unwittingly, of a legal culture that is at odds with the Islamic one that they view themselves as part of. This is because Islam, as it has been understood by Islamic scholars for basically its entire history, mandates certain behaviors in ways that may reasonably be referred to as laws in the English language. Although the modern usage of law is often intimately associated with the state and there is an expectation that contravening the law will result in worldly sanction, what is commonly referred to as Islamic law does not always operate according to these assumptions. Many of its injunctions and prohibitions, such as the prohibition of backbiting, do not have scripturally-grounded sanctions attached. They are, effectively, moral guidelines backed by metaphysical commitments—a belief in the threat of otherworldly punishment. If one believes that God has revealed a law through His Speech in the form of the Qur’an, and that He has mandated Muslims to live in accordance with that law, with consequent reward or punishment in the next life, these are pretty compelling reasons to adhere to the norms He has laid out in revelation, even if most laws remain without specific forms of divinely designated this-worldly punishment. As many scholars have observed, Islamic law actually gave rise to an extraordinarily long-lasting and effective set of institutions that helped govern Muslim societies for centuries in ways that resulted in remarkable prosperity and cultural efflorescence.[^10] --- ## Historical roles of the ʿulamāʾ Over the course of Islamic history, the *ʿulamāʾ* played a crucial role in providing the legal, [spiritual, and normative basis for the major institutions that constituted Muslim societies.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-sober-second-thought-when-and-how-should-changes-in-islamic-law-be-made) It is not surprising, therefore, that their labors appear to have been highly valued by these societies, sometimes with unintended problematic consequences. One example may be found in comments made by one of the most influential scholars in Islamic history, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī (d. 505/1111).[^11] It is profoundly ironic for contemporary Muslims that in one of the most important and influential spiritual texts of Islamic civilization, the *Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn* \[*The Revival of the Religious Sciences*\], Ghazzālī complains at the outset that Muslims have been abandoning the study of medicine for Islamic legal studies (*fiqh*) because of how prestigious the latter had become. Ghazzālī’s discussion of this issue is found in the first of the *Iḥyāʾ’*s forty “books.” In the “Book of Knowledge,” he states: > How many regions’ only physician is a non-Muslim, whose testimony is not even admissible with respect to other doctors in relation to *fiqh* rulings. Yet we see no one taking up the study of medicine, but we see them dispute over the study of *fiqh*, and in particular in contentious matters and polemics while the region is full of jurists who occupy themselves with rulings and respond to events as they unfold. I wish I knew how the jurists of religion could sanction this involvement in a communal obligation (*farḍ kifāya*) that others have already taken responsibility for, while they abandon another communal obligation which no Muslims have undertaken \[i.e., the study of medicine\]. > Is there any other reason for this than the fact that medicine does not facilitate access to being entrusted with the management of financial endowments (*awqāf*), the inheritance of estates (*waṣāyā*), and control over the wealth of orphans; or to assume offices in the judiciary or government, and to gain advancement over one’s peers as well as the power to overcome one’s enemies?[^12] Ghazzālī’s lamentations over the lack of medical studies in the Muslim community are illustrative of both the socially prestigious role of the *ʿulamāʾ* in his time and the starkly contrasting circumstances that Muslims find themselves in today. In the contemporary Muslim world, as well as among Muslims in the West, Muslims have generally been socialized (one could say brainwashed) into thinking of medicine as one of the most prestigious career paths they could choose. It is typically the first choice for our best and brightest. It usually ensures financial security if not abundance. The pursuit of Islamic learning in our own time generally entails the polar opposite result. A typical graduate from an Islamic seminary in the Muslim world or in the West can currently expect little by way of social prestige and plenty of financial insecurity. Why is this? The answer is structural—how we as societies choose to order our priorities and incentivize certain career choices while disincentivizing others. What do we wish people to do in greater numbers than they otherwise would; what do we discourage people from doing? In general, a society will promote arenas it views as productive and helpful to achieving its aims. Modern societies incentivize a raft of career paths for young people by paying higher salaries for them and encouraging competition among entrants to those fields. In North America, much of Europe, and most Muslim countries, medicine is definitely one of these fields. At first glance, medicine seems like a field that would  command high salaries and prestige in any societal context. After all, what society doesn’t have sick people? People will typically spare no expense to recover from an illness that could significantly impair their quality of life or indeed bring an end to their lives altogether. Yet, Ghazzālī’s somewhat tangential comment in the *Iḥyāʾ* indicates that Muslim societies were so wealthy that they could simply outsource their medical needs to non-Muslims while still being able to spare vast resources for incentivizing a majority of their best and brightest to study Islamic law. Ghazzālī’s complaint, however, isn’t about the health risks resulting from this state of affairs—nothing in what he writes indicates that outsourcing this vital skill to non-Muslims caused any  significant health problems in the Muslim societies of his day. Rather, his complaint was about something far deeper—an issue at the heart of his life’s work—namely his concern that the *ʿulamāʾ* had lost their sense of working for Allah ﷻ and not for the sake of worldly gain. This is precisely the sort of problem that a relatively powerful and self-confident Islamic society might have. Such a society is one that has fallen into a spiritual decadence that undermines the otherworldly success of the community’s moral guides, and thus also threatens its effectiveness as a moral exemplar. In other words, Ghazzālī is right to think of his society as experiencing a moral crisis. However, modern Muslims are experiencing a different, and arguably a significantly more acute, kind of moral crisis. It is not one that arises in the main from the fact that the *ʿulamāʾ* have been corrupted by pursuit of the *dunyā*, although poverty can create its own kind of corruption. Rather, it arises from the fact that the *ʿulamāʾ* have been corrupted by their loss of social standing and attendant moral authority. As we can glimpse from Ghazzālī’s passage above, being a jurist in the fifth Islamic century (i.e., the eleventh CE century) placed one at the pinnacle of the social order. As well as populating the judiciary and government posts, Islamic jurists were consulted on financial issues of every kind. Ghazzālī is only mentioning in passing some of the matters that would have drawn the *ʿulamāʾ* into prestigious social roles. Legal study in Islamic society sat atop the educational hierarchy for good reason—Islamic norms, ethics, and laws formed the foundation of premodern Islamic societies. Islam informed every aspect of public life in the way that secular and liberal values do in the modern West. The historical role the *ʿulamāʾ* played was only eroded over the course of the colonial period by a Eurocentric, secular conception of modernity imposed on the Muslim world. --- ## Muslims and the modern ‘cultural revolution’ The deterioration of flourishing Islamic societies into the decrepit states found in large swathes of the modern Muslim world reflects a complex transformation that has taken several hundred years. One important component of this transmutation has been the secularization of these regions through the establishment of the modern nation-state. This was realized through a painful rupture involving colonial subjugation, mass transfers of wealth to colonial powers, and often brutal repression grounded in a racist liberal-colonial ideology that understood the “civilizing” of barbaric non-European peoples as the role of Western imperialism. The last 250 or so years have uprooted the variegated and largely decentralized legal orders of Muslim societies that were generally underpinned by an Islamic ethos. The changes wrought over this period affected not only the social, political, and legal practices of Muslim societies, they also resulted in the adoption by many Muslim elites of the values that their colonial masters brought to them. By our own day in the mid-fifteenth/early twenty-first century, these values have been so deeply internalized (some might say sedimented) in the minds of many Muslims that other ways of seeing the world, such as one in which the Sharia plays a central role in organizing a Muslim society, seem unnatural, contrived, “medieval,” regressive, and a host of other highly problematic epithets. Secularism has become such an unstated norm of our times that many recoil at the suggestion of an alternative vision of social organization. This is deeply ironic from a Muslim perspective for at least two reasons. Firstly, the centers of intellectual reflection on the foundations of Western thought, the universities, increasingly recognize the considerable contingency of contemporary Western ideas. The certainty in the foundations for one’s knowledge established by Descartes, and the general confidence in the primacy of reason that characterized the Enlightenment and facilitated the liberal-colonial project, has now given way to a deeply divided academy and wider society increasingly consumed by identity politics and the culture wars. This trend appears, in the academic humanities in particular, to have given rise to a range of mutually incomprehensible schools of thought. Of course, there are scholars who remain optimistic about the overall coherence of contemporary thought in the West. Those still committed to the Enlightenment have not yet come to recognize the intellectual provincialism of a project that only survives today as a neo-colonial endeavor upheld by a combination of brute force and intellectual sophistry; yet the relativist alternatives that litter the postmodern landscape seem far too easily to devolve into incoherence, and crucially for wider society, meaninglessness. Or perhaps, more charitably, meaning is invested deeply in what these thought-systems will themselves acknowledge are socially constructed identities with little more basis than the discourses that have generated them in the past few decades, grounded in the seductive ideas of self-identifying nihilists like Michel Foucault. --- ## Where and how can reliable scholars be found? This context further underlines the need for divine guidance in what many find to be profoundly confusing times. If we recognize that scholarly authority is vitally important, a natural concomitant question is where can we find reliable scholars and how does the layperson judge that reliability? This is a question that has at once been made easier and more complicated by the proliferation of communication technologies, most notably the internet. For the average layperson, there is no shortage of claimants to scholarship whose work is accessible online. As with any kind of specialist knowledge, credible scholars of Islam tend to be those recognized by other scholars as authoritative. It is a function of reputation. Yet, this potentially compounds the problem, since these other scholars also need to be recognized by others. Ultimately, reliable scholars within any arena of expertise will be marked in certain ways. For example, if they are a graduate of a major Islamic seminary in a Muslim-majority country—such as al-Azhar and its various branches, Deoband, al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd University in Riyadh, the International Islamic University of Malaysia, Madīna University, Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ, the Pesantren system in Indonesia, Qarawiyyin, Saharanpur, and the like—they can be expected to have a good grasp of the Islamic scholarly tradition. But in addition to these centers of learning, increasingly, Western Islamic institutions are emerging that, as they mature, can be expected to train scholars of a comparable caliber to those trained in the Muslim-majority world.[^13]  In time, it may not be necessary to study outside of the West for a scholar to be recognized as a serious ʿ*ālim* or mufti, although it does not appear to me that we are quite there yet. Having this level of formal training is an extremely important aspect of assessing an individual as a scholar in Islam, but it is hardly sufficient. As the great Indian scholar Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Nadwī (d. 1420/1999) used to tell the graduating class at Nadwat al-ʿUlāmāʾ, “You now have the tools to become *ʿulamāʾ*.” The implication was that if these graduating students were to dedicate their lives to scholarship and devotional worship, they could aspire to reach that rank. This is an important dimension of Islamic scholarship to bear in mind, especially given the relative weakness of modern Islamic centers of learning when compared to the institutions that lead the world in education such as Harvard or Oxford. In the modernized curriculum of institutions like al-Azhar, the typical graduate will have undertaken the final three years of high school education (*thānawiyya*) which provides a rigorous introduction to the Sharia sciences, followed by a four-year “bachelor’s degree” in a narrower specialization of Islamic subjects. In Western institutions, we do not typically describe bachelor’s degree holders as scholars, but a graduate from an Islamic institute is often referred to as an ʿ*ālim* or Islamic scholar. This should give us pause. The reality is that proper Islamic scholarship arises from a lifetime of research and experience, and so while we should expect scholars to have graduated from a major institution of religious learning, we should also expect much more than that. In the West, for example, a doctorate is often the distinguishing mark of a scholar, and this standard is increasingly being adopted within the Muslim world as well. Once again, these are all conventions, and they have their pros and cons. For example, a doctorate in Islamic studies from a Western university is in no way an indication that an individual is an ʿ*ālim*, because Islamic studies at Western universities overwhelmingly continues to be taught in a secular register—it is usually approached from the perspective of intellectual history. When it comes to Islamic scholarship in the Muslim world, by contrast, the elaborate postgraduate teaching and research infrastructure that is widely available in the West, alongside the postdoctoral career opportunities that render feasible the emergence of tens of thousands of scholars on a regular basis in Western academia, are lacking in the Muslim world for reasons of economic limitation, but also social and governmental disinterest, if not negligence. Such problems are larger than can be addressed in the current article, but deserve much greater reflection on the part of contemporary Muslims. The above challenges notwithstanding, individual Islamic scholars can often be recognized by both systems if they have a combination of training in an Islamic institute and a doctorate in Islamic studies at a more secular institution. A number of the *ʿulamāʾ* prominent in the public sphere in the West enjoy such an intellectual pedigree. But as well as serving as authoritative interpreters of divine guidance, another dimension of the *ʿulamāʾ*’s importance lies less in their juristic prowess, and more in their authority as practitioners and upholders of a particular way of being in the world. An Islamic scholar is indeed meant to be an inheritor of the Prophet’s knowledge, but additionally is meant to perform some other prophetic tasks. Notably, a true scholar is supposed to uphold the highest standards of behavior exemplified by the Prophet ﷺ. To be clear, a sound Sunni understanding of Islam precludes the possibility of claiming to inherit any of the Prophet’s direct access to revelation. Such a view would border on the blasphemous. But the *ʿulamāʾ* are expected to uphold Islamic norms in their own personal behavior. The Qur’an describes the Prophet ﷺ as being an exemplar for all Muslims: “The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who place your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.”[^14] This divine appointment of the Prophet ﷺ as an exemplar surely reflects the divine recognition of humanity’s need for guides from among themselves. Allah says elsewhere in the Qur’an: > The only thing that kept these people from believing, when guidance came to them, was that they said, “How could God have sent a human being as a messenger?” Say, “If there were angels tranquilly walking about on the earth, We would have sent them an angel from Heaven as a messenger.”[^15] In-person access to scholars is the ideal, both for their knowledge and for their moral example. However, in the unfortunate case that one does not have access to such scholars but does know Arabic, there are fantastic *fatwa* banks online that can be used by Arabic readers (and some even by English readers). One of the most prolific (Islamweb.net) also has a *fatwa* as to whether a layperson may accept *fatwa*s from online websites.[^16] Its answer is predictably positive. However, the *fatwa* stresses the importance of verifying the source of any *fatwa*, and consequently refers to Islamweb.net’s “About Us” page, which reveals that the institution is funded by Qatar’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. The Qatari affiliation of such a website means that one might need to be circumspect about *fatwa*s that discuss Qatar, given the relative limits of free political expression in much of the Middle East. The same would apply to *fatwa*s issued by the Egyptian Dār al-Iftāʾ, the official *fatwa*\-issuing body of Egypt, when it comes to *fatwa*s against political opponents of the state. In this connection, it is worth citing Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328), who reportedly declared: “Everyone has a share of *ijtihād* to perform, and the *ijtihād* of the layperson (*ʿāmmī*) is to choose who to follow.”[^17] For example, under the iron grip of the secularizing Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad b. Salman, Saudi *fatwa* bodies’ pronouncements on politically sensitive questions must be read with considerable caution. I would argue that this can be true of even Western scholars who might align themselves with Islamophobic regimes in the West, or authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world.[^18] --- ## Where are the female scholars (ʿālimāt)? In theory, Islamic scholarship is not the preserve of men alone. In practice, this is another realm in which Muslim communities need to reassess their priorities. There are very few female ʿ*ālimāt* relative to male *ʿulamāʾ*. In part this may be due to what has already been discussed—the lack of social prestige in Islamic scholarship. Another cause is the lack of training opportunities for female *ʿulamāʾ*. Anecdotally speaking, this lack appears to be widespread. Many scholars I know who have studied or taught in female-only Islamic institutes, both in the Muslim majority world and the West, have lamented the poor quality of teaching at these institutions when compared to the quality of training they received at Western universities. Such scholars have suggested that such institutions clearly do not intend to produce serious scholars. This naturally needs to change. There are good reasons for the Muslim *umma* to value the training of female scholars who can undertake the all-important task of serving as role models for women *and* men. [The seeking of knowledge is, of course, a general obligation, and the Prophet's wife and Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her), was a noted scholar, jurist, and *muftiya*.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-did-prophet-muhammad-marry-aisha-dismantling-the-controversy-of-aishas-age) Indeed, the noted Damascene Ḥanbalī jurist, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350), was just one of the many scholars who praised her as a prolific issuer of *fatwa*s.[^19] Nor was she exceptional in Islamic history. As my own teacher Shaykh Muhammad Akram Nadwi has illustrated in his 40-volume encyclopedia of female hadith scholars, there were thousands upon thousands of women from across Islamic history who served as scholars of hadith. For her part, our Mother ʿĀʾisha praised the women of Medina for their desire to gain a deep understanding of their religion. As recorded in *Ṣaḥīḥ* *al-Bukhārī*, she stated: “How excellent are the women of the *Anṣār*: their shyness did not prevent them from gaining a deep understanding of their *dīn*.”[^20] In our own day, women are afforded the opportunity to gain higher education in a host of fields, but rarely are they afforded the opportunity to study the Sharia sciences at an advanced level. As noted, this is likely a function of the weak infrastructure for Sharia training throughout the *umma*, and a general strengthening of that infrastructure is desperately needed for both genders. This will hopefully begin to redress the fairly extreme shortage of female experts in the Sharia sciences who have graduated from Islamic institutes. The training of female scholars has many additional benefits, of course, not all of which can be explored in this paper. For instance, female Islamic scholars are likely to become mothers who will necessarily be educators of the children they raise. While men also have a responsibility to educate their children, particularly when they grow older, fathers’ Islamic legal responsibility to provide financially for their families means their direct involvement in education is typically less frequent and less extensive than is the case for mothers.[^21] Hence, in terms of raw numbers, Islamic educational institutions arguably ought to prioritize women’s opportunities over those of men. And while not all mothers need to be trained to become authoritative *ʿulamāʾ*, it has always been the practice of the Muslim *umma* in its periods of strength to provide women the opportunity to become ʿ*ālimāt* alongside the *ʿulamāʾ* who dedicate their lives to such endeavors. Once again, significant efforts need to be directed to changing the prevailing practices within our communities. Given the neglect that we as an *umma* have shown to Islamic education in general, such a reorientation needs to take place across the board. Only then can we hope for the emergence of scholars who address the needs of the *umma*, be they male or female. --- ## What if the ʿulamāʾ get things wrong? Unlike the Prophet ﷺ, no scholar can expect to receive revelation that corrects them if they make mistakes. Thus, the expectations Muslims have of their *ʿulamāʾ* must be tempered by this realism. This must be practiced on at least three levels. Firstly, notwithstanding the immense respect due to the *ʿulamāʾ*, Muslims must not put them on pedestals that place them beyond error or correction. Secondly, Muslims must be forgiving of the mistakes of our all- too-human *ʿulamāʾ*, in cases where they have made clear mistakes but have demonstrated that they have seen the error of their ways. Thirdly, we must recognize that the *ʿulamāʾ* may differ among themselves on what Islam calls for with respect to a given situation, so what one person may consider an error, may simply reflect the considered judgment of a scholar. [The earliest *ʿulamāʾ* of our community were keenly aware that they were human beings who could make mistakes rather than prophets divinely protected from error.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/difference-of-opinion-where-do-we-draw-the-line) It is narrated from a number of early Muslims, including the great Medinan imam and eponymous founder of a school of law Mālik ibn Anas (d. 189/795), that: “We may accept or reject statements from everyone, except the Prophet (ﷺ).”[^22] In other words, while we unconditionally accept everything the Prophet ﷺ taught us, given his capacity as God’s Messenger, such unconditional acceptance is not extended to anyone else. All other views are to be evaluated as sound or otherwise relative to their conformity to the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ. If a scholar emerges who exercises their scholarly judgment (*ijtihād*) and arrives at a problematic conclusion—arguing, for example, that wine or pork may be consumed by Muslims without qualification—their followers may not follow them, since such rulings are known as a matter of necessity (*maʿlūm min al-dīn bi’l-ḍarūra*) to be forbidden, in these instances, in the Qur’an. This has become all the more important in our own times because of the weakening of institutions of Islamic religious authority, particularly in the wake of colonialism and the collapse of a properly constituted Islamic caliphate. The process has been acute in some contexts, and more gradual in others, but we can all recognize that the *ʿulamāʾ* do not have a great deal of social or political authority in most contemporary Muslim societies. This marks a dramatic change in fortunes compared to the historic reality in which the *ʿulamāʾ* could make or break rulers, including the caliph. Even in the most recent iteration of the caliphate, under the Ottomans (r. 1517/923-1924/1341), the *ʿulamāʾ* repeatedly exercised their power to remove a caliph and replace him with a more suitable candidate.[^23] This cannot be dreamt of in any Muslim polity today. This degree of authority was recognized in Islamic scholarship from the earliest times and through the centuries, as exemplified by the following statement from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya: > The correct position is that rulers (*umarāʾ*) are only to be obeyed inasmuch as they issue commands that are in accord with scholarship (*ʿilm*). Consequently, \[the obligation\] to obey them follows from \[the obligation\] to obey the scholars (*ʿulamaʾ*). For obedience is only to be rendered in those matters which are known to be right (*maʿrūf*) and what is obligated by scholarship (*ʿilm*). So just as obeying *ʿulamaʾ* follows from obeying the Messenger ﷺ, similarly obeying rulers follows from obeying the *ʿulamaʾ*. Since the practice of Islam can only be fully realized through two groups of people: the scholars and the rulers; and since all people are their followers, worldly flourishing is only attainable through the flourishing of these two groups, and its corruption is through their corruption. As ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak (d. 181/797) and other forebears (*salaf*) have said: There are two types of people who, if they flourish, the people will flourish, and if they are depraved, the people will be depraved. He was asked: “Who are they?” He replied: “The rulers and the *ʿulamaʾ*.”[^24] Why was such a position of authority important? As our own times illustrate, the removal of the *ʿulamāʾ* has been part and parcel of the removal of Islam as a normative force in society more generally. It is true that in much of the Muslim world today, one can find relatively vibrant *ʿulamāʾ* institutions that have been cultivating scholarship in the Islamic sciences (*al-ʿulūm al-Sharʿiyya*). But without structural foundations propping up an Islamic socio-cultural matrix backed by political power, and indeed, forming the basis of such power, these phenomena remain brittle and may easily be uprooted, as the hegemonic secular norms of our time demand. This is why, as a matter of long-standing consensus in Sunni Islam, it is an obligation for the political authorities to uphold Islamic norms.[^25] In many Muslim countries, *ʿulamāʾ* institutions have been gravely compromised by the rise of the nation-state. States like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offer particularly striking examples of governments that have succeeded in bringing significant sections of their *ʿulamāʾ* classes under state control. In such contexts, as Jonathan A. C. Brown has suggested, one should be extremely wary of taking as authoritative the pronouncements of the *ʿulamāʾ* in political matters, which are likely to be compromised by their political subordination.[^26] This is not to say that these scholars’ *fatwa*s on how to conduct one’s prayers need to be rejected. In such cases, the average layperson can generally assume that they are faithfully passing on *fiqh* rulings. Where issues become more political, however, such as their support for the oppression of dictators, or their legitimation of normalizing relations with Israel while it is engaged in a colonial occupation which periodically rains down missiles on the largely defenseless peoples of Palestine, such *ʿulamāʾ* should be avoided as sources of guidance in these arenas.[^27] One might ask whether or not such behavior on the part of some *ʿulamāʾ* undermines the credibility of the *ʿulamāʾ* as a whole. The earlier part of this article established that the *ʿulamāʾ* are indispensable to gaining a sound understanding of our *dīn*, especially in periods of “ummatic” transition like today. Some people will undoubtedly feel a sense of disillusionment at the emergence of politically compromised *ʿulamāʾ*. It is natural for humans to feel suspicious of groups regarding whom they hear negative reports, and it is also unfortunately common for human beings to generalize such reports when they have little direct experience of the group reported on. Indeed, one could argue that this is how Islamophobia operates globally. Yet, as I contend in a book that looks at the way some *ʿulamāʾ* have engaged in the politics of the Arab revolutions and their aftermath over the past decade or so, while there are *ʿulamāʾ* who have been compromised by their associations with oppressive regimes today, it makes little sense to generalize about the vast majority of *ʿulamāʾ*. Most either stay away from the contentious realm of politics given the risks of opposition, or else vocally criticize the problematic stances of the relatively miniscule number of *ʿulamāʾ* who have thrown in their lot with authoritarian regimes.[^28] This is not to say that the prominence granted by states to such “*ʿulamāʾ* of the sultan,” as they are sometimes called, is not a problem. This situation needs to be rectified through a process of political reform in which these states are, through proper Islamic means, transformed into states with accountable governments—a process in which leading *ʿulamāʾ* would have historically played a crucial role. --- ## Infallible sources, fallible humans In contrast with the opinions of fallible human beings, be they learned or otherwise, Muslims recognize the Qur’an and Sunnah as infallible sources of guidance.[^29] This is to say that Muslims, despite not having infallible knowledge of every interpretive possibility of every verse and hadith in the Qur’an, can know the broad contours of belief and practice mandated by these sources. More generally, Sunnis agree that any opinion found to be mainstream in the four *madhhab*s could be legitimately followed without controversy. On finer details of interpretation, such as which of the ways of wiping one’s head was intended by Allah in the Qur’an, or even that He intended only a single interpretation, we cannot claim certitude. All we can claim is certainty around more general facts. In the case just noted, for example, we can claim with certainty, according to the *ʿulamāʾ*, that Qur’an 5:6 requires us to wipe our heads in some manner during *wuḍūʾ*, though we cannot be more specific than that. Historically, the broad contours of belief and practice just referred to have formed the basis of an Islamic civilizational project.[^30] Other civilizational projects, like those of the West, similarly are characterized by immense disagreements on the finer details of their ventures. We see these disagreements played out on a daily basis in social, political, and cultural controversies. They are debated and analyzed to no end at universities, for example. Yet, these disagreements are largely set aside when existential political or ideological threats need to be confronted. The fact that *ʿulamāʾ* are meant to be authoritative reference points for the lay Muslim who may find themselves confused on the “Islamic perspective” on a particular question does not negate the fact that the *ʿulamāʾ* are themselves fallible human beings.[^31] This is a point that bears repeating given how commonly human beings tend to place absolute trust in other humans when it comes to spiritual matters. *ʿUlamāʾ* are as fallible as any other kind of specialist. The specialized knowledge of a financial advisor or engineer does not preclude the possibility that they may make mistakes, even major ones. A doctor or lawyer may suffer from forgetfulness or not act with the best of intentions, despite their oaths to do no harm or to uphold the law. They are, after all, human beings, and hence there must be mechanisms in place for accountability and the redressing of wrongs. For medical or fiduciary negligence, for example, there are regulations that allow for restitution in modern legal systems. This is often less readily available in cases now sometimes referred to as “spiritual abuse,” for example.[^32] In the absence of such mechanisms for redress, vigilance is called for, and Muslim communities are obligated to find ways to balance reverence for their religious specialists with a recognition that they are sometimes all too human in their frailty. On the other hand, in many of our communities in the modern world, the problem is not one of undue reverence, but no reverence at all. There is a desperate need for Muslims to take religious training seriously, to grant it social recognition and prestige such that it attracts talented minds able to develop the levels of expertise we need in our communities locally, nationally, and transnationally. As already highlighted, modern Muslims have woefully neglected their religious duty to develop the kind of religious expertise in our communities that will help address the questions that people have on a whole range of contemporary issues. A concerted communal effort is required to develop robust institutions that can produce the scholarly knowledge necessary to address the sorts of issues we face as a community. Every member of the community has a role to play in this process. This entails recognizing and respecting Islamic knowledge as an enterprise to which would-be scholars are able and willing to dedicate their education and subsequent careers. Too often in our communities, those who have dedicated their lives to Islamic learning are looked down upon as failures who could not make it in more prestigious fields. This in turn contributes to a vicious cycle in which the education of future *ʿulamāʾ* becomes the preserve of less capable students, while the most talented end up in “secular” fields like medicine and law. These tendencies are, taking into account local variation, true on an *umma*\-wide scale, and their consequences over the last several generations have included the diminution of many Muslims’ commitment to their own religious tradition  as well as the emergence of an *ʿulamāʾ* class that is too often unable to bear the burdens of the challenges facing the *umma*. --- ## “Heirs of the prophets” It is well-nigh impossible to discuss the role of the *ʿulamāʾ* without referencing the Prophet’s luminous hadith regarding the pursuit of sacred knowledge. Reported in multiple collections of hadith, as well as in the popular *Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn* collection of Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277), this hadith comprises a central pillar in our understanding of who the *ʿulamāʾ* are and the enormous moral burden they must bear. According to this report, the Prophet ﷺ said: > Whoever travels a path on which he seeks knowledge, Allah makes a path to Paradise easy for him. Indeed, the angels lower their wings in approval of the one seeking knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and the earth and even the fish in the depths of the sea seek forgiveness for him. The superiority of the scholar over the worshiper is like the superiority of the moon over the stars. Indeed, the scholars are the heirs of the prophets, and the prophets do not leave behind dinars or dirhams, but rather knowledge. So, whoever acquires it has indeed acquired a bounteous share.[^33] What this hadith conveys in broad terms is the immense virtue of pursuing sacred knowledge, and the great rank of those who acquire it for the right reasons. The fact that intentions are all-important is strikingly illustrated in another hadith that serves as a dire warning for those who would pursue the sacred knowledge of our *dīn* for worldly reasons. In a longer hadith that is also found in *Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn*, the Prophet ﷺ speaks of a scene on the Day of Resurrection. He states: > A man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur'an will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favors He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: “What did you do to express gratitude for these favors?” The man will reply: “I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur'an for Your sake.” Allah will say to him: “You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned man, and you read the Qur'an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.” A command will then be issued, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.[^34] The role of the heirs of the prophets is clearly not to be taken lightly. With the right intention, pursuing knowledge is the most virtuous of acts; but with wayward intentions, one may be destined for Hellfire—May Allah ﷻ protect us. This key reality notwithstanding, the *ʿulamāʾ* remain indispensable to a proper understanding of Islam. --- ## Conclusion In this article, I set out to explain what role the *ʿulamāʾ* are meant to play in facilitating the vibrant spiritual life of the Muslim *umma*. I attempted to answer a collection of concerns about whether the *ʿulamāʾ* continue to have any relevance in the present day. I hope to have demonstrated that the answer to these concerns is unequivocally in the affirmative. The *ʿulamāʾ* are heirs to the Prophet ﷺ in offering guidance to Muslims regarding how they can best adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Muslims have historically recognized how and why the *ʿulamāʾ* serve this crucial social and spiritual role in their communities. Yet, this understanding has been challenged by the systematic collapse of Islamic civilizational infrastructure in recent centuries. This ummatic condition provides the crucial context in which questions about the relevance of the *ʿulamāʾ* arose in the first place. Muslims as a community must come to recognize the importance of institution-building that directly caters to the training and development of *ʿulamāʾ*. Rebuilding the Islamic infrastructure that once served this purpose is key to restoring the authority of the*ʿulamāʾ*. This same infrastructure must also serve to produce female *ʿulamāʾ* who can bring unique perspectives and also serve as role models of learning and piety for the *umma* as the Qur’an states of Maryam (*ʿalayhā al-salām*) and the wife of Pharaoh.[^35] There also needs to be a recognition that the *ʿulamāʾ* are fallible human beings, and that no Muslim is ever absolved of individual responsibility before Allah. It is my hope that the foregoing reflections have conveyed the challenging balancing act that modern Muslims have to collectively engage in to begin to rectify their spiritual condition. They simultaneously need to respect their *ʿulamāʾ* as beacons of guidance while being aware of their current weakness as a social class and their potential human frailty as individuals. Furthermore, Muslim communities need to extend their respect to these “heirs of the prophets” despite having spent generations diminishing their social value. Rather than persist in their long-standing, systematic neglect of Islamic learning, modern Muslims need to recognize Islam as a discursive framework for understanding the world around them in a way that conforms with the divine revelation received by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as guidance for humanity in all subsequent ages. In other words, we need a new revival of the religious sciences for our times. This is an urgent communal obligation that the *umma* has failed to uphold, potentially placing the global Muslim community in a state of sin until it is fulfilled. The only question that remains is whether the *umma* is willing to give this important task the attention it deserves. --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn al-Qayyim is cited in this *fatwa* discussing the hadith: https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/288472/شرح-حديث-صاحب-الشجة. For the original, see Ibn al-Qayyim, Iʿlām al-muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn, ed. Mashhūr Āl Salmān (Jeddah: Dār Ibn Jawzī, 1423), 3:529. [^2]: See Abū Dāwūd, *al-Sunan*, Kitāb al-ṭahāra, Bāb fī al-majrūḥ yatayammam, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:336. According to the contemporary hadith scholar, Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (d. 1420/1999), what I have cited from the report is *ḥasan*, i.e., sound. [^3]: Jonathan Brown has demonstrated how some modern attempts at interpreting the Qur’an without reference to extra-Qur’anic sources on the part of the so-called “Qur’an Only” movement illustrate the implausibility of such efforts succeeding. See Jonathan A. C. Brown, *Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenges and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy* (Oxford: Oneworld, 2014), 200–206 passim. [^4]: Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī et al. (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1427/2006), 14:179, https://archive.org/details/waq73651/14\_73664/page/n178/mode/2up?view=theater. [^5]: Brown, *Misquoting Muhammad*, 200–206 passim. [^6]: This anonymous pair of couplets is occasionally cited by scholars as highlighting the various senses of the letter *bāʾ*: [^7]: The influential fifth/eleventh century scholar, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzāi, is among numerous scholars throughout Islamic history who have warned against this pitfall of scholarship. [^8]: See: “FAQs: Judges in the United States,” Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, University of Denver, June 12, 2014, [https://iaals.du.edu/publications/faqs-judges-united-states](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iaals.du.edu/publications/faqs-judges-united-states&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447950885&usg=AOvVaw3crxYRqbteMVX9ixf1VkEs). [^9]: “New ABA data reveals rise in number of US lawyers, 15 percent increase since 2008,” American Bar Association, May 11, 2018, [https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2018/05/new\_aba\_data\_reveals/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2018/05/new_aba_data_reveals/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447951308&usg=AOvVaw337ibZFpBd9m3spcUNKp6b). [^10]: See, for example, the works of the non-Muslim scholars Wael Hallaq, *The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity’s Moral Predicament* (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013) and Noah Feldman, *The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State* (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). [^11]: Regarding this great scholar’s *nisba*, Frank Griffel argues that historically there has been disagreement as to whether or not it comes from a wool spinner (*ghazzāl*) or a place (Ghazāla). He writes, “the most talented Arab historians of this period— Ibn Khallikān, al-Dhahabī, and al-Ṣafadī —understood that the matter could not be settled and remained uncommitted.” See his, “Al-Ghazālī or al-Ghazzālī? On a Lively Debate Among Ayyūbid and Mamlūk Historians in Damascus.”" I wish to thank an anonymous reviewer for directing my attention to this reference. [^12]: I have modified the translation of Kenneth Honerkamp. See Ghazālī and Kenneth Lee Honerkamp, *Kitāb al-ʻilm, The Book of Knowledge: Book 1 of the Iḥyāʼ ʻUlūm al-Dīn, The Revival of the Religious Sciences* (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2015), 54. For the original, see Ghazzālī, *Iḥyāʼ ʻulūm al-dīn* (Jeddah: Dār al-Minhāj, 2011) 1:81–82. [^13]: I have elsewhere discussed the limitations of relying on *ijaza*s to assess the reliability of scholars. For that discussion, see: Usaama al-Azami, “Traditional Islam, Ideology, Immigrant Muslims, and Grievance Culture: A Review of *Travelling Home: Essays on Islam in Europe* by Abdal Hakim Murad,” *Muslim Matters*, 05/02/2021, available at: https://muslimmatters.org/2021/02/05/traditional-islam-ideology-immigrant-muslims-and-grievance-culture-a-review-of-travelling-home-essays-on-islam-in-europe-by-abdal-hakim-murad/. [^14]: Qur’an 33:21. [^15]: Qur’an 17:94–95. [^16]: See “*Ḥ**ukm akhdh al-fatwā min al-mawāqiʿ al-iliktrūniyya maʿa ʿadam al-ʿilm bi-l-muftīn fī-hā*,” *Islamweb.net*, January 1, 2013, [https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/195005/حكم-أخذ-الفتوى-من-المواقع-الإلكترونية-مع-عدم-العلم-بالمفتين-فيها-ومدى-أهليتهم-للفتوى](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/195005/%25D8%25AD%25D9%2583%25D9%2585-%25D8%25A3%25D8%25AE%25D8%25B0-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2581%25D8%25AA%25D9%2588%25D9%2589-%25D9%2585%25D9%2586-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D9%2588%25D8%25A7%25D9%2582%25D8%25B9-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25A5%25D9%2584%25D9%2583%25D8%25AA%25D8%25B1%25D9%2588%25D9%2586%25D9%258A%25D8%25A9-%25D9%2585%25D8%25B9-%25D8%25B9%25D8%25AF%25D9%2585-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B9%25D9%2584%25D9%2585-%25D8%25A8%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D9%2581%25D8%25AA%25D9%258A%25D9%2586-%25D9%2581%25D9%258A%25D9%2587%25D8%25A7-%25D9%2588%25D9%2585%25D8%25AF%25D9%2589-%25D8%25A3%25D9%2587%25D9%2584%25D9%258A%25D8%25AA%25D9%2587%25D9%2585-%25D9%2584%25D9%2584%25D9%2581%25D8%25AA%25D9%2588%25D9%2589&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447952281&usg=AOvVaw1jmIAM1HHlvRZ8znbAzoO7). [^17]: This is cited by the contemporary Mauritanian scholar, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan Wuld al-Dadaw (b. 1383/1963), in his oral commentary on al-Juwaynī’s *al-Waraqāt fī uṣūl al-fiqh*. For a transcribed version of these lectures, see [https://ketabonline.com/ar/books/5804/read?part=5&page=124&index=3272575/3272592/3272594](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ketabonline.com/ar/books/5804/read?part%3D5%26page%3D124%26index%3D3272575/3272592/3272594&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447952688&usg=AOvVaw3L-aUUh6FzS_naX2EJgtmq). I have been unable to locate this precise quotation in his works after a non-exhaustive search. [^18]: There are unfortunate cases of Islamic scholars supporting French anti-headscarf legislation or supporting authoritarian regimes in the Middle East in their attempts at crushing Islamically-oriented democratic movements. I discuss some of these examples in my book, *Islam and the Arab Revolutions: The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022). [^19]: See Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Iʿlām al-muwaqqiʿīn ‘an Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn* (Riyadh: Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 1423\[2002–2003\]), 2:18, [https://archive.org/details/ILMULMUWEQQINanRabbiLlemn06IbnQajjimElDewzijje/I%27L%C4%80MU-L-MUWEQQI%27%C4%AAN%20%27an%20rabbi-l-%27%C4%81lem%C4%ABn%20%2002%20%20%20-%20%20%20Ibn%20Qajjim%20el-D%C5%BEewzijje/page/n17/mode/2up?view=theater](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ILMULMUWEQQINanRabbiLlemn06IbnQajjimElDewzijje/I%2527L%25C4%2580MU-L-MUWEQQI%2527%25C4%25AAN%2520%2527an%2520rabbi-l-%2527%25C4%2581lem%25C4%25ABn%2520%252002%2520%2520%2520-%2520%2520%2520Ibn%2520Qajjim%2520el-D%25C5%25BEewzijje/page/n17/mode/2up?view%3Dtheater&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447953351&usg=AOvVaw1oI6BbrPIlcfVaX-tW_cWj). [^20]: See al-Bukhari, *al-Jami‘ al-Sahih*, *kitab al-‘ilm*, *bab al-haya’ fi al-‘ilm*. This report is transmitted without a full chain of narrators (i.e., it is *mu‘allaq*) in *Sahih al-Bukhari*, but is reported elsewhere with full chains deemed reliable. For one such example found in *Sahih Muslim*, see [https://sunnah.com/muslim:332c](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:332c&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447953938&usg=AOvVaw1Yk894W8Vd9G1_RYyb5qOZ). [^21]: Even if there are cases where both spouses work—an increasing reality in neoliberal societies—the Sharia obligation for husbands to provide financially for their families sets the tone of gender roles in ways that are often at odds with contemporary Western norms and/or aspirations. This is not to say that individual spouses cannot renegotiate how such Sharia obligations are upheld in practice, nor that there is no latitude in the interpretation of such norms in ways that remain faithful to the scriptural sources, a reality that is reflected in the various ways in which Islamic scholars have interpreted spousal obligations over the course of the past fourteen hundred years. For an excellent illustration of some of that variety, see Marion Holmes Katz, *Wives and Work: Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity* (New York: Columbia University Press, 2022). It is clear from the Qur’an and Sunnah, however, that the obligation of men to provide for their families is a mainstay of marriage in Islam. The fact that systemic wage suppression of the middle classes over the decades has made this impracticable in many cases illustrates how Islamic norms may be difficult to uphold in civilizational contexts in which Muslims are disempowered and unable to shape policy and social mores in accordance with their values. This does not undermine, in principle, the normativity of Prophetic guidance. But it does highlight the necessity of flexibility in practicing the Sharia in adverse conditions, as well as the importance of self-consciously cultivating Sharia-confirming sensibilities in contexts in which actual conditions preclude those subjectivities from being formed through normal social practice. [^22]: For the attribution of the report to early authorities, see [https://al-maktaba.org/book/31615/19878](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://al-maktaba.org/book/31615/19878&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447954502&usg=AOvVaw0cZRiua5yvWkCtOeXXQ3z9). [^23]: Samy A. Ayoub, *Law, Empire, and the Sultan: Ottoman Imperial Authority and Late Hanafi Jurisprudence* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), 22. Ayoub is drawing on the work of Recep Şentürk. See Şentürk, “Between Traditional and New Forms of Authority in Modern Islam,” in *Tradition and Modernity: Christian and Muslim Perspectives*, ed. David Marshall (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2013), 45– 56, 45. [^24]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, *Iʿlām al-muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al-ʿālamīn*, eds. Mashhūr Āl Salmān and Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad (Dammam: Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 1423), 2:16. [^25]: For a discussion of this issue, see Ovamir Anjum, “Who Wants the Caliphate?,” Yaqeen Institute, October 19, 2019, available at: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/who-wants-the-caliphate. [^26]: Jonathan Brown, “Keeping Our Eye on the Ball: The Problem with the UAE Summit,” MuslimMatters, December 17, 2018, [https://muslimmatters.org/2018/12/17/keeping-our-eye-on-the-ball-the-problem-with-the-uae-summit/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimmatters.org/2018/12/17/keeping-our-eye-on-the-ball-the-problem-with-the-uae-summit/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447955117&usg=AOvVaw14VAWUDYxThfCXF6AsYfCs). [^27]: Sadly, this has happened in several instances. I note one case in my book. [^28]: Al-Azami, *Islam and the Arab Revolutions.* [^29]: The Sunnah, to be counted as such, must be soundly transmitted, an arena that is the realm of legitimate disagreement among specialists with respect to individual reports. [^30]: This is an important counter to the tiresome refrain that the Sharia cannot be known since there are so many different interpretations. This is a red herring. Every system that forms the basis for a legal culture or a civilization develops mechanisms for resolving disputes wherein differences of opinion lead to intractable social problems. This is why Sharia-based rule of law systems established courts, and as the legal maxim has it, “the ruling of a judge eliminates difference of opinion.” The supposed claims of the indeterminacy of the Sharia naturally apply *a fortiori* to systems that are built entirely on the contingent, socially constructed practices found in post-Enlightenment Europe. [^31]: I use the phrase “the Islamic perspective” for the sentence to flow better. Of course not all issues have a single Islamic perspective. In fact, aside from core components of belief understood in general terms, there are typically multiple Islamic perspectives on a given issue, as indicated above when discussing how to wipe one’s head during *wuḍūʾ*. [^32]: The term “spiritual abuse” has been used in a number of ways in public discourse. In mainstream Western uses, it sometimes implies that religious traditions and figures are especially susceptible to these forms of abuse, although the examples mentioned above, and the fact that some of these cases have been highlighted in the context of the #MeToo movement, illustrates that there are wider trends in society for which the term is a specifically religious analogue. Islamic scholars like Dr. Rania Awaad and Shaykh Rami Nsour use the term in the more careful sense that I am appealing to here. For a discussion, see: Rami Nsour, “My Reflections on Spiritual Abuse,” *Journal of Islamic Faith and Practice* 4:1, (2022), available at: https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/JIFP/article/view/26552. [^33]: This hadith appears in multiple canonical collections including those of al-Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, and the *Musnad* of Aḥmad. For a comprehensive attribution of the hadith to these sources and a discussion of the strength of the report, see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, *Musnad*, 36:46–48, [https://archive.org/details/musnadahmed/ahmd\_36/page/n45/mode/2up?view=theater](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/musnadahmed/ahmd_36/page/n45/mode/2up?view%3Dtheater&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447958012&usg=AOvVaw3RQAitm9Sp0Ad-2J837W44). The modern editors of the *Musnad* consider the hadith to be *ḥasan li-ghayrihī*, owing to some weakness in several of its versions that do not ultimately undermine its legitimate use in religious practice. For the report as preserved in al-Nawawī’s *Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn,* see [https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1388](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1388&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447958301&usg=AOvVaw0qhdWgN4ig4daEMaOZjYmY). On an entirely unrelated note, the lack of gender inclusive language in my translation is a reflection of the inevitably gendered nature of the Arabic language. To avoid anachronism, I do not use gender inclusive language when translating this and other premodern texts in this article. [^34]: To read the full report in al-Nawawi’s *Riyad al-Salihin*, which draws it from *Sahih Muslim*, indicating its authenticity, see [https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1617](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1617&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1683242447958658&usg=AOvVaw3D16RDicqDQWL58dG8Whh2). [^35]: Qur’an 66:11-12. ## Summary Muslims are often confronted with a pressing question: if Allah has revealed His guidance through the Qur'an and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ, and if these sources are now easily accessible through modern technology, why must ordinary believers depend upon fallible human scholars to mediate their relationship with their Lord? A balanced answer affirms both the indispensability of authentic Islamic scholarship and the enduring moral responsibility of every believer to exercise sound judgment in matters of doubt. Muslims of every era have recognized that the ʿulamāʾ are necessary to explain how the Qur'an and Sunnah, revealed in an Arabian context nearly fifteen centuries ago, ought to apply in later times. It was only the socio-cultural upheavals accompanying Europe's industrial revolution and colonial expansion that globalized secular assumptions and rendered the scholars seemingly irrelevant in the eyes of many today. The gravity of speaking about the religion without knowledge is illustrated by the incident of a wounded Companion who, after a nocturnal emission while travelling, was told by his fellows that he must perform ghusl rather than tayammum. He complied and subsequently died. The Prophet ﷺ, upon hearing of this, declared with rare severity, "They killed him. May Allah kill them!" and added, "Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is asking." As Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya observed, this was the Prophet's supplication against "a group of people who gave a fatwa without knowledge," leading to a man's death. The harshness of the rebuke, far from negating the Prophet's mercy, underscores by its very rarity the seriousness of issuing verdicts about Allah's religion without sound learning. The need for scholarly expertise arises from the very nature of revelation. The Qur'an is a richly textured text whose finer details often cannot be grasped without recourse to the Prophetic Sunnah, and both admit of multiple interpretations. A useful comparison is the United States Constitution: at merely 4,543 words, it is shorter than a modest article, yet it has generated an enormous judicial and educational apparatus devoted to its interpretation. Likewise, the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ have guided one of history's most significant civilizations for a millennium. Human societies cannot thrive without specialization; just as we depend upon physicians, engineers, and public servants, the lay Muslim depends upon the ʿulamāʾ as specialists in the divine revelation that directs how we must live. This is affirmed by the verse, "Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know" (al-Naḥl 16:43), regarding which the Andalusian exegete al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) noted the scholars' agreement that it establishes the obligation of the common people to follow their ʿulamāʾ. The vast majority of Muslims cannot access the Qur'an and Sunnah without translation, and translation is itself a scholarly labour requiring mastery of the Arabic of first/seventh-century Arabia. Jonathan A. C. Brown, in his work Misquoting Muhammad, argues that efforts to understand the Qur'an without the interpretive exertions of the ʿulamāʾ are doomed to failure, noting that even the Companions at times turned to pre-Islamic poetry to elucidate the Qur'an's word choices, and that modernists who seek to marginalize extra-Qur'anic authority such as the hadith are self-defeating, since they too must rely upon the extra-Qur'anic work of Arabic lexicographers. This complexity extends even to a single letter. In the verse of wuḍūʾ, al-Māʾida 5:6, the phrase "wa'msaḥū bi-ruʾūsikum" involves the letter bāʾ, which the grammarians say carries fourteen meanings, and the jurists accordingly differ over whether the whole head or only part must be wiped. Multiplied across the Qur'an's roughly six thousand verses and the tens of thousands of hadith, the difficulty of arriving at the divinely intended meaning becomes clear. Though some earlier scholars warned against pointless pedantry driven by egotism, such interpretive disagreements are far from trivial. Indeed, modern states devote vast resources to interpreting their own laws; the United States alone has some 32,000 judges and roughly 1.3 million practising lawyers. That many assume religious experts need not be consulted while secular legal experts must reflects the internalization of secularism, a legal culture at odds with the Islamic understanding that has prevailed throughout its history, in which Islam mandates behaviors reasonably described as laws, though many, such as the prohibition of backbiting, carry no worldly sanction but rest upon belief in otherworldly reward and punishment. Throughout Islamic history the ʿulamāʾ provided the legal, spiritual, and normative foundation of Muslim societies, and their labors were highly valued, sometimes with unintended consequences. Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī (d. 505/1111), in the "Book of Knowledge" of his Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, lamented that Muslims were abandoning the study of medicine for fiqh because of the latter's prestige, complaining that jurists crowded into a communal obligation others had fulfilled while neglecting medicine, which none had taken up, drawn by access to endowments, estates, orphans' wealth, and offices of judiciary and government. This reveals both the exalted social standing of the scholars in his day and the stark contrast with the present, in which medicine is prized while religious learning brings little prestige and much financial insecurity. Ghazzālī's own concern, however, was deeper: not the health consequences of outsourcing medicine to non-Muslims, but the spiritual danger that scholars had lost their sense of working for Allah rather than worldly gain. His was the moral crisis of a confident and wealthy society. The modern Muslim crisis is different and arguably more acute, arising not chiefly from worldly corruption of the scholars but from their loss of social standing and moral authority, an erosion wrought over the colonial period by a Eurocentric, secular conception of modernity imposed upon the Muslim world. The deterioration of once-flourishing Islamic societies reflects a transformation of several centuries, involving colonial subjugation, transfers of wealth, and repression grounded in a racist liberal-colonial ideology that cast Western imperialism as a "civilizing" mission. The decentralized legal orders underpinned by an Islamic ethos were uprooted, and many Muslim elites internalized their colonizers' values so deeply that a social order in which the Sharia plays a central role now seems to them unnatural and regressive. This is doubly ironic, for the Western academy itself increasingly recognizes the contingency of its own foundations: the confidence of the Enlightenment has given way to a divided academy consumed by identity politics and culture wars, split between those who cling to an Enlightenment project surviving as a neo-colonial endeavor and relativist postmodern alternatives that tend toward incoherence and meaninglessness, grounded in the ideas of self-identifying nihilists such as Michel Foucault. This confusion underlines the need for divine guidance and raises the question of how reliable scholars are to be recognized. Credible scholars are generally those recognized as authoritative by other scholars, often graduates of major seminaries such as al-Azhar, Deoband, al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd University, the International Islamic University of Malaysia, Madīna University, Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ, the Indonesian Pesantren system, Qarawiyyin, and Saharanpur, though maturing Western institutions may in time produce scholars of comparable caliber. Yet formal training, while essential, is insufficient. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Nadwī (d. 1420/1999) would tell graduates of Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ, "You now have the tools to become ʿulamāʾ," implying that true scholarship requires a lifetime of study and worship. A Western doctorate in Islamic studies, taught in a secular register, does not itself make one an ʿālim. Beyond juristic expertise, the scholars are heirs to the Prophet ﷺ in upholding the highest standards of conduct, though a sound Sunni understanding forbids any claim to inherit his access to revelation. The Qur'an declares him an exemplar: "The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who place your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often," and affirms Allah's wisdom in sending a human messenger rather than an angel. Where in-person access is lacking, reliable fatwa resources exist, though their sources must be verified; the Qatari-funded Islamweb.net, the Egyptian Dār al-Iftāʾ, and Saudi bodies under Muhammad b. Salman must be read with caution on politically sensitive matters. Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) reportedly said, "Everyone has a share of ijtihād to perform, and the ijtihād of the layperson is to choose whom to follow." In principle, scholarship is not the preserve of men. The Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishaؓ was a noted jurist and muftiya, praised by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) as a prolific issuer of fatwas, and Shaykh Muhammad Akram Nadwi has documented thousands of women hadith scholars across Islamic history in his forty-volume encyclopedia. ʿĀʾishaؓ herself praised the women of the Anṣār, saying, as recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, "How excellent are the women of the Anṣār: their shyness did not prevent them from gaining a deep understanding of their dīn." Yet female ʿālimāt today are few, owing to the general lack of prestige and the poor quality of training available to women, a situation urgently needing reform, especially given that mothers are the primary educators of children. Because no scholar receives revelation to correct him, Muslims must neither place the ʿulamāʾ beyond error, nor withhold forgiveness when they sincerely repent of clear mistakes, nor mistake legitimate scholarly difference for error. It is narrated from Mālik ibn Anas (d. 189/795) and others, "We may accept or reject statements from everyone, except the Prophet ﷺ." A scholar whose ijtihād yields conclusions contradicting what is known of the religion by necessity, such as permitting wine or pork, may not be followed. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya held that rulers are to be obeyed only insofar as their commands accord with knowledge, obedience to them following from obedience to the scholars, citing ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak (d. 181/797) that the welfare of the people rests upon the rulers and the ʿulamāʾ. Historically the scholars could remove even a caliph, as under the Ottomans (r. 1517/923–1924/1341), a power unimaginable today. Jonathan A. C. Brown cautions against treating as authoritative the political pronouncements of state-controlled scholars in places like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, though their rulings on prayer and ordinary fiqh remain trustworthy; where they legitimize oppression or normalization with an occupying Israel, they should be avoided. Yet it is unjust to generalize, for most ʿulamāʾ either avoid contentious politics or openly criticize the small number who serve authoritarian regimes. Muslims recognize the Qur'an and Sunnah as infallible, while all human opinion remains fallible. Believers can know with certainty the broad contours of belief and practice, and any position mainstream within the four madhhabs may be followed, even where finer details, such as the precise manner of wiping the head, remain uncertain. The ʿulamāʾ, like any specialists, may err, and communities must balance reverence with accountability, particularly regarding what is now termed "spiritual abuse." Yet in much of the modern world the problem is not excessive reverence but its total absence and the neglect of Islamic learning. The Prophet ﷺ said, as recorded in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn of al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277), "the scholars are the heirs of the prophets," who "do not leave behind dinars or dirhams, but rather knowledge." Yet intention is decisive, for another hadith warns of the scholar dragged into Hell for having sought knowledge so that people would call him learned. The producing of adequate scholars, for both men and women, is a communal obligation the umma has failed to fulfill, potentially leaving it in sin until discharged; what is needed is nothing less than a new revival of the religious sciences for our times. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-rewards-for-fasting-6-days-in-shawwal # The Rewards for Fasting 6 Days in Shawwal | Blog **Author:** Dr. Tesneem Alkiek **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Shawwal **Published:** April 20, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 And just like that, an entire month of fasting has gone by. Even though the thought of fasting for weeks on end may have felt intimidating before Ramadan began, many of us simply blinked and time was up. We have been left with a profound sense of bitter-sweetness now that the month is over. “What do I do next?” we may ask ourselves, “[How can I maintain that spirit of Ramadan?](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/yaqeen-institute/finding-consistency-after-ramadan-webinar/)” The Prophet ﷺ gave us the solution we need when he encouraged us to fast 6 days in the month that immediately follows Ramadan: Shawwal. > Fasting the 6 days of Shawwal is not obligatory, but voluntarily carried out in hope of its reward. Plus, you do not have to fast these days consecutively either–fasting any six days within the month is acceptable. *\[Check out this [video](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/questions-about-the-6-days-of-shawwal-live-reminders/) for some other common questions about Shawwal.*\] So what are the benefits of fasting in Shawwal? --- ## 1\. You get the reward for fasting the entire year > The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six \[days\] from Shawwal, it’s as if they have fasted a year” \[*Sahih Muslim*\]. Scholars explain that this is because Allah promises us 10 times the reward for every deed that we do. So fasting one month of Ramadan is equivalent to 10 months of fasting, while fasting 6 days of Shawwal is equivalent to 60 days (i.e., 2 months), totally an entire year of fasting. Imagine what this means for those who follow their Ramadan fasting with 6 days of Shawwal every year: they will meet Allah as if they have fasted their entire lifetime! --- ## 2\. You can revive the Ramadan spirit Bring the Ramadan spirit to your Shawwal fasting by encouraging friends and family to fast with you. That way, you can motivate one another while also experiencing the communal joy of breaking fast together. --- ## 3\. You can help make up for any of your shortcomings in Ramadan The Prophet ﷺ tells us, “The first thing for which a person will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection will be their prayer. If it is complete, then the voluntary (prayers) will also be recorded for them (as an increase). If it is not complete then Allah will say to His angels: ‘Look and see whether you find any voluntary prayers for My slave, and take them to make up what is lacking from their obligatory prayers.’ *Then all their deeds will be reckoned in like manner*.” \[*Sunan Ibn Majah*\] Our voluntary fasts will be used on the Day of Judgement to both increase us in our good deeds as well as make amends for any of our deficiencies when we fasted Ramadan. --- ## 4\. You can maintain your momentum after Ramadan and build long term habits After spending a month excelling in good deeds, many of us feel like it’s impossible to continue that lifestyle after Ramadan is over. But that was never the point. Ramadan serves as an opportunity to reset. As the Prophet ﷺ promises us, if we complete our worship in true faith throughout the month, then we leave the month with our sins forgiven. With a clean slate and reinvigorated energy, we have the ideal momentum to transform some of our Ramadan practices into habits. For example, spread your six days of fasting throughout Shawwal. Perhaps you fast every Monday and Thursday, and/or during the three middle days of the month–both of which were practices of the Prophet ﷺ. This helps you plant the seeds for a long term habit of fasting on those days. Remember, the Prophet ﷺ emphasized that Allah loves actions that are *consistent*, even if they’re small. Slow and steady wins the race. *\[For more tips on how to build habits, check out our [video series](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/habits-to-win).\]* --- ## 5\. You build an attitude of gratitude One of the spiritual [benefits of fasting](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/a-major-hidden-benefit-of-fasting-regularly-live-reminders) is that it nurtures gratitude in the heart of the believer. The more often we fast, the more spiritually aware we become of Allah's favors in our lives. Abstaining from food and drink reminds us that these too are blessings from Allah that we take for granted. Find out more ways to making gratitude a consistent feature in your life by downloading our *[Shukr](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/books/the-shukr-lifestyle)* [journal](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/books/the-shukr-lifestyle&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1682014440850916&usg=AOvVaw2Bev3XQ15jwX2oz6JDdsUC). For those who are unable to fast due to health or other reasons, you still have plenty of opportunities to reap some of these rewards. Check out [our video mashup](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/tesneem-alkiek/keeping-the-ramadan-spirit-alive) for other ways to beat the post-Ramadan blues and make the most of the year ahead of you. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/on-the-timing-and-virtues-of-the-night-of-power-the-hearts-joy-in-remembering-laylat-al-qadr-by-ibn-al-iraqi # On The Timing and Virtues of the Night of Power: The Heart's Joy in Remembering Laylat al-Qadr by Ibn al-ʿIrāqī **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Laylatul Qadr, Paper, Publication, Ramadan, Ramadan Papers for Mobile App **Published:** April 12, 2023 **Updated:** April 14, 2026 Transform your reading experience — [Get the below paper in book form here!](https://turath.co.uk/products/the-hearts-joy-in-remembering-laylat-al-qadr) --- ## Translator’s introduction to Sharḥ al-ṣadr The author of this text, Walī al-Dīn Abū Zurʿah Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-ʿIrāqī, was born in Egypt in 762/1361. His father is the famous hadith scholar and Shāfiʿī jurist al-Ḥāfiẓ Zayn al-Dīn Abū al-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-ʿIrāqī (d. 806/1403); hence, Aḥmad was known as “Ibn al-ʿIrāqī.” After moving with his father to Damascus to study, Ibn al-ʿIrāqī returned to Egypt and became its Chief Judge. However, as he refused to compromise his integrity or religion to comply with the authorities, he was removed from judicial office within a year. Ibn al-ʿIrāqī authored several works on hadith, Islamic law, and Qur’anic exegesis (*tafsīr*). He passed away in Cairo in 826/1423. This book begins by exploring the *tafsīr* of the chapter (*sūrah*) of al-Qadr, reflecting on the origin of the name of *Laylat al-Qadr*, its virtues, and events. It then delves into frequently asked questions regarding its timing by comprehensively narrating majority and minority scholarly opinions and providing proof for each opinion from prophetic reports. The book presents a total of 27 opinions on the timing of *Laylat al-Qadr*. These opinions may be categorized as follows: - 1) the occurrence of *Laylat al-Qadr* has been abrogated (one opinion); - 2)  the timing of *Laylat al-Qadr* is entirely hidden (one opinion); - 3) *Laylat al-Qadr* is a fixed night every year (23 opinions); and - 4) *Laylat al-Qadr* shifts from year to year (two opinions). The number of opinions on the timing of *Laylat al-Qadr* even exceeds what Ibn al-ʿIrāqī listed in this book. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, for instance, reported 46 opinions in his commentary on *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*. The disagreement is likely semantic, as most opinions agree that its exact time is not definitively known. The varied opinions prompt reflection on the wisdom of keeping the exact timing of this night unknown to us. The apparently conflicting reports from the Prophet ﷺ, his companions, and their successors demonstrate that the purpose of this ambiguity is to encourage Muslims to exert their utmost effort in worship. This wisdom is applicable to most opinions, whether they posit that *Laylat al-Qadr* may occur on any night of the year or any night during the entire month of Ramadan, on one of its last ten nights, or one of the odd nights among the last ten. After listing the 46 opinions, Ibn Ḥajar commented, “All of these opinions which we reported, from the third one onwards, agree on the possible occurrence of *Laylat al-Qadr* and on encouraging seeking it.”[^1] He then added, “These are all that I could gather from the reported opinions \[on *laylat al-qadr*\]. Some of them can be amalgamated with others, even if they seem different.”[^2] Ibn al-ʿIrāqī’s book concludes with a reflection on Allah’s wisdom in concealing the exact timing of *Laylat al-Qadr*, along with a summary of its signs, as reported in several hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ. --- ## Translator’s note The translation is based on an Arabic print edition which includes another monograph written by the Shāfiʿī jurist Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355) on Ramadan’s night prayer (*tarāwīḥ*).[^3] Ibn al-ʿIrāqī’s monograph starts on page 23 and continues until page 55. This English translation closely reflects the Arabic wording of the primary source but includes additional notations by the translator to bolster reading comprehension. These notations are found in the footnotes and may include explanatory notes, hadith citations, and references for scholarly statements or attributions. The titles of the subsections were added by the editor of the original monograph; the translator decided to retain some of these sub-titles and delete others, based on what was deemed more appropriate for continuity. --- ## The text of Sharḥ al-ṣadr All praise is due to Allah, for Whom tongues express gratitude. He is exalted beyond being overtaken by slumber or sleep. He glorified times as He glorified places. He made the Night of Glory (*Laylat al-Qadr*) better than 83 years, as He said,[^4] > We sent it down on the Night of Glory. What will explain to you what that Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months; on that night the angels and the Spirit descend again and again with their Lord’s permission on every task; \[there is\] peace that night until the break of dawn.[^5] The exegetes have stated that the object pronoun \[“it”\] in the sentence “We sent it” refers to the noble Qur’an, even if it was not previously mentioned \[in the *s**ū**rah*\] as its meaning is signified. \[It is\] like when Allah said, “until it \[the sun\] was hidden in the veil \[of night\],” while the sun was not initially mentioned.[^6] The exegetes held differing opinions on this matter. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, among others, said that Allah sent down the entire Qur’an to the nearest heaven on *laylat al-qadr* and then revealed it to Muhammad ﷺ over the course of twenty years, as this is the meaning of Allah’s saying, “I swear by the positions of the stars.”[^7] On the other hand, al-Shaʿbī  and others interpreted it to mean “We initiated the descent of this Qur’an to you on *laylat al-qadr*.” This \[interpretation\] is supported by some who said that Gabriel (Jibrīl) started coming to the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan, with some saying on the 7th and others on the 17th. \[There are also opinions\] that Jibrīl started coming to the Prophet ﷺ in the \[Islamic Hijrī\] months of Rajab or Rabīʿ al-Awwal. Some argue that this verse indicates that the descent of the Qur’an began in Ramadan, as Jibrīl used to review the Qur’an with the Prophet ﷺ and Allah would erase or confirm whatever He willed. --- ## The occasion of the revelation of Sūrat al-Qadr Some scholars have suggested that the meaning \[of the first verse of the *sūrah*\] is that “We sent down this *sūrah* about the position of *laylat al-qadr* and its merit.” They interpreted the preposition “in” (*fī*) as indicating causation. This interpretation is similar to what ʿUmar \[ibn al-Khaṭṭāb\] said on the night when *Sūrat al-Fatḥ* was revealed, “I feared that Qur’an might be revealed about me (*fiyy*) \[due to his overly inquisitive attitude with the Prophet ﷺ\],”[^8] and to what ʿAʾisha said in the story of the false accusation (*al-ifk*), “I am too insignificant for Qur’an to be revealed because of me (*fiyy*) \[regarding the revelation of Qur’an 24:11-20, which declared her innocence\].”[^9] These same scholars further suggested that since \[*al-qadr*\] is a *sūrah* from the Qur’an, the Qur’an is referred to with a \[third-person\] pronoun in order to imply reverence and magnification. This is similar to how Allah says, “The Inevitable Hour! What is the Inevitable Hour? What will explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?”[^10] and “The Crashing Blow! What is the Crashing Blow?”[^11] Then, Allah informs the Prophet ﷺ saying, “The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months.” Al-Bukhārī reported in his authentic collection that Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah said, “Regarding the phrase in the Qur’an, ‘What will explain to you’ (*wa m**ā* *adr**ā**k*), Allah explained it to the Prophet ﷺ. When Allah says, ‘How can you tell?’ (*wa m**ā* *yudr**ī**k*), He did not inform him of it.”[^12] --- ## The difference of opinion over the naming of Laylat al-Qadr Scholars differed on why the night is named *Laylat al-Qadr*. The first opinion is that it is named so because Allah Almighty decrees provisions, fates, and all created things in the universe during this night, and reveals them to the angels to abide by. Allah Almighty \[called it\] “a night when every matter of wisdom is made distinct.”[^13] This opinion is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, Qatādah, and others. Al-Nawawī attributed it to the scholars. The meaning of revealing \[through\] the angels is that Allah informs them of His decree. Otherwise, \[it should be noted that\] Allah’s decree is pre-eternal.[^14] The second opinion holds that the name “*Laylat al-Qadr*” denotes high esteem, honor, and position. It is similar to saying that someone has a high position (*qadr*). This is the opinion of al-Zuhrī.[^15] The third opinion states that \[the night\] is named so because whoever spends it in worship is granted great honor they never had, and their nobility with Allah the Most High is increased. The fourth opinion is that it is named so because worship during this night has tremendous value.[^16] --- ## The reason why Laylat al-Qadr is special for the Muslim ummah Allah has made *Laylat al-Qadr* special for this *ummah*. There is some disagreement over the reason for its significance. Mālik reported in the *Muwaṭṭaʾ* from a trustworthy source among the people of knowledge that, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people before him, or what Allah willed of that. It was as if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for them to be able to do as many good deeds as others before them had been able to do with their long lives. As a result, Allah granted them *Laylat al-Qadr*, which is better than a thousand months.”[^17] Al-Tirmidhī reported in his *Jāmiʿ* from Yūsuf ibn Saʿd that a man stood up in front of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, after he pledged to Muʿāwiyah, and said, “You have made fools of the believers,” or, “O you who have made fools of the believers.” Al-Ḥasan responded, “Do not scold me so, may Allah have mercy upon you, for indeed the Prophet had a dream in which he saw Banū Umayyah upon his pulpit. That distressed him and it was revealed: ‘Verily We have granted you *al-Kawthar* (O Muhammad)’ meaning a river in Paradise, and then it was revealed: ‘We sent it down on the Night of Glory. What will explain to you what that Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months,’ in which Banū Umayyah rules after you, O Muhammad.” Al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl, one of the transmitters of this report, said: “So we counted them, and found that they were one thousand months, not a day more nor less.” Al-Tirmidhī commented that this hadith is rare (*gharīb*).[^18] --- ## The descent of the angels and the peaceful night In regards to Allah’s saying, “the angels and the Spirit descend,” it has been suggested that “the Spirit” refers to Jibrīl, peace be upon him, while others believe it refers to a group of angels. In either case, it is \[syntactically\] a conjunction between a universal and a particular. Another interpretation is that “the Spirit” refers to a type of heavenly creature that watches over the angels, just as the angels watch over human beings. These creatures have physical features similar to the sons of Adam, but the angels cannot see them. In regards to Allah’s saying, “with their Lord’s permission” until the end of the verse, those who believe that provisions are decreed on this night explain the descent of the angels as being for that purpose. They interpret “on” (*min*) in “on every task” to reference the cause of decreeing (i.e., the angels descend with the cause of every matter), and render “\[there is\] peace that night” as the start of a new statement (i.e., it is \[full of\] peace until the break of dawn). On the other hand, those who do not believe that provisions are decreed on this night link “on every task” to “peace” (i.e., it is a night of peace and protection from every matter). According to Mujāhid, no disease afflicts anyone on this night. Al-Shaʿbī and Manṣūr hold that it is a time of peace in the sense of salutation, as the angels greet the believers during this night.[^19] These verses explicitly honor *Laylat al-Qadr* and make its name and mention prominent. It is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ that he said, “Whoever performs night prayer during *laylat al-qadr* out of faith and hope for Allah’s reward, will have their former sins forgiven.”[^20] In *al-Sunan al-kubrā* of al-Nasāʾī, \[this is also reported to include\] “and their future sins.”[^21] This addition is similarly reported in the *Musnad* of Aḥmad and the *Muʿjam* of al-Ṭabarānī from the narration of ʿUbādah, as will be mentioned later.[^22] This \[promise of forgiveness\] is a great virtue that prompts the seeking of *laylat al-qadr*. --- ## Laylat al-Qadr will remain until the end of time Reliable scholars have unanimously agreed that *laylat al-qadr* has not been abrogated, and will remain until the end of time. Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, may Allah have mercy on him, said, > In an anomalous dissent,[^23] some people claimed that it was abrogated because the Prophet ﷺ  said, in reference to two men quarreling, “so it \[*laylat al-qadr*\] was taken away.”[^24]  However, this is a mistake on the part of those who dissented, as the end of the hadith provides a response to their doubt. The Prophet ﷺ said, “it was taken away and maybe it is better for you. So seek it on the seventh or the ninth \[night\].”[^25] This is stated at the beginning of the authentic collection of al-Bukhārī, and it clearly shows that the meaning of “taking it away” refers to taking away the knowledge of its exact time. If the meaning had been the annulment of its existence, the Prophet ﷺ would not have commanded people to seek it.[^26] Ibn ʿAṭiyyah mentioned that this opinion (that *Laylat al-Qadr*’s existence was taken away) is attributed to Abū Ḥanīfah and others but added that the opinion is rejected. Only the knowledge of its exact time was taken away.[^27] --- ## Difference of opinion over the specific time of Laylat al-Qadr Scholars have debated the exact timing of *Laylat al-Qadr*, with a large group of them holding that it occurs on a specific night. However, even within this group, there is disagreement as to which night is the one. ### Laylat al-Qadr can occur on any night of the year The first opinion suggests that *Laylat al-Qadr* may occur on any night of the year. This opinion is commonly attributed to Abū Ḥanīfah, may Allah be pleased with him, and is supported by the saying of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, that “whoever spends the entire year praying at night will hit upon it.”[^28] However, in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh is reported to have said, > I asked Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, “Your brother Ibn Masʿūd says, ‘whoever spends the entire year praying at night will hit upon *laylat al-qadr*.’” Ubayy replied, “May Allah have mercy on him. He did not want people to be negligent. Indeed, he knows that it is in Ramadan, in the last ten nights, and that it is on the night of the 27th.”[^29] This is how Ubayy understood Ibn Masʿūd’s statement. It is evidenced by what is in Aḥmad’s *Musnad* from Abū ʿAqrab, that he said, > One early morning, I went to visit Ibn Masʿūd and found him sitting on the roof of his house. We overheard him saying, “Allah has spoken the truth and his Messenger has conveyed \[the message\].” We said, “We heard you saying, ‘Allah has spoken the truth and his Messenger has conveyed \[the message\].’” He said, “Allah’s Messenger said, *laylat al-qadr* is in the last seven nights, with the sun rising the following morning clear without rays.” I observed it and found it exactly as the Prophet ﷺ had described.[^30] The hadith is also reported with similar wording by al-Bazzār in his *Musnad*, and in al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Muʿjam* where Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah was asked about *laylat al-qadr* and he said, who among you remembers that night at al-Ṣahbāʾ \[a place near Khaybar\]? ʿAbd Allāh \[Ibn Masʿūd\] said, “I remember it, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah; it was the night of the 27th when the dawn rose.”[^31] Although this hadith is reported in several books of hadith, I have only seen the explicit mention of the night of the 27th in al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, and therefore I have attributed the hadith solely to it. ### Laylat al-Qadr can be any night of Ramadan The second opinion regarding *laylat al-qadr* is that it can occur on any night of Ramadan, and this is the view of Ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them \[Ibn ʿUmar and his father\], and a group of the companions. Ibn ʿUmar is reported in *Sunan* *Abī Dāwūd* to have said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about *laylat al-qadr* while I was listening, and he replied, ‘It is \[any night\] during the entire \[month of\] Ramadan.’”[^32] Abū Dāwūd noted that this hadith is a halted-companion report (*mawqūf*). This hadith can possibly be interpreted to mean that *laylat al-qadr* occurs repeatedly every year during Ramadan since it only occurs once a year. Therefore, this hadith alone does not serve as \[adequate\] proof for the opinion that *laylat al-qadr* moves throughout all the nights of Ramadan. This is the view of Abū Ḥanīfah, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Muḥāmī, and al-Subkī, who preferred it in his commentary on *al-Minh**āj*. Ibn al-Ḥājib listed it as one reported opinion. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the first night of Ramadan The third opinion regarding *laylat al-qadr* is that it is the first night of Ramadan. This view was held by Abū Ruzayn al-ʿAqīlī, a companion of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with him.[^33] ### Laylat al-Qadr is in the middle and last ten nights of Ramadan The fourth opinion regarding *laylat al-qadr* is that it falls within the middle and last ten nights of Ramadan. However, this opinion is contradicted by an authentic hadith narrated by Abū Saʿīd in which Jibrīl, peace be upon him, said to the Prophet ﷺ during his spiritual retreat (*i**ʿ**tik**ā**f*) in the middle ten nights, “What you are seeking is ahead of you.”[^34] ### Laylat al-Qadr is in the last ten nights of Ramadan The fifth opinion is that *laylat al-qadr* is exclusively in the last ten nights of Ramadan. This view is supported by the Prophet’s statements, “Seek it in the last ten nights,”[^35] and “I observed *iʿtikāf* in the first ten \[nights\] to seek that night \[*laylat al-qadr*\]. I then observed *iʿtikāf* in the middle ten. Then \[an angel\] was sent to me and I was told that this \[night\] is among the last ten.”[^36] ### Laylat al-Qadr is an odd night of the last ten nights of Ramadan The sixth opinion holds that *laylat al-qadr* is limited to the odd nights of the last ten nights.[^37] This view is based on the Prophet’s statement, “Seek it in the last ten nights, in an odd \[night\].”[^38] In Aḥmad’s *al-Musnad* and al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit is reported to have asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about *laylat al-qadr*. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “So, seek it in the last ten \[nights\]. It is one of the odd nights of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th, or the last night. Whoever spends this night praying, seeking it out of faith and sincerity, and it was gifted to him, his past and future sins will be forgiven.”[^39] ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl  is one of the transmitters of this hadith. His hadith \[transmission\] is fair (*ḥasan*) and is narrated by ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Ibn Ḥibbān listed ʿAmr among the reliable transmitters and noted that he is not the son of \[ʿAbd al-Raḥmān\] Ibn ʿAwf \[the Prophet’s companion\]. Al-Ṭabarānī said, "I suppose he is the son of al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām." There are two subtle benefits from this hadith**.** The first is found in the statement “and his future \[sins\],” as noted earlier. The second benefit is that the reward is dependent on praying that night with the intention of seeking *laylat al-qadr*, rather than the general intention of night prayer. \[However\] there is an issue in the hadith regarding the statement, “or the last night,” because the beginning of the hadith specifies an odd night, and the last night is not an odd night if the month is full. If the month is not full, then \[the last night\] is the night of the 29th, so mentioning it after the “29th” is meaningless since conjunction necessitates difference. \[This issue\] can be explained by understanding that the phrase “or the last night” is linked conjunctively to the phrase “it is one of the odd nights,” and not to the phrase “29th.” Hence, the phrase “or the last night” is not an explanation for the odd nights but is added to it by way of conjunction. ### Laylat al-Qadr is an even night of the last ten nights of Ramadan The seventh opinion holds that *laylat al-qadr* is one of the even nights of the last ten nights, based on Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī’s response when he was asked about the ninth, seventh and fifth night. He said, “When the 21st night passes, the night which follows it is the 22nd and it is the ninth; when the 23rd night passes, the night which follows it is the seventh; when the 25th passes, the night which follows it is the fifth.”[^40] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 17th night of Ramadan The eighth opinion is that *laylat al-qadr* is on the 17th night. This view is reported from Zayd ibn Arqam and also Ibn Masʿūd. In the *Muʿjam* of al-Ṭabarānī, Zayd ibn Arqam is reported to have said, “I do not doubt or suspect that it is the night of the 17th; the night in which the Qur’an was sent down and when the two factions confronted each other.”[^41] Zayd ibn Thābit was also reported to have spent the 17th night in worship. When asked, “Why do you choose the night of the 17th,” he said, “The Qur’an was sent down on this night, and the truth was made distinct from falsehood in its morning.”[^42] He used to wake up the following morning with a pleased face. This opinion was also reported from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 19th night of Ramadan The ninth opinion is that *laylat al-qadr* is on the 19th night. This view is reported from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Ibn Masʿūd. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 17th, 21st, or 23rd night of Ramadan The tenth opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* could be on the 17th, 21st, or 23rd night. This view is also reported from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Ibn Masʿūd. It is supported by a narration in *Sunan* *Abī Dāwūd* from Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, in which he said, “Seek it on the 17th night of Ramadan, and on the 21st night, and on the 23rd night. He then kept silent.”[^43] Allah knows best. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 21st night of Ramadan The eleventh opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* is the 21st night of Ramadan. This opinion is supported by the hadith of Abū Saʿīd, which is reported in the authentic collections. In the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said, “I saw it one of the odd nights. I saw myself prostrating the following morning in water and clay.” Abū Saʿīd said, “So, the Prophet ﷺ woke up after the night of the 21st to perform the *fajr* prayer while it was raining. The roof of the mosque was leaking and I saw the water and clay. After the Prophet ﷺ finished the prayer, he left with traces of water and clay on his forehead and nose. It was the morning after the 21st from the last ten nights.”[^44] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 23rd night of Ramadan The twelfth opinion is that *laylat al-qadr* is the 23rd night of Ramadan, which is the opinion of many of the companions and others. This opinion is supported by a narration in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays, who reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I was shown *laylat al-qadr*, then I was caused to forget it, and saw that I was prostrating in water and clay in the morning of that \[night\]. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays added, “There was a downpour on the 23rd night and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer. As he returned, there was a trace of water and clay on his forehead and on his nose.”[^45] Additionally, Abū Hurayrah is reported in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim* to have said, “We were discussing *laylat al-qadr* in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he said: Who amongst you remembers that night when the moon arose and it was like a piece of a plate?”[^46] In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, a companion of the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, “I looked at the moon the morning of *laylat al-qadr* and I saw it looking like a piece of a plate.”[^47] Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī commented that the moon appears that way on the morning of the 23rd night. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad narrated this hadith in his additions \[to the *Musnad*\] from ʿAlī, that he said, “The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘I went outside when the moon rose like a piece of a plate and said, tonight is *laylat al-qadr*.’”[^48] Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣīlī also narrated this hadith connected to the Prophet ﷺ through ʿAlī. In Abū Dāwūd’s *Sunan*, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays is reported to have said, “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah!  I have a place in the desert where I live and pray, with the praise of Allah. Inform me of a night when I \[should\] come to this mosque. The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘Come on the night of the 23rd.’”[^49] Al-Ṭabarānī reported in his *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr* a similar hadith from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh from his father with a connected \[chain of transmission attributing it to the Prophet ﷺ\].[^50] In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them, is reported to have said, “While sleeping in Ramadan, I was approached in a dream by someone who told me, ‘Tonight is *laylat al-qadr*.’ I woke up drowsy and I checked the edges of the Prophet’s tent and found him praying. I checked which night it was and it was the night of the 23rd.”[^51] The transmitters of this hadith are among the transmitters of the authentic \[collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim\]. This hadith is also reported by al-Ṭabarānī in his *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*.[^52] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 24th night of Ramadan The thirteenth opinion suggests that *Laylat al-Qadr* is the night of the 24th. This is the reported opinion of Bilāl, Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Ḥasan, and Qatādah. In *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have said, without attributing \[his opinion\] to the Prophet ﷺ, “Seek *laylat al-qadr* on \[the night of\] the 24th.”[^53] Al-Bukhārī reported this hadith after another one (which will be mentioned below), that states, “It is in the last ten \[nights\], either in the first seven or in the last seven nights.”[^54] The former hadith seems to explain the latter and therefore should be the primary evidence \[for this issue\]. In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, Bilāl is reported to have said that the Prophet ﷺ said, “*Laylat al-qadr* is the night of the 24th.”[^55] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 23rd or 27th night of Ramadan The fourteenth opinion suggests that *Laylat al-Qadr* falls on the 23rd or the 27th, as reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him. This opinion is supported by what *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī* reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said, “It is in the last ten nights, either in the first nine or in the last seven nights.” Ibn ʿAbbās commented, “He meant *laylat al-qadr*.”[^56] This opinion is also supported by what is reported in the *Musnad* of al-Bazzār with a good chain of transmission from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “The Prophet ﷺ was asked about *laylat al-qadr* and he replied: I knew it, then I lost its knowledge. Seek it when seven nights remain or when three nights remain.”[^57] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 27th night of Ramadan The fifteenth opinion states that *laylat al-qadr* falls on the 27th. This opinion was adopted by many companions and others.[^58] Ubayy ibn Kaʿb swore, without exception, that it is the night of the 27th, as reported in the authentic hadith collections. When asked, “What is your proof for saying that, O Abū al-Mundhir?” Ubayy replied, “The mark, or sign, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told us about: that the sun rises on that day without rays.”[^59] In the *Sunan* of Abū Dāwūd, Muʿāwyiah is reported to have narrated from the Prophet ﷺ regarding *laylat al-qadr*, “\[It is\] the  night of the 27th.”[^60] In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, with a chai of transmission meeting the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, Ibn ʿUmar is reported to have said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever is seeking it should seek it on the night of the 27th.’ The Prophet ﷺ also said, ‘Seek it on the night of the 27th,’ meaning *layat al-qadr*.”[^61] This hadith is also reported by al-Ṭabarānī in his *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*.[^62] In *al-Mu**ʿ**jam* *al-awsa**ṭ* of al-Ṭabarānī, reported with a decent chain of transmission, Jābir ibn Samurah said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Seek *laylat al-qadr* on the night of the 27th.’”[^63] Ibn ʿAbbās justified the specification of this night by stating that man is created over seven \[stages\] and his provision is placed in seven \[items\]. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) liked this justification. Others argued that Allah the Almighty repeated \[the mention of\] *laylat al-qadr* in the aforementioned *s**ū**rah* three times. The phrase “*laylat al-qadr*” consists of nine letters, and three multiplied by nine equals 27. Hence, repeating it three times indicates that \[it falls on the 27th night\]. It was also argued that the number of the words in the *s**ū**rah* until the phrase “that night” is 27, which further supports this claim. Abū Muḥammad ibn ʿAṭiyyah referenced similar interpretations in his *tafs**ī**r* \[regarding other topics\]. \[For example\], some scholars mentioned that the number of the angels of Hellfire described by Allah—“Over it are nineteen \[angels\]”—is the same as the number of letters in *b-ism All**ā**h al-Ra**ḥ**m**ā**n al-Ra**ḥ**ī**m*, with one angel for each letter. These angels say *bismill**ā**h al-Ra**ḥ**m**ā**n al-Ra**ḥ**ī**m* in all of their actions, through which they obtain their strength and protection. \[In another example\] regarding the number of angels racing to record the companion’s supplication, “O our Lord, to You be the praise, abundant, good, blessed, sufficient,” some scholars have suggested that since the supplication has more than 30 letters, the Prophet ﷺ said, “I saw more than 30 angels racing one another to be the first to record it.” \[However\], Ibn ʿAṭiyyah commented that these interpretations are tangential to *tafs**ī**r* and not from the core essence of knowledge.[^64] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the last night of Ramadan The sixteenth opinion is that the last night of Ramadan is *Laylat al-Qadr*. Abū Dāwūd reported from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays, > I was at the gathering of Banū Salamah, and I was the youngest of them. They said: Who will ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for us about *laylat al-qadr*? That was on the morning of the 21st of Ramadan. I went out, prayed the *maghrib* prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and waited, standing, at the door of his house. He passed by me and said: Come in. I entered and dinner was brought for him. I refrained from eating as the food was scarce. When the Prophet ﷺ finished his dinner, he said to me: Give me my shoes. He then stood up and I also stood up with him. When we went out, he said: I assume you needed something \[from me\]. I said: Yes. Some people of Banū Salamah have sent me to you to ask you about *laylat al-qadr*. He asked: Which night is it tonight? I said: \[The\] 22nd. He said: This is the very night. He then returned and said: Or the following night, referring to the 23rd night.[^65] In the *Jāmiʿ* of al-Tirmidhī, Abū Bakrah is reported to have said, “I do not search for \[*laylat al-qadr*\], due to something that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, except during the last ten nights; for indeed I heard him say: ‘Search for it when nine remain, or when seven remain, or when five remain, or during the last three nights.’”[^66] Al-Tirmidhī classified this hadith as fair-authentic (*ḥasan*\-*ṣaḥīḥ*). In *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit is reported to have said, “The Prophet ﷺ came out to inform \[us\] about *laylat al-qadr*, but finding two Muslims engaging in a dispute he said, ‘I came out to inform you about *laylat al-qadr*, but the knowledge of it has been withdrawn due to the dispute between so-and-so and so-and-so. However, this may be better for you, so seek it on the ninth, the seventh, and the fifth \[of the last ten nights\].’”[^67] In Abū Dāwūd’s *Sunan*, Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have said, “The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Seek it in the last ten night of Ramadan, *laylat al-qadr*, when nine nights remain, when seven nights remain, and when five nights remain.”[^68] In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, Muʿādh ibn Jabal is reported to have said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about *laylat al-qadr* and he replied, ‘It is in the last ten nights on the third or the fifth.’”[^69] Another hadith reported by Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, with a good chain of transmission from Abū Hurayra, stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that *laylat al-qadr* “is either on the 27th or the 29th. The angels who descend to earth on that night are greater in number than the stars.”[^70] In *al-Muʿjam* *al-awsaṭ* of al-Ṭabarānī, Abū Hurayrah is reported to have narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Seek *laylat al-qadr* on the night of the 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, or 29th.”[^71] However, this hadith’s chain of transmission includes Abū al-Mihzam, who is considered unreliable (*ḍaʿīf*). These hadiths contain opinions about the timing of *Laylat al-Qadr* that I have not found any scholar explicitly stating before. If we count them, there are 22 opinions; sixteen of them have been previously mentioned. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 22nd or 23rd night of Ramadan The seventeenth opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* is the night of the 22nd or the 23rd. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, or the last night of Ramadan The eighteenth opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* is the night of 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, or the last night \[of Ramadan\]. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 21st, 23rd, or 25th night of Ramadan The nineteenth opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* falls on the 21st, 23rd, or 25th night of Ramadan. The proof for this opinion is the aforementioned hadith of ʿUbādah, where the meaning of “the ninth” refers to the night when nine nights remain because he mentioned the ninth before the seventh, and the seventh before the fifth.[^72] ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 23rd or 25th night of Ramadan The twentieth opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* falls on the 23rd or 25th night, based on the aforementioned hadith of Muʿādh. The hadith clearly states to “seek it on the third,” which he mentioned before the fifth night. ### Laylat al-Qadr is the 27th or the 29th night of Ramadan The twenty-first opinion is that *Laylat al-Qadr* is the 27th or the 29th night of Ramadan. ### Laylat al-Qadr is one of the odd nights of the last ten nights, or the 17th or 19th night of Ramadan The twenty-second opinion is that *laylat al-qadr* falls on \[one of\] the odd nights of the last ten nights, or on the 17th or 19th night of Ramadan. All of these opinions are based on the view that *laylat al-qadr* occurs on a particular fixed night, which is al-Shāfiʿī’s opinion. The sound opinion of his school is that it falls on one of the last ten nights, most likely on one of the odd nights rather than the even nights, and most likely on the 21st or the 23rd night. This last opinion can be considered an independent opinion, bringing the total number to twenty-three. Additionally, the opinion that the knowledge of *laylat al-qadr* was abrogated has been mentioned earlier, making the total number of opinions twenty-four. --- ## Does Laylat al-Qadr move from one night to another? A group of scholars held that *laylat al-qadr* moves from year to year. This view is held by Mālik, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Abū Thawr, and others. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr attributed this view to al-Shāfiʿī in *al-Istidhk**ā**r*, although we do not have any record of him expressing this opinion. Among his companions, al-Muzanī and Ibn Khuzaymah are known to have adopted this stance. Al-Nawawī also favors this opinion as a means of reconciling the differing hadiths on the matter that can only be reconciled in this manner. Thus, there are a total of 25 different opinions on this issue. Ibn Ḥazm, the literalist (*al-Ẓāhirī*), maintained that *laylat al-qadr* can only occur on the odd nights of the last ten nights. According to him, the first of the last ten nights is the night of the 20th if the month is incomplete (i.e., 29 days), or the night of the 21st if the month is complete (i.e., 30 days). Therefore, *laylat al-qadr* may occur on the 21st and the following odd nights if the month is complete, or on the 20th and the following even nights if the month is incomplete. This is the twenty-sixth opinion. Know that *laylat al-qadr* does indeed exist and Allah reveals it to whomever He chooses among mankind so that they may be certain of its presence. There are numerous accounts of pious individuals who have witnessed it. The minority opinion holding that it is impossible to witness *Laylat al-Qadr* should be dismissed as a serious error, as al-Nawawī has pointed out. Some scholars have suggested that Allah has hidden *laylat al-qadr* from His servants so they do not solely speak of its blessings and neglect their worship on other nights. He wants them to remain committed to their worship at all times, as they were created for that purpose. Allah said, “I have not created Jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” With this, the number of opinions on the matter reaches twenty-seven.[^73] This opinion is supported by what is reported in al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, with a good chain of transmission from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays, that he asked the Prophet ﷺ: “O Prophet of Allah, inform me which night *laylat al-qadr* should be sought on?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “If it was not that people would leave prayer except on that night, I would have told you.”[^74] In *Musnad* al-Bazzār, al-Awzāʿī reported that Marthad, or Abū Marthad, reported from his father that he said, “I found Abū Dharr at al-Jamrah al-Wusṭā[^75] and I asked him about *laylat al-qadr*.” Abū Dharr replied, “No one would have asked more about this than me. I once said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Was *laylat al-qadr* revealed to the Prophets and then lifted?’ The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘No. It will remain until the Day of Judgment.’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! When is it?’ He responded, ‘If I were permitted to reveal it, I would have told you. However, seek it on the 90th or the 70th and do not ask me again.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then turned and started to speak on a different matter. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What is the 70th?’ This made the Prophet ﷺ angry in a way that he had never been before or after that occasion. He then said, ‘Have I not forbidden you from asking about it? If I were permitted to reveal it, I would have told you.’ The Prophet then indicated that *laylat al-qadr* is one of the last seven nights.”[^76] --- ## Section on the signs of Laylat al-Qadr[^77] It is reported that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned signs of *Laylat al-Qadr*, one of which is that the sun rises in the morning without any visible rays. This is considered the most authentic sign.[^78] In Aḥmad’s *Musnad*, ʿUbādah bin al-Ṣāmit is reported to have narrated, with a good chain of transmission, that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The signs of *Laylat al-Qadr* are that it is serene and clear as if the moon is shining in it. It is peaceful and calm. It is neither too cold nor too hot, and no shooting star appears in it until morning. Among its signs is that the sun rises evenly the following morning without any visible rays, like the full moon. The devil will not be able to rise with it.”[^79] Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ mentioned two opinions regarding the the sun rising “without rays.” The first opinion is that it is a sign that Allah assigned \[as a way to distinguish *laylat al-qadr* from other nights\]. The second opinion is that it is because many angels move around on that night, descending on earth and ascending with what they brought down \[to earth\]. In doing so, the angels will block the sun’s rays with their wings and ethereal bodies. According to al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ narrated that the Messenger of Allah said ﷺ, “*Laylat al-Qadr* is clear and has neither heat nor coldness. It is devoid of clouds, rain, or wind, and shooting stars are not visible. One of its signs is that the sun rises without rays.”[^80] \[However\] the chain of transmission for this hadith includes Bishr ibn ʿAwn and Bakkār ibn Tamīm, both of whom are considered weak narrators. In al-Bazzār’s *Musnad*, Ibn ʿAbbās reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “*Laylat al-qadr* is a cool night that is neither hot nor cold.”[^81] \[However\], the chain of transmission for this hadith includes Maslamah ibn Ḥibbān, alongside other transmitters, whose reliability was debated. You \[the reader\] may argue that al-Ṭabarānī reported in his *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr* from Sharīk, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb, from Jābir ibn Samurah, who attributed the hadith to the Prophet ﷺ that he said, “I saw *Laylat al-Qadr* but I was caused to forget its time. So, seek it in the last ten nights. It is a night of wind, rain and thunder.”[^82] Al-Bazzār also reported this hadith with similar wording.[^83] This hadith aligns with the hadith of Abū Saʿīd (mentioned above) which states, “The roof of the mosque was leaking and I saw the Prophet ﷺ with traces of water and clay on his face.” I would say that this is what you established as your opinion. What we adopt is that *Laylat al-Qadr* is not fixed on one night but rather moves, so it is possible that this hadith refers to a year when there was no wind or rain. Allah knows best.[^84] --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī fī sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arānʾūṭ et al., 1st ed., 26 vols., (Damascus: Dār al-Risālah al-ʿĀlamiyyah, 2013), 6:578. [^2]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:578. [^3]: Walī al-Dīn ibn al-ʿIrāqī, *Sharḥ al-ṣadr bi-dhikr Laylat al-Qadr: Fadāʾil wa ʿalāmāt Laylat al-Qadr*; Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī, *Ishrāq al-maṣābih fī ṣalāt al-tarāwīḥ*, ed. Majdī Ibrāhīm (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Sāʿī, Cairo: Maktabat al-Qur’ān, 1987). [^4]: All Qur’an translations in this piece are taken from M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, trans., *The Qurʾān: A New Translation* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). [^5]: This *sūrah* is known across different copies of the Qur’anic codex (*muṣḥaf*), *tafsīr* works, and Sunnah collections as *Sūrat al-Qadr*. However, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah and Abū Bakr al-Jaṣṣāṣ called it *Sūrat Laylat al-Qadr.* Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*, 30 vols. (Tunisia: al-Dār al-Tūnusiyyah li-l-Nashr, 1884), 30:455. [^6]: The arranged order of *Sūrat al-Qadr* in the *muṣḥaf* reflects deep wisdom. Although its number of verses is less than that of *Sūrat al-Bayyinah*, it precedes it after *Sūrat al-ʿAlaq*, indicating that the pronoun “it” in “sent it down” refers to the Qur’an, whose first piece of revelation was the beginning of *Sūrat al-ʿAlaq*. Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wa al-tanwīr*, 30:456–57. [^7]: Qur’an 56:75. [^8]: *Al-**Bukhārī*, no. 5012. [^9]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2661 (with a slight difference of wording: “I am far too insignificant to be spoken about in the Qur’an”). [^10]: Qur’an, 69:1-3. [^11]: Qur’an, 101:1-2. [^12]: *Al-Bukhārī*, 3:45. It is possible to counter argue this extrapolation with the verse, “For all you know, (*wa* *mā yudrīk*), he might have grown in spirit, or taken note of something useful to him.” Qur’an, 80:4–5. This verse was revealed about the companion ʿAbd Allāh ibn Umm Maktūm, whom the Prophet knew had grown in spirit and taken note of something useful to him. [^13]: Qur’an 44:4. [^14]: This interpretation holds that *qadr* in this context means predestination (*qadar*). [^15]: This interpretation parallels the meaning of the Qur’anic verse, “They have no grasp of God’s true measure” (*wa mā qadaru Allāh ḥaqq qadrih*). Qur’an 6:91. The significance denoted by the word *al-Qadr* in *Laylat al-Qadr* may refer to the revelation of the Qur’an on that night, the descent of angels, or the abundance of blessings, mercy, and forgiveness bestowed during it. [^16]: Scholars have also suggested another interpretation of the word *al-qadr*: that it means restriction or narrowness, as in the verse “But let him whose provision is restricted spend according to what God has given him” (*wa man qudira ʿalayh rizquh*). In the context of *laylat al-qadr*, the meaning of restriction could be that Allah has hidden its exact timing or that the earth is filled with angels on that night, causing it to become narrow and restricted to accommodate them. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:545. [^17]: Mālik ibn Anas and Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr Abū Muṣʿab Zuhrī. Mālik, al-*Muwaṭṭaʾ*, no. 889\. In the *tafsīr* tradition, there are different interpretations of “*laylat al-qadr* is better than a thousand months.” These interpretations include the following: (1) *laylat al-qadr* is better than the span of a thousand months, (2) it is better than a thousand months in which there is no *laylat al-qadr*, and (3) worship on *laylat al-qadr* is better than worship for a thousand months in which there is no *laylat al-qadr*. [^18]: *Al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3350. A *gharīb* *ḥadīth* refers to a report which has been transmitted by only one narrator in any particular era, regardless of the number of narrators in other eras. Several scholars have pointed out that this hadith is considered disclaimed (*munkar*) for two main reasons. First, it contradicts the historical fact that the Umayyad reign lasted for more than a thousand months, for approximately 92 years. Second, even if the hadith is condemning the Umayyads, preferring *laylat al-qadr* over their days does not necessarily mean condemning their reign. The nobility and significance of *laylat al-qadr* cannot be emphasized by preferring it over the time of the Umayyads. Interestingly, al-Rāzī found this second argument weak. He mentioned that the reign of the Umayyads can be viewed as praiseworthy by worldly standards. Hence, the meaning can be “I gave you a night whose religious pleasures are better than those worldly pleasures.” Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 1st ed., 32 vols. (Jeddah: Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 32:31. [^19]: Al-Razī noted that the description of *Laylat al-Qadr* as full of peace (*salām*) should not be taken lightly. When seven angels greeted the Prophet Ibrāhīm with peace in the story of the roasted calf, he was happier with their greeting than with being the king of the entire world. In fact, Ibrāhīm was saved from the fire because of the angels’ *salām* to him: “O fire, be cool and safe (*salāman*) for Ibrāhīm.” Qur’an 21:69. Therefore, Allah may make the Hellfire cool and safe for us by the blessing of the angels’ *salām* to us on *Laylat al-Qadr*. The difference is that Ibrāhīm offered them a roasted calf, while we should offer a “roasted heart.” Al-Razī added that this verse subtly indicates the special honor Allah has granted this *ummah*. That is, while the angels were sent down to the friend of Allah (*khalīlullāh*) Ibrāhīm in that story, they are sent down to the entire *ummah* of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ in *Sūrat al-Qadr*. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 32:36. [^20]: *Al-**Bukhārī*, no. 1901. Scholars have debated whether all sins will be forgiven or only minor ones. Many of them affirmed that the hadith primarily applies to minor sins. Some scholars suggest that if only major sins are reckoned, the punishment for these sins may still be reduced. [^21]: *Al-Nasāʾī*, no. 2523. The addition of “future sins” raises the question of how sins that have not yet occurred can be forgiven. Some scholars suggested that this forgiveness is figurative, indicating that those individuals will be protected from committing major sins. Other scholars interpreted the phrase to mean, “their sins will occur forgiven.” This discussion also applies to the hadith that states fasting on the day of ʿArafah expiates the sins of the past and the coming year, as well as to Allah’s statement about the companions who fought in the Battle of Badr, as the Prophet ﷺ reported: “Do as you please, for I have forgiven you.” There are several hadiths that mention the forgiveness of future sins upon the performance of certain good deeds. These hadiths have been compiled by Imam Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, and he examined their authenticity and interpretation. See Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *al-Khiṣāl al-mukaffirah li-l-dhunūb al-mutaqaddimah wa-l-mutaʾkhirah*, ed. ʿAmr Salīm, 1st ed. (Jeddah: Dar Mājid ʿAsīrī, 2001). [^22]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 22713. [^23]: In the Arabic print used for the translation, the quote reads as “some people doubted” (*shakka*), instead of *shadhdha*, which means adopting an anomalous view. The translation used the latter phrase as cited in many sources from al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ. [^24]: This is one occasion in which the Prophet ﷺ stated the reason behind the knowledge of the time of *laylat al-qadr* being taken away. However, he gave another reason as reported in *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*: “I was shown *laylat al-qadr*; then some members of my family woke me up, then I was caused to forget it.” *Muslim*, no. 1166. There are three possible interpretations of both occasions. First, they reference two separate occasions; he was shown the timing of *laylat al-qadr* in a dream and then forgot it because he was awakened, and he was informed of it while awake and then he forgot it due to the dispute between the two men. Second, the two hadiths reference the same story with two causes of forgetting it. Third, it is possible that the meaning is: “I saw it in a dream, my family woke me up and I heard the two men arguing. I went to reconcile their situation, and then I forgot it as I became busy with them.” ʿAbd al-Razzāq reported from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, with a disconnected chain of transmission (*mursal*), that the Prophet said, “Shall I inform you of the time of *Laylat al-Qadr*?” The companions replied, “Yes!” The Prophet remained silent for a while and then said, “I asked you when I knew of it, then I was caused to forget it.” Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī commented on this hadith, stating that it supports the opinion that the forgetting happened on different occasions. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:582. [^25]: *Al-**Bukhārī*, no. 49. [^26]: See the quote in, for instance, Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, 2nd ed., 18 vols. (Cairo: Muʾssasat Qurṭubah, 1994), 8:83. [^27]: Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, *al-Muḥarrar al-waj**ī**z f**ī* *tafs**ī**r kit**ā**b All**ā**h al-**ʿ**az**ī**z*, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad, 1st ed., 6 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2001), 5:505. Although the idea that *laylat al-qadr* had been abrogated is referenced in several sources, most references do not cite a reliable Sunni authority directly. The Shāfiʿī jurist al-Mutawallī, in his book *al-Tatimmah*, attributed it to the Shia without citation. The reference to Abū Ḥanīfah by Ibn ʿAṭiyyah is likely inaccurate, as Abū Ḥanīfah held that *laylat al-qadr* could occur on any night during the year, as Ibn al-ʿIrāqī mentions below. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī commented on Tāj al-Dīn al-Fākihānī’s attribution of this opinion to the Ḥanafī scholars, stating that “it is likely a mistake. What al-Surūjī reported is that it is \[only\] the opinion of the Shia.” Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:569. In his *Muṣannaf*, ʿAbd al-Razzāq reported that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yuḥannis said to Abū Hurayrah, “\[Some people\] claim that *laylat al-qadr* has been lifted.” Abū Hurayrah replied, “Whoever said this has lied.” *ʿAbd al-Razzāq*, no. 7707. [^28]: *Muslim*, no. 762. [^29]: *Muslim*, no. 762. [^30]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 3857. [^31]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 10289. [^32]: *Abū Dāwūd*, no. 1387. [^33]: The hadith scholar Ibn Abī Āṣim stated, “We do not know of anyone else \[other than Abū Ruzayn\] who upheld this opinion.” Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:570. [^34]: *Al-**Bukhārī*, no. 813. [^35]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2020. [^36]: *Muslim*, no. 1167. [^37]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī attributed this opinion to Abū Thawr, al-Muzanī, Ibn Khuzaymah, and a group of scholars from all schools of thought (*madhhab*s), and he commented that this is the most preponderant opinion. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:575. [^38]: *Al-**Bukhārī*, no. 2017. [^39]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 22713. [^40]: *Muslim*, no. 1167. [^41]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 5079. [^42]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 4865. [^43]: *Abū Dāwūd*, no. 1384. [^44]: *Muslim*, no. 1167. [^45]: *Muslim*, no. 1168. [^46]: *Muslim*, no. 1170. [^47]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 23129. [^48]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 793; al-Haythamī, *Majmaʿ al-zawāʾid*, no. 5033 [^49]: *Ab**ū* *D**ā**w**ū**d*, no. 1380. [^50]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 2199. [^51]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 2302; al-Haythamī, *Majma**ʿ* *al-zawāʾid*, no. 5046. [^52]: Scholars reconciled this hadith with the ones that state that *laylat al-qadr* occurs on an odd night by suggesting that these hadiths employ different methods of counting the days. In some instances, when half of the month had passed, the Arabs would count the number of days left instead of the number of days that had passed. According to the latter way of counting, the night of the twenty-fourth night would be the seventh night of the last ten nights. Ibn ʿAbbās himself was also reported to have said about *laylat al-qadr*, “Seek it in twenty-four nights,” which could mean, “Begin seeking it in the last remaining seven nights.” [^53]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2022. [^54]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2022. [^55]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 23890. [^56]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2022. [^57]: Al-Haythamī, *Majma’ al-zawāʾid*, no. 5050. [^58]: In addition to the companion Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, as referenced above, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī attributed this opinion to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s school and as one view reported from Abū Ḥanīfah. Ibn Ḥajar also mentioned that the Shāfiʿī scholar Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Rāzī attributed this view to “most of the scholars.” Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 6:574. [^59]: *Muslim*, no. 762. [^60]: *Ab**ū* *D**ā**w**ū**d*, no. 1386. [^61]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 4808. [^62]: I am unable to locate this version of the hadith in al-Ṭabarānī’s *al-**Mu**ʿ**jam al-kab**ī**r*. [^63]: It is found in the printed edition of *al-Muʿjam* *awsa**ṭ*, no. 285. [^64]: This comment is quoted by Ibn ʿAṭiyyah from Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī ibn al-Kharrāṭ (d. 581/1185). See, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, *al-Muḥarrar al-waj**ī**z*, 1:61. [^65]: *Ab**ū* *D**ā**w**ū**d*, no. 1379. [^66]: *Al-Tirmidhī*, no. 794. [^67]: *Al-Bukhārī*, no. 2023 [^68]: *Ab**ū* *D**ā**w**ū**d*, no. 1381. [^69]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 22043. There is probably a mistake in the Arabic source of the translation, adding “observe it on the third or fifth.” قم في الثالثة أو الخامسة. However, I was not able to locate this addition in the versions of the *Musnad*. [^70]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 10732 (with a slight difference in the wording). [^71]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam* *awsa**ṭ*, no. 1284. [^72]: The Arabic source states ‘he mentioned the ninth before the seventh, which is the fifth’ (وهي الخامسة). However, based on the context and the referenced hadith, it appears that the intended meaning is ‘and he \[mentioned\] it \[the seventh\] before the fifth’ (وهي على الخامسة).. [^73]: In his *tafsīr*, al-Rāzī provided several explanations behind the wisdom of keeping the exact timing of *laylat al-qadr* hidden. He gave examples of how Allah has hidden many other things including: His pleasure with worship to motivate people to pursue all acts of worship, His wrath about sins to discourage people from committing them, His righteous saints (*awliyāʾ*) among people so that they honor everyone, the acceptance of supplications (*duʿā*) to motivate them to make more *duʿā*, His greatest name so that people glorify all of His names, the “middle prayer” so that people maintain all their prayers, the acceptance of repentance so that people commit to all types of repentance, and the time of their death so that they stay fearful of death. Thus, Allah has also hidden *laylat al-qadr* so that people can glorify every night of Ramadan. Another reason is that human beings are vulnerable to sins by nature. If *laylat al-qadr* were clearly known, and one committed sins during it, the punishment would be severe as they would have known of the significance and sacredness of this night. For instance, imagine if worship on *laylat al-qadr* is worth the reward of a thousand months, while sinning during it is worth the punishment of a thousand months. Therefore, hiding the time of *laylat al-qadr* is a mercy from Allah, as preventing punishment takes priority over bringing reward. Al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-ghayb*, 32:28–29. [^74]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 21110. [^75]: *Al-Jamrah al-wus**ṭ**ā*, the medium pillar, is one of the three sites at which Hajj pilgrims throw pebbles, as a sign of “stoning the devil.” [^76]: Al-Bazzār, *al-Musnad*, no. 4067. In his *ṣaḥīḥ* collection of hadith, Al-Bukhārī dedicated a section (*bāb*) to “Seeking *laylat al-qadr* in the last seven nights.” He reported a hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said to his companions, “I see that your dreams all agree upon the last seven nights. Whoever seeks it, let him seek it in the last seven nights.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2015. There are two opinions on identifying the last seven nights. Some scholars held that they are generally the last seven nights of the month, while others specified that they begin on the night of the 22nd and end on the night of the 28th. According to the former opinion, the nights of 21st and 23rd are not included, while according to the latter opinion, the nights of the 21st and the 29th are not included. [^77]: Scholars have debated whether the promised reward of *laylat al-qadr* applies to those who pray during it, even if they do not realize that it is *laylat al-qadr* or do not look for its signs. The disagreement arises from the interpretation of the hadith narrated by Abū Hurayrah, in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever prays on *laylat al-qadr* coinciding with it \[the same night\],” and I \[Abū Hurayrah\] believe he continued, “with faith and seeking reward, his sins will be forgiven.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 760. A similar hadith was reported by ʿUbādah stating that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever prays on *laylat al-qadr* with faith and seeking reward, the night is gifted to him.” Aḥmad, *Musnad*, no. 22713. While the word “coinciding” (*yuwāfiquhā*) implies that one should recognize *laylat al-qadr* in order to receive its reward, it may also mean coinciding with the night without necessarily knowing that it is *laylat al-qadr*. This debate does not negate the reward for everyone who prays during *laylat al-qadr*, even if they do not know which night it was. Rather, the debate is specifically about the exact reward promised in the *sūrah*. [^78]: The Shāfiʿī jurist al-Māwardī said, “It is recommended for one who recognizes *laylat al-qadr* to hide it and ask Allah with sincerity, good intention, and sound certainty for anything he likes regarding his religious or worldly matters, but his supplications (*duʿāʾ*) for matters concerning religion and the Hereafter should be greater \[in number\].” Abū al-Ḥasan al-Māwardī, *al-Ḥawī al-kabīr*, ed. ʿĀdil ʿAbd al-Mawjūd and ʿAlī Muʿawwaḍ, 1st ed., 11 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1994),  3:484. Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī deduced fom the story of the two disputing men, who were among the reasons that the Prophet ﷺ  forgot *laylat al-qadr*, that one who recognizes the signs of *laylat al-qadr* should not share their knowledge of it with others. Al-Subkī argues that this recommendation is suggested by the fact that Allah did not want His Prophet to remember and share it, and since “all good is in whatever was willed for the Prophet,” it is recommended to follow him in that. According to al-Subkī, the wisdom behind this recommendation is that knowing the time of *laylat al-qadr* is a divine gift (*karāmah*), and all the people of the spiritual path have agreed that *karāmah*s should be hidden except for legitimate purposes. The reasons one should hide their gifted *karāmah*s are the following: (1) so that one does not see themself as better than others or does not recognize that the *karāmah* may be  test from Allah; (2) guarding against showing off (*riyā*ʾ) or feeling safe from being deprived of the *karāmah*; (3) politeness (*adab*), so that one does not get distracted by the *karāmah* and talking to others about it, instead of thanking Allah; and (4) avoiding prompting envy among others. This last reason is supported by Jacob’s statement in the Qur’an, “My son, tell your brothers nothing of this dream, or they may plot to harm you.” Qur’an 12:5. Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī, *Qaḍāʾ al-ʿArab fī asʾilat Ḥalab*, ed. Muḥammad al-Afghānī (Mecca: al-Maktabah al-Tijāriyyah, 1992), 502–6. [^79]: Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, *al-Musnad*, no. 22765. [^80]: Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, ed. Ḥamdī ʿAbd al-Majīd Salafī (Cairo, Riyadh: Maktabat Ibn Taymiyyah, Dār al-Ṣumayʿī, 1983), 22:59 (number unavailable). I would like to express my gratitude to my research colleague Justin Parrott for his timely and enthusiastic assistance in verifying the hadith citations referenced in this translation. Without his prompt help, this publication would have faced delays. [^81]: *Ibn Khuzaymah*, no. 2192. [^82]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Muʿjam al-kabīr*, no. 1962. [^83]: Al-Bazzār, *al-Musnad*, no. 4267. [^84]: What is the purpose of recognizing the signs of *laylat al-qadr* after it has already passed? Al-Nawawī answers  that there are two benefits. First, it is recommended to exert as much effort in worship as possible the following day. Second, according to the well-known (*mashhūr*) opinion of the Shāfiʿī school, *laylat al-qadr* does not shift to other nights; hence, whoever recognizes it should commit to worship during it in the following years. Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, *al-Majmūʿ sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab li-l-Shīrāzī*, ed. Najīb al-Muṭīʿī, 23 vols. (Jeddah: Maktabat al-Irshād, 1980), 6:490. ## Summary All praise is due to Allah, for Whom tongues express gratitude, the One exalted beyond being overtaken by slumber or sleep, who glorified certain times as He glorified certain places. Among the times He honored is the Night of Glory (Laylat al-Qadr), which He made better than a thousand months, as He said: "We sent it down on the Night of Glory. What will explain to you what that Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months; on that night the angels and the Spirit descend again and again with their Lord's permission on every task; [there is] peace that night until the break of dawn." The exegetes explained that the pronoun "it" in "We sent it down" refers to the noble Qur'an, even though it was not previously mentioned in the sūrah, its meaning being understood, just as Allah said "until it [the sun] was hidden in the veil [of night]" while the sun had not been mentioned. The exegetes differed on the manner of this revelation. Ibn ʿAbbās and others held that Allah sent the entire Qur'an down to the nearest heaven on Laylat al-Qadr, then revealed it to the Prophet ﷺ over twenty years, understanding this from Allah's saying "I swear by the positions of the stars." Al-Shaʿbī and others held that the meaning is that the descent of the Qur'an to the Prophet ﷺ was initiated on that night, supported by reports that Jibrīl began coming to the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan—some saying on the seventh, others the seventeenth—while other reports place the beginning in Rajab or Rabīʿ al-Awwal. Some scholars interpreted the verse as meaning that the sūrah was revealed concerning the standing of Laylat al-Qadr, reading the preposition "in" (fī) as causal, similar to ʿUmar's fear that Qur'an might be revealed concerning him, and ʿĀʾisha's statement in the incident of the false accusation (al-ifk) that she was too insignificant for Qur'an to be revealed regarding her. Al-Bukhārī reported that Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah said that wherever the Qur'an says "What will explain to you" (wa mā adrāk), Allah explained it to the Prophet ﷺ, but where it says "How can you tell?" (wa mā yudrīk), He did not inform him of it. Scholars differed regarding why the night is called Laylat al-Qadr. One view, reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, Qatādah, and others, and attributed by al-Nawawī to the scholars, is that Allah decrees provisions and matters during it and informs the angels of them, as in "a night when every matter of wisdom is made distinct"—though it must be understood that Allah's decree is itself pre-eternal. Al-Zuhrī held that the name denotes honor and high position. Others said it is because whoever worships in it gains great honor, or because worship in it carries tremendous value. As for its being special to this ummah, Mālik reported in the Muwaṭṭaʾ from a trustworthy source that the Prophet ﷺ was shown the long lifespans of earlier peoples and saw his community's lives too short to match their deeds, so Allah granted them this night better than a thousand months. Al-Tirmidhī reported through Yūsuf ibn Saʿd a report connecting the "thousand months" to the rule of Banū Umayyah, which al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl counted as exactly a thousand months; al-Tirmidhī graded this hadith as rare (gharīb). Regarding "the angels and the Spirit descend," it was said that "the Spirit" is Jibrīl, or a group of angels, or a distinct heavenly creature. Those who hold that provisions are decreed that night explain the angels' descent accordingly, while others link "on every task" to "peace," and Mujāhid said no one is afflicted with disease that night, while al-Shaʿbī and Manṣūr held it is peace in the sense of the angels' greeting to the believers. It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said whoever prays during Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and hope of reward will have his former sins forgiven, and in al-Nasāʾī's al-Sunan al-kubrā, Aḥmad's Musnad, and al-Ṭabarānī's Muʿjam from ʿUbādah, "and their future sins" is added. Reliable scholars agreed that the night has not been abrogated and remains until the end of time. Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ noted an anomalous dissent claiming abrogation, based on the Prophet's ﷺ words "so it was taken away," but the hadith's continuation—"and maybe it is better for you; so seek it on the seventh or the ninth"—found at the beginning of al-Bukhārī's collection, shows that only knowledge of its exact time was withdrawn, for otherwise he would not have commanded seeking it. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah mentioned this rejected view of abrogation is attributed to Abū Ḥanīfa and others. Scholars then differed extensively on its timing. One view, attributed to Abū Ḥanīfa, is that it may fall on any night of the year, supported by Ibn Masʿūd's saying that whoever prays all year will hit upon it—though Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, explained that Ibn Masʿūd only wished to prevent negligence and himself knew it was in the last ten nights, on the twenty-seventh. Another view, held by Ibn ʿUmar, is that it can be any night of Ramadan. Others said the first night, the middle and last ten, the last ten, the odd nights of the last ten, or the even nights. Reports place it variously on the seventeenth (from Zayd ibn Arqam and Ibn Masʿūd), the nineteenth (from ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd), the twenty-first (from Abū Saʿīd's authentic hadith of water and clay), the twenty-third (from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays and Abū Hurayra in Muslim), the twenty-fourth (from Bilāl and Ibn ʿAbbās), and the twenty-seventh, which many companions adopted, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb swearing to it by the sign that the sun rises without rays. The hadith of ʿUbādah, containing "his past and future sins will be forgiven," was noted to include the transmitter ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, whose transmission is fair (ḥasan). Some justified the twenty-seventh through numerical calculations, but Ibn ʿAṭiyyah judged such interpretations tangential to genuine tafsīr. The various reports were gathered into twenty-seven opinions, which may be grouped as: that its knowledge was abrogated (one view, rejected); that its timing is entirely hidden (one view); that it is fixed each year (twenty-three views); and that it shifts from year to year (two views). This latter position—that it moves annually—is held by Mālik, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Abū Thawr, al-Muzanī, and Ibn Khuzayma, and favored by al-Nawawī as the only way to reconcile the differing hadiths. Ibn Ḥazm the Ẓāhirī restricted it to the odd nights of the last ten as reckoned by whether the month is complete or incomplete. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī gathered even more—forty-six opinions—yet noted that from the third onward they all agree on its possible occurrence and on encouraging its seeking, and that many may be combined despite apparent difference; indeed the disagreement is largely semantic, since most agree its exact time is not definitively known. The night truly exists, and Allah reveals it to whom He wills, many of the pious having witnessed it; al-Nawawī dismissed as serious error the claim that it cannot be witnessed. Some held Allah concealed it so servants would not confine their devotion to it and neglect other nights, remaining constant in worship for which they were created, as He said: "I have not created Jinn and mankind except to worship Me." This is supported by al-Ṭabarānī's report from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Unays that the Prophet ﷺ said, "If it were not that people would leave prayer except on that night, I would have told you," and al-Bazzār's report from Abū Dharr, who was told it remains until the Day of Judgment and instructed to seek it. As for its signs, the most authentic is that the sun rises in the morning without visible rays. Aḥmad reported from ʿUbādah with a good chain that the night is serene and clear, neither too cold nor too hot, with no shooting star until morning, and the sun rising evenly like the full moon which the devil cannot rise with. Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ offered two explanations for the rayless sun: that Allah appointed it as a sign, or that the multitude of ascending and descending angels block the rays with their wings. Al-Ṭabarānī's report from Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ describes it as clear and windless, but its chain includes Bishr ibn ʿAwn and Bakkār ibn Tamīm, both weak; al-Bazzār's report from Ibn ʿAbbās describing it as cool includes Maslamah ibn Ḥibbān, whose reliability was debated. Against these, a report from Jābir ibn Samura describes it as a night of wind, rain, and thunder, aligning with Abū Saʿīd's hadith of the leaking roof and traces of clay—yet since the preferred view is that the night moves and is not fixed, such a report may refer to a particular year without wind or rain. And Allah knows best. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/approaching-the-quran-through-the-names-of-allah # Understanding the Qur'an Through the Names and Attributes of Allah **Author:** Jinan Yousef **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Names of Allah, Paper, Ramadan **Published:** March 30, 2023 **Updated:** September 8, 2026 ## Introduction When approaching the Qur’an, many of us bring our expectations and  assumptions. While this is natural, failing to understand that we do so can lead us to unknowingly projecting our presuppositions upon the divine text, which is likely to prevent us from appreciating the Qur’an on its own terms. Particularly when reading a translation, which is inevitably an interpretation, the modern reader may be unable to understand why Allah mentions the destruction of previous peoples, or the torment of the Hellfire, and might feel unsure of how to connect to the mercy of God in light of these verses. Hence, some people distance themselves from the Qur’an. But the Prophet ﷺ said, “The people of the Qur’an are the people of Allah and His chosen ones,”[^1] and this should make us want to know what we are missing. Ibn al-Qayyim laments the state of those who turn away from the Qur’an, and hence miss out on that which gives life to the heart and light to the eyes.[^2] The Qur’an has been sent by God to His creation. It has a purpose. Yet, our experience of the Qur’an is directly linked to how we view Allah, as our ‘[God image](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness)’ impacts our relationship with Him, ourselves, and the world.[^3] If we have a negative image of Allah, we may simply view the Qur’an as a harsh book of dos and don’ts. Conversely, if we rightly see Allah as merciful, just, majestic and nurturing—as He describes Himself—we can read the Qur’an’s verses in a completely different light. We find affection, strength, mercy, and wisdom, where previously we may not have. Consider this: If you were in trouble, or lost with no idea how to find your way, and you received a message from someone you have no doubt cares about you, is incredibly smart, and is aware of your situation, you would be attentive when reading their letter. You probably would not want this person to sugarcoat the issues causing you problems—you need them to be direct with you, so that you can make it out of your predicament. Even if there are points you do not comprehend fully, you would try to figure them out rather than dismiss them, as you know that whatever is in the letter is for your benefit. You need help, and you trust this person to help you. Your reading of this letter would be very different from that of a person who does not know the author of the letter (“Why should I trust this letter?”), doesn’t realize they need help or is too proud to admit it (“I know better”), or is unaware of why the letter was sent to begin with (“Why is this person talking like this?”). They may be offended, confused or unable to realize the importance of the letter—consequently, they likely will not benefit. Allah is far above any analogy, but this is similar to our relationship with the Qur’an. When we know who Allah is and know the purpose of His book, we can find solace in it and benefit in this life and the next. When we do not, we may be completely unmoved and even resentful. As Ibn al-Qayyim notes, Allah has given us two ways to know Him: through His signs in the external world (i.e., the creation of the heavens and the earth), and the second by reflecting on His verses in the Qur’an and contemplating them.[^4] When we know His names and who He is, this becomes the lens by which we interpret His signs in the universe and His signs in His book. Thus, one of the first things we should do—and this is accessible to everyone—is to learn who Allah is in relation to the Qur’an. Once we do, it becomes much easier to love the Qur’an and to want to understand its messages deeply. Indeed, one of the [keys to *tadabbur*](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/keys-to-tadabbur-how-to-reflect-deeply-on-the-quran)—deep reflection—is approaching the Qur’an with the right mindset.[^5] If our mindset is that the Qur’an is from the One who wants the best for us, who wants to guide us, and is the most knowledgeable, we are more likely to be actively looking for how we can benefit from every verse. This paper will explore approaching the Qur’an through Allah’s names, and how that impacts the way we receive its message. Since Allah Himself highlights specific names when He talks about the revelation of His book, the paper contextualizes the messages of the Qur’an through the names that Allah mentions, in order to help the reader connect to Allah through the Qur’an. --- ## Understanding the Qur'an by Knowing Allah First To understand the Qur’an, we must connect to the One who sent it. As Jeffrey Lang states, > The Qur’an’s “most beautiful names” of God imply an intense involvement in the human venture. These names, such as The Merciful, The Compassionate, The Forgiving, The Giving, The Loving, The Creator, etc., reveal a God that creates men and women in order to relate to them on an intensely personal level, on a level higher than with the other creatures known to mankind, not out of a psychological or emotional need but because this is the very essence of His nature. Therefore, we find that the relationship between the sincere believer and God is characterized consistently as a bond of love. God loves the good-doers (2:195; 3:134, 3:148, 5:13, 5:93), the repentant (2:222), those that purify themselves (2:222; 9:108), the God-conscious (3:76; 9:4; 9:7), the patient (3:146), those that put their trust in Him (3:159), the just (5:42; 49:9; 60:8), and those who fight in His cause (61:4). And they, in turn, love God.[^6] Throughout the Qur’an, Allah reminds us that the revelation is ‘a sending down’—*tanzīl*—from Him, drawing on particular names and attributes to emphasize who He is.[^7] The use of the word *tanzīl* is important, as it reminds the reader that the Qur’an is coming from above, from the Most High Himself, delivered by Jibrīl to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).[^8] There is no earthly influence, nor deficiency; it is from divine perfection. Allah tells us that the Qur’an is *tanzīl* from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the Most-Wise, the Praiseworthy, and the Lord of the Worlds. It is perhaps akin to saying “This letter is from your loving father” or “This guide is from the expert explorer.” The simple addition of the attributes of the author completely changes how we receive the message. Similarly, connecting the Qur’an to our Lord, Creator, and Sustainer makes it personal, and the names chosen in turn reassure us. If one were to give you medicine, you may be suspicious until you are informed that the medicine is from a knowledgeable doctor. If that brilliant doctor was also your affectionate father, you would be even more comforted and confident in the medicine you are being given. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī states, > People in this world are like the sick, chronically ill, and the needy. The Qur’an contains all the medicine that unwell people need and all the nutrition that healthy people need. The greatest blessings of God Almighty upon the people of this world was the revelation of the Qur’an to them.[^9] --- ## Who is Allah? The Names and Attributes of Allah in the Qur’an ### Mercy Prior to telling us the message of the Qur’an—the purpose of life, how to live our lives, the nature of heaven and hell— Allah tells us who He is. Before we begin reading the Book, we are informed of some essential facts about who has sent it to us. This brief yet deeply profound introduction sets the tone for the whole Book. Allah tells us: > In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.[^10] > > \[All\] praise is \[due\] to Allah, Lord of the worlds. > > The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. > > Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.[^11] First impressions are usually the most important, and Allah could have chosen any of His many names to introduce Himself to us: those related to His omnipotence and majesty, or His creation of the heavens and the earth. Yet in the first three verses of the Qur’an, He mentions these names twice: *Al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*—the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Sūrat al-Fātiḥah begins with the declaration, “In the name of Allah.” One might ask, “Well, who is Allah?” The following verses answer that. He is *al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*. Not only does the opening chapter start with these names, we begin any recitation of the Book with these names in particular,[^12] and not any others. The root of both *al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm* is *raḥmah*, which is translated as mercy—compassion, sympathy, and kindness.[^13] If we want to know what mercy looks like in action, the Prophet ﷺ showed this to the companions through a scene that was happening before them. After one of the battles—there were women and children left behind—a woman began to nurse her child. The Prophet ﷺ pointed this out to the companions and asked, “Do you think this woman would throw her child into the fire?” The companions answered in the negative. He said, “Allah is more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her child.”[^14] In combination, these two names tell us that Allah is consistently the most intensely caring, compassionate and clement. *Al-Raḥmān*—in this morphological form—tells us that His mercy is overflowing, limitless, and incomparable.[^15] Al-Ghazālī states that His mercy “is all-inclusive in that it includes the worthy and the unworthy, this life and that which is to come and encompasses the essentials, needs, and advantages which go beyond them.”[^16] In practical terms, this reminds us that whatever kindness we have felt from any human being, Allah’s kindness is infinitely greater than that. This is further emphasized in the saying of the Prophet ﷺ that, “Allah made mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety-nine parts with Himself and sent down one part to the earth. From that one part, the creation is merciful to each other, such that a horse raises its hoof over its child for fear of trampling it.”[^17] Ibn al-Qayyim states beautifully that Allah being *al-Raḥmān* means He does not neglect His servants.[^18] He further mentions that whoever knows *al-Raḥmān* knows that His mercy in sending prophets and revelation is even greater than His mercy in sending down rain because the former gives life to the hearts and soul, not just the bodies.[^19] And *al-Raḥīm* confirms that this attribute is permanent and constant. God is not erratic or ‘moody,’ and thus there is stability and certainty in His attributes and His all-encompassing mercy. Allah has a special mercy for those who believe, as He says, “And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful.”[^20] No one is forcing Him to be merciful (as no one can). Allah tells us, “Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy.”[^21] He Himself has chosen to decree this divine, extraordinary care for His servants. ​​ Allah affirms that > \[This is\] a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful- (41:2) Since Allah is the Most Merciful towards His servants, He reminds us that He has sent this Book out of His mercy and affection, so that we may come out of darkness to the light, and that we may know Him, worship Him, and submit to Him. This Qur’an is an expression of mercy that connects us to the All-Merciful and that guides us to the abode of His mercy.[^22] Everything in the Qur’an is from the *raḥmah*—the intense, overwhelming care—that Allah has for us. This attribute is emphasized throughout the Qur’an, and when we are instructed to begin its recitation with these names, we understand that every letter in this Book is infused with divine mercy. Hence, the stories told are out of concern for us. The rulings proscribed are for our benefit. The warnings and admonishments are so that we do not suffer eternal pain. Out of His mercy, He sends the Qur’an to reveal the truth, to bring closer those who are far, and to comfort those who seek Allah with glad tidings and something to look forward to.[^23] The Qur’an is a letter of care for those who reflect. Some might still pause. The Qur’an may be from the One who is most merciful, loving, and kind towards us, but some things perhaps do not make sense to us. Thus Allah reminds us that not only is the Qur’an from the Most Merciful, but from the All-Knowing, the Most-Wise. ### Knowledge and Wisdom In five places in the Qur’an, Allah mentions that the *tanzīl* is from *al-ʿAlīm* or *al-Ḥakīm*—the All-Knowing or the Most Wise—coupled with His name *al-ʿAzīz*. He says, for example: > The revelation of this Book is from Allah—the Almighty, All-Knowing.[^24] > The revelation of this Book is from Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.[^25] *Al-ʿAlīm* (the All-Knowing) is He who has all-encompassing knowledge. The root is *ʿayn-lām-mīm*, which encompasses knowledge, awareness, and certainty. Allah *al-ʿAlīm* knows what is and what could be, what was and what could have been, the inner and the outer. What is hidden to people, to Him is manifest.[^26] Yet, in our day-to-day interactions, we may be familiar with people who ‘know a lot,’ but are not the most perceptive or discerning. Allah is also *al-Ḥakīm*—the Most Wise. One of the meanings of *ḥikmah* is to put things in their appropriate place.[^27] Because Allah is *al-Ḥakīm*, He never engages in what is ugly,[^28] and His actions are always measured and purposeful. Al-Rāzī states that these names are combined here as Allah is telling us that He sent down the Qur’an with His might and knowledge, and this can be seen in what it contains of benefits and miracles.[^29] Ibn ʿĀshūr adds that because the Qur’an is the speech of the Almighty, the All-Knowing, no one but Allah has the ability and knowledge to come up with something similar.[^30] When Allah informs us that this Qur’an is from the One who knows every detail—the past and future, the physical and metaphysical—*and* that He is the most wise and knowledgeable, He tells us that everything in this Book is beneficial for us in this life and the next. If we were to receive a book from someone who cares for us, the contents may satisfy us emotionally. But if we were told that the foremost authority on  a particular topic had authored the book, we would naturally take it more seriously at an intellectual level as well. We would trust the advice given therein because we have faith in the knowledge and expertise of that human being (who is still fallible!). When we internalize the fact of Allah’s knowledge and wisdom as the ‘author’ of the Qur’an—when we truly comprehend that the Qur’an is literally the word of God—we truly understand reality. *The more we reflect on the Qur’an, the clearer our priorities become.* We have certainty that what He has ordained for us benefits us, and that what He has prohibited is harmful. When facing trouble, we know that the answer can be found in His Words. Since we know these verses are from the All-Knowing, the Most Wise, we trust in Him, and so when there are matters that we do not comprehend, we take the time to understand them as opposed to dismissing what we do not know. Allah tells us clearly that, “You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows and you do not.”[^31] When Yūsuf (as), in the Qur’an, is finally reunited with his family, he says, “... My Lord is most subtle in achieving what He wills; He is the All Knowing, the Truly Wise.”[^32] Yūsuf could see that everything that had happened in his life was purposeful and indeed necessary for him to be where he was in that moment. One may have questioned the mercy and wisdom in a child being separated from his family by jealous siblings, being sold into slavery, and then being falsely accused and thrown into jail for several years. Yet all those events led to Yūsuf becoming a trusted and beloved person of authority and stature. Allah elevated him because of his patience and God-consciousness. There was both wisdom and mercy in every single twist of his life. While in Yūsuf’s case the wisdom of Allah became apparent in the final earthly outcome, wisdom is not confined to what is seen in this realm *or even what is valued according to worldly standards*. One who has a profitable business selling alcohol, for example, might decide to mend his or her ways and change careers. They may suffer materially as a result. Perhaps their standard of living declines. They start losing business contacts. If their family opposes this change, their relationships may even break down. These are all tangible losses. But no one knows the spiritual blessings descending upon this person because of what they gave up for God. No one knows the harms that were avoided at a personal and communal level because this person did the right thing. And no one will ever know what Allah has kept hidden for this person in Paradise as a result of their devotion to God and their steadfastness in the face of difficulty and temptation. Allah reminds us of all of this when He tells us that the Qur’an is sent from the All-Knowing, the Most Wise. ### Power and Care Of course, in this world, the attributes of mercy and knowledge may be highly regarded, yet the person who possesses them may also be weak. A weak person can be easily overpowered, and their advice unrealistic. Hence, Allah emphasizes that this Book is also from *al-*ʿ*Azīz* and *Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn.* Allah reminds the reciters of the Qur’an that, “This is a revelation from the Almighty, Most Merciful,”[^33] and “The revelation of this Book is from Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.”[^34] Allah frequently mentions His *ʿizzah* when referring to the *tanzīl* of the Qur’an,[^35] and the Qur’an itself is described as being ʿ*azīz*.[^36] *ʿ**Izzah* is a combination of might, nobility, invincibility, venerability, and uniqueness.[^37] *Al-*ʿ*Azīz* is the one who overpowers and cannot be overpowered, who is untouchable and all-powerful, completely unique, possessed of all glory and honor, and who  grants strength and honor to whom He wills.[^38] During the Battle of Badr, the Muslims were greatly outnumbered. Allah tells the believers that He sent them angels as reinforcements, and the Muslims were victorious during the battle. But Allah reminds us all: "And Allah only made it as a glad tiding, and so that your hearts should become serene thereby, for support is only from Allah; *indeed, Allah is Almighty (*ʿ*Azīz), All-Wise (Ḥakīm)*.”[^39] Might and victory are not from the angels; rather they are from Allah. When Allah tells us that this Book is from *al-*ʿ*Azīz,* He is telling us that He has protected the Qur’an from change or alteration.[^40] This should inspire confidence in its eternal message.[^41] It urges people to walk the path of truth and guidance without weakness, and it issues warnings and threats against disobedience and disbelief.[^42] When we see injustice in the world around us, when we ourselves feel weak, the Qur’an reminds us that it is from *al-*ʿ*Azīz*, and thus we can draw strength and  comfort from it.[^43] The Qur’an shows us the fate of those who transgress and do harm; they will not be left to their ways indefinitely. Allah  is *al-*ʿ*Azīz*—when He warns, He is able to follow through. Furthermore, His might is not like human might. People who have overpowering strength may express it rashly or cruelly, oppressing others, but Allah is the Most Wise, the Most Merciful. His might is measured in its expression, just in its outcome, for the best reasons, and with utmost mercy. Allah also reminds us that the Qur’an is *tanzīl* from *Rabb al-ʿālamīn*, the Lord of the worlds, stating “\[This is\] the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds.”[^44] Allah being *Rabb al-ʿālamīn* means that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all, caretaker of all affairs, the Nurturer, who brings into existence and takes out of existence; it means He alone is God, worthy of worship, the true refuge, and the sanctuary during calamity; indeed, there is no lord but Him, and no god but Him.[^45] The word *tarbiyah*, from the same root, is about nurturing, and Allah *al-Rabb* is He who gently moves one from one condition to another until the fulfillment of the end goal.[^46] Telling us that the *tanzīl* is from *Rabb al-ʿālamīn* reminds us that Allah is nurturing us through the Qur’an. We are given this “revelation from the One who created the earth and the high heaven,”[^47] and He is teaching us how best to be in this world and how best to be with Him to attain our final goal: Paradise with Him. Our purpose in this world is elaborated upon, the nature of tests as well as good and evil explained. We are exhorted to overcome our base desires and pursue loftier goals, and most importantly, we are told who He is. Moreover, He is *Rabb al-ʿālamīn*—the Lord of *all* *the worlds*—not just the Lord of a certain race, nationality, language, gender, or social class. He sustains and raises everyone, and what is contained in this Book is guidance that is not only relevant but crucial for all of us. ### The Praiseworthy Finally, we are told about the Qur’an that “Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; \[it is\] a revelation from a \[Lord who is\] Wise (*Ḥakīm*) and Praiseworthy (*Ḥamīd*).”[^48] *Ḥ**amd* is the opposite of blame (*dhamm*). *Al-Ḥamīd* is the One who is praised for His essence, His names and attributes, and His actions.[^49] Every single thing that emanates from Him is deserving of praise. In practical terms, this means that everything from *al-Ḥamīd* is not only good, but of an utter perfection that gives rise to a sense of awe. Allah reminds us in the Qur’an: ‘Everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him; God alone is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise (*al-Ḥamīd*).’[^50] We say, “All praise (*alḥamd*) is to Allah,” which is more comprehensive than saying words of *shukr* (thanks), as the latter is expressed for a specific deed or favor. *Ḥamd*, on the other hand, encompasses thankfulness *and* praise, not only for specific favors, but for the inherent qualities of the praiseworthy one. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made a beautiful supplication when he stood for the *tahajjud* (late night) prayer: > O Allah! For you is all praise (*laka al-ḥamd*). You are the sustainer of the heavens and the Earth and all that they contain. And for You is all praise. Yours is the dominion of the heavens and the Earth and all that they contain. And for You is all praise. You are the light of the heavens and the Earth and all that they contain. And for You is all praise. You are the king of the heavens and the Earth. And for You is all praise. You are the Truth. Your promise is true. The meeting with You is true. Your word is true. Paradise is true and the Fire is true. The prophets are true. Muhammad is true. The Hour is true…[^51] The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was in constant in gratitude, awe, and reverence for Allah—and this is encompassed in the supplication that he made. This revelation is *tanzīl* from the All-Wise as He directs us to what is in our interests, and He is Praiseworthy in the favors that He blesses us with.[^52] Because Allah is Praiseworthy (*ḥamīd*) in His perfection and majesty, and for His justice and benevolence, His book necessarily provides the means to attain good and ward off evil.[^53] When we recite the Qur’an, we have to remind ourselves that since Allah is *al-Ḥamīd,* everything in the Qur’an must be so essentially good that we cannot help but praise Him when we reflect upon its verses. If it does not cause us to praise Him, we have to ask ourselves, what are we missing? What are we not understanding? --- ## Conclusion Allah, who created us and fashioned us, sent us a book to guide us to Him. This act in and of itself demonstrates His care for His creation. But, as human beings, we can forget who the Qur’an is from, and therefore interact with it in a manner that fails to consider Allah’s mercy, wisdom, and majesty. The next time we recite the Qur’an, we should keep certain matters in mind: How is this a mercy for me? What wisdom is there for me to learn from? How is Allah guiding and caring for me through this verse or chapter? These questions apply as much to verses describing heaven as they do to verses describing hell, and as much to the stories and parables as to the direct commands and prohibitions. For example, considering His names when reading a verse concerning a prohibition, such as the one on alcohol, can help us to see that it is not simply a robotic command. Rather, it is coming from a place of mercy, concern, nurturing, and divine wisdom. Remembering His names helps inculcate certainty that there is wisdom in the prohibition, because it comes from the All-Knowing, the Most-Wise, and that indeed, this prohibition is something to be grateful to Allah for because He is the Praiseworthy. When we read verses that frighten us, such as those concerning Hellfire, we can remind ourselves that even those verses are from the mercy of Allah, because their descriptions help to guide us away from the Hellfire—after all, in order for us to move away from something harmful, we have to know it exists and that it *is* indeed bad for us. In telling us that the Qur’an is something sent down—*tanzīl*—from Him, we are reminded that the Qur’an has been sent to us from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful (*al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*), the All-Knowing (*al-ʿAlīm)*, the Most Wise (*al-Ḥakīm*), the Almighty (*al-*ʿ*Azīz*), the Lord of the worlds (*Rabb al-ʿālamīn*), the Praiseworthy (*al-Ḥamīd*). Keeping these seven names in mind when we recite the Qur’an should help us read the verses in light of who Allah is. It enables us to understand the messages contained therein through the lenses of love, mercy, care, strength, and wisdom, and thus comforts us when we are overwhelmed. The Qur’an is Allah’s everlasting gift to creation, and a mercy for those who believe in and follow it. When we approach the Qur’an knowing who sent it, we can begin to realize how truly precious it is, how much we stand to gain from it, and savor our time with it and its meanings. --- ## Notes [^1]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 215, *saḥīḥ* according to al-Albānī. [^2]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn bayna manāzil iyyāka naʿbudu wa iyyāka nastaʿīn* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1416 AH, 1996 CE), 28. [^3]: Hassan Elwan and Osman Umarji, “The Alchemy of Divine Love: How Our View of God Affects Our Faith and Happiness,” *Yaqeen*, 2023, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-alchemy-of-divine-love-how-our-view-of-god-affects-our-faith-and-happiness&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646937515&usg=AOvVaw3vsBAZGvKSfiaQdvd-yGqx). [^4]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Al-Faw**ā**ʾid* (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-*ʿ*Ilmiyyah, 1973), 20. [^5]: Yousef Wahb and Mohammed Elshinawy, “Keys to Taddabur: How to Reflect Deeply on the Qur’an,” *Yaqeen*, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/keys-to-tadabbur-how-to-reflect-deeply-on-the-quran](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/keys-to-tadabbur-how-to-reflect-deeply-on-the-quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646938723&usg=AOvVaw2BnOm7ZeyvyuaCHGjxDE1d). [^6]: Jeffrey Lang, *Even Angels Ask* (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 2021), 28. Jeffrey Lang is an American professor of mathematics. He converted to Islam in the 1980s, and is the author of several books on Islam. [^7]: Qur’an 39:1, 40:2, 41:2, 46:2, and others. [^8]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, *[](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646935043&usg=AOvVaw0e48t1NFdZtiWIsB3j9XP_)*[https://tafsir.app/alrazi/39/1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646935833&usg=AOvVaw21p5MntbcwZR2nSVu4nGDJ). [^9]: Al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/41/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646914156&usg=AOvVaw1tifq3rihKfpFA4PcYhkfJ)[https://tafsir.app/alrazi/41/2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/41/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646914655&usg=AOvVaw3pqBEJkxpRCsBTg_iQ3SNc). [^10]: There are different ways to translate these names. They will be translated here as the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful for consistency, but it is important to keep in mind the vast meanings (Qur’an 41:2). [^11]: Qur’an, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, 1:1–4. [^12]: Except for Sūrat al-Tawbah. [^13]: *Hans Wehr* (Urbana, IL: Spoken Language Services, 1993), 384. [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5999; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2754. [^15]: Ibn al-Jawzī, *Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr*, [https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/1/1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/zad-almaseer/1/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646931837&usg=AOvVaw2OJZYSzC_iDWzzibR8YLyY). [^16]: Abū Ḥāmid Al-Ghazālī, *The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God: Al-Maqṣad Al-Asnā Fī Sharḥ Asmā’ Allāh Al-Ḥusnā*, trans. David Burrell and Nazih Daher, The Ghazali Series (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1992), 52. [^17]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6000; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2752. [^18]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 32. [^19]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, 32. [^20]: Qur’an 33:43. [^21]: Qur’an 6:54. [^22]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646915772&usg=AOvVaw0X83goQZcgkebxlXxfxHsi)[https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646916110&usg=AOvVaw35ohEkSzx1JNLuNGQXIc0u). [^23]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646916821&usg=AOvVaw3Y5v9z-TFNgwnNmRYDtVhP)[https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646917141&usg=AOvVaw0zZprHJGzIrwKSIUBavf61). [^24]: Qur’an 40:2. [^25]: Qur’an 46:2. [^26]: Maher Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā: Jalālahā wa laṭā’if iqtirānihā wa thamarātihā fī ḍawʾ al-kitāb wa-l-sunnah*, 3rd ed. (Kuwait: al-Imam al-Thahabi, 2014), 191–92. [^27]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl* (Beirut: Dār al-Ma*ʿ*rifa, 1398 AH, 1978 CE), 181. [^28]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 103. [^29]: Al-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb*, [https://tafsir.app/alrazi/40/2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/alrazi/40/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646942440&usg=AOvVaw0i9akh86n_K5ZHhzCn6q2g). [^30]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/40/3](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/40/3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646943388&usg=AOvVaw0onP677Owt6ikwCFAC7B89). [^31]: Qur’an 2:216. [^32]: Qur’an 12:100. [^33]: Qur’an 36:5. [^34]: Qur’an 39:1. [^35]: For example, Qur’an 40:2, 42:2, 45:2. [^36]: Qur’an 41:41. [^37]: *Hans Wehr*, 713. [^38]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 64–65. [^39]: Qur’an, 8:10 [^40]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646919854&usg=AOvVaw3xNbpEkprSgYJIkPfMj9x_)[https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646920302&usg=AOvVaw2HBar89_zCTddnVgRvcQ1r). [^41]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646921132&usg=AOvVaw1SZtcLZtpA16mv3mQZfF4j)[https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/39/1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646921507&usg=AOvVaw2CIuCb0gdEGACkxU9BbFhT). [^42]: Ibn ʿĀshūr, *al-Taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646922269&usg=AOvVaw3U_1b2aozKOWgazgg73FDg)[https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/ibn-aashoor/36/5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646922633&usg=AOvVaw27y57a6Vi_s0QVG5EDDlcW). [^43]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646923363&usg=AOvVaw3Mx_41KIzs6pqF-eJp3K45)[https://tafsir.app/saadi/39/1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/39/1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646923693&usg=AOvVaw2WuYgw3BElb6_djEmW3Ff_). [^44]: Qur’an 32:2; also 56:80; 69:43. [^45]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Badā’iʿ al-fawā’id* (Beirut*:*Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 701 AH), 2:247;  *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [https://tafsir.app/saadi/1/2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/1/2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646924750&usg=AOvVaw3aICymIBVUENerxPXUAwA8). [^46]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 31. [^47]: Qur’an 20:4. [^48]: Qur’an 41:42. [^49]: Muqaddim, *Asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā*, 93. [^50]: Qur’an, 22:64. [^51]: Part of a longer supplication in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, 1120. [^52]: Al-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl al-Qurʾān*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/tabari/41/42&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646926166&usg=AOvVaw2bV9eYNv3-Odq_WOXMwTC_)[https://tafsir.app/tabari/41/42](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/tabari/41/42&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646926517&usg=AOvVaw0NgDeMGN8EXJZOFTgQhJ7A). [^53]: *Tafsīr al-Saʿdī*, [](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/41/42&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646927278&usg=AOvVaw2aNoLPoqDmEHjHvWUR6WGF)[https://tafsir.app/saadi/41/42](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tafsir.app/saadi/41/42&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1680202646927583&usg=AOvVaw1AW_ojaz99PieicXO6OHdE). ## Summary When we come to the Book of Allah, we rarely come empty-handed; we bring with us our assumptions and expectations. This is a natural human tendency, yet if we remain unaware of it, we risk projecting our own presuppositions upon the divine text, and thereby fail to receive it on its own terms. This becomes especially likely when reading a translation, which is inevitably an interpretation, for the modern reader may struggle to understand why Allah mentions the destruction of past nations or the torment of the Fire, and may feel uncertain how to reconcile such verses with the mercy of God. As a result, some distance themselves from the Qur’an altogether. Yet the Prophet ﷺ said, “The people of the Qur’an are the people of Allah and His chosen ones,” and Ibn al-Qayyim lamented the condition of those who turn away from it and thereby forfeit that which gives life to the heart and light to the eyes. The central claim here is that our experience of the Qur’an is directly linked to how we view Allah, for our “God image” shapes our relationship with Him, with ourselves, and with the world. If we carry a negative image of Allah, we may reduce the Qur’an to a harsh catalogue of commands and prohibitions. But if we see Him as He describes Himself—merciful, just, majestic, and nurturing—we read His verses in an entirely different light, finding affection, strength, mercy, and wisdom where we might otherwise have found none. This is illustrated by the analogy of a letter received from one whom we know cares for us, is deeply knowledgeable, and is aware of our plight: we would read such a letter attentively, trusting even what we did not immediately grasp, whereas one who does not know the author, or does not admit his own need, would be offended or unmoved. Allah is far above any analogy, yet this resembles our relationship with the Qur’an. As Ibn al-Qayyim notes, Allah has given us two paths to know Him: reflection upon His signs in the created heavens and earth, and contemplation of His verses in the Qur’an. Once we know His names and who He is, this knowledge becomes the very lens through which we interpret both His book and His creation. Hence one of the first and most accessible tasks for every believer is to learn who Allah is in relation to the Qur’an, for this is among the keys to tadabbur—deep reflection—approaching the Book with the conviction that it is from the One who wants the best for us. To understand the Qur’an, then, we must connect to the One who sent it. Jeffrey Lang observed that the “most beautiful names” of God—the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Forgiving, the Loving, the Creator—reveal a God who creates men and women to relate to them intimately, and that the Qur’an consistently characterizes the bond between the sincere believer and God as one of love. Allah loves the good-doers (2:195; 3:134; 5:13; 5:93), the repentant and those who purify themselves (2:222; 9:108), the God-conscious (3:76; 9:4; 9:7), the patient (3:146), those who trust in Him (3:159), the just (5:42; 49:9; 60:8), and those who fight in His cause (61:4). Throughout the Qur’an, Allah reminds us that the revelation is a “sending down”—tanzīl—drawing on particular names and attributes to emphasize who He is. This word signals that the Qur’an descends from the Most High, free of earthly influence or deficiency, delivered by Jibrīl to the Prophet ﷺ. Just as we would trust medicine more if told it came from a knowledgeable and affectionate physician, so too does knowing the Author transform our reception of the Book. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī said, “People in this world are like the sick, chronically ill, and the needy. The Qur’an contains all the medicine that unwell people need and all the nutrition that healthy people need.” Before revealing His message, Allah tells us who He is. Sūrat al-Fātiḥah opens, “In the name of Allah, [all] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.” Of all His names, He twice mentions al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm in these opening verses, and with these names we begin every recitation. Their root is raḥmah—compassion, kindness, and clemency. The Prophet ﷺ pointed to a nursing mother after a battle and asked whether she would cast her child into the fire; when the Companions denied it, he said, “Allah is more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her child.” The form al-Raḥmān indicates a mercy that is overflowing, limitless, and incomparable; al-Ghazālī noted that His mercy “is all-inclusive… encompassing the essentials, needs, and advantages which go beyond them.” The Prophet ﷺ also said that Allah divided mercy into one hundred parts, keeping ninety-nine and sending one to the earth, from which all creation shows mercy to one another. Ibn al-Qayyim explained that al-Raḥmān means He does not neglect His servants, and that His mercy in sending prophets and revelation surpasses His mercy in sending rain, for the former gives life to hearts and souls. Al-Raḥīm affirms that this mercy is permanent and constant, for “ever is He, to the believers, Merciful,” and “Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy.” Thus Allah declares the Qur’an “a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful” (41:2)—every letter infused with mercy, its stories, rulings, and warnings all issuing from His care. Yet since some matters may still puzzle us, Allah reminds us that the Book is also from al-ʿAlīm and al-Ḥakīm—the All-Knowing and the Most Wise—coupled with al-ʿAzīz: “The revelation of this Book is from Allah—the Almighty, All-Knowing,” and “the Almighty, All-Wise.” Al-ʿAlīm knows what is and what could be, the inner and the outer; al-Ḥakīm places all things in their appropriate place, never engaging in what is ugly, always acting with purpose. Al-Rāzī said these names are joined to show that Allah sent down the Qur’an with His might and knowledge, evident in its benefits and miracles, and Ibn ʿĀshūr added that none but Allah could produce its like. When Yūsuf was reunited with his family he declared, “My Lord is most subtle in achieving what He wills; He is the All Knowing, the Truly Wise,” for the trials of his life bore hidden wisdom. And Allah reminds us, “You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows and you do not.” Because a merciful and wise counsellor may still be weak, Allah emphasizes that the Book is from al-ʿAzīz and Rabb al-ʿālamīn. ʿIzzah combines might, nobility, and invincibility; al-ʿAzīz overpowers and is never overpowered. At Badr, though outnumbered, the believers were aided by angels, yet Allah reminded them that victory is from Him alone. That the Qur’an is from al-ʿAzīz means He has protected it from alteration and is able to fulfil His warnings, though His might is measured with wisdom and mercy. That it is tanzīl from Rabb al-ʿālamīn—“the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds”—reminds us that He nurtures us through it, gently moving us toward our final goal of Paradise, and that its guidance is for all peoples without exception. Finally, the Qur’an is described as a revelation from One “Wise and Praiseworthy (Ḥamīd).” Al-Ḥamīd is praised for His essence, names, attributes, and actions, so that everything from Him is of an utter perfection inspiring awe—“God alone is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise.” The Prophet ﷺ embodied this in his tahajjud supplication: “O Allah! For You is all praise… You are the Truth, Your promise is true, the meeting with You is true…” Thus, if a verse does not move us to praise Him, we must ask what we are failing to understand. Allah, who created and fashioned us, sent a Book to guide us to Him, and this act itself demonstrates His care. When next we recite, we should ask: how is this a mercy for me, what wisdom lies here, how is Allah nurturing me through this verse? Such questions apply equally to descriptions of Paradise and of the Fire, to stories and to commands. Even the prohibition of intoxicants, seen through His names, is revealed as mercy, wisdom, and something for which to be grateful; even verses of warning are mercy, for we cannot flee a harm we do not know exists. In naming the Qur’an tanzīl from al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm, al-ʿAlīm, al-Ḥakīm, al-ʿAzīz, Rabb al-ʿālamīn, and al-Ḥamīd, Allah invites us to read His words through the lenses of love, mercy, care, strength, and wisdom. The Qur’an is His everlasting gift to creation and a mercy for those who believe, and when we approach it knowing who sent it, we begin to grasp how precious it truly is. ## Key Takeaways 1. Our understanding of Allah shapes how we read the Qur’an. If He is seen as harsh or distant, the Qur’an may appear as a book of rigid commands. But when He is known as merciful, just, majestic, and nurturing, as He describes Himself, the verses of the Qur’an reveal beauty, purpose, and care. Knowing His names and attributes transforms how we approach revelation, turning obligation into devotion and law into guidance rooted in love. Allah teaches us how to approach the Qur’an through the lens of His names. 2. The Qur’an begins with Allah’s mercy before addressing life’s purpose, heaven and hell, or any commands. In the opening verses of Surah al-Fatiha, Allah introduces Himself as al-Rahman and al-Rahim, the Entirely Merciful and the Especially Merciful, and every recitation begins with these names. The Prophet ﷺ reminded his companions that Allah’s mercy surpasses a mother’s for her child, showing that revelation itself is an act of divine compassion and care. 3. We are told that the Qur’an was sent down from al-ʿAlim, the All-Knowing, and al-Hakim, the Most Wise, as well as from al-ʿAziz, the Almighty, and Rabb al-ʿAlamin, the Lord of all worlds. These names affirm that revelation is purposeful, preserved, and nurturing—a balance of mercy and might. 4. Every word of the Qur’an reflects the perfection of al-Hamid, the Praiseworthy. His essence, attributes, and actions all call for gratitude and awe. The Qur’an guides the believer not only through command and wisdom but through continual remembrance of Allah’s mercy, power, and praise. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does knowing Allah’s names change the way you read the Qur’an? The way we picture Allah shapes how we hear His words. If we imagine Him as harsh or distant, the Qur’an can feel like a cold list of rules. When we know Him as He describes Himself—merciful, wise, just, and nurturing—the same verses read very differently, and we begin to find care, strength, and guidance in them. While the article stresses that Allah is far above any analogy, this is like receiving a letter from someone we know loves us, understands our situation, and wants the best for us. We read such a letter closely, trusting even the parts we do not fully grasp, because we trust the sender. Reading the Qur’an without knowing its Author can be like reading that letter without knowing why its sender should be trusted. Learning who Allah is through His names becomes the lens through which we understand His book, and this is one of the first and most accessible steps any believer can take. With this knowledge in place, its commands are read as guidance from One who wants our good, and it becomes far easier to love the Qur’an and to want to understand it deeply. ### Why does the Qur’an begin with mercy (al-Raḥmān, al-Raḥīm)? Of all the names Allah could have chosen to open His book, He begins with mercy. The opening chapter, al-Fātiḥa, introduces Him as al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm, the Entirely Merciful and the Especially Merciful, and these names appear twice in its opening verses. Every recitation of the Qur’an also begins with them (except Sūrat al-Tawbah). The Prophet ﷺ once pointed to a mother nursing her child after a battle and asked whether she would ever throw that child into the fire. When the companions said no, he told them that Allah is more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her child. Placing these names at the very start tells the reader that everything in the Qur’an flows from that mercy. Its stories, its rulings, and even its warnings all come out of that same care. When we begin reciting with these names, we are reminded that every letter of the book is meant for our benefit. ### If Allah is merciful, why does the Qur’an talk about Hellfire and punishment? This is a common difficulty, especially for readers who come to the Qur’an through a translation and encounter verses about the destruction of earlier peoples or the torment of the Fire. Once we know that the Qur’an comes from the Most Merciful, we can read even these verses as part of that mercy rather than against it. A warning about a real danger is itself an act of care. To move away from something harmful, we first have to know that it exists and that it is genuinely bad for us. A parent who loves a child does not hide dangers from them or sugarcoat what could hurt them. Describing the Fire so vividly is a way of steering us away from it. This is like a letter from someone who cares about us and refuses to gloss over the problems we face, precisely because they want us to make it through safely. Seen this way, the hard verses are not a contradiction of Allah’s mercy but an expression of it. ### How do I know that everything in the Qur’an is good for me, even the parts I dislike? Alongside His mercy, Allah reminds us that the Qur’an comes from the All-Knowing and the Most Wise. He knows what was, what is, and what could have been, the seen and the unseen, and He places everything in its proper place with purpose. This means that what He commands is for our benefit and what He forbids is harmful to us, even when we cannot see why. Allah says plainly that we may dislike something that is good for us, or like something that is bad for us, and that He knows while we do not. A powerful illustration is the story of Yūsuf, who was separated from his family, sold into slavery, and wrongly imprisoned, yet each painful turn was leading toward good that only became clear later. Some of Allah’s wisdom may become apparent in this life, while other benefits and rewards may only manifest in the next. When we trust that the book comes from perfect knowledge and wisdom, we take time to understand what puzzles us rather than dismissing it, confident that it is for our benefit. ### What does it mean that the Qur’an was “sent down” (tanzīl) from Allah? The Qur’an repeatedly calls itself *tanzīl*, meaning something sent down. The word is a reminder that the book comes from above, from Allah Himself, delivered through the angel Jibrīl to the Prophet ﷺ, with no human authorship or flaw mixed into it. What makes this especially meaningful is that, in several passages describing the Qur’an as sent down, Allah connects its revelation with particular names and attributes. He tells us it is a revelation from the Entirely Merciful and the Especially Merciful, from the All-Knowing and the Most Wise, from the Almighty, from the Lord of all worlds, and from the Praiseworthy. Each name shapes how we receive the message. Mercy tells us it is sent out of care; knowledge and wisdom tell us it is entirely beneficial; might tells us its warnings are real and its text is protected; lordship tells us it nurtures us toward our goal, and praiseworthiness tells us that everything in it is perfectly good. Keeping these names in mind while reading turns the Qur’an from a distant text into a personal message from the One who sent it. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-importance-of-making-ramadan-a-big-deal-for-your-family # The Importance of Making Ramadan a "Big Deal" for Your Family | Blog **Author:** Sh. Ibrahim Hindy **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog, Featured - Read, Ramadan, Ramadan Papers for Mobile App **Published:** March 10, 2023 **Updated:** February 13, 2026 Ramadan is just around the corner and, as we all know, it is a month of blessings, mercy, devotion and forgiveness. As we prepare ourselves for this incredible month, we should also be thinking about how our children will receive the month of Ramadan. > The associations we can create for our children with the month of Ramadan will last them a lifetime. The more our children can feel the excitement and anticipation of Ramadan, the more they will be able to connect to Ramadan as adults themselves. When we make a big deal for our kids’ birthdays, or even their summer break from school, but don’t bring much excitement or energy to Ramadan, then we are teaching them without even knowing it. We are telling them what is and isn’t a priority in their lives - and that Ramadan and Eid are low on that list. As an imam who interacts often with Muslim kids, I often hear about their parents not speaking to them about Ramadan, or even taking time off work for Eid in order to take them for Eid prayers and celebrate the day with them. So how can we make Ramadan fun, exciting and important to our children? Here are a few ideas: --- ## Welcome Ramadan Our Prophet ﷺ used to welcome the month of Ramadan, telling his Companions, “The month of Ramadan has come to you, a blessed month!” He would also search for the Ramadan moon, and make *du’a* at its sight saying, “O Allah, let this moon (month) pass over us with blessings, *iman*, safety, and in the belief of Islam.” Following this example, we need to encourage our children to anticipate and look forward to the month of Ramadan. That means going outside to search for the moon, an activity that is both a sunnah and can bring the family closer together. And it means decorating the house, and calling family and friends together to wish them a blessed month of Ramadan. --- ## Have a Daily Watch Party Do you look forward to watching Yaqeen’s Ramadan series every year? Try watching it together as a family! Make it a daily activity to watch after suhoor, before Iftar, or after Taraweeh. After each episode, engage your children by encouraging them to ask questions and facilitate a conversation from there. Check out the trailer for this year's series, *Jannah: Home at Last* [here](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/trailer-jannah-home-at-last-ramadan-series). --- ## Buy them toys The Companions used to encourage their children to fast and would also make toys for their children out of wool. When their children would complain during the fast, they would give them the toys to play with and pass the time. We should also encourage our children to fast, based on their age and capacity to do so, and give them toys to play with as encouragement for engaging in their fast. --- ## Make a Qur’an challenge Ramadan is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed and the month in which our Prophet ﷺ would recite it all from beginning to end. In fact, we can say that the blessed nature of this month is because of its connection to the divine revelation. So just as we should be trying to engross ourselves in the Qur’an, we need to encourage our children to do so as well. Consider making a Qur’an challenge for you and your child. Choose a Surah for each of you to memorize or review during the month of Ramadan and set aside a time every day to recite together. --- ## Take them to the Masjid Throughout the life of the Prophet ﷺ, we see many examples of children in the Masjid. Ramadan is a beautiful time when the Masjid is always alive with activity. By bringing our children to the Masjid for *iftar*s and *taraweeh*, we are building a positive relationship between them, the house of Allah and the broader Muslim community. --- ## Create a goal to give back When Ramadan would begin, Imam al-Zuhri would say, “This is the time of reciting Qur’an and feeding the hungry.” As we speak to our children about the Ramadan fast, we should encourage them to think about the hunger that others face. And thinking is not enough - we should motivate ourselves, and our children, to do something to help those in need. Create a goal with your child to raise money to feed the poor. If you and your child can volunteer to help feed the hungry - then even better! --- ## Make Ramadan gifts for your neighbors A great way to prepare for Ramadan with your children, perform an act of *da’wah*, and fulfill an important obligation in Islam is to create a Ramadan gift for your neighbors. Giving gifts to our neighbors is part of our faith. A’ishah (ra) wanted to gift her neighbors once, but only had a single gift, so she asked the Prophet (saw) what to do. He (saw) told her, “Gift it to the neighbor whose door is closest to yours” Ramadan is an excellent opportunity to revive the sunnah of gifting our neighbors, and you can always direct them to [Ramadan.day](http://ramadan.day) and [Eid.day](https://eid.day/) for more information on Ramadan and Eid! --- ## Learn a du’a together Ramadan is the month of *du’a*. We are instructed to make *du’a* when breaking our fast, and to strive to make *du’a* in pursuit of Laylat al-Qadr (the night of power). Everything we do in Ramadan should revolve around connecting our children to Allah. Teaching them to make *du’a* and ask Allah for all their needs and wants is perhaps the most powerful way to connect them to Allah. Learn different *du’a*s together with your children. [Ramadan Dua’s on Repeat](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/tahirwyatt/promo-ramadan-duas-on-repeat-series-with-dr-tahir-wyatt) series is a great resource to get your started! --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/why-is-allah-referred-to-as-he-in-the-quran # Why is Allah Referred to as “He” in the Qur’an? | Blog **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Blog **Published:** March 1, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy Is God male because masculine pronouns are used to refer to Him? This is a normal thing to wonder about, but there are several things to keep in mind. First, the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and not in English, so Allah never self-identified using an English pronoun. There is no such thing as a perfect translation. Languages function best within their respective connotative frameworks. This is why extrapolating nuance and deeper technicalities (like legal rulings) from a translation, without being grounded in traditional Arabic and other disciplines, can result in a grave departure from the intended meanings of God’s Revelation. Let’s keep this in mind and explore the question further. --- ## It is lost in translation Translators generally consider “He” to be the best translation for “*huwa”* (هو), which is the pronoun used throughout the Qur’an in reference to the Divine. However, this is not because they believe that *huwa* being grammatically masculine implies that Allah is male or male-like. For them, it is just like *i**nna* (إنا) and *nahnu* (نحن)—consistently translated as “We” without implying that Allah is plural or refers to multiple deities. Even in English, the “royal we” is a known linguistic convention for denoting greatness and sovereignty, not plurality. Of course, unlike the “royal we,” which is recognized in English and Arabic alike, “he” is only used in English for males. However, Arabic is a gendered language, so all nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine even if they are inanimate objects. The Arabic “he” is also the default pronoun, and hence it is invoked for the genderless third person singular. The Divine Name would linguistically fall into that final category. --- ## They are Allah’s words It is therefore understandable that there may be greater contention over the use of “he” in English, as opposed to *huwa* in the original Arabic. But we must never forget that the Arabic “he” has a wider usage than maleness. Additionally, God has afforded us sacred principles for not swerving in our conception of Him. For instance, Allah says, > لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِير > > **There is nothing like Him and He is the Hearing and Seeing.** > > **\[ Qur’an, 42:11 \]** Interestingly in this verse, Allah negates any likeness to His creation, yet affirms that He hears and sees–attributes that we have as humans. Allah *knows* His creation, so He reveals Himself to us in words that we can understand, even though language can never encapsulate His true reality. So that’s our golden rule: commit yourself to speaking about Allah as He spoke of Himself, as best you can, and recognize that the Divine Traits transcend in their realities whatever may be inherent in His creation. As Allah also says, > سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا > > **“Transcendent is He who created all the pairs.”** > > **\[ Qur’an, 36:36 \]** --- ## Due to human limitations Someone may wonder: if the realities between created beings and the Transcendent are so different, then why is language used that can be misunderstood to be human-like? It is because we humans can only understand anthropocentric language—we can only extrapolate based on our human experience. Would it be wise to address us with expressions we cannot relate to, using terms and describing realities with which we are unfamiliar and therefore cannot grasp? With all this in mind, and considering the more problematic connotations of “it” (usually reserved for animals and objects) and “they/them” (used for plurality), it makes sense that “he” is elected as the best analogue for “*huwa*” with the qualifiers above. And Allah knows best. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/etiquette-as-spiritual-nourishment-the-adab-of-the-student-according-to-al-ghazali-and-al-isfahani # Etiquette as Spiritual Nourishment: The Adab of the Student According to al-Ghazali and al-Isfahani **Author:** Dr. Yasien Mohamed **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** March 1, 2023 **Updated:** April 2, 2026 ## Introduction This essay is devoted to the etiquette (*adab*) of the student as understood by two classical Islamic ethicists of the eleventh century, al-Iṣfahānī (d. 1040) and al-Ghazālī (d. 1111).[^1] For them, *adab* as a mode of practice is aimed at knowledge of God (*maʿrifah*). The term *maʿrifah*, according to lexicologists, is synonymous with ʿ*ilm*.[^2] But for al-Iṣfahānī, there are distinctions in meaning. *Maʿrifah* is apprehending a thing by reflection upon its effects, a more particular kind of knowledge than *ʿilm*. One does not say, *yaʿlamu Allāh* (he knows God), as that would imply that he knows God’s essence, but does say *yaʿrifu Allāh*, because he knows the effects of God in creation.[^3] Thus, *maʿrifah* indicates knowledge of God that is not only cognitive and inferential, but also experiential and intuitive. In classical Islamic ethics, *adab* is the key to *maʿrifah*, and scholars such as al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī emphasize the intuitive dimension of *maʿrifah*, which is based on the purification of the soul. Al-Ghazālī did not abandon philosophy after he left Baghdad; he recognized it as a valid way of knowing God. However, after his conversion to Sufism, he seemed to have placed greater emphasis on attaining direct, experiential knowledge of God through the disciplining of the soul. Consider al-Ghazālī’s *Scale of Action*, where he acknowledges two ways of knowing God: the way of the Sufis and the way of the theoreticians (*nuẓẓār*). The purification of the soul is important for them both, but the Sufi approach is less focused on learning the sciences and more on asceticism, remembering God, and cultivating virtue. Sufis stress the importance of *muʿāmalah* (praxis), though the attainment of direct, intuitive knowledge of God is ultimately dependent on divine Grace.[^4] This brings us back to *adab*, which facilitates *maʿrifah* through praxis. A key part of the process lies in the etiquette of the student. When knowledge corresponds with virtue, we attain knowledge of God through our intellect *and* our soul.  Purification of the soul enables knowledge of the self, and knowledge of the self enables experiential knowledge of God. If the soul is subject to desire, it will descend away from God; but if driven by faith, it will ascend towards Him. --- ## Discovering adab The starting point for the purification of the soul is *adab,* cultivated via an educational method known as *taʾdīb*. The common translation of *adab* as “etiquette” can be misleading, as that particular meaning emerged from royal court protocol in the Abbasid period. Graeco-Arabic translation activity during the ninth century had an impact on Islamic philosophical education, and terms such as *adab* and *taʾdīb* came to roughly correspond with the Greek *paideia*.[^5] From its originally narrow meaning of “literature,” *adab* grew into  a type of character cultivated by litterateurs, poets, and government secretaries,[^6] exemplified  by refinement, grace, and charm. It was an ethical concept encompassing “high quality of soul, good upbringing, urbanity and courtesy,”[^7] as well as positive “moral and social upbringing, intellectual education and entertainment.”[^8] The Qur’anic concept of *adab* differs from mere cultural refinement. It was elaborated in the eleventh century by Muslim ethicists, who expanded *adab* into a full-fledged discipline.[^9] *Adab*, for al-Iṣfahānī (d. 431/1040) and then al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), is not only directed to clarity of the mind, but also purity of the heart. While they were partly inspired by the Greek philosophical heritage, they drew most of their understanding from the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Aristotle identified the virtues of the soul as wisdom, temperance, courage and justice, but he understood them as leading only to happiness in this world. To Aristotle’s purely philosophical virtues, Muslim ethicists added theological ones. Al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī defined *adab* in terms of both outward etiquette and inward character-building. While Aristotle settles for simply identifying the virtues whose cultivation would purify the soul, Al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī reframe these virtues as predicated on faith in God and directed towards eternal happiness. Through *adab*, humankind “reaches the most sublime states and the highest ranks in this world and the next.”[^10] Felicity in the afterlife, which depends on the moral purification of the soul, should be distinguished from mere salvation, which depends primarily on the declaration of faith (*shahādah*). While we will focus on al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī, readers may want to deepen their insights into the classical Islamic contribution to *adab* by examining the views of other early Islamic educationists, including Muḥammad Ibn Saḥnūn[^11] (d. 240/871), al-Māwardī[^12] (d. 450/1058), Ibn Jamāʿah al-Kinānī[^13] (d. 733/1333), Burhān al-Dīn al-Zarnūjī[^14] (d. 620/1223). We will examine some key excerpts on the etiquette of the student in al-Iṣfahānī’s *al-Dharīʿah ilā Makārim al-Sharīʿah* (Means to the Noble Virtues of the Sacred Law),[^15] al-Ghazālī’s *Mīzān al-ʿAmal*[^16] (The Scale of Action), and the *Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn*[^17] (The Revival of the Religious Sciences)*.* Both authors agree on the principles of student etiquette.[^18] Proper decorum between student and teacher provides fertile soil for the cultivation of virtues. The specific manners of how to greet or sit in front of the teacher are important, but they only take on a deeper meaning when they’re attached to the broader goal of cultivating virtue and knowing God. Bearing in mind that this higher knowledge is the ultimate goal, we expound in this essay the etiquette of the student along three broad principles of *adab*: 1. The etiquette of the student towards the self 2. The etiquette of the student towards the teacher 3. The etiquette of the student towards knowledge --- ## The student’s etiquette towards the self *Adab* towards the self is key to purifying the soul. This is why both al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī identified *adab* of the soul as the first duty of the student. Such soul-purification requires adopting a detached attitude to the world (*zuhd*). ### Purification of the soul One purifies the soul by taming its irascible faculty (anger) and concupiscent faculty (desire) through its rational faculty. The victory of reason over desire and anger grants the soul knowledge of itself, and of God, that extends beyond the theoretical to the intuitive. We use the term *ma**ʿ**rifah*[^19] here to refer to this experiential knowledge of God. Al-Iṣfahānī states that there are three ways by which one can acquire knowledge of God’s oneness and attributes. The highest way is  through divine light. This gives knowledge of the Prophets, the righteous, and the witness (*shahīd*).[^20] This knowledge comes from the soul once it has subdued its lower faculty, otherwise known as desire. Al-Iṣfahānī states: > The first duty of the student is to cleanse the soul of vices as soil is cleansed of weeds.[^21] Just as prayer without a clean body is incomplete, so worship without a clean soul is incomplete.[^22] The starting point for the student is to purify the soul of worldliness. The tradition that “religion has been built on cleanliness” not only connotes cleanliness of the body, but also the soul. Also, the tradition \[that states\], “The angels do not enter into a house where there are dogs,” refers to both the dogs of the physical house and the metaphorical dogs of the spiritual house, which is the heart. Thus, just as one should cleanse the body before prayer, so too must one cleanse the soul before *maʿrifah*. Cleansing the soul removes its vices, including anger, envy, and animosity. Only such a soul, or such a person, is deserving of being God’s vicegerent (*khalīfah*). Al-Iṣfahānī cites a verse from the Qur’an to prove that  vicegerency, or stewardship on earth, is one of the goals of humanity. While ritual worship (*ʿibādah*), also a goal of humanity, benefits the individual only, stewardship benefits humanity as a whole, and requires the cultivation of virtues.[^23] The righteous are those who practice such supererogatory virtues. By contrast, “the polytheists are truly unclean.”[^24] Those who associate partners with God may wear spotless garments, but they are spiritually impure.[^25] ### Detachment (zuhd) The student of knowledge who wants to purify his soul would have to live a life of z*uhd* (asceticism). This entails not just detachment from the world, but also a life of devotion to God. Much like the Stoics, the z*āhid* views attachment to the transient pleasures of this world as foolish. We may enjoy the blessings of this world, but God reminds us that: “The life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion.”[^26] Rather than become distraught over what we will inevitably lose, we should focus on cultivating virtues that are stable and abiding. The early ascetics (*zuhhād*) used to practice the highest form of abstention, but the novice is expected to do only the minimum, such as fasting in Ramadan. The student must learn to restrict his worldly needs and abstain from the unlawful. Al-Iṣfahānī states that *zuhd* is to restrict oneself to very little, and cites the Qur’anic verses permitting us to scoop a little from the river.[^27] The advanced ascetic, however, focuses on God alone and is not distracted by worldliness. A distracted person is like a stream that flows in different directions. The earth and the air absorb the water, and little is left for the plants.[^28] The true student is not like that stream. He has a single-minded devotion to God, and is not diverted by anything else. He is detached from the *dunyā*, and pursues knowledge with sincere intentions, as Ibn Jamāʿah states: > \[A student should\] cut as many as possible of the attachments that distract and obstacles that hinder the completion of the quest, the exertion of effort, and the strength of diligence in obtaining an education, for these things are like roadblocks. That is why the earliest Muslims recommended leaving one’s family and departing from one’s homeland, because the mind, if distracted, cannot attain to truths and abstruse subtleties. “God has given no man two hearts in his body.”[^29] The reference to two hearts suggests that one should give undivided attention to the pursuit of knowledge that will lead to the knowledge of God. We should not be distracted by material things, as they will not avail us on the Day of Judgment: “Disgrace me not on the day they are resurrected, the Day when neither wealth nor children avail, save for him who comes to God with a sound heart.”[^30] Al-Ghazālī, as we can sense from his writings,[^31] and especially from his autobiography *The Deliverance from Error*, experienced a psycho-spiritual crisis. He realized, during his time as a professor in Baghdad, that he searched for and disseminated knowledge not for the sake of God, but for fame. Al-Ghazālī  knew that his mind was like a stream dispersed in all directions, and that his heart was not sound. His Shaykh advised him: “The way is to detach yourself from the material world to such an extent that your heart does not turn even to family, wealth, country, knowledge or power.”[^32] Al-Ghazālī heeded the advice of the Shaykh, and stated in his autobiography: > I also perceived that I could not hope for eternal happiness unless I feared God and rejected all the passions;[^33] that is to say, I should begin by breaking my heart’s attachment to the world. I needed to abandon the illusions of life on earth to direct my attention towards my eternal home with the most intense desire for God, the Almighty. … I perceived that all my studies were futile since they were of no value for the Way to the Hereafter.[^34] He felt the need to pursue knowledge, not for wealth or fame, but for the pleasure of God. He said to his disciples: “You would occupy yourself with the meditation of the core of your being and the recognition of the attributes of the self, relinquishing the attachments of this world, and purifying your self of its blameworthy disposition.”[^35] Al-Ghazālī’s spiritual teacher wanted him to tame his ego and to learn proper *adab*. --- ## Etiquette towards the teacher The essential condition for the moral training of the student is recognition of the educator’s authority, whether it be a parent or teacher. Engaging in obedience to parents early facilitates obedience to the teacher later. This is not a blind obedience, but an act of kindness. This is *adab*. We recognize our teachers’ high status in Islam, and we feel indebted to them. The Qur’an states: “Be good to your parents” (*bi’l-wālidayn iḥsān*).”[^36]We are expected to extend that same kindness to our teachers. Ibn Jamāʿah, inspired by al-Ghazālī, describes the rules of etiquette that students should have with their teacher. They should defend him against those who speak ill of him; they should visit his grave; they should seek forgiveness and offer charity on his behalf, they should apologize if he is angry; they should thank him for his guidance; they should ask permission to enter his room; they should sit respectfully before him; they should ask for clarification politely; they should not interrupt him while speaking; and they should not speak to their classmates while he speaks. ”[^37] Inspired by a Prophetic Tradition, al-Iṣfahānī states that a teacher should be like a father to his students. He should guide them gently, always encouraging them but never stifling them. The teacher is to be accorded more honor than the father, for while the father is primarily concerned for the child’s material welfare, the teacher is concerned most for his spiritual welfare. Al-Iṣfahānī states: > The teacher must treat his students as his children. He is more important to them than their own parents. When he was asked whether he honored his teacher more than his father, al-Iṣfahānī replied, “Indeed my teacher is more honored, for he is the cause of my eternal life; my father is the cause of my transient life.” The Prophet ﷺ also said, “I am to you like a father.” [^38] Thus, the teacher of ethics should follow the example of the Prophet ﷺ in guiding people and should be kind to his students. God describes the Prophet ﷺ as  “deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and a mercy towards the believers.”[^39] Thus, the teacher should be kind and compassionate towards his students, just as the Prophet ﷺ was kind and compassionate towards his companions. Students should trust teachers and the knowledge they impart, just as patients trust doctors and the medication they prescribe.[^40] They should be receptive to the teacher’s instruction, just as the soil is receptive to rain.[^41] God states: “There truly is in this a reminder for whoever has a heart or gives ear as witness.”[^42]  Believers, then, should not merely hear the Qur’an but should listen to it attentively, absorb its meaning, and apply it to their lives. The student should honor the teacher by not asking about matters irrelevant to the subject at hand. Moses asked the pious servant Khiḍr: “Shall I follow you so that you may teach me of the good you have been taught?”[^43] He was willing to learn, but the condition Khiḍr placed upon him was not to question him.  According to al-Iṣfahānī, this condition does not contradict the verse: “Ask those who have knowledge if you do not know.”[^44] The point is not that the student shouldn’t ask questions; the point is that the student should not indulge in polemical matters which he is not ready to understand, and which might lead him astray. Questions should be posed in a respectful manner and aim to clarify rather than confuse.[^45] A true scholar is always a student, as knowledge is a life-long pursuit. Even Prophets can learn from others. Prophet Moses thought that he was the most knowledgeable about religion in his time, until God told him there was a man who could teach him certain things about the esoteric sciences (*bāṭinī* knowledge). Moses, though a Prophet and obviously superior in knowledge, especially of the exoteric sciences (*ẓāhirī* knowledge), still humbly sought knowledge from Khiḍr, a servant of God.[^46] Al-Rāzī (d. 606/12090 observes in his commentary on Qur’an 18:60: > The account of Moses and Khiḍr makes it clear that even Prophets such as Moses do not possess all knowledge, for “above every possessor of knowledge is a knower.”[^47] Among the lessons we learn from this story are the student’s humility before the teacher; his eagerness to learn new things from the teacher; the sacrifices he can make, such as traveling far to meet the teacher; and the importance of respecting the authority of the teacher, and not engaging in polemical matters beyond his understanding. --- ## Etiquette towards knowledge This section will deal with three aspects of our attitude towards knowledge: The importance of being aware of the gradation of knowledge; the importance of judging the value of a particular discipline by its fruit; and the importance of having respect for all disciplines of knowledge. ### The gradation of knowledge The *adab* of the student requires him to respect all disciplines of knowledge while acknowledging that they exist in a hierarchy, as some disciplines are given priority over others. He should study the basics before proceeding to more advanced levels. Al- Iṣfahānī states: > A person should not study a new subject until he has enough knowledge of its foundations, for a flood of jumbled information can confuse him and hamper his understanding. When God speaks of “those to whom we have given the book and they read it with due sincerity and commitment,”[^48] He refers to those who are sincerely committed to the mastery of an art or science, theoretically and practically. They would only proceed to the next level of study if they have mastered the previous level.[^49] There are two implications to *ḥaqq tilāwatih* \[read it with due sincerity and commitment\] in verse 2:121. The first implication is that one should recite the Qur’an with *tajwīd*, or excellence in pronunciation, but should also have  a heart that is sincere and fearful of God. The second implication is that one should practice (*ʿamal*) the message of the Qur’an. Thus, for al-Iṣfahānī, mastery of knowledge does not only pertain to its theoretical mastery, but also to its practical application: > Knowledge should never be divorced from good deeds. Faith and good works are always combined in the Qur’an. We read of “those who believe and do good deeds,”[^50] and we are told that “Unto Him ascends the good word, and it is He who exalts each deed of righteousness.”[^51] It is said: “The key to sin is the separation of knowledge from action.” It is also said: “Knowledge is like a foundation, and action is like a building; if the building is not constructed on the foundation, it is bound to fall.”[^52] Thus, knowledge and action should not be separated. *Adab* is necessarily action-oriented. It is practice that embeds virtues in the human soul. The good deed confirms the good word; God does not accept the latter without the former.  He is remembered both by the utterances of the tongue and the movements of the limbs.[^53]  It is not enough for one to say, “*Yā Karīm*” (O Generous One); one must also act with generosity. The gradation of knowledge also implies that the student must proceed from one level to another, in accordance with his ability. The student should only seek the knowledge needed for his current level. Al-Iṣfahānī illustrates this with the analogy of a traveler. > \[The student’s\] duty should be to treat the various sciences like provisions that he requires for the various stages of travel. He should consume what he needs from it for each stage and not depend on his own effort to attain perfection in a particular field. This could take a lifetime or more, and still, he will not probe its depth or reach its height.[^54] A student traveling the path of knowledge must consume its fruits in small servings, lest he struggle to digest what he is taught. Proper mastery of one discipline is preferable to a superficial understanding of many disciplines, as “the tree with few fruits is not useless as long as it benefits people.”[^55] When it comes to learning, then, a measured pace is best. The path of knowledge requires a lifetime to traverse, and attempting to rush through it will only ensure that the student never arrives at true knowledge of God. In sum, al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī agree that the foundations of knowledge are of paramount importance. Just as a weak foundation cripples a building’s capacity to carry a heavy load, a weak epistemic foundation cripples the student’s capacity to shoulder the quantity and complexity of true knowledge. Sophisticated subjects in philosophy and theology (*kalām*) tend to resist digestion and foster confusion. The student, therefore, must find a teacher whose focus is on essential knowledge and its practice. ### How to recognize the value of a discipline Any discipline is beneficial if it is directed towards the knowledge of God[^56] and the welfare of humanity, just as any discipline is harmful if it aims for more malicious ends. For example, the study of nuclear science for the development of weaponry is harmful, but its study for the provision of electricity is beneficial. While knowledge for material benefit is fine, this is not the end of knowledge. Al-Iṣfahānī states that the virtue of knowledge can be recognized by “the nobility of its fruit and the authenticity of its principles.” The science of religion is more noble than the science of medicine;[^57] the former relates to eternal life, whereas the latter benefits temporal life.[^58] The religious sciences are to be accorded the greatest value, as together with *adab* and worship (ʿ*ibādah*), they enable us to attain experiential knowledge of God (*maʿrifah*). Knowledge of the practical aspects of religion, including the Shari’ah, ethics, worship, human relations, diet, marriage, and penalties[^59] all deepen our understanding of God. The fruits such knowledge yields actualize one’s innate human inclination towards God. The natural and human sciences, then, are valuable insofar as they are supportive of the religious sciences. These auxiliary sciences include medicine, mathematics, logic, philosophy, and dialectical theology. However, they are not essential for the masses (ʿ*awām*), but for the intellectually inclined. Although these are auxiliary sciences, they assist the student in the attainment of eternal happiness. ### A student should not be averse to a discipline The fact that disciplines exist in a hierarchy of value does not justify dismissal of any of them. “People are enemies of that of which they are ignorant.”[^60] Scholars often sneer at disciplines they have not mastered. The student of hadith might boast about his own specialization, and look down upon the student of *kalām,* and vice versa. This is why students should acquire general knowledge before specializing, so they appreciate the merit of other branches of knowledge. It is true that believers rank differently in God’s view according to their station of knowledge: “They \[the believers\] have different grades in the sight of God”;[^61] and ‘‘God will raise in degrees those among you who believe and those who have been given knowledge.”[^62] However, all disciplines should still be respected, as they all have the potential to direct us to the knowledge of God:[^63] > A wise person will never despise any type of knowledge. He will value it and be grateful to the teachers who taught it to him. Some sages have said: “We should thank our fathers who instilled in us the doubts that inspired us to seek knowledge, more than we should thank those who imparted a little knowledge to us. Without such doubts and knowledge, we would be confused and unable to acquire knowledge that can benefit us in this world and in the hereafter.”[^64] The wise person is inspired by doubt, as it impels him to probe deeper, and he is grateful to the teachers who stimulated him to think.[^65] This is not the existential doubt of the atheist, but a methodological skepticism. It is to have a critical approach towards all schools of thought and all disciplines. One should not follow these blindly. If the intellectual sciences, such as philosophy and dialectical theology, lead us to knowledge of God, then God will reward those exponents of philosophy and theology, although their disciplines rank lower than  the religious sciences, such as Qur’anic memorization, hadith, and jurisprudence. Al-Ghazālī states: > Just as the care of the nurses is important on the battlefield, and the help of the water-suppliers is important during pilgrimage, so too are theologians and philosophers useful with their demonstrative proofs for the religious sciences. God will reward them if they glorify Him. Highest in the glorification of God are the Prophets, followed by the saints, and then the scholars, and then the pious who follow them.[^66] Discursive knowledge, whether philosophical or theological, is not to be pursued for its own sake, but as a means to glorify God in this world. But to truly know God—to transcend the limited understanding offered by books—we turn to *adab*. As already stated, *adab* has a purpose higher than mere courtesy; it must ultimately lead to *maʿrifah*. In sum, we should respect all branches of knowledge, regardless of their rank. We judge the value of disciplines by their fruit, so any discipline is valuable provided it can orient us towards the glorification of God. --- ## Conclusion The Islamic ethicists of the eleventh century conceived of education as a means to the moral formation of the individual and society. They understood the observance of proper etiquette as essential for the building of character. This essay aimed to provide the Qur’anic perspective on the etiquette of the student through the lens of al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī. Al-Ghazālī adopted and elaborated upon al-Iṣfahānī’s duties of the student in a more systematic manner in the *Scale of Action*. These duties provide a  pathway for the cultivation of virtue, which is the key to experiential knowledge of God. I have condensed the duties of the student into three main principles of etiquette:  etiquette towards the self, the teacher, and knowledge itself. The starting point for attaining knowledge of God (*maʿrifah*) is the purification of the soul (*nafs*). This is the etiquette (*adab*) towards the self. This requires acquisition of virtues, whether internal, such as courage, or external, such as wealth. These virtues, when inspired by faith, should lead to *maʿrifah*. All knowledge should serve this end. Knowledge that prepares one for this world is important for one’s physical nourishment, but knowledge that prepares one for the hereafter is important for one’s spiritual nourishment. Al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī agree that knowledge of *adab* is insufficient; one must live that *adab.* Only through relentless practice does the believer imbibe virtues, and only when virtues have become second nature is a believer defined by them. A generous person is one whose generosity comes from within, rather than from the external impositions of the law or society.[^67] *Adab* is about disciplining the self, whereby the internalization of virtue generates *maʿrifah.* Al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī  also held that the *adab* of the student is to acknowledge the hierarchy of knowledge by aiming for its peak: knowledge of God. All disciplines are important, but some disciplines are more important than others.[^68] It may seem difficult to imagine, but al-Iṣfahānī was concerned about the   oversaturation of information in his time. One wonders how there could be a flood of information in an age with no electricity, printing press, or internet. Now imagine how much more challenging is the situation we face today, in the digital age. We are bombarded with so many Islamic videos, live sessions, articles, and social media posts that we struggle to cope with the avalanche of disjointed data,  with distinguishing truth from falsehood. How fleeting the reading and how little the comprehension of this deluge of material. It seems that the more information we have, the shallower our knowledge of Islam. Modern liberal pedagogy attempts to cultivate “critical thinking,” but we have not even acquired or internalized the core religious knowledge essential for our moral and spiritual transformation. Classical Islamic learning was based on the oral tradition. The student would read the text in front of the teacher, usually in the mosque or the *madrassa*, and only after he mastered the text or the discipline would he proceed to the next stage. This traditional method of learning is hardly practiced today. Online teaching is gradually supplanting face-to-face classroom teaching, which makes it even more difficult for the teacher to cultivate *adab* in students. In contrast to modern Western education, which focuses on developing our technical skills in preparation for the market economy, Islamic education teaches us how to nurture our souls in preparation for knowledge of God and felicity in the hereafter. We need the sciences to build our civilization and earn our livelihood, but we must not live under the illusion that material comfort alone will make us happy. Fulfilling our bodily needs earns us momentary pleasure, but fulfilling our spiritual needs earns us eternity. To think otherwise is to  alienate ourselves from our *fiṭrah* and forget the purpose of our existence. Classical Islamic philosophers, such as al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī, ultimately remind us that reintroducing *adab* into our education will allow us to truly discover God and ourselves, and attain happiness in this world and the next. --- ## Notes [^1]: On the ethical educational influence of al-Iṣfahānī on al-Ghazālī, see Yasien Mohamed, “The Ethics of Education: al-Iṣfahānī’s *al-Dharī’a* as a source of inspiration for al-Ghazālī’s *Mīzān al-‘amal*,” in *The Muslim World*, ed. M. Afifi al-Akiti 101, no. 4 (2011): 633–57; Yasien Mohamed, “Duties of the Teacher: Isfahani’s *al-Dhari’ah* as a Source of Inspiration for al-Ghazālī’s *Mizan al-Amal*,” in *Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazālī*, papers collected on his 900th anniversary, vol. 1, ed. Georges Tamer (Leiden: EJ Brill, 2015): 186–206; “Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science”, *Texts and Studies*, series editor, H. Daiber et al., vol. 94. [^2]: Lane states: “*al-’ilm* and *maʿrifah* and *al-shu’ur* are made to have one meaning; and this is mostly said by most of the lexicologists: but most of the critics discriminate every one of these from the other; and *‘ilm* according to them, denotes the highest quality, because it is that which is allowed to be an attribute of God.” See Edward Lane, *Arabic-English Lexicon* (Cambridge: Islamic Text Society, 1984), 2138–40. [^3]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *Mufradat*, ed. Nadim Mar’ashli (Beirut: Darul Fikr,  n.d.), 343. For an exposition on the epistemology of al-Iṣfahānī, and his definitions of *‘ilm* and *maʿrifah,* see Yasien Mohamed, *The Path to Virtue: The Ethical Philosophy of al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī* (Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 2006), chap. 4. [^4]: Joel Kramer, *Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam (*Leiden*:* Brill, 1992), 10–11. [^5]: Monographs on philosophical education have not been preserved. However, Plato’s “Exhortation on the Education of the Young Men” (*Adab al-ṣibyān*) had been embodied by Miskawayh’s *Jawadhin khiradh*, and excerpts attributed to Plato are preserved in al-‘Āmirī’s *Kitāb al-sa‘ādah*. Likewise, the section on children’s education by the neo-Pythagorean Bryson was available in the tenth century in an anonymous Arabic translation and had an impact on Muslim educational monographs, including the ethical works by Miskawayh and al-Ghazālī. Cf. Franz Rosenthal, *Knowledge Triumphant* (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), 284–85; Martin Plessner, *Der Oikonomikos des Neuphythagoreers “Bryson” und sein Einfluß auf die Islamische Wissenchaft* (Heidelberg: Orient unt Anteka, 1928). [^6]: Joel Kramer, *Humanism,* vi. [^7]: *Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature*, s.v. “Adab,” by Hilary Kilpatrick, 1998, 56. [^8]: *Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature*, “Adab,” 56. [^9]: Knowledge and its relation to moral conduct became an important educational theme between the ninth and eleventh centuries, and it was this key theme that al-Iṣfahānī and then al-Ghazālī incorporated into their educational philosophies. [^10]: Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulāmi, *A Collection of Sufi Rules of Conduct,* trans. Elena Biagi (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 2010), XXXIV. [^11]: Rosenthal, *Knowledge Triumphant*, 290f. Cf. Muḥammad Ibn Saḥnūn (Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Salām), *Kitāb adab al-mu‘allimīn*, ed. Muhammad al-Arusi al-Mutawi (Tunis: Dārul-Kutub al-Sharqiyyah, 1972). In the sphere of the etiquette of religious education, Muḥammad Ibn Saḥnūn produced the earliest monograph on elementary teaching of the Qur’ān, *Ādāb al-mu‘allimīn* (*The Behavior of Teachers*). This work recommends treating pupils equally and using corporal punishment sparingly. [^12]: Bradley Cook, *Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought* (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2010), xxxv–xxxvi; Rosenthal, *Knowledge Triumphant*, 269–70. Al-Māwardī (d. 1058) wrote the *Kitāb adab al-dunyā wa l-dīn*. He  integrated the literary and ethical dimensions of *adab* and produced a treatise on moral-didactic literature. Like  al-Iṣfahānī’s *Muḥāḍarāt al-udabā’* he identifies knowledge with *adab* and the intellect. See al-Iṣfahānī, *Muḥāḍarāt* *al-udabā’*, vol. 1–4 (Beirut: N.p., 1961), 45–58. The first chapter deals with respect for mature students, the merits of memorization, the value of asking questions and admitting one’s ignorance, and the problem of diverse knowledge. The pedagogics considers the disparity in the mental capacity of the students, cautions against poor teaching habits, advises the withholding of complex knowledge from students who are not receptive, and states the importance of imparting complex knowledge to those who are ready for it. [^13]: Ibn Jamā‘ah, *Tadhkirat al-sāmi‘* (Hyderabad, 1353 AH); Shoaib Shah, trans., *Etiquette of the Learner* (N.p.: Turath Publishing, 2015). Shāfi‘ī Imam Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamā’ah al-Kināni wrote *Tadhkirat al-sāmi‘*  *wa l-mutakallim fī adab al-‘ālim wa l-muta‘allim*, which is relevant for the etiquette of the student. [^14]: In his *Ta’līm al-**m**uta’alim tarīq al-ta’alum* (Instruction of the student: The method of learning), he looks at  religious duties, personal hygiene, and responsible independence. He was probably inspired by al-Iṣfahānī’s *Means to the Noble  Virtues* *of the Revealed Law*. In his ethical treatise, al-Zarnuji mentions the name of Abu’l Qasim, which is also the name of al-Iṣfahānī: “The Most Illustrious Imam, the martyred Sayyid Naṣr al-Din Abu al-Qāsim composed a book on ethics, and praiseworthy is what he composed—a book which is necessary for every Muslim to bear in mind!” See Cook, *Classical Foundations*, 111. And on page 276, the translators, G. E. Von Grunebaum and Theodora M. Abel, suggest that the author of the ethical treatise could be al-Iṣfahānī, because the name Abu’l Qāsim is included in the name Abu Qāsim al-Ḥusayn bin Muḥammad bin al-Mufaḍḍal al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī. This is a plausible hypothesis, because the name Abu’l Qāsim is mentioned, and also because al-Iṣfahānī is the author of an ethical treatise. Another point worthy of note is that al-Zarnuji refers to him as “*al-**s**hahīd*,” a martyr, perhaps because he was one of the scholars who might have died during the sacking of Iṣfahān. [^15]: For a concise introduction into the life, thought, and works of al-Iṣfahānī, see: Yasien Mohamed, “The Ethical Philosophy of al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī,” *Journal of Islamic Studies* 6, no. 1 (1996): 51–75; for a detailed exposition of his ethical thought, refer to Mohamed, *Path to Virtue*. [^16]: We make use of al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān al-‘amal*, ed. Sulayman Dunyā (Cairo: Dārul Ma‘ārif, 1964). For other Arabic editions, see al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān al ‘amal*, ed. Ahmad Shamsudin (Beirut: Dārul Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1989); al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān al-‘amal*, ed. Ali Bu Mulhim (Beirut: Dār wa Maktabat al-Hilāl, 1995); al-Ghazālī, *Mizan al-‘amal*, ed. Mahmud Biju (Damascus: Dār al-Taqwā, 2008). For a recent translation into German, see *Das Kriterium des Handelns* (Ghazzali’s *Mīzān al-‘amal*), translation with notes by Abd-Elṣamad Abd-Elḥamīd, Darmstadt, WBG. [^17]: Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm al-dīn*, corr. A. A. I. al-Sirwānī, 5 vols. (N.p.: Beirut, n. d.). [^18]: Previous research on al-Iṣfahānī’s educational impact on al-Ghazālī appeared in Mohamed’s *Path to Virtue*; Jules Janssens, *al-Ghazālī’s* Mizan al-Amal*: An Ethical Summa based on Ibn Sina and al-Raghib al-Isfahani, Islamic Thought in the Middle Ages: Studies in Text, Transmission, and Translation, In Honour of Hans Daiber*, ed. Anna Akasoy and Wim Raven, 123–38; M. Afifi Alakiti, “The Madnun of al-Ghazālī: A Critical Edition of the Unpublished Major Madnun with Discussion of his Restricted Philosophical Corpus,” (DPhil thesis, Worcester College, 2007) for a section dealing with the connection between al-Iṣfahānī’s *al*\-*Dharī‘ah* and al-Ghazālī’s *Mīzān*. [^19]: This distinction between theoretical and experiential knowledge of God was elaborated later in Islamic history, as it does not appear in the Qur’an. The Qur’an defines “*ulama*” as those who intimately know and fear God. See also Rosenthal, *Knowledge Triumphant*, 22–24. “Marifa is not given any special connotation in the Qur’an, except that it is never applied to God, only to humans, which suggests acquired knowledge after not having it, according to some scholars.” [^20]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 200ff; Mohamed, *Path to Virtue*, 162–63. [^21]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 240–241; al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’*, 1:76; Nabih Amin Faris, trans., *The* *Book of Knowledge* (Lahore: Muhammad Ashraf, 1979), 126. [^22]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 96; cf. al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 341f; al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’*, 1:76. [^23]: Ritual worship is obligatory (*fard*) and the pursuit of virtue is supererogatory (*nafl*). When *nafl* is performed in addition to the *fard*, the aggregate total is superior to that of performing only *fard*. Scholars generally agree on this,  because of the famous hadith *qudsi* in Bukhari, “My servant does not draw closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the obligations. Then, he continues coming closer to Me with the voluntary actions.” Thus, the practice of virtues are part of these voluntary actions (*nawafil*), which will lead to closeness to God, intuitive knowledge of God, and felicity in the hereafter. [^24]: Qur’an 9:28. [^25]: For al-Iṣfahānī, the word *najis* signifies more than just spiritual and moral impurity. This is confirmed by his quotation of verse 6:15, which refers to unbelievers. But this does not detract from the literal meaning of *najis*, which signifies ritual or physical impurity. [^26]: Qur’an 57:20. [^27]: Al-Iṣfahāni, *al-Dhari’ah*, 320; Qur’an 2:249. [^28]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 240; cf. al-Ghazālī*, Mīzān*, 343f; al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’*, 1:76, 67f; Faris, *Book of Knowledge*, 129. [^29]: Bradley J. Cook, *Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought* (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2010), 178; Qur’an 33:4. [^30]: Qur’an 26:87–89. [^31]: Al-Ghazālī*, Mīzān*, 343f; al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’*, 1:67–76. [^32]: Al-Ghazālῑ, *Mῑzān al-‘amal*, ed. Sulaymān Dunya (Cairo: Dar al-Ma’arif, 1964), 197. [^33]: This must be qualified, lest the reader thinks that Islam rejects desire or passion completely. While Augustinian Christianity promotes the obliteration of desires, Islam considers these desires to be natural, but to be regulated. For instance, while Christianity casts lust as sinful, Islam casts it as natural and necessary and something that must be regulated through marriage or fasting. [^34]: Al-Ghazālī, *al-Munqidh min al-ḍalāl*, trans. Muhammad Abu Layla (Washington: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2001), 92. [^35]: Al-Ghazālī, *Letter to a Disciple: Ayyuha’l walad*, trans. Tobias Mayer (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 2005), 29. [^36]: Qur’an 2:83, 4:36, 6:151. [^37]: Cook, *Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought*, 165–170. [^38]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, *kitāb al-ṭahārah wa sunanihā*, *bāb al-istinjā bi ’l-ḥijārat wa ’l-nahy ‘an al-rawth wa ’l-rimmah*, no. 313; *Sunan al-Nasā’ī*, *kitāb al-ṭahārah*, *bāb al-nahy ‘an al-istiṭābah bi ’l-rawth*, no. 40. [^39]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 240; Qur’an 9:128. [^40]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 240; cf. al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 344f; al-Ghazālī, *Iḥyā’*,  1:68f; Faris, *Book of Knowledge*, 129–32. [^41]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 244–46. [^42]: Qur’an 50:37. [^43]: Qur’an 18:66. [^44]: Qur’an 16:43. [^45]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 242–43. [^46]: Though not mentioned by name in the Qur’an, he is named by Islamic scholars as the figure described in [Qur](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677624483586479&usg=AOvVaw1jaSnNuQJtJbukdYuKsMn3)[’](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677624483586700&usg=AOvVaw0NN5zHhil76updllGtNSvI)[an](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677624483586823&usg=AOvVaw1u8-O7slXkX4U0IWzz_hes) [18:65–82](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc%3DPerseus%253Atext%253A2002.02.0006%253Asura%253D18%253Averse%253D65&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677624483587006&usg=AOvVaw0M6inHyyuHUrDdobi9O5kM) as a servant of God who has been given “knowledge.” Prophet Moses questions him about his unjust actions, such as killing a man, sinking a ship, and repaying inhospitality by repairing a wall. Only after Khiḍr explained to him at the end did Moses realize that those actions were appropriate for the context. [^47]: Al-Razi, cited in Nasr, *Study Quran,* 752; Qur’an 12:76. [^48]: Qur’an 2:121. [^49]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 237. [^50]: Qur’an 18:107. [^51]: Qur’an 35:10. [^52]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 237. [^53]: Shafi, *Ma’arif al-Qur’an*, 327–28. [^54]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah*, 236. [^55]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah*,  236–237; cf. al-Ghazālī’s sixth duty in *Mīzān*, 348; *Iḥyā’*, 1:76f; trans. Faris, *Book of Knowledge*, 134–136. Al-Ghazālī does not mention al-Iṣfahānī’s analogy of a traveler with provisions that appears in the next paragraph. [^56]: The seventh duty does not correspond with the seventh duty in *Iḥyā’*, but with another part of bk. 1, chap. 1; cf. Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharī‘ah*, 237. [^57]: Medicine in the classical sense was not limited to treatment of pathological conditions, but also focused on the patterns of conduct necessary to ensure health. [^58]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah*, 231. Compare the same point in al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 351–52. As al-Iṣfahānī explains, “We speak of the science of religion as more noble than the science of medicine because the fruit of religion is eternal life and the fruit of medicine benefits us in this temporal life. The science of religion is also more authentic as it is based on revelation, whereas the science of medicine is based on experiments. Not only virtue, but the benefit of a science should be measured by its fruit or its principles. Medicine is more beneficial to health than Algebra. But in terms of the authenticity of its principles, Algebra is more beneficial than medicine: it is a pure science, and it does not require experimentation.” [^59]: Al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 230. The theoretical dimension of religion pertains to the ontological realities, including the realities of God; the prophets; the angels; the Last Day; the intellect; the soul; basic principles of matters; the pillars \[of Islam\]; the heavenly sciences; knowledge about the sun, moon, and stars \[astronomy\]; and knowledge about plants \[botany\], animals \[zoology\], and, finally, human beings \[medicine\]. [^60]: al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 348. The disbelievers reject the Qur’an because they are incurious about it, as God states: “Since they will not be guided by it, they will say: ‘This is an ancient perversion.’” (Qur’an 46:11). Their ignorant rejection is confirmed by the verse: “Nay, but they deny that whose knowledge they cannot comprehend and whose interpretation has not yet come to them”(Qur’an 10:39). This verse, although relevant to the context, is not cited by al-Ghazālī in the *Mīzān* and the *Iḥyāʾ.* [^61]: Qur’an 3:163. [^62]: Qur’an 58:11. [^63]: Al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 348. [^64]: Al-Iṣfahānī, *al-Dharīʿah,* 232; cf. al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 348. [^65]: Al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 409. Al-Ghazālī valued doubt as a means of gaining certainty. He was not anti-intellectual. His *Scale of Action* (especially the last chapter) and his *Deliverance from Error* demonstrate his method of doubt, which he used to critique the Islamic schools of thought of his time. [^66]: Al-Ghazālī, *Mīzān*, 361–62; corresponding to the ninth duty in the *Iḥyā’*; Fazlul Karim, trans., *Essential* Iḥyaʾ ʿulum al-dīn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2015), 1:53–54. [^67]: As observed by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics: “As it is not one swallow or a fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.” The writer Will Durant summarized Aristotle’s view, in a quote that has been widely misattributed to Aristotle, in the following way: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” [^68]: For an in-depth insight into al-Ghazali’s theory of knowledge and the philosophical and Sufi ways to certainty and  knowledge of God, see Nabil Yasien Mohamed, “A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty in al-Ghazali’s Epistemology” (MA thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2021). ## Summary Two great ethicists of the fifth Islamic century, al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 431/1040) and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), understood the etiquette (adab) of the student to be a mode of practice directed ultimately toward knowledge of God (maʿrifah). Though the lexicologists treat maʿrifah as synonymous with ʿilm, al-Iṣfahānī draws a subtle distinction: maʿrifah is the apprehension of a thing through reflection upon its effects, and is thus more particular than ʿilm. For this reason one does not say yaʿlamu Allāh, which would imply knowledge of God's very essence, but rather yaʿrifu Allāh, since one knows God through the traces of His handiwork in creation. Maʿrifah, then, is not merely inferential and cognitive but experiential and intuitive, and adab is the key that unlocks it through the purification of the soul. It should be understood that al-Ghazālī did not discard philosophy after departing Baghdad, but recognized it as a valid path to knowing God. Yet after his turn to Sufism, he laid greater weight upon direct, experiential knowledge attained through the disciplining of the soul. In his Mīzān al-ʿAmal (The Scale of Action), he acknowledges two ways of knowing God: the way of the Sufis and the way of the theoreticians (nuẓẓār). Both require purification of the soul, but the Sufi way relies less on the study of sciences and more on asceticism, remembrance of God, and the cultivation of virtue. The Sufis stress praxis (muʿāmalah), while affirming that intuitive knowledge of God ultimately depends upon divine grace. Thus adab facilitates maʿrifah through practice: when knowledge is joined to virtue, one comes to know God through both intellect and soul. Purification yields knowledge of the self, and knowledge of the self yields experiential knowledge of God. A soul enslaved to desire descends away from Him, while a soul driven by faith ascends toward Him. The purification of the soul begins with adab, cultivated through the method of taʾdīb. To render adab merely as "etiquette" can mislead, for that meaning arose from Abbasid court protocol, and through the Graeco-Arabic translation movement of the ninth century the terms adab and taʾdīb came to correspond roughly with the Greek paideia. From its early sense of "literature," adab grew into a refined character marked by grace and courtesy. Yet the Qur'anic conception of adab, elaborated by al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī into a full discipline, aims not only at clarity of mind but purity of heart. While partly inspired by the Greek heritage, they drew chiefly upon the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Where Aristotle identified the virtues of the soul—wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice—as leading only to worldly happiness, these Muslim ethicists added theological virtues, grounding the virtues in faith in God and directing them toward eternal felicity. Through adab, they held, humankind "reaches the most sublime states and the highest ranks in this world and the next." This felicity, resting upon moral purification, is to be distinguished from mere salvation, which rests upon the declaration of faith (shahādah). The etiquette of the student may be arranged under three headings: etiquette toward the self, toward the teacher, and toward knowledge. Regarding the self, both scholars held soul-purification to be the student's first duty, which requires a detached attitude toward the world (zuhd). One purifies the soul by subduing its irascible faculty (anger) and its concupiscent faculty (desire) through the rational faculty. Al-Iṣfahānī teaches that the highest of the three ways to know God's oneness and attributes is through divine light, the knowledge of the Prophets, the righteous, and the witness (shahīd), which comes to the soul once it has mastered its lower faculty. He writes that "the first duty of the student is to cleanse the soul of vices as soil is cleansed of weeds," and that "just as prayer without a clean body is incomplete, so worship without a clean soul is incomplete." He reads the tradition "religion has been built on cleanliness" and the tradition "the angels do not enter into a house where there are dogs" as referring to the soul and heart, not merely the body and dwelling. Only such a purified person is fit to be God's vicegerent (khalīfah), and while ritual worship (ʿibādah) benefits the individual, stewardship benefits humanity as a whole. By contrast, "the polytheists are truly unclean," for those who associate partners with God, though clad in spotless garments, remain spiritually impure. The student who would purify his soul must live a life of zuhd—detachment joined to devotion. Much as the Stoics did, the zāhid regards attachment to fleeting pleasures as folly, for "the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion." The early ascetics practiced the highest abstention, yet the novice is asked only for the minimum, such as fasting in Ramadan, restricting worldly needs and shunning the unlawful; al-Iṣfahānī cites the Qur'anic permission to scoop only a little from the river. The distracted person is likened to a stream that scatters in many directions, its water absorbed before it reaches the plants, whereas the true student is single-minded in devotion. Ibn Jamāʿah, drawing on al-Ghazālī, counsels the student to sever the attachments that hinder him, recalling that "God has given no man two hearts in his body," and that on the Day of Judgment "neither wealth nor children avail, save for him who comes to God with a sound heart." Al-Ghazālī himself, as he relates in al-Munqidh min al-Ḍalāl (The Deliverance from Error), underwent a spiritual crisis upon realizing that in Baghdad he had pursued and spread knowledge for fame rather than for God. His Shaykh counseled him to detach his heart from family, wealth, country, knowledge, and power, and he confessed that he "could not hope for eternal happiness unless I feared God and rejected all the passions," judging his studies "futile since they were of no value for the Way to the Hereafter." Concerning etiquette toward the teacher, the moral training of the student rests upon recognition of the educator's authority, whether parent or teacher, for early obedience to parents prepares one for obedience to the teacher—not a blind obedience but an act of kindness. The Qur'an commands, "Be good to your parents" (bi'l-wālidayn iḥsān), and the like kindness is owed to teachers. Ibn Jamāʿah, inspired by al-Ghazālī, lists the manners due to the teacher: to defend him, visit his grave, seek forgiveness and give charity on his behalf, apologize if he is angry, thank him, seek permission to enter, sit respectfully, ask questions politely, and not interrupt him or speak to others while he teaches. Al-Iṣfahānī, drawing on a Prophetic tradition, holds that the teacher should be as a father—indeed more honored than the father, since the father tends the transient life while the teacher tends the eternal one. He cites the Prophet's ﷺ words, "I am to you like a father," and describes him with the Qur'anic praise that he was "deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and a mercy towards the believers," so that the teacher too should be gentle and compassionate. The student should trust the teacher as a patient trusts his physician, and be receptive as soil is receptive to rain, for "there truly is in this a reminder for whoever has a heart or gives ear as witness." He should not burden the teacher with irrelevant or polemical questions; when Moses said to Khiḍr, "Shall I follow you so that you may teach me of the good you have been taught?", the condition placed upon him was not to question. Al-Iṣfahānī explains that this does not contradict "Ask those who have knowledge if you do not know," for the point is only that the student avoid polemics beyond his readiness. The account of Moses and Khiḍr further shows that the true scholar remains ever a student, since even a Prophet superior in exoteric (ẓāhirī) knowledge humbly sought the esoteric (bāṭinī) knowledge of Khiḍr; and al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209), commenting on Qur'an 18:60, observes that even Prophets do not possess all knowledge, for "above every possessor of knowledge is a knower." As for etiquette toward knowledge, the student must respect all disciplines while acknowledging their gradation, mastering foundations before advancing. Al-Iṣfahānī warns that "a person should not study a new subject until he has enough knowledge of its foundations," lest jumbled information confuse him, reading the verse concerning "those to whom we have given the book and they read it with due sincerity and commitment" (2:121) as pointing both to excellence of recitation with a sincere, God-fearing heart, and to acting upon the Qur'an's message. Knowledge, he insists, must never be divorced from good deeds, for the Qur'an ever joins faith with works—"those who believe and do good deeds"—and "unto Him ascends the good word, and it is He who exalts each deed of righteousness." As it is said, "knowledge is like a foundation, and action is like a building; if the building is not constructed on the foundation, it is bound to fall." The student should take his provisions of knowledge in measure, as a traveler consumes what each stage of his journey requires, for proper mastery of one discipline surpasses superficial acquaintance with many, since "the tree with few fruits is not useless as long as it benefits people." A discipline's worth is judged by "the nobility of its fruit and the authenticity of its principles"; thus the religious sciences, which relate to eternal life and, together with adab and worship, yield maʿrifah, outrank sciences such as medicine that serve temporal life. The auxiliary sciences—medicine, mathematics, logic, philosophy, and dialectical theology (kalām)—are valuable insofar as they support the religious sciences, and though not essential for the masses (ʿawām), they aid the intellectually inclined toward eternal happiness. Yet the hierarchy of knowledge justifies contempt for none, for "people are enemies of that of which they are ignorant." Though believers "have different grades in the sight of God" and He "will raise in degrees those among you who believe and those who have been given knowledge," every discipline that can orient one toward Him deserves respect. Al-Ghazālī likens theologians and philosophers to the nurses on the battlefield and the water-carriers at the pilgrimage, useful with their proofs in service of the religious sciences, and God will reward them for glorifying Him—highest in glorification being the Prophets, then the saints, then the scholars, then the pious who follow. Discursive knowledge is thus pursued not for its own sake but to glorify God, while true knowledge of Him, transcending the pages of books, is reached through adab, whose purpose is higher than mere courtesy: it is maʿrifah itself. In sum, these ethicists conceived education as the moral formation of the individual and society, and proper etiquette as essential to building character. Al-Ghazālī systematized al-Iṣfahānī's duties of the student in the Scale of Action, and these may be gathered under etiquette toward the self, the teacher, and knowledge. The starting point of maʿrifah is the purification of the soul (nafs), which requires acquiring virtues—inward like courage and outward like wealth—that, when inspired by faith, lead to knowledge of God. Both scholars agree that knowing adab is not enough; one must live it, for only through relentless practice does virtue become second nature, so that the truly generous person is one whose generosity flows from within rather than from external compulsion. They further held that the student's adab is to recognize the hierarchy of knowledge and aim for its peak, the knowledge of God. Remarkably, al-Iṣfahānī already feared an oversaturation of information in his own age—a concern all the more pressing in our digital era, when believers are inundated with videos, sessions, articles, and posts, struggling to sift truth from falsehood, so that the more information we possess, the shallower our grasp of Islam grows. Classical Islamic learning rested upon the oral tradition, wherein the student read before his teacher, often in the mosque or madrasa, mastering each text before advancing—a method scarcely practiced today as online teaching supplants the face-to-face setting in which adab is cultivated. Against a modern Western education oriented to technical skill and the market, Islamic education nurtures the soul for knowledge of God and felicity in the Hereafter; the sciences remain needful for building civilization and earning a livelihood, but we must not imagine that material comfort alone brings happiness, for to think so is to estrange ourselves from our fiṭrah and forget the purpose of our existence. Al-Iṣfahānī and al-Ghazālī remind us, in the end, that restoring adab to our education allows us to truly discover God and ourselves, and to attain happiness in this world and the next. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-qurans-engagement-with-christian-and-jewish-literature # The Qur’an’s Engagement with Christian and Jewish Literature **Authors:** Taha Soomro, Sharif Randhawa **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Editor's Picks, Paper, Publication **Published:** February 28, 2023 **Updated:** November 21, 2024 ## Introduction The Qur’an is God’s final revelation and the ultimate source of spiritual guidance for humanity. One of the primary ways in which it imparts this guidance is through narrative, by frequently telling stories of the past in order to instruct both its historical audience and subsequent generations. Since the Qur’an is a confirmation and continuation of earlier revelations known to the Jewish and Christian communities (e.g., 2:97, 3:3, 20:133), its stories are seldom entirely unfamiliar, but instead find strong echoes in previous Jewish and Christian traditions. These traditions are contained not only in the Bible, but also in a rich corpus of extra-biblical traditions transmitted, elaborated on, and recorded by the Jewish and Christian communities over many centuries, frequently interpreting, expanding on, or adding to biblical narratives. The Qur’an often engages with these extra-biblical traditions just as it engages with the Bible itself.[^1] This feature, which is so prominent in the Qur’an, is known as “intertextuality”—that is, the engagement of one text with other texts and traditions. For example, Qur’an 10:98 alludes to the repentance of the “people of Jonah” (*qawm Yūnus*), a reference that is more fully understood when read against the background of the story found in the biblical Book of Jonah. Similarly, the account of the bowing of the angels to Adam after his creation in Sūrah al-Baqarah finds parallels in Christian and Jewish stories about Adam circulating several centuries before the revelation of the Qur’an. Muslim scholarship has long sought to draw upon biblical tradition to understand the Qur’an, a trend that has also arisen in Western academia over recent decades.  The works of hadith and *tafsīr* contain plentiful reports according to which early exegetes, most notably the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ cousin and disciple Ibn ʿAbbās, narrated traditions of Jewish and Christian provenance, known as *isrāʾīliyyāt*, when commenting on stories of the prophets. While hadith literature contains some reports of the Prophet ﷺ or his companions criticizing the use of Jewish and Christian traditions, the general policy towards these traditions is embodied in the Prophet’s ﷺ authentically transmitted statements “Narrate from the Children of Israel—there is no problem,”[^2] and “Do not believe or disbelieve in the People of the Scripture.”[^3] That is, Jewish and Christian traditions can be referred to as sources of information, but they cannot be used as standards for the doctrines or practice of one’s religion without further verification. Hence, the use of *isrāʾīliyyāt* was a common practice in early Muslim *tafsīr*.[^4] To cite just one example, Qur’an 19:56-57 reads, “Mention in the scripture Idrīs. He was a man of truth, a prophet, and We raised him to a high station.” Many early *tafsīr*s identified the figure of Idrīs with the biblical Enoch, concerning whom the Bible says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him” (Genesis 5:24). In his explanation of the Qur’anic verses, al-Ṭabarī cites a variety of narrations according to which Idrīs was transported to heaven by an angel, an idea found in numerous pre-Islamic Jewish and Christian traditions about Enoch.[^5] While early Muslim exegetes drew on *isrāʾīliyyāt* to provide further background to Qur’anic allusions to stories of biblical figures, early Western scholarship on Qur’anic intertextuality sought to uncover the presumed “sources” of the Qur’an, viewing it as an essentially derivative work comprised of confused adaptations of biblical and extra-biblical lore. Such an attitude is reflected in the very title of  Abraham Geiger’s pioneering 1833 book, *Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judentume aufgenommen?* (“What did Muhammad borrow from Judaism?”)[^6] Western Qur’anic studies has since seen a paradigm shift away from its polemical origins. Rather than attempting to reduce the Qur’an to alleged “sources,” most contemporary scholars in the field seek to understand how the Qur’an closely engages with and critiques the traditions that were current among its Jewish and  Christian audiences from its own autonomous standpoint—presenting, in the words of one scholar, “corrective retellings” of these traditions.[^7] In keeping with  this newer approach, Sidney Griffith remarks that “\[the Qur’an\] cannot be reduced to any presumed sources. Earlier discourses appear in it not only in a new setting, but shaped, trimmed and re-formulated for an essentially new narrative.”[^8] This  approach acknowledges the Qur’an as “a text of its own… possessed of its own peculiar theological agenda and literary logic,” which cannot therefore simply be reduced to its presumed “sources.”[^9] Western scholarship has thus begun to appreciate the Qur’an’s corrective role over previous traditions, a role which is described by the Revelation itself: > We have revealed to you this Book with the truth, as a confirmation of previous Scriptures and a supreme authority on them (*muhaymin ʿalayh*). (5:48) As the classical Qur’anic scholar al-Thaʿālibī (d. 875/1470) explains, the Qur’an’s status as “*muhaymin*,” or “authoritative over” previous revelations entails that it “confirms that which is true” in them, while also “reinstating the truth and counteracting \[whatever\] corruption \[is found therein\].”[^10] The idea that the Qur’an both affirms and corrects previously corrupted scripture was articulated by Muslim scholarship even before modern notions of Qur’anic intertextuality. But how, specifically, does the Qur’an both affirm and correct previously circulating accounts? --- ## An example from the story of Adam (AS) To provide a preliminary example of the Qur’an’s engagement with previous literature, consider the story of the prostration of the angels to Adam (AS), an account that is told in many places in the Qur’an. A brief reference is found in verses 15:28-30: > And \[remember\] when your Lord said to the angels, “I am creating a man, formed from black mud. So when I have formed him and breathed My spirit into him, then fall in prostration to him.” So the angels prostrated to him, all together. Although the episode of the angels’ prostration to Adam is absent from the creation story found in the Bible, it is found in various post-biblical Jewish and Christian versions of the creation story. The *Cave of Treasures*, a Syriac Christian text typically dated earlier than or up to the sixth century,[^11] contains a particularly Christian rendering of this episode. In this account, Adam is made in a “glorious appearance” in the image of God and is given the “dress of kingship” as well as a “crown of glory.” Seeing this image of Adam, the angels marvel at him, and God commands them to prostrate to and worship Adam.[^12]  Since many Church Fathers saw Adam as a typological precursor to Jesus himself (cf. Romans 5:14), this “deification” of Adam served to underscore the deity of Jesus. In response to this overtly Christian story, rabbinic Jews told this story in a way that sought to undermine this christological message. One such rendition is preserved in *Genesis Rabbah*, a rabbinic commentary on Genesis probably redacted by the fifth century.[^13] The *Genesis Rabbah* countered the Christian  account by stating that although the angels prostrated to Adam in worship, they did so not because God commanded them to, but because they mistook Adam, made in God’s image, for God himself, just like royal subjects who intended to pay homage to their king but confused him with his governor. Consequently, God put Adam to sleep, showing the angels that the being they worshiped was a mere man. By retelling the episode of the angels’ prostration in this way, the Rabbis implied that just as the worship of Adam by the angels was a mistake, so too was the worship of Jesus by their Christian contemporaries. The Jewish and Christian texts discussed above form *intertexts* for the Qur’an—that is, they represent the stories with which the Qur’an engages when it tells its own authoritative account. In doing this, the Qur’an affirms and rejects elements from both the Christian and Jewish renditions in a manner that expresses its own distinctive theological outlook, correcting their excesses with “surgical precision.”[^14] For example, in agreement with the Christian narrative (and against the Jewish narrative), the Qur’an accepts that the angels prostrated to Adam at God’s command. However, in agreement with the Jewish narrative (and against the Christian narrative), the Qur’an maintains that Adam merely had the role of a vicegerent or “governor” (*khalīfa*) appointed by God (2:30), and not that God’s divinity dwelled in him. Accordingly, the Qur’an only describes the angels as prostrating to Adam (2:34), but not worshiping him. Moreover, whereas the Christian account speaks of Adam’s divine “glory” (*teshbūḥthā*) and states that the angels “sanctified” (*mqadshīn*) him, the Qur’an depicts the angels as declaring to God, “we glorify You (*nusabbiḥuka*) with praise and sanctify You (*nuqaddisu laka*),” using the Arabic cognates of the Syriac terms but applying them to God instead of Adam. The Qur’an therefore safeguards God’s exclusive divinity against the Christian account, upholds Adam’s exalted but non-divine status as a vicegerent of God, and absolves the angels of having wrongly worshiped Adam. Additionally, the Qur’an’s affirmation of God’s command to the angels to prostrate to Adam undercuts the Meccan pagans’ justification of their angel-worship.[^15] Accordingly, the Qur’an presents its own distinctive narrative of the story of Adam, which at the same time engages with and corrects both the Jewish and Christian versions of the story in a marvelously precise and sophisticated way. --- ## The Qur’an’s extra-biblical intertexts The above example highlights how an intertextual approach can uncover sophisticated ways in which the Qur’an engages with previous traditions, even to the point of alluding to non-Arabic texts in their original languages. Nonetheless, examples of intertextuality such as the story of Adam also raise interesting historical questions for Muslims. As the Qur’an is a confirmation of previous scripture (e.g., 5:48, discussed before), its imparting of stories with parallels in the Bible is not only unsurprising, but even expected. And yet, this episode of the Adam story is not found in the Bible, but is instead present in extra-biblical Jewish and Christian sources such as *Genesis Rabbah* and the *Cave of Treasures*. Why would the Qur’an engage with certain extra-biblical tales or later expansions of biblical stories—such as those found in rabbinic midrash, apocryphal gospels, or Syriac Christian literature—rather than only speaking about stories that have parallels in the Bible? To understand why the Qur’an engages with these stories, it is necessary to first appreciate that although such extra-biblical accounts are forgotten or overlooked as “secondary” by many Christians and Jews today, they in fact formed an integral part of Jewish and Christian tradition preceding and contemporary to the time of the Qur’an’s revelation, and well afterwards too. Just as the Islamic tradition consists not only of the Qur’an, but also a vast body of hadith, exegetical traditions, biographies of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and history of the early Muslim community, and so on, both Jews and Christians had, by the time of the Prophet ﷺ,  developed vast and rich bodies of traditions, transmitted both orally and textually, that complemented their canonical scriptures. As Annette Reed writes, concerning the widespread use of extra-biblical traditions by ancient Jews and Christians, “The fluid boundaries between biblical literature, biblical pseudepigraphy,[^16] and biblical interpretation in Second Temple Judaism[^17] serves as a helpful reminder that… the biblical heritage bequeathed to Late Antique[^18] Jews and Christians *went well beyond the texts of the books that became canonical*.”[^19] Skeptical criticism of the Qur’an on the basis of its engagement with extra-biblical tradition per se would thus be anachronistic. So which extra-biblical texts and traditions were authoritative among the Jews and Christians of Late Antiquity? Rabbinic Jews cherished a large body of *midrash*, or exegetical traditions that were initially transmitted orally before eventually being collected and codified in various rabbinic texts. *Midrash* encompassed legal traditions (*halakhah*) and non-legal exegetical traditions (*aggadah*), the latter of which prominently included reworkings and expansions of biblical stories. Between 200 and 500 CE, many of these traditions were compiled in the Talmud, regarded by rabbinic Jews as divinely inspired “Oral Torah” essentially forming a second scripture alongside the Hebrew Bible.[^20] A large body of legal traditions was  also recorded outside the Talmud throughout the first millennium. Similarly, the various Christian groups of Late Antiquity read and transmitted extra-biblical texts such as apocryphal gospels (especially infancy gospels, which contained narratives of the birth and childhood of Jesus), the writings of the Church Fathers, homilies, legal codes, apocalypses, biblical commentaries, and other genres of religious writing. Moreover, it should be remembered that the Bible itself—both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament—exhibits various degrees of extra-biblical intertextuality. Ever since the advent of Near Eastern archaeology, biblical scholars have studied parallels between traditions in the Hebrew Bible, such as the creation and Flood narratives, and traditions from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan.[^21] Similarly, the New Testament reflects a variety of traditions that are absent from the Hebrew Bible but which have roots in the extra-biblical literature of the Second Temple period (c. 515 BCE–70 CE).[^22] Insofar as one would expect a scripture to engage with the beliefs of the people it seeks to instruct, it is not difficult to see why Qur’anic intertextuality extends well past the boundaries of the Jewish and Christian scriptural canon. The Qur’an’s repeated reminder that it is “a confirmation of what is with” the People of the Scripture (e.g., 2:41) can thus be understood to include elements of this broader body of extra-biblical literature. --- ## A Muslim approach to Qur’anic intertextuality Nonetheless, some parallels between the Qur’an and extra-biblical traditions still attract skeptical criticism. As the Qur’an in multiple places declares it narrates true accounts of the past (e.g., 3:44; 12:102; 28:44), parallels shared between some of its narratives and post-biblical traditions from the period of Late Antiquity (c. 200–800 CE), such as  *Genesis Rabbah* and the Syriac *Cave of Treasures*, motivate the charge that the Qur’an has erroneously assumed the truth of noncanonical post-biblical stories, which skeptics allege have clearly human origins, contain legendary motifs, or simply date far too late from the events they purport to describe to be plausible recollections of the historical past. Such an allegation contradicts the mainstream Muslim belief that the Qur’an’s stories are not merely “fables of the ancients” (Qur’an 8:31). A proper counter to the aforementioned objections requires a Muslim approach to intertextuality in the Qur’an. This approach should reconcile mainstream Islamic belief with historical evidence uncovered by the study of Qur’anic intertextuality, while respecting the principles of rational and historical inquiry. Putting forward such an approach is the primary objective of the present essay. Prior to pursuing this objective, it will be useful to clarify what it means for believers to affirm the Qur’an’s recollection of the historical past. In several places, God stresses that the accounts He narrates are a part of the inaccessible realm of the “unseen”: > These are the accounts of the unseen (*al-ghayb*) which we have revealed to you—You did not know them, nor did your people before you, until this \[revelation\]. So have patience, the end is for the God-conscious. (Qur’an 11:49) The primary basis for the believer’s acceptance of the historical truth of the Qur’an’s stories should therefore be God’s own testimony, rather than any particular set of historical data. Muslims do not need to provide historical evidence for every individual Qur’anic story that has parallels in biblical or extra-biblical literature. Instead, a Muslim approach to Qur’anic intertextuality simply needs to show how the parallel Jewish and Christian traditions could derive from divinely authorized sources, or are otherwise presented in the Qur’an in a way that does not clearly contradict historical facts. Such a resolution, of course, assumes a certain degree of certitude as to how historians have dated the Qur’an’s intertexts. Ultimately, the vast majority of these intertexts simply lack irrefutable evidence for their existence prior to the revelation of the Qur’an itself. The earliest manuscripts of these texts typically post-date the Qur’an’s first manuscript witnesses by many centuries or even millennia. Attempts to date the Qur’an’s intertexts are usually speculative in nature, typically on the basis of literary or testimonial considerations. This is a far cry from the certitude that can be afforded to scientifically observable facts.[^23] Furthermore, unlike scientific observations, historical events are not repeatable, and evidence that might shed more light on the past rarely survives to the present day for historians to study. Arguments that impute charges of borrowing to the Qur’an thus never reach a high level of certitude simply due to the nature of the evidence involved. This is something that Muslims should remember when approaching any particular historical doubt, as God ultimately has knowledge of the past in ways that humans do not. Nevertheless, the methodology that we present generally accepts the validity of the historical method and how historians have dated many proposed intertexts of the Qur’an.[^24] Our intention is to show that historical evidence need not  be rejected out of hand. If this can be accomplished, then intertextuality can even hint at the Qur’an’s divine authorship. Considering that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not known to have studied Christian and Jewish tradition, it is remarkable that the Qur’an shows such deep awareness of biblical and extra-biblical texts. This is an argument that the Qur’an itself puts forward: > You \[Prophet\] had not read before \[the Qur’an\] any scripture, nor did you write one with your right hand. In that case, those who speak falsehood would have doubted (29:48). This verse and other similar verses would have been publicly recited by the Prophet ﷺ in an environment hostile to his preaching. Considering that the Prophet’s ﷺ opponents knew him a whole lifetime before the Qur’an was revealed (10:16), it would have been easy to discredit his message, were it known that he had studied Jewish and Christian lore.[^25] When juxtaposed with the Prophet’s ﷺ own lack of scriptural education, it is easy to see how sophisticated examples of Qur’anic intertextuality can provide evidence for the Qur’an’s divine origins. Accordingly, we have included a brief section towards the end of the essay that details a number of such examples. Presenting a more detailed argument for the Qur’an’s truth claims on the basis of intertextual evidence shall be reserved for a future essay. For the present, our main intention is to provide a methodology through which historical objections on the basis of the Qur’an’s intertextual engagement can be neutralized. We shall now present our methodology with this aim in mind. Given that the Qur’an engages with a large number of traditions reflecting diverse genres and contents, it is not possible to provide a single explanation that accounts for all of its intertextual parallels. Instead, a true understanding of Qur’anic intertextuality must do justice to the diverse characteristics of these traditions and the sources in which they are found. Accordingly, the framework that we outline in this essay involves extrapolating several different categories of Qur’anic intertexts, and presenting methods for assessing them from a believer’s perspective. These categories of intertextuality may be listed as follows: Category 1: Parallels with early extra-biblical traditions; Category 2: Conscious departure from biblical texts; Category 3: Coincidental similarities between the Qur’an and pre-Islamic texts; Category 4: Parallels with legal traditions; Category 5: Parallels that counter stories found outside revealed sources; Category 6: Parallels with texts redacted in the post-Qur’anic period; Category 7: Parallels with texts that have unstable manuscript traditions. In what follows, we will explain and illustrate each of these categories of Qur’anic intertextuality with examples intended to demonstrate how other cases belonging to each category could be understood by Muslims. This will provide readers with a framework for assessing further cases that they come across. For subsequent reference, we have provided a flowchart in the concluding section that sketches out a step-by-step process that the reader may use to categorize and assess intertextual parallels beyond the specific examples treated in this essay. Readers are also welcome to recategorize specific examples that we discuss such that they are explained in some other way. It is entirely possible that there is more than one valid explanation for any specific example of Qur’anic intertextuality. At times we also note alternative explanations for some of the examples we discuss. Before proceeding, a brief note on translations is in order. Translations of Qur’anic passages are generally our own; however, at times we rely on Mustafa Khattab’s *The Clear Qur’an* to inform our translation. Other Arabic and Syriac texts are translated directly by the present authors from source editions, with references to the source editions of the Syriac texts provided in the footnotes. Translations of passages from the Bible are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). The references for other sources found in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or other languages along with their translations are provided in the accompanying footnotes. Finally, it should be stressed that this guide is an initial attempt at developing a Muslim approach to reading the Qur’an intertextually. Additional questions and possible avenues for further research may be raised in the course of this essay, and it is hoped that Muslim researchers may be able to expand on, refine, or revise the approach outlined here. With these preliminaries discussed, we may now explore our proposed categories for classifying and assessing the Qur’an’s engagement with extra-biblical traditions. --- ## Category 1: Parallels with early extra-biblical traditions Our first category includes cases in which the Qur’an mirrors traditions that are attested in sources written in post-biblical times (i.e., after the 1st century AD), but which could plausibly be argued to contain material dating to the era of prophecy before the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The chronological boundary of this period is defined in a hadith found in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, according to which the Prophet ﷺ said: > I am the nearest of people to the son of Mary: the prophets are all brothers \[in faith\], and there is no prophet between him and I.[^26] This hadith indicates that the era of prophecy prior to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ended with Jesus. Yet, another hadith indicates that the Children of Israel had continuous prophets up until the time of Jesus: > The Children of Israel were led by their prophets. Every time a prophet left, another prophet would succeed him.[^27] Therefore, the Qur’an’s agreement with traditions that date prior to the end of Jesus’ earthly career would pose no inherent problem for Muslim theology, as these traditions could be the result of inspiration to an Israelite prophet prior or contemporary to Jesus, even if that tradition lies outside the canonical Jewish or Christian scriptures. Even texts that postdate Jesus’ life by many centuries may preserve extremely early traditions originating from before Jesus’ time, as scholarship has shown that a large number of Jewish and Christian texts written down in Late Antiquity (i.e, when the Qur’an was revealed) contain stories and traditions that were circulating in the Second Temple Period (c. 515 BCE\-70 CE),[^28] an era that mostly coincides with the time preceding and up to Jesus’ death. Moreover, stories and traditions that could be early enough to originate from revealed sources may appear deceptively late simply because our knowledge of them is limited to texts that have actually survived long enough to reach us. Accordingly, as long as pre-Qur’anic traditions that overlap with the Qur’an do not feature any anachronisms, historical difficulties, or any overt signs of literary development over the course of their transmission, any similarities can simply be understood as due to a shared divine source from a Muslim point of view. This explanation is strengthened if parallel traditions can be shown to trace back to early sources. To illustrate this, we return to the story of the angels’ prostration to Adam. As noted previously, the angels’ bowing to Adam at the command of God (15:28-30) does not have any parallels in the Bible, but rather is found in later Syriac and Hebrew texts such as the *Cave of Treasures* (c. 6th century CE) and *Genesis Rabbah* (c. 5th century CE). The Qur’an’s correction of these traditions aside, there is certainly significant overlap between the Qur’anic story and these other accounts. This overlap is easily explained. While the Qur’an is most directly engaging with the story as it was preserved in contemporary Jewish and Christian traditions, the various elements that the Qur’an affirms in these traditions are likely to have originated during the era of prophecy terminating with Jesus. For example, although the shared motif of the angels’ prostration to Adam is not found in the Bible, it is found in the *Life of Adam and Eve*, which was originally a Jewish text composed in the 1st century CE,[^29] preserving yet older traditions. In this text, when God declares Adam’s exalted status to the angels, the archangel Michael commands them to prostrate to Adam.[^30] This tradition is also echoed in the “second book of Enoch” (2 Enoch), also dated as early as the first century.[^31] Some scholars have argued that even the New Testament Book of Hebrews alludes to this narrative.[^32] It is therefore most likely that these texts reflect a prior and more widely shared tradition that circulated during the time of Jesus or earlier. In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain an extracanonical psalm, 4Q381, which speaks of the angels “serv\[ing\] Adam and minister\[ing\] to him,” with the context indicating some sort of veneration.[^33] As the manuscript of this psalm is dated to the 1st century BC,[^34] portions of the narrative under discussion may concretely be placed well before Jesus’ time. From a Muslim viewpoint, it is therefore probable that earlier divine revelation provided indirect source material for later texts such as *Genesis Rabbah* and the *Cave of Treasures*, thus explaining their overlap with the Qur’an. This examination of the motif of the angels’ prostration to Adam underscores how pre-Qur’anic renditions of this story have their origins in earlier traditions which could trace back to a time when prophecy was still active. From a Muslim perspective, it historically stands to reason that it had its original source in divine revelation, even if the narrative is not explicitly told in the Old or New Testaments. Certain other parallels between the *Cave of Treasures* and the Qur’an’s story of Adam and Eve can be understood in the same way, such as Satan’s refusal to obey God in bowing to Adam. While this motif is also found in the 1st century *Life of Adam and Eve*, Satan’s reason for disobeying God—that he was made of fire while Adam was made of clay (Qur’an 7:12, cf. *Cave of Treasures* 3:1-7)—is first found in the *Questions of Bartholomew*, a 2nd/3rd century text.[^35] Although this  text is dated later than the time of Jesus, a believer has no obstacle to supposing that the overlapping motif of Satan’s reasoning originated from a pre-Qur’anic revelation. Written texts often postdate the traditions they contain by many centuries, as demonstrated by the episode of the angels’ bowing to Adam in the *Cave of Treasures*. --- ## Category 2: Conscious departure from biblical texts Besides the Qur’an’s engagement with extra-biblical traditions, another criticism that has been leveled at the Qur’an is that when it presents stories in common with the Bible, it confuses them, since it often contradicts certain details that the Bible possesses when telling the same story.[^36] Such objections are easily analyzed by Muslims through the lens of *taḥrīf*, a concept which refers to the corruption of previous scriptures.[^37] Since Muslims are not required to accept the validity of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament in an absolute sense, such discrepancies can be understood as instances where the Qur’an is restoring the truth of earlier revelation that may have been obscured over time. Differences between the Qur’an and Jewish or Christian scriptures should therefore be seen as a feature of its corrective approach to past traditions. When discrepancies between the Qur’an and the Bible are examined carefully, it can often be shown that the Qur’an has not confused anything at all, but has instead deliberately responded to the biblical narrative in profound ways in order to reveal divine truth that is distinct from the biblical narrative, rather than simply “garbling” details as some skeptics would insist. To consider one example, skeptics have claimed that in its counterpart to the biblical creation story, the Qur’an confuses the tree of life with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was first suggested by Abraham Geiger, who wrote: > In the details of this narrative some confusion is found between the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. The former only is mentioned in Scripture as prohibited by God, and to the eating of that alone the serpent incites Eve. After the transgression has taken place, we find the fear mentioned lest men should eat of the tree of life and live forever. Muhammad confuses the two. In one passage he puts into the devil’s mouth the statement that men through eating of this tree would become “Angels,” or “immortal,” but in another passage he mentions only the tree of eternity.[^38] Geiger’s argument is that in the Bible, it is the tree of knowledge of good and evil that God proscribes for Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:16-17) and which the serpent tempts them to eat from: > And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Gen. 2:16-17) > But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Gen. 3:4-7) Only once God finds that Adam and Eve have eaten from this tree does He expel them from the Garden and appoint a cherub to guard the tree of life, lest they gain the quality of eternal life as well (Gen. 3:22-24). In contrast, in the Qur’an, Satan (in the place of the serpent) entices Adam and Eve by telling them that if they eat from the forbidden tree, they will become “immortal” (7:20; cf. 20:120) and “like angels” (7:20): > Satan whispered to them so that their nakedness became exposed to them: he said, “Your Lord only forbade you this tree lest you become angels or you become immortals,” and he swore to them, “I am giving you sincere advice”—and so he lured them with deception. (7:20-22) Geiger concludes from this that the Qur’an mistakes the tree that Adam and Eve were tempted to eat from in the biblical account—the tree of knowledge of good and evil—with the tree of life. However, a more careful consideration shows that this is not a case of confusion, but of the Qur’an’s purposeful engagement with the biblical narrative in accordance with its own distinctive theological message. In the Qur’an, the tree does not function as a source of moral knowledge or of immortality, but simply as mankind’s first test.[^39] In fact, far from attempting to withhold moral knowledge from human beings, God creates them with it from the very beginning (76:3; 90:10; 91:8-10; cf. 2:30).[^40] Accordingly, while one finds in the biblical account that Adam and Eve are originally naked in the Garden and only feel shame of their nakedness after eating from the tree, in the Qur’anic account, they are originally clothed in heavenly garments, and innately feel shame once they are stripped of these garments upon disobeying the prohibition (20:117-122). Since the Qur’an portrays human beings as having moral discernment from the very beginning, an attempt by Satan to tempt Adam and Eve with moral knowledge would make little sense in the Qur’anic narrative. Still, why does the Qur’an recall Satan tempting Adam and Eve by claiming that if they eat from it, they will gain immortality? This tactic by Satan makes sense in the context of the Qur’an’s view of humanity. Consider Satan’s claim as quoted in 20:120: “O Adam, shall I show you the tree of immortality and of a kingdom that never fades?” This occurs in a passage in which God warns the Prophet ﷺ to be patient and avoid haste: > Do not hasten the recitation before its revelation to you is completed. But do say, “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.” And We had taken a promise from Adam from before, but he forgot and We did not find him steadfast… (20:114-115) Satan’s claim that the forbidden tree would grant immortality to Adam and Eve is merely a ruse— taking advantage of the human proclivity for haste (cf. 21:37) and desire for immediate, short-term gains at the expense of that which requires patience but is more lasting (cf. e.g., 75:20-21; 87:16-17). It is not a true description of the tree, as Satan only seeks to delude the human being through false promises (4:120). Hence, the story of Adam’s deception by Satan in this passage serves as a caution to the Prophet ﷺ to not act in haste, even in pursuit of that which is good, but to be steadfast. Furthermore, while in the biblical account the serpent’s claim that God prohibited the tree from them lest they attain the status of heavenly beings actually proves to be true (Gen. 3:22-24), in the Qur’an, Satan’s claim that God only forbade them the tree “lest \[they\] become like angels or become immortals” (7:20) is an ironic inversion of the truth, for God had already honored Adam above the angels by ordering them to prostrate to him (7:11; 20:116), and Satan already knows that God in fact intends to resurrect them to a life of immortality (7:14). While in the biblical story, the serpent is actually correct in stating that God wishes to prevent Adam and Eve from attaining the status of heavenly beings, in the Qur’anic story, Satan’s claim is an ironic lie, since it is God’s plan from the beginning to give humanity the opportunity to rise to a status higher than that of the angels and to be rewarded with a life of eternal bliss. In summary, the differences between the Qur’an and the Bible concerning the nature of the forbidden tree do not represent a confusion or garbling of it, but rather an engagement with it to express the Qur’an’s own distinctive teaching about God, and about man’s purpose, salvation, and relationship with Him.[^41] Understanding how and why the Qur’an corrects biblical stories can allow us to easily dispel the notion that any differences between the Qur’an and the Bible are rooted in a Qur’anic misunderstanding. Instead, locating these differences in the Qur’an’s correction of the previous revelation, which may have been obscured and forgotten over time, allows for a more convincing explanation. --- ## Category 3: Coincidental similarities between the Qur’an and pre-Islamic texts Not all points of agreement between the Qur’an and previous texts need to be explained by appealing to pre-Qur’anic revelation. In the following few sections, we shall see how extra-biblical parallels assumedly dating after the time of pre-Qur’anic prophecy could be understood from a Muslim perspective. For example, in a small number of instances, parallels between the Qur’an and Jewish or Christian literature may simply be reduced to coincidental similarities arising as a natural consequence of shared assumptions about God, His prophets, and sacred history generally. To illustrate this point, recent scholarship has drawn attention to a number of unique parallels between the story of Joseph as it is told in the Qur’an and the *Homilies of Joseph*,[^42] a fifth or sixth century Syriac text falsely attributed to the  Syriac poet and theologian Narsai (d. 502), and hence known as Pseudo-Narsai for short. Pseudo-Narsai adds several elements to the story of Joseph that are not part of the biblical narrative.[^43] For instance, the biblical account does not  elaborate on what happened to Joseph when he was trapped in the well, but simply says: > So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a well. The well was empty; there was no water in it. (Genesis 37:23-24) However, in both Pseudo-Narsai and the Qur’an, God consoles Joseph while he is in the well and reassures him that he will be rescued: > The Divine Will descended with Joseph into the well / Comforting and consoling him, saying / “Do not fear, Joseph, and do not despair / I am always with you, in all the days of your life / I will never again leave you / and nor will I turn away wherever you go / and I will be with you until you see old Jacob.” (Pseudo-Narsai)[^44] > They went with him, and they cast him to the bottom of the well. And We revealed to Joseph, “You will surely inform them of this deed of theirs, while they are unaware.” (Qur’an 12:15) Even though in this instance the Qur’an echoes a motif that is found only in a text that dates to much later than the era of pre-Qur’anic revelation, upon reflection, this parallel is easily explained as a coincidental overlap between the Qur’an and Pseudo-Narsai resulting from shared views concerning God and prophecy. Given the biblical and Qur’anic notion that God communicates to His prophets and their followers, supporting them and reassuring them amid their adversities,[^45] it is natural to assume that God must have offered Joseph a similar reassurance and consolation.[^46] This parallel between the Qur’an and Pseudo-Narsai is therefore not problematic as such. On the other hand, were it the case that God’s revelation to Joseph in the Qur’an followed Pseudo-Narsai more closely than this, such as featuring a specific promise to Joseph that he would see his father again, it would be unreasonable to suggest that the overlap between the two accounts is a mere coincidence. Taking recourse to coincidental agreement is only reasonable where it is very clear how the overlapping motifs between the Qur’an and other texts could have arisen independently. If this cannot be shown, alternative explanations should be explored, such as locating the points of overlap in an earlier revelation (see Category 1 previously). --- ## Category 4: Parallels with legal traditions Just as the Qur’an validates some elements of extra-biblical retellings of biblical stories while critiquing or rejecting others, it does the same with the legal traditions and interpretations of the Jewish and Christian communities of the late ancient Near East.[^47] Oftentimes, the rulings found in these religious legal traditions are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but are instead derived through some measure of human interpretation of scripture or extra-biblical sources. The Qur’an’s occasional validation of aspects of these “derived” legal traditions has attracted criticism by some skeptics who allege that the Qur’an mistakes these human legal interpretations for divine law. The most common example cited is Qur’an 5:32. After recounting the story of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain (5:27-31), the Qur’an declares: > On account of this \[story\], We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever kills a soul, unless it be out of retaliation for murder or causing corruption in the land, it is as though he killed all of humanity, and if he saved \[a soul\] it is as though he saved humanity altogether. (Qur’an 5:32) This “decree” appears to be an allusion to an exegetical tradition found in the Talmud which similarly comments on the story of Cain and Abel as found in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical account, God reproaches Cain after he murders his brother, saying: > What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood \[literally, “bloods,” *dĕmê*\] is crying out to me from the ground! (Genesis 4:10) The peculiar use of the Hebrew plural “bloods” (*dĕmê*) instead of the singular “blood” (*dām*) in this verse prompted some speculative explanations from the Rabbis. In the Talmud, the following lesson is derived: > For so have we found it with Cain that slew his brother, for it is written, “the bloods of thy brother cry.” It says not “The blood of thy brother,” but “the bloods of thy brother”—his blood and the blood of his posterity… Therefore but a single man was created in the world, to teach that if any man has caused a single soul to perish \[from Israel\],[^48] Scripture imputes it to him as though he had caused a whole world to perish; and if any man saves alive a single soul \[from Israel\], Scripture imputes it to him as though he had saved a whole world. (*Mishnah Sanhedrin* 4:5)[^49] This Talmudic passage explains the plural “bloods” to refer to the blood of Abel and all of the potential offspring who were deprived of the opportunity to live as a result of his murder. Accordingly, the life of one human being is said to have the value of “a whole world.” The Qur’an echoes this conclusion, showing awareness not only of the rabbinic legal maxim but also of the scriptural context from which it is derived. Notwithstanding, some critics allege that the Qur’an has committed an error by attributing this dictum not to the Rabbis, but to God Himself. This objection can be dispelled by referring to several authentic hadiths that shed light on the place of human effort in determining God’s laws. In one well known hadith, the Prophet ﷺ himself differentiates between a correct and an incorrect legal deduction: > ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ heard the Prophet ﷺ say, “When a judge is exercising judgment, and reaches \[the correct judgment\], he has double the reward, but if he errs, he has a singular reward.”[^50] The above hadith indicates that some human attempts at determining legal rulings are correct, aligning with God’s intentions, while others are incorrect. Accordingly, human interpretations of divine law were sometimes confirmed and accepted by the Prophet ﷺ himself, even if they were not present in scripture beforehand. One such example is that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb’s suggestions to the Prophet ﷺ on the direction of prayer and the veiling of the Prophet’s ﷺ wives were explicitly accepted as God’s own prescriptions in the Qur’an.[^51] There are also several cases where the Prophet ﷺ determined legal judgments made by non-Muslims to be acceptable. For example, the Prophet ﷺ forbade swearing by the Kaʿbah when a Jewish man shared his opinion that this would constitute associating partners with God.[^52] Another example is how the Jewish fast celebrating Moses’ escape from Egypt led the Prophet ﷺ to institute a fast on the day of *ʿĀshūrāʾ*.[^53] All these hadiths indicate that human judgment that falls within God’s own intentions for divine law can themselves be considered as possessing divine authority. Accordingly, in the case of the above example of Cain and Abel, the Qur’an’s attribution of the rabbinic dictum to God can simply be taken to mean that the dictum coincides with God’s own judgment concerning the value of a single human life.[^54] Moreover, the Qur’an’s agreement with the Talmud’s judgment on murder does not necessarily validate the obscure line of reasoning the Rabbis had employed in deriving it. In fact, it might be argued that the Qur’an implies a different logical connection between the story and the lesson adduced from it which differs from the grammatical argument found in the Talmud. Classical Qur’anic commentator Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) argues for a type of categorical imperative as the underlying reason for the dictum in verse 5:32—anyone who makes it lawful for himself to murder one innocent soul effectively makes it permissible for him to kill all humanity, since nothing differentiates one innocent human life from another. In other words, a murderer who deems one innocent human being to be violable would share this sentiment towards all human life by analogy.[^55] The verse 5:30, which plainly states that Cain “allowed himself”  (*fa-ṭawwaʿat lahu nafsuhu*) to murder his brother, could therefore be read in light of Ibn Kathīr’s interpretation, thus anchoring the maxim in Cain’s murder of Abel without taking recourse to the obscure grammatical argument in the Talmud.[^56] --- ## Category 5: Parallels that counter stories found outside revealed sources Our last category of intertextual engagement consists of examples in which the Qur’an contains highly specific parallels with later, extra-biblical traditions which neither appear to draw on earlier prophetic sources nor represent plausible elaborations on such sources. Moreover, these traditions may even contain legendary accounts or mythical concepts that are falsified by modern knowledge of history or of the natural world. Yet, a careful examination of these examples shows that the Qur’an does not simply parrot these mythical concepts, but in fact deliberately counters them when telling its own separate historical account. An example that illustrates this tendency is the story of the travel of Moses and his assistant in Qur’an 18:60-65, which serves as a prologue to the narrative of Moses’ encounter with a mysterious sage, known in the Islamic tradition as al-Khiḍr. This prologue reads as follows: > And remember when Moses said to his young assistant, “I will never give up until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I travel for ages.” But when they finally reached the point where the seas met, they forgot their fish, and it made its way into the sea, slipping away. When they had passed further, he said to his assistant, “Bring us our meal! We have certainly been exhausted by today’s journey.” He replied, “Do you remember when we rested by the rock? That is when I forgot the fish. None made me forget to mention this except Satan. And the fish made its way into the sea, strangely enough!” Moses responded, “That is what we were looking for.” So they returned, retracing their footsteps. (18:60-65) This episode contains a parallel with an account found in some pre-Islamic editions of the Greek Alexander Romance, a legendary narrative of the life and exploits of Alexander the Great that was extremely popular in antiquity. While the Romance follows the historical biography of Alexander in its broad outlines, it embellishes this with many elements of myth, legend, fantasy, and folklore in order to produce an entertaining narrative.[^57] The Qur’anic story is paralleled by an episode that is found in the beta (β) recension of the Alexander Romance, usually dated to the fifth century CE,[^58] but which is absent in earlier versions of the Alexander  Romance.[^59] In this account, Alexander, writing to his mother about his travels through the lands of darkness, recalls an incident when his cook chanced upon a source of water with life-giving properties: > And, having become hungry, I wanted to take some food; and, having called my cook, I said to him: “Prepare us something to eat.” And he, having taken a dried fish, went to the shining water of the spring to wash the food. And the moment it was put in the water it came to life and it escaped out of the cook’s hands. (Alexander Romance β 2:39)[^60] The cook drinks from this spring of life and acquires immortality, only later confessing what happened, while Alexander fails to drink from it himself, thereby missing out on his chance to obtain immortality. The parallels between the two stories are readily apparent. In both accounts, the protagonist—Moses in the Qur’an and Alexander in the Romance—stops while on a journey and asks one of his traveling companions (Moses’ assistant and Alexander’s cook respectively) to prepare a meal. However, the companions confess that the fish they carried for lunch escaped into a body of water, leading the protagonists to realize that the body of water was their intended destination. The two stories are similar enough that some later Muslim commentaries expanded on the Qur’anic story using details found in the Alexander Romance and related literature.[^61] However, the pre-Islamic account does not concern a monotheistic prophet like Moses, but Alexander the Great, who was historically a pagan king. Given that the account is only attested many centuries after the era of pre-Muhammadan prophecy, one might doubt the likelihood that the origin of this narrative element can be attributed to a revealed source in the era of pre-Qur’anic prophecy. At the same time, the similarity between the two stories appears too specific and peculiar to brush off as mere coincidence. How, then, can this parallel be understood from a Muslim perspective? Before endeavoring to reconcile any correlation between the Qur’an and the Alexander Romance, we should recall our earlier point about the dating of apparently pre-Islamic texts. It is noteworthy that none of the pre-Qur’anic manuscripts of the Romance contain the episode about Alexander that corresponds with Qur’an 18:60-65. Moreover, the primary manuscript witness to β recension post-dates the Qur’an by over eight centuries.[^62] Strictly speaking, the possibility that the Qur’an influenced the corresponding account in the Alexander Romance cannot be ruled out.[^63] Nonetheless, let us presuppose that the episode found in the Alexander Romance is indeed pre-Qur’anic. While both the Qur’anic story and the Alexander Romance account contain surface level similarities, a closer reading of the two texts will reveal that the Qur’an, rather than slavishly copying an earlier myth, deliberately presents a plausibly historical counter-narrative to the Romance that Muslims should have no difficulty affirming. So how does the Qur’an do that in this case? First, the “meeting of the two seas” in the Qur’anic account does not denote the location of a mythological life-giving spring, but simply a location where a stream of fresh water merges into the ocean: elsewhere in the Qur’an, the two seas are explained as the salt and fresh bodies of water from which human beings are able to obtain food and ornaments (35:12; 55:19-22).[^64] Rather than simply repeating verifiably false Late Antique notions of cosmology, as some have argued,[^65] Qur’anic references to the two seas instead  merely signify ordinary geographical features.[^66] Accordingly, in the context of this story, the Qur’an’s reference to such a geographical location displaces the mythical “spring of life” found in the Alexander Romance. As for the “strange” escape of the fish, this simply functions as the sign of the location where Moses and his assistant are supposed to find the sage they are looking for, not as a source of eternal life.[^67] Consequently, the Qur’anic account does not depict the fish being miraculously revived, as with the Alexander Romance.[^68] Moreover, the Qur’an counters the Romance account by rejecting the role of Alexander as the protagonist, instead telling an episode about a prophet of God. This is despite the fact that in Late Antique Christian accounts, Alexander is depicted as a monotheistic and even proto-Christian hero, a far cry from the historical Alexander who was a pagan. Furthermore, as we have seen, the Romance episode has no relationship with the historical Alexander, given the mythical setting of the story and its late composition. The Qur’an thus avoids the historical problems with the Alexander story. Rather than being a case of misguided borrowing, the story of Moses in fact provides clues pointing to the divine authorship of the Qur’an: had the revelation been fabricated by the Prophet ﷺ or another human author, it would not be expected for him to demonstrate awareness of the Alexander story while at the same time presenting a counter narrative that avoids the Romance’s historical and scientific inaccuracies.[^69] In light of all these differences, we can now present a plausible scenario that reconciles the Qur’anic story even if we assume that the Romance is pre-Qur’anic in origin. Some time during his life, Moses embarked on a journey to seek knowledge as related in the Qur’an. Much later in time, a separate and legendary tradition developed about Alexander and his quest for immortality that coincidentally shared some overlap with the historical episode about Moses. This mythological account about Alexander eventually became popular among the Jewish and Christian audiences of the prophet, which in turn provided a good occasion for God to reveal the episode from Moses’ life as a historical counter-narrative to the fantastical story in the Alexander Romance.[^70] Nothing in  the Qur’anic story is inherently difficult to accept, and in fact, clear signs of the Qur’an’s rejection of the mythological features of the Alexander account ultimately point to a divine author countering foregoing myths with truthful accounts of history rather than borrowing from them. In conclusion, the historicity of the Qur’anic story of Moses and the fish is not difficult to accept from a Muslim perspective, even if one believes that the Alexander Romance was in circulation before the revelation of the Qur’an. Furthermore, the Qur’an’s engagement with the Alexander Romance invites deeper reflection in a way that may not have been possible if this intertextual engagement was absent. Syriac Christian retellings of the Alexander Romance adapt the episode into a narrative of Alexander’s quest for the fountain of eternal life.[^71] By  contrast, Moses’ quest in the Qur’anic narrative is to gain wisdom from the sage he encounters at the meeting of the two seas. An educated Christian listener familiar with the Alexander traditions would have perceived the Qur’an’s interaction with a familiar story, observing how the Qur’anic story privileges the pursuit of knowledge of God over the quest for earthly reward. --- ## Category 6: Parallels with texts redacted in the post-Qur’anic period The previous example concludes our investigation of genuine Jewish or Christian intertexts of the Qur’an. In each of these cases, the evidence indeed suggests that these intertexts are pre-Qur’anic, a premise that is necessary for admitting any text as an intertext for the Qur’an to begin with. Although the Qur’an’s engagement with these preceding texts and traditions has received increasing attention in contemporary academia, the possibility of Qur’anic influence on Jewish and Christian traditions has seen comparatively little attention.[^72] In fact, many proposed intertexts for the Qur’an’s stories and themes have a long redaction history continuing after the advent of Islam, and sometimes these sources even indicate awareness of Islamic traditions.[^73] Even texts that contain a strata of  pre-Islamic material often accrued newer material as time went on. Before assessing any instance of intertextuality, one should ascertain whether there are good reasons to regard the supposed intertext(s) of the Qur’an as being pre-Islamic to begin with. If not, then it may be in fact that the Qur’anic story is the genuine precursor, with the supposed intertext(s) having been formed under Islamic influence. One possible example of this is the case of the story of Solomon in Qur’an 27:20- 44 and the corresponding narrative found in the so-called “Second Targum of Esther” (Targum Sheni).[^74] For brevity, we will only compare the initial scene in the  two stories, in which Solomon learns about the kingdom of Sheba: > Solomon sought the birds, and said “Why do I not see the hoopoe bird, could he be absent? I shall surely punish him intensely, or slaughter him, unless he brings me a compelling reason.” \[The bird\] did not dwell long, and said, “I have gone where you have not, and I bring you sure news from Sheba. I saw a woman ruling them, and she was given everything, and she possesses a great throne. I saw her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God, and Satan made their deeds seem good to them, obstructing them from the right path; and so they are not guided.” (Qur’an 27:20-24) This scene of a bird informing Solomon about the kingdom of Sheba has a counterpart in the corresponding story of Targum Sheni: > \[Solomon\] commanded the wild beasts, the birds, the reptiles, the devils, demons, and spirits to be brought… At that time, the cock of the wood was missed among the fowls, and was not found. Then the king commanded in anger that he should appear before him, or else he would destroy him. Then the cock of the wood answered and said to King Solomon: “Lord of the earth, incline thine ears and hear my words… I saw a certain country, the name of whose fortified town is Kitor, whose dust is more precious than gold, and where silver lies about like dung in the streets. Trees also are there standing from primeval times, and are watered from the garden of Eden. Great crowds of people are there from the garden of Eden, having crowns upon their heads, who know nothing of warfare, nor can they draw the bow. For, indeed, I have seen one woman who rules over them all, and her name is Queen of Sheba. (*Targum Sheni*)[^75] These excerpts form part of a broader narrative shared by the Qur’an and the Targum Sheni. Although the stories are not exactly alike, they are nonetheless quite similar, which has led some scholars to suggest that the Targum Sheni is the source for the Qur’anic story.[^76] However, the plausibly post-Qur’anic dating of the targum casts doubt on this suggestion.[^77] While there is no unanimous consensus, most scholars have assigned the Targum Sheni a post-Qur’anic date, which suggests that the direction of influence may instead be the reverse of what has been previously perceived. This hypothesis receives support from recent work that has provided new evidence for a post-Islamic date of composition for the Targum Sheni. This evidence centers on the striking degree of agreement between passages of Targum Sheni related to Solomon’s court and Byzantine sources that describe artistic features of the royalty and court of Constantinople in the ninth and tenth centuries. For example, the targum speaks of “two sirens that were on either side of King Solomon’s ears,” a peculiar description that is accounted for by the fact that Byzantine royalty began to wear pendant earrings featuring depictions of sirens after the mid-ninth century.[^78] Dating the entirety of the Targum prior to the ninth century would thus be anachronistic. In view of the above considerations, there is good reason to believe that the targum incorporated traditions composed up to three centuries after the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ life. In the absence of any evidence to indicate that the targum’s traditions predate the Qur’an’s revelation, a common-sense approach to the question of influence then would be to prioritize the earlier of the two texts. Unfortunately, attempts to locate the Targum Sheni as the “source” of the Qur’an’s story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba tend to overlook this simple fact. It strains credulity to believe that a text as influential and as well circulated as the Qur’an could not be the source of a story retold in a Jewish text containing traditions originating centuries later. At the very least, the ultimately post-Islamic redaction of Targum Sheni brings arguments for its influence on the Qur’an into serious doubt. --- ## Category 7: Parallels with texts with unstable manuscript traditions Another important consideration in assessing the possibility of Qur’anic influence on a Jewish or Christian text is its history of transmission. While internal clues within the text might suggest that it was originally composed before the revelation of the Qur’an, the manuscripts of the text themselves may actually postdate the Qur’an by centuries or even as much as a millennium. Furthermore, they may exhibit a high level of textual variation, suggesting that the text was fluid even into the later period of its transmission history. By contrast, the Qur’an exhibits a fairly complete and extremely early manuscript record.[^79] This raises the possibility that  the Qur’an is in fact the source of the proposed intertext, even if the intertext belongs to an originally pre-Islamic composition. One example of this is the story of Moses and the sage (al-Khiḍr) in Qur’an 18:65-82 and its parallel in a Christian text titled the *Spiritual Meadow* (*Pratum Spirituale*), which is attributed to the Byzantine monk John Moschus (d. 619). In the Qur’anic story, Moses embarks on a quest for the sage so that he may accompany and learn from him. The sage agrees, but to Moses’ dismay, he perpetrates a number of disturbing and inexplicable acts in the course of their travel, first damaging a man’s boat, then slaying a young boy, and finally repairing a wall without taking any compensation, despite the fact that the people of the city denied the two travelers any food. After Moses proves unable to maintain his silence for the third time, the sage reveals the hidden benevolent purposes for which he committed the actions. The story highlights that behind the seemingly inexplicable evils that we encounter in this life lies a fuller picture that can only be grasped with knowledge of the unseen, which is reserved by God. Some manuscripts of the *Spiritual Meadow* contain a similar story, in which a pious monk accompanies an angel disguised as a man and witnesses him carry out similar actions, including slaying a child and repairing a decrepit wall, before the angel finally explains to him the benevolent purposes behind these acts. For illustration, one might compare the explanation given by the protagonist for the slaying of the child in both stories: > \[al-Khiḍr said:\] And as for the boy—his parents were believing people, and we feared that he would oppress them with his wickedness and disbelief. We intended that God would substitute him with a better child, who is more pious and compassionate. (Qur’an 18:80-81) > And the other man who made us his guests, he is virtuous. Had that small child lived, it would have grown up to be an instrument of Satan, so that the good works of his father would pass into oblivion. So I strangled him whilst he was tender to ensure the salvation of the father, and that his record remain unassailable before God. (*Spiritual Meadow*)[^80] The evident similarity between the two accounts has led some scholars to propose that the Qur’anic story is derived from the account contained in the *Spiritual Meadow*.[^81] However, a consideration of the manuscript tradition of the *Spiritual  Meadow* suggests that this parallel account is a post-Qur’anic addition. The main sources for the text of the *Spiritual Meadow* are four manuscripts dating from the tenth through twelfth centuries.[^82] Significantly, the story we are concerned with   does not appear in the most authoritative manuscript, the twelfth-century *Florentine Codex*, or most of the other manuscript witnesses.[^83] Instead, it is found in the tenth-century *Venice Codex* among a collection of stories that are considered secondary to the more authentic collection in the *Florentine Codex*. There is considerable doubt concerning the attribution of these supplementary stories to the original seventh-century author John Moschus; most of these stories appear to be “spurious,” in the estimation of one scholar.[^84] There is also a stylistic hint for this  particular account being a later addition, since while the authentic tales in the work display a tendency to specify the narrators and settings of the stories “wherever possible,”[^85] such details are completely absent from the story under consideration. The case of the *Venice Codex* is symptomatic of the state of affairs with the *Spiritual Meadow* at large: the amount of variation found between manuscripts is so great that each manuscript amounts to a “version” of its own, rather than simply a copy.[^86] Consequently, it is evident that the existing manuscripts of this work do  not wholly reflect the original form of the text written in the early 7th century.[^87] In contrast, manuscript evidence for the Qur’an demonstrates that the scripture—including the section of Sūrah 18 that contains the Qur’anic story of Moses and the sage—was already circulating within the first century of Islam.[^88] Given the much  stronger evidence for the earlier attestation of the Qur’anic story, it is more reasonable to assume that it is the source of the *Spiritual Meadow* account, rather than the reverse. Accordingly, the burden of proof lies on the one who asserts that the tale found in the *Venice Codex* is the source of the Qur’anic story. --- ## Intertextuality in Qur’anic rhetoric Thus far, we have focused on presenting a methodology for addressing historical questions that the study of Qur’anic intertextuality raises for Muslims. Such a focus risks giving the impression that the primary relevance of this area of research for Muslims is addressing such questions. However, this is far from the case. As the reader has already seen from some of the above examples, the Qur’an’s critical engagement with earlier scriptural and exegetical traditions represents an extremely profound and fascinating aspect of God’s revelation, the study of which continues to shed light on the uniqueness of its message as well as the literary and rhetorical sophistication of its presentation of that message. In this section, we wish to underscore this point by considering examples in which the Qur’an engages with particular motifs and even specific linguistic features of Jewish and Christian texts in highly original and creative ways. --- ## “Those who were charged with carrying the Torah…” Sūrah 62, al-Jumuʿah, contains the following censure of some of the Jewish leaders who were antagonistic to the Prophet’s ﷺ message: > The example of those who were charged with carrying the Torah but then failed to carry it is like the example of a donkey carrying books. How evil is the example of those who reject God’s signs! And God does not guide the wrongdoing people. (62:5) On its own, the message of this passage is clear: just as a donkey that carries a load of books on its back does not internalize or derive any benefit from that knowledge, worse still is the example of religious scholars who possess a great deal of knowledge but fail to honor it in their character and actions. Yet, the example in this passage of a donkey carrying books proves even more potent when one realizes that it is an inversion of a rabbinic parable. *Sifrei Debarim*, a compilation of rabbinic biblical interpretation that is thought to have reached its final form around the 5th century,[^89] contains a parable extolling Israel for taking up the heavy commandments of the Torah when none of the Gentile nations were able to: > A man sent his donkey and his dog to the granary, where fifteen *seʾah*[^90] \[of grain\] were loaded atop the donkey and three *seʾah* on the dog. The donkey walked and the dog strained to breathe, his tongue lolling. He cast aside one *seʾah* and placed it atop the donkey and then did the same with the second and then the third. This is how Israel accepted the Torah, together with its commentaries and its minutiae. Even those seven commandments that the Noahides could not abide and cast aside,[^91] Israel came and accepted. (*Sifrei Debarim*)[^92] Israel, likened to a donkey that is able to carry a large burden, is credited with bearing all of the commands of the Torah. In contrast, the Gentile nations, likened to a dog that proves unable to carry even a fraction of that load, are disparaged for being unable to fulfill even the most basic commandments. The Qur’an adopts this metaphor but polemically inverts its meaning, transforming it from a praise of Israel into a sharp critique of its religious leadership, who burdened themselves with the study of volumes and volumes of religious law but failed to live up to the spirit of God’s most basic commandments. The verse is well situated in Sūrah al-Jumuʿah, where only three verses earlier (62:2), God declares that He has sent His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from among the unlettered or Gentile people (*al-ummiyyīn*) to teach them the scripture. This is the same group of people whom the rabbinic parable charges with failing to keep even the laws of Noah, the most basic commandments that God gave to humanity. There is even a hint of wordplay with Hebrew in 62:5. The word *asfār* (“books”) only occurs here in the entire Qur’an (even counting its singular form, *sifr*), while in all other places, the Qur’an uses the word *kitāb* when speaking of books. This unique occurrence of *asfār* in 62:5 is a deliberate allusion to the word’s Hebrew cognate, *sefer*, which is the standard term for a book in the Hebrew language understood by the Prophet’s ﷺ Jewish audience. --- ## “If the oceans were ink…” Such inversions of motifs attested in Jewish or Christian literature are a frequent feature of Qur’anic rhetoric. Another example is found in a concluding verse of Sūrah al-Kahf, and in Sūrah Luqmān: > Say, “If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be emptied before my Lord’s words were exhausted—even if We were to add another like it.” (Qur’an 18:109) > If all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean were ink, refilled by seven other oceans, God's words would not be exhausted. Surely God is Almighty, All-Wise. (31:27) These verses respond to a motif found in a fifth-century rabbinic work titled *Avōt dʾRabbi Natan*.[^93] In this text, the first-century Rabbi Eliezar is found to use a similar  example to describe the inexhaustibility of his own knowledge: > \[Rabbi Eliezer said\] “For were all the oceans ink, all the reeds quills, all men scribes, they could not write down what I have learned in Scripture and repeated in Mishnah-traditions, and derived as lessons from my apprenticeship to sages in the session.” (*Avōt dʾRabbi Natan*, 25:4.2)[^94] While this example is designed to illustrate the inexhaustible knowledge of the scholar of Torah, the Qur’an polemically recasts it to emphasize that God alone possesses limitless knowledge.[^95] That the Qur’an is responding to such a tradition is confirmed by a *ṣaḥīḥ* narration that situates this verse as a response to Jewish claims of knowledge: > Ibn ʿAbbās narrated: “The Quraysh said to the Jews, ‘Inform us of something that we can question this man about.’ So they responded, ‘Ask him about the spirit,’ and so they went and asked \[the Prophet ﷺ\] about the spirit. God then revealed the verse, ‘They ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you are given but little knowledge regarding it.’ \[The Jews objected\], saying, ‘We have been given much knowledge \[by way of\] the Torah, and whoever is given the Torah is given much good.’ So the following verse was revealed: ‘Say: If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be emptied before my Lord’s words were exhausted, even if We were to add another like it.’” (*Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*)[^96] This is another example of the Qur’an’s critical engagement with Jewish or Christian texts that comes to light only by engaging in the intertextual study of the Qur’an. Although traditional Qur’anic commentaries are aware of the context of the revelation—that it is a response to some of the Prophet’s ﷺ Jewish audiences—only with knowledge of the specific tradition from rabbinic literature can we appreciate how powerfully and precisely God formulates this response in the Qur’an. --- ## Inter-linguistic wordplay Previously when looking at the story of Adam, we saw an example of the Qur’an employing Syriac-Arabic cognates to critically engage with traditions relating to the worship of human beings found in the *Syriac Cave of Treasures*. We also saw an example of Hebrew wordplay in Sūrah al-Jumuʿah above. This rhetorical use of words and phrases in the languages of the Prophet’s ﷺ Jewish and Christian audiences can be seen elsewhere in the Qur’an, sometimes in an even more pronounced manner. We will close this section by noting several more examples of this intertextual feature. The first example relates to the episode of the golden calf in Sūrah 2*,* al-Baqarah: > And when We took a covenant with you, and We raised over you the Mountain, \[saying\] “Take what we have given you with determination and listen,” they said, “We hear and we disobey” **(*samiʿnā waʿaṣaynā*)**, and through their disbelief they were made to absorb \[the love of\] the calf. Say, “Evil is what your faith commands you to do, if you are indeed faithful!” (Qur’an 2:93) This verse recalls one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Children of Israel, when God offered them the Covenant on Mount Sinai. In the biblical version of this episode, the Israelites respond to the offer of the Covenant positively, saying to Moses, “We have heard and we shall do” (Deuteronomy 5:27)—in Hebrew, “*we-shāmaʿnū we-ʿāsinū*.” In the Qur’an’s recollection of this event, however, the Israelites are quoted as saying, “*samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā*,” which phonetically sounds like their quotation in the Bible in Hebrew,[^97] but which in Arabic has the *opposite* meaning: “we hear and we *disobey*.” Through this interlinguistic wordplay, the Qur’an highlights that although they may have said “we hear and we obey” with their lips, their actions demonstrated the exact opposite. This is reinforced by the allusion to their worship of the Golden Calf immediately afterwards in the same verse, just one in a long series of errors of which they are reminded  in Sūrah al-Baqarah (2:40-123). A second example of inter-linguistic wordplay occurs in one of the descriptions of Abraham in the Qur’an: > Abraham was not a Jew or a Christian, but he was inclined to the truth (***ḥanīfan***) and submitting \[to God\]. And he was not from the idolaters. (Qur’an 3:67) According to the Islamic tradition, the term “*ḥanīf*” designates someone who follows a primordial monotheism apart from Judaism and Christianity.[^98] Curiously, the description of Abraham in the Qur’an as “*ḥanīf*” nearly always follows with the qualification that “he was not from the idolaters (*mushrikīn*)” (see also 2:135; 3:95; 6:79, 161; 16:120, 123; 22:31). Why is this the case? It is most likely that the Qur’an is engaging with Syriac Christian terminology. The Syriac cognate of *ḥanīf* is “*ḥanpā*,” which may have originally been designated for a Gentile but came to have the meaning of “pagan” or “heretic” among Syriac Christians. The Qur’an’s emphasis that Abraham was not a *mushrik* therefore precludes a Syriac Christian audience from understanding the verse in an objectionable way, since it forecloses any possibility of *ḥanīf* being misinterpreted as “pagan.”[^99] The Qur’an also plays on the names of the characters in the stories it relates. One example occurs in the story of the nativity of John the Baptist in Sūrah 19, Maryam: > “O Yaḥyā, keep to the scripture firmly!” And We gave him wisdom while he was a boy, tenderness (*ḥanān*) from Us, and purity, and he was God-conscious. (Qur’an 19:12-13) The Qur’anic name for John is “*Yaḥyā*,” which means “he lives,” celebrating God’s act of causing his barren mother to conceive him. However, in the New Testament, John the Baptist is called “*Iōannēs*,” the Greek form of the Hebrew “*Yōḥanān*,” meaning “tenderness (*ḥanān*) of God.” Syriac Christians, speaking a language much closer to Hebrew, invariably used the similar “*Yuḥanān*.” While using a different name for John, the Qur’an also alludes to his name in its original Hebrew and cognate Syriac, since it characterizes him with the gift of “affection” (*ḥanān*) from God—a word which only occurs in the Qur’an in this verse, synonyms such as *raḥmah* (“mercy”) being used elsewhere instead. This is not a unique example, as the Qur’an makes similar allusions to the meanings of many other biblical proper names in their original languages.[^100] In addition to some of our earlier case studies that demonstrated how the Qur’an consciously engages with previous biblical and extra-biblical stories, the examples shown in this section support the Muslim conviction that the Qur’an is not merely a pastiche of borrowings—or worse, confusions—of previous traditions. On the contrary, it can be demonstrated that the Qur’an’s engagement with these previous traditions is marvelously precise, sophisticated, and cogent, consistent with its purported divine authorship. In concluding this article, we will summarize the approach to Qur’anic intertextuality that we have developed and discuss some implications of the evidence we have presented. --- ## Conclusion In this essay, we have considered examples of Qur’anic engagement with Late Antique Jewish and Christian traditions that may raise problems of historicity for modern Muslim audiences, and we have offered a list of categories by which one might classify and evaluate such examples. We reproduce these categories here for easy reference: Category 1: Parallels with early extra-biblical traditions; Category 2: Conscious departure from biblical texts; Category 3: Coincidental similarities between the Qur’an and pre-Islamic texts; Category 4: Parallels with legal traditions; Category 5: Parallels that counter stories found outside revealed sources; Category 6: Parallels with texts redacted in the post-Qur’anic period; Category 7: Parallels with texts that have unstable manuscript traditions. There may even be some cases that fall outside the scope of the seven categories that we have offered here and which may require new categories or unique solutions. Because of the sheer quantity and diversity of the Qur’an’s interactions with these traditions, it is necessary to consider each instance of Qur’anic intertextuality on a case-by-case basis. Nonetheless, most examples of Qur’anic intertextuality with Late Antique Jewish and Christian traditions should easily fall within one or more of these categories. In the flowchart below, we outline the steps by which one can consider further cases of intertextuality in accordance with the methodology we have presented. ![Flowchart showing a step by step method for understanding Quranic intertextuality. Described under the heading Conclusion.](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Flowchart-Methodology-for-evaluating-proposed-quranic-intertexts-3.png) Given that this essay focuses on examples of Qur’anic intertextuality that may seem historically problematic for modern audiences, one might develop the impression that Qur’anic intertextuality as a whole is a problematic notion for Muslim beliefs about the Qur’an. However, while questions of historicity may arise in some instances, the study of Qur’anic intertextuality is overall deeply rewarding and even potentially faith-enhancing, and sheds new light on the depth and sophistication of the literary and rhetorical aspects of the Qur’an. Moreover, this mode of study also reveals that the Qur’an demonstrates an extremely profound, detailed, wide-ranging, and accurate knowledge of the Jewish and Christian scriptures and traditions across different languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and even Greek. Yet, the Qur’an itself highlights the Prophet’s ﷺ own lack of scriptural learning (29:48). Had he been known to have undertaken an education in the Jewish and Christian scriptural traditions—and the level of knowledge of these traditions evinced by the Qur’an would have required an extensive education under masters of these traditions, to say the least—it would not have been possible for the Qur’an to make this claim without being easily discredited. Yet, the Prophet’s ﷺ opponents were hard pressed to explain how he acquired such knowledge, pointing, for example, to a foreigner who was scarcely able to communicate in Arabic (16:103; cf. 25:4-5). For Muslims, however, the Qur’an’s deep familiarity with previous traditions should be far from surprising; after all, one would expect no less from divine scripture revealed by God. The Qur’an’s intertextuality therefore bolsters its claim to divine authority rather than undermining it,[^101] as long as seemingly problematic instances of intertextuality can be reasonably explained. If this can be done, then the study of Qur’anic intertextuality can only be edifying to the student of the Qur’an. --- ## Notes [^1]: Angelika Neuwirth succinctly explains, “The Qur’ān is communicated to listeners whose education already comprises biblical and post-biblical lore, whose nascent scripture therefore should provide answers to the questions raised in biblical exegesis—a scripture providing commentary on a vast amount of earlier theological legacies.” Angelika Neuwirth, “Two Faces of the Qur’ān: Qur’ān and Musḥaf,” *Oral Tradition* 25, no. 1 (2010): 16. [^2]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3461. [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4485. [^4]: For a good overview of the various attitudes towards *isrāʾīliyyāt* in Qur’anic commentaries and early narrations, see Ismail Albayrak, “Qur’anic Narrative and Israiliyyat in Western Scholarship and in Classical Exegesis” (PhD diss., University of Leeds, 2000), 114–131. A useful list of the most authentic narrations on the topic that reflect this ambivalenc is found in Wan Mohd Fazrul Azdi Wan Razali, Ahmad Yunus Mohd Noor, and Jaffary Awang, “The Fourth Source: Isrā’īliyyāt and the Use of the Bible in Muslim Scholarship,” in *Reading the Bible in Islamic Context*, ed. Daniel J. Crowther, Shirin Shafaie, Ida Glaser, and Shabbir Akhtar (London: Routledge, 2017), 110. [^5]: A complete survey is provided in John Reeves and Annette Yoshiko Reed, *Enoch from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, Volume I: Sources From Judaism, Christianity, and Islam* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 219–53. [^6]: Abraham Geiger, *Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judentume aufgenommen?* (Bonn: F. Baaden, 1833); the English translation is *Judaism and Islam: A Prize Essay*, trans. F. M. Young (Vepery: M.D.C.S.P.C.K. Press, 1896). [^7]: Holger Zellentin, “Trialogical Anthropology: The Qur’an on Adam and Iblīs in View of Rabbinic and Christian Discourse,” 100 passim, in *New Approaches to Human Dignity in the Context of Qur’anic Anthropology: The Quest for Humanity*, ed. Rüdiger Braun and Hüseyin I. Çeçek (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017), 61–131. [^8]: Sidney Griffith, “Christian Lore and the Arabic Qur’an: The ‘Companions of the Cave’ in Surat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian Tradition,” in *The Qur’an in Its Historical Context* (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007), 116. [^9]: Angelika Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai, and Michael Marx, *The Qur’an in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations into the Qur’anic Milieu* (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 13. [^10]: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Thaʿālibī, *Jawāhir al-ḥisān fī tafsīr al-Qur’an* (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-‘Aṣrīyah, 1997), 5:48. [^11]: Sergey Minov, “Date and Provenance of the Syriac *Cave of Treasures*: A Reappraisal,” ed. George Anton Kiraz, *Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies* 20 (December 3, 2018): 129–230, [https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463239978-004](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463239978-004&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066822829&usg=AOvVaw3fJ5mU7sWfj9jQ5_loX0A3). [^12]: For references and translations of all relevant passages, see Zellentin, “Trialogical Anthropology,” 78–81. [^13]: Hermann L. Strack and Günter Stemberger, *Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash*, trans. Markus Bockmuehl (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991), 279–80. While *Genesis Rabbah* predates the *Cave of Treasures*, there is still good reason to believe it is responding to the sources that lie behind the Adam-Jesus typology in the bowing of the angels narrative. See Zellentin, “Trialogical Anthropology,” 84. [^14]: Zellentin, “Trialogical Anthropology,” 103. [^15]: See Zellentin, “Trialogical Anthropology,” 95–129. [^16]: Biblical pseudepigrapha refers to ancient Jewish writings that fall outside the traditional Jewish biblical canon. [^17]: The “Second Temple” period traditionally refers to the time between the reconstruction of the Jewish temple in the 515 BCE and its eventual destruction in 70 CE. This period of time is often associated with the development of the biblical canon and the birth of Christianity. [^18]: Late Antiquity typically refers to the time period 200–800 CE and is commonly known as the era during which Judaism and Christianity took on their recognizable forms and the era within which Islam was established as a world religion. [^19]: In other words, Protestant notions of “*sola scriptura*” should not be applied to Second Temple or Late Antique Judaisms and Christianities. See Annette Yoshiko Reed, “*Pseudepigraphy, Authorship, and the Reception of ‘the Bible’ in Late Antiquity*,” in *The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity: Proceedings of the Montréal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengiesser*, ed. Lorenzo DiTommaso and Lucian Turcescu (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 467–90. [^20]: For a discussion on the place of the oral Torah in rabbinic Judaism, see Martin Sicker, *An Introduction to Judaic Thought and Rabbinic Literature* (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007). [^21]: Readers may consult John Walton’s study on the topic for a careful overview. See John H. Walton, *Ancient Israelite Literature in Its Cultural Context: A Survey of Parallels between Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Texts* (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994). [^22]: For example, the author of the epistle of Jude directly quotes a prophecy found in the noncanonical book of Enoch (Jude 1:14). Cory Anderson convincingly argues that it is very likely that the author(s) of Jude and their audience believed that the noncanonical Book of Enoch was authoritative. See Cory D. Anderson, “Jude’s Use of the Pseudepigraphal Book of 1 Enoch,” in *A Journal of Mormon Thought* 36, no. 2 (2003): 19. [^23]: For a useful discussion on the nature of historical evidence, see Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen, ed., *Philosophy of History: Twenty-First-Century Perspectives* (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020), 44–65. [^24]: That is not to say that the proposed dating of ancient texts cannot be challenged vis-à-vis the historical method itself. As shall be shown later, some of the proposed intertexts for the Qur’an are in fact likely to be post-Qur’anic in origin and, therefore, derived from the Qur’an itself. [^25]: This point was also made by some classical Muslim scholars. For example, Fakhr al-Dīn Al-Rāzī (d. 1209) writes, “It would not be possible to say that the Prophet forged \[the Revelation\], for he \[was not known to\] read scripture, nor did anyone teach him, nor did he mix with men of learning.” See Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafatīḥ al-ghayb* (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 12:111. [^26]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3442. [^27]: *Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3445. [^28]: See Menahem Kister et al., “Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation from Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity,” in *Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah* 113 (Brill, 2015), vii. [^29]: Andrei Orlov and Gabriele Boccaccini, eds., “‘Better Watch Your Back, Adam’: Another Adam and Eve Tradition in Second Temple Judaism,” in *New Perspectives on 2 Enoch*, ed. Jason Zurawski (Brill, 2012), 273–82, [https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004230149\_016](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004230149_016&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066826741&usg=AOvVaw3OrQ0CmqnDwo77vUn-TlgT). [^30]: Sergey Minov, “Satan’s Refusal to Worship Adam: A Jewish Motif and Its Reception in Syriac Christian Tradition,” in *Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation from Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity*, ed. Menahem Kister et al. (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 233, [https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004299139\_011](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004299139_011&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066827233&usg=AOvVaw2zLFbYr9rDdSP19q0qiY9D). [^31]: Andrei A. Orlov, “The Sacerdotal Traditions of 2 Enoch and the Date of the Text,” in *New Perspectives on 2 Enoch* (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 103–16. [^32]: For this and further arguments for a pre-Christian origin of the veneration of Adam story, see Crispin Fletcher Louis, *Jesus Monotheism, Volume 1, Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond* (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015), 263. [^33]: Crispin Fletcher-Louis, “A Divine and Angelic Humanity in the DSS,” in *All the Glory of Adam* (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 88–135. [^34]: Eileen M. Schuller, “4Q380 and 4Q381: Non-Canonical Psalms from Qumran,” in *The Dead Sea Scrolls* (Leiden: Brill, 1992). [^35]: See Minov, “Satan’s Refusal to Worship Adam,” 247–48. [^36]: This section is adapted from a paper delivered by Sharif Randhawa at the 2019 International Qur’anic Studies Association Annual Meeting: “‘Immortality and Kingdom That Never Fades’?: Adam, Satan, and the Forbidden Tree in the Qur’an.” [^37]: The notion of *taḥrīf* is ultimately found in its simplest form in Qur’an 2:79, 5:13–14, and other related verses. In addition, the Qur’an’s conscious departure from biblical stories is in itself evidence for the corruption of previous scripture for some Western scholars. See for example Geneviève Gobillot, “Qur’an and Torah: The Foundations of Intertextuality,” in *A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations* (Prineton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013), 611–27. [^38]: Geiger, *Judaism and Islam*, 79. [^39]: The Qur’an does not describe the tree as either a “tree of knowledge of good and evil” or as a “tree of life,” but simply as “this/that tree” (*hādhihi/tilka ʾsh-shajarah*) (2:35; 7:19, 20). [^40]: In the Genesis account, God places additional measures around the tree of life after Adam eats from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is purely to prevent Adam from becoming immortal, just like he had gained knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:22–24), giving the impression that God in the Bible did not intend Adam to gain moral knowledge in the first place. [^41]: An important supplement to Geiger’s argument was put forward by Joseph Witztum, who proposes that the Qur’an’s “garbling” of the Genesis account came about because, in his opinion, the Qur’an’s alleged author had heard about the story of the fall of Adam from the Syriac *Cave of Treasures*, rather than from the book of Genesis. In this Syriac text, the identity of the tree that Eve took from is somewhat ambiguous. First, we read that God planted the tree of life (*ʾīlāna d-ḥaye*) in the middle of the Garden (*Cave of Treasures* 4:2), which is an allegory for Jesus’ cross. Later we see that Eve hears about “the tree” (*ʾīlāna*) from Satan and eats from it (*Cave of Treasures* 4:14) and hence disobeys God. Since we are told nothing about the nature of this tree, Witztum concludes that “a reader without familiarity with Genesis could well assume that the forbidden tree is the Tree of Life.” Aside from overlooking why the Qur’an would depart from the biblical story in such a manner, there are other issues with Witztum’s posited garbling scenario. His identification of Qur’an’s forbidden tree with the tree of life in the *Cave of Treasures* is ironically dependent on certain biblical details, such as the notion that the tree of life does in fact confer immortality or angelhood, rather than simply being an allegory for Jesus’ cross. If, for argument’s sake, the alleged human author of the Qur’an relied on the *Cave of Treasures* to produce the Qur’anic account, we would also have to assume that he had other sources informing him of these specific biblical details concerning the forbidden tree, yet these same sources did not inform him exactly which tree was forbidden. One is left with an almost comical situation where the Qur’an’s author chances upon very specific, disconnected details about the story of Adam from canonical and apocryphal sources and somehow pieces them together to formulate a coherent narrative, which, by pure coincidence, functions as a specific corrective to the corresponding biblical account. For Witztum’s argument, refer to Joseph Witztum, *The Syriac Milieu of the Qur’an: The Recasting of Biblical Narratives* (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 2011), 81–82. The present references to the *Cave of Treasures*, including verse numbers, are based on the eastern recension of the text published by Su-Min Ri. See Su-Min Ri, *La Caverne Des Trésors: Les Deux Recensions Syriaques, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium* (Leuven: Peeters, 1987). [^42]: Witztum, “Syriac Milieu of the Qur’an,” 188–239. [^43]: Pseudo-Narsai belongs to the genre of ancient biblical commentary that exemplifies the phenomenon of narrative expansion, a “characteristic feature” of many premodern Jewish and Christian texts that predominantly discuss biblical stories and themes. This technique involves introducing details to biblical stories that are not explicitly found within the canonical texts themselves but, in the minds of later Jewish or Christian authors, may have been implied by the specific wording of biblical stories or are otherwise a natural addition to them. On the technique of biblical narrative expansion, see James L. Kugel, *In Potiphar’s House:* *The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts* (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), 4. Kugel introduces the scope of this phenomenon and provides many examples specific to rabbinic exegesis. Kugel’s observations are further developed specifically in relation to Syriac Christian literature by Kristian Heal. See Kristian Heal, “Reworking the Biblical Text in the Dramatic Dialogue Poems on the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph,” in *The Peshitta: Its Use in Literature and Liturgy* (Brill, 2007), 87–98. [^44]: Excerpt translated from the Syriac edition in Paul Bedjan, “Homiliae Mar-Narsetis in Joseph,” in *Liber Superiorum Seu Historia Monastica* (Paris: Harrassowitz, 1901), 527. [^45]: For example, in the Bible, God reassures Moses when he expresses self-doubt (Exodus 3:11–12) and similarly responds to King Hezekiah’s call of distress in the face of an Assyrian invasion (2 Kings 19). In the Qur’an, God’s responsiveness to and consolation of His servants is a central feature of His relationship with humanity. For instance, He comforts Mary through the words of Jesus in her womb (Qur’an 19:23–26) and also Moses’ mother in her fear for Moses’ life (Qur’an 28:7–13). For an excellent comparative study of how God reassures and responds to believers in the Qur’an, the Bible, and Jewish or Christian tradition, see Usman Sheikh, *God’s Responsiveness in the Qur’ān: An Intra and Intertextual Analysis* (Oxford: Oxford University, 2021). [^46]: This form of explanation is also applicable to the few other points of agreement between Pseudo-Narsai and the Qur’an in their respective versions of the Joseph story. For example, in the Bible, Jacob reacts to his son Joseph’s dream with apparent incredulity (Genesis 37:10), but both Pseudo-Narsai and the Qur’an (12:6) portray Jacob as reacting positively to Joseph’s dream. See Bedjan, “Homiliae Mar-Narsetis in Joseph,” 522–523. Such a departure from the biblical narrative is not unusual, given that Jacob himself is a prophet and would have understood that his son’s dream had some significance. However, as with the case of God’s revelation to Joseph in the well, the Qur’an differs from Pseudo-Narsai when it comes to the specifics of this episode, implying that Jacob did not know the precise meaning of his son’s dream until after it was fulfilled (Qur’an 12:100). This is in contrast to both Genesis and Pseudo-Narsai, where Jacob immediately interprets the dream, understanding it to mean that he and his sons would eventually bow to Joseph in the future (see Genesis 37:10 and Bedjan, “Homiliae Mar-Narsetis in Joseph,” 523, respectively). Overall, it should be stressed that the Qur’an and the *Homilies of Joseph* often disagree on details, and commonalities between them are usually because the core story of Joseph’s life is ultimately also found in the Bible, which may partly comprise previous revelation from a Muslim perspective. [^47]: By the 7th century, Jews had long developed a vast tradition of rabbinic law deriving from the written Torah (i.e., the Pentateuch) as represented in the Talmud. Moreover, unlike Protestant Christians today, many Christian groups of Late Antiquity adhered to some form of legal or ritual practice as evidenced by certain documents that survive from that era. These include the *Didascalia Apostolorum* and the *Clementine Homilies*, whose laws sometimes bear similarities with the Qur’an’s own injunctions. See Holger Michael Zellentin, *The Qur’ān’s Legal Culture: The Didascalia Apostolorum as a Point of Departure* (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013). [^48]: Some manuscripts omit “from Israel,” and therefore do not restrict the maxim to the Israelites only, in agreement with the Qur’an. This omission seems truer to the evidence presented in the Mishnah, as Abel’s offspring are not limited to the Israelites. [^49]: Translation taken from H. Danby, “The Mishnah: Translated From The Hebrew With Introduction And Brief Explanatory Notes, 1933,” *Sanhedrin* 4, no. 5 (n.d.): 388. [^50]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7352. [^51]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4483. ʿUmar’s statement that God “agreed” with him is particularly interesting here. [^52]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 3773. Al-Albānī and al-Wādiʿī both graded this hadith as authentic (*saḥīh*); however, Ibn Kathīr expressed that scholars disagreed over its *isnād*. [^53]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3397. This hadith is well attested and has many versions. [^54]: One may still argue that 5:32 is intended to be an explicit decree from the Torah, as opposed to alluding to a derived ruling, due to the similar usage of *katabnā* in 5:45, which contains a near-verbatim allusion to the Lex Talionis (the law of retribution) in Deut 19:21. However, although the law of retribution is explicitly stated to be ‘in’ (*fīhā)* the Torah, no such explicit statement is made in 5:32, nor does the preceding context seem to require it (unlike 5:45). Nonetheless, even if the analogy between 5:32 and 5:45 were valid, it is still possible that “decree” in both instances is meant to reflect correct interpretation of scripture rather than the mere literal meaning. If one considers the allusion to Deuteronomy in verse 5:45, it is apparent that the Qur’an’s prescription intentionally reaches beyond the mere meaning of the text – for example, while this *ayah* prescribes forgiveness as the better option, Deut 19:21 forbids any leniency, at least at face value (*w-lō tākhōs*). Despite this, Rabbinic law encourages forgiveness even in some criminal cases due to scriptural reasons. Both 5:32 and 5:45 could thus be said to reflect rulings *derived* *by* scripture rather than verbatim references. See [Solomon Schimmel, “Interpersonal Forgiveness and Repentance in Judaism,” in](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?5BSF02&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066848300&usg=AOvVaw3Il-ufzKkvcFOlSTDAFNUR) *[Forgiveness in Context: Theology and Psychology in Creative Dialogue](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?5BSF02&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066848497&usg=AOvVaw3HI9tjKik2MeUoPmp3OByN)* [(London & New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 16–18.](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?5BSF02&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066848680&usg=AOvVaw08znlOrMNbkkL_VLcFt58Y) [^55]: See Ibn Kathīr, *Tafsīr al-Qur’an al- Aʿzīm* (Riyadh: Dār Ṭayba, 1999), v. 5:32. [^56]: Alternatively, a second approach might be to accept the grammatical argument made in the Talmud as valid, in light of the Qur’anic statement that God has conferred on every community its own law and methodology (5:48). The Talmudic argument might therefore be considered a sound deduction within the framework of interpretive norms inherited by the Jews of Late Antiquity, even if it may seem arbitrary to those outside this tradition. For the rabbinic mode of scriptural exegesis, in which peculiar features of the biblical text are exploited to reveal a deeper message far surpassing its plain meaning, see Irving Jacobs, *The Midrashic Process: Tradition and Interpretation in Rabbinic Judaism* (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 1–21. [^57]: See Aleksandra Szalc, “In Search of Water of Life: The Alexander Romance and Indian Mythology,” in *The Alexander Romance in Persia and the East*, ed. Richard Stoneman, Kyle Erickson, and Ian Netton (Groningen: Barkhuis, 2012), 327. [^58]: The main evidence for this date is an Armenian translation belonging to the early sixth century that seems to show awareness of the β recension. Benjamin Garstad, “Dionysiac and Christian Elements in the Lysos Episode in the Greek Alexander Romance (β Rec.),” *Dumbarton Oaks Papers*, 2022, 72. For further discussion on the dating of the Armenian translation, see Albert Mugrdich Wolohojian, *The Romance of Alexander the Great: By Pseudo-Callisthenes* (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969), 10. [^59]: For an overview of the various recensions of the Romance, see Krzysztof Nawotka, *The Alexander Romance by Ps.-Callisthenes: A Historical Commentary* (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 30–33. [^60]: Translations from Greek to English for this episode are taken from Brad L. Cook, “A Watery Folktale in the Alexander Romance: Alexander’s Byzantine Neraΐda,” *Syllecta Classica* 1, no. 20 (2009). [^61]: Brannon M. Wheeler, “Moses or Alexander? Early Islamic Exegesis of Qur’an 18:60–65,” *Journal of Near Eastern Studies* 57, no. 3 (July 1998): 191–215, [https://doi.org/10.1086/468638](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1086/468638&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066833464&usg=AOvVaw3UU3HpzJOXcXRrZMQnynK8). In a narration of a well-attested hadith that expands on Qur’an 18:60–65, the narrator Sufyān b. ʿUyayna mentions the claim that in the vicinity of the rock was a “spring of life” whose water would revive anything dead that it touched. However, this is merely an addition that Sufyān attributes to an undisclosed narrator (*fī ḥadīthin ghayri ʿAmr*) (*Sahīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4727) or to anonymous “people” (*yazʿumu nāsun*) (*al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3149); it is not attributed to the Prophet ﷺ himself. [^62]: The earliest identified manuscript containing the β tradition is Parisinus Supplementus 690, dated to the eleventh century on the basis of paleographic evidence. This manuscript only contains a small portion of the Alexander Romance that does not include the episode of Alexander and the water of life. The earliest manuscripts that do attest to this story date between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most authoritative of these is Parisinus Graecus 1685, dated to the fifteenth century. For a brief overview of the dating of the primary manuscripts of the β tradition, see Alexander Mikhaylov, “*Entgrenzung und Begrenzung Alexanders des Großen: äußere Grenzen im griechischen Alexanderroman, dem Schāhnāmeh und in der altrussischen Aleksandrija*” (Kiel: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 2015), 11 and Cook, “A Watery Folktale,” 109. Outside the Alexander Romance, the other relevant texts that contain variants of the episode, namely Tamid 32b and the *Syriac Song of Alexander*, similarly lack manuscripts that date prior to the Qur’an. [^63]: Some examples of Qur’anic influences on proposed intertexts are explored in further detail in the following sections (see Categories 6 and 7). [^64]: There is some speculation in *tafsīr* as to where exactly this meeting of the two seas, *majmaʿ al-baḥrayn*, is located. Al-Zamakhsharī (d. 1143) lists most of the common opinions, citing the location of the junction being somewhere between the ‘seas of Persia and Rome’, or in Africa or Tangier, while Ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1973) reasonably suggests the Jordan River. See [al-Zamakhsharī,](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?ienUrq&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066849242&usg=AOvVaw22FFO9VXgIrcWcFHlbMKUO) *[Al-Kashshāf ʻan Ḥaqāʼiq Ghawāmiḍ al-Tanzīl](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?ienUrq&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066849426&usg=AOvVaw0TdyjBGgXb1FZH-kUXrakI)* [(Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, n.d.), v. 18:60-65](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?ienUrq&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066849616&usg=AOvVaw02WL9-IANJkg-AhBmyPaNu) and [Ibn ʿĀshūr,](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?S7q76M&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066849846&usg=AOvVaw3WVEqxZsHxhVgURnvlYl29) *[Tafsīr Al-Taḥrīr Wa-al-Tanwīr](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?S7q76M&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066850097&usg=AOvVaw1Qnk5CIV1SQuLLwKZ1FYq6)* [(Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnusiyah li-l-nashr, 1984), v. 18:60-65.](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?S7q76M&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066850301&usg=AOvVaw02RsX55YfksytueG2RjL3F) The specific location of this junction is ultimately irrelevant, and the only important point here is that all hints in the Qur’an indicate that this junction clearly refers to a mundane geographical location, as opposed to a mythical spring of life. This is what prompted many *mufassirūn* to suggest familiar locations. It should be noted that although some *mufassirūn,* such as Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373), do suggest the meeting of the two seas to be the place of the ‘spring of life’ (*ʿayn al-ḥayāh*), they do not equate the junction with the spring of life itself, and are furthermore informed by *isrāʾīliyyāt* that ultimately rely on Syriac sources. See [Brannon M. Wheeler, “Moses or Alexander? Early Islamic Exegesis of Qurʾān 18:60-65,”](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?bbXddB&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066850976&usg=AOvVaw0FWQbJg7drtbBYaJZiJL7k) *[Journal of Near Eastern Studies](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?bbXddB&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066851194&usg=AOvVaw0RorQP1kAVCHrTPFDsO4qy)* [57, no. 3 (July 1998): 191–215, https://doi.org/10.1086/468638.](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?bbXddB&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066851382&usg=AOvVaw3VkgXBtf41RlNjf6WAtRyQ) In any case, there is no credible evidence that supports the presence of this spring in the Qur’anic story. See also footnote 67 below. [^65]: Tomasso Tesei, “Some Cosmological Notions from Late Antiquity in Q 18:60–65: The Qur’an in Light of Its Cultural Context,” *Journal of the American Oriental Society* 135, no. 1 (2015): 23, [https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.1.19](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.1.19&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066834888&usg=AOvVaw0GhqF1yfA9sFZk1MSnA6ri). [^66]: See Mohammad Ali Tabataba’i and Saida Mirsadri, “The Qur’anic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself,” *Arabica*, 2016, 213. [^67]: None of the characters in the Qur’anic story are said to obtain eternal life. The Qur’an itself asserts that God has not given any human being lasting or eternal life (21:34). While the Islamic tradition contains legends of the sage al-Khidr’s immortality, their authenticity has been criticized by some Muslim scholars. See *al-Manār al-munīf fī al-ṣaḥīḥ wa-al-ḍaʿīf*, ed. Abd al-Fatāh Abū Ghuddah (N.d.: Maktab al-Matbūʿāt al-Islāmiyyah, 1970), 67. [^68]: See Brannon M. Wheeler, *Moses in the Qur’an and Islamic Exegesis* (New York: Routledge, 2002), 13. It is true that Moses’s assistant characterizes the escape of the fish as “strange” or “marvelous” (*ʿajaban*), just as the Qur’an suggests that its audience found the story of the Seven Sleepers to be “a marvel (*ʿajaban*) among God’s signs” (18:9). However, although the Sleepers awaken from a miraculously long slumber, they serve only as a sign of resurrection, not as an example of literal resurrection itself. In a similar way, the escape of the fish could be an allusion to renewal of life in the face of a seemingly inevitable death without necessarily being an example of a miraculous resurrection. Moreover, the confession of Moses’ assistant that at the location of the rock he forgot the fish and witnessed it take a marvelous path into the sea suggests not that the fish came to life, but that in a moment of inattention, the fish escaped from his supervision. This seems to be the most straightforward reading of the Qur’an. [^69]: As we hope to demonstrate in future articles, this is representative of a more general pattern when it comes to the Qur’an’s intertextual engagements with the cosmology and narratives found in Late Antique texts. Qur’an 18:63. See Mustansir Mir’s interpretation of this Qur’anic passage in his article “Humor in the Qur’an,” *The Muslim World* 81, no. 3– 4 (October 1991): 179–93. [^70]: Some may still argue that the overlap of certain motifs, such as the presence of a fish as a sign for the protagonist, is too striking to be coincidental. There are several ways to respond to this. First, it is entirely possible that an ancient historical or revealed tradition on Moses’ life influenced the Alexander Romance. Interestingly, a variation of the Alexander story is also present in the mishnah tractate *Tamid*, which some scholars have dated to as early as the first century. See Ori Amitay, “Alexander in Bavli Tamid: In Search for a Meaning,” *The Alexander Romance in Persia and East* (Groningen: Barkhuis Publishing, 2012), 349–65. For comments on dating, see Peter L. Trudinger, “The Tamid Service,” in *The Psalms of the Tamid Service* (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 12–51. Second, it is possible that pre-Rabbinic Jews had a memory of the original account involving Moses, which then evolved into a story about Alexander and subsequently spread to the Christian world. This example could therefore at least partially be reduced to a case of the Qur’an’s agreement and correction of texts containing pre-Qur’anic revelation (see Category 1). Nonetheless, after considering how the Qur’an differs from the Romance account, we maintain that the few exact parallels between the two stories are not too striking to warrant further explanation. Stories that have developed independently across cultures sometimes feature similar motifs, even though the communities that they belong to are isolated by time and geographical boundaries. Third, it is entirely possible that God prescribed the mundane event of a fish’s escape from being eaten as a sign for Moses, and that some centuries later, a fictitious story featuring a fish coming to life as an identifier for a miraculous life-giving spring independently developed. After all, scholars have noted that fish have often been associated with renewal of life or rebirth across many cultures. See Patricia A. Morley, “Fish Symbolism in Chapter Seven of Finnegans Wake: The Hidden Defence of Shem the Penman,” *James Joyce Quarterly* 6, no. 3 (1969): 268–69. For a general resource on cross-cultural repetition of motifs in storytelling, see also L. L. Stookey, *Thematic Guide to World Mythology* (Connecticut.: Greenwood Press, 2004). [^71]: This is how the episode is adapted in the Syriac *Song of Alexander*, ascribed to the Syriac poet-theologian Jacob of Serugh (d. 521 CE) but now dated to the early seventh century by an anonymous author (see Kevin Van Bladel, “The Alexander Legend in the Qur’an 18: 83–102,” in *The Qur’an in Its Historical Context* (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007), 188. Though the work was most likely composed soon after the revelation of the Qur’anic story, it probably reflects earlier adaptations of the Alexander Romance among Syriac Christians. [^72]: Given that Qur’anic revelation preceded the authorship of many of its alleged sources (see footnote 73 below), Ismail Albayrak writes that “there is a need for general common sense and objectivity amongst academics in order for the foundations of mutual interaction in verbal and textual literature to be established... many Jewish and Christian groups continued their lives under Muslim rule, and it is an undeniable fact that most of these groups had to change both their way of speaking and their religious language due to the influence of Islam.” Ismail Albayrak, “Reading the Bible in the Light of Muslim Sources: From Isrāʾīliyyāt to Islāmiyyāt,” *Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations* 23, no. 2 (April 2012): 113–127, [https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.655062](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.655062&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066837687&usg=AOvVaw172zvQOO0CpmvHxlUP2RTv). [^73]: Shari Lowin aptly notes that some scholars wrongly view even post-Islamic texts as potentially having influenced the Qur’an, simply assuming that the text contains pre-Islamic traditions. As Lowin and a number of other scholars have shown, in many cases, it was in fact Islamic tradition that influenced Jewish or Christian scholarship in the post-Qur’anic era. As one example, Joseph Witztum has argued that the incident of the raven teaching Cain how to bury his brother is an originally Qur’anic tradition that later influenced midrashic and Christian texts. See Witztum, “Syriac Milieu of the Qur’an,” 115–122. For further examples of the symbiotic relationship between Islamic tradition and post-Qur’anic Judaism, see Shari L. Lowin, *The Making of a Forefather: Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives* (Leiden: Brill, 2006). [^74]: The Aramaic word *targum* (pl. *targumīm*) literally means “translation” or “interpretation”; however, the specific sense of the term refers to an ancient body of Aramaic commentaries written by Jewish authors that heavily expanded or explained the Hebrew Bible. See John Bowker, *The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture* (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1969). Targum Sheni is thus related to the biblical book of Esther in a manner consistent with its genre of literature and has been dated to anywhere between the fourth and eleventh centuries CE. For a summary of the various (admittedly somewhat obsolete) opinions on the dating of Targum Sheni, readers should consult Bernard Grossfeld, *The Two Targums of Esther: Translated, with Apparatus and Notes*, vol. 18, *The Aramaic Bible* (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991). In consideration of the more recent evidence that shall be presented in this paper, we will tentatively suggest that this text was either entirely authored in the post-Qur’anic era, or still fluid during this time. [^75]: Translation reproduced from Paulus Cassel, A*n Explanatory Commentary on Esther: With Four Appendices Consisting of the Second Targum Translated from the Aramaic with Notes: Mithra: The Winged Bulls of Persepolis: And Zoroaster* (T. and T. Clark, 1888), 275–76. [^76]: See for example, Gabriel Said Reynolds, *The Qur’an and the Bible: Text and Commentary* (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018), 586. [^77]: This was first noted by M. S. M. Saifullah. et al., “On the Sources of the Story of Cain and Abel in the Qur’an,” Islamic Awareness, 2006, [https://www.islamicawareness.org/Qur’an/sources/bbcanda](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/sources/bbcanda&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066839435&usg=AOvVaw38aFCgbg7roz6SrcyYGkhG). [^78]: For this argument and further evidence of a post–ninth century dating, see [Allegra Iafrate,](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?gt1fB5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066838486&usg=AOvVaw0MMuZKJG9doquJ_t-WT8rC) *[The Wandering Throne of Solomon: Objects and Tales of Kingship in the Medieval Mediterranean](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?gt1fB5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066838705&usg=AOvVaw0wWBpbSH5ujDgJgG8yLvHu)*[, vol. 2, Mediterranean Art Histories (Brill, 2016), https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004305267.](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?gt1fB5&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066838962&usg=AOvVaw2NemMtEnZXZE0MoGDDLAYC) [^79]: For a useful list of early manuscripts, readers should refer to: “Concise List of Arabic Manuscripts of the Qur’an Attributable to the First Century Hijra,” Islamic Awareness, 2019, [https://www.islamic-awareness.org/Qur’an/text/mss/hijazi.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/text/mss/hijazi.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066840707&usg=AOvVaw1WbjaGmR07Qpy2Vwsd9akX). [^80]: John Moschus, *The Spiritual Meadow*, trans. John Wortley (Pratum Spirituale) (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1992), 221. Readers wishing to read the complete story as found in *The Spiritual Meadow* may consult this translation. [^81]: Reynolds, *Qur’an and the Bible*, 465. See also, Roger Paret, “Un Parallèle Byzantin à Coran, XVIII, 59-81,” *Revue Des Études Byzantines* 26, no. 1 (1968): 137–159. [^82]: Following Elpidio Mioni’s classifications, the primary manuscript witnesses include the twelfth-century Florentine codex (Laurentianus Plut. X.3), the Paris codex (Parisinus gr. 1596) from the eleventh century, the Venice codex (Marcianus gr. II.21) dated to the mid-tenth century, and, finally, the Turin codex (Taurinensis Graecus B-II-10), which is dated to the twelfth century, although it contains two folios from the tenth century. The Venice codex is the primary witness to the additional stories that are absent from the Florentine codex (including the story of the angel and the monk). For Mioni’s assessment and further discussion, see Henry Chadwick, “John Moschus and His Friend Sophronius the Sophist,” *The Journal of Theological Studies*, 1974, 43. An additional source of the story is the Vienna codex (Vindobonensis Hist. Gr. 42), an 11th century manuscript, although it only possesses the ending of the story where the angel reveals his motives. See Th. Nissen, “Unbekannte Erzählungen Aus Dem Pratum Spirituale,” *Byzantinische Zeitschrift 38*, no. 2 (1938), [https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1938.38.2.351](https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1938.38.2.351). Mioni argues that this manuscript is dependent on the Venice codex, which, in any case, is earlier and provides the complete version of the story. [^83]: Philip Pattenden noted in 1975 that the Florentine manuscript “remains for the present the most authoritative.” Philip Pattenden, “The Text of the Pratum Spirituale,” *The Journal of Theological Studies* XXVI, no. 1 (April 1, 1975): 38– 54, [https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/XXVI.1.38](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/XXVI.1.38&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066842669&usg=AOvVaw0bGjKkWJTm2bJDjTPFYIS1). It does not seem much has changed since Pattenden’s remarks many decades ago, considering that no critical edition of the Spiritual Meadow has yet to surface. See Phil Booth, *Crisis of Empire: Doctrine and Dissent at the End of Late Antiquity*, vol. 52 (University of California Press, 2017), 91. [^84]: Booth, *Crisis of Empire*. Other scholars also express uncertainty as to whether these stories really do go back to Moschus. See for example, Moschus, *Spiritual Meadow*, x. [^85]: Pattenden, “Text of the Pratum Spirituale,” 40–41. [^86]: Moschus, *Spiritual Meadow*, xiii. [^87]: As Brenda Ihssen notes, one can only conclude that the “text that remains is not as John composed it.” See Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen, *John Moschos’ Spiritual Meadow* (Burlington: Ashgate, 2014), 14. [^88]: First-century *hijrī* codices that contain Q18:65–82 including M a VI 165 and Arabe 328f. See “Concise List of Arabic Manuscripts of the Qur’an Attributable to the First Century Hijra.” [^89]: Strack and Stemberger, *Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash*, 273. [^90]: A “*seʾah*” is a standard unit of measure used in rabbinic law. The earliest mention of this term is found in Genesis 18:6, where Abraham is said to have ordered his wife Sarah to take “three *seʾah* of flour” to prepare food for his visitors. [^91]: According to the biblical narrative, human beings after the time of the Great Flood are exclusively descendents of Noah. The “Noahide Laws” in Jewish tradition refers to God’s commands to the sons of Noah, and therefore all non-Jews by implication. These laws generally encompass basic prohibitions around disbelief in God, harming other humans (e.g., murder or robbery), sexual immorality, and eating from live animals. See [David Novak and Matthew Lagrone,](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?7LveeT&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066847009&usg=AOvVaw2AnH26zkVM7sIIF95Id5Hd) *[The Image of the Non-Jew in Judaism: The Idea of Noahide Law](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?7LveeT&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066847227&usg=AOvVaw2PVaGh1I48Sw9gex5bOBI9)*[, 2nd ed, Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (Oxford ; Portland, OR: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2011), 11–35.](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?7LveeT&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066847419&usg=AOvVaw2el_96Hvz944ukLGjhm3UI) [^92]: Translation from Haggai Mazuz, “Tracing Possible Jewish Influence on a Common Islamic Commentary on Deuteronomy 33:2,” *The Journal of Jewish Studies* 67, no. 2 (2016): 291–304. [^93]: *Avōt d-Rabbi Natan*, or “the \[chapter of the\] Fathers according to rabbi Nathan,” is an expansion of an earlier tractate of the Mishnah titled “*Pirkê ʾAvōt*” (“the chapter of the Fathers”). [^94]: Jacob Neusner, “Rabbinic Narrative: A Documentary Perspective, Volume Three: Forms, Types and Distribution of Narratives in Song of Songs Rabbah and Lamentations Rabbah and a Reprise of Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan Text A,” in *Rabbinic Narrative: A Documentary Perspective*, vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 269. [^95]: This intertextual engagement was presented by Shari Lowin at the 2019 International Qur’anic Studies ʾ Association (IQSA) annual meeting. For the abstract of Lowin’s presentation, see *International Qur’anic Studies Association*, “Annual Meeting Program Book and Annual Report,” 2019, 32. While the motif of the seas as ink does occur elsewhere in rabbinic literature, it is only in the context of describing the rabbinic sages where one encounters it in connection with the theme of knowledge. [^96]: *Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3140. Al-Albāni graded this narration *saḥīḥ*, as did al-Wādiʿī and Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd. [^97]: Note that the Hebrew “sh” consonant is often interchangeable with the Arabic *sīn*, thus *samiʿnā* becomes *(we)-shāmaʿnū* in Hebrew. [^98]: The Qur’an builds a fairly complex argument in many verses related to Abraham’s religion and belief, distancing him from both Judaism and Christianity. It responds to Jewish insistence that the patriarchs kept the Mosaic law while simultaneously rebutting any Christian belief that Jesus was somehow recognized by Abraham prior to his earthly career. See Neal Robinson, “Sūrat Āl ʿImrān and Those with the Greatest Claim to Abraham,” *Journal of Qur’anic Studies* 6, no. 2 (2004): 7–8. For further insights on how the Qur’an responds to Jewish claims that the patriarchs—including Abraham—kept the Torah before its revelation, see Zellentin, *Qur’ān’s Legal Culture*, 168. [^99]: The possibility of this interlinguistic engagement seems to have been first noted by Mun’im Sirry. Refer to Mun’im Sirry, *New Trends in Qur’anic Studies: Text, Context, and Interpretation* (Atlanta, Georgia: Lockwood Press, 2019), 353, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctvd1c8h4](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctvd1c8h4&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1677539066845173&usg=AOvVaw1sviwTC8uw3hG8UvqsP2gV). [^100]: Many such examples are provided by Raʾūf Abū Saʿda, *Min iʿjāz al-Qur’an fī aʿjamī al-Qur’an* (Cairo: Dār al-Hilāl, 1994); translated into English as Raouf Abou Seida, *The Onomastic Miracle in the Koran* (Riyadh: Al-Maiman Publishing House, 2011). Although not all of the examples documented by Abū Saʿda are particularly convincing, there are enough plausible examples provided to indicate that this is a frequent trend in the Qurʾan. [^101]: A positive case for the Qur’an’s divine origins on the basis of its intertextuality shall be presented thoroughly in a future essay. ## Summary The Qur'an is God's final revelation, and among its most prominent features is its use of narrative, recounting stories of past prophets and nations to instruct both its original hearers and later generations. Because it confirms and continues the revelations that preceded it—as the Qur'an itself declares, "He has sent down upon you the Book in truth, confirming what came before it" (3:3) and describes itself as "a confirmation of what came before it" (2:97)—its stories echo those known to the Jewish and Christian communities. Yet these echoes are found not only in the Bible but in a vast body of extra-biblical tradition that these communities transmitted and elaborated over centuries. This engagement of one text with earlier texts and traditions is what scholars term "intertextuality." For instance, the reference to the repentance of "the people of Jonah" in Qur'an 10:98 gains fuller meaning when read against the biblical Book of Jonah, while the account of the angels prostrating to Adam in Sūrah al-Baqarah finds parallels in Jewish and Christian stories circulating well before the Qur'an's revelation. Muslim scholarship has long drawn upon earlier scriptural tradition to illuminate the Qur'an. The works of hadith and tafsīr preserve many reports in which early exegetes—most notably Ibn ʿAbbās, the Prophet's ﷺ cousin—narrated traditions of Jewish and Christian origin, known as isrāʾīliyyāt, when commenting on the stories of the prophets. While some reports record criticism of such usage, the general prophetic guidance is embodied in his authentic statements, "Narrate from the Children of Israel—there is no problem," and "Do not believe or disbelieve in the People of the Scripture." That is, these traditions may serve as sources of information but cannot stand as standards of doctrine or practice without verification. Thus, when the Qur'an mentions Idrīs, whom it calls "a man of truth, a prophet" whom God "raised to a high station" (19:56-57), many early exegetes identified him with the biblical Enoch, of whom Genesis says, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Al-Ṭabarī accordingly cites various narrations that Idrīs was carried to heaven, echoing pre-Islamic traditions about Enoch. Early Western scholarship, by contrast, approached this subject polemically, seeking to reduce the Qur'an to borrowed "sources," as reflected in the very title of Abraham Geiger's 1833 work, "What did Muhammad borrow from Judaism?" More recent Western scholarship has largely abandoned this posture, recognizing instead that the Qur'an engages with and critiques earlier traditions from its own autonomous standpoint, offering what one scholar calls "corrective retellings." Sidney Griffith observes that the Qur'an "cannot be reduced to any presumed sources," since earlier material appears in it "shaped, trimmed and re-formulated for an essentially new narrative." This corrective role is affirmed by the Qur'an itself: "We have revealed to you this Book with the truth, as a confirmation of previous Scriptures and a supreme authority over them (muhaymin ʿalayh)" (5:48). As al-Thaʿālibī (d. 875/1470) explains, the Qur'an's status as muhaymin means it confirms what is true in earlier scriptures while restoring truth and counteracting whatever corruption entered them. This principle of both affirming and correcting earlier scripture was articulated by Muslim scholars even before modern discussions of intertextuality arose. The story of the angels' prostration to Adam illustrates this well. The Qur'an relates that God commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam once He had formed him and breathed His spirit into him (15:28-30). Though absent from the Bible, this episode appears in post-biblical sources such as the Syriac Christian Cave of Treasures (dated up to the sixth century), where Adam is fashioned in a glorious, God-like image and given royal robes, prompting the angels to worship him—a rendering that served, for many Church Fathers, to underscore the divinity of Jesus. Rabbinic Judaism countered this in Genesis Rabbah (redacted by roughly the fifth century), claiming the angels mistook Adam for God and were corrected when God put Adam to sleep, thereby implying that Christian worship of Jesus was likewise mistaken. The Qur'an engages both accounts with what may be called surgical precision: agreeing with the Christians that the angels prostrated by God's command, yet agreeing with the Jews that Adam was merely a vicegerent (khalīfa) appointed by God (2:30), not an indwelling of divinity. Thus the angels prostrate to Adam (2:34) but do not worship him. Where the Christian text ascribes "glory" and "sanctification" to Adam, the Qur'an turns the very cognate terms toward God, having the angels declare, "We glorify You (nusabbiḥuka) and sanctify You (nuqaddisu laka)." The account also undercuts the Meccan pagans' justification for worshipping angels. Such extra-biblical parallels raise a genuine question: why would the Qur'an engage traditions found not in the Bible but in rabbinic midrash, apocryphal gospels, or Syriac literature? The answer lies in recognizing that these traditions formed an integral part of Jewish and Christian religious life in Late Antiquity, just as the Islamic tradition includes hadith, tafsīr, and sīra alongside the Qur'an. As Annette Reed notes, the biblical heritage of Late Antique Jews and Christians "went well beyond the texts of the books that became canonical." Rabbinic Jews cherished midrash, both legal (halakhah) and narrative (aggadah), much of it compiled in the Talmud and regarded as divinely inspired "Oral Torah," while Christians transmitted apocryphal gospels, patristic writings, homilies, and apocalypses. Even the Bible itself displays such intertextuality. To criticize the Qur'an merely for engaging extra-biblical tradition is therefore anachronistic. The foundational principle for the believer is that the Qur'an narrates true accounts of the past, as it repeatedly affirms (3:44; 12:102; 28:44), and that these belong to the unseen: "These are the accounts of the unseen which We have revealed to you—you did not know them, nor did your people before you" (11:49). The believer's acceptance rests primarily on God's own testimony rather than on any particular historical dataset. A Muslim approach need only show that parallel traditions could derive from divinely authorized sources, or are presented in a manner not clearly contradicting historical fact. Moreover, the dating of these supposed intertexts is often speculative, resting on literary or testimonial grounds, with the earliest manuscripts frequently postdating the Qur'an by centuries; such arguments never attain the certitude of observable fact. This intertextual depth even points toward divine authorship, for the Prophet ﷺ was unlettered: "You had not read before it any scripture, nor did you write one with your right hand; in that case those who speak falsehood would have doubted" (29:48). His opponents, who had known him a lifetime (10:16), could easily have discredited him had he studied such lore. Because the Qur'an engages so many diverse traditions, no single explanation suffices, and each case must be weighed individually. Seven categories may be proposed. First are parallels with early extra-biblical traditions that may trace to the era of prophecy before Muhammad ﷺ. A hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī records his saying, "I am the nearest of people to the son of Mary… there is no prophet between him and me," while another notes that the Children of Israel were continually led by prophets. Thus material predating Jesus, even if recorded late, may derive from genuine revelation. The Adam prostration motif appears in the first-century Life of Adam and Eve, in 2 Enoch, and even in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q381, dated to the first century BC), indicating an early origin behind the later Cave of Treasures and Genesis Rabbah. Similarly, Satan's reasoning that he was made of fire and Adam of clay (7:12), found in the second- or third-century Questions of Bartholomew, may rest on earlier revelation. The second category is conscious departure from biblical texts, understood through the concept of taḥrīf, the corruption of earlier scripture. Since Muslims need not accept the present Bible absolutely, discrepancies reflect the Qur'an's restoration of obscured truth rather than confusion. Geiger claimed the Qur'an confused the tree of knowledge with the tree of life. Yet in the Qur'an the tree is simply humanity's first test, not a source of moral knowledge—for God created human beings with moral discernment from the outset (76:3; 90:10; 91:8-10)—nor of immortality. Satan's claim that it grants immortality (7:20; 20:120) is a deceptive ruse exploiting human haste, and the passage serves to caution the Prophet ﷺ against haste (20:114-115). This is deliberate theological engagement, not garbling. The third category is coincidental similarity. The consolation of Joseph in the well (12:15) parallels the fifth- or sixth-century Pseudo-Narsai, yet since both traditions share the belief that God consoles His prophets in adversity, such overlap arises naturally and independently—though this explanation is legitimate only where independence is genuinely plausible. The fourth category concerns legal traditions. Qur'an 5:32, declaring that killing one soul is as killing all humanity, echoes a maxim in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) derived from the plural "bloods" in Genesis 4:10. That the Qur'an attributes this to God poses no problem, for authentic hadith affirm that correct human legal reasoning aligns with God's intent—the judge who reasons correctly earns a double reward, and one who errs a single reward. ʿUmar's suggestions were confirmed as revelation, and the Prophet ﷺ accepted certain rulings of others. Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) even offered a rationale independent of the Talmud's grammatical argument, reading verse 5:30 as its anchor. The fifth category involves parallels that counter stories from non-revealed sources. The account of Moses and his assistant seeking the junction of the two seas (18:60-65), preceding the encounter with al-Khiḍr, resembles an episode in the beta recension of the Alexander Romance, where a fish revives in a spring of life. Yet the Qur'an counters rather than copies this myth: the two seas are ordinary bodies of salt and fresh water (35:12; 55:19-22), the fish's escape is merely a sign, no revival occurs, and the protagonist is a prophet rather than the pagan Alexander—thereby avoiding the myth's historical and scientific errors, a sign pointing to divine authorship. The sixth and seventh categories address texts redacted or transmitted after the Qur'an. The Solomon narrative (27:20-44) parallels the Targum Sheni, but evidence—including sirens matching ninth- and tenth-century Byzantine earrings—suggests a post-Qur'anic dating, reversing the direction of influence. Likewise, the story of Moses and al-Khiḍr (18:65-82) parallels a tale in the Spiritual Meadow attributed to John Moschus (d. 619), yet that story appears only in the secondary tenth-century Venice Codex, absent from the authoritative Florentine Codex, amid a manuscript tradition so unstable that the Qur'an's early attestation makes it the likelier source. Beyond such historical questions, intertextuality reveals the Qur'an's rhetorical brilliance. Its likening of unfaithful Torah-bearers to "a donkey carrying books" (62:5) inverts a parable in Sifrei Debarim that praised Israel as a burden-bearing donkey, and the rare word asfār deliberately echoes the Hebrew sefer. Its declaration that the oceans as ink could not exhaust God's words (18:109; 31:27) inverts a boast in Avōt dʾRabbi Natan about a rabbi's own knowledge, a context confirmed by a ṣaḥīḥ narration in Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī. The Qur'an further employs inter-linguistic wordplay: the Israelites' "samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā"—"we hear and we disobey" (2:93)—phonetically mirrors the Hebrew "we have heard and we shall do" while inverting its sense; the insistence that Abraham the ḥanīf "was not from the idolaters" (3:67) guards against the Syriac ḥanpā meaning "pagan"; and the naming of Yaḥyā with "tenderness (ḥanān) from Us" (19:12-13) alludes to the meaning of the Hebrew Yōḥanān. In sum, the Qur'an is no pastiche of borrowings or confusions, but engages earlier traditions with precision, sophistication, and coherence befitting divine authorship. Each parallel is best weighed case by case among these categories, some cases perhaps requiring fresh solutions. Far from undermining faith, the study of Qur'anic intertextuality reveals a scripture displaying profound and accurate knowledge of Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Greek traditions—knowledge inexplicable in an unlettered Prophet ﷺ whose opponents could only, feebly, point to a barely Arabic-speaking foreigner (16:103; 25:4-5). For the believer, such mastery is precisely what one expects of God's revelation, so that its intertextuality strengthens rather than weakens its claim to divine authority, provided that seemingly difficult instances are reasonably explained. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/finding-comfort-in-allahs-mercy-after-a-tragedy-how-to-respond-to-the-earthquake-in-turkey-and-syria # Finding Comfort in Allah's Mercy after a Tragedy: How to respond to the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria | Blog **Author:** Dr. Usaama al-Azami **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog, Natural Disasters **Published:** February 10, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 In the aftermath of a disaster of the magnitude of the recent earthquakes in the Middle East, it is all too normal to feel paralyzed and helpless, both physically and mentally. Many of us might know people from these regions. Some of us may have lived there for a time. Suddenly, the familiar and comforting memories of a place have been reduced to rubble. In a matter of minutes, millions of lives have been irrevocably transformed. Entire families have been lost. Tens of thousands have already perished. How can we find Allah’s mercy in the midst of such devastation? One might ask if searching for mercy is even a responsible thing to do under these circumstances—potentially playing down the enormity of such tragedies. As with all matters in our *deen*, the answers to such questions should be sought in the balanced guidance of the Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah. Allah, in His awe-inspiring power, sends such calamities for a reason—and one can find solace in pondering those reasons. But before such reflection, we should also recognize the Prophetic imperative to act immediately in the wake of great tragedies, no matter who is afflicted by them. The Prophet, in a [hadith in Bukhari and Muslim](https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:126), even praised people who took care of animals suffering from hunger or thirst. And as every believer knows: > “Whoever saves a life, it is as though they have saved all humanity.” \[ Qur’an, 5:32 \] --- ## 1\. Donate to relief efforts now! The first imperative for anyone reading this who has not already done so is to send funds to these regions that are in such desperate need. The Prophet ﷺ urged that when we see something objectionable, we should seek to change it with our hands. If we cannot, we should do so with our tongues by speaking out about it. We can take from this hadith that we should be actively responding to such natural disasters by donating to the relief efforts—changing with one’s hand—and/or actively encouraging people to donate to help save lives that are being lost by the minute. --- ## 2\. Pray for those suffering After the time-sensitive issue of donation, one should recognize that the believer can always turn to Allah in prayer. This is something available to all believers. [The Prophet ﷺ said](https://sunnah.com/adab:711) that a righteous prayer will always be answered in some form. It will either be answered immediately as prayed for, or it will be saved for the person in the next life, so long as the person does not show impatience to his Lord by complaining that a prayer remains unanswered. In essence, Allah answers all prayers, but we may not perceive it. Indeed, our ability to pray to Him is sufficient a blessing for us to continue to pray for the alleviation of the suffering of those afflicted by the earthquake. --- ## 3\. Reflect on Allah’s mercy and might Those caught up in disaster will experience great suffering. However, we can learn from these people what it means to be patient. In video after video on social media in recent days, we witness people saying “Alhamdulillah” despite immense suffering. [In one video](https://twitter.com/Altaf_P7/status/1622932803007680513), a man who had just lost 12 members of his family is seen crying while repeatedly saying: “*Alhamdulillah ‘ala kulli hal*”—praise be to God under all circumstances. This man exemplified the Prophetic response to the death of all but one of his children within his lifetime. As [reported in Bukhari and Muslim](https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:927), after the death of his infant son Ibrahim, the Prophet ﷺ wept and expressed deep sorrow, manifesting his merciful character, while only uttering words that would please his Lord. [In another case](https://twitter.com/Majstar7/status/1623214524596641793) from the present day, a young boy recorded himself stuck under the rubble, not knowing if he had any chance of survival, in which he simply said “Alhamdulillah” and calmly repeated the *shahadah* to himself in preparation to meet his Lord. Such events can thus bring out the best in us and remind us that even in calamity, one can remain focused on the prize—Allah’s pleasure with our actions. > Ultimately, we can recognize that calamities are part of the creation that He creates and sustains in every moment around us. No earth will quake without His permission, just as no leaf will fall without His knowledge \[ Qur’an, 6:59 \]. --- ## 4\. Suffering in this world is not in vain Some may ask what wisdom there is in Allah’s allowing suffering on such a scale. Such questions are essentially a misunderstanding of our role and purpose as believers before our Lord. But we must address them with gentleness in such moments, particularly in the West, where declining belief in God has rendered such events incomprehensible to the average person. The unbeliever may ask what kind of deity would allow this to happen, but to adapt Shakespeare: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth (and better explanations of suffering) than are dreamt of in atheistic philosophy.” As the Prophet ﷺ said in [a hadith reported in Sahih Muslim](https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:461), the suffering of this world is forgotten by the denizens of Paradise. And the indulgences of this life are wiped out for the denizens of the Fire. May Allah save us from the latter and make us of the former! The suffering of this life is but a test, and the Prophet reminds us in a [hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim](https://sunnah.com/search?q=%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A8+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%85) that someone who dies under the falling debris of a building—the main cause of deaths in earthquakes—is a martyr before Allah. This means that our deceased brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria will, insha’Allah*,* be spared any suffering in the next life—the eternal abode. Those who have survived but [have lost small children](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1249) are also promised otherworldly rewards in the next life, as noted in [authentic hadiths](https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1395). The Prophet ﷺ also noted, in a hadith deemed [authentic](https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4278) by some scholars and [weak](https://sunnah.com/search?q=%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%8A+%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%87+%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%A9+%E2%80%8F%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9%D8%8C+%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B3+%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87%D8%A7+%D8%B9%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%A8+%D9%81%D9%8A+%E2%80%8F%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A2%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A9%D9%90%D8%8C+%D8%B9%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7+%D9%81%D9%8A+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%8C+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%8C+%E2%80%8F%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%84%D8%8C+%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%84) by others, that his *ummah* has the special status of being shown mercy by Allah through tribulation in this life. As he ﷺ put it, > “My *ummah* is an *ummah* shown mercy \[by Allah\]. Its *adhaab* is not in the Hereafter. Its *adhaab* is in this world: trials, earthquakes and being killed.” It is worth noting that the Arabic word *adhaab* can mean both “punishment” and “suffering.” The appropriate translation will depend on the context, since in English, punishment is meted out for those who are deserving of it, whereas suffering can take place without it necessarily being deserved. In the context of an earthquake, humans will often not be able to differentiate between different types of *adhaab*, something that is an imperceivable, metaphysical reality. We should, however, hope for Allah’s reward and fear His punishment, as the Qur’an exhorts \[ Qur’an, 17:57\]. For some, worldly suffering may be a punishment for their sins, or their heedlessness of their duties to Allah. Experiencing such punishment is a way in which Allah may be seeking to draw someone closer to Him, by helping them recognize that there is no refuge from Allah’s wrath except in His mercy \[Qur’an, 9:118\]. For others, it may simply be a way in which Allah tests those whom He loves because He wishes for their spiritual growth and purification, as the Prophet ﷺ has [noted](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5645). Ultimately, it is not for us to say whether it is one way or another in any particular case. We should have the humility before Allah to accept that His decree is wise, even if we are not able to understand it in every instance. --- ## 5\. Take the reminder and turn to Allah Allah is the Most Just and the Most Wise. He did not create the world without purpose. Rather, His wisdom pervades all His actions. When a calamity befalls the believer, they turn to Allah and ask for forgiveness, for such misfortunes are but a reminder of our need for Him. > “O you who believe, you are the ones in desperate need of Allah, and Allah is the only One Who is self-sufficient, free of need, worthy of all praise” \[ Qur’an, 35:15 \] The Prophet ﷺ would take events in the natural world, such as eclipses, as opportunities to draw closer to Allah in awe, recognizing His power and might. The calamities with which Allah will periodically test us are therefore an opportunity to turn to Allah in repentance. For those who suffer through them, they are opportunities to show patience; for those who observe from a distance, they are an opportunity for us to do what we can to help. Allah and His Prophet call us to action: > “Believers, respond to God and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. Know that God comes between a man and his heart, and that you will be gathered to Him.” \[ Qur’an, 8:24 \] Ultimately, with the right perspective, we will be able to behave in a way that is beneficial to our suffering brothers and sisters and pleasing to our Lord. Calamities are thus opportunities for people to come forth and serve in a way that will raise their rank in the next life. When we realize this, we should recognize that the best way to respond to tragedy is by saying “*Alhamdulillah ‘ala kulli hal*,” and then getting to work by offering help. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/world-hijab-day-answering-5-common-questions-about-hijab # World Hijab Day: Answering 5 Common Questions About Hijab | Blog **Author:** Dr. Tesneem Alkiek **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Hijab, Women in Islam **Published:** February 1, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 ## 1\. What is the hijab? Hijab is an Arabic word that means veil, but you might simply know it simply as a “headscarf,” or more generally, as the practice of a Muslim woman [covering her hair and body](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/is-hijab-religious-or-cultural-how-islamic-rulings-are-formed), with a few exceptions like face and hands. The burqa and niqab are different from the hijab; they refer to styles of covering that are extended to the entire body, including the face. --- ## 2\. Why do women wear the hijab? How is the hijab empowering? For many Muslim women, the hijab is worn out of a desire to fulfill a commandment of God. For others, it can also be an opportunity to outwardly express their Muslim faith. For still others, it's a rejection of societal standards that constantly objectify and sexualize women. --- ## 3\. Is the hijab only for women? Do men wear the hijab? The act of veiling boils down to a desire to obey God’s command to embody modest dress and character. This command is for every Muslim—including men. While men may not have the obligation of covering their entire bodies, they too have specific requirements of dress and behavior that must be [dignified and modest](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/haya-more-than-just-modesty). --- ## 4\. Is the hijab oppressive? For centuries, Muslim women have been portrayed as veiled, secluded, and oppressed. This portrayal is not coincidental. By creating the story of the poor, helpless Muslim woman locked in an oppressive culture, one feels pity, sympathy, and outrage. It's these very strong emotions that have been used to justify military intervention and imperialism on a global scale for well over a century. That same imagery is used to deny Muslims political and human rights, as well as to justify racial profiling, deportations, and so much more on local and regional levels. Even when Muslim women speak up and voice their commitment to wearing hijab, their voices have frequently been silenced. While there have no doubt been incidents where hijab has been enforced with the threat of violence, these inexcusable situations reflect a desperate attempt to clench onto [religious symbols](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/stoning-and-hand-cutting-understanding-the-hudud-and-the-shariah-in-islam) amidst political and cultural weakness and must be condemned. --- ## 5\. How can we overcome the challenges of wearing hijab? Some days, wearing hijab can be a struggle. But, when we remember [our purpose](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/hijab-spotlighting-servitude-to-god) in pleasing God and when we submit to Him despite the difficulties, we find a sense of [liberation](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/celene-ibrahim/freedom-through-surrender-overcoming-the-ego-and-finding-peace-in-islam) that nothing in this world can offer. Continue to strengthen your relationship with God and strive towards all that is pleasing to Him. For those who do not wear hijab, express your support publicly and privately, and stand up for your Muslim sisters, especially when they face real [challenges](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/hijab-gendered-islamophobia-and-the-lived-experiences-of-muslim-women). And in the words of [Roohi Tahir](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/hijab-spotlighting-servitude-to-god), > “There is no good in the condescending behavior that some may show towards those who do not wear it, nor the outright denial of its place in Islam. It’s a challenge, for some greater than others. But no challenge is without its due reward from the Lord of the Worlds.” Muslim women both [today](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/yaqeen-institute/victory-through-sacrifice-bilqis-abdul-qaadir-confident-muslim) and throughout [history](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/ustadha-lobna-mulla/trailer-upheld-by-allah-women-in-the-quran) have created incredibly powerful legacies—from as early as the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, A’ishah (rA) in the 7th century, who was a critical voice of scholarship to women; to Fatima Al-Fihri in the 9th century, who funded and built the world's first university; and to [Nana Asma’u](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-plea-to-saintly-women-the-life-and-legacy-of-nana-asmau) in the 19th century, a prolific poet and leader. Muslim women have not simply contributed to society at large despite their decision to cover, but by virtue of their Islamic values that have allowed them to focus *not* on how the world perceives them, but on how *they* can alter perceptions in the world. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/freedom-through-surrender-overcoming-the-ego-and-finding-peace-in-islam # Freedom through Surrender: Overcoming the Ego and Finding Peace in Islam | Blog **Authors:** Celene Ibrahim, Najiba Akbar **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog, Mental Health, Self-Improvement **Published:** January 20, 2023 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 In traditions of Islamic spiritual cultivation, unlocking the fullness of our human potential requires that we strive to free ourselves from the dictates of the commanding ego-self, the part of our consciousness whose sense of purpose has been attenuated by less than worthy pursuits. > In its misdirected pursuits, the commanding ego-self pushes us to live an existence that is spiritually alienated from the goodness of God. This ego-self also acts as an inner saboteur and critic, keeps us trapped in thought patterns that do not take us anywhere new or better, and in bodily states that trigger physical, emotional, and psychological suffering. The small self convinces us that our thoughts, emotions, and sensations are, in fact, all that we are—pretzels of emotions, hapless collections of atoms confined by our lack of time and power. Our self is constantly being inflated and deflated, tossing itself from one crashing wave to the next. Freedom from this ego-driven trainwreck lies in continually surrendering to the Sustaining Force behind all that exists, the Pure Generosity that is greater than any force of the universe. Living in this state of surrender leads individuals to wholeness, contentment, fulfillment, and liberation from the emotional and psychological vagaries of life. Islam signifies this willing surrender and the state of mental, emotional, and physical peace that settles into the innermost being from this state of consciousness. The word also bears a semantic relationship to the concepts of safety, completeness, and freedom from fault. The root *s-l-m* (the Arabic root of the word *muslim*) is an aspirational state where wholeness, contentment, and fulfillment are profoundly experienced. Yet, most of us cannot simply will ourselves into a state of surrender and harmony without a great deal of conscientious striving and help along the way. Approaching this elevated state requires effortful practice and community. --- ## Problems with the Ego-self (Nafs) The commanding ego-self gets stuck in stories of injustice, anger, resentment, hurt, and other negative thoughts and feelings. It is easily triggered when its immediate needs are not met. The ego-self wavers between dreams and disappointments. It wants to win, to be vindicated, to be validated, to be raised up, causing the mind to chant unhelpful anthems: “I am not good enough.” “I am not worthy.” “I am unlovable.” “I am a failure.” “I am an imposter.” For some, this voice is one of overbearing self-righteousness and entitlement: “I am more deserving than her.” Vindictiveness also bubbles up: “I will prove him wrong.” “I will teach her a lesson.” The small self desperately wants to be right, attractive, needed, appreciated, and successful by any means. It is hard to convince the small self that it is wrong, to turn down the audio tracks that it loves playing on repeat. The small self has created its own existence, an existence that it is bound to and enslaved by through a network of neurons and chemical transmitters that run according to their familiar pathways. The commanding self does not allow us full access to a life of spiritual satisfaction, but instead keeps us restricted, sometimes in ways that are beyond our awareness. --- ## The Universe and the Human Brain In a famous Qur’anic verse, the voice of divine guidance draws a connection between the macrocosm of the universe—with its exquisite intricacies—and the microcosm of the human being with our corresponding beautiful complexity: > “We will show them Our signs (*ayatina*) on the horizons and within their beings (*anfusihim*) until it becomes apparent to them that it is the true reality (*al-haqq*)…” > > \[ Qur’an, 41:53 \]. The abundant metaphysical “signs” (*ayat*) in the universe, including in the inner being of the human, point toward liberatory cosmic truth. A human is fashioned with a consciousness that intrinsically possesses the ability to decipher these signs, and in doing so, understand the fundamental purpose of its existence. Yet, this same consciousness also holds the potential to be distracted, confused, deluded, and corrupted, moving that person away from her primal state of being, a state that is inherently liberated from all such vagaries. --- ## Overcome the Ego with the Pillars of Islam Spiritual freedom starts when one becomes aware of the internal forces and emotional traps that accompany the small self, and then works to rewire those habits by becoming aware of their familiar circuits and patterns. The core pillars of Islamic practice are, from one angle, a way for a more conscious self to practice being expressed over and against the wanton dictates of the ego-self. With practice, the ego-self begins to dissipate. Each pillar of Islam purifies consciousness and desire, and as a result redirects unhelpful mental and emotional states toward truth and tranquility. ### 1\. Surrender through the Shahadah The *shahadah*, the recognition of divine unity, has a rhythmic quality that focuses the mind and heart of the hapless wayfarer: *ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa-anna Muhammadan rasul Allah* (“I bear witness that there is no god other than God and that Muhammad is a messenger of God”). The *shahadah* is a testament of divine reality and a confirmation of the teacher who has mapped a path toward that sanctified reality. The *shahadah* is the soul’s heartbeat; its rhythm is the surrender to the cosmic Knower, the ultimate Doer. ### 2\. Cultivate Consciousness Through Prayer (the Salah) *Salah* creates a rhythmic order in our lives. Just as the celestial bodies move in perfect order, and the night follows the day, *salah* establishes our own natural order and harmony. Everything follows the laws of nature, except human being, and implementing the shariah, *salah*, first and foremost, puts the believer in harmony with an ordered universe. As the Qur’an reminds us: > “We made from water every living thing…” \[ Qur’an, 21:30 \]. ### 3\. Develop Discipline Through Fasting (the Sawm) The *sawm*, within and beyond Ramadan, is an exercise in self-imposed bodily restraint that has a goal of spiritual refinement. The impulsive cravings of the small self—food, water, sexual intimacy, sleep—are tamed then indulged, tamed then indulged, and so forth until the impulses lose their hold and the muscles of restraint flex without strain. Ramadan is the gym of the soul. ### 4. Let go of attachments to material things through Zakat The zakat further purifies the small self’s attachment to material possessions: > “One who purifies \[the soul\] has prospered” \[ Qur’an, 91:9 \]. Derived from the verb *zakka*, which means to purify, the zakat is not simply charity, it is a path toward contentment: > “The one who gives wealth to purify > > not recompensing thereby any for a favor, > > save for seeking the countenance of their Sustainer, the Highest, > > surely will \[that person\] become content.” > > \[ Qur’an, 92:18–21 \] Zakat is a shower for the soul. ### 5\. Cultivate Patience and Renewed Sense of Purpose Through Hajj The Hajj is a meditation on human mortality and the possibility for spiritual rebirth. It is the umbilical cord of a sacred genealogy that has transmitted spiritual wisdom through time to the present. It is a journey toward the Real, the Knower, the Guide, with unity of purpose and desire, and with snips of hair, the pilgrim becomes free of self-imposed restrictions. In practicing servanthood, freedom is tasted. Hajj is the soul’s wake up call. --- ## The Effect of Stillness on the Ego When the commanding ego-self finds stillness, a more abiding self emerges. This self is spacious and allows for expansiveness in the mind, the emotions, the body. Then, the self becomes not as a drop in the ocean but as the ocean in a drop, as Rumi, the great Muslim scholar and poet, describes. For this moment, and the next, the commanding ego-self is diminished, and the expansive self emerges. It is initially a glimmer, a crack where light shines through. > We have access, each of us, to the self that is connected, and when we are in touch with this self, we become free from our need to prove ourselves, to “become” something. We recognize that there is only one ultimate Doer, one Intelligence, one Love. We carry, yet we are being carried; we move, yet we are being moved. We do not exist for ourselves, or by ourselves. We are more than we have taken ourselves to be. What does it feel like to be a drop, and what does it feel like to be the ocean itself? As human beings, we are miniscule, malleable entities potentially lacking any enduring significance in a sea of existence dating back a dozen-billion years. The abiding self recognizes that human beings for millennia have experienced life’s unexpected turns. And so too do the humans of the present and those of the future. The existential problem of human beings is that we are physically trapped in our menial existence while holding on to aspirations inspired by the vast cosmos. Such feelings have perhaps only been intensified in this technological age, as we continue to stretch our human limits only to realize our shortcomings. We are beings in search of answers to our questions about the nature of reality and ourselves. The ocean, the forests that remain, the deserts, the snow-capped mountains, the sky, the planets, and in our modern age the galaxies beyond, stand as geographical signs and illusive outer limits. They beckon us to new horizons. In these moments of contemplation, we sense some of our inherent potential—but how do we actualize ourselves? How do we access this higher consciousness, this awareness of our true nature? --- ## Raise Consciousness by Quieting the Mind Time-honored practices point us towards the importance of quieting the mind and opening the metaphysical heart. The wonders of the natural world can help us do this, as we take in the sounds of birds singing or leaves rustling in the trees. These sounds remind us that we are part of a greater whole, a greater cosmos. Our connection to the vastness of the universe is a necessary counterpart to the journey into the inner vastness, the world that exists within. Freedom exists in exhaling our vain desires and inhaling the gift of breath with full consciousness. In this process, we discover internal contentment. The more we can dive into this spiritual exhale and inhale, the closer we come to transcending our drop-oriented self and experiencing ourselves connected with the ocean itself. The Infinite offers us growth, an opportunity to transcend confines, to respond to truth at each moment, to open ourselves up to the unfolding of the present. We wake up and we fall asleep, again and again. This is the dance, this is what it means to be human. In awakening each time to the expansive self, rooted in connection to all beings and to all creation, and to the Creating Force, we awaken to freedom.​​ And sometimes it is because we have experienced pain and anguish that we can take such pleasure in accessing our deepest compassion, love, and wonder. May we access a drop of true freedom that can only come from surrender. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-plea-to-saintly-women-the-life-and-legacy-of-nana-asmau # A Plea to Saintly Women: The Life and Legacy of Nana Asma'u **Author:** Faatimah Knight **Topics:** History, Islamic Civilization **Tags:** Black Heritage, Black History Month, Paper, Publication, Women in Islam **Published:** January 10, 2023 **Updated:** November 4, 2025 ## Introduction Nana Asma'u bint Uthman (1793-1864) was a Muslim scholar and  prolific poet from the West African Sahel. She was the daughter of Shaykh Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Salih (d. 1817), known as Uthman dan Fodio, the founder of the powerful Sokoto caliphate and one of the most esteemed scholars in the traditions of law, Sufism, and governance in the early modern period. Raised in a poetry-loving culture, Nana Asma'u used poetry to teach the Qur’an and transmit Islamic values, memorialize great people, and preserve her people’s history. Asma'u’s brother Muhammad Bello, who succeeded their father as caliph, also wrote many poetic and prose treatises in the Islamic sciences and avidly recorded the history of the Fulani people, especially the monumental changes made under the leadership of his father. Asma'u lived through revolutionary times as well as the period in which Sokoto consolidated its authority. A steady presence, she outlived both her father and her brother. Her proximity to political leadership certainly influenced  her desire to record her community’s history—both their worldly and spiritual successes. But Asma'u’s vision and leadership were accomplishments in their own right, as they were instrumental in spreading Islam in the region, assimilating new subjects into the empire, and championing education and literacy. Her poem “A Plea to Saintly Women,” which is rendered at the conclusion of this paper, is exemplary. It is a handsomely crafted hagiography of pious Muslim women from the prophetic time to her own, interwoven with pious petitions to God to lavish forgiveness and grace upon her. It combines her vision of teaching through didactic poetry and her ardor for religious life, with a keen focus on women’s prosperity. This paper explores Nana Asma'u’s life and work, and situates her within the overall story of Islamic civilization. Her life draws much-needed attention to pre-modern Muslim life outside of the Arab “heartlands,” which typically dominate the Islamic historical narrative. Nana Asma'u’s writings and educational advocacy illustrate the embeddedness of Islam in Nigeria specifically, and West Africa generally. They are expressions of her profound faithfulness and depth of knowledge. With her life as a lens, we come to learn of the Islamic textual resources available in West Africa and the commitment of the West African scholarly class to reproducing knowledge that was relevant and intelligible to the laity both in language and style. Asma'u’s contributions to Muslim thought in the region preceded major political and social shifts like British colonialism and the eclipse of the Islamic educational system by Europeanized models of schooling. Asma'u is also a reminder of poetry’s educational potential. She was a devotee of poetry and its capacity to communicate knowledge in a lasting way.  As far as we can deduce from her philosophical commitment to poetry and belles-lettres, she believed them to be a unique and beautifully defining aspect of our humanity. We can imagine that she found great comfort and inspiration in Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ unparalleled eloquence, concomitant with his emotive and efficacious use of language. Rather than discuss the better-known jihadi and anti-colonial Muslim movements of the more recent past, this paper focuses on the lesser-known but perhaps more enthralling history of the first Muslims in West Africa. This history uncovers nascent yet committed Muslim communities throughout West Africa that predate any state-led or quasi-state-led proselytizing efforts in the region. Simply put, Islam spread in West Africa more than a millennium ago much as it spread in the West today: through ordinary human interactions and through the charisma and piety of extraordinary individuals. Ahmad Baba (d. 1627), the renowned scholar of Timbuktu, is quoted by Uthman dan Fodio as saying “\[Black Africans\] accepted Islam without being conquered by anybody.”[^1] --- ## Her life Nana Asma'u enjoyed the privileges of high birth in a Fulani clan in what would become northern Nigeria. Her title, “Nana,” is a colloquialism given to female religious teachers, and indicates her role in public life. The ‘u’ customarily present at the end of her name is indicative of a local pronunciation and can double as a form of endearment; in parts of West Africa one will hear ‘Muhammadu’ and ‘Fatimatu.’ Her family was of the scholarly class, and her father was a charismatic and learned teacher who attracted students from beyond his community. Such was Uthman dan Fodio’s popularity that the sultan of the nearby state of Gobir attempted to hinder his preaching and stifle the community by disallowing conversion into Islam and outlawing distinctive Muslim dress. Later, the state of Gobir made an unsuccessful attempt on the shaykh’s life, which forced Uthman dan Fodio to migrate with his community. Evidently, the state of Gobir and the Muslims could not live separately in peace, and years of warfare ensued, concluding with the establishment of the Sokoto caliphate under the rule of Shaykh Uthman. Most of Asma'u’s life was lived after her father established his rule over the region. Born into her father’s Qadiriyya Sufi path, she exemplified discipline in worship and inner piety, doubling down on her gifts as an inheritor and disseminator of knowledge. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Figure-1-The-Sokoto-caliphate-in-West-Africa-circa-1820-1024x668.png) Asma'u was likely named after the daughter of Abū Bakr (RA), who famously carried supplies to the Prophet ﷺ and her father during the hijra despite being pregnant and in great personal danger. Like her namesake, she was determined and indefatigable. Like her father, she was intelligent and a quick learner. By the age of ten she had memorized the Qur’an, and, due to her willingness and the opportunities afforded her, continued her education seemingly without obstacles. Stories of her early life can be found in *Rawḍ al-Jinān* (The Gardens of Paradise), a biography of her father written by her husband Gidado with her assistance. Gidado was an affectionate nickname, meaning “beloved,” which Uthman b. Abubakr Sambo Laima carried his whole life. Although not publicly known for Islamic scholarship, he was a gifted Arabist,[^2] recognized for his strength of character, trustworthiness, and the weight of his responsibilities as *wazir* of the state. Gidado’s father was a scholar and his mother was a distant relative of Uthman dan Fodio. Before marrying Asma'u, he was closely acquainted with her brother Muhammad Bello, as the two would travel long distances together to buy books. Scottish commander and explorer Hugh Clapperton visited Sokoto in 1824, where he met numerous high-ranking members of the Sokoto caliphate including Gidado, whom he describes as “excessively polite,” “excellent,” and extremely well-spoken in Arabic.[^3] *Rawḍ al-Jinān* recalls episodes of Asma'u’s zeal for knowledge even when young, her inquisitiveness, and her close relationship with her father. Gidado recounts a story in which Asma'u’s father tests his young daughter on her  Tamajek, a Tuareg language that was good for general knowledge but hardly required for her education.[^4] After stumbling on a couple of questions, she confesses that she only acquired her proficiency through eavesdropping on conversations. Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio advises her that if she wants to learn Tamajek, she will need to suspend her covert tactics and find a teacher. She would eventually become fluent in Arabic, Fulfulde, and Hausa, and conversant in Tamajek. Arabic was the language of the scholarly class, Fulfulde the language of her people, Hausa the language of her neighbors (who became subjects of the caliphate), and Tamajek the language of the nomadic Tuareg. Asma'u was not alone in being a highly educated woman of the Fodiyo clan. Her education and that of others of her ilk supported the energetic *daʿwa* efforts of the state to usher non-Muslims into the fold of Islam and support the religious growth of Muslims. After the passing of her father, she was responsible for collecting and cataloging all of the shaykh’s work, an essential task for preserving his legacy and entrenching his ideas in the new state. The Fulani signal the significance of this task by harkening back to the collection of the Qur’an after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. There are several written exchanges between Nana Asma'u and male scholars and bureaucrats in the region. One such Mauritanian scholar, by the name of Al-Ḥājjī Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Shinqīṭī, wrote to Asma'u upon arriving in Sokoto on his way to *hajj*. In response, she crafted an Arabic poem welcoming him, praising him for embarking upon the *hajj,* and calling him her brother. The outpouring of glowing commendations from Asma'u toward al-Shinqīṭī and vice-versa suggests their acquaintance before his arrival. Her network likely extended even wider. Oludamini Ogunnaike describes how, through the pilgrimage to Mecca, “scholars of Timbuktu, Djenne, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Agadez, Pir Saniokhor, and Walata were also connected to and had intellectual and spiritual exchanges” with scholars of Cairo and Damascus such as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī and Muḥammad al-Bakrī throughout the centuries.[^5] Likewise, several West African scholars feature in the hagiographies and histories of the scholars of Damascus.[^6] In another written exchange, (yet another) Mauritanian scholar boasted to Asma'u—as if to gain her commendation—about how his community also had women who attain the highest levels of Islamic education. --- ## Her thought and work As a gifted and prolific writer, Asma'u’s surviving works give a great deal of insight into the values, socio-political circumstances, and prevailing sentiments of her time. In their *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u,* Jean Boyd and Beverly B. Mack highlight the paucity of literature in Asma'u’s community: “Most of the Hausa poetic materials available in print are those written by men, and mainly works that date in the mid to late twentieth century. Evidence of the rich scholarly tradition of the nineteenth century northern Nigeria is only suggested by occasional academic studies or rare reproductions of one of the Shehu’s  (Uthman dan Fodio) works.”[^7] As a result, we must rely heavily on Asma'u’s extant works to craft an understanding of her people. Her Hausa and Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani) works were written in Arabic script, which was the standard until its replacement with the Latin alphabet in the colonial period. The usage of Fulfulde in Arabic script, also known as Ajami, has declined so dramatically in the region Asma'u used to call home that it is rare to find people today who can decipher pre-colonial Fulfulde texts. Despite this, Fulfulde poems are still recited in cultural and religious life today—an indication that this West African poetry tradition stretches back at least hundreds of years. Asma'u began her teaching career at the age of 14,[^8] having memorized the Qur’an some four years prior.[^9] This seems to have also been the same year she married Gidado, with whom she had six children. Asma'u’s surviving works are almost entirely lyrical poems, so we might assume this to be her primary form of public writing. Perhaps she privileged poetry as a form of communication because of its ability to convey meaning persuasively and musically and also for its ease of memorization. It enchants while it informs. When a Bedouin recited poetry to the Prophet ﷺ, he responded: “There is magic in eloquence and wisdom in poetry.”[^10] The power of persuasive speech to change minds and hearts coupled with the hypnotic musicality of poetry were potent tools in Asma'u’s capable hands. Nana Asma'u’s scholarly community, while literate, still prized the hallmarks of an oral-based culture, such as rhythmical exposition, cadence, parallelism, and repetition in the service of memorization. This dexterity in verbal expression was not only useful for communicating with the masses. It was also a tool for the scholar wishing to scaffold his or her knowledge through advanced mnemonic devices. All around were skilled poets and Arabists, including  Asma'u’s father Uthman dan Fodio and her brother Muhammad Bello. They produced more than 300 prose works and dozens of poems.[^11] John Hunwick emphasizes that in West Africa, the ability to compose Arabic verse was “a hallmark of the accomplished scholar.”[^12] In Nigeria specifically, the history of Arabic writing stretches as far back as the 12th or 13th century to the first known writer: grammarian and poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi (d. 1212).[^13] The fact that al-Kanemi was a grammarian in Arabic suggests that he was among others in his community to achieve advanced competency in Arabic, which in turn indicates that there must have been an audience for such a work. --- ## A plea to saintly women Nana Asma'u wrote “*Tawassul Ga Mata Masu Albarka*” (A Plea to Saintly Women) in 1837 in Fulfulde and Hausa, two great houses of poetry, though only fragments of the Fulfulde version are extant. Between 1810 and 1835, the principal years of Sokoto’s expansion, large numbers of non-Muslim women came under Muslim rule, some becoming additional wives and concubines to Muslim men. As new members of this Muslim civilization, these women lost religious and cultural connections to the lives they had led before, not to mention changes in their day-to-day existence living under Muslim governance. Many Muslim women came under Fodio rule, some from non-Fulani tribes like the Hausa, whom Shaykh Uthman had been involved in teaching before he was exiled from Hausa territory in 1802. In 1836, Muhammad Bello, Asma'u’s brother and the caliph after their father, produced *Kitāb al-Naṣīḥa* (Book of Counsel), based on the texts at his disposal like Ibn al-Jawzī’s (d. 1201) *Ṣifat al-Ṣafwa* (Attributes of the Exemplary) which in turn had relied upon the earlier work *Dhikr al-Niswa al-Mutaʿabbidāt al-Sufiyyāt* (Commemoration of Pious Sufi Women) by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d.1021).[^14] In *Kitāb al-Naṣīḥa,* Bello instructs the new female members of Sokoto on society’s expectations for women. He opens the text with concerns over women’s values moving away from restraint toward materialism. He then proceeds to tell stories of exemplary pious women. Bello asked Asma'u to translate and versify the work, presumably so that its content would have a broader reach. Asma'u translated and versified the work, but she also recast it, accessing the same sources as Bello and choosing to focus solely on women’s potential. Asma'u was already a poet at this time, and she regularly translated her own works to aid her teaching efforts. By embracing the Hausa language as a medium for teaching religion and morality, she showed a willingness to reach beyond her social and cultural circle, showing that Islam was not so foreign as to be incommunicable in the language of the people she hoped to serve. “*Tawassul*” would have been recited orally to mesmerize, foster community, and instruct. As has been noted by western scholars, there is little evidence of Islamic themes in Hausa poetry before the jihad led by Uthman dan Fodiyo, that is, prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Few Muslims, including scholars, knew how to write Arabic in Hausaland before the jihad, so written materials would have been hard to reproduce.[^15] While Bello’s work is titled with plain language, Asma'u’s title is powerfully evocative. “A Plea to Saintly Women” belies a simple literary reading; rather, Asma'u meant that it be experienced as a prayer. She believed the women mentioned in the work are not just exemplars, but intimate teachers whose poetic memorialization brings them to life. Nana Asma'u hoped to activate wonder in her listeners and thereby inspire them to pursue formal and spiritual education. When that inspiration came, at the ready were Asma'u’s legions of women teachers trained by her to impart foundational knowledge to the eager. Around the time Nana Asma'u wrote “A Plea to Saintly Women,” she was in her mid-40s, highly energetic, and a skilled rider. She enjoyed freedom as a person of rank in the caliphate. In 1840, Asma'u initiated a cadre of women teachers called the Yan Taru and devoted herself to teaching them the Qur’an and Islamic morality so they could teach the female masses. State leadership recognized that ordinary people were entangled in old traditions of superstition and their family structures were extremely hierarchical.[^16] *Daʿwa* efforts like those of Asma'u’s itinerant women teachers sought to bring to women the purity of *tawḥīd* and all the social benefits that came with adopting a Muslim way of life. These teachers—equipped with numerous rhyming stories of the *awliyāʾ*, companions, and messengers—were charged with teaching the basics of Islam. While women in the Fodio clan certainly had access to higher levels of learning than others,[^17] Asma'u’s initiation of the Yan Taru indicates that she perceived significant gaps in women’s access to knowledge and teachers. Asma'u wasn’t alone in this perception. In Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio’s writing, he affirms the right of women to education and chastises husbands who neither teach their wives themselves nor allow them to seek knowledge from others. He wrote in *Nūr al-Albāb* (Light of the Intellect): > ...most of the ulama leave their wives, daughters and slaves neglected like animals without teaching them what Allah enjoins on them regarding their articles of faith, their ablution, their prayers and other things which Allah commands that they should be taught. Among these are the things permitted to them in their business transactions and the like…they treat their wives, daughters and slaves like household implements which are used until they are broken and then thrown onto the rubbish heap. Alas! How can they abandon their wives, daughters and slaves in perpetual darkness of ignorance while they daily impart knowledge to their students. This is nothing but error because they are instructing their students in the manner out of sheer egotism and hypocrisy. This is a grievous mistake.[^18] It must be noted that a woman such as Asma'u had unparalleled access to knowledge: she was the daughter of the most respected and well-connected learned man of her clan, and he expected her to inherit Islamic knowledge and serve as the head female teacher of women. However, as is clear from Shaykh Uthman’s own words, it was not common practice for the male *ulama* of his locality to prioritize educating their daughters. Shaykh Uthman’s family included well-educated women like his mother and great-grandmother. Though not much is known about the education of his wife, Nana Asma'u’s mother Maymuna, she was known as a free spirit with a great deal of mobility and access,[^19] which undoubtedly left an impression on Asma'u. Perhaps in her interactions with everyday women through her various roles, she realized that many women were not uneducated for lack of will but rather a lack of resources. Part of that lack was “misguided” male figures, according to Asma'u’s father, who said unequivocally: > O Muslim women, do not listen to the words of the misguided ones who seek to lead you astray by ordering you to obey your husbands instead of telling you to obey Allah and His Messenger. They tell you that a woman’s happiness lies in obeying her husband. This is no more than a camouflage to make you satisfy their needs. They impose on you duties which neither Allah nor His Messenger imposed on you. They make you cook, wash clothes and do other things which they desire while they fail to teach you that which Allah and His apostle have prescribed for you. Neither Allah nor his apostle charges you with such duties.[^20] Shaykh Uthman openly faced criticism from *ulama* who differed in their views on women’s education, reasoning that women attending religious lessons risked harmful mixing with men. However, he argued that the certain evil of ignorance was worse than the potential evil that might come from gender-inclusive gatherings.[^21] Shaykh Uthman’s lessons were widely attended by men and women alike. Part of what made Shaykh Uthman such an effective leader was the fact that he was a visionary: he imagined what society could be like if men and women prioritized Islamic education and spiritual development. No wonder Nana Asma'u formally took charge of women’s education in Sokoto, and records still exist of those whom she formally taught and the villages in which she spent time teaching.[^22] Through education, the Yan Taru organization could incorporate women into the larger community—making them more adept stakeholders in society and empowering them as the first teachers of their children. A teacher, known as *jaji,* wore a distinctive hijab called a *malfa*,[^23] a highly visible mark of education that reaffirmed the central importance of knowledge in the Sokoto administration. By raising a cadre of educated women, Asma'u circumvented the critics of female education. Women could now learn from other women in the privacy of each other’s homes, which handily removed a perceived obstacle to female education. After women achieved fluency in reciting poems, they were taught to write them in the Arabic script. Learning Arabic script was a gateway to the Arabic language and the Qur’an, and regular recitation of didactic poetry imparted to women tools for understanding and self-expression. Among Nana Asma'u’s extant poetic works, “*Qasida fi Munaja*” (Instructional Poem), written in Arabic, Fulfulde, and Hausa, utilizes mnemonic devices to teach the name of every *surah* in the Qur’an. This poem serves as an introduction to Qur’anic memorization, functioning as memory pegs for students. --- ## Warning for the negligent and reminder for the intelligent In a succinct Arabic manual, titled “*Warning for the Negligent and Reminder for the Intelligent Regarding the Ways of the Pious*” (see an example of Nana's poetry below),[^24] Asma'u delineates pertinent guidance for the believer hoping for felicity. She begins with “that which stands between man and paradise.” Her framing addresses readers of two different levels of spiritual maturity: those who are in need of warning due to frequently succumbing to neglect and sloth and those who are in need of reminder due to having developed a spiritual practice. Asma'u manages to infuse the work with language that speaks to the internal state of both groups. For the neglectful, she empathizes with their fear and teaches them how to overcome that fear at every stage. For the intelligent, she bolsters their hope by recasting every cataclysm—death, the grave, the final judgment—as rites of passage on the path to felicity in the next life. This reframing harkens back to her introductory language: “That which stands between man and paradise.” Asma'u thus addresses the weariness that sometimes arrests the internal dynamism of the righteous and drains their zeal for a righteous life. ![](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Figure-2-First-page-of-Nana-Asmaus-poem-Warning-for-the-Negligent-756x1024.jpg) Asmau then lists eight habits destructive of the neglectful and the intelligent alike, though to different degrees. These are both habits of the heart and habits of action. Some people may be actively engaged in acts of greed, whereas others may suffer from hearts that harbor feelings of greed without acting on them. Asma'u mentions antagonism toward others, pointless argumentation, greed, unfettered materialism, boastfulness, consulting with diviners and believing what they foretell, harmful association with *jinn,* and witchcraft. She goes on to mention eight redeeming habits, among them repentance, scrupulousness in worship, frequent remembrance of Allah*,* charity, fasting, patience, and maintaining good family relations. In this work she follows the method of *takhallī* and then *tajallī,* purifying the heart from negativity and adorning it with beautiful traits. She devotes the lengthiest treatment to the distinguishing characteristics of those who follow the Sunnah. > Among the signs of those who follow the *sunnah* of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, is belief in and adherence to everything he brought, a commitment to loving him by imitating him in speech, action, character and sincere intention in all of these. Among the signs that one loves the Messenger ﷺ are following his commands, shunning his prohibitions, preference for his *sunnah,* avoiding innovation (*bid’a*) in religion and cultural customs that contravene his *sunnah,* striving to recite the Qur’an, understand it and act according to it, compassion for and striving to protect the Muslim community from harm, detachment from worldly affairs and preference for the hereafter, reverence when the Prophet ﷺ is mentioned (or concentration when making remembrance \[*dhikr*\] of the Prophet), may God bless him and grant him peace, honoring his family and companions, his places Mecca and Medina, longing to visit them, copious prayers upon him, adopting his character by doing what pleases God, opposing whoever opposes God’s religion even if it be one’s own father or son, compassion, forbearance, and forgiveness and patience with one’s own soul in that which it dislikes.[^25] She describes these distinguished people as having “faith in everything he has brought forth; obedience to him in these things; obligation to loving him by imitating him in speech, action, and manners; and behaving this way with sincerity of intention.” Whereas before she addressed fear and hope, in this section she speaks to love and describes those who savor following the example of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Among the signs that one has truly embraced the Prophet ﷺ is a preference, in all circumstances, for his Sunnah—humility, generosity, moderation, taking refuge in God, and zeal that endeavors by any means to purify one’s faith. While fear of God remains critical for the pious, Asma'u places special emphasis on zeal for God which is rooted in love and attraction towards Him. For her, this motivation better aligns with prophetic practice and promises a greater spiritual return. Joy and zeal for worship are also remedies for the spiritual apathy that threatens to settle into the believer. When one feels lost, fidelity to one’s religious commitments is the rope that leads forward. Asma'u’s conviction, as is evident in this work and others, is that learning ought to be a transformative experience. A purely academic pursuit for the sake of acquiring information alone passes up the opportunity to attain the ethical and spiritual demeanor concomitant with studying the Islamic sciences. Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba of neighboring Senegal put it this way in various poems: > Everyone who acts without knowledge is like a speck of dust in the wind > And he who acquires knowledge without practicing it is a loaded donkey. > … > If your progress in knowledge does not lead to spiritual growth and detachment from worldly things > You are regressing and harming yourself because you are distancing yourself from God Most High. > … > The only useful knowledge is that which one learns and teaches only for the love > of God, Most High[^26] --- ## Poetic elegies: Reminder, transformation, and community Poetic elegies make up a significant portion of Asma'u’s composed works. While commonly thought of as straightforward memorialization of great individuals, they served a more dynamic purpose for Asma'u and her community. Asma'u delights in the person she describes and relishes in being a means for the listener to vividly envision the praised one. The people she memorializes embody the heights of human potential and their lives are instructive for her and her listeners. In “Plea to Saintly Women,” she makes explicit the communal value of remembering the merits of those passed. She is especially effective in that panegyric by weaving together stories of women around the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, women throughout the centuries, and women who had passed during her lifetime. Through this method, she illustrates how these women learned from the memory of prior exemplars, and she sets the stage for her contemporaries to do the same. The many poetic elegies left behind indicate Asma'u’s role as an orator for her people, for elegies serve a communal function and were intended for recitation aloud. The subjects of these praise poems are the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, prominent family members, and also members of the community whom Asma'u spotlighted for reasons always of their character and piety. --- ## Nana Asma'u remembered in death In 1978, Alhaji Muhammadu Magaji, a Nigerian Islamic scholar, heard a woman by the name of Yarbuga singing an elaborate, lengthy elegy to the memory of Asma'u. Magaji collected and translated into Hausa the works of Asma'u and other Fulani scholars.[^27] Given the address of the speaker, it was thought to have been composed by Asma'u’s brother, Isa, a century prior, around the time of her passing. In the poem, Isa describes going to see where Asma'u’s body lay at her home with her husband Gidado, and barely being able to get through the crowd of people gathered around it. Everywhere were scenes of restless emotion. “Men were crying, no one was left unmoved, not even the animals.” These remarks suggest the overwhelming reception of Asma'u by her community. Seemingly out of reverence, Isa never addresses Asma'u by her first name, but rather calls her “Nana” and “Inji,” the former title given for her authority in public matters like teaching and administration and the latter for her authority in spiritual matters.[^28] The title Nana was held by other women scholars in Timbuktu,[^29] though its origins are unclear and early Arabic manuscripts of her work omit the title, instead referring to her with honorifics like *saliha* (righteous), *waliya* (saintly), and *zahida* (ascetic) and always as the daughter of Shaykh Uthman. He writes that after their father, Uthman dan Fodio, the children followed Asma'u’s leadership. He compares her “light” to lightning that illuminates and arouses hearts from heedlessness. He describes her generosity to men and women alike, her care for orphans, her craft at reconciling affairs, and the mutual love between her and her family. **Note on the poem:** Jean Boyd and Beverly Mack translated this Hausa/Fulfulde poem in the *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u.* I recast their translation to capture the style and rhyme of the original because rhyming poetry was an important teaching medium for Asma'u and a central tool in the scholarly tradition she drew from. I also attended to elevating religious language beyond perfunctory phrases, opting for language that reflected the deep well of spiritual knowledge Asma'u drew from. Due to the transmogrification of Arabic names when written in Fulfulde and Hausa, it appears Boyd and Mack were unable to trace the identity of some of the individuals mentioned in the poem. I compared the names in Asma'u’s poem to two well-known biographical dictionaries of pious figures that appear to have been used by Asma'u and her ilk: Abd al-Rahman al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyyāt* and Ibn al-Jawzī’s *Ṣifat al-Ṣafwa.* Lastly, some lines were subsumed into others or left out for clarity and concision. ### A Plea to Saintly Women Nana Asma'u Dear God, receive our praise and thanks And bless Muhammad ﷺ of the utmost rank Benedictions to his family and his friends And those who follow him ’til time’s end In this poem I will tell you about the pious Toward whom I admit I am biased I am mindful of them while I am still alive May they remember me on the Day my soul is revived The ascetic women are all sanctified For their piety, all are magnified For deliverance, they prayed ceaselessly Friends, don’t forget this so easily I wrote this poem to assuage my heart And remind you how they pined for God The perfume of their yearning for God permeates In every line of this poem I create Of the Prophet’s close ones I first shall speak:  Aisha, the noble daughter of the nobleman al-Siddiq Friends, remember the name Zaynab bint Jahsh She reignites the embers of my heart from ash She exceeded in piety, according to Aisha Loved and esteemed by the Prophet of *rahma* Fātima al-Zahra al-Batul Above all servants of Allah she holds rule She possessed all the qualities of a flower in full bloom Spun from the threads of Muhammad and Khadija’s loom Umm Hārūn[^30] shown so bright Habiba Adawiya[^31] recited the Names[^32] morning and night Of Rabiʿa ʿAdawiyya’s[^33] piety I speak Her fame is still at its peak The Lady from Basra who saw what others could not Brilliance of mind and heart, set apart Rabiʿa’s prayer was a thousand prostrations By day and by night in the throes of lamentations Pleasing the Prophet ﷺ was her sole consideration On the Day of Understanding you will give her congratulations Umm Dardā’,[^34] Mu’aza,[^35] and Ruqayya of Mosul[^36] Umm Ayyūb,[^37] Sha’wana,[^38] and Rayḥāna al-Majnūn[^39] Rabiʿa bint Ismail[^40] of Damascus, the student of Hukayma[^41] Her husband who worshiped with the best said none could match her Amrah the ascetic,[^42] Aisha bint Ja’far,[^43] Atika Ghanuyah[^44] Ubayda bint Abi Kulaib,[^45] the wife of Abu Imran,[^46] and Maryam of Basra[^47] Mu’aza bint Abdullah,[^48] Maymuna Majnuna,[^49] and Maymuna Sa’uda[^50] The Nishapuri Fatima[^51] was zealous even to those enraptured[^52]  Nafisa bint Hassan,[^53] by love of the Qur’an caged and captured Cycling through the Qur’an in the trench of her grave Which was dug by her hands for her own soul to save[^54] Born in Mecca, living in Medina, like her grandfather the Prophet The ground of Egypt blessed by her ultimate deposit For what might come from nearness to her come the prayerful and the profligate I return to Fatima[^55] the preacher, the teacher, daughter of Abbas Saiha Mounting the steps of the mosque, her voice bellowed over the crowd Enlivening the hearts they repented out loud When shyness struck her she kept her efforts on the ground But a shaykh dreamt of the Messenger telling her to reignite the crowd I pray for their overflowing gifts to grace me O God, make my repentance sincere and save me! Let me not recite their names only to forsake me I believe in Your promise and ask that You grace me Perhaps by their piety, You will purify a sinning servant like me And in the hereafter erase these wrongdoings of mine How I’ve wronged myself! Only I know where I’ve crossed the line With child-like hope, I beg forgiveness from the Divine Now I turn to the women in this community of mine Those who’ve died and those still alive My father Shaykh dan Fodio[^56] I must first remember Hawa[^57] and Ayesha, ascetic wives and good-natured Habiba burdened herself educating many women A commanding presence, respected now and back then Joda Kowuuri’s knowledge of the Qur’an availed her everywhere Biada’s reclusiveness kept her secret near The scholar Yar Hindu judged by the Qur’an These are but a sampling from the Shaykh’s clan Many of our women committed the Qur’an to heart Neither from piety nor preaching did they part They were many and this poem is but an indication As I near the end, consider this an affirmation Of your potential should you have the aspiration To achieve lofty stations and secure salvation May we be reunited with those who have passed on —all the special ones I mentioned in this psalm With mother and father and all Muslims Deliver us to splendor, O Lord of many gifts For the sake of our Messenger ﷺ, without whom we’re adrift You who hears, I end my rhyme with this Salutations on Ahmad or I’d be remiss The companions and the faithful, grant them every bliss. --- ## Notes [^1]: Lamin O. Sanneh, *Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition in West African Islam* (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), 53. [^2]: John Hunwick, “The Arabic Literary Tradition of Nigeria,” *Research in African Literatures* 28, no. 3 (1997): 213, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3821003](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3821003&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1673393328673261&usg=AOvVaw3MXW11wPfbgInKSZbvhRWt). [^3]: Jean Boyd and Beverly Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u* (Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1997), 198. [^4]: Boyd and Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u*, 3. [^5]: Oludamini Ogunnaike, “Sufism, Islamic Philosophy, and Education in West Africa,” *Oxford Research Encyclopedia*, 2020: 3, [https://www.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.592](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.592&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1673393328674394&usg=AOvVaw0ylRHxu3r7E6utnMxGVQF5). [^6]: Ogunnaike, “Sufism, Islamic Philosophy, and Education,” 4. [^7]: Boyd and Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u*, xxx. [^8]: Muhammad Dangana, “The Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u to Women’s Education in Nineteenth‐Century Nigeria,” *Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs*, 1999: 288, [https://doi.org/10.1080/13602009908716443](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/13602009908716443&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1673393328675761&usg=AOvVaw3Wd1cl2AOLZv9GH8SCwidw). [^9]: Chukwuma Azuonye, “Feminist or Simply Feminine? Reflections on the Works of Nana Asma'u, a Nineteenth-Century West African Woman Poet, Intellectual, and Social Activist,” *Meridians* 6, no. 2 (2006): 54–77, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40338702](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40338702&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1673393328676449&usg=AOvVaw26NG9iK6WzNSIc01T9YjXs). [^10]: *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*, Book on Poetry, hadith 872. [^11]: Hunwick, “Arabic Literary Tradition of Nigeria,” 210–23. [^12]: John O. Hunwick, “The Arabic Qasida in West Africa: Forms, Themes and Contexts,” in *Qasida Poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa, Volume 1: Classical Traditions and Modern Meanings*, ed. Stefan Sperl and Christopher Shackle (Leiden: Brill, 1996): 83–98, 83. [^13]: Hunwick, “Arabic Literary Tradition of Nigeria,” 210–23. [^14]: The observation that Ibn al-Jawzī used al-Sulamī’s work as a resource is made by Professor Mahmoud Muhammad al-Tahani in the introduction to the Cairo edition of *Dhikr al-Niswa.* [^15]: Boyd and Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u,* xxviii. [^16]: Dangana, “Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u,” 285. [^17]: Jean Boyd, *The Caliph's Sister: Nana Asma'u, 1793–1865, Teacher, Poet, and Islamic Leader* (Abingdon: Frank Cass Publishers, 2005), xix. [^18]: Dangana, “Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u,” 286. [^19]: Boyd, Jean. *The Caliph's Sister*, 6. [^20]: Dangana, “Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u,” 286. Shaykh Uthman was working from within the Maliki *madhhab* and clearly subscribed to the opinion that wives were not obligated to perform domestic labor. This is not the only opinion regarding the duties of spouses within the *madhhab*, but evidently Shaykh Uthman considered it strong enough to use in his argument. See al-Mausu'ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah vol. 19 p.44 for further discussion. [^21]: Dangana, “Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u.” [^22]: Boyd and Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u*. [^23]: Dangana, “Intellectual Contribution of Nana Asma'u to Women’s Education,” 288. [^24]: A manuscript of this work is found in *The Collected Work of Nana Asma'u.* This work was kept in the *gafaka* (leather bookbag) that contained other works by Nana Asma'u, stored in her home and kept by her descendants. [^25]: I have opted to translate this Arabic text from the appendix of manuscripts compiled by Boyd and Mack, p. 504. [^26]: Oludamini Ogunnaike, “Learn, Live, Love: Ahmadu Bamba’s Practical Epistemology and Pedagogy,” Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University, 8–9. [^27]: Boyd, *The Caliph's Sister*, xviii. [^28]: Boyd, *The Caliph's Sister,* 5. [^29]: Boyd and Mack, *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u*, 14. [^30]: From Damascus, Umm Hārūn was known as someone of exceptional piety among the notable scholars of her time, such as Abū Sulaiymān al-Dārānī. She made a habit of traveling from her home in Damascus to Palestine by foot, seeking remote locations for spiritual retreat. We don’t know her birth and death date, but, given her association with al-Dārānī, we can assume she lived in the late eighth and early ninth centuries CE. See Abd al-Rahman al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-**sufiyy**āt* (Cairo: Maktaba Khānajī, 1993), 64. [^31]: Habiba Adawiya was a native of Basra, who likely lived in the generation after the better-known Rabiʿa al-Adawiya. She was known for keeping night prayer on the roof of her house. Rkia E. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women* (Louisville: Fons Vitae, 1999), 202. [^32]: The Names of Allah. [^33]: Perhaps one of the pious women with the most name recognition after the wives of the Prophet, she is the only woman mentioned by name in Abū Bakr al-Kalābādhī’s *Kitāb al-taʿarruf*, one of the earliest treatises on Sufi individuals in the tenth century CE. She was a teacher of Sufyan al-Thawri, who referred to her as *mu’addiba* and sought her wisdom in spiritual and religious matters. Her students and admirers have related copious wisdom from her. Ibn Jawzi claims to have written an entire book on her. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women*, 282. [^34]: An orphan under the care of an Abu Dardā who used to sit in the circles of learning as a young girl, Umm Dardā’ eventually became a teacher of *hadith* and *fiqh* and was known for keeping company with the scholars and teaching male and female students in Damascus. Muhammad Akram Nadwi, *Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam* (Oxford: Interface Publications, 2006) 81. [^35]: I could not determine the identity of this individual. [^36]: Sifat al-Safwa mentions one of the sayings she was known for. Al-Jawzi, *Sifat al-Safwa,* (Dar al-Hadith, Cairo: 2000) vol.2, 358. [^37]: I could not determine the identity of this individual. [^38]: She was from a port city called al-Ubulla in Persia. She gave exhortations and recited the Qur’an as a teacher. Given her association with al-Fudayl ibn Iyad (d. 187/803), we presume she died in the eighth century CE. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 44. [^39]: Al-Sulamī records her as Rayhana al-Waaliha. She lived in the eighth century CE in Basra. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 38. [^40]: Rabiʿa’s husband, Ahmad ibn Abi Hawārī (d. 845), relates many stories of her sainthood and the sainthood of other Syrian women, from which al-Sulamī compiled his own work. Rabiʿa was independently wealthy and financed many students and aspirants. Hawārī reports that she would ceaselessly fast and pray and that he was moved to richer faith just by the sight of her. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women*, 314. [^41]: Al-Sulamī describes her as a teacher or initiator of women into specialized knowledge, such as Rabiʿa bint Ismail. She lived in Damascus and was in communication with al-Dārānī. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 53. [^42]: Possibly Amra al-Farghana from Khurasan who lived in the tenth century CE. Al-Sulamī describes her as someone with impeccable character, presence, and insight. Asma'u also mentions a Mu’aza of Mosul and Majida who shared in this quality of asceticism; however, I could not locate these individuals. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 87. [^43]: Presumably the daughter of Ja’far al-Sadiq. She would have lived in the eighth century CE. [^44]: I could not determine the identity of this individual. [^45]: From Tufawa, near Basra, a contemporary of Malik ibn Dinar. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 57. [^46]: Boyd and Mack transliterate the name as “Ahhiratu Umratu” and identify her as “Amrah wife of Habibu.” However, I believe this entry could be referring to the wife of Abi ‘Umran al-Juni (*imra’a abi umran al-juni*), who has an entry in *Sifat al-Safwa*. In that entry, her son is recorded as having seen his mother tie her legs together with rags to prolong her nighttime prayers. [^47]: A student of Rabiʿa Adawiya. Like her teacher, she was  known for her *tawakkul*, strict adherence to night prayer, and emphasis on cultivating love for Allah. Al-Sulamī, *Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyya*, 33. [^48]: Perhaps the first initiator of women into a spiritual sorority in Basra a century before Rabiʿa Adawiya. Known for sober and vigorous spirituality, she stressed asceticism, prayer, fasting, and night prayer. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women*, 61. [^49]: The sister of Ibrāhīm al-Khawwāṣ, who was a companion of al-Junayd. She and her brother seem to have had a close relationship, which afforded her the opportunity to converse with men of a similar spiritual bent as her. She lived in Baghdad in the ninth century CE. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women*, 216. [^50]: Unclear attribution. In this section of the poem, Asma'u lists a number of names without much detail about their character. The authors of *Collected Works of Nana Asma'u* acknowledge that parts of this poem are missing. This may explain the lack of descriptions for these women. However, it is also possible that Asma'u simply wanted to show her knowledge of these women and acknowledge that they are deserving of mention without lengthening the poem. [^51]: Fātima of Nishapur is quoted anonymously in Kalābādhī’s *Kitāb al-taʿarruf*  and resurfaces in al-Sulamī’s work with her statement properly attributed to her. Kalābādhī uses her words to confidently describe spiritual wayfaring (*sulūk)*. She instructed Bayazid al-Bistami and Dhu al-Nun al-Misri, so she must have lived in the ninth century CE. She frequented Mecca for *umrah* and general devotional purposes, and indeed ultimately died on her way to make *umrah*. Al-Misri relates wisdom from her and testimonies of her saintliness. Cornell, *Early Sufi Women*, 144. [^52]: Even those enraptured by the love of Allah considered her zealous. [^53]: Nafisa (d. c. 824) is a well-known descendant of the Prophet ﷺ and probably the best-known female scholar of hadith in Egypt. She is connected to Imam al-Shafiʿi (d. 820), who received hadith from her and sought her out for prayer, and it seems that before his passing, he requested that his body be carried to her home so that she might say a final prayer over him. See Nadwi, *Al-Muhaddithat*, 268. The Sayida Nafisa Mosque in Cairo is her burial place and is considered a place of spiritual refuge by many. [^54]: To keep the remembrance of death near, she dug a grave and worshiped in it. [^55]: Perhaps Asma'u returns to Fātima of Nishapur because she admires her especially. Fātima’s entry in al-Sulamī’s work is one of the longest, and she enjoys similar appreciation in Asma'u’s poem. Fātima enjoyed wealth and independence—qualities that would have resonated with Asma'u. [^56]: Such is Asma'u’s reverence and appreciation for her father that she mentions him here. Perhaps this also serves as an acknowledgment and reminder that Uthman dan Fodio facilitated educational opportunities for women that allowed some to flourish. [^57]: In this section of the poem, Asma'u turns her attention to memorializing women in her community who passed during her lifetime. Hawa was Asma'u’s maternal grandmother and was likely a Qur’an teacher. The little that we know about these particular women is mentioned here and in other elegies Asma'u penned. In a sense, she offers an appendix to the work of al-Sulamī by adding these women to the names of those he mentioned 800 years prior, much as Ibn al-Jawzi used al-Sulamī’s work two centuries later to write his own and include others who lived after al-Sulamī died. ## Summary In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. All praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger, our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions. Among the luminous figures of Islamic history who flourished far from the Arab heartlands stands Nana Asma'u bint Uthman (1793–1864), a scholar and prolific poet of the West African Sahel. She was the daughter of Shaykh Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Salih, known as Uthman dan Fodio (d. 1817), the founder of the Sokoto caliphate and among the most esteemed scholars of law, Sufism, and governance in his era. Raised within a culture that cherished poetry, Nana Asma'u wielded verse to teach the Qur'an, transmit Islamic values, honor the righteous, and preserve the history of her people. Her life bears witness to the deep rootedness of Islam in West Africa and to the truth that this faith spread there over a millennium ago not by conquest but through ordinary human encounters and the piety of extraordinary souls. Indeed, the celebrated scholar of Timbuktu, Ahmad Baba (d. 1627), is quoted by Uthman dan Fodio as having said that the Black Africans "accepted Islam without being conquered by anybody." Nana Asma'u was born of noble lineage within a Fulani clan in what would become northern Nigeria. Her title "Nana" was a customary honorific for female religious teachers, signaling her role in public life. Her father was so beloved a teacher that the ruler of the neighboring state of Gobir sought to suppress his call, forbidding conversion to Islam and outlawing distinctively Muslim dress, and later even attempting to take the Shaykh's life. This compelled him to migrate with his community, and after years of warfare the Sokoto caliphate was established under his rule. Nana Asma'u was likely named after Asmā' bint Abī Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, who carried provisions to the Prophet ﷺ and her father during the hijra while pregnant and in great peril. Like her namesake she was tireless and resolute; by the age of ten she had memorized the Qur'an, and her education continued without hindrance. She attained fluency in Arabic, Fulfulde, and Hausa, and conversed in Tamajek, the tongue of the nomadic Tuareg. Accounts of her early life survive in Rawḍ al-Jinān, a biography of her father composed by her husband Gidado with her assistance. Gidado, whose given name was Uthman ibn Abubakr Sambo Laima, was a gifted Arabist and served as wazir of the state; the Scottish explorer Hugh Clapperton, who visited Sokoto in 1824, described him as "excessively polite" and eloquent in Arabic. After the passing of her father, Nana Asma'u bore the weighty responsibility of collecting and cataloging his works, a task the Fulani likened in significance to the gathering of the Qur'an after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Her scholarly standing is further evidenced by her written exchanges with male scholars, such as her Arabic poem welcoming the Mauritanian pilgrim al-Ḥājjī Aḥmad al-Shinqīṭī, whom she addressed as her brother. As Oludamini Ogunnaike observes, through the pilgrimage the scholars of West African centers such as Timbuktu, Djenne, and Kano were connected to the scholars of Cairo and Damascus, including figures like Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī. Nana Asma'u began teaching at the age of fourteen, and her surviving works are almost entirely lyrical poems. She favored poetry for its persuasive power and its ease of memorization, for it enchants even as it instructs. When a Bedouin once recited verse to the Prophet ﷺ, he responded, "There is magic in eloquence and wisdom in poetry." Her community, though literate, prized the qualities of an oral culture such as rhythm, cadence, and repetition in service of memorization. As John Hunwick notes, the ability to compose Arabic verse was in West Africa "a hallmark of the accomplished scholar," a tradition reaching back in Nigeria to the grammarian and poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi (d. 1212). Among her notable compositions is "A Plea to Saintly Women" (Tawassul Ga Mata Masu Albarka), written in 1837. During the years of Sokoto's expansion, many non-Muslim women came under Muslim rule, severed from their former ways of life. In 1836 her brother, the caliph Muhammad Bello, produced Kitāb al-Naṣīḥa, drawing upon Ibn al-Jawzī's (d. 1201) Ṣifat al-Ṣafwa, which itself relied upon the earlier Dhikr al-Niswa al-Mutaʿabbidāt al-Sufiyyāt of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 1021). Bello asked his sister to translate and versify the work; yet she did more than translate, recasting it to focus wholly upon the potential of women. By embracing the Hausa tongue she demonstrated that Islam was not so foreign as to be incommunicable in the language of the people she served, for as western scholars have noted, Islamic themes were scarcely present in Hausa poetry before the jihad of her father. Her concern for women's education did not stand alone but flowed from her father's own teaching. In Nūr al-Albāb, Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio sternly rebuked those scholars who left their wives, daughters, and slaves "neglected like animals without teaching them what Allah enjoins on them regarding their articles of faith, their ablution, their prayers," treating them "like household implements which are used until they are broken and then thrown onto the rubbish heap." He further warned Muslim women not to heed "the words of the misguided ones" who commanded obedience to husbands in place of obedience to Allah and His Messenger, imposing duties that "neither Allah nor His Messenger imposed." Facing criticism from scholars who feared the mixing of the sexes at lessons, he reasoned that the certain evil of ignorance outweighed the potential harm of such gatherings. In 1840 Nana Asma'u established a cadre of itinerant women teachers known as the Yan Taru, training them in the Qur'an and Islamic morality to bring the purity of tawḥīd to the masses of women and to circumvent the objections raised against female learning. Her spiritual vision shines through her manual "Warning for the Negligent and Reminder for the Intelligent Regarding the Ways of the Pious." Beginning with "that which stands between man and paradise," she addresses two audiences: the neglectful who require warning and the diligent who require reminder. She enumerates eight destructive habits, including antagonism, greed, materialism, boastfulness, resort to diviners, dealings with jinn, and witchcraft, and eight redeeming ones, including repentance, scrupulous worship, remembrance of Allah, charity, fasting, patience, and kinship. In this she follows the method of takhallī and tajallī, emptying the heart of vice and adorning it with virtue. She devotes her lengthiest treatment to the signs of those who follow the Sunnah, among them faith in all the Prophet ﷺ brought, love expressed through imitation of him in speech, action, and character, the shunning of innovation, reverence when he is mentioned, honoring his family and companions and the sacred cities, abundant prayers upon him, and opposition to whoever opposes God's religion "even if it be one's own father or son." Throughout she emphasizes zeal rooted in love of God as the remedy for spiritual apathy. This conviction that knowledge must transform its bearer echoes the words of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba of neighboring Senegal, who wrote that "he who acquires knowledge without practicing it is a loaded donkey," and that "the only useful knowledge is that which one learns and teaches only for the love of God, Most High." A significant portion of her legacy consists of poetic elegies, which served not merely to memorialize the great but to hold before her community living examples of human excellence for emulation. In "A Plea to Saintly Women" she weaves together the women around the Prophet ﷺ, the pious women of the intervening centuries, and the righteous women of her own day, showing how each generation learned from those before. When she herself passed in 1864, her brother Isa is thought to have composed a lengthy elegy describing crowds so dense he could scarcely reach her body, with men weeping and "no one left unmoved, not even the animals." Out of reverence he never named her directly but called her "Nana" for her public authority and "Inji" for her spiritual authority, comparing her light to lightning that rouses hearts from heedlessness, and recalling her generosity, her care for orphans, and her skill at reconciling disputes. In her own plea she voiced the humble hope that permeates her verse: "Perhaps by their piety, You will purify a sinning servant like me," turning to Allah "with child-like hope" and closing, as she always did, with salutations upon the Messenger ﷺ, "without whom we're adrift." --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/belief-in-divine-love-discovering-spiritual-attachment-styles # Belief in Divine Love: Discovering Spiritual Attachment Styles **Authors:** Dr. Hassan Elwan, Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Data, Family & Community, Parenting, Reports **Tags:** Editor's Picks, Names of Allah, Paper, Publication **Published:** December 29, 2022 **Updated:** June 25, 2025 ## Introduction Allah is Perfect. His perfection extends into every realm imaginable. He is the absolutely Merciful (*al-Raḥmān*), Compassionate (*al-Raḥīm*), Loving (*al-Wadūd*), Forgiving (*al-Ghafūr*), Helping (*al-Muʿīn*), the One to put complete trust in (*al-Wakīl*), and so much more. However, we do not always see Allah’s perfection directly. Allah is the Apparent (*al-Ẓāhir*) and the Immanent (*al-Bāṭin*). “Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives \[all\] vision.”[^1] Thus, every single one of us has to grapple with and answer two fundamental questions: 1) Although I cannot see Allah directly, how do I imagine Him to be? 2) Allah sees everything I do, what does He think of me? How we answer these two questions has a profound effect on our lives. The answers influence our attachment style, our relationship with Allah and others, as well as our religiosity, religious struggles, and self-worth. Inculcating a healthy image of God that reflects the harmony between all His attributes is essential for positive religious development. People have varying and sometimes distorted perceptions of God. If a person perceives Him as a “cosmic cop,” they will fearfully wonder what Allah will pull them over for and for what He will let them go. They may imagine the Qur’an as only a book of “dos and don’ts,” missing out on all the majestic aspects of God’s message. They might perceive God’s laws as stopping them from enjoying a more pleasurable life. Thus, the relationship a person has with God when they perceive Him as a “cop” may be one of distance, appeasement, and fearful conformance. On the other hand, some people think of God as “a magic genie” who, when properly obeyed, responds by giving them what they wish for.[^2] They may worship God with the false expectation that their belief in Him entitles them to get whatever they want. However, when life’s inevitable challenges hit and God, in His infinite wisdom, does not grant them what they desire, they may harbor anger and resentment towards Him.[^3] The way we imagine God affects how we relate to Him, ourselves, and to the world. Having a healthy and balanced perception of God, based on scripture and prophetic guidance, is essential for thriving. This paper introduces the topic of “God image”[^4] and attachment. We explain what a God image is and how a healthy or distorted God image develops. We also explain God attachment styles and how our image of God influences how we relate to Him. Finally, we discuss the consequences of a distorted God image on religious and self-concept struggles. We present a theory of God image based on classical Islamic sources and modern psychology, and the results of our scientific study on the topic. --- ## What is a God image? There is a perception of God that exists in each of our minds.[^5] Some theologians refer to this perception as a God image. It does not refer to a physical image of Allah, but refers to how we perceive and experience His presence and attributes. This image forms in our hearts and minds from two primary sources. The first is a cognitive propositional set of beliefs about God’s attributes. For example, one might say, “God is the Creator. God is One. God is all Powerful.” The second is an affective experiential perception of God that is personal.[^6] For example, one might say, “I feel God is near to me” or “I don’t feel God’s mercy in my life.” The cognitive and affective aspects of one’s God image may influence each other.[^7] The cognitive propositional set of beliefs typically comes from what we are explicitly taught about Allah by our parents, religious educators, and theological books.[^8] They come from formal lessons in educational settings and informal comments we hear about Allah. These belief-based mental representations of Allah generate our conscious, abstract knowledge of the Divine. On the other hand, our affective experiential perception of Allah typically comes from personal life experiences to which we attach theological meaning. This perception emerges from personal encounters where we did or did not perceive the Divine, the emotions we felt during religious experiences, and implicit ideas about who Allah is.[^9] This experiential, relational component of our God image can be considered the experiential knowledge of the heart. It is an affect-laden representation that underlies a person's emotional experience of the Divine. This affective experiential perception of Allah is often learned through experiences and relationships with parents and religious educators who teach about God. In other words, people do not only learn about Allah through what their parents and religious teachers explicitly tell them. They also learn about Allah through how their parents and religious teachers interact with them. ![This experiental, relational component of our God image can be considered to be the experiential knowledge of the heart. It is an affect-laden representation that underlines a person's emotional experience of the Divine](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote1-1-1024x611.jpg) These two sources of information may converge to form a cohesive God image, where our cognitive beliefs about God match our emotional experiences of Him. Conversely, these two sources of information may diverge if our beliefs do not align with our experiences. For example, many Muslims know Allah’s attributes, yet they have difficulty experiencing those attributes in their lives. For them, Allah is only known through a set of theological facts. An incongruence between what the mind believes about Allah and what the heart feels towards Him leads to dissonance in one’s God image. This dissonance may sit at the root of many spiritual and psychological struggles. Allah has a real and definitive set of attributes that describe Him perfectly. However, the human being does not have absolute and unfiltered access to these sublime attributes. Rather, we rely on information we have received, consciously and unconsciously, and on personal experiences to create an image in our minds of His essence. From childhood to adolescence to adulthood, we breathe in information, emotions, and thoughts pertaining to Allah. We evaluate each of these breaths as pleasurable or painful, enjoyable or aversive. We process all of this and eventually exhale beliefs about who Allah is—about His role in the universe and in our personal lives.[^10] ![Two sources that inform our God image](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure1-761x1024.jpg) The accuracy of our God image lies on a spectrum of absolutely accurate to absolutely inaccurate. Unfortunately, many people have held grossly inaccurate God images, past and present. These inaccurate images are influenced by numerous factors, including false and superstitious beliefs present in various cultures, anti-God messaging in modern pop culture, low-quality religious education and environments, and poor relationships with parents and religious educators. Allah captures the essence of an inaccurate God image when He says, > مَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ > >  In no way have they estimated Allah in His true estimation. > Surely, Allah is Powerful and Mighty.[^11] Allah is making it clear that He is more sublime, majestic, benevolent, and capable than what people imagine. These misestimations of Allah are based on conjecture and erroneous assumptions. Commenting on the idolaters’ theological deviations, Allah says, “They follow not except assumptions \[about Allah\] and what \[their\] souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance.”[^12] He further describes the hypocrites and idolators in the Qur’an as “those who assume about Allah an evil assumption.”[^13] The response of the hypocrites and the doubters to the Battle of Uḥud demonstrates the psychological impact of misestimating Allah. Desire for the spoils of war motivated them to join the battle,[^14] yet after the defeat they second-guessed the Prophet’s decision to fight and objected to what Allah had decreed. They said that the believers would have won if only the Prophet ﷺ had listened to them instead. Allah described these hypocrites and doubters as “...a faction worrying about themselves, thinking of Allah other than the truth—thoughts of ignorance…”[^15] The struggle of excessive worrying in the face of adversity is rooted in thinking incorrectly about Allah. Thus, our God image produces certain expectations of Him, which shape how we interpret life and cope with adversity. ![Consequences of Positive and Negative God images](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure2.jpg) One of the most vivid Qur’anic examples of the psychospiritual ramifications of divergent God images is found in its account of the Battle of the Trench. The Muslim army numbered approximately 3,000 soldiers, compared to the confederate army of nearly 10,000.[^16] When the hypocrites and weak believers saw that the confederates vastly outnumbered them and were laying siege to the city of Medina, they proclaimed, “Allah and His Messenger did not promise us except delusion.” However, the believers strong in faith, who saw the exact same 10,000 enemy combatants surrounding them, said, “‘This is \[exactly\] what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.’ And it increased them only in faith and acceptance.”[^17] This incident demonstrates that diametrically opposed God images between people were the root cause of their diverging emotional states. Allah encourages us to see and feel His [beautiful attributes](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/names-of-allah) by having good assumptions about Him (*ḥusn al-ẓann bi’llāh*). The Prophet ﷺ narrated that Allah said, “I am as My servant expects of Me.”[^18] Allah is thus inviting us to perceive Him positively so that we experience Him positively in our lives. We find plenty of examples in both religious texts and our life experiences of people who have positive and negative assumptions about Allah. We see people who \[accurately\] imagine Allah as intimately near and personal, as well as people who \[inaccurately\] imagine Him as distant and impersonal. To some, Allah is experienced as warm, loving, and benevolent, whereas to others He is perceived as cold, distant, and punitive. Some perceive God as helpful and easy to please, whereas others see him as demanding and difficult to please. Some perceive God as always having His door open to them, whereas others feel God has long abandoned them. These disparities in God images show us that distortions exist and that they contribute to our psychological struggles, such as our ability to cope with adversity. Based on our framework, a distorted God image stems from two primary factors: (1) incorrect propositional beliefs about Allah and (2) skewed affective experiential perceptions of Allah. A distorted God image will disturb our relationship with God and may lead to psychospiritual problems such as religious doubt, low self-worth, and [mental illness](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/faith-in-mind-islams-role-in-mental-health). We believe that our basic need to understand and bond with our Creator is programmed in our *fiṭra* (innate disposition). We are wired to connect, and our neurobiological systems predispose us to develop nurturing relationships. We have a relationship-seeking system within us from birth, and our neural circuitry and hormones react to facilitate deep bonds with others. Satisfying relationships are the most important source of happiness and sense of meaning in life.[^19] We not only seek these bonds with humans, but are biologically primed to seek moral meaning and a spiritual connection to the transcendent.[^20] Thus, it is in our *fiṭra* (innate disposition) to desire Allah.[^21] Even before our exposure to formal knowledge of Allah, the human psyche has been inspired with “deocentric intrapsychic endowments” that serve as precursors to the experience of God. Allah created this internal God-centered drive *a priori,* existing before any psychological experience with Him. The infant therefore has some primordial, preverbal awareness of God’s presence.[^22] ![A distorted God image will disturb our relationship with God and may lead to psychospiritual problems such as religious doubt, low self-worth, and mental illness](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote2-1024x611.jpg) An infant does not have the cognitive ability to understand Allah and His love directly. However, over time, with knowledge, relationships, and life experience, the child internalizes an image of God. The process of internalizing a God image is possible because there is a God-given ability to comprehend and experience Him.[^23] However, the human desire for intimacy with Allah requires sound experiential knowledge of Him. Ibn Taymiyya stated that one’s love for God intensifies according to one’s knowledge of Him and the soundness of one’s *fiṭra*, and that it diminishes with reduced knowledge and the pollution of one’s *fiṭra* with corruptive vain desires.[^24] --- ## Attachment theory > “No child is born but that he is upon the innate disposition. Then, it is his parents who make him into a Jew, a Christian, or Magian.”[^25] As the Prophet ﷺ explained, parents are the primary worldly factor in the religious development of their children.[^26] They have the ability to preserve or corrupt the *fiṭra* of their offspring. One might interpret this hadith as only referring to the role parents play in conveying a cognitive propositional set of beliefs to their children. However, many parents fail to realize that they also influence the development of their children’s affective emotional experiences with Allah through their parenting practices. Before developing a conscious relationship with Allah, a child first develops a relationship with their parents. The infant develops a particular attachment style depending on the quality of their interactions with their parents.[^27] According to attachment theory, the early attachment bond formed with our parents, or primary caregivers, through repeated daily experiences creates an internal working model that functions as a relationship blueprint for our future relationships.[^28] The internal working model provides the child with an internal representation of their own worth, as well as a guide for how to view others. Within this bond, the child learns to trust or mistrust, a sense of security or insecurity, and this attachment bond largely depends upon the consistency, predictability, and quality of parental responses to the child. Healthy feelings of security and satisfaction emerge if the child is nurtured appropriately.[^29] However, if the child is inconsistently nurtured, what will emerge instead are feelings of resentment, frustration, anger, and insecurity.[^30] Attachment theory classifies children as having a secure or insecure attachment style. Secure attachments predict many positive psychological outcomes, whereas insecure attachments are a risk factor for psychological dysfunction.[^31] Securely attached people hold a positive view of themselves and a positive view of others. They typically form healthy and loving relationships with others. They feel that they can trust others and be trusted, love and accept love, and grow close to others with relative ease. They are also able to depend on others without becoming totally dependent.[^32] Secure attachments in childhood foster emotional resilience and habits of seeking out selected attachment figures for comfort, protection, advice, and strength.[^33] Relationships based on secure attachments result in effective use of cognitive functions, emotional flexibility, enhancement of security, assignment of meaning to experiences, and effective self-regulation.[^34] Insecure attachment styles are typically classified as either anxious, avoidant, or disorganized. Anxious attachments are typically the product of interactions with caregivers whose responses are inconsistent and who are not readily available in times of need. Anxious attachments are marked by a fear of abandonment. Anxiously attached people tend to be insecure about their relationships, desire constant validation, and are often very clingy or needy. Avoidant attachment styles are marked by a fear of intimacy.[^35] The avoidant pattern of attachment usually develops when a child learns to expect rejection when seeking care. People with an avoidant attachment style tend to have trouble getting close to others or trusting others in relationships, and relationships can make them feel suffocated. They typically maintain distance in relationships and prefer to be independent and rely on themselves. In later life, the avoidant individual will tend not to seek the love and support of others and will endeavor to become emotionally self-sufficient.[^36] Disorganized attachments have elements of both anxious and avoidant attachment styles. Disorganized attachments are marked by fear of the caregiver and lack of trust in them. Children with a disorganized attachment do not know what to expect from their caregiver or if their needs will ever be met.[^37] Another pathway to an insecure attachment may be overparenting.[^38] Overparenting is characterized by excessive affection, protection, and control of children, especially into adolescence and emerging adulthood. For example, ‘helicopter’ parents are so involved in their children’s lives that their children never develop age-appropriate autonomy and decision-making skills.[^39] This type of risk-averse and anxious parenting attempts to shield children from any perceived obstacle or failure. This leads children to reduce their exploratory behaviors. They learn to fear new experiences and may become overly cautious and insecure.[^40] Perceptions of being over-parented relate to insecure attachments, poor parent-child communication, low self-efficacy, reduced trust and increased alienation amongst peers, and higher levels of entitlement.[^41] ![Classical attachment styles](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure3.jpg) Many researchers have suggested that our attachment style with our parents heavily influences our affective experiential image of God and our attachment style with Him.[^42] The internal working model of relationships we develop through our parental attachments influences how we initially feel about Allah and attach to Him. If a child feels wanted by one’s parents and feels a sense of trust, safety, and security with them, they will likely apply this internal working model to Allah. If the child does not feel wanted or does not feel a sense of trust or safety, they will likely project this onto Allah as well. This largely unconscious process forms a default, but malleable, image of Allah and a particular type of attachment to Him.[^43] We want to stress that our image of, and attachment to, God can indeed change.[^44] Another mechanism that may shape our God image is symbolic and vicarious conditioning by parents, especially mothers.[^45] Children may develop a notion of who God is through associations with symbolic stimuli, such as emotion-arousing words used by parents. For example, children may perceive God as pleasant if they hear their parents repeatedly use words such as kind, loving, and gentle when describing God. Similarly, in vicarious learning, the emotional responses of parents when talking about God may be communicated through vocal and facial expressions, which may arouse strong emotional reactions in the child. For example, a parent’s smiling face when speaking about God may nurture a child’s image of God as friendly, loving, and caring.[^46] --- ## Attach to survive or survive to attach? Attachment theorists argue that the attachment process was an evolved emotional-behavioral-motivational system designed by natural selection to maintain proximity between helpless infants and their primary caregivers. The theory draws heavily from evolutionary theory and ethology, and states that attachment-related behaviors serve to maximize survival and reproduction. Such theories posit the evolutionary process as the central explanation for the existence of loving attachments. In other words, attachment is merely a means to an end: survival. However, it is beyond the capability of the scientific method to prove this claim, and as Muslims we fundamentally disagree with this explanation.[^47] We argue, from an Islamic perspective, that attachments are not simply a means to survival. Rather, attachment to God can be conceived as the fundamental purpose of life. The human being was created to lovingly attach and voluntarily submit to (i.e., worship) Allah, and the development of a secure attachment to caregivers in childhood serves as a means to facilitate a secure attachment to Allah.[^48] Thus, if our ultimate purpose in life is to lovingly attach and submit to Allah, the ability to survive in this world is a necessary means to that end. Survival allows us to learn, see, and experience Allah’s sublime attributes in the world, and through survival we realize our purpose of connecting with Him. Yet parental attachment has a purpose beyond facilitating a healthy attachment to Allah. In His infinite wisdom, Allah has chosen to deliver sustenance and love to the helpless and dependent child through his parents. [Thus, *al-Wadūd* (the Loving)  plants love for the child in the hearts of the parents, who are then rewarded for delivering this love to their child.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islamic-parenting-strategies-how-to-help-children-feel-safe-in-their-attachment-to-god-and-parents) This is crucial because the child does not have the cognitive capacity to understand who Allah is or to recognize His love directly. Furthermore, through the parents nurturing their child and spending on him from the wealth Allah gave them, they gain tremendous satisfaction in this life and reward in the afterlife.[^49] ![Attachment according to evolutionary and islamic paradigms](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure4-602x1024.jpg) ![Wisdom of parental love for children](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure5-scaled.jpg) --- ## Parataxic distortions in the image of God Although most children develop a secure attachment to their parents, many do not.[^50] Children insecurely attached to their parents may develop an unhealthy internal working model and consequently develop an insecure attachment to Allah. This is because a person’s initial relationship with God often resembles their relationship with their parents. It is indeed a travesty if a person imagines God as cruel and distant because they had parents who they perceived as cruel and distant. A distortion in the image of God based on a false internal working model has been referred to as a parataxic distortion.[^51] A parataxic distortion in the image of God refers to a negative attitude towards God based on imagining Him as similar to  people from past experiences. In other words, a parataxic distortion in the image of God is a phenomenon in which feelings, thoughts, or experiences originating in one relationship (e.g., the parent-child relationship) are reenacted in one’s relationship with God, serving to distort the character of our relationship with God.[^52] ![A parataxic distortion in the image of God is a phenomenon in which feelings, thoughts, or experiences originating in one relationship (eg. parental relationship) are reenacted in one's relationship with God, serving to distort the character of our relationship with God.](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote3-e1672426866492-1024x476.jpg) We are our children’s first teachers about who Allah is. We transmit our image of God to them in both words and deeds. They learn cognitively what we explicitly teach them about Allah and affectively from how we behave and relate to them. In other words, we teach them about God in both propositional and relational language. Parataxic distortions in the image of God emerge when what we teach our children propositionally is discordant with what we teach them relationally.[^53] --- ## Parents, God image, and life struggles Prior research on non-Muslims has investigated the connection between a child’s upbringing and their God image and attachment. This body of literature has found links between parental God image and youth God image, youth attachment to parents and attachment to God, and parenting practices and youth God image. Parents with a loving God image are more likely to raise children who perceive both their parents and God as loving, whereas parents who imagine God as distant have children who likely think the same.[^54] Regarding attachment styles, adults who retrospectively report insecure attachments to their parents report greater strain in their relationships with God and difficulties in forming a positive God image and attachment.[^55] As for parenting practices, adults who report their parents as sensitive and loving in childhood are more likely to view God as supportive and loving, whereas adults who remember their parents as distant are more likely to view God as distant.[^56] Collectively, this body of research suggests that parents’ God image influences their parenting and the subsequent God image and attachment of their children. In a comprehensive study of 363 five- and six-year-olds, mothers who imagined God as distant and strict resorted to stricter parenting and reported less affection, acceptance, and playful interactions with their children, which in turn predicted children’s images of a punishing God. Mothers who imagined God as loving gave their children more autonomy and had children who imagined God as more loving and caring.[^57] [Unfortunately, research has found that distorted God images and insecure attachments to Him often beget more religious doubts, worse mental health, and more negative self-concepts.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/cosmic-cop-or-loving-lord-the-influence-of-parenting-on-our-view-of-god-submission-and-contentment) For example, adults who reported an avoidant parental attachment imagined God as more distant and cruel, which was associated with persistent religious doubt.[^58] Similarly, another study found that perceiving God as cruel and distant is related to lower self-worth and self-esteem.[^59]  In a study of Orthodox Jews, anxious parental attachments in adulthood were related to sudden religious conversion and apostasy from Judaism.[^60] --- ## Empirical study of Muslims Thus far, we have laid out the theoretical framework that guides our empirical research on Muslims. Our ambition is to create assessments and interventions that rehabilitate distorted images of God and insecure attachments to Him. It is our belief that human thriving is fundamentally tied to having a healthy God image and attachment. After years of preliminary work, we have created our own survey based on prior research and the Islamic tradition.[^61] We hypothesize the following theoretical model (Figure 6) explaining the relationship between parents (or primary attachment figures), God image and attachment, and religious and self-related problems. We believe that a child’s upbringing, including the explicit ideas they were taught about God and the implicit feelings they develop towards Him as a result of their parental relationship and attachment style, will create a particular God image and attachment. Ultimately, one’s God image, if distorted, will result in religious struggles and a more negative self-concept. ![Thoeretical model of God image & attachment foundations and consequences](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure6-848x1024.jpg) The present study focused on the boxed part of the model.[^62] It aimed to understand the types of God images and attachments, and how God images predict religious and self-concept struggles. Our sample included 241 Muslim participants from across North America.[^63] Approximately 33% of the participants were between 16 and 25 years old, 30% were 26-35, 33% were 36-45, and 4% were older than 55. Approximately 64% of participants were female and 75% were raised in a Western country. Almost two in three participants (65%) reported praying five times a day and reading the Qur’an multiple times a week. The primary questions we addressed were the following: 1. What are the various types of God images that people have? How are God images related to religiosity? 2. What are the various types of attachments to God that people have? How are attachments to God related to religiosity? 3. To what extent does one’s God image relate to religious struggles (e.g., doubts and objecting to God) and self-concept struggles (e.g., self-esteem and shame)? We hypothesized that positive God images would be related to more secure attachments to God, whereas negative God images would predict more insecure (anxious/avoidant) attachments. We hypothesized that negative God images would predict more religious and self-concept struggles. --- ## Measures **God image**. Prior research has conceptualized different dimensions of God image, including God as loving, distant, cruel, or coplike. From an Islamic perspective, Allah has more than 99 beautiful names and attributes, all of which we wanted to integrate but could not. However, since there is considerable overlap between many of His attributes, we focused on measuring those that we believe capture key aspects of a person’s God image.[^64] We also included a coplike dimension of God image due to its prevalence in cultural notions of God. See Appendix A for a complete list of survey items used. In this study, we analyzed the following four aspects of God image: 1. Forgiveness and Grace (*al-Ghafūr*) 2. Aiding and Helpful (*al-Muʿīn*) 3. Caring and Compassion (*al-Raḥīm*) 4. Strict and Coplike **Attachment to God**. We measured people’s anxiety and avoidance vis-à-vis God to capture their overall attachment style. Anxious items asked how worried the respondent felt about damaging their relationship with God, how much they craved signs of His love, and how anxious they were about their relationship with Him. Avoidant items asked about need to be close to God, experience of intense emotions with God, and preoccupation with religious thoughts. **Religious struggles.** Seven questions were formulated to capture religious struggles. Such struggles were measured by (1) frequency and severity of doubts, (2) troubles with God’s commands and worldly decrees, and (3) insistence on understanding God’s decisions.[^65] **Self-concept struggles**. Five questions captured different dimensions of self-concept struggles. These dimensions included internalized shame (i.e., feelings of inadequacy and deficiency)[^66] and global self-esteem.[^67] **Religiosity**. Ten items from our BASIC religiosity measure[^68] captured five dimensions of religiosity, including beliefs, attitudes, spiritual practice, spiritual connection to God, and connection to religious institutions.[^69] --- ## Analytic approach To address our first two research questions about types of God images and attachments to God, we used cluster analysis and correlations.[^70] Clustering allows us to see the pattern of God images and attachments that naturally emerge in our sample. To address our third question, we used t-tests to compare attachment styles with religious and self-concept struggles. --- ## Results The Muslims in our sample generally had positive images of Allah. The average score for imagining Allah as “Caring and Compassionate” (4.12 out 5) and His “Forgiveness and Grace” (3.95) were relatively high. The average score for imagining Allah as “Aiding and Helping” was moderate (3.25) and as “Strict and Coplike” was quite low (1.59). However, these averages do not provide a complete picture of the diverse perceptions of Allah that people in our sample hold. Cluster analysis provided a more holistic representation of our sample’s range of God images. We identified four types of God image, and have described each one in detail below.[^71] See Figure 7 and Table 1 for details. See Appendix B for descriptive statistics and correlations. ### Profile 1: Highly benevolent image of God Nearly half of the sample (48.6%) imagined God as very compassionate, very forgiving, very aiding and helpful, and not at all coplike. This profile is of a loving and benevolent Creator, actively involved in helping people throughout their lives, easily forgiving of mistakes, and generous with His mercy. ### Profile 2: Slightly benevolent image of God More than one in four people (25.7%) imagined God as quite forgiving, somewhat compassionate, and very helpful, but also a bit coplike. This group perceived Allah as generally good-willed, especially in helping people in life, but also a little strict in enforcing His rules. However, His benevolence is seen as exceeding His strictness, as He is relatively quick to forgive and somewhat compassionate. ### Profile 3: Lukewarm and unconcerned image of God Approximately one in seven people (17.4%) imagined God as neither very benevolent nor very malevolent. He was perceived as just a bit forgiving and helpful, but not very strict or coplike either. This group appears to imagine Allah as a neutral observer detached from His creation. Thus, He is not seen as particularly loving but neither is He seen as harsh or cruel. ### Profile 4: Cruel image of God One in 12 people (8.3%) imagined Allah as cold-hearted and callous. He was perceived as not being helpful, compassionate, or forgiving, but as strict and demanding. For this group, Allah is a cosmic cop, eager to punish sinners and difficult to please. Overall, three in four people (profiles 1 and 2) had positive God images. On the other hand, one in four people (profiles 3 and 4) did not hold a positive God image. God image was also positively correlated with holistic religiosity (*r*\=.42).[^72] Similarly, the highly benevolent God image profile belonged to the most religious, followed by the slightly benevolent profile. In other words, those who viewed God more benevolently held stronger Islamic beliefs and attitudes, maintained more spiritual practices, felt a greater connection to God and to their communities, and volunteered and contributed more to religious causes. Our second question pertained to God attachment styles. The average endorsement of an anxious attachment was moderate (2.92 out of 5) and of an avoidant attachment was low (1.86 out of 5). The cluster analysis revealed five profiles that best described the quality of attachments to God.[^73] We describe each attachment style below, including how God images relate to these attachment styles. See Table 2 and Figures 8 and 9 for details. ![God image profiles (table)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Table1-1024x692.jpg) ![Visual representation of God image profiles](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure7-775x1024.jpg) ### Profile 1: Secure God attachment Nearly one in five people (19.1%) had a secure God attachment. People with this profile have a positive self-image and God-image. They generally perceived Allah as loving, intimate, helpful, forgiving, compassionate, and were not worried that God would abandon them or withhold His love from them. ### Profile 2: Slightly anxious God attachment Nearly one in three people (32.2%) had a slightly anxious God attachment. Their God-image was positive, but their self-image was slightly less positive than the self-images of those with a secure attachment. They report worrying about their relationship with God, even if only slightly, because they sometimes feel inadequate and can be hard on themselves when they make mistakes. However, their positive view of God is much stronger than any insecurities they may have about themselves. ### Profile 3: Avoidant God attachment More than one in six people (17.4%) had an avoidant God attachment. Such individuals imagine God as forgiving, but not very compassionate, intimate, or appreciative.[^74] People with this profile tend to not desire intimacy with God and don’t experience positive emotions when thinking about Him. ### Profile 4: Disorganized God attachment Just over 15% of respondents had a disorganized God attachment. People with this profile are highly anxious and slightly avoidant in their relationship with God. They perceive Allah as strict and not very helpful, appreciative, or merciful. They also have a negative self-image. In summary, people in this group are very fearful of Allah and avoid intimacy with Him. ### Profile 5: Highly anxious God attachment About one in six people (16.1%) had a highly anxious God attachment. Such people tend to view God as neither very forgiving nor helpful, although He is merciful, intimate, and only moderately strict. Their deep desire for intimacy with God is complicated by extreme anxiety and worry regarding their relationship with Him. Individuals in this group think highly of God but poorly of themselves, thus wondering if they are good enough for God to love. ![God attachment profiles (table)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Table2-1024x731.jpg) ![VIsual representation of God attachment profiles](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure8-806x1024.jpg) ![Proportion of people in each attachment profile](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure9-806x1024.jpg) Avoidant attachment was negatively correlated with religiosity (*r*\=-.47). Indeed, people with avoidant and disorganized attachments had the lowest levels of religiosity (Profiles 4 and 5). Those with secure and anxious attachments did not significantly differ in religiosity. Our third question was about how God images relate to religious and self-concept struggles.[^75] Total God image score was negatively associated with religious (*r*\=-.68) and self-concept struggles (*r*\=-.56).[^76] In other words, people who held more benevolent God images tended to report far fewer religious doubts and greater self-worth and self-esteem. A highly benevolent God image was associated with the least amount of religious struggles, while those with a slightly benevolent God image had comparatively more religious struggles (*t*\=-4.28, p<.001). The lukewarm/unconcerned God image was associated with moderate levels of religious struggles. Finally, the cruel God image profile was associated with the highest levels of religious struggles. Those who imagine God as callous and strict report experiencing more religious doubts and objecting more to God’s commands and worldly decrees. The same patterns were observed between God image profiles and struggles with a sense of self. People with highly benevolent God images reported few sense-of-self struggles, indicating that they generally had positive self-images. People with slightly benevolent God images reported experiencing a moderate degree of sense-of-self struggles, which was quite a bit more than the highly benevolent profile (*t*\=-4.03, *p*<.001). People with a lukewarm/unconcerned God image reported even more self-concept struggles than those with the slightly benevolent profile. Lastly, people with a cruel God image reported the greatest self-concept struggles, indicating that they experienced very low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy and self-criticism. See Table 3 and Figure 10 for details. ![God image and religious and self concept struggles (table)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Table3-1024x812.jpg) ![God image and religious and sense of self struggles](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure10-823x1024.jpg) --- ## Discussion This paper introduced a theory of God image and attachment. Our survey analysis highlighted four typologies of God image and five God attachment styles. Benevolent God images were associated with higher religiosity, whereas avoidant and disorganized attachments were associated with lower religiosity. We also found that more distorted God images (i.e., imaging Allah as lukewarm/unconcerned or as cruel) were associated with more maladaptive attachment styles and more religious and self-concept struggles. Nearly three in four Muslims in our sample reported a benevolent God image. However, our sample was likely more holistically religious than the general North American Muslim population.[^77] Therefore, it is probable that more than one in four Muslims in North America do not have a positive God image. We also found that about half of the sample had either a secure attachment (19%) or a slightly anxious attachment (32%). This means that there were many people with a positive God image who did not have a secure attachment. This discrepancy may indicate that God attachments need to be conceptualized in terms different from classical attachment theory. Additionally, from a purely religious perspective, we believe that having a slightly anxious attachment to God is not necessarily debilitating. Although individuals with the slightly anxious profile had moderate levels of sense-of-self struggles, their religiosity didn’t differ much from the secure group. Furthermore, they reported relatively few religious struggles. We believe that as long as one’s God image is positive enough to compensate for one’s slightly self-deprecating self-concept, one can enjoy a healthy religious life. That being said, helping such people improve their self-concept through greater self-compassion and increased recognition of their God-given dignity may help them become more secure over time. Although we theorize that childhood relationships with parents and religious educators are central in developing an initial God image and attachment style, there is plenty of hope that people can rehabilitate their God image and attachment style in adulthood. In fact, we believe that rehabilitating our image of and relationship with God is not only possible, but is one of the best ways to heal our relationships with others and our previous attachment-related wounds. ![Rehabilitating our image of and relationship with God is not only possible, but is one of the best ways to heal our relationships with others and our previous attachment-related wounds](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote4-1024x611.jpg) Prior research has shown that people with insecure attachments with their parents can find a compensatory secure attachment with God.[^78] Through reconstructing a proper God image and developing a secure attachment to Allah, people can create a new blueprint (i.e., updated internal working model) for building meaningful relationships. One of the recommended ways to accomplish this is through forming an experiential relationship with a righteous teacher (i.e., *ṣuḥba*, or righteous companionship). --- ## Attaching to the Prophet ﷺ and the righteous scholars The Prophet ﷺ was sent to a people with a severely distorted image of God.[^79] Through his intimate bond with his followers he was able to help them reform their image of Allah and attach to Him. *Al-Raḥmān* sent Muhammad as a mercy to guide people to Allah’s mercy. The Prophet ﷺ was the living embodiment of the scripture. Although Allah could have simply sent down a book from the heavens, He chose to reveal His message gradually over 23 years to the Prophet ﷺ to relationally transmit its message to us in words, emotions, and actions. Using object relations language,[^80] we may conceive of the Prophet ﷺ as a “human object” to attach to and love, in order to understand Allah’s love and concern for us. Allah explicitly tells us that following the Prophet is the path to gaining His love. Conceptually, having a strong attachment to the Prophet is part of following him. ‘Say, \[O Muhammad\], “If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you and forgive your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”’[^81] The Prophet ﷺ was the ultimate attachment figure for his companions. Whatever “bad objects” his companions had experienced prior to Islam, they were able to relinquish the effects of these objects by experiencing the messenger of Allah as a “good object.” He inculcated an intimate bond with his companions that made them feel secure, safe, and loved. Through developing a healthy attachment to the Prophet ﷺ, the companions were able to strengthen their connection to Allah. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions the proper God image through correcting their cognitive beliefs about Allah and showing them how to emotionally experience His benevolence. We find a clear example of this benevolent and caring interaction in a hadith where a man came to the messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was with a group of companions. He said, “O Messenger of Allah, I am doomed!” The Prophet ﷺ asked him what was wrong. He replied, “I was intimate with my wife while I was fasting.” The Prophet ﷺ asked him, “Can you afford to free a slave?” He replied, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ asked him, “Can you fast for two successive months?” He replied, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ asked him, “Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?" He replied, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ waited silently, and soon a big basket of dates was brought to him. The Prophet ﷺ  asked, “Where is the questioner?” He replied, “I am here.” The Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Take this \[basket of dates\] and give it in charity.” The man said, “Should I give it to a person poorer than I am? By Allah, there is no family between the two mountains \[of Medina\] who is poorer than mine.” The Prophet smiled until his molars were visible and said, “Feed your family with it.”[^82] This narration demonstrates how the companions shared a secure bond with the Prophet ﷺ. They were able to come to him with their problems, confident that they would not be shamed or chastised. He was a secure base for them—they could explore the world and come back to him for support and comfort when needed. In this beautiful encounter, the Prophet ﷺ was able to see that one of his beloved companions was distressed for having committed this sin in Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ did not add insult to injury. He did not rebuke his companion for not being able to expiate his sin. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ recognized his predicament, smiled at him, and gifted him the dates in the end. Through such experiences the companions learned about Allah. They learned about Allah’s mercy through seeing the Prophet ﷺ treat them with mercy. In another event on the Day of an-Naḥr,[^83] the Prophet’s handsome cousin, Al-Faḍl ibn ʿAbbās, was sitting behind him on his camel. The Prophet ﷺ was answering people’s questions when a beautiful woman came to ask a question. Al-Faḍl, astounded by her beauty, started staring at her. The Prophet ﷺ turned back and noticed Al-Faḍl was gazing at her, so he ﷺ put his hand back and turned Al-Faḍl’s face away from the beautiful woman.[^84] This hadith again demonstrates the Prophet’s gentleness in dealing with his people. Through such beautiful interactions with his companions, the Prophet ﷺ modeled the qualities of patience and gentleness—the qualities of *as-Ṣabūr* and *al-Laṭīf*. Although the Prophet ﷺ is not amongst us today, we can still find righteous scholars to teach us about Allah and improve our God image. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The superiority of the scholars over the devout worshiper is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.”[^85] The scholars must emulate the prophetic method of teaching the believers the names and attributes of Allah both intellectually and relationally by acting in accordance with His attributes. Therefore the connection between teacher and student must be personal and based on companionship (*ṣuḥba*). This is why many scholars of the past have said it is from the blessings of Allah upon a young person that he accompanies a person of the *sunna* to guide him by it.[^86] Individuals are thus encouraged to seek out companionship with righteous scholars whose knowledge, character, and behavior will teach them about Allah intellectually and relationally. To learn relationally about Allah through companionship means to learn from those whose character is molded by intimate knowledge of the attributes of Allah. Imam Mālik ibn Anas’s mother understood this well when she told her son, “Go to Shaykh Rabīʿah and learn from his manners before his knowledge.”[^87] ![The impact of the righteous conduct of one person on one thousand people is more impactful than the words of one thousand people on one person](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote5-1024x611.jpg) Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya used to repeatedly speak about how his teacher, Ibn Taymiyya, influenced him through their personal interactions. For example, he experientially learned about Allah’s aid and support for the believers (*al-Muʿīn*) through Ibn Taymiyya’s habit of rushing to fulfill the needs of the people and his explanation that this support for others was a means of gaining Allah’s support.[^88] In yet another powerful story, he mentioned how scholars would say, “I wish I could treat my friends as well as Ibn Taymiyya treats his enemies.” He went on to explain how one day he happily went to inform Ibn Taymiyya that one of his adversaries had passed away. Ibn Taymiyya reprimanded Ibn al-Qayyim for his cheeriness and immediately went to give condolences to the family, offering his assistance[^89] and making *duʿāʾ* for the deceased.[^90] Accompanying scholars with such righteous character is essential on our path to attaching to Allah. In a famous statement of wisdom, it has been said that the impact of the righteous conduct of one person on one thousand people is more impactful than the words of one thousand people on one person. --- ## Parents and religious educators In addition to scholars, parents and other religious teachers have tremendous  potential in shaping the God image of youth. [Parents should be aware that the quality of their relationship with their children is essential in developing proper religious values and a healthy God image.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-importance-of-conscious-parenting-in-raising-confident-muslims) Religious educators should pay close attention to potential distortions in the God images of their students and communities at large. They need to assess both distortions in people’s propositional beliefs about Allah and in their affective experiential perceptions of Him. Rehabilitation of people’s God images will likely fail if the only strategy employed is intellectual dialogue.[^91] [Proper *tarbiya* encompasses the nurturing of both our intellectual and emotional sides.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/approaching-the-quran-through-the-names-of-allah) In other words, helping those with distorted God images requires reaching them on an emotional level so they can heal from prior difficulties that contributed to their unhealthy God images.[^92] Unless Allah’s benevolence and love is translated to people in a relational way that feels authentic and personal, the message will often fall on deaf ears. This requires religious educators to understand (on an experiential level) how Allah revealed Himself in the Qur’an and how the Prophet ﷺ taught us about Allah relationally. The word *tarbiya* comes from the same root as *rabb*, implying that proper nurturing is a Godly behavior in which parents and religious educators must engage. ![Unless Allah's benevolence and love is translated in a relational way that feels authentic and personal, the message will often fall on deaf ears](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Quote6-1024x611.jpg) The biggest predictor of success in any type of therapy is not the type of counseling theory or intervention used, rather, it is the quality of the relationship between the therapist and client.[^93] We believe this equally applies in the therapeutic process undertaken by scholars and religious educators when rehabilitating their students’ distorted images of God. --- ## Concluding thoughts We have presented a theoretical framework of God image and attachment and an empirical study testing this framework. While our study could not capture all 99 of God’s beautiful names and attributes, we suggest four major domains summarize His perfection:[^94] (1) Beauty, (2) Majesty, (3) Lordship, and (4) Essence. The figure below shows how Allah’s names relate to each domain. Although this study was primarily focused on the domains of Beauty and Lordship, a believer should have a balanced image of Allah that includes intimate knowledge and experience of all His names and attributes (i.e., a well-rounded circle). A fully balanced God image protects a believer from the extremes of despair due to focusing on God’s punishment or a false sense of security due to focusing on His forgiveness.[^95] True believers neither despair of the mercy of Allah[^96] nor feel immune to the consequences of their sins.[^97] ![Four domains of Allah's names & attributes](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Web_Figure11.jpg) A fulfilling and enjoyable life is one in which we know who God is and experience His beauty in our lives. A benevolent God image allows us to see His wisdom and mercy even in adversity, which in turn promotes mental and spiritual thriving. A distorted God image impairs one’s ability to perceive adversity through a positive lens, which leads to personal and religious problems. Knowing God intellectually is not sufficient for human thriving as we have an innate need to connect with Him emotionally. Here are some key takeaways that can help us to better understand and relate to Allah. 1. We should be aware that our God image has been shaped by complex life experiences. We may have had poor relationships in childhood despite  holding the right beliefs about Allah, and those in turn may have warped our image of God. Consider using the questionnaire (see Appendix A) to assess your God image and attachment. 2. Psychospiritual struggles, such as religious doubts and objections to divine decrees, may stem from a distorted God image and insecure attachment. We recommend assessing an individual’s God image and attachment before providing any rational/cognitive answers to spiritual struggles. 3. Imams and religious counselors should try to “connect before you correct.” They may also utilize the God image questionnaire to assess people, as their malformed God image may be at the root of their struggles. Exemplifying the attributes of Allah in a relational way may be more beneficial for healing than addressing any given problem intellectually. 4. Individuals should establish a relationship of *ṣuḥba* (companionship) with a religious educator with whom they can spend quality time cognitively and experientially learning about Allah. 5. Parenting styles that embody and reflect prophetic character can contribute significantly to how children relate to and experience God later in life. Parenting behaviors can also affect children’s psychospiritual resilience. In our upcoming papers, we plan to present case studies of assessing and rehabilitating distorted God images, the effects of specific parenting practices and beliefs on children’s God image, and how to treat distortions in particular domains of God image. It is our hope that through continued research on this topic we may raise awareness of its importance to Muslim life, and provide solutions to those seeking to improve their image of God and strengthen their attachment to Him. --- ## Appendix A Survey Questions used in the study **God image Questions** asked on a scale of one to five, such as (1) Does not describe my feelings to (5) Clearly describes my feelings. ### Forgiveness and Grace (al-Ghafūr) - I will be punished by God in some way before I ever make it to heaven. - How often do you feel that God is angry with you? - I feel that God is not answering my prayers because I am not good enough or because of my mistakes. - When I face affliction, I tend to feel it is because God is not pleased with me. - When I fail or sin, I think God is going to abandon or punish me. - When I sin, I tend to withdraw from God. - I worry that because of my sins my relationship with God will not be restored. - God frequently forgives sins, even when people forget to repent. ### Aiding and Helpful (al-Muʿīn) - I feel it’s hard for me to please God and I wish God was helping me more. - In difficult situations, how often do you feel that God isn’t at your side? - Sometimes, when I really need God, I tend to feel left on my own. - In difficult situations, I tend to feel that I don’t get enough help from God. - When it comes to stopping bad habits, I wish that Allah helped me more to stop. ### Caring and Compassion (al-Raḥīm) - I feel God's compassionate love filling my heart. - I tend to feel that God is more stern (demanding) than compassionate. - I feel that God has always been reaching out to me. - How often do you feel God's deep care for you? ### Strict and Coplike - I tend to feel that God is like a "cop" enforcing rules with rewards and punishments. - I tend to feel that God is like a judge who is stern with His punishment. - How much do you feel that your religion is mainly a list of rules and restrictions? - My religion seems like a list of obligations to me. **God attachment** questions asked on a scale of one to five, such as (1) Does not describe my feelings to (5) Clearly describes my feelings. ### Anxious attachment - How often do you worry about damaging your relationship with God? - I fear God does not accept me when I do something wrong. - I crave signs to assure me that God loves me (e.g., that I am special). - I feel anxious and worried about my relationship with God. ### Avoidant attachment - I just don’t feel a deep need to be close to God. - It's uncommon for me to cry when sharing with God. - How often do you experience intense emotions in your relationship with God? - How excited do you feel when learning about God? - Religious thoughts don't generally occupy my mind. ### Religiosity (BASIC short form) Religiosity questions asked on a scale of one to five. - How many times a day do you pray (on average)? - How often do you read the Quran? - How relevant is the Quran in your day to day life? - How relevant is the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (e.g., sunnah and seerah) in your day-to-day life? - When things happen to me that I don't like, I understand that there may be much good in it. - Even when I can't control events in my life, I am content with what has been decreed. - How focused on Allah do you feel in prayer? - How often do you feel a sense of peace and connection with Allah during prayer? - How attached do you feel to your local Muslim community? - I consider being present in my community an important aspect of my faith. ### Religious Struggles (Average of doubt and submission scales) Religious struggles questions asked on a scale of one to five. - How frequently do you experience religious doubts? (Doubt) - Sometimes, religious doubts shake my faith. (Doubt) - When I face hardships, I feel troubled by doubts about my religious beliefs. (Doubt) - I cannot find peace with God’s commands until I am convinced of their wisdom/benefit. - I find myself insisting to know why God did/does something. - I am troubled by the fact that God lets bad things happen to good people. - I am troubled by some of God’s commands and rulings. ### Sense-of-Self Struggles (Average of shame and self-esteem scales) Sense-of-self struggles questions asked on a scale of one to five. - I feel like I am never quite good enough. - I scold myself and put myself down (especially when I slip). - I feel intensely inadequate and full of self-doubt. - How do you feel about the kind of person you are? - When you think of yourself, how do you feel? --- ## Appendix B ![Descriptive statistics of all study variables (Table)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Table4-1024x916.jpg) ![Correlations between all study variables (Table)](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/226_GodImage_Table5-1024x636.jpg) --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 6:103. [^2]: This is akin to the American theological doctrine known as prosperity gospel that equates the Christian faith with material and financial success. [^3]: Qur’an 22:11. “And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face \[to the other direction\]. He has lost \[this\] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss.” [^4]: We are using the term ‘image’ due to its common use in literature on the psychology of religion. The Prophet ﷺ himself used the term when he said, “Indeed, Allah created Adam upon His image.” The notion of God “image” derives from “imagination” — we imagine God in the same way we imagine his attributes. This term should in no way be construed as referring to a picture or physical image of God in our minds. As we referenced earlier, the Qur’an emphatically states, “Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives \[all\] vision.” (6:103). [^5]: “Everyone forms a God image out of necessity, in order to end the infinite regress of questions about the origin of the world and consolidate the representational fragments born of their early life. This representation is there whether or not the person uses it in their belief system. Atheists have a God image of a God many would never want to believe in. Everyone has some image of God even if they reject it, as total atheism is a psychodynami impossibility.” Ana-Marie Rizzuto, *Birth of the Living God: A Psychoanalytic Study* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979). [^6]: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya proposed that the heart possesses two central abilities: (1) the ability to gain knowledge and intellectually differentiate between things and (2) the ability to desire and love. See *Ighāthat al-lahfān fi maṣāyid al-Shayṭān*, [https://shamela.ws/book/18612/77](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shamela.ws/book/18612/77&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369163821&usg=AOvVaw0QxBKMrp7H_VWgRbuEk6h8). [^7]: Hanneke Schaap Jonker, Elisabeth H. M. Eurelings-Bontekoe, Hetty Zock, and Evert Jonker, “Development and Validation of the Dutch Questionnaire God Image: Effects of Mental Health and Religious Culture,” *Mental Health, Religion and Culture* 11, no. 5 (2008): 501–15. [^8]: Simone A. De Roos, Jurjen Iedema, and Siebren Miedema, “Young Children’s Descriptions of God: Influences of Parents’ and Teachers’ God Concepts and Religious Denomination of Schools,” *Journal of Beliefs and Values* 22, no. 1 (2001): 19–30. [^9]: Edward B. Davis, Glendon L. Moriarty, and Joseph C. Mauch, “God Images and God Concepts: Definitions, Development, and Dynamics,” *Psychology of Religion and Spirituality* 5, no. 1 (2013): 51. [^10]: Brad Hambrick, *God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles* (New Jersey: P&R Publishing Company, 2012). [^11]: Qur’an 22:74. [^12]: Qur’an 53:23. [^13]: Qur’an 48:6. [^14]: Al-Qurtubi, *al-Jami li ahkam al-Qur’an*. [^15]: Qur’an 3:154. [^16]: Ibn Kathir, *Tafsir Ibn Kathir*, 33:9. [^17]: Qur’an 33:22. [^18]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 7505; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2675. [^19]: Eric Klinger, *Meaning and Void: Inner Experience and the Incentives in People’s Lives* (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977); Jonathan L. Freedman, *Happy People: What Happiness Is, Who Has It, and Why* (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978). [^20]: Kathleen Kovner Kline, “Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities,” in *Authoritative Communities* (New York: Springer, 2008), 3–68; Barney Zwartz, “Infants ‘Have Natural Belief in God,’” *Sydney Morning Herald*, July 26, 2008, [https://www.smh.com.au/national/infants-have-natural-belief-in-god-20080725-3l3b.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smh.com.au/national/infants-have-natural-belief-in-god-20080725-3l3b.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369145592&usg=AOvVaw3vLNsDXNiwySvxahMl-hVy). [^21]: Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “No child is born but that he is upon the natural disposition. Then, his parents make him a Jew, or a Christian, or Magian.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1292; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2658. [^22]: Moshe Halevi Spero, *Religious Objects as Psychological Structures* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). [^23]: Spero, *Religious Objects as Psychological Structures*. [^24]: Ibn Taymīyyah, *Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-al-naql* (Riyadh: Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad b. Saʿūd al-Islāmiyyah, 1991), 7:73. [^25]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1292; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no.  2658. [^26]: See for a review of parental influences on religiosity. Osman Umarji, “Will My Children Be Muslim? The Development of Religious Identity in Young People,” Yaqeen, January 16, 2020, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/will-my-children-be-muslim-the-development-of-religious-identity-in-young-people. [^27]: John Bowlby, “Attachment and Loss: Retrospect and Prospect,” *American Journal of Orthopsychiatry* 52, no. 4 (1982): 664. [^28]: Bowlby, *Attachment and Loss Volume II: Separation, Anxiety and Anger* (London: Hogarth Press, Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973), 1–429. [^29]: Appropriate nurturing refers to the ability to notice infant signals, to interpret these signals correctly, and to respond to them promptly and appropriately by adapting behaviors to the infant’s needs. Taken from: Mary D. Salter Ainsworth, Mary C. Blehar, Everett Waters, and Sally N. Wall, *Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation* (New York: Psychology Press, 2015). [^30]: Daniel J. Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven: Parataxic Distortions in the Image of God,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 10, no. 2 (1982): 120–129. [^31]: Susan M. Johnson, *Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families* (New York: Guilford Publications, 2019). [^32]: Kelly Gonsalves, “The 4 Attachment Styles In Relationships + How To Find Yours,” mindbodygreen, October 17, 2022, [https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/attachment-theory-and-the-4-attachment-styles](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/attachment-theory-and-the-4-attachment-styles&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369150423&usg=AOvVaw1wdT4Q1zfaA3MWMV3lb5xb). [^33]: Theodore A. Stern, Gregory L. Fricchione, and Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, *Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry* (N.p.: Saunders Elsevier, 2010). [^34]: Stern, Fricchione, and Rosenbaum, *Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook*. [^35]: Kim Bartholomew, “Avoidance of Intimacy: An Attachment Perspective,” *Journal of Social and Personal Relationships* 7, no. 2 (1990): 147–78. [^36]: Tamara Kotler, Simone Buzwell, Yolanda Romeo, and Jocelyn Bowland, “Avoidant Attachment as a Risk Factor for Health,” *British Journal of Medical Psychology* 67, no. 3 (1994): 237–45. [^37]: “Disorganized Attachment: Causes & Symptoms.” The Attachment Project. Accessed 10/5/2022.  https://www.attachmentproject.com/blog/disorganized-attachment/ [^38]: Jian Jiao and Chris Segrin, “Overparenting and Emerging Adults’ Insecure Attachment with Parents and Romantic Partners,” *Emerging Adulthood* 10, no. 3 (2022): 725–30. [^39]: Chris Segrin, Alesia Woszidlo, Michelle Givertz, Amy Bauer, and Melissa Taylor Murphy, “The Association between Overparenting, Parent‐Child Communication, and Entitlement and Adaptive Traits in Adult Children,” *Family Relations* 61, no. 2 (2012): 237–52. [^40]: Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven,” 120–129. [^41]: Daniel J. van Ingen, Stacy R. Freiheit, Jesse A. Steinfeldt, Linda L. Moore, David J. Wimer, Adelle D. Knutt, Samantha Scapinello, and Amber Roberts, “Helicopter Parenting: The Effect of an Overbearing Caregiving Style on Peer Attachment and Self‐Efficacy,” *Journal of College Counseling* 18, no. 1 (2015): 7–20. [^42]: Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven”; Lee A. Kirkpatrick, *Attachment, Evolution, and the Psychology of Religion* Guilford Press, 2005. [^43]: Rizzuto, *Birth of the Living God*. [^44]: Lee A. Kirkpatrick, “God as a Substitute Attachment Figure: A Longitudinal Study of Adult Attachment Style and Religious Change in College Students,” *Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin* 24, no. 9 (1998): 961–73; Trevor Olson, Theresa Clement Tisdale, Edward B. Davis, Elizabeth A. Park, Jiyun Nam, Glendon L. Moriarty, Don E. Davis, Michael J. Thomas, Andrew D. Cuthbert, and Lance W. Hays, “God Image Narrative Therapy: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of a Controlled Group-Based Spiritual Intervention,” *Spirituality in Clinical Practice* 3, no. 2 (2016): 77. [^45]: Albert Bandura, *Social Learning Theory* (Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press, 1971). [^46]: Simone A. De Roos, Jurjen Iedema, and Siebren Miedema, “Influence of Maternal Denomination, God Concepts, and Child‐Rearing Practices on Young Children’s God Concepts,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* 43, no. 4 (2004): 519–35. [^47]: Osman Umarji, “Scientism and Certainty | Dr. Osman Umarji | Ramadan Sessions 2021,” Al-Arqam Institute, YouTube video, May 1, 2021, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILKdiHJB8T0](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DILKdiHJB8T0&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369164594&usg=AOvVaw0udOH7Njr3WKoR_-Pk6xwL). [^48]: This is not to say that the notion of a secure attachment as defined by modern psychology fully captures what a healthy faith-congruent attachment to Allah entails. Nonetheless, we agree that viewing Allah positively and one’s self relatively positively (not to the extent of grandiose narcissism) is a healthy state to aspire to. [^49]: Abu Mas’ud reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “If a Muslim spends on his family seeking reward from Allah, it is charity for him.” *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5351; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1002. [^50]: B. Rose Huber, “Four in 10 Infants Lack Strong Parental Attachments,” Princeton University, March 27, 2014, [https://www.princeton.edu/news/2014/03/27/four-10-infants-lack-strong-parental-attachments](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2014/03/27/four-10-infants-lack-strong-parental-attachments&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369155076&usg=AOvVaw3ZkIG1dWzyvbw-Ud5fh85C). [^51]: Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven.” [^52]: Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven.” [^53]: Heinrichs, “Our Father Which Art in Heaven.” [^54]: Bradley R. Hertel and Michael J. Donahue, “Parental Influences on God Images among Children: Testing Durkheim’s Metaphoric Parallelism,” *Journal for the Scientific study of Religion* (1995): 186–199; De Roos, Iedema, and Miedema, “Young Children’s Descriptions of God.” [^55]: Beth Fletcher Brokaw and Keith J. Edwards, “The Relationship of God Image to Level of Object Relations Development,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 22, no. 4 (1994): 352–71; William G. Justice and Warren Lambert, “A Comparative Study of the Language People Use to Describe the Personalities of God and Their Earthly Parents,” *Journal of Pastoral Care* 40, no. 2 (1986): 166–72. [^56]: Pehr Granqvist, Tord Ivarsson, Anders G. Broberg, and Berit Hagekull, “Examining Relations among Attachment, Religiosity, and New Age Spirituality Using the Adult Attachment Interview,” *Developmental Psychology* 43, no. 3 (2007): 590; Pehr Granqvist and Lee A. Kirkpatrick, “Religion, Spirituality, and Attachment,” in *APA Handbook for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Vol 1): Context, Theory, and Research*, ed. K. Pargament (Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2013), 129–55; Rosalinda Cassibba, Pehr Granqvist, Alessandro Costantini, and Sergio Gatto, “Attachment and God Representations among Lay Catholics, Priests, and Religious: A Matched Comparison Study Based on the Adult Attachment Interview,” *Developmental Psychology* 44, no. 6 (2008): 1753. [^57]: De Roos, Iedema, and Miedema, “Influence of Maternal Denomination.” [^58]: Beata Zarzycka, “Parental Attachment Styles and Religious and Spiritual Struggle: A Mediating Effect of God Image,” *Journal of Family Issues* 40, no. 5 (2019): 575–93. [^59]: Leslie J. Francis, Harry M. Gibson, and Mandy Robbins, “God Images and Self-Worth among Adolescents in Scotland,” *Mental Health, Religion and Culture* 4, no. 2 (2001): 103–8; Peter Benson and Bernard Spilka, “God Image as a Function of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* (1973): 297–310. [^60]: Yaakov Greenwald, Mario Mikulincer, Pehr Granqvist, and Phillip R. Shaver, “Apostasy and Conversion: Attachment Orientations and Individual Differences in the Process of Religious Change,” *Psychology of Religion and Spirituality* 13, no. 4 (2021): 425. [^61]: We proceeded to validate our measure of God image and attachment using confirmatory factor analysis. From a large pool of items, the items with the highest factor loadings were retained to create our final measures. These analyses can be found in Appendix B. [^62]: Our God image and attachment survey was ninety questions long. Therefore, due to space considerations, parental questions were not included. Our future studies will inshaAllah investigate the parental component in more detail. [^63]: The survey was created in Qualtrics and data was collected between December 27, 2021 and April 2, 2022. Participants were solicited via emails to random members of Yaqeen’s North American listserv. [^64]: Our measure is not exhaustive and cannot fully capture God image. Future survey work intends to expand the dimensions of God image measured. [^65]: The seven items demonstrated good internal reliability (α **\=** .88). [^66]: David R. Cook, “Measuring Shame: The Internalized Shame Scale,” *Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly* 4, no. 2 (1988): 197–215. The three shame items demonstrated good internal reliability (α **\=** .88). [^67]: Michelle A. Harris, M. Brent Donnellan, and Kali H. Trzesniewski, “The Lifespan Self-Esteem Scale: Initial Validation of a New Measure of Global Self-Esteem,” *Journal of Personality Assessment* 100, no. 1 (2018): 84–95. The two self-esteem items demonstrated good internal reliability (α **\=** .88). [^68]: Tamer Desouky and Osman Umarji, “A Holistic View of Muslim Religiosity: Introducing BASIC,” *Yaqeen*, September 15, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/data/reports/a-holistic-view-of-muslim-religiosity-introducing-basic](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/data/reports/a-holistic-view-of-muslim-religiosity-introducing-basic&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369162325&usg=AOvVaw1EXdDdXmjvSSsGIA3zT08E). [^69]: The ten items demonstrated good internal reliability (α **\=** .80). [^70]: We first ran a hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithm (Ward’s method) to determine the best cluster solution. K-means clustering was subsequently performed to fine-tune cluster homogeneity by reassigning cases to the optimal cluster. [^71]: Our analysis sample initially included 257 people. There were 13 cases that were missing too much data, so these cases were dropped. We performed the nearest neighbor imputation on five people who were missing scores on one dimension of God image. We finally removed three outliers whose scores deviated substantially from the sample. The four cluster solution explained 60.4 percent of the variance in God image profiles. [^72]: A total God image score was taken by averaging together the four dimensions. Unfortunately, due to a mistake of not including religiosity measures in our initial sample, we only measured religiosity for 93 of our participants. Nonetheless, the correlations and t-tests were statistically significant (p<.05). [^73]: Our analysis sample included 236 people who completed attachment items. There were no outliers to remove. The five cluster solution explained 76.8 percent of the variance in God attachment profiles. [^74]: The God image survey captured people’s perceptions of Allah as “al-Shakur” (the Appreciative). We are noting, briefly, that people with an avoidant attachment tended to see Allah as not being very appreciative. Future research will discuss the impacts of perceiving Allah as appreciative (or not) in far more detail. [^75]: The ANOVA was significant for both self-concept struggles and religious doubts. [^76]: p<.001 [^77]: We say this based on the aggregate religiosity scores reported by the sample. To compare with the general Muslim public, we can look at frequency of prayer as just one dimension of religiosity. In our sample, 65 percent of people reported praying five times a day, whereas Pew Research in 2017 found that approximately 42 percent of Muslims reported praying five times a day. See [https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/religious-beliefs-and-practices/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/religious-beliefs-and-practices/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1672340369165570&usg=AOvVaw17ssQakPMczqtblqvQvTwv). [^78]: Kirkpatrick, “God as a Substitute Attachment Figure”; Pehr Granqvist and Berit Hagekull, “Religiousness and Perceived Childhood Attachment: Profiling Socialized Correspondence and Emotional Compensation,” *Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion* (1999): 254–73. [^79]: “In no way have they estimated Allah in His true estimation.” This statement is found three times in the Qur’an regarding the various issues in which people misestimate Allah’s perfection. [^80]: Object relations theory in psychoanalytic psychology is the process of developing a psyche in relation to others in the childhood environment. [^81]: Qur’an 3:31. [^82]: *Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 1936. [^83]: The 10th of Dhul Hijjah. [^84]: *Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 6228. [^85]: *Sunan Abi Dawud*, no. 3641; *Jami\` at-Tirmidhi*, no. 2682. [^86]: Al-Zuhri, hadith 418. [^87]: Qādī ʿIyād, *Tartīb al-madārik wa taqrīb al-masālik* (Morocco: Maṭbaʿat Faḍālah, 1970), 1:130. [^88]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Rawḍat al-muhibbīn*. [^89]: The full statement mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim was that Ibn Taymiyya said to his family, “I am for you in his place, and do not let there be an affair of yours in which you are in need of assistance except that I will assist you in it.” [^90]: Ibn Qayyim, *Madārij as-sālikīn* (Beirut: Dar al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 2003), 2:328. [^91]: Jacqueline D. Rasar, Fernando L. Garzon, Frederick Volk, Carmella A. O’Hare, and Glendon L. Moriarty, “The Efficacy of a Manualized Group Treatment Protocol for Changing God Image, Attachment to God, Religious Coping, and Love of God, Others, and Self,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 41, no. 4 (2013): 267–80. [^92]: Michael J. Thomas, Glendon L. Moriarty, Edward B. Davis, and Elizabeth L. Anderson, “The Effects of a Manualized Group-Psychotherapy Intervention on Client God Images and Attachment to God: A Pilot Study,” *Journal of Psychology and Theology* 39, no. 1 (2011): 44–58. [^93]: Mark A. Hubble, Barry L. Duncan, and Scott D. Miller, *The Heart and Soul of Change: What Works in Therapy* (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1999). [^94]: This is based on our own conceptual work and classical works in Islamic theology that refer to Allah’s names of beauty (*jamāl*) and names of majesty (*jalāl*). [^95]: This has been referred to as الأمن من مكر الله. This refers to a false state of security that Allah will never punish, thus leading one to engage in sins and not fear the consequences. [^96]: Qur’an 12:87. [^97]: Qur’an 7:99. ## Summary Allah—Exalted and Majestic—possesses absolute perfection in every conceivable respect. He is the Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān), the Compassionate (al-Raḥīm), the Loving (al-Wadūd), the Oft-Forgiving (al-Ghafūr), the Helper (al-Muʿīn), and the One in whom complete trust is placed (al-Wakīl). Yet we do not perceive His perfection directly, for He is both the Apparent (al-Ẓāhir) and the Immanent (al-Bāṭin), and as He declares, "Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision." From this reality arise two fundamental questions each person must answer: how do I imagine Allah to be, since I cannot see Him? And what does Allah, who sees all that I do, think of me? The answers we give profoundly shape our relationship with Allah, our sense of self-worth, our religiosity, and our capacity to endure hardship. Cultivating a healthy and balanced image of Allah—one reflecting the harmony among all His attributes—is essential for sound spiritual development. People hold varied and sometimes distorted perceptions of the Divine. Some imagine Allah as a "cosmic cop," perpetually seeking faults, and thus relate to Him through distance, appeasement, and fearful conformance, reducing the Qur'an to a mere list of prohibitions. Others imagine Him as a kind of "magic genie" obliged to grant their wishes in return for obedience, and so grow resentful when, in His infinite wisdom, He withholds what they desire. Neither perception reflects the truth of who Allah is. There exists within each person's heart and mind a perception of Allah that some have termed a "God image." This does not refer to a physical likeness—which would be impossible—but to how one perceives and experiences His presence and attributes. This image forms from two sources. The first is a cognitive, propositional set of beliefs, such as "Allah is the Creator, Allah is One, Allah is All-Powerful," typically transmitted through parents, teachers, and theological instruction. The second is an affective, experiential perception, expressed in statements like "I feel Allah is near to me" or "I do not feel Allah's mercy in my life," which arises from personal experiences to which we attach spiritual meaning. Significantly, children learn about Allah not only through what their parents and educators explicitly say, but through how those figures interact with them. When belief and experience converge, a cohesive image results; when they diverge—as when a Muslim knows Allah's attributes intellectually yet struggles to feel them—a dissonance emerges that may lie at the root of many spiritual and psychological struggles. While Allah possesses a real and perfect set of attributes, human beings do not have unfiltered access to them; rather, we construct our image from received knowledge and lived experience, which places our understanding on a spectrum from accurate to gravely inaccurate. Allah captures the essence of an inaccurate image when He says, "In no way have they estimated Allah in His true estimation. Surely, Allah is Powerful and Mighty," making clear that He is more sublime and benevolent than people imagine. Such misestimations rest upon conjecture, for Allah says of the deviant, "They follow not except assumptions [about Allah] and what [their] souls desire," and describes the hypocrites as "those who assume about Allah an evil assumption." The psychological consequence of this appears in the account of Uḥud, where the doubters, described by Allah as "a faction worrying about themselves, thinking of Allah other than the truth—thoughts of ignorance," second-guessed the Prophet's ﷺ decision after the defeat. Likewise at the Battle of the Trench, when roughly three thousand Muslims faced nearly ten thousand confederates, the hypocrites cried, "Allah and His Messenger did not promise us except delusion," while the firm believers, seeing the identical sight, said, "This is [exactly] what Allah and His Messenger had promised us... and it increased them only in faith." Their diametrically opposed inner images of Allah produced their opposing emotional states. Allah invites us instead to hold good assumptions about Him (ḥusn al-ẓann bi'llāh), for the Prophet ﷺ related that Allah said, "I am as My servant expects of Me." A distorted image—stemming from incorrect beliefs, skewed experiential perceptions, or both—disturbs one's relationship with Allah and may lead to religious doubt, low self-worth, and mental distress. The need to bond with our Creator is woven into the fiṭra, our innate disposition, such that even the infant possesses a primordial awareness of Allah before any formal knowledge. Ibn Taymiyya observed that one's love for Allah intensifies according to the soundness of one's knowledge and fiṭra, and diminishes when the fiṭra is polluted with corrupting desires. The Prophet ﷺ said, "No child is born but that he is upon the innate disposition; then it is his parents who make him into a Jew, a Christian, or Magian," identifying parents as the primary worldly influence upon a child's religious development. This influence operates not only through explicit teaching but through the emotional bond of parenting itself. Attachment theory holds that the early bond formed with caregivers creates an internal working model—a relational blueprint. Where nurturing is consistent, a secure attachment develops, yielding a positive view of self and others; where it is inconsistent, rejecting, or frightening, insecure styles emerge—anxious (marked by fear of abandonment), avoidant (marked by fear of intimacy), or disorganized (combining both). Overparenting, too, may produce insecurity by stifling a child's autonomy. Researchers have suggested this internal working model shapes how a person initially imagines and attaches to Allah, though this image, being malleable, can indeed change. Children may also absorb their image of Allah through symbolic and vicarious learning, such as the loving words or warm expressions a parent displays when speaking of Him. While attachment theorists rooted in evolutionary thought argue that attachment merely serves survival, this claim lies beyond the reach of the scientific method, and it must be rejected. Rather, attachment to Allah is the very purpose of life—for the human being was created to lovingly attach to and worship Him—and secure attachment to caregivers serves as a means toward that end. In His wisdom, al-Wadūd delivers sustenance and love to the helpless child through the parents, who are rewarded for conveying it. When early attachments are insecure, a person may suffer a "parataxic distortion," reenacting feelings from the parent-child relationship in his relationship with Allah, so that one who perceived his parents as cruel and distant may imagine Allah likewise. Prior research on non-Muslims established links between parental God image and children's, between parental attachment and attachment to Allah, and between parenting practices and outcomes—finding, for instance, that mothers who imagined Allah as distant and strict parented more harshly and raised children who envisioned a punishing God, while distorted images were associated with religious doubt, lower self-worth, and, in one study of Orthodox Jews, with sudden conversion and apostasy. An empirical study of 241 Muslims across North America—a sample likely more religious than the general population—examined types of God image and attachment and their relation to struggle. Cluster analysis revealed four God-image profiles: highly benevolent (48.6%), slightly benevolent (25.7%), lukewarm and unconcerned (17.4%), and cruel (8.3%). Five attachment profiles emerged: secure (19.1%), slightly anxious (32.2%), avoidant (17.4%), disorganized (over 15%), and highly anxious (16.1%). Benevolent images correlated with higher religiosity (r=.42), while avoidant attachment correlated negatively with it (r=-.47). Total God-image score was negatively associated with religious struggles (r=-.68) and self-concept struggles (r=-.56): the more benevolent one's image, the fewer one's doubts and the greater one's self-worth. Notably, many with a positive image lacked a fully secure attachment, suggesting attachment to Allah may need reconceptualizing apart from classical theory; a slightly anxious attachment was not necessarily debilitating, provided a sufficiently positive image of Allah compensated for a self-deprecating self-concept. There remains great hope that adults may rehabilitate a distorted image, and prior research shows that those insecurely attached to parents can find a compensatory secure attachment with Allah, forming a new relational blueprint. A recommended means is righteous companionship (ṣuḥba). The Prophet ﷺ was sent to a people with a severely distorted image of Allah and, through his intimate bond with his followers, reformed it, teaching both in belief and in relational experience—for Allah says, "Say... 'If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you and forgive your sins.'" This gentleness appears in the report of the man who broke his fast through intimacy with his wife and, unable to expiate, was given a basket of dates by the Prophet ﷺ, who smiled until his molars showed and told him to feed his family; and in the incident on the Day of an-Naḥr when he gently turned away the face of al-Faḍl ibn ʿAbbās from a woman he was gazing upon—modeling the qualities of as-Ṣabūr and al-Laṭīf. Since the Prophet ﷺ is no longer among us, the scholars, whom he called "the heirs of the Prophets," inheriting knowledge rather than dinar or dirham, carry this task. Imam Mālik's mother told him, "Go to Shaykh Rabīʿah and learn from his manners before his knowledge," and Ibn al-Qayyim recounted learning of Allah's aid (al-Muʿīn) through Ibn Taymiyya's rushing to serve people, and his mercy through Ibn Taymiyya offering condolences and duʿāʾ for a deceased adversary. Parents and religious educators likewise hold great power to shape a child's image of Allah, and must attend to distortions in both belief and feeling, for rehabilitation grounded only in intellectual dialogue will likely fail. Proper tarbiya—a word sharing its root with Rabb—nurtures both intellect and emotion, and just as the quality of the relationship is the greatest predictor of success in therapy, so too the educator must "connect before you correct." A complete image of Allah spans four domains—Beauty, Majesty, Lordship, and Essence—and though this study focused chiefly on Beauty and Lordship, a balanced image guards the believer from both despair of Allah's mercy and false security from His punishment, for the true believer neither despairs of His mercy nor feels immune to the consequences of sin. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/celebrating-the-holidays-as-a-muslim-convert # Celebrating the Holidays as a Muslim Convert | Blog **Author:** Dr. Jonathan Brown **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Blog, Jesus in Islam **Published:** December 28, 2022 **Updated:** December 23, 2025 The Christmas holidays were the most important time of year for my family (the Browns and the Pattersons). It was the only time of year when we would see our grandparents, aunts, and uncle, first at my grandparents’ homes in Connecticut and then, after they passed away, in our home in suburban Washington DC. It was a time of fun, collective cooking, movie watching at home, and lots of eating. My family was not religious, but Christmas was still very culturally loaded. My mother’s family had lived in England for many years, so Christmas had a Dickensian feel: an ornately decorated tree, King’s College choir music always playing, and plenty of fires in the hearth. My sisters and I enjoyed ourselves immensely, whether as young children, teenagers, or adults. We were the only grandkids in our extended family (which would be diagrammed best as an inverted tree), so we were always lavished with attention—and gifts. During the economic boom of the late ‘90s, the pile of gifts under our tree could verge on the alpine. The days between Christmas and New Year would also be the time when we would visit or receive visits from family friends in the area, whose children were usually home for the holidays. > I became Muslim when I was 19, at the beginning of my sophomore year of college. My family oscillated between being understanding and supportive, so I never had cause to complain about how they treated me. During that season of encounter with and the intense affirmation of ‘vertical identity’ (i.e., family and its extensions), there were certainly moments in which I felt intense crisis about who I was and where I belonged. I remember once sitting in near darkness on the couch at my mother's office at home, crying intensely for a few seconds, asking myself in a voice nearly audible where I belonged. But it’s hard for me now, looking back, to know how much of this was because I was Muslim in a non-Muslim family, and how much of it was just the normal early-adulthood formation of one’s identity as distinct from one’s parents. I did not worry too much about the religious implications of Christmas, since I was by leagues the most religious person in my family. No gestures were made to commemorate the birth of Christ or even acknowledge any secular, sitcom ‘spirit of Christmas’ treacle. In fact, my mother’s very pleasant habit of putting Handel’s *Messiah* on repeat during those days of the year afforded me a chance to hear key selections of the Bible sung over and over. I would often ponder which verses I, as a Muslim, could celebrate and/or what interpretations would be required for me to do so. > Looking back across the chasm of a decade, I see that Christmas was the time I was at my most deferential. I think that, whether I was conscious of it or not, I so wanted to reassure my family that I was not so different as to deserve their rejection. I hid my Islam as deeply as possible without quaffing glasses of sherry. Even when one militantly atheist relative gave me a Richard Dawkins book for Christmas, I recall responding with embarrassing submissiveness. I wonder what would have happened if I’d manifested my Muslim identity more prominently during my twenties. I doubt I had the strength to do so, even if I’d wanted to. The chance to experiment was snatched away by the Most High. The collision of my Islam and my ‘vertical identity’ really only came when I got married at 32. This was not because of anything my wife did or was. But the manifestation of my Islam as something outside of the invisible container of my own thoughts and meager principles caused tension. For the first time, my Islam was outside of me. It was a relationship and a person, even if that person was admired and happily accepted. When our first child was born, my father asked when we would baptize him. That this had not been asked of anyone else, my being the sole non-(cultural)-Christian in the family, but also the only religious person at all, did not seem to matter. But my wife and I never had the chance to celebrate those Brown-Patterson Christmas traditions. Just a few months after our wedding, my mother died. She was the axis of our family and our home, and without her, individuals spun outward. I can’t remember what and how we celebrated in the wake of her death, as all was loss and shadow. My sisters both married around that time, and there were then other families to celebrate Christmas with, with their own traditions. Our family home was sold, and those settings and traditions that had been the constants of my life were all gone. What insights or benefits can these recollections offer? My life has never (thank God) been dramatic or particularly worthy of voyeuristic interest. Mine was a youth of comfort and plenty, of loving family and admirable friends. I was never persecuted or mistreated. What pain I felt as a convert was nothing compared to what others have gone through and likely had more to do with my delicateness and unassertiveness. > What I could extrapolate is that, as with our prayer (*salat*), one is not fully Muslim in private or in the closeted off garret of one’s own mind. To be Muslim, one really must be Muslim with others. That might bring the tensions that always accompany making the private public, but we are lost—or, better phrased, never really found—if alone. As the famous poet al-Mutanabbi wrote: > صحب الناس قبلنا ذا الزمان    وعناهم من شأنه ما عنانا Those who came before us knew the challenges of time, They were concerned with what concerns us too. [Click here](https://t.me/+g-T0k2pgIaU1NjEx) to join our community of new Muslims. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/who-is-jesus-in-islam # Who is Jesus in Islam? | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Faith, Prophets **Tags:** Blog, Jesus in Islam **Published:** December 22, 2022 **Updated:** December 2, 2025 Jesus (peace be upon him) has a special status in Islam. He’s the servant of God and the bearer of the Gospels. Jesus is one of the 5 greatest messengers sent to man, and God mentioned him specifically 25 times in the Qur’an. God encouraged Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to take inspiration from Jesus as he, too, was persecuted for his faith. His admirable virtues are universal guidelines for all people to learn from and practice. So who is Jesus in Islam? Here are 8 things to know: --- ## 1\. He comes from a lineage of prophets. Even before birth, Jesus (pbuh) was destined for greatness. He came from a long line of prophets (including Jacob, David, and Solomon) and a family of priesthood. He was the son of Mary, who was the daughter of Imran. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, > “The best of women was Mary.” Her righteousness, chastity, and faith make her a role model for all believers. [Because of her mother’s prayer,](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/lobna-mulla/ep-2-keeping-a-promise-to-allah-the-mother-of-maryam-upheld-by-allah-women-in-the-quran) Mary—and later, Jesus—were uniquely protected from Satan, untouched by him at birth. --- ## 2\. His birth was miraculous. Jesus’ birth from a mother who had never been unchaste was a sign of God’s greatness. Even his birth was a mercy. God said, > “It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us” > > \[Qur’an, 19:21\]. God sent the angel Gabriel with a message to Mary (peace be upon her) as she painfully gave birth, > “Do not be sad… eat, drink and be comforted” > > \[Qur’an, 19:23-26\]. And when Jesus was born, he spoke from the cradle, > “Verily, I am the servant of God. He has given me the book and made me a prophet” > > \[Qur’an, 19:29-33\]. --- ## 3\. He is the Messiah. “Messiah” comes from a word that literally means “to wipe” or “the anointed one.” Classical Muslim commentators derived many characteristics to explain this role of Jesus. Being a Messiah meant he was sinless, blessed, a healer, a worker of miracles, and an heir to the kingdom and prophetic lineage of David (pbuh). As the Messiah, he is the king, dignified in both this world and the next. --- ## 4\. He is the Word from God. Jesus is called “The Word” for a few reasons. The word of God was delivered through him. Like Adam (pbuh), Jesus was created without a father by the word of God: “Be.” He came into being as a result of God’s command. --- ## 5\. He is the Spirit from God. Jesus is also called “The Spirit.” God ‘blew’ His spirit into Jesus, just as He did for Adam. Therefore, Jesus was a spirit created by God and is under the ownership of God, but does not share in the essence of God. --- ## 6\. He is the bearer of miracles. The Holy Spirit (*Ruh al-Qudus*) is the angel Gabriel (pbuh). Through him, God enabled Jesus to perform many miracles, including speaking from the cradle as a baby, receiving the revelation of the Torah and the Gospel, bringing life to a bird formed of clay, healing the blind, the deaf, and the sick, bringing the dead back to life, and knowing what people revealed and concealed. These miracles were given to a believing people to inspire faith and as signs so that they may be reassured that the message of Jesus was true. --- ## 7\. He is the servant of God and the bearer of the Gospels. Like all other prophets before and after him, Jesus preached monotheism: that God is One. > “Jesus said, ‘Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; that is the straight path’” > > \[Qur’an, 3:51\]. He was known for his wise sayings. He said, > “Blessed is he whose speech is the remembrance of God, whose silence is reflection, and whose observation is a lesson; who controls his tongue, whose house is sufficient, who weeps for his sins, and from whose evil the people are safe.” On the Day of Judgment, God will have a conversation with Jesus about the message he preached on Earth. The Qur’an narrates a portion of this conversation: > “God will say, ‘O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?’ He will say, ‘Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen’” > > \[Qur’an, 5:116\]. --- ## 8\. He will restore justice on Earth. Although Muslim scholars have different theories of what exactly happened to Jesus (pbuh) in his final moments on Earth, they agree that he was not crucified. Rather, it was only made to appear that he was crucified, but God raised him, alive, into Heaven, where he resides to this day. When the time comes, he will return to Earth to defeat the Antichrist (the false Messiah, also known as the Dajjal) and will call people to the truth and oneness of God. He will revive peace and justice, live as the leader of believers, get married, and remain on Earth for another seven years. After restoring peace on Earth by the permission of God, Jesus (pbuh) will die naturally and be prayed for [](#cmnt1)and buried. --- ## So who is Jesus? Jesus (peace be upon him) is a highly revered and unique messenger whom God sent to the world to guide mankind. Like all other prophets, he preached the oneness of God and called for mercy and justice. Want to learn more about Jesus and Islam? Read **[Jesus: A Foundation for Dialogue Between Muslims and Christians](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/jesus-a-foundation-for-dialogue-between-muslims-and-christians)** by Justin Parrott. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission # How the Qur'an Was Preserved During the Prophet's ﷺ Time: Mechanisms of Oral and Written Transmission **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** December 5, 2022 **Updated:** January 10, 2026 ## Introduction Compared to all other scriptures, the Qur’an is the best preserved in both the hearts of Muslims and the written copies of the codex (*muṣḥaf*)—a manifestation of Allah’s promise to protect Divine revelation from distortion: > Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its Guardian.[^1] Allah’s final revelation to humanity has many names, chief among them the “Qur’an” and the “Book” (*kitāb*). The word Qur’an is etymologically related to the word for “recitation,” reflecting how the Divine word is recited by the tongue, while *kitāb* reflects how it is transcribed in writing. Allah Himself bestowing these names upon His speech indicates that it must be preserved through both oral and written methods. These methods are integral to the technical definition of the Qur’an as Allah’s speech, authentically reported from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in conformity with the written (ʿUthmānic) codex.[^2] Scholarship on the written compilation of the Qur’an typically focuses on the period after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Special attention tends to be paid to Caliph ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān’s final compilation, which standardized the criteria for what is Qur’an and what is not. This article, however, focuses on the preservation of the Qur’an, orally and textually during the time of its first recipient and conveyor, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. What follows serves as a sequel to three other articles on the preservation of the Qur’anic text and its readings (*qirā*ʾ*āt*).[^3] This article will examine the various ways the Prophet ﷺ and his companions disseminated the Qur’an within an oral culture and how the Prophet ﷺ organized, since the earliest days of his message, the transcription of the text in a widely unlettered culture. Hence, the article is divided into two main sections: the (1) oral and (2) written transmission of the Qur’an during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. While it acknowledges much of the modern English literature on the history of the Qur’an and draws on contemporary works of Arab-Muslim Qur’an scholars, this article primarily employs traditional arguments from the primary sources of Islamic literature. The first part of this article, on the oral transmission of the Qur’an, describes: (I) how the Prophet ﷺ fulfilled his obligation of conveying Allah’s message in full to this *ummah*; (II) sixteen Prophetic methods of disseminating the Qur’an across the community; (III) the early use of the term ‘reciters’ (*qurrāʾ*) and the number of *ḥuffāẓ* among the Prophet’s companions; (IV) the first generation (*ṭabaqah*) of expert *qurrāʾ* who learned the Qur’an directly from the Prophet ﷺ, taught it to others, and are links in the chains of transmission (*isnād*) of the canonical *qirāʾāt*; and (V) the second *ṭabaqah* of expert *qurrāʾ* who learned from the first and who are links in the *isnād* of the canonical *[qirāʾāt](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/can-the-quran-be-recited-in-different-ways-the-meaning-and-wisdom-of-qiraat)*. The second part of this article, on the written transmission of the Qur’an, covers  (I) the literature on the Prophet’s scribes and the writing of the Qur’an; (II) the Qur’an’s scribes in the Meccan period; (III) the Qur’an’s scribes in the Medinan period; (IV) the instant documentation of Qur’an upon its revelation; (V) the review of written copies of the Qur’an; and (VI) the companions’ familiarity with and knowledge of orthography; (VII) the ordering of verses and the arrangement of the written and recited Qur’an. --- ## Critical background: Early preservation of the Qur’an and Western scholarship Orientalist scholars and later Western revisionists have advanced two main critiques of the authenticity of the Qur’anic text. The first is that only a few of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions were able to memorize the entirety of the text by heart, assuming that he ﷺ never forgot any parts of the Qur’an before conveying them to others. Theodore Nöldeke (d. 1930), and his student and friend Friedrich Schwally (d. 1919), claimed that “\[d\]uring the first years of his \[the Prophet’s\] divine commission, when he hardly had any followers, he might have forgotten some of the revelations before outsiders learned of them.”[^4] Despite acknowledging that some companions, known as the “collectors” or “memorizers” of the Qur’an, “memorized considerable sections that they could repeat correctly,”[^5] Nöldeke and  Schwally conclude that “it remains uncertain whether the individual ‘collectors’ really had memorized the entire revelation or only fairly large portions.”[^6] Such claims—that too few of the first Muslims memorized the Qur’an to guarantee its complete preservation—typically derive their support from: 1) philological interpretations of traditional terms describing “collectors” of the Qur’an, 2) divergent methodological approaches to authenticating historical reports, and 3) seemingly contradictory narrations about the number of memorizers, concession of *aḥruf*, abrogated verses, and final review of the Qur’an between the Prophet ﷺ and Jibrīl. However, the incentives to memorize and orally preserve the Qur’an far outweighed the incentive to memorize pre-Islamic poetry, which was itself preserved in a highly accurate manner. The first part of this article, tracing these incentives and their associated transmission practices, will explore the oral reception of the Qur’an by the companions who committed its entirety to memory. The second critique posits that the centrality of orality to Arab culture (and therefore the widespread illiteracy and limited textual documentation),[^7] as well as the dearth of extant Qur’anic writings dating to the early days of Islam, undermines our certainty that the Qur’an was written down during the life of the Prophet ﷺ. Despite conceding that the Prophet ﷺ sought to “establish a new document of revelation as well as its written fixation,” Nöldeke and Schwally asserted the lack of reliable data regarding “the particulars of procedure and the preservation and arrangement of the material.”[^8] Hence, they conclude that “it is doubtful that Muḥammad put down in writing all the revelations of the divine book from the start.”[^9] The plausibility of Qur’anic documentation during the time of the Prophet ﷺ was argued by such Western scholars as Carl Brockelmann (d. 1956) in his notable *History of the Arabic Written Tradition*.[^10] However, attempts to devalue the authenticity or question the accuracy of such accounts kept recurring. Régis Blachére (d. 1973) claimed that Qur’anic verses were recorded only after the Prophet’s move to Medina, with writing limited to “important passages” as determined by the personal preferences of the companions and availability of writing materials.[^11] Furthermore, attributing confusion to reports from the companions regarding the transcription of the Qur’an, John Burton (d. 2005) rushed to conclude “the failure of Muhammad to collect and edit the texts; and the suggestion of the incompleteness, potential or actual which might have been expected to follow.”[^12] It is implausible to deny that at least parts of the Qur’an were documented in written form during the life of the Prophet ﷺ. Nonetheless, as shown later in this article, the debate regarding whether the entire text was written down in his lifetime exists among some Muslim and most non-Muslim scholars. In describing the collection process of the Qur’anic text, the companions always referenced several materials, such as palm stalks and thin white stones that had verses written on them. The lack of empirical evidence or clear indications that those materials collectively encompassed the entirety of the text does not negate that possibility. Such a possibility, in addition to other facts discussed below, prompted authoritative Muslim figures on the topic, such as Makkī ibn Abī Tālib (d. 437/1045), ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660/1262), Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449), al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) and al-Qasṭalānī (d. 923/1517), as well as many modern Muslim scholars, to argue that the entirety of the Qur’an was written down during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. The influential scholarship of Nöldeke and Schwally inspired subsequent generations of academics who contributed plenty of works on the history of the Qur’an. Those academics include Gotthelf Bergssträsser (d. 1933), who adopted a semitic languages approach; Otto Pretzl (d. 1941), who focused on *qirā*ʾ*āt*; John Wansbrough (d. 2002), who founded the revisionist approach; and John Burton, who questioned the evolution of the text in relation to the law. The cumulative works of these academics still dominate Western academic scholarship and educational curricula today. Their enduring influence is reflected in Burton’s statement that since the publication of *Geschichte des Qorans* by Nöldeke and its revised edition by Schwally, “no new suggestions on the history of the Quran texts have been advanced.”[^13] The overall critique of the oral and written history of the Qur’an extends beyond the time of the Prophet ﷺ to all stages of its compilation by his successors. Oddly, there is a clear insistence on depicting the traditional Islamic narrative as confused, inconsistent, and contradictory. Such scholarship continues to adopt an accusatory tone, as represented in Claude Gilliot’s remark below: > …because the misadventures detailed about the transmission and codification of the Quran—as both orally delivered and transmitted in writing—are so great, the ancient Muslim narratives on these subjects offer no real clarity about what “ʿUthmānic codex” means. Secondly, even if Muslims believe that the Quran we have now is the “ʿUthmānic codex,” our analysis of Muslim narratives on the matter does not leave us with the same certainty.[^14] In a recurrent allegation that early Muslims themselves were confused,[^15] Burton finally concludes that the collection process of the Qur’an was a “product of a lengthy process of evolution, accretion, and ‘improvement.’”[^16] In *The History of the Qurʾanic Text*, Muṣṭafā al-Aʿẓamī begins by tracing a clear pattern of misplaced arguments or preconceived notions among modern critics of the Qur’an’s authenticity.[^17] Another prominent contemporary engagement with oriental and Western critiques of the Qur’an, extending far beyond historiographical criticism, is the late Egyptian philosopher ʿAbdel Raḥmān Badawī’s (d. 2002) *Défense de la vie du Prophète Muhammad contre ses Détracteurs*.[^18]  This French work was later translated into Arabic.[^19] Throughout its 13 chapters, Badawī systematically dismantles various critiques of the Qur’an advanced between the 9th and 20th centuries. Most relevant to the scope of this article, Badawī dedicated the 10th chapter to discussing the chronological order of the Qur’an.[^20] Contrasting the traditional Islamic arrangement of the Meccan and Medinan chapters (*sūrah*s) to five late attempts by 19th and 20th centuries orientalists, Badawī concludes that the Qur’an in its entirety was arranged in written form during the lifetime of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^21] Besides ongoing research on late antiquity and paleography, there seems to be a persistent neglect of traditional Islamic scholarship on such matters and inadequate analysis of its interpretations. The epistemic disparities between oriental or revisionist methodologies and those of Muslim scholars are often apparent, especially with regard to the authentication of historical facts or assessment of the certainty-value of Qur’anic transmission. Moreover, Muslim traditionalists of the past and the present are often accused of spiritual bias and theological commitment to the Qur’an’s preservation as the word of God—accusations that dismiss rigorous contributions to the topic made by a multitude of Muslim scholars. While this article is not primarily concerned with engaging such individual critiques, many of them will be addressed as it lays down the history, and analyzes the methods, of both the oral and written transmission of the Qur’an. --- ## Part I: The oral transmission of the Qur’an during the time of the Prophet ﷺ Oral transmission has been the primary method of preserving the Qur’anic text, prompted by many prophetic hadiths and accounts from early Muslim generations promising the ultimate reward for the bearers of the Qur’an. For example, the Prophet ﷺ was reported to have said , “If the Qur’an was \[written\] on a skin, then it \[the skin\] was thrown into the fire, it would not be burnt.”[^22] Al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (d. 224/838), commenting on this hadith, said that the “skin” allegorically denotes the believer’s heart that encompasses the Qur’an.[^23] Hence, al-Aṣmaʿī (d. 216/831) and other scholars deduced that memorizing the Qur’an protects a person from Hellfire.[^24] Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276/889) narrated that the Prophet’s companion Abū Amāmah said, “Memorize the Qur’an, or recite the Qur’an, and do not be deluded by these codices (*maṣāḥif*). Indeed, Allah does not torment a heart that encompasses the Qur’an with the Hellfire.” Ibn Qutaybah added, “The body is a locus of the Qur’an exactly like the skin.”[^25] Even after ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān transcribed the Qur’an in a compiled codex, reciters from the companions, in their respective regions, continued to teach Muslims the Qur’an as they learned it from the Prophet ﷺ and in conformity with the written text of the newly officialized ʿUthmānic codex.[^26] Various disciplines—including the history of the Prophet’s life (*sīrah*), hadith, and Qur’anic sciences (*ʿulūm al-Qurʾān*)—analyze the concept of revelation (*waḥy*) and its methods, settings, and circumstances in an extensive examination of the 23 years of the Prophet’s life of revelation. The Prophet’s reception (*talaqqī*) of the Qur’an was through directly listening to Jibrīl’s recitation or immediately receiving *waḥy* in his heart. Derivations of *talaqqī* are used in the Qur’an such as “And indeed, \[O Muhammad\], you receive the Qur’an from one Wise and Knowing,”[^27] and “And you were not expecting that the Book would be conveyed to you, but \[it is\] a mercy from your Lord. So do not be an assistant to the disbelievers.”[^28] *ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān* dedicated topics and sub-disciplines to the different methods of *waḥy* and *talaqqī*.[^29] Before showcasing the several methods through which the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions the Qur’an, a portrayal of his human capacity to bear the Divine responsibility for conveying Allah’s message is warranted. ### The Prophetic responsibility to convey the Divine Message When the first piece of revelation was sent down to the Prophet ﷺ, he realized his challenging mission to preserve Allah’s message, the Qur’an. Even though Allah promised to preserve it, the Prophet ﷺ was keen to retain and convey every letter of the Qur’an and was constantly concerned about his capacity to memorize it. Allah related this concern of the Prophet ﷺ in the Qur’an itself (75:16-19) and reassured him that the text—and even its meanings—would be preserved.[^30] In relating the situation, Ibn ʿAbbās noted that when the revelation came to the Prophet ﷺ, he would suffer a great deal of hardship and move his lips out of concern for its retention. > Allah said: “Move not your tongue concerning to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and to give you the ability to recite it.” Ibn ʿAbbās said: \[This means\] He will gather it in your heart, then you will recite it. “And when We have recited it to you, then follow the recitation.” Ibn ʿAbbās said: \[This means\] So listen to it and remain silent. So when Jibrīl came to him, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ listened, and when he left, he would recite it as he had taught him.[^31] As human beings are forgetful by nature, Divine intervention was required: “We will make you recite and you will not forget except what Allah wills.”[^32] In commenting on this verse, al-Rāzī (d. 605/1210) said that it establishes the miracle of the Qur’an in two ways. First, the Prophet’s ﷺ memorization of this long text, despite his being unlettered and without his engaging in prolonged study of it, is miraculous. Second, the *sūrah* in which the verse is mentioned is Meccan, yet it provided future prophecies that were later fulfilled.[^33] But did the Prophet ﷺ ever forget something from the Qur’an? As a human, forgetfulness was possible for him ﷺ, but only in a circumstantial manner that would not compromise his memorization of the Qur’an. It was reported that he ﷺ heard a man reciting the Qur’an at night and said, “May Allah bestow His Mercy on him as he has reminded me of such-and-such verses of such-and-such *sūrah*s which I was caused to forget.”[^34] Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿilī (d. 370/981) said, > Forgetting parts of the Qur’an by the Prophet ﷺ is of two types. One of them is forgetting something which he soon remembers. This type is related to his human nature and is indicated in his saying, “Verily I am a human being like you. I forget just as you forget.” The second \[type\] is Allah lifting that part from his heart to abrogate its recitation. This \[type\] is the meaning of the exception in “We will make you recite and you will not forget except what Allah wills.” > As for the first type, it is circumstantial and is gone quickly according to the evident meaning of, “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.’ As for the second \[type\], it is included in Allah’s saying, “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth \[one\] better than it or similar to it.”[^35] After quoting al-Ismāʿilī, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī added another categorization of the Prophet’s forgetfulness based on the nature of the thing being forgotten. It is categorically possible if it is unrelated to his duty of conveying Allah’s message. If what is forgotten is related to the conveyance of the message, forgetfulness may occur but under two conditions: 1) that he forgets something after he conveyed it; and 2) that he remembers it afterwards whether by himself or by someone else reminding him.[^36] As for the time before his conveyance of a particular revelation, it is not possible for the Prophet ﷺ to forget it.[^37] The Qur’an contains explicit censure of the Prophet ﷺ himself on multiple occasions, most notably in ensuring his full delivery of the message: “Announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message.”[^38] Establishing the theological understanding of prophethood, the necessary qualities of a prophet (such as truthfulness, honesty, conveyance of the message, and intelligence), and revelation are prerequisites for understanding and appreciating the undeniable preservation of the Qur’anic text. If Muhammad ﷺ was the true messenger of God, he must have been trusted and supported by Him to convey the entirety of the message. The Qur’an is truthful, not only due to its alignment with earlier prophecies but also the integrity of the one who conveyed it. Nonetheless, is it empirically verifiable that the Prophet ﷺ memorized and delivered the entirety of the Qur’an to his companions? According to many scholars, the entire Qur’an initially descended (*al-nuzūl al-jumlī*) to the nearest heaven in the Night of Power (*laylat al-qadr*) before it descended in intervals upon the Prophet (*al-nuzūl al-tafṣīlī*) over 23 Hijri years.[^39] Despite God’s promise to preserve the Prophet’s memorization, the Prophet ﷺ did not merely rely on a miraculous implantation of the Qur’an in his heart. Rather, he used to constantly recite it and review the revelation with Jibrīl every Ramadan.[^40] The annual review sessions were likely dedicated to what had been revealed that year,[^41] to refresh the Prophet’s knowledge of the Qur’an and eliminate abrogated verses.[^42] Moreover, during the last year of his life, the Prophet ﷺ reviewed the Qur’an, likely in its entirety, with Jibrīl twice. The descriptions of these sessions indicate an interactive setting where one read while the other listened, and then they alternated. Potentially, then, the Prophet ﷺ reviewed it twice every year and four times in his last year.[^43] The Prophet’s ﷺ reading to Jibrīl is the foundational authority for the primary method of Qur’anic learning and transmission, oral delivery.[^44] Part of the wisdom behind revealing the Qur’an in intervals was to ease its memorization for the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^45] When the disbelievers criticized the Qur’an for not being revealed all at once, Allah explained the reason: “That We may strengthen thereby your heart. And We have spaced it distinctly.”[^46] There are two possible exegetical interpretations of the phrase “We may strengthen your heart”: either (i) to keep strengthening your heart in an ongoing fashion, and/or (ii) to ensure you memorize it so that your heart may remain calm.[^47] Since memorization is dependent on human effort and humans are liable to be forgetful, the Prophet’s memorization was a special gift from God, independent of effort and immune to circumstantial forgetting.[^48] As the primary recipient of revelation, there was no possible way for human retention of the Qur’an except through the only human entrusted with its reception and delivery. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ was Divinely commanded to convey the Qur’an by reciting it to people. Throughout the Qur’an, Allah frequently commanded the Prophet ﷺ to “recite” it to others: > And *recite* to them,[^49] > Say, “Come, I will *recite* to you what your Lord has prohibited to you,”[^50] > Thus have We sent you to a community before which other communities have passed on so you might *recite* to them that which We revealed to you,[^51] > And it is a Qur'an which We have separated by intervals that you might *recite* it to the people over a prolonged period,[^52] > Say, “I have only been commanded to worship the Lord of this city, who made it sacred and to whom all things belong. And I am commanded to be of the Muslims. And \[I have been commanded\] to *recite* the Qur’an*.*”[^53] Other verses commanded the Prophet ﷺ to recite without explicitly mentioning to whom: “*Recite* that which was revealed to you*.*”[^54] In addition to these commands, multiple verses attributed the duty of reciting the Qur’an to the Prophet ﷺ in a declarative, instead of an imperative, sense: “Just as We have sent among you a messenger from yourselves *reciting* to you Our verses.”[^55] Conveying the Qur’an through recitation subsumes certain contextual premises. First, the Prophet ﷺ did not read or write, nor did the majority of the initial recipients of his message. Therefore oral delivery, via accurate articulation and commitment to memory, served as the primary method of transmission. Second, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged written documentation and appointed official scribes. However, he maintained verbal delivery as the principal method even after much of the Qur’an had been written down.[^56] ### Prophetic methods of teaching the Qur’an The Prophet taught the Qur’an in two ways: 1) *iqrā*ʾ: he recited it to a companion, who then recited the same part back in the same manner, and 2) *ʿarḍ*: the companion recited to the Prophet ﷺ what they previously learned from him to verify, review, and correct their recitation. *ʿArḍ* has historically been the primary method of transmitting Qur’an. Although it is a shared method with other disciplines such as hadith transmission, the *ʿarḍ* of the Qur’an required unique conditions: 1. It must be from memory. Unlike the *ʿarḍ* of hadith, which does not stipulate memorization, the *ʿarḍ* of the Qur’an is from memory since its first teacher, the Prophet ﷺ, did not read nor write but only taught it via oral communication. We do not know of  any companion who read to the Prophet ﷺ from a written copy of the Qur’an. Even if that were to have happened, the written copy would have only been used to render exact the oral articulation of the text.     2. It must be recited to another person (e.g., an instructor). Reading alone, for instance, does not qualify as *ʿarḍ*, even by the literal meaning of the term.[^57]  3. It must follow general and specific rules of accuracy (*ḍabṭ*). General *ḍabṭ* involves precise pronunciation of the recited passage. Specific *ḍabṭ* involves pronouncing the recitation according to a specific reading style. The former is concerned with the delivery of the text, while the latter is focused on articulating certain renditions, providing a unique style of Qur’anic education.[^58] The companions would stress the significance of a particular act of worship by comparing how the Prophet ﷺ taught it to how he taught the Qur’an. For instance, the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions to recite a prayer (*duʿāʾ*) against the Hellfire and otherworldly and afterlife trials “in the same way that he would teach them a *sūrah* of the Qur'an,”[^59] just as he taught them the prayer for guidance (*istikhārah*) “as he would teach them a *sūrah* of the Qur’an.”[^60] Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ taught them how to recite the prayer of *tashahhud*[^61] “as he would teach them a *sūrah* of the Qur’an.”[^62] The *tashahhud* was reported by tens of companions who were constantly teaching it to people with minor variations, all equally valid. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was reported to have taught it to people on the pulpit (*minbar*).[^63] Consequently, jurists extensively discussed the exact words of the *tashahhud,* investigating every single word and phrase. The early community’s care for transmitting and preserving the Qur’an was no less exacting. The *sīrah* and hadith literature illustrate how the Prophet ﷺ applied the two methods of *iqrā*ʾ and *ʿarḍ* in his pursuit of every opportunity to teach the Qur’an to his companions. In the contemporary book *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī min rasūl Allāh ilā ummatih*, Muḥammad Jabal cataloged 14 different Prophetic styles of Qur’anic teaching spanning diverse settings and situations. The following section incorporates Jabal’s list and complements it with additional data derived from several interdisciplinary works. #### 1 - Reciting to companions upon revelation Multiple hadiths relate scenarios where the Prophet ﷺ instantly conveyed the Qur’an to his companions as it was being revealed. As an individual companion witnessing the revelation descending upon the Prophet ﷺ, Zayd bin Thābit described the Prophet’s instant recitation of, and his command to write, the verse, “Not equal are those believers who sit \[at home\] and those who strive in the way of Allah.”[^64] Other hadiths document the Prophet’s recitation of verses or chapters, such as the *sūrah*s of al-​​Ṣaff, al-Jumuʿah, al-Mursalāt, and al-Kawthar, upon their revelation to groups of companions. ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām narrated, “A group of us Companions of the Messenger of Allah sat talking, and we said: ‘If we knew which deed was most beloved to Allah then we would do it.’ So Allah, Most High, revealed Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allah, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do?” \[*sūrah* of al-Ṣaff\]. After narrating the story, the narrator, ibn Salām, recited the whole *sūrah* and said, “The Prophet ﷺ recited the \[whole\] *sūrah* to us until he completed it.”[^65] Abū Hurayrah described how he asked the Prophet ﷺ about some of the meanings of al-Jumuʿah immediately following its revelation and recitation by the Prophet ﷺ to a group of companions.[^66] Regarding the revelation of al-Mursalāt, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd reported that, “While we \[a group of the Prophet’s companions\] were in the company of the Prophet ﷺ in a cave at Minā, Sūrah al-Mursalāt was revealed and he recited it, and I heard it directly from his mouth as soon as he recited it.”[^67] After taking a nap one day while among his companions, the Prophet ﷺ suddenly raised his head, smiling. Upon being asked about the reason for his smile, the Prophet ﷺ  stated, “Just now this *sūrah* was revealed to me,” and recited Sūrah al-Kawthar to them.[^68] In these ways, the companions were able to witness the Qur’an’s revelation firsthand, receive it through direct recital delivery, and instantly interact with the Divine message as it was revealed. #### 2 - Reciting to those he was inviting to Islam One of the *daʿwah* approaches that the Prophet ﷺ used to unlock people’s hearts, such as Abū Bakr’s, was to recite Qur’an to them. The Qur’an’s inimitable eloquence profoundly affected the Arabs, whose mastery of eloquence caused them to submit to its unprecedented style and transcendent nature. As one of the first people to embrace Islam, Abū Bakr invited five of his counterparts to meet the Prophet ﷺ and listen to the Qur’an: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, ʿAbdulraḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, and Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbaydillāh. Intriguingly, all five not only became Muslims but also were among the ten promised Paradise (*jannah*). The Prophet ﷺ also recited Qur’an upon inviting Asʿad ibn Zurārah, Dhakwān ibn ʿAbd Qays, Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr al-Dūsī, Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, Khuwaylid ibn ʿĀmir, as well as the six Medinan supporters (*anṣār*) who met him in Mecca prior to the first pledge of al-ʿAqabah.[^69] #### 3 - Teaching those who came to embrace Islam The Prophet ﷺ taught Sūrah Yūsuf and Sūrah al-ʿAlaq to Rāfiʿ ibn Rifāʿah and Muʿādh ibn ʿAfrāʾ when they came to him in Mecca to embrace Islam.[^70] Another example is when a group of about 20 Abysinnian men came to Mecca after hearing of the Prophet ﷺ to learn about Islam. Having had a conversation with the Prophet ﷺ, they embraced Islam and stayed in Mecca for three days. During that time, they learned much of the revealed Qur’an, eventually carrying it back to their country.[^71] The Prophet ﷺ also taught the Qur’an to people he met while immigrating to Medina, such as Buraydah ibn al-Ḥuṣayb. The Prophet ﷺ taught him part of Sūrah Maryam immediately upon conversion. Later, Buraydah came to the Prophet ﷺ in Medina and the Prophet ﷺ asked him, “How much of the Qur’an do you know, O Buraydah?” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, you had taught me in al-Ghamīm that night when I met with you part of a *sūrah* in which \[the story of\] Maryam is mentioned.” The Prophet ﷺ asked Ubayy ibn Kaʿb to teach him the rest of the *sūrah*. Then, the Prophet ﷺ said to Buraydah, “O Buraydah, learn Sūrah al-Kahf with it \[Sūrah Maryam\] as it is a light for its companion on the Day of Judgment.”[^72] Buraydah was not only a Qur’an teacher for his people but was also appointed as their *zakāh*\-collector by the Prophet \[ﷺ\],[^73] reflecting a Prophetic practice of giving priority of position to people of the Qur’an.  One other such example is ʿUthmān ibn al-ʿĀs, who embraced Islam when he came with a group from Thaqīf to meet the Prophet ﷺ. ʿUthmān passionately sought every possible opportunity to learn the Qur’an from the Prophet ﷺ, who liked his dedication and appointed him the leader of his people even though he was one of their youngest.[^74] It was reported that a man from Bahrain whose name was ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Ashajj sent his nephew, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Qays, to Medina to inquire about the Prophet ﷺ and his message. Upon witnessing several signs of his Prophethood, ʿAmr embraced Islam. The Prophet ﷺ then taught him Sūrahs al-Fātihah and al-ʿAlaq, and asked him to invite his uncle to Islam as well.[^75] Al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013) observed that a constant practice of the Prophet ﷺ was immediately directing every new Muslim to read and learn the Qur’an, and that he would not prioritize anything else over that.[^76] #### 4 - Reciting to people gathered at the mosque The Prophet ﷺ often recited the Qur’an publicly to large groups of people, especially congregants at the mosque. For example, ʿĀʾishah reported that, “When the verses of (*ribā*) \[usury\] were revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited them in the mosque \[to people\].”[^77] The Prophet ﷺ also set up a dedicated tent in his mosque for the visiting delegates of Thaqīf to listen to the Qur’an and watch Muslims praying. #### 5 - Reciting the newly revealed Qur’an during travel Travel offered the Prophet ﷺ various opportunities to recite Qur’an. For example, as narrated by Ibn Masʿūd, the beginning of Sūrah al-Fatḥ was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ while returning to Medina from al-Ḥudaybiyyah. The Prophet ﷺ immediately shared the glad tidings with the companions by reciting the revealed verse, “We have given you a clear conquest.”[^78] In another narration, Mujammiʿ ibn Jāriyah related that the Prophet ﷺ waited for people to gather at a rest stop called Kurāʿ al-Ghamīm to recite the verse to them.[^79] The third narration by ʿAbdullāh ibn Mughaffal describes the Prophet’s articulation(*tajwīd*) of certain letters and his pleasant voice: “I saw Allah's Messenger ﷺ on the day of the Conquest of Mecca on his she-camel, reciting Sūrah al-Fatḥ in a vibrant quivering tone,”[^80] meaning that he was prolonging the ending of verses with nunation such as *mubīnā*, *mustaqīmā*, and *ʿazīzā*.[^81] The last two narrations of the story describe how the Prophet ﷺ read clearly and out loud to people and in a performative style.[^82] #### 6 - One-on-one teaching Multiple companions explicitly mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ taught them individually. For example, Ibn Masʿūd said, “I have read more than 70 *sūrah*s to the Prophet.”[^83] The Prophet ﷺ also asked him once, “Recite the Qur’an to me.”  Ibn Masʿūd said, “Shall I recite it to you while it has been revealed to you?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “I like to hear it from others.”[^84] Another example of the individual teaching relationships the Prophet ﷺ had with his companions is when he informed Ubayy ibn Kāʿb that “Allah has commanded me to recite the Qur’an to you. Ubayy asked, “Did Allah mention me to you by name?” and when the Prophet ﷺ answered affirmatively, tears fell from Ubayy’s eyes.[^85] #### 7 - Reciting at gatherings One day, while riding his mount on his way to visit a sick companion,  the Prophet ﷺ passed by the head of hypocrites, ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy,  sitting with a group of his people. The Prophet ﷺ got off his mount, greeted them, and sat for a short time reciting the Qur’an and making supplications (*duʿāʾ*).[^86] The Prophet’s dedication to teaching Qur’an is exemplified by a report, narrated by Anas ibn Mālik, where he tied a rock to his stomach to silence his hunger while teaching the people of the bench (*ahl al-ṣuffah*),[^87] a group of companions who lived in the Prophet’s ﷺ mosque’s portico (*ṣuffah*) as it was their only shelter. #### 8 - Reciting in prayer As the regular imam of the community, the Prophet ﷺ would recite the Qur’an out loud in at least six *rakʿah*s on a daily basis (mandatory prayers) and an additional two *rakʿah*s on a weekly basis (*jumuʿah*), in addition to occasional prayers such as Eid, solar and lunar eclipse prayers (*kusūf* and *khusūf*), drought prayer (*istisqāʾ*), and recommended night prayer (*qiyām*). As known in Islamic law (*fiqh*), the basic minimum qualification of reading out loud as an imam is to enable those behind you to listen. The companions were committed to the congregational prayer (*jamāʿah*) with the Prophet ﷺ and would not miss it except for serious emergencies. In many reports, they documented their hearing of the Qur’an from the Prophet ﷺ in prayer. Even occasionally, in prayers with subvocal recitation (*sirriyyah*), > The Prophet ﷺ in *Ẓuhr* prayers used to recite al-Fātiḥah along with two other *sūrah*s in the first two *rakʿah*s: a long one in the first *rakʿah* and a shorter *sūrah* in the second, and at times the verses were audible. In the ʿAṣr prayer, the Prophet ﷺ used to recite al-Fātiḥah and two more *sūrah*s in the first two *rakʿah*s and used to prolong the first *rakʿah*. [^88] Hadith collections dedicated chapters to the Prophet’s ﷺ recitation in prayer, identifying the *sūrah*s he would frequently recite in specific prayers. For example, in rebuking a man bragging about reciting a lengthy part of the Qur’an very quickly, Ibn Masʿūd commented, “We heard the recitation of the Prophet ﷺ. I remember very well the recitation of those *sūrah*s which the Prophet ﷺ used to recite, and they were eighteen *sūrah*s from the *mufaṣṣal* \[from al-Ḥujurāt, 49th chapter, to the end of the Qur’an, the 114th chapters\],[^89] and two *sūrah*s from the *sūrah*s that begin with *ḥā mīm*.”[^90] The regularity of the Prophet’s recitation and the reception of several chapters of the Qur’an was affirmed by the grandfather of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb who stated, “There is no long or short *sūrah* of the *mufaṣṣal* except that I heard the Prophet ﷺ reciting it while leading people in obligatory prayers.”[^91] In addition to all *al-mufaṣṣal*, the Prophet ﷺ was also reported to have led prayers with several chapters including: al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, al-Nisāʾ, al-Māʾidah, al-Anʿām, al-Aʿrāf, al-Tawbah, al-Muʾminūn, al-Rūm, al-Sajdah, and Qāf.[^92] #### 9 - Reciting in sermons The Prophet’s sermons offered a platform for repeatedly reciting verses as well as broadcasting newly revealed ones. Umm Hishām bint Ḥārithah ibn al-Nuʿmān said that she memorized Sūrah Qāf from attending the Prophet’s ﷺ Friday sermons (*khuṭbah*s) for how often he would recite it.[^93] When Allah revealed the verses of Sūrah al-Nūr declaring the innocence of ʿĀʾishah from false accusations, the Prophet ﷺ delivered a speech in which he recited these verses. #### 10 - Sending delegates to Muslim gatherings reciting newly revealed Qur’an In the 9th year of the *hijrah*, after the Battle of Tabūk, the Prophet ﷺ wanted to perform pilgrimage (*ḥajj*) but did not feel comfortable doing so while the polytheistic practice of circumambulating the *Kaʿba* naked was still ongoing. During that time, the first part of Sūrah al-Tawbah was revealed. The Prophet ﷺ sent the first 40 verses of the *sūrah* with Abū Bakr, whom he appointed as the leader of the *ḥajj* season, to be recited by ʿAlī to pilgrims. ʿAlī repeatedly recited the verses to every group of people he could reach. He would ride his mount and go to the areas where *ḥajj* rituals were being performed and read them until, as he described, his voice gave out.[^94] #### 11 - Companions teaching new Muslims The Prophet ﷺ instructed his companions to teach the Qur’an to both individuals and groups. The Prophet ﷺ maintained this practice > in his city \[Mecca\], his abode of immigration \[Medina\], and the rest of the regions he conquered in which Islam prevailed. He did not leave a group somewhere or any community of this *ummah* without a Qur’an teacher dedicated to them exactly as he did not leave them without a person who would teach them the essentials and obligations of Islam, which they are not allowed to be ignorant of or slacken from learning.[^95] Indeed, as narrated by ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, “the Prophet ﷺ would get busy \[so\] when an immigrant man came to him \[to embrace Islam\], the Prophet ﷺ would assign one of us to teach him Qur’an.”[^96] ʿUbādah was assigned a man whom he hosted and fed in his house.[^97] Ubayy ibn Kaʿb was assigned to Ashajj ʿAbd al-Qays, who came from Bahrain to learn Qur’an and *fiqh* from the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ assigned Ubayy ibn Kaʿb to the Ghāmid tribe’s group who came to embrace Islam[^98] and another companion to a group from the Khawlān tribe.[^99] #### 12 - Companions teaching one another This method is evident in many accounts of the companions’ lives, some of which were mentioned in the aforementioned styles. Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī narrated that the Prophet ﷺ showed up to a group of Muslims in *al-ṣuffah* while a man was reciting the Qur’an to them, and the Prophet ﷺ made *duʿāʾ* for them.[^100] Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Anṣārī narrated a similar situation where they were teaching each other the Qur’an. The Prophet ﷺ was pleased with them and stated, “All praise is to Allah. Allah’s Book is one and it contains the red and the black. Read the Qur’an! Read before a time that will come when \[some\] people will straighten it as an arrow is straightened, which \[their recitation\] will not go beyond their throats, seeking a reward for it in this world and not waiting for their reward in the next.”[^101] In multiple reported occasions, some with debatable *isnād*, the Prophet ﷺ also instructed his companions to teach their neighbors the Qur’an.[^102] The companions who immigrated to Abyssinia used to read, review, and study the Qur’an together. The Qur’an was profoundly present in their interactions and debates with the Abyssinian Christians. When verse 3:64 was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ sent it to Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib, who was one of the leaders of the Abyssinian Muslim residents and asked him to use it among the other verses he was using in his debates with the Christians.[^103] #### 13 - Sending messengers to villages and regions to teach the Qur’an After the first pledge of al-ʿAqabah took place in Mecca, the Prophet sent Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr, who became known as the Qur’an teacher (*muqrī*), to Medina and commanded him to teach its people the Qur’an.[^104] With the coordination of his Medinan host Asʿad ibn Zurārah, Muṣʿab used to go around the city visiting the houses of al-Anṣār, inviting them to Islam, and teaching them the Qur’an.[^105] Later, ʿAbdullāh ibn Umm Maktūm was also sent to Medina to help Muṣʿab in his mission.[^106] Hence, the Qur’an conquered Medina two years before the Prophet’s immigration to it.[^107] Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ sent Muʿādh ibn Jabal and Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī to Yemen, ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm to Najrān with Banū al-Ḥārith’s group, and sent a companion to al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Kulāl in Ḥimyar to recite to him and his brother Nuʿaym Sūrah al-Bayyanah.[^108] Muʿādh ibn Jabal was also commanded by the Prophet ﷺ after the conquest of Mecca to stay there and teach people the Qur’an. The Prophet ﷺ often instructed his envoys and delegates to teach the Qur’an alongside the basics of Islam and its laws. In his *al-Tarātīb al-Idāriyyah*, ʿAbdulḥayy al-Kittānī (d. 1382/1962) dedicated a whole section to “those whom the Prophet deployed to different areas to teach people the Qur’an and to make them understand the religion.”[^109] #### 14 - Commanding military leaders to remain in newly conquered areas to teach new Muslims the Qur’an In the 10th year of the *hijrah*, the Prophet ﷺ sent Khālid ibn al-Walīd to Banū al-Ḥārith ibn Kaʿb in Najrān and commanded him to invite them to Islam and, if they became Muslims, to stay among them to teach them Islam and the Qur’an. The mission succeeded, and the Prophet ﷺ asked him to return to Medina with a group of them to meet with him ﷺ. After he met with them, the Prophet ﷺ sent ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm back with them to Najrān to continue teaching them. #### 15 - Travellers to and from Medina teaching Muslim Bedouins Due to the Prophet’s ﷺ constant recitation and teaching of the Qur’an, its memorization spread among the population of Medina and other cities, and extended to include Bedouins in the vast Arabian desert. Many of those groups’ delegates who came to embrace Islam and learn the Qur’an from the Prophet ﷺ would teach Bedouins on their way back as documented, for example, in the story of ʿAmr ibn Salāmah. ʿAmr, whose actual companionship with the Prophet ﷺ is disputedﷺ, became the most qualified imam of his people merely due to learning from such passing travelers. He said, > Travelers would pass by us on their way back from \[meeting with\] the Prophet ﷺ. We used to ask them to teach us the Qur’an. They informed us that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Let the one with the most \[memorization of\] Qur’an lead you in prayer.” So, I used to lead them \[my people\] and I was one of their youngest \[but\] the one with the most memorization of the Qur’an.[^110] The story reveals how people used to compete over memorizing the Qur’an and how ʿAmr compared himself to the rest of his people who, despite their distance from the center of the Muslim community, were regularly learning and teaching the Qur’an. #### 16 - Early models of Qur’an schools The Prophet ﷺ encouraged Qur’an group learning both through his actions and words. As described by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, the Prophet ﷺ used to gather the companions to recite the Qur’an and learn from him: “We used to read \[a verse that requires\] prostration \[*sujūd al-tilāwah*\] to the Prophet ﷺ so he would prostrate and so all of us would do so until we had no room to move.”[^111] The Prophet ﷺ also verbally encouraged individuals to collectively learn the Qur’an by stating, “A group does not gather in one of the houses of God Most High reciting the Qur’an and studying it together, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy envelops them, the angels encompass them, and God mentions them to those in His presence.”[^112] The Prophet ﷺ praised the voices of a Yemeni group of companions, saying, “I know the voices of a group of Ashʿarīs at night when they enter, and I know where they settled down because of their voices with the Qur’an at night, even if I did not see where they settled and when they settled during the day.”[^113] Even before Meccan Muslims could publicly meet to learn the Qur’an, multiple places housed regular group recitation and instruction. Dār al-Arqam was the first, serving as a secret gathering place for Qur’anic learning from the Prophet ﷺ for three years. Abū Bakr also established a small mosque in his house’s yard, where he would pray and recite the Qur’an out loud, beautify his voice as means of *daʿwah*, and cry and weep out of spiritual ecstasy. Many Meccan disbelievers, including women and children, used to gather around his house to listen to his recitation.[^114] His daughter and the Prophet’s wife, ʿĀʾishah, documented this in her famous eloquent speech about the virtues of her father.[^115] After the number of Muslims grew to 40, and after ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb converted to Islam, the Prophet ﷺ transitioned from secret *daʿwah* to publicly inviting people to Islam. The first mosque in Medina to host Qur’anic recitation was established by Rāfiʿ ibn Mālik al-Zuraqī before the immigration of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^116] Rāfiʿ was one of the first six Medinan Muslims from al-Anṣār and was one of the 12 Medinans who famously pledged their belief in Islam to the Prophet ﷺ at al-ʿAqabah. Rāfiʿ established a mosque and Qur’an school after learning *ayāt* from the Prophet ﷺ and taking some sheets that had verses written on them, as will be discussed later. In documenting the organized teaching activities of Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr and ʿAbdullāh ibn Umm Maktūm in Medina before and after the Prophet’s move to it, some scholars mentioned the house of Makhramah ibn Nawfal. Known as the House of Reciters (*D**ā**r al-**Qurrāʾ*), it hosted ibn Umm Maktūm upon his move to Medina.[^117] Al-Kittānī relied on these reports in furnishing early historical proof for establishing Qur’an schools.[^118] One of the most important Qur’anic educational sites, where several companions learned how to recite the Qur’an and memorized many *sūrah*s, was *al-ṣuffah*. Given its proximity to the Prophet’s mosque, the buzzing recitation of the people of *al-ṣuffah* always echoed there.[^119] *Al-ṣuffah* sheltered many companions who could not afford housing. These companions’ main occupation was learning and teaching the Qur’an as well as the practices of its lived example, the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^120] *Al-ṣuffah* “was not only a welfare shelter but also a school for the Qur’an’s memorization and for teaching its rulings. The Prophet ﷺ used to deploy many of them \[the people of *al-ṣuffah*\] to the \[different\] tribes to teach them the Qur’an and the *fiqh* of the religion.”[^121] According to al-Bāqillānī, the circumstances and the characteristics of *ahl* *al-ṣuffah* necessitated that they memorize all of what was revealed of the Qur’an during their stay in it.[^122] Among their special characteristics, the people of *al-ṣuffah* never wavered in their commitment to the Qur’an or support for Islam. Their worship and certainty that they deserved Allah’s praise in the Qur’an kept increasing.[^123] Al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) stated that group recitation of the Qur’an is recommended by virtue of clear evidence and the practice of the early and late generations of scholars.[^124] After the death of the Prophet ﷺ, the companions continued this legacy of Qur’anic education, and their students numbered in the thousands. Ibn ʿUmar narrated about his father, “I have seen the Commander of the Faithful (*amīr al-muʾminīn*) ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb sitting on the pulpit (*minbar*) while the immigrants (*muhājirūn*) and the *anṣār* were surrounding him; he was teaching them the religion and the Qur’an as a teacher teaches children.”[^125] Qur’an programs and schools for children, which we know today as *maktab* or *kuttāb* across diverse Muslim cultures, are fruits of ʿUmar’s numerous contributions to Qur’anic education. Al-Nafrāwī (d. 1126) said, > The first to gather children in the *maktab* was ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He ordered ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Khuzāʿī to commit to teaching them \[Qur’an\] and ʿUmar assigned him a salary from the public treasury (*bayt al-māl*). Among those children were the unintelligent and the intelligent. ʿUmar ordered ʿĀmir to write for the unintelligent on his tablet (*lawḥ*) and only to teach the intelligent without writing. ʿUmar also made sure that the children learned things prone to fade with time such as \[their\] lineage, ethnicity, and tribal association. The children asked ʿUmar to reduce their *maktab* hours, so he ordered their teacher to sit \[for teaching only\] from after *fajr* prayer to forenoon and from *ẓuhr* prayer to ʿ*aṣr* prayer, and then the children rested for the day.[^126] When ʿUmar came back to Medina after being gone for a month during the conquest of Sham, people missed him, so they went to receive him \[outside the city\]; the children journeyed almost 40 kilometers away from Medina to receive him. They met ʿUmar on Thursday, spent the night with him, and came back to Medina together on Friday.[^127] Since they were exhausted from the trip, ʿUmar gave them Thursday and Friday off. This weekend “became a sunnah until the Day of Judgment. ʿUmar made *duʿā* for anyone who applies this custom \[sunnah\] to be given \[all\] good and for anyone who cancels it to be restricted in their provision.”[^128] Many other companions were themselves expert Qur’an teachers. Abū al-Dardāʾ was the leading Qur’an teacher of the Damascus mosque with more than 1600 students. He used to divide his classes into groups of ten and appoint an assistant instructor (ʿ*arrīf*) for each group.[^129] Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī was appointed as the envoy of Basra where he also taught the Qur’an. Despite the difficulty of assuming such public office, Abū Mūsā was known for his daily Qur’an teaching, organization of classes and direct supervision of teaching assistants at the Basra mosque. He once gathered the most advanced reciters of his students and they numbered 300.[^130] The companions, however, did not neglect the importance of combining memorization with the practice of Qur’anic teachings. Ibn Masʿūd spent 22 years in Kūfah teaching Qur’an and *fiqh* to numerous students. A famous revolution against the Umayyads was led by a group known as “the army of *qurrāʾ*” comprising 4000 of Ibn Masʿūd’s students and their students.[^131] ### A diverse Qur’anic community Memorization and recitation of the Qur’an were not limited to a specific class in society. Males, females, children, people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, persons with disabilities, and enslaved people, all learned and memorized the Qur’an. It is beyond the scope of this article to cover the biographies of the many companions from such backgrounds who were reciters and memorizers. Nonetheless, the following examples showcase how some of them were among the leading authorities of Qur’an during and after the time of the Prophet ﷺ. When ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb stormed into his sister Fāṭimah’s house to confront her regarding her acceptance of Islam, he found she and her husband learning Sūrah Ṭāhā from the freed slave (*mawlā*) Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt. The indescribable impact of Ṭāhā’s recitation, and his sister’s devotion to her faith, eventually inspired ‘Umar’s conversion to Islam. Another former slave, Sālim ibn Maʿqil, had once served Abū Ḥuthayfah ibn ʿUtbah. Abū Ḥuthayfah’s wife, Thubaytah, eventually freed him. Abū Ḥuthayfah adopted him (prior to the abolition of adopting non-biological children) and Sālim became known as *mawlā* Abū Ḥuthayfah. Sālim was an expert *qārī* who taught several companions, including his former master, the Qur’an. As one of the early Muslims who migrated to Medina before the Prophet ﷺ, Sālim used to lead them in prayer since he was the most expert in Qur’an. Among those who prayed behind Sālim were the likes of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.[^132] While narrating the story of the false accusations against her, ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, described herself saying, “I was a young girl and I did not know much of the Qur’an.”[^133] This statement implies that her knowledge of Qur’an was limited because of her young age and that adult women used to know much of it.[^134] Indeed, the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, such as ʿĀʾishah, Ḥafṣah, and Umm Salamah, did not only memorize much of the Qur’an but also witnessed the descent of the revelation in their houses. They saw how the Prophet ﷺ received the Qur’an from Jibrīl and how he taught it to people, and they followed his example in teaching it to women and men. In addition to being listed among the *qurrāʾ* from the companions, some of the Prophet’s wives, especially ʿĀʾishah and Umm Salamah, were among the *qirāʾāt* transmitters.[^135] Several Hadith compilers reported some of the *qirāʾāt* the Prophet recited throughʿĀʾishah and Umm Salamah.[^136] One of the female memorizers of the Qur’an was Umm Waraqah bint ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Ḥārith al-Anṣārī, who the Prophet ﷺ used to call the martyr (*shahīdah*). He used to visit her and ask his companions to join him saying, “Let’s go visit the *shahīdah*.” He approved of her having a person (*muʾadhdhin*) to raise the call to prayer (*adhān*) specifically for her at her house.[^137] The Prophet’s ﷺ prophecy came true when she was killed during the reign of ʿUmar by one of her servants.[^138] Hujaymah bint Ḥuyayy, known as Umm al-Dardāʾ and Abū al-Dardāʾ’s wife, was one of the famous memorizers of the Qur’an. She was highly dedicated to learning and teaching it and is reported to have said, “I love to read it \[exactly\] as it was revealed.”[^139] Asmāʾ bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan (or Umm ʿĀmir al-Ashmaliyyah) was a famous reciter who had scribes write parts of the Qur’an for her. She participated in the compilation of the Qur’an during the time of Abū Bakr and shared her memorization with Zayd ibn Thābit, the head of the compilation committee, alongside a personal copy transcribed by Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.[^140] She was reported to have said, “I \[learned how to\] read 21 *sūrah*s before the Prophet ﷺ moved to us from Mecca.”[^141] During his lifetime, the Prophet ﷺ frequently instructed his companions to teach their children the Qur’an, many of whom memorized significant portions of it. For example, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās memorized all of *al-mufaṣṣal* when he was 13 years old. After the Prophet ﷺ moved to Medina, Zayd ibn Thābit was brought to him by people who told the Prophet ﷺ, “This is a young boy who has memorized from what Allah has sent down upon you 17 *sūrah*s.” The Prophet ﷺ was impressed and instructed him, “O Zayd, learn the writing style \[or the language\] of the Jews. Indeed, by Allah I do not trust them concerning my book \[the Qur’an\].” Within 15 days, at the ripe age of 11 years, Zayd had learned their language and began translating their messages to the Prophet ﷺ and writing his responses to them.[^142]  Zayd’s role in orally and textually preserving the Qur’an was exceptional, as will be discussed below. The Prophet’s sunnah of teaching children the Qur’an was earnestly adopted by his companions and their successors, who followed his exact style of reading in the manner we know today through the science of *tajw**ī**d*. > The first generation \[of this *ummah*\] did not recite the Qur’an nor teach it to children except in \[the style of proper\] recitation (*murattalan*) and articulation (*mujawwdan*). A child did not graduate from the *maktab* until he was fully skilled in reciting the Qur’an; the only thing missing for him was knowing the rules and terminologies that are called today the science of *tajwīd*. Moreover, they \[the first generation\] used to also teach their children in the *maktab* the obscure words of the Qur’an (*gharīb al-Qur’an*),[^143] some of its morals and the Arab’s poetry that contain them, a summary of the principles of creed and *fiqh* mentioned in the Qur’an, and some hadiths that described the Prophet’s morals.[^144] Hence, the child graduated the *maktab* sufficiently knowledgeable in language, hadith, poetry, creed, and *fiqh*. If such an amount were the only religious education he obtained, it would have sufficed him for all necessary worldly and religious matters.[^145] ### The memorizers of Qur’an among the companions The Qur’an’s widespread dissemination across all classes of society in the early Muslim community did not undermine the accuracy of its oral transmission. Indeed, the Qur’an was constantly being mass recited and taught in the most correct wording and precise articulation. As noted earlier, the incentives to memorize, preserve, and teach the Qur’an superseded those of pre-Islamic poetry. In addition to uncountable stories illustrating the companions’ dedication to memorizing, studying, and reciting the Qur’an in prayers day and night, the *sīrah* documents the names and biographies of tens of them who were given the titles of *qurrāʾ* or *ḥuffāẓ*. The title *qurrāʾ* was commonly attributed to the *ḥuffāẓ* of the Qur’an revealed up to the time they were given the title. Later, the title *qurrāʾ* only referenced those who had memorized the Qur’an in its entirety. The term also acquired different designations across disciplines such as *qirāʾāt* and *fiqh*. Contrary to the term’s classical connotation in the morphological and Qur’anic literature as being related to ‘reciters,’ a modern view of the term *qurrāʾ* contends that villagers (*ahl al-qurā*) were confused with reciters, *qurrāʾ*, which the former exploited to gain political and social prestige.[^146] It is unlikely that many Muslims fell into such a rudimentary error. Furthermore, even if this imposed distinction was historically and morphologically valid,[^147] it “does not strictly undermine the historical existence of a concomitant class of readers.”[^148] As shown below, the *qurrāʾ* title emerged as early as the fourth year after the *hijra*. The *q**urrāʾ* were at the forefront of successive battles and wars during the lifetime and after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, which raised concerns about the loss of the Qur’an’s bearers. In 4/625, a few months after the martyrdom of 70 companions in the battle of Uḥud, about 80 other companions (known to be *qurrāʾ*) were deceitfully martyred in the two expeditions of al-Rajīʿ (a name of a well eight miles away from Asfan) and Biʾr Maʿūnah (a name of well in Hijaz whose exact location is not well-identified). These 80 companions were sent by the Prophet ﷺ upon the request of some non-Muslim tribes to teach their people the Qur’an and the basics of Islam. Al-Rajīʿ is a tragic story of a cunning plot by the ʿAḍal and Qārrah tribes, who killed eight of the Prophet’s ten envoys and handed the other two to Quraysh who killed them in continuation of their revenge on Muslims. Before receiving the news about al-Rajīʿ’s group, the Prophet sent 70 companions to the Arab leader, Mālik ibn ʿĀmir,[^149] who had requested a group of *qurrāʾ* to teach his people. Mālik rejected the Prophet’s ﷺ invitation to become Muslim but showed interest in learning more about Islam alongside his people. Despite the Prophet’s ﷺ reluctance to dispatch his companions in large numbers to the Najd areas, which at the time hosted many of his enemies, he honored the protection (*jiwār*) promised by Mālik. Dishonorably, Mālik’s nephew, ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl, called upon some of his allies to kill the entire group while it was camped around Biʾr Maʿūnah. Sixty-nine of them were killed; only one injured survivor was able to make it back to Medina, where he died a couple of years later. It is narrated that Allah had revealed a verse stating His pleasure with those companions, but the verse was later abrogated.[^150] Many supernatural wonders (*karāmāt*) that these companions experienced before and after death are widely documented in the *sīrah* literature. Biʾr Maʿūnah’s *qurrāʾ* were known for two distinct qualities: their knowledge of the Qur’an and their commitment to social services. Anas ibn Mālik said, “We used to call them the *qurrāʾ*. They used to cut wood during the day and pray all night.”[^151] Their occupation during the day was logging; they used to collect and store wood near the rooms of the Prophet’s ﷺ wives and the *ṣuffah* for Muslims who were in need of it. They were reported to always be busy in the evenings with learning Qur’an and praying in groups. One narration affirms that “their families used to think that they were always at the Mosque, and the people of the *ṣuffah* always used to think they were with their families.”[^152] Their passing grievously saddened the Prophet ﷺ. Anas said, “Never did I see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in so much grief \[at the loss of a\] small army as I saw him in grief for those 70 men who were called *qurrāʾ* (and were killed) at Biʾr Maʿūnah; and he invoked curses for a full month upon their murderers.”[^153] The Prophet’s invocation, mentioned by Anas, was practiced in congregational prayers (known as *qunūt*). Distinct from other types of *qunūt*, this practice of the Prophet ﷺ legislated what is known in *fiqh* to be the *qunūt* of calamities (*qunūt al-nawāzil*) which Muslims practice until today when a calamity afflicts them. The Prophet’s *qunūt*, which reflected his deep grief over the *qurrāʾ*, was not due to a lack of contentment with their passing. Rather, as al-Asnawī (d. 772/1370) points out, the Prophet ﷺ made *qunūt* focused on “averting the rebellion of \[those\] killers and requiting the calamity of Muslims by \[asking for\] successors for them because they were \[a group of\] the brave *qurrāʾ*.”[^154] Identifying or recognizing companions based on their association with the Qur’an or certain parts of it was a common phenomenon that demonstrates the centrality of the Qur’an in the community’s life. For example, some companions were called ‘the people of Sūrah al-Baqarah,’ which was, according to al-Bāqillānī, a metaphor for those who had memorized the whole Qur’an.[^155] Al-Bāqillānī explained that since al-Baqarah is the longest and the most difficult *sūrah* to memorize, it was rare for the companions to start their memorization with it. Rather, they used to start with the short chapters from *al-mufa**ṣṣal* and would only memorize al-Baqarah after memorizing most of the other revealed parts of the Qur’an. This was the custom of the early immigrants, those who had a long companionship with the Prophet ﷺ, and those who embraced Islam later or at a young age. The concern over losing the *qurrāʾ* in wars only increased with time. From the incidents of al-Rajīʿ and Biʾr Maʿūnah to other major battles such as Ḥunayn, and even shortly after the death of the Prophet ﷺ in the Battle of al-Yamāmah where 40 *qurrāʾ* were martyred, the need to both orally and textually preserve the Qur’an became a critical communal obligation. However, the number of remaining *qurrāʾ* after al-Yamāmah likely exceeded the known total of 120 martyred. This can be inferred from ʿUmar’s fear that “if *qurrāʾ* continue to be killed in large numbers in other battles, a large portion of the Qur’an will be lost.”[^156] ʿUmar made this comment to Abū Bakr when advising him of the importance of textually compiling the Qur’an, after highlighting that “extensive killing” had already taken place. These deliberations resulted in the multistage process of compiling and transcribing the Qur’an. ʿUmar’s (and other companions’) fear over the loss of *qurrāʾ* did not betray a lack of conviction in the Divine promise to protect the Qur’an. They were simply following the Prophet’s example of utilizing every means possible to preserve the text, recognizing that the heavenly promise would be manifested in their human efforts. ### The number of memorizers (ḥuffāẓ) during the time of the Prophet ﷺ Undoubtedly, there were many memorizers and bearers of the Qur’an during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Teaching Qur’an was regarded as such a sacred act of worship that the companions were discouraged from accepting compensation for teaching it, which resulted in juristic differences among the schools of law over the validity of being compensated for Qur’anic teaching. As shown above, various hadith reports, the *s**ī**rah*, and the biographies of the Prophet’s companions provide clear evidence for the wide oral transmission (*tawātur*) of the Qur’an. A handful of seemingly contradictory hadiths list four, five, or six memorizers among the companions.[^157] Some scholars reconcile the differing numbers by interpreting the reports as 1) a subjective preference for or comparison between certain groups of the companions, or 2) placing an emphasis on a particular level of mastery of the Qur’an. Other scholars consider the reports to be 3) inauthentic in terms of their *isnād* or meaning due to inadequacies in numbering or historical events, 4) contradicted by a large number of other reports stating the memorization of many companions, or 5) counteracted by the practical difficulty of encompassing the exact number of memorizers in such circumstances of ongoing revelation and mass education.[^158] Putting together several reports compiled by, for instance, al-Bāqillānī in *al-Intiṣār*, al-Suyūṭī in *al-Itqān*, and al-Qasṭalānī in *Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt* establishes that 21 companions memorized the entire Qur’an during the life of the Prophet ﷺ. The number reaches 23 by including Mujammiʿ, who is said to have memorized all of it except for two or three chapters,[^159] and Abdulwāḥid, whose companionship with the Prophet is disputable.[^160] This number excludes the companions who completed their memorization after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Qāsim ibn Sallām’s list, as reported by al-Suyūṭī, includes 13 more companions who finished memorizing the Qur’an after the Prophet ﷺ passed. Despite the companions numbering in the tens of thousands, why are there only a few of them documented as *ḥuffāẓ*? The*ʿarḍ* of the entire Qur’an required close proximity to the Prophet ﷺ over a lengthy period, especially since the Qur’an was revealed over 23 years. Moreover, the gradualness of revelation may have prevented many companions from declaring that they themselves had memorized the entire text since they were uncertain about what would be revealed or abrogated from what they already had memorized, let alone testifying for the memorization of others. After describing these factors, al-Bāqillānī commented, > If that was necessarily the case, the number of the memorizers of all of what was revealed was not popularly known. It was not possible for them to know. Hence, it is not improbable that a number of the companions memorized \[the entire\] Qur’an during the time of the Prophet without declaring that about themselves and without others telling about them. The reason is that memorization cannot be widely known except after the Prophet’s death, the cease of the revelation, and knowing the last revealed parts of the Qur’an, and that a *sūrah* has been fully completed, structured, and arranged with its verses \[in the *muṣḥaf*\].[^161] It is also possible that many companions memorized the entire Qur’an but concealed that fact to avoid the boasting that nullifies God’s reward.[^162] Multiple reports show the companions’ wariness of publicly declaring their memorization of the Qur’an. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 101/728) was reported to have said, “We have witnessed people, one of whom has memorized the \[entire\] Qur’an without their neighbor knowing. And we have witnessed people for whom there is no deed they can perform in secret that will be publicized at all.”[^163] Those who declared their memorization may have done so for reasons they deemed beneficial for the community. Companions would also generally refrain from describing a person as a memorizer of the Qur’an in case said person had mistakenly missed a verse or a word. Indeed, evidence suggests that they avoided bestowing such a title on anyone who did not memorize the whole Qur’an, its abrogated verses, and modes of recitation and *aḥruf*[^164] through direct learning from the Prophet ﷺ. The companions also did not deem anyone a memorizer merely for committing the Qur’an to memory. Instead, memorizers also had to know the legal rulings of the Qur’an and abide by them. A man told Abū al-Dardāʾ once, “This son of mine has compiled (i.e., memorized) the Qur’an.” Abū al-Dardāʾ said, “O Allah, I ask for your forgiveness! The one who compiled (i.e., memorized) the Qur’an is \[only\] the one who listens to it and obeys.”[^165] Thus, it is not surprising for the likes of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to say, upon hearing ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir’s beautiful voice as he recited Sūrah al-Tawbah, that it was as if he did not know it was revealed.[^166] There is no chance that ʿUmar did not know of the *sūrah*, especially since it was publicly recited during *ḥajj* and widely taught for its commandments and admonitions. His comment thus confirms that mere retention is not what defines a person of the Qur’an. A similarly high threshold is evident in the juristic interpretation of the Prophet’s statement on who is the most qualified to lead prayers: “The person who is best versed in the recitation of the Book of Allah should lead the prayer.”[^167] Is the best in Qur’anic recitation someone who is an expert *q**ā**r**ī* or knowledgeable of law (*fiqh*)? In explaining the Shāfiʿī school’s position of giving priority of leading prayers to a person of *fiqh*, al-Juwaynī (d. 478/1085) said, > The apparent meaning of the hadith implies giving precedence to the best in Qur’anic recitation. However, al-Shāfiʿī interpreted the hadith and explained it in the truest manner, saying that it was common among the companions that the best in Qur’anic recitation is the best in *fiqh*. It was reported that they used to learn the Qur’an five verses in a row, and did not move beyond them \[to new verses\] until they learned what they contain \[of rulings\] and applied them. Hence, the *qurrāʾ* were jurists at that time.[^168] Thus, out of reverence for God’s Book and a stringently high standard for what counts as true memorization, the companions avoided proclaiming themselves or others memorizers or collectors of the Qur’an. Although this makes it challenging to identify the exact number of *ḥuffāẓ* from the companions, it also confirms that they were numerous. The existing data illustrate the following points about the oral preservation of the Qur’anic text:[^169] 1. In addition to mass delivery, the entirety of the text was conveyed by the Prophet ﷺ to a group of his companions in his lifetime. 2. The large number of memorizers guaranteed the accuracy of transmission, with an available channel for review or correction embodied in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. 3. The number of *ḥuffāẓ* was sufficient to establish *tawātur*—sure knowledge (*ʿilm yaqīnī*) of its being true, according to the preponderant opinion that *tawātur* does not require a particular number of transmitters.[^170] Rather, *tawātur* is established by the transmission of a group that unanimously reports something; the concordant transmission of its members renders the report’s falsity highly unlikely.[^171] Those who stipulated a particular number of transmitters differed broadly over the actual number, ranging from four to more than a hundred.[^172] Regardless of the specific number, it is agreed that wide transmission must occur in every link in the chain. If a report lacks group transmission in even one link, it is not *mutawātir*. Hence, there is a well-established *tawātur* of the entire Qur’an by a sufficient number of companions. The widespread dissemination of the Qur’an and firm religious commitment to it by the first Muslim generation suggests that there could have been more *ḥuffāẓ* among the companions.   4. The application of the particulars of *tawātur* to the first recipients of the Qur’an should not neglect the role of mass transmission. Thousands of other companions memorized different portions of the Qur’an, collectively preserving a complete account of the entire text. The late scholar al-Kawtharī (d. 1952) said, > One habit of the companions was to teach the Qur’an piecemeal. They would teach one person chapters and teach another person other chapters so that each of them might bear their \[distinct\] portion of memorization to increase the number of memorizers in all possible means. Hence, some memorized the entire Qur’an, and others only memorized select chapters which were memorized by many others. Thus, the rest of the Qur’an was distributed over groups \[of people\]. \[Additionally, among\] those who were not memorizers … one of them would always recognize if a reciter made a mistake \[in recitation\]. This was because of their significant recitation of, and continuous listening to, the Qur’an.[^173] This collective transmission constitutes another layer of *tawātur* and represents a type of mass supervision over the delivery of the Qur’an that guarantees its protection against change or distortion. All in all, even if only a few companions had memorized the Qur’an, as some may argue, it is not necessary for every single transmitter to have memorized and transmitted every part of the text. Rather, for large texts to achieve *tawātur* status, it is sufficient that a large number of transmitters collectively transmit their parts. Al-Māzirī (d. 536/1141) analogized this argument to the transmission of the famous pre-Islamic ode of Imruʾ al-Qays, “Halt, you two companions, and let us weep” (*qifā* *nabki*). If 100 different men each memorized a verse of the poem, the poem would have still been considered *mutawātir*.[^174] The inimitable composition of the Qur’an was enough incentive for the companions, irrespective of any religious motivations, to memorize it. ### The first Ṭabaqah of Qurrāʾ (1st century) The different generations (*ṭabaqāt*) of *qurrāʾ* from the time of the companions to later centuries are documented in multiple biographical works showcasing the uninterrupted chains of delivering and teaching the Qur’an. These works include *Ṭ**abaqāt al-qurrāʾ* by Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī (d. 444/1053), *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār ʿalā al-ṭabaqāt wa-l-aʿṣār* by al-Dhahabī (d. 748/1348), and *Ghāyat al-nihāyah fī ṭabaqāt al-qurrāʾ* by Ibn al-Jazarī (d. 833/1429). Since al-Dānī’s book is not in print today, al-Dhahabī’s *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ* is considered one of the most notable works in the field. Ibn al-Jazarī stated in the introduction of his work that it encompassed the content of al-Dhahabī’s and, thankfully, al-Dānī’s works. Moreover, al-Dhahabī’s *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ* drew the attention of scholars like Tāj al-Dīn ibn Maktūm (d. 749/1348), who supplemented it with 20 more biographies, and Najm al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Hāshimī (d. 885/1480), who rearranged it alphabetically. In *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār*, al-Dhahabī classified 18 generations from the time of the Prophet ﷺ to the 8th/14th century, with a total number of 734 *qurrāʾ*. Al-Dhahabī listed seven companions who received the Qur’an directly from the Prophet ﷺ as the first class and 12 of their students as the second class. This article will focus only on the first and the second *ṭabaqāt*. The seven companions whom al-Dhahabī listed in the first *ṭabaqah* are:[^175] 1. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (d. 35/656), one of the Prophet’s ﷺ scribes of revelation and the Caliph after which the codex of the final compilation of the Qur’an was named (*muṣḥaf ʿUthmān*). ʿUthmān was known for his constant recitation of the Qur’an. He was reported to have recited the entire Qur’an in one *rakʿah* of the night prayer.[^176]  2. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661), one of the Prophet’s ﷺ scribes. He praised ʿUthmān’s compilation of the Qur’an, and he was the teacher of Ibn ʿAbbās in Qur’anic exegesis (*tafsīr*). ʿAlī taught one of the most famous *qurrāʾ* of the *tābiʿūn* Abū ʿAbdulraḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 74/693), who testified that ʿAlī was the most expert Qur’an reciter.[^177] Once the Prophet ﷺ died, ʿAlī was occupied with compiling the Qur’an and arranging it chronologically in the order of its revelation, which is said to be the reason for his late pledge to Abū Bakr’s appointment as a Caliph.     3. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb (d. 35/656), described by the Prophet ﷺ as the most expert reciter of this *ummah*. The Prophet ﷺ once said that Allah commanded him to read to Ubayy. Ubayy was a member of ʿUthmān’s committee that transcribed the Qur’an in its final style and order.   4. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (d. 32/560), about whom the Prophet ﷺ said, “I approve for my *ummah* whatever Ibn Umm ʿAbd \[Ibn Masʿūd’s nickname\] approves for them.”[^178] He ﷺ also said, “Whoever would like to recite the Qur’an fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm ʿAbd.”[^179] Among the Prophet’s companions, Ibn Masʿūd is considered the greatest contributor to the mass teaching of the Qur’an.[^180] 5. Zayd ibn Thābit (d. 45/665), one of the Prophet's primary scribes and the head of both Abū Bakr’s and ʿUthmān’s committees. In the battle of Tabūk, the Prophet ﷺ assigned him the flag of his tribe, Banū al-Najjār, and said to him, “Qur’an \[always\] leads.”[^181] 6. Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (d. 44-52/664-72). The Prophet ﷺ, praising his beautiful voice, said, “This man has been given a *mizmār* \[a melodic instrument\] among the *mazāmīr* \[plural of *mizmār*\] of the family of Dāwūd, peace be upon him.”[^182] 7. Abū al-Dardāʾ al-Anṣārī (d. 32/652) established the Qur’an’s teaching circles in Damascus’s mosque and led the dissemination of the Qur’an in the Syrian region. Muḥammad Jabal supplemented al-Dhahabī’s first generation list with six other companions who fulfilled the conditions of *ʿarḍ* or *iqrāʾ* to the Prophet ﷺ, teaching students, and being in the *isnād* of the ten canonical *qirāʾāt*. Based on extrapolations from various biographical works, these six companions are: 1. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23/‌644) explicitly stated that the Prophet ﷺ taught him the Qur’an. Several accounts evince ʿUmar’s memorization of the entire Qur’an. Multiple narrations document his leading of the prayers with several long chapters of the Qur’an.[^183] Ibn Masʿūd testified to his memorization and said “He was the best reciter of the Qur’an among us.”[^184] ʿUmar is in the *isnād* of six canonical *qirāʾāt*[^185] which confirms his direct reception from the Prophet ﷺ and his contributions as a Qur’an teacher. Moreover, ʿUmar was known for revelation validating his views five times.[^186] Some *ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* works dedicated a sub-discipline to parts of the Qur’an that came to affirm what some of the companions expressed.[^187] A sign of ʿUmar’s unique connection with the Qur’an is found in al-Suyūṭī’s statement that this sub-discipline is founded on the Qur’an’s agreements with ʿUmar, to which scholars have dedicated independent books.[^188]       2. Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ (d. 85/704), reported by his student Ibn ʿĀmir (d. 118/736), the canonical *qārī*, to have read to the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^189] 3. Muʿādh ibn Jabal  (d. 18/639), one of four companions from whom the Prophet ﷺ instructed people to learn the Qur’an. He was sent to the Levant, alongside Abū al-Dardāʾ, to teach people Qur’an. Ibn ʿĀmir read to both of them. 4. Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd (d. 53/672), reported to have read to the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn ʿĀmir was also reported to hold Faḍālah’s personal codex following Faḍālah’s recitation.[^190]    5. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 74/), reported by Ibn al-Jazarī to have narrated different readings,[^191] which confirms his reading to the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn ʿUmar is in the *isnād* of three canonical *qirāʾāt*.[^192] 6. Anas ibn Mālik (d. 91/533) was very close to the Prophet ﷺ and served as his servant for ten years. Ibn al-Jazarī said in his biography that “he transmitted the Qur’an from the Prophet ﷺ through hearing.” While hearing seems to be a lower level than *ʿard*, it is considered a substitute for *ʿarḍ*, especially in this case since Anas, given his long companionship, is likely to have also done *ʿard* to the Prophet.[^193] Jabal added three more companions known to be knowledgeable of the Qur’an and likely to have also taught others: Abū Bakr, ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (d. 34/655), and ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir (d. 58/678). Indeed, Abū Bakr is known to have led Muslims in prayer several times, often with long chapters that only skilled memorizers could recite in prayer.[^194] Practicing his instruction that “the person who is best versed in the recitation of the Book of Allah, should lead the prayer,”[^195] the Prophet ﷺ appointed Abū Bakr to lead the main congregation, comprising the *muhājirūn* and the *anṣār,* when he was sick.[^196] Being the best of the Prophet’s companions, Abū Bakr was undoubtedly one of their best *qurrāʾ*. The biographies of the above-mentioned companions (the seven mentioned by al-Dhahabī and the six added by Jabal) illustrate common characteristics regarding their knowledge of the Qur’an. Specifically, they all: 1. Read directly to the Prophet ﷺ, as explicitly or implicitly mentioned in authentic reports. 2. Received the Qur’an orally, not in writing. 3. Memorized the entire Qur’an. 4. Taught a generation of companions and successors. 5. Come at the top of the *isnād*s of the ten canonical *qirāʾāt*.[^197] Hence, employing the *tawātur* theory, “the Qur’an’s *isnād* was never interrupted nor subjected to solitary transmission (*āḥād*) since the time of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].”[^198] ### The second Ṭabaqah of Qurrāʾ (1st and early 2nd century) Al-Dhahabī listed three companions and nine *tābiʿūn* who read to other companions of the Prophet ﷺ based on the criteria that: 1) each one of them recited the Qur’an to one or more companions of the first *ṭabaqah* (only the aforementioned list of seven companions compiled by al-Dhahabī), and 2) all 12 of the second *ṭabaqah* are links in the *isnād*s of the ten canonical *qirāʾāt*.[^199] Jabal complemented al-Dhahabī’s list, following al-Dhahabī’s criteria, with 14 other companions. Al-Dhahabī’s list includes: 1. Abū Hurayrah (d. 57-8/676-7), a late convert to Islam  (7th/628) who nonetheless was a *ṣuffah* resident who committed all his time to the Prophet ﷺ. He is widely known for his transmission of hadith and is reported to have read the Qur’an directly to the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^200] Abū Hurayrah read to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and taught ʿAbdulraḥmān al-ʿAraj, who was one of Nāfiʿ’s (d. 169/785) teachers (one of the ten canonical *qurrāʾ*). Abū Hurayrah taught **Abū** **Jaʿfar** (d. 130/747), who is also reported to have taught  **Abū ʿAmr**  (d. 154/770). Both are from the ten *qurrāʾ*.   2.  ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/555), the most famous exegete among the companions, who read to Ubayy and Zayd. Ibn ʿAbbās taught Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Sulaymān ibn Qattah al-Baṣrī, ʿIkrimah ibn Khālid al-Makhzūmī, and Abū Jaʿfar. Out of the ten *qurrā*, Ibn ʿAbbās is in the *isnād* of the *qirāʾāt* **of Abū Jaʿfar**, **Nāfiʿ, Ibn Kathīr** (d. 120/737), and **Abū ʿAmr.** 3. ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Sāʾib (d. before 70/557) was a very young companion who learned from Ubayy and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He taught Mujāhid ibn Jabr and Ibn Kathīr. Ibn al-Sāʾib is in the *isnād* of **Ibn Kathīr** and **Abū ʿAmr**. 4. Al-Mughīrah ibn Abī Shihāb al-Makhzūmī (d. 91/709), a *tābiʿī* who read to ʿUthmān and taught **Ibn ʿĀmir**. 5. Ḥiṭṭān ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Raqāshī (d. after 70/557), a *tābiʿī* who read to Abū Mūsā al-Ashaʿrī and taught al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, his link to the reading of **Abū ʿAmr**. 6. Al-Aswad ibn Yazīd al-Nakhaʿī (d. 75/562), a *tābiʿī* who read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Yaḥyā al-Asadī and Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, among others. Al-Aswad is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah** and **al-Kisāʾī**. 7. ʿAlqamah ibn Qays al-Nakhaʿī (d. 62/681) a *tābiʿī* who was born during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ and learned from Ibn Masʿūd who told him, “If the Prophet ﷺ had seen you, he would have been pleased with you.”[^201] ʿAlqamah taught Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, ʿUbayd ibn Naḍlah, and Yaḥyā ibn Waththāb. ʿAlqamah is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah** (d. 156/722), **al-Kisāʾī** (d. 189/804), and **Khalaf** (d. 229/843). 8. Abū ʿAbdulraḥmān al-Sulamī (d. after 70/557), a *tābiʿī* and a son of a companion who read to the most prominent *qurrāʾ* of the companions including ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, Ubayy, and Zayd (to whom he read the Qur’an 13 times). Among his students were al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn (the Prophet’s grandsons), ʿĀṣim (one of the ten *qurrāʾ*), ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, Abū Isḥāq al-Subayʿī. Ibn Mujāhid said, “The first to teach Kūfans the agreed upon reading that conforms to ʿUthmān’s codex was Abū ʿAbdulraḥmān al-Sulamī.”[^202] Al-Sulamī taught in Kūfah for 40 years until he died at the age of 90. Al-Sulamī  is in the *isnād* of **ʿĀṣim**, **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 9. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAyyāsh al-Makhzūmī (d. after 70/557), a *tābiʿī* who read to Ubayy and taught Abū Jaʿfar, Shaybah ibn Naṣṣaḥ, ʿAbdulraḥmān ibn Hurmuz, Muslim ibn Jundub, and Yazīd ibn Rumān—all of whom were among Nāfiʿ’s teachers. Ibn ʿAyyāsh is in the *isnād* of **Abū Jaʿfar**, **Nāfi**ʿ, and **Abū ʿAmr**. 10. Abū al-Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī (d. 105/723), a *tābiʿī* who became Muslim during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ but never saw him and died at the age of 127 or 130. Al-ʿUṭāridī read to Abū Mūsā al-Ashaʿrī and Ibn ʿAbbās and taught Abū al-Ashhab al-ʿUṭāridī who taught **Yaʿqūb** (one of the ten *qurrāʾ*). 11. Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī (d. 69/689), a *tābiʿī* who became Muslim during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ but never saw him. Al-Duʾalī read to ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and taught his son Abū Ḥarb, Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmur, and  Naṣr ibn ʿĀṣim. Al-Duʾalī is in the *isnād* of **Abū ʿAmr** and **Ḥamzah**. 12. Abū al-ʿĀliyah al-Riyāḥī (d. 90-6/708-14), a *tābiʿī* who became Muslim during the caliphate of Abū Bakr. Al-Riyāḥī read to ʿUmar, Ubayy, Zayd, and Ibn ʿAbbās. Ibn Abī Dāwūd said, “There is no one after the companions who is more knowledgeable of the Qur’an than him \[al-Riyāḥī\].”[^203] Al-Riyāḥī is in the *isnād* of **Abū ʿAmr**, **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī, Yaʿqūb** (d. 205/820), and **Khalaf**. Following the same criteria of al-Dhahabī (reciting to one or more of the first *ṭabaqah* and being links in the *isn**ā**d* of the ten *qirāʾāt*), Jabal added 14 *t**ā**bi**ʿ**īn*. He attempted to rank their level of companionship (*ṣ**u**ḥ**bah*) with the companions by reference to their age groups (early versus young) and debatable companionship with the Prophet ﷺ himself. Below is Jabal’s list in chronological order: 1. Masrūq ibn al-Ajdaʿ (d. 63/682) who read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Ibn Waththāb. Masrūq is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**.  2. ʿAmr ibn Shuraḥbīl al-Ḥamdānī (d. 63/682), who read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī. ʿAmr is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 3. ʿUbaydah ibn ʿAmr al-Salmānī (d. 72/691) who became Muslim during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ but never saw him. He read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī and others. Al-Salmānī is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**.  4. ʿĀṣim ibn Ḍamrah al-Sakūnī (d. 74/693) who read to ʿAlī and taught Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī. ʿĀṣim is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**.  5. ʿUbayd ibn Naḍlah al-Khuzāʿī (d. 75/694), who read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Yaḥyā ibn Waththāb. He was the *muqrī* of Kūfah in his time and his companionship with the Prophet ﷺ, according to al-Dhahabī, is debatable (meaning it is possible that he met the Prophet ﷺ). Ubayd is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 6. Zayd ibn Wahb (d. after 80/699), who traveled to see the Prophet ﷺ but did not make it before his death. Zayd read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Sulaymān al-ʿAmash. Zayd is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**.  7. Umm al-Dardāʾ Hujaymah bint Ḥuyayy (d. after 80/699), who read to her husband Abū al-Dardāʾ and taught ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays, Yūnus ibn Hubayrah, and Ibrāhīm ibn Abī ʿAblah (who read the Qur’an seven times to her). ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays is one of her most prominent students—he became the leading *qārī* of Damascus after Ibn ʿĀmir, and it was reported that people would correct their copies of the Qur’an according to his reading.   8. Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh (d. 82/701), who read to Ibn Masʿūd, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī as well as taught ʿĀṣim and many others. He died at the age of 120. Zirr is in the *isnād* of **ʿĀṣim**, **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, **Yaʿqūb**, and **Khalaf**.  9. ʿAbdulraḥmān ibn Abī Laylā (d. 83/702), who read to ʿAlī and taught his own son ʿĪsā. Ibn Abī Laylā is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 10. Saʿd ibn Iyās (d. 96/714), who lived during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ but never met him. He read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught ʿĀṣim and Yaḥyā ibn Waththāb. Saʿd is in the *isnād* of **ʿĀṣim**, **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 11. ʿIkrimah ibn Khālid al-Makhzūmī (d. 115/733), who read to the students of Ibn ʿAbbās and, arguably, to Ibn ʿAbbās himself, along with ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar. He taught Abū ʿAmr and Ḥanẓalah ibn Abī Sufyān. Al-Makhzūmī is in the *isnād* for the readings of Abū ʿAmr and Yaʿqūb.  12. ʿUbayd ibn Qays al-Kulābī, a *tābiʿī* (d. unknown) who read to Ibn Masʿūd and taught Ibn Waththāb. ʿUbayd is in the *isnād* of **Ḥamzah**, **al-Kisāʾī**, and **Khalaf**. 13. Ibn ʿĀmir (d. 118/736), one of the ten *qurrāʾ* who read to multiple companions including Abū al-Dardāʾ, Muʿādh, Faḍālah, Wāthilah, Muʿāwiyyah, and, arguably, ʿUthmān. 14. Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhrī (d. 124/741), who read to Anas ibn Mālik and taught **Nāfiʿ** (one of the ten *qurrāʾ*). Al-Zuhrī is in the *isnād* of **Nāfiʿ** and **Abū ʿAmr**. ### A growing Qur’anic community: Communal responsibility towards the Qur’an Knowledge and memorization of the Qur’an kept spreading among Muslims after the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Many companions memorized the Qur’an, and the number of Qur’an teachers and reciters multiplied during the reign of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb,[^204] who used to assign governmental funds to memorizers.[^205] Prayer was a significant mode of preserving the Qur’an, as reflected in the early Muslims’ connection to prayer and dedication to perfecting its intimate communing with God through His words. Intriguingly, some companions and *tābiʿūn* were reported to have recited the entire Qur’an in one *rakʿah*, and some used to recite the entire Qur’an 60 times in Ramadan. Several reports and discussions exist in the tradition pertaining to the preferred routine of completion (*khatm*) of the Qur’an.[^206] One of the main causes of the Qur’an’s increased dissemination in society was ʿUmar’s regulation of the Ramadan night supererogatory prayer (*tarāwīḥ*). ʿUmar had appointed three *qurrāʾ*—Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Muʿādh ibn al-Ḥārith, and Tamīm al-Dārī—and scheduled their leading-prayer shifts based on the pace of their recitation. One of the narrations describing their recitations states that they used to recite *s**ū**rah*s consisting of more than 100 verses (*miʾīn*) and that the companions would lean on their sticks to tolerate the length of the prayer. Sometimes the prayer would last till near dawn (*fajr*).[^207] ʿUmar maintained the organization and support of this practice and requested that the various Muslim regions under his rule adopt it in the 14th year after the *hijrah*.[^208]  ʿUmar’s practice of *tarāwīḥ* persisted and proliferated during the time of ʿUthmān and ʿAlī, when the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an continued to spread rapidly. Importantly, there is no documented claim from that era alleging that the Qur’an was altered, added to, or distorted in terms of its order or style of recitation in any way.[^209] *Tarāwīḥ* remains a method of memorizing and transmitting the Qur’an today. For the following generations, memorizing the Qur’an was held to be a communal obligation (*[far](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fard-kifayah-the-principle-of-communal-responsibility-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1670261664191167&usg=AOvVaw31q0SwccxE3lRA_09qyhz4)[ḍ](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fard-kifayah-the-principle-of-communal-responsibility-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1670261664191407&usg=AOvVaw3cmba4HCfldile7883ftj-) [kifāyah](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fard-kifayah-the-principle-of-communal-responsibility-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1670261664191546&usg=AOvVaw1c6faTRnhAAKIOU_zCw6nw)*). Due to multiple hadiths in which the Prophet ﷺ warned against forgetting what had been memorized from the Qur’an, some jurists held such forgetting to be a major sin (*kabīrah*). In support of this position, they cited the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “The sins of my *ummah* were shown to me. I did not see a sin greater than a *sūrah* or verse of the Qur’an given to a person who then forgot it.”[^210] Despite its debatable authenticity, this hadith is understood by many jurists to establish the prohibition of forgetting the Qur’an. However, they disagreed extensively on the meaning of forgetting (e.g., complete loss of memory, inability to read from the *muṣḥaf*, neglect of its commands and prohibitions), valid excuses for forgetting (e.g., unintentional noncommitment to revising, occupation with other important studies or work to secure necessary lawful provision, mental issues), age-based accountability (differentiating between what was memorized at a young age versus adulthood), subjective memory strength and retention abilities, and the degree of sinning (major or minor) based on the intention and cause of forgetting. For example, Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (d. 974/1566) divided (*nisyān*) into two categories: unintentional *nisyān* and intentional negligence (*isqāṭ*). He concluded his detailed *fatwā* on this issue by saying, > It is understood from what I have stated that the \[exact\] point of forgetting is the removal \[of the memorized\] from the memory capacity (*al-quwwah al-ḥāfidhah*) so that one no longer retains it by heart as they used to before... Being able to read from the *muṣḥaf* does not prevent the sin of forgetting because we are ritually obligated to memorize by heart. Hence, imams \[of jurisprudence\] explicitly stated that its memorization is a communal obligation upon the *ummah*. Additionally,  most of the companions did not \[know how to\] write, but they had it \[the Qur’an\] memorized by heart… *nisyān* in the meaning I explained \[intentional negligence\] is a major sin even if \[it was of\] one verse as they \[earlier scholars\] stated. Even if one forgets one letter to such an extent that it requires work and repetition \[to be remembered\], they are sinful. If it does not reach that level and one can remember once they are reminded, they are not remiss.[^211] In his treatment of the same issue, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī narrated that Ibn Sīrīn (d. 110/729) said, “They \[the righteous forebears\] used to despise the one who forgets the Qur’an and to speak harshly of him.”[^212] --- ## Part II:  Written transmission of the Qur’an during the time of the Prophet ﷺ The illiteracy of Arab society at the time of the Prophet **ﷺ** is well-known. Less known is that despite this pervasive illiteracy, writing did exist among the Arabs: “Be wary of the opinion of those who say that the Arabs were not people of writing and pens.”[^213] According to Ahmad al-Jallād, “\[T\]he abundance of written records in Arabia suggests that writing was widespread among both settled people and nomads… however, its function among both groups was quite different.”[^214] Nonetheless, only select types of the Arab literature of the Ḥijāz, where the message of Islam commenced, were  \\documented in written form before and during the time of the Prophet **ﷺ**. Aside from writing for practical purposes such as letters, memoranda, treaties, and legal materials, “religious materials (with the eventual exception of the Qur’an), poetry and literary prose, genealogy, and historical traditions were transmitted orally” in the early Islamic centuries.[^215] Poetry, prose, oration, and storytelling were the primary means of preserving the heritage of this part of the Arabian peninsula. Writing was more common in the Arabian North and the South.[^216] Ancient South Arabia, with its thousands of public transcriptions, “exemplifies a literate society,” yet that does not necessarily reflect a “widespread literacy among the general population.”[^217] Compared to the Ḥijāz, where writing was not as common, even the venerated art of poetry “was not often put into writing in South Arabia.”[^218] As for the development of the Arabic script, in the South the people of Yemen used to write in *al-Musnad* script,[^219] while in the North, the Nabataeans adopted a writing style derived from the Aramaic prevalent in the Levant.[^220] The Ḥijāzī Arabs learned this style of writing centuries before Islam. It eventually developed into the Ḥijāzī script, the same one in which the Qur’an was written.[^221] The Qur’an explicitly acknowledges that most Arabs were illiterate by describing them (*ummiyyīn*) as well as the Prophet **ﷺ** (*ummiyy*) as “unlettered” in 62:2 and 7:157-8. The word *ummiyyīn*, according to the majority of exegetes, refers to those who do not know how to read or write.[^222] The Prophet **ﷺ** did not read or write, nor did many of the Arabs of his time. Nevertheless, consider the following verses: > It is for Us to **collect** it and to give you the ability to recite it.[^223] > Indeed, this is in the former **scrolls** \[scriptures\].[^224] > A Messenger from Allah reciting purified **pages** \[scriptures\].[^225] ​​ These verses of the Qur’an suggest the importance of preserving the Qur’an not just orally but in writing. Indeed, in arguing for the obligation to take all possible means of preserving the Qur’an, some scholars also cited the verse “This is the Book”[^226] and “His \[Allah’s\] Book”[^227] as indications that Allah’s revealed speech should be preserved by “writing it in sheets.”[^228] Unsurprisingly, then, the textual preservation of the Qur’an was a duty established by the Prophet **ﷺ** himself. He commanded people to write it down and appointed, organized, and supervised his scribes of revelation. After the Prophet’s death, this duty transformed into a *far**ḍ* *kifāyah* which his companions fulfilled. This organized scribal work came despite Arab society’s widespread illiteracy and, as shown below, played a pivotal role in fulfilling Allah’s promise to preserve the Qur’an. ### Literature on writing the Qur’an and the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ Two terms are commonly used in the various reports about the textual documentation of the Qur’an: collection (*jam**ʿ*) and compilation (*ta**ʾ**l**ī**f*). Al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) dedicated in his *Ṣaḥīḥ* a separate section for each: “Section on the Collection of the Qur’an” (*bāb* *jam**ʿ al-Qurʾān*) and “Section on the Compilation of the Qur’an” (*bāb* *ta**ʾ**l**ī**f* *al-Qurʾān*). In his commentary on the *Ṣaḥīḥ*, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī noted that *jam**ʿ al-Qurʾān* is a collection of its sheets in a particular style while *ta**ʾ**l**ī**f* *al-Qurʾān* is arranging the verses of a *sūrah* or the order of the *sūrah*s.[^229] When sheets are bound together, they are known as a codex which, in the case of the Qur’an, is called a *muṣḥaf*. Parchment (a stiff, flat material made from the untanned skins of goats or sheep) was scarce during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Hence, he commanded his companions to write the Qur’an on other available materials such as palm leaf, stalk, and stump, as well as scapula bones, clay, the skin of animals, and certain kinds of rocks.[^230] Identifying the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ requires examination of a vast literature of books dedicated to the topic as well as the works of *sīrah*, *ṭabaqāt*, *shamāʾil* (characteristics of the Prophet), and history. Books that document the names and biographies of the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ date back to as early as the 3rd/9th century, such as *Kitāb al-Kuttāb* by ʿAmr ibn Shabbah (d. 262/877), which is no longer extant. Subsequent works include *al-Miṣbāḥ al-Mudiyy fī Kuttāb al-Nabyy* by Muḥammad ibn Ḥadīdah al-Anṣārī (d. 783/1381), the most extensive examination of the topic ever undertaken.[^231] Al-Anṣārī had two primary foci: the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ and the messengers and letters he ﷺ deployed to the kings and rulers of his time. After beginning the list with the four Caliphs, al-Anṣārī listed the rest of the scribes alphabetically. Still, no work independently dedicated to the Qur’anic scribes of the Prophet ﷺ exists in our tradition—a gap that some contemporary Muslim scholars have attempted to fill. Since the literature typically defines a scribe as someone who used to write anything for the Prophet ﷺ—not just Qur’an, but letters, legal documents, land deeds, and translations—scholars have disagreed on the number of Qur’anic scribes. Al-Aʿẓamī observed that almost every scholar he reviewed added more names to the list compiled by his predecessor.[^232] One exception, however, is ʿAmr ibn Shabbah, who named 23 scribes, despite coming after al-Yaʿqūbī (d. after 292/905), who listed only 13 scribes in his *Tārīkh*. The following scholars complemented al-Aʿẓamī’s list and provided different scribal counts based on their selected criteria: Al-Masʿūdī (d. 345/965) listed 16 scribes in his *al-Tanb**ī**h wal-Ishrāf*, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071) listed 25 in *al-Ist**īʿ**āb*, Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571/1167) listed 23 in *T**ā**r**ī**kh* *Dimashq*, al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) listed 26 in his *Tafs**ī**r*, al-Anṣārī listed 44 in *al-Mi**ṣ**b**āḥ* *al-Mud**iyy*, al-ʿIrāqī (d. 806/1403) listed 42 in his didactic poem *al-Alfiyyah* on *s**ī**rah*,[^233] Sibṭ ibn al-ʿAjamī (d. 841/1438) listed 43 in his gloss on Qāḍī Iyāḍ’s *al-Shifā*, Yaḥiā al-ʿĀmiriyy al-Ḥaraḍayy (d. 893/1487) listed 25 in *Bahjat al-Ma**ḥ**āfil*, and al-Shabrāmallisī (d. 1087/1676) listed 40 in his legal gloss on *al-Manhāj*.[^234] Based on a survey of such tremendous scholarship, as well as numerous works of literary professions (*inshāʾ*) and political treatises, most contemporary works put the number of scribes at over forty. ʿAlī al-Dabbāʿ (d. 1380/1961), in *Samīr al-Ṭālibīn*, noted that the total number of the Prophet’s scribes is 43 or 44, 14 of whom were specifically Qur’anic scribes.[^235] In his *Tārīkh al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf*, ʿAbdulfattāḥ al-Qāḍī (d. 1403/1982) stated, “The Prophet had 40 scribes before the revelation of the Qur’an came to completion.”[^236] The Shia scholar Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Zinjānī (d. 1359/1941) stated, in his *Tārīkh* *al-Qurʾan*, that the Prophet ﷺ had 43 scribes, listing 29 known to have specifically written the Qur’an.[^237] More recently, al-Aʿẓamī listed 48 scribes of the Prophet ﷺ in his *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, in which he treated their biographies.[^238] However, in *The History of the Qurʾanic Text*, al-Aʿẓamī stated that the Prophet ﷺ had a total of 65 scribes without specifying whether they transcribed the Qur’an or fulfilled other duties.[^239] In one section of his *Wathaqat Naql al-Naṣṣ al-Qurʾanī*, Muḥammad Jabal attempted to differentiate between Qur’anic and non-Qur’anic scribes of Prophet ﷺ through inference, compiling a total of 29 companions. Ghānim al-Ḥamad, in *Rasm al-Mushaf*, identified 43 as the overall number of the Prophet’s scribes.[^240] In his more recent work *Aṣālah al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, he briefly discussed seven of them when covering the stages of writing the Qur’an during the lifetime of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^241] An important contribution to this discussion is the four-volume work of another Shia scholar ʿAlī al-Aḥmadī al-Mayānjī (d. 2000) titled *Makātīb al-Rasūl*. He divided the dictated writings of the Prophet ﷺ into two categories: writings that were especially dictated to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib comprising different aspects of his Prophetic knowledge, and writings of the Prophet’s *daʿwah* letters, letters to his envoys, treaties, feoffments, and others. In the latter section, he identified 255 dictated writings whose exact wordings are no longer extant and 229 others whose wordings have survived. He argued that the actual number of these writings exceeds the total numbers in both identified categories.[^242] In support of this argument, he provided a list of 263 companions whom the Prophet ﷺ had appointed to executive positions;[^243] al-Mayānjī, however, acknowledged that not all reports regarding this number of companions are authentic.[^244] Despite the resourceful authorities referenced in his work, and because of a strong emphasis on the role of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib in the life of the Prophet ﷺ and the preservation of the Islamic traditions, al-Mayānjī was unduly strict in counting the number of the scribes of the Qur’an. While he distinguished the scribes of the Qur’an in a dedicated section, he limited them to only six companions, not at all of whom were certainly Qur’anic scribes.[^245] In an odd insistence on proving discrepancies between different reports, al-Mayānjī excluded the names of Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, al-Mughīrah, ʿAmr ibn al-Āṣ, Khāild ibn al-Walīd, and Muʿāwiyah.[^246] His arguments for some of these exclusions will be discussed below. Finally, works on political theory and administrative law in the early Islamic era list those companions appointed to governmental or executive positions, including the scribes. Among the most extensive contemporary references on the Prophet’s lifetime is ʿAbdulḥayy al-Kittānī’s two-volume book on the Prophet’s governmental system, *al-Tarātīb al-Idāriyyah*. The third section of the first volume is dedicated to various topics related to the writing professions as organized by the Prophet ﷺ including his different types of dictated writings, his scribes, his style of dictation, his ways of addressing his correspondents, the structure of his official letters and statements, his translators, his spokespeople and poets, and his instructions to the scribes regarding the materials used and how to sign, date, stamp, and mail them.[^247] Moreover, Muhammad Hamiduallah’s (d. 1422/2002) collection of the “political documents” written during the time of the Prophet ﷺ and his four succeeding Caliphs is a significant reference for early writings and the scribes of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^248] The following sections on the scribes of the Qur’an will adopt Jabal’s bipartite categorization based on the Meccan and Medinan periods of the life of the Prophet ﷺ. ### Writing the Qur’an in the Meccan period The revelation of the Qur’an in the Meccan period lasted for 13 years. Since it was longer than the Medinan period, the Meccan period witnessed the revelation of more Qur'anic chapters. Of 45 long or medium chapters (from al-Baqarah to al-Aḥqāf), 35 are Meccan. This quantity of revelation may have necessitated textual transcription to protect it from potential losses or mistakes. The Prophet **ﷺ** paid early attention to the importance of preserving the revelation in writing and combating illiteracy among Muslims. He **ﷺ** was reported to have said, “record knowledge with writing.”[^249] Al-Azharī (d. 370/981) highlights the importance of written documentation, saying, “Writing \[guarantees\] more accuracy than the hearts of men.”[^250] Writing the Qur’an in an illiterate society affirms that such documentation did not stem from happenstance or merely reflect common cultural practice. Instead, it was a Divine inspiration and an intentional plan for the future of the new religion and its book.[^251] The Prophet **ﷺ** said, “Do not write down anything from me, and he who wrote down anything from me except the Qur’an should efface that.”[^252] This hadith indicates that some companions were already writing, or wanted to write down everything the Prophet **ﷺ** said. The Prophet **ﷺ** , though, wanted them to focus on the Qur’an’s writing and even erase anything else they had written from him. Later, he permitted the companions to write down his hadith.[^253] The Prophet **ﷺ** must have issued this ban on non-Qur’anic writing as early as his companions started writing down what he was conveying to them, meaning in Mecca.[^254] His (initial) prohibition of non-Quranic writing established a distinction between human and Divine speech that protected the latter from distortion.[^255] This distinction in writing added another layer of protection to that offered by the unparalleled rhetorical style of the Qur’an. Evidently, then, the prevalence of illiteracy in Meccan society did not negate the existence of writing and writers. By the advent of Islam, there were 17 scribes among the Quraysh.[^256] As known in the *sīrah*, the Quraysh wrote on a sheet documenting their official boycott of the Prophet **ﷺ** and Meccan Muslims. Multiple companions among the early Meccan Muslims were penmen, including Abū Bakr, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Saʿīd ibn Zayd and his wife Fāṭimah bint al-Khaṭṭāb, and Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt. The story of how ʿUmar embraced Islam, highlighted above, relates that Saʿīd, his wife Fāṭimah, and Khabbāb were reading Qur’an from a sheet that had verses from Sūrah Tāhā and possibly also Sūrah al-Takwīr.[^257] There were likely multiple other sheets that contained written Qur’an. ### The Prophet’s scribes in the Meccan period Scarcely does the existing literature explicitly identify anyone as a Meccan scribe of revelation. Moreover, the harsh conditions characteristic of the Meccan period of Islam possibly concealed many details regarding the transcription of the Qur’an during that time. However, *sīrah* works generally list the scribes who wrote everything the Prophet ﷺ dictated, including Qur’an, messages, correspondences, and other deeds and documents. It is possible to identify who among them were specifically Meccan scribes if they meet three criteria: a scribe of the Prophet (as long as this scribe’s transcription was not specified for anything other than the Qur’an), an early Muslim, and a resident of Mecca. In applying these three conditions, four names rise to the top of the list: 1. Shuraḥbīl ibn Ḥasanah (d. 18/639), said to be “the first \[companion\] to write for the Prophet \[ﷺ\].”[^258] His status as the first Prophetic scribe indicates he began writing before he migrated to Abyssinia, which in turn suggests that he wrote Qur’an, since the Prophet ﷺ did not correspond with anyone in writing during the pre-Abyssinian period.[^259]      2. Khālid ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ (d. 13/634), said to be the second person to embrace Islam after Abū Bakr. Khālid was the first to write, “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” (*Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm*).[^260]  3. Ḥanẓalah ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Tamīmī (d. 52/672), known as “The Scribe” (*al-kātib*) before Zayd ibn Thābit won that title.   4. ʿAbdullāh ibn Sʿad (d. 36-37). According to Al-ʿAsqalānī, he was the first person from Quraysh to write the revelation for the Prophet ﷺ in Mecca.[^261] ʿAbdullāh ibn Sʿad is known for the controversy surrounding his apostasy from Islam during the life of the Prophet ﷺ. He eventually revoked his apostasy, became Muslim again, and participated in multiple conquests before he died as a Muslim.[^262] Other companions who embraced Islam early and fulfilled general scribal duties for the Prophet ﷺ were:[^263] 5. Abū Bakr 6. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb Al-Mayānjī questioned whether Abū Bakr and ʿUmar were from among the Prophet’s scribes, despite multiple biographies affirming that they were. Al-Mayānjī also stated that Abū Bakr was unlettered, a claim for which he cited no evidence besides Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih (d. 328/940) not listing him among the 17 men who knew how to write at the advent of Islam.[^264] Abu Bakr’s exclusion from Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih’s list is not sufficient evidence for al-Mayānjī’s claim, especially since Abu Bakr is reported to have written a peace treaty by the command of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^265] Conflicting reports about the identity of this treaty’s scribe are reconciled by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) to mean that Abu Bakr shared the writing process with another companion, ʿĀmir ibn ʿUqbah.[^266] 7. ʿUthmān, when the rebels attacked him and struck his hand with a sword, said, “By Allah, it is the first hand to transcribe the *mufa**ṣṣ**al*.”[^267]  8. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib 9. Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (d. 36/656) 10.  Al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām (d. 36/656) 11.  Al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam (d. 55/675) 12.  Ḥāṭib ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wud (d. unknown) 13. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah (d. 4/625) 14. Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Asad (d. 4/625) 15. Muʿayqīb al-Dūsī (d. 40/660) 16. Abān ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ (d. 13/634). He was Khālid’s brother (mentioned above).[^268] The Qur’an was transcribed concomitantly with its revelation. Several companions reported that the Prophet **ﷺ** would call on scribes when he received new revelation and instruct them to write and place it in its assigned chapter.[^269] Although not commonly reported in classical or contemporary *ʿulūm al-Qurʾān* works, some of the Qur’an-inscribed sheets in Mecca were sent to Medina to support the ongoing dissemination of the Qur’an.[^270] Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī reported from Ibn Isḥāq (d. 150/767) that Rāfiʿibn Mālik al-Zuraqī was “the first to bring Sūrah Yūsuf to Medina.”[^271] Admittedly, this report does not explicitly mention whether the *sūrah* was received from the Prophet ﷺ orally or in writing. However, al-ʿAsqalānī reported another narration from al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār (d. 256/870) that the Prophet ﷺ gave Rāfiʿ, when they met during the pledge of al-ʿAqabah, what was revealed to him over the previous decade. Rāfiʿ, in turn, took that from the Prophet ﷺ to Medina, where he gathered his people and started teaching them what he had brought from the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^272] It is almost impossible that Rāfiʿ learned so much Qur’an orally at once, which indeed suggests that it was in writing. It is important to note that Rāfiʿ was an educated person known as one of society’s “perfect people” (*al-kamalah*). According to Ibn Saʿd (d. 230/845), a “perfect person” (*kāmil*) in pre-Islamic times was one who wrote and was skilled in swimming and archery.[^273] There is no existing evidence of what eventually happened to Rāfiʿ’s sheets. Possibly, they were among the sheets which Zayd ibn Thābit, and other scribes, used in reviewing their writings with the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^274] These sheets (derived from different parchment materials) were potentially kept in an easily movable container, as evidenced by Rāfiʿ’s successful journey to Medina with a decade’s worth of revelation despite a dangerous climate of anti-Islamic hostility.[^275] ### Writing the Qur’an in the Medinan period The Prophet’s ﷺ efforts to maintain written documentation of the Qur’an continued after his move to Medina. During the Meccan period, there was no need to write anything besides the Qur’an. However, the situation changed drastically after the immigration to Medina due to the complex needs of the new society. Accordingly, after victory in the Battle of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ issued a different kind of ransom for the captives lacking financial resources: teaching Medinan children how to write. Each captive was responsible for teaching ten children.[^276] Thus, illiteracy decreased among the Arabs after the spread of Islam amongst them. Consequently, the number of scribes increased, and their scribal duties diversified to include a range of tasks that extended beyond transcribing the Qur’an to include other Prophetic statements and decisions. Contrary to a common belief that registers (*diwān*s) were established after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, simple forms of *diwān*s were developed during his time and by his command ﷺ. The word *diwān*, in its early usage, references the place where a transcriber sits, a logbook, or a register.[^277] According to al-Qalqashandī (d. 821/1418) in his administrative encyclopedia on the composition of chancery documents *Ṣubḥ al-Aʿshā*, the first chancery in Islam was established during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, as represented in his letters and correspondences.[^278] Although the official establishment of army and revenue registers is attributed to his successors, most popularly to Caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, prototypical forms of such registers emerged in the lifetime of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^279] The existence of such *diwan*s can be inferred from several hadiths. Ḥudhayfah narrated that “the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘List the names of those people who have announced that they are Muslims.’ So, we listed 1,500 men.”[^280] This “listing” implies a practice of written record-keeping. Once, after the Prophet ﷺ stated that “it is not permissible for a man to be alone with a woman, and no lady should travel except with an unmarriageable kin (*ma**ḥ**ram*),” a man responded by saying, “O Allah’s Messenger! I have enlisted (*uktutibtu*) in the army for such-and-such battle, and my wife is proceeding for *hajj*.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Go and perform the *hajj* with your wife.”[^281] Al-Bukhārī titled the section under which this hadith was reported using the word for someone “who was enlisted” (*uktutiba*), meaning enlisted in writing. Moreover, several companions were reported to have registered their alms dues and contributions (*amw**ā**l al-**ṣ**adaq**ā**t*) for the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Mayānjī, based on a variety of sources, identified eight *diwān*s established by him ﷺ which are: 1) the *diwān* for transcribing the Qur’an, 2) the *diwān* for writing down the sunnah, 3) the *diwān* for treaties, pledges, peace agreements, and feoffments, 4) the *diwān* for claims, lawsuits, and financial disputes, 5) the *diwān* of the army, 6) the *diwān* for alms (*zakāh*), spoils, charities, and their recipients, 7) the *diwān* of chancery for correspondences with kings, tribes, deputies, and envoys, and 8) the *diwān* of delegates.[^282] ### The Prophet’s scribes in the Medinan period ʿUthmān, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, and Zayd ibn Thābit were among the most critical scribes in the Medinan period, heavily influencing the process and the final stages of standardizing the Qur’anic text. Ubayy was the first to write the Qur’an for the Prophet ﷺ in Medina. If Ubayy was not available, Zayd ibn Thābit used to be assigned to write. ʿUthmān testified for himself, as mentioned earlier, describing his hand as “the first hand to transcribe the *mufaṣṣal*.”[^283] Zayd, one of the *anṣāri* children who learned from Badr’s captives, became the most important figure of Qur’anic transcription and compilation during and after the time of the Prophet ﷺ. The people of Medina knew him as “the scribe of revelation” (*kātib al-waḥy*).[^284] Zayd ibn Thābit’s residential proximity to the Prophet ﷺ eased his commitment to writing the Qur’an, as “I was his \[the Prophet’s\] neighbor. When the revelation would come to him, he would call on me to write it down.”[^285] Zayd went on to describe how he would be there in all different situations with the Prophet ﷺ: “If he \[the Prophet\] mentions the hereafter, he mentions it with us. If he mentions life, he mentions it with us, and if he mentions food, he mentions it with us.”[^286] Qur’anic transcription took a more specialized form in Medina through Zayd’s work who, given his proximity to the Prophet ﷺ, kept the writing tools (e.g., sheets, tablets, inkpot) ready at his house to be instantly available for the call of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^287] Upon the revelation of verse 4:99, the Prophet said, “Call Zayd for me and let him bring the board, the inkpot, and the scapula bone \[or the scapula bone and the ink pot\].”[^288] Zayd led the committee that compiled the Qur’an during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and the one that transcribed it during the caliphate of ʿUthmān. In addition to these three companions, others who were known to write for the Prophet ﷺ in Medina without a specification of the content of writing were:[^289] 1. ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah (d. 8/629) 2. Thābit ibn Qays (d. 12/633) 3. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl (d. 12/633) 4. Khālid ibn al-Walīd (d. 21/642) 5. ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Arqam (d. before 35/624). He was al-Arqam’s son. 6. Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (d. 36/656) 7. Ḥuayṭib ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā al-Qurashī (d. 54/673) 8. Saʿīd ibn al-ʿAṣ (d. 59/678) 9. Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān (d. 60/680)   10.  Buraydah ibn al-Ḥuṣayb al-Aslamī (d. 63/682) ### The instant documentation of revelation As mentioned earlier, the instant transcription of newly revealed Qur’an was a common practice of the Prophet ﷺ with his scribes in both Mecca and Medina. ʿĀʾishah said, “I have seen the Prophet ﷺ resting his thigh against ʿUthmān while I was wiping the Prophet’s ﷺ sweat from his forehead upon the revelation’s descent on him. The Prophet ﷺ was saying, ‘Write O ʿUthmān.’”[^290] Zayd ibn Thābit described the Prophet’s instant conveyance of verse 4:95 and his command to document it saying, > I was beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when the divinely-inspired calmness overtook him and the thigh of the Messenger ﷺ fell on my thigh. I did not find anything weightier than the thigh of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He then regained his composure and said “Write down.” I wrote on a shoulder: {Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive in the way of Allah}. When Ibn Umm Maktūm, who was blind, heard the virtue of the warriors, he stood up and said “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! How is it for those believers who are unable to fight?” > When he finished his question, the divinely-inspired calmness overtook the Prophet again and his thigh fell on my thigh and I found its weight the second time as I found the first time. When he regained his composure, he said, {Other than those who have a (disabling hurt)}. Zayd said “Allah, the Exalted, revealed it alone and I appended it.”[^291] The immediate documentation of the revelation proves that whatever was dictated and written is the exact text of the Qur’an as Jibrīl revealed it with no room for personal suppositions or dependence on memory. Moreover, the immediacy of documentation negates any possibility that the transcribed text was a result of the concession (*rukh**ṣ**ah*) of *a**ḥ**ruf* permitting personal preferences of dialectical pronunciations. More importantly, the textual transcription done under the direct supervision of the Prophet ﷺ—executed by the most notable scribes and closest companions during the last period of revelation—was the primary source for Abū Bakr’s compilation of the Qur’an. An early testimony was made by al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī (d. 243/857) that > writing down the Qur’an was not invented \[after the time of the Prophet\]. Rather, Abū Bakr \[only\] ordered to copy \[what was written\] from one place to another. Those were sheets found in the house of the Prophet ﷺ in which the Qur’an was transcribed. A collector compiled them and bound them with thread, so none would go missing.[^292] Abū Bakr’s compilation process added another layer of verification, combining oral transmission with the transcribed sheets. Hence, any possible discrepancy in oral pronunciation was eliminated by the transcribed text in an ongoing process of standardizing the Qur’anic recitation. Abū Bakr’s compiled Qur’an was the primary source for the final transcription of ʿUthmān’s *muṣḥaf*. This uniformity of transcription suggests that differences between the multiple copies of ʿUthmān’s *muṣḥaf* are limited only to what was directly conveyed by the Prophet ﷺ based on his reception from Jibrīl.[^293] ### Reviewing the written Qur’an The aforementioned report of Zayd writing verse 4:95 also shows that the immediacy of transcription did not compromise review and verification. Zayd was reported, via a disputed chain of transmission, to have said, “I used to write the revelation for the Prophet while he dictated to me. When I finished \[writing\], he would tell me, ‘Read \[what you wrote\]’ so I read it. If something was missing, he would fix it.”[^294] Hadith scholars cited this report to establish that reviewing a written text and comparing it with its source is mandatory, following the practice of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^295] Drafts of letters were presented to the Prophet ﷺ by his scribes before being dispatched,[^296] a practice that was probably also applied to Qur’anic materials given their pivotal significance. Moreover, copying was known during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Some companions (like Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Bakr ibn Ḥazm, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb) kept personal copies they transcribed of different written dictations of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^297] Less than 25 years after the Prophet’s death, a secretariat known as the House of Sheets (*bayt al-qarāṭīs*) was established in Medina, near ʿUthmān’s house.[^298] Zayd narrated, “We were with, or around, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ compiling (*nuʾallifu*) the Qur’an on scraps (*riqāʿ*).”[^299] This report shows that documentation was a group task, one that involved a process of compilation that encompassed writing, reviewing, and arranging verses and chapters. Additionally, the word “with” or “around” indicates that the Prophet ﷺ was always present among the memorizers and scribes during this process.[^300] Likely, he had certain places in which writers sat near him while writing to ensure accurate dictation. Ibn ʿAbbās narrated that “a man would bring a sheet to the Prophet ﷺ, so a man would volunteer \[seeking no compensation\] to write down \[the Qur’an\], then another man takes a turn and writes down \[the Qur’an\] until the *muṣḥaf* is completed.”[^301] Hence, writing the Qur’an was a voluntary task for which scribes gained no compensation. The materials on which the Qur’an was written were saved in the Prophet’s house, Zayd’s house, or other places such as the Prophet’s mosque.[^302] It is highly probable that the entire Qur’an was transcribed during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, yet was scattered across different materials. A report attributed to Zayd says, “The Prophet ﷺ died, and the Qur’an was not compiled in a book. Rather, it was on palm leaf, stump, stalk, and branches.”[^303] In describing how he started the compilation process during the caliphate of Abū Bakr, Zayd said, “I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from \[what was written on\] palm stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart.”[^304]  A lack of empirical evidence prompted many contemporary scholars and academics to conclude that the Qur’an was not entirely written down during the lifetime of the Prophet. Thus, Yasin Dutton argues that > the picture of the Qur’an’s ‘collection’ in written form after the death of the Prophet quite overtly refers to ‘the hearts of men’ as being one of the main sources of Qur’anic material (alongside palm-branches, stones, etc.). Indeed, given the limited surface area of these other materials, it would seem at least possible that, at the death of the Prophet, large portions of the Qur’an were still in ‘the hearts of men’ rather than being in a solid, written, form.[^305] While Dutton’s suggestion that “large portions” of the Qur’an were not in “a solid” written form may seem empirically supported by the dearth of original written materials, the possibility that most, or even all, of the Qur’an was written down during the lifetime of the Prophet still stands. Indeed, everything that has been covered in this section—the organized scribal activities, the appointment of scribes, the encouragement of education through writing, the Divine command to preserve the text, and the authentically reported reliance on written materials transcribed during the time of the Prophet in the subsequent textual compilations of the Qur’an—plainly substantiate the thesis that the entire Qur’an was recorded before the Prophet’s passing. Furthermore, some contemporary scholars of Late Antiquity came to the conclusion that > the most probable theory seems to be that at the death of the proclaimer, the revelations received by this time had been fixed in writing, in the form of copies that had been established with his approval by some of his companions, although these forms were not submitted by the Prophet himself to a final redaction in the form of a codex.[^306] Indeed, many prominent classical authorities on the topic, such as Makkī ibn Abī Tālib, ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Suyūṭī and al-Qasṭalānī, stated that the entirety of the Qur’an was transcribed during the time of the Prophet \[ﷺ\].[^307] Among the more contemporary Qur’an scholars who held the position that the entire Qur’an was written down during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, yet on scattered materials, are Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-Ḥuseinī (d. 1357/1939), ʿAbdulfattāḥ al-Qāḍī, ʿAlī al-Dabbāʿ, and Muḥammad Ṭāhir al-Kurdī (d. 1400/1980).[^308] The reasons why the Prophet ﷺ did not order the compilation of these materials in one *muṣḥaf* are that 1) the companions were primarily concerned with the oral memorization of the Qur’an more than with its transcription, 2) the possibilities of revealing new Qur’an or abrogating some existing verses were continuously present during the Prophet’s life, and 3) writing is meant to prevent forgetting or doubt over wording, which would not happen so long as the Prophet ﷺ, the trusted human source of the revelation, was present. The dispersion of the Qur’an’s written pieces was a distinct difference between the “compilation of the Qur’an” during the time of the Prophet and the caliphates of Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān.[^309] Furthermore, the opinion that only parts of the Qur’an were written down during the time of the Prophet ﷺ does not negate the preservation of the entirety of the text. The continuance of oral transmission, as detailed in the first part of this article, and the rigorous process of compiling the Qur’an by the companions shortly after the death of the Prophet ﷺ compensated for any potential missing writings. ### Did the companions know orthography? The prevalence of illiteracy and the unique transcription style of the companions in writing the *muṣḥaf*  led some scholars, such as Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808/1406), to assert that the Arabic script until the time of the companions was not fully developed or standardized.[^310] However, it is improbable that the companions, who established regular correspondences with kings and princes and documented their contracts, grants, and transactions, contravened rules of dictation and spelling.[^311] If Islam came while a limited number of people knew writing, the regular and diverse writing activities led by the Prophet ﷺ certainly signify a historic shift among the unlettered community. In his discussion of this claim, al-Kurdī argues that the Kufic script, which was common during the time of the companions, was imported to the Hijaz from Iraq and originally belonged to the Himyaritic Yemeni script.[^312] However, this hypothesis has been disproven.[^313] More recent research, which still struggles with the dearth of historical sources, has uncovered a more substantial relation between the Kufic and Nabatean scripts.[^314] Some inscriptions from the companions’ time are extant in Hijaz, especially in Mecca, Medina, and Taif, in different scripting styles.[^315] Regardless of its exact origins, the Kufic script is certainly ancient—and it is unlikely that such an ancient script did not acquire its own orthographical rules, especially since other scripts that date thousands of years prior to the Himyaritic script, such as Phoenician, Assyrian, and Syriac, acquired their own rules. Furthermore, the development of a discipline focused on the orthography of the  Qur’an (*rasm muṣḥaf*)—investigating every style, script, font, and spelling variation—testifies to the intricacies contemplated by the companions. Different transcriptions reflecting different spelling rules or phonetic conventions were purposely conducted in accordance with the dialectical modes accommodated in the *rukhsah* of *aḥruf*, to whose tracing and standardization the scholars have dedicated a massive body of scholarship.[^316] Among multiple scholarly approaches to such differences is one that attributes them to mistakes made by the scribe—a possibility propounded by Ibn Qutaybah, Ibn Khaldūn, and arguably Ibn Kathīr.[^317] The unique style of the *muṣḥaf*’s *rasm* prompted some of these scholars to draw a distinction between standard Arabic script and orthography and that of the ʿUthmānic codex. Ibn Khaldūn’s sophisticated argument for the Arabic script’s undeveloped character in uncivilized societies suggests an established writing style for scribes during the companions’ time distinct from the one adopted in writing down the *muṣḥaf*.[^318] This distinction, made by Ibn Khaldūn, Ibn Qutaybah, and multiple contemporary researchers, neglects the fact that orthographic rules developed years later. Subjecting a phenomenon in the ʿUthmānic codex, which is written in different styles, to one orthographic rule is flawed.[^319] Additionally, some of these different styles resulted from the companions’ commitment to preserving the ancient figures or words while representing the unique phonetics employed in the Qur’an.[^320] Finally, traditional narrations suggesting scribal errors in the ʿUthmānic codex are rendered unauthentic or misconstrued.[^321] ### The order of verses and the arrangement of the written and recited Qur’an The placement of verses in their respective chapters was another critical responsibility of the Prophet’s scribes since few chapters were revealed in their entirety at once. In addition to several short (*qi**ṣ**ā**r*) chapters, a few relatively long chapters were revealed at once, such as al-Anʿām, al-Ṣaff, and al-Mursalāt.[^322] The fact that the majority of the Qur’an was revealed in intervals necessitates that it was arranged sequentially with the time of revelation. The order of verses in the Qur’an, according to the majority of scholars, was mandated by Divine guidance and applied by the Prophet **ﷺ** (*tawqīfī*). This Divine arrangement is evidenced by the following facts: First, as mentioned above, when he received new revelation, the Prophet **ﷺ** used to call on some of his scribes and instruct them to write and place it in its assigned chapter. Al-Qurṭubī and others attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās the report that after the last verse of the Qur’an was revealed, “And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah,” Jibrīl asked the Prophet **ﷺ** to place it as verse number 281 in Sūrah al-Baqarah.[^323] ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ also narrated that the Prophet **ﷺ** said, “Jibrīl \[just\] came to me and asked me to place this verse in this part of the *sūrah*, ‘Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.’”[^324] The Prophet’s adherence to Jibrīl’s instructions regarding the organization of the verses and chapters indicates that they are Divinely arranged. The companions, in turn, abided by the arrangement of the Prophet **ﷺ** since they “would have never adopted an arrangement different from what they heard from the Prophet.”[^325] In commenting on Zayd’s statement, “We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ compiling the (*nuʾallifu*) Qur’an on scraps,” al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) held the word *nuʾallifu* to possibly mean “the compilation of scattered verses in their respective chapters.”[^326] ʿUthmān mentioned that upon receiving intervals of long chapters, the Prophet **ﷺ** would call his scribes and say, “Place these verses in the chapter in which there is a mention of such and such.”[^327] The companions’ caution against addition or omission is reflected in their inclusion of verses whose rulings are abrogated. When he was asked about why verse 2:240 was included despite the abrogation of its ruling on women’s mourning waiting period for a year, ʿUthmān answered, “I do not change anything from its place.”[^328] Second, multiple hadiths describe a group of verses or encourage their memorization or recitation in a particular sequence, such as the “opening verses” of a *sūrah* such as al-Kahf,[^329] or “the closing verses” of a *sūrah* such as al-Baqarah.[^330] Third, the regular public reception of the Qur’an in prayer and through teaching by the companions adopted and affirmed the order of verses. The abovementioned eighth method, reciting in prayer, provides examples of several chapters the Prophet **ﷺ** recited in a verse order that the companions learned and preserved. Hence, Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179/795) was reported to have said, “The Qur’an was compiled based on the companions’ oral reception of the recitation of the Prophet \[**ﷺ**\].”[^331] Fourth, scholarly literature on the particular arrangement and structure of the Qur’an examined the unique correlations between its consecutive verses and chapters. An example of such studies is the exegetical sub-discipline of the science of Qur’anic correlation (*ʿilm al-munāsabah*). While some scholars dedicated independent works to discussing this discipline,[^332] some exegetes applied its methodology in their exegeses (*tafsīr*), such as al-Rāzī, al-Suyūṭī, and al-Biqāʿī (d. 885/1480), who reflected this methodology in the title of his work, *Naẓm al-durar fī tanāsub al-āyāt wa-l-suwar*. A more recent example of such methodology is  Ibn ʿĀshūr’s (d. 1973) *tafsīr*. *ʿIlm al-munāsabah* illustrates how the arrangement of verses was intentional; hence, the review of the transcribed Qur’an was necessary given the varying length of the periodical revelation. A case study on the longest chapter of the Qur’an, Sūrah al-Baqarah, was done by the late scholar Muḥammad Dirāz (d. 1958), showcasing its structural unity and thematic cohesion despite addressing a wide range of subjects throughout its nine-year-long revelation.[^333] Finally, the names of the Qur’an’s chapters were also held to be *tawqīfī* by many scholars. Several accounts relate numerous names of *sūrah*s from the Prophet **ﷺ** and his companions. Al-Suyūṭī said, “The names of all the chapters are Divinely determined through hadiths and reports. If it was not for fear of prolixity, I would have stated that.”[^334] Hence, the definition of a “*sūrah*” is a reflection of a number of verses grouped by the Prophet **ﷺ** in one chapter with a specific name. This, however, does not contradict the fact that some chapters were given multiple names or descriptions by the companions and following generations. The question of whether a *sūrah* can acquire multiple names in addition to the Divinely assigned one is a matter of disagreement among scholars.[^335] --- ## Conclusion The oral transmission of the Qur’an was the primary method the Prophet ﷺ adopted to preserve its text, following the Divine command of “recitation” and responding to the circumstances of the revelation’s first recipients. In addition to immediately reciting the revelation to his companions, the Prophet ﷺ would recite it to disbelievers to present the miraculous message of Islam. He ﷺ would teach at mosques, during travel, and on a one-on-one basis to those coming to embrace Islam, to gatherings he came across, and in prayers and sermons. The Prophet ﷺ also instructed his companions to teach the Qur’an to each other as well as to new Muslims across different geographies and contexts. The Qur’an was taught and recited by travelers and in concentrated efforts in various places of worship, extending from centralized populations of Muslims to nomadic Bedouins. Millions of Muslims today across the globe, from all different age groups and ethnic or linguistic backgrounds, have the entire Qur’an memorized by heart. Throughout history and until today, Muslims remained committed to the oral culture of their text and maintained its verbal delivery with the most careful verification and articulation possible. Ensuring the preservation of the Qur’an was a life-long process for the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. Following Divine instructions and envisioning the future of his *ummah*, he organized scribal work among a select group of companions to contribute to the preservation process and to inspire the succeeding knowledge-based civilization they established. The Prophet’s scribes and the written sheets of the Qur’an were the primary sources for the compilation of the Qur’an during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and its unified transcription during the caliphate of ʿUthmān. The Qur’an we have today, all 114 chapters, easily accessible in numerous print and digital forms, was fully and authentically preserved due to the oral and textual efforts of the first generation of our *ummah*. This article is an attempt to highlight but a fraction of that effort’s depth, breadth, and ambition. --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 15:9. [^2]: For a brief summary of the definition of the Qur’an, see Yousef Wahb, “An Introduction to *ʿUlūm al-Qur'an*: The Field of Qur’anic Studies,” *Yaqeen*, April 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/an-introduction-to-ulum-al-quran-the-field-of-quranic-studies](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/an-introduction-to-ulum-al-quran-the-field-of-quranic-studies&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1670261664261574&usg=AOvVaw1F9ED1oidJxSkPYjRvQGJM). [^3]: Ammar Khatib and Nazir Khan, “The Origins of the Variant Readings of the Qur’an,” *Yaqeen*, August 2019, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-origins-of-the-variant-readings-of-the-Qur’an](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-origins-of-the-variant-readings-of-the-Qur%27an); Ammar Khatib and Nazir Khan, “The ʿUthmānic Codex: Understanding how the Qur’an was Preserved,” *Yaqeen*, June 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-uthmanic-codex-understanding-how-the-quran-was-preserved](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-uthmanic-codex-understanding-how-the-quran-was-preserved); Yousef Wahb, “Can the Qur’an be Recited in Different Ways? The Meaning and Wisdom of Qiraat,” *Yaqeen*, April 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/can-the-quran-be-recited-in-different-ways-the-meaning-and-wisdom-of-qiraat](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/can-the-quran-be-recited-in-different-ways-the-meaning-and-wisdom-of-qiraat); [^4]: Theodor Nöldeke, Friedrich Schwally, Gotthelf Bergsträßer, and Otto Pretzl, *The History of the Qurʾān* (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2013), 36. [^5]: Nöldeke, Schwally, Bergsträßer, and Pretzl, *History of the Qurʾān*, 211. [^6]: Nöldeke, Schwally, Bergsträßer, and Pretzl, *History of the Qurʾān*, 214. [^7]: Michael C. A. Macdonald, “Ancient Arabia and the Written Word,” in *The Development of Arabic as a Written Language*, ed. M. C. A. Macdonald (Oxford: Archaeopress: 2012), 21. [^8]: Nöldeke, Schwally, Bergsträßer, and Pretzl, *History of the Qurʾān*, 209. [^9]: Nöldeke, Schwally, Bergsträßer, and Pretzl, *History of the Qurʾān*, 36. [^10]: Carl Brockelmann, *Tārīkh al-adab al-ʿArabī*, ed, ʿAbdulḥalīm al-Najjār and Ramadān ʿAbdultawwāb, 5th ed., 6 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1977), 1:137–144, esp. 139. [^11]: Régis Blachére, *Al-Qurʾan: Nuzūluh, Tadwīnuh, Tarjamatuh wa Taʾthīruh*, trans. Ridā Saʿādah, 1st ed. (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, 1974), 28–29. [^12]: John Burton, *The Collection of the Qurʾān* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 118. [^13]: Burton, *Collection of the Qurʾān*, 117. [^14]: Claude Gilliot, “Creation of a Fixed Text,” in *The* *Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ān*, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2006), 46. [^15]: Burton, *The Collection of the Qurʾān*, 229. [^16]: Burton, *The Collection of the Qurʾān*, 225. [^17]: Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Al-Aʿẓamī, *The History of the Qur’anic Text from Revelation to Compilation* (Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), 3–13. [^18]: ʿAbdel Raḥmān Badawī, *Défense de la vie du Prophète Muhammad contre ses Détracteurs* (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1983). [^19]: ʿAbdel Raḥmān Badawī, *al-Difāʿ ʿan al-Qur’ān ḍidda muntaqidīh*, 1st ed. (Cairo: Madboulī al-Saghīr, n.d.). The Arabic translation, however, lacks accuracy in converting technical terms from French to Arabic and falls short in quoting the original Arabic sources Badawī cited on several occasions. [^20]: Badawī, *al-Difāʿ ʿan al-Qur’ān ḍidda muntaqidīh*, 107–124. [^21]: Badawī, *al-Difāʿ ʿan al-Qur’ān ḍidda muntaqidīh*, 123–24. [^22]: Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, *Faḍ**ā**ʾil al-Qurʾ**ā**n*, ed. Wahbī Ghawjī (Morocco: Wizārat al-Awqāf wal-Shū*ʾ*un al-Islāmiyah, 1995), 1:244. The same hadith, as noted by the editor Ghawjī, is also narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Yaʿlā, and al-Ṭabarānī. [^23]: Ibn Sallām, *Faḍ**ā**ʾil al-Qurʾ**ā**n*. [^24]: Ibn Qutaybah, *Tawʾ**ī**l mukhtalif al-ḥad**ī**th*, ed. Muḥammad al-Najjār (Cairo: Maktabat al-Kulliyāt al-Azhariyyah, 1966), 200. [^25]: Ibn Qutaybah, *Tawʾ**ī**l mukhtalif al-ḥad**ī**th*. [^26]: It is said that ʿUthmān sent a reciter (*qārī*) with each copy to teach Muslims in their respective regions. This claim is common in some contemporary writings, such as Muhammad Ṭāhir al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa gharāʾib rasmihi wa* *ḥ**ukmih*, 2nd ed. (Cairo: Muṣṭafā al-Halabī, 1953), 80;  Muḥammad Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’ānī min Rasūl Allah ilā ummatih* (Tanta: Dār al-Sahābah, 2001), 194. The earliest account of this claim is cited by al-Jaʿbarī (d. 732/1328) without an *isnād*; it states: “ʿUthmān instructed Zayd ibn Thābit to recite according to the Madīnan codex, he sent ʿAbdullah ibn al-Sāʾib with the Makkī codex, Mughīrah ibn Abī Shihāb with the Syrian codex, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī with the Kūfan codex, and ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays with the Baṣran codex.” [^27]: Qur’an 27:6. [^28]: Qur’an 28:86. [^29]: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qur’an*, ed. Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, 4 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Hadith, 2006), 1:142–66. [^30]: Qur’an 75:19. [^31]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 448. [^32]: Qur’an 87:6–7. [^33]: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, *Mafātiḥ al-Ghayb*, 1st ed., 32 vols. (N.p.: Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 31:142. [^34]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5083. [^35]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī bi sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, ed. Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb et al., 1st ed., 13 vols. (Cairo: al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1960), 9:86. [^36]: Ibn Hajar mentioned two opinions regarding stipulating the immediate remembering; some said it must be immediate and others said it is not mandatory. [^37]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:86. [^38]: Qur’an 5:67. [^39]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:142. [^40]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, nos. 4997–98, the chapter on “The Virtues of the Qur’an” (*kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*), the section on “Jibrīl used to review the Qur’an with the Prophet” (*bāb kāna Jibrīl yaʿriḍ al-Qurʾan ʿalā al-Nabī*). [^41]: Abū al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Abū Bakr al-Qasṭalāni, *Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt li funūn al-qirāʾāt*, ed. Markaz al-Dirasat al-Qur'aniyah, 1st ed., 10 vols. (Saudi Arabia: Wizārat al-Awqāf wal-Shū*ʾ*un al-Islāmiyah, 2012), 1:49. [^42]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:5. [^43]: Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-kawtharī* (Cairo: al-Maktabah al-Tawfīqiyyah, n.d.), 26. [^44]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:291. [^45]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 2:8; al-Qasṭalāni, *Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt*, 1:51. [^46]: Qur’an 25:32. [^47]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī waḥyan wa rasman wa lughatan wa qirāʾatan* (Istanbul: Dār al-Ghawthānī 2019), 48. [^48]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī.* [^49]: For example, Qur’an 5:27 and 7:175. [^50]: Qur’an 6:151. [^51]: Qur’an 13:30. [^52]: Qur’an 17:106. [^53]: Qur’an 27:92 [^54]: Qur’an 10:71, 26:69, and 29:45. [^55]: Qur’an 2:151. [^56]: Wahb, “An Introduction to *ʿUlūm al-Qur'an.*” [^57]: *ʿArd*, linguistically, is making something clear for others to know about it. [^58]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’ānī*, 18–19. [^59]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 590. [^60]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1166. [^61]: *Tashahhud* (lit. testimony or witness), also known as *al-ta**ḥ**iyy**ā**t* (lit. greetings or salutations), is a supplication recited in the middle or final sitting in prayer. [^62]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 403. [^63]: *Muwaṭṭa Mālik*, no. 203. [^64]: Qur’an 4:95; *Sunan Abū Dawūd*, no. 2507. [^65]: *Sunan al-Dārimī* no. 2445; *Sunan al-Tirmidh**ī* no. 3309. In highlighting the significance of a short chain of transmission (*isnād ʿālī*) and providing an example of uniform pattern of transmission (*musalsal*), Ibn al-Jazarī mentioned that he narrates this hadith via only ten men in a uniform manner (every transmitter in the *isnād* recited the entire *s**ūrah* after narrating the hadith). Abū al-Khayr ibn al-Jazarī, *al-Nashr fī al-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr*, ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Ḍabbāʿ, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2006), 1:194–95. [^66]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4897. [^67]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1830. [^68]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 400. [^69]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 73–75. [^70]: *Mustadrak* *al-Ḥākim*, no. 7241. [^71]: Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār lil-Qurʾān*, ed. Muḥammad Eṣām al-Quḍāh, 1st ed., 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm; Amman: Dār al-Fatḥ, 2001), 144. [^72]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 144–5. [^73]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 145. [^74]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 142. [^75]: Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-Zuhrī, *Kit**ā**b al-ṭabaq**ā**t al-kubr**ā*, ed. ʿAlī ʿUmar, 11 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat al-Khānjī, 2001), 8:125. [^76]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 142. [^77]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4542. [^78]: Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d fī sīrat khayr al-**ʿ**ib**ā**d*, ed. Fahīm Shaltūt et al., 12 vols. (Cairo: al-Majlis al-Aʿlā lil-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1992), 5:98. Al-Ṣāliḥī attributed the report to al-Bukhārī (in his *al-Tārīkh*), Aḥmad, al-Bayhaqī, Abū Dawūd, al-Nasāʾī, and others. [^79]: Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān*, ed. ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī, 1st ed. (Beirut: Muʾsassat al-Risālah, 2006). [^80]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4281. [^81]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 76. [^82]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 76. [^83]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 5064. [^84]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5049. [^85]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4960. [^86]: Ibn Hishām, *al-S**ī**rah al-Nabawiyyah*, ed. Musṭafā al-Saqqa et al., 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ihyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī),  2:236–37. [^87]: Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyā wa ṭabaqāt al-asfiyā*, 1st ed., 12 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr and Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanjī, 1996), 1:342. [^88]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 759. [^89]: Scholars disagree on the reason these chapters are called *al-**mufaṣṣal* (lit. the detailed) and on where they begin in the Qur’an. There is a consensus, however, that they are the last chapters of the Qur’an, ending with Chapter 114, *al-Nās*. *Al-**mufaṣṣal* are categorized into three: the long (*ṭiwāl*), the medium (*aw**ṣ**āṭ*), and the short (*qi**ṣ**ār*). Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:201. [^90]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 5043. [^91]: *Sunan Abū Dawūd*, no. 814. [^92]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:194–95 and 198. [^93]: *Sunan Abū Dawūd*,  no. 1100; *Sunan  al-Nasāʾī*, no. 1411. [^94]: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurṭubī, *al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qur’an*, ed. ʿAbd Allāh al-Turkī, 24 vols. (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 2006), 10:93–94. [^95]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 142. [^96]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 22766. [^97]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 22665. [^98]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 6:589–99. [^99]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 6:505. [^100]: Al-Aṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyā*, 1:342. [^101]: Ibn Sallām, *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, 1:254. [^102]: ʿAbdulḥayy al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, ed. ʿAbdullāh al-Khālidī, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Arqam, n.d.), 1:103–4. [^103]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 143–144. [^104]: ʿAbdulsalām Hārūn, *Tahdh**ī**b s**ī**rah Ibn Hish**ā**m*, 4th ed. (Beirut: Muʾssasat al-Risālah, 1985), 103. [^105]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:104–5. [^106]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:112; al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 143. [^107]: ʿĀʾisha ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Bint al-Shāṭiʾ, *al-Iʿjāz al-bayānī lil-Qurʾān wa masāʾil ibn al-Azraq*, 3rd ed. (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, n.d.), 42–43. [^108]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 6:490. [^109]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 104–5. [^110]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 146. [^111]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaimah*, no. 558. [^112]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2699. [^113]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4232. [^114]: Al-Bāqillānī dedicated a chapter to the virtues of Abū Bakr in terms of his memorization and knowledge of the Quran. Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 181–85. [^115]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 182. [^116]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 182. Ibn Ḥajar’s quote from al-Zubair ibn Bakkār, reported in his *Akhbār al-Madīna*, is similar.  Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *al-Iṣābah fī tamyīz al-ṣahābah*, ed. ʿĀdil ʿAbd al-Mawjūd et al., 1st ed., 8 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1995), 2:370. [^117]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:112. [^118]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:112. [^119]: Al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-kawtharī*, 24–25. [^120]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 151–52. [^121]: Al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-kawtharī*, 24. [^122]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 152–3. [^123]: For a detailed account of the characteristics of *ahl al-ṣuffa*, see al-Aṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyā*, 1:337–47. [^124]: Al-Nawawī, *al-Tibyān fī а̄dāb ḥamalat al-Qur’ān*, ed. Muḥammad al-Ḥajjār, 4th ed. (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1996), 101. [^125]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 186. [^126]: Aḥmad ibn Sālim al-Nafrāwī, *al-Faw**ā**kih al-daw**ā**n**ī* *ʿal**ā* *ris**ā**lat ibn Ab**ī* *Zayd al-Qayraw**ā**n**ī*, ed. ʿAbdulwārith ʿAlī, 1st ed., 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1997), 1:50–51. [^127]: Al-Nafrāwī, *al-Faw**ā**kih al-daw**ā**n**ī*, 51. [^128]: Al-Nafrāwī, *al-Faw**ā**kih al-daw**ā**n**ī*, 51. [^129]: Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī, *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār ʿalā al-ṭabaqāt wa-l-aʿṣār*, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ et al., 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla,1988), 1:20. [^130]: Al-Aṣfahānī, *Ḥilyat al-awliyā*, 1:256–58. [^131]: Al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-kawtharī*, 33. [^132]: Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī, *Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ*, ed. Bashshār ʿAwwād et al., 7th ed., 25 vols. (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1990), 1:167–70. [^133]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4141. [^134]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 147. [^135]: Ibn al-Jazarī, *al-Nashr*, 1:6. [^136]: See for example, *Sunan al-Tirmidh**ī*, no. 2931 and 2938. [^137]: *Sunan Abū Dawūd*, no. 591; *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 27351. [^138]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:224. Al-Suyūṭī said that he was the first to list Umm Waraqah among the memorizers of the Qur’an. [^139]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 148. [^140]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 148. [^141]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 148. [^142]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 149–50. [^143]: For the meaning of *gharīb al-Qur’an*, see Wahb, “An Introduction to *ʿUlūm al-Qur’an*.” [^144]: Muḥammad Ḥasnayn Makhlūf al-ʿAdawī, *ʿUnwān al-bayān fī ʿulūm al-tibyān* (Cairo: Matbat al-Maʿāhid, 1925), 28–29. [^145]: Al-ʿAdawī, *ʿUnwān al-bayān*, 29. [^146]: Mohammad Shaban, *Islamic History: A New Interpretation* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975). Juynboll also held a similar view; however, he confined its relevance to a specific period of the early Islamic tradition.  G. H. A. Juynboll, “The Qurrāʾ in Early Islamic History,” *Journal of the Economical and Social History of the Orient* 16, no. 2 (1973). Furthering his thesis, Juynboll authored two subsequent works on the topic of *qurrāʾ*: “The Position of Qur’an Recitaion in Early Islam,” *Journal of Semitic Studies* 19 (1974), and “The Qur’an Reciter on the Battlefield and Concomitant Issues,” *Zeitschrift der* *deutschen* *Morgenländischen Gesellschaft* 125 (1975). [^147]: For a detailed discussion on this presumed distinction, see Mustafa Shah, “The Quest for the Origins of the Qurrāʾ in the Classical Islamic Tradition,” *Journal of Qur’anic Studies* 7, no. 2 (2005). [^148]: Shah, “Quest for the Origins of the Qurrāʾ,” 20. [^149]: For the names and biographies of many of the *Biʾr Maʿūnah* martyrs, see al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 6:97–100. [^150]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3064. [^151]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3064. [^152]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 6:92. [^153]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 677. [^154]: Jamāl al-Dīn al-Asnawī, *al-Muhimmāt fī sharḥ al-Raw**ḍ**ah wal-Rāfiʿī*, ed. Aḥmad ʿAlī, 1st ed., 10 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ibn Hazm, 2009), 3:81. [^155]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 151. [^156]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 4986. [^157]: For a review of many of these narrations and a treatment of reconciling them, see al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:105-7. [^158]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:105-7; al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:219–24; al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 164–81; Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Māzirī, *al-Muʿlim bi fawā**ʾ**id Muslim*, ed. Muḥammad al-Nayfar, 2nd ed., 3 vols. (Tunisia: Bayt al-Ḥikma, 1987), 3:262–65. [^159]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:222. [^160]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 89–90. [^161]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 176–7. [^162]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 177. [^163]: Ibn al-Mubārak, *al-Zuhd*, ed. Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān al-Aʿzamī (India: Majlis Iḥyāʾ al-Maʿārif, 1966), 45. [^164]: ​​For more details on the concept of *aḥruf*, see Yousef Wahb, “Can the Qur’an Be Recited in Different Ways? The Meaning and Wisdom of Qira’at,” *Yaqeen*, April 13, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/can-the-quran-be-recited-in-different-ways-the-meaning-and-wisdom-of-qiraat](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/can-the-quran-be-recited-in-different-ways-the-meaning-and-wisdom-of-qiraat). [^165]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 178. Ibn Ḥajar reported it in al-*Fatḥ* and said that Aḥmad reported it in *al-Zuhd*. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:51. [^166]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 179. [^167]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 673. [^168]: ʿAbd al-Malik al-Juwaynī, *Nihāyat al-maṭlab fī dirāyat al-madhhab*, ed. ʿAbd al-Aẓīm al-Dīb (Beirut: Dār al-Minhāj, 2007), 2:415–16. [^169]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 90. [^170]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Nuzhat al-naẓar fī tawdīḥ nukhbat al-fikr fī muṣṭalaḥ ahl al-athar*, ed. Nūr al-Dīn ʿItr (Karachi: al-Bushrā Publishers, 2011), 37; Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *Tadrīb al-rāwī fī sharḥ taqrīb al-Nawāwī*, ed. Naẓar al-Faryābī, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Kawthar, 1995), 1:627. [^171]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, *Nuzhat al-naẓar*, 37. [^172]: Al-ʿAsqalānī, *Nuzhat al-naẓar*, 37; al-Suyūṭī, *Tadrīb al-rāwī*, 1:627. [^173]: Al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-kawtharī*, 25. [^174]: Al-Māzirī, *al-Muʿlim*, 3:263. [^175]: Al-Dhahabī, *Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ*, 1:24–42. [^176]: Al-Bāqillānī dedicated a chapter to the virtues of ʿUthmān and his memorization and knowledge of the Quran.  Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 189–90. [^177]: Al-Bāqillānī dedicated a chapter to the virtues of ʿAlī and his memorization and knowledge of the Quran.  Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 191–93. [^178]: *Mustadrak a**l-Ḥākim*, no. 5387. [^179]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 138. [^180]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-**Qurʾān**ī*, 93\. Ibn al-Jazarī counted twelve of Ibn Masʿūd’s students, all of whom had taught the Qurʾān. Abū al-Khayr ibn al-Jazarī, *Ghāyat al-nihāya fī ṭabaqāt al-qurrāʾ*, ed. Gotthelf Bergsträsser, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2006), 1:458. [^181]: *Mustadrak al-Ḥākim*, no. 421. [^182]: *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, no. 1020. [^183]: Al-Bāqillānī dedicated a chapter to the virtues of ʿUmar and his memorization and knowledge of the Qur’an. Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 186. [^184]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 188. [^185]: Ibn Kathīr, Abū ʿAmr, Ḥamzah, Al-Kisāʾī, Yaʿqūb, and Khalaf. Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 33–34. [^186]: These are praying behind the Station (*maqām*) of Ibrahim, the veils for the mothers of the believers, reminding them that Allah may replace them with better wives for the Prophet, executing captives, and the completion of verse 23:14. [^187]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 124–26. [^188]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 124. [^189]: ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī, *Jamāl al-qurrāʾ wa-kamāl al-iqrāʾ*, ed. ʿAlī Ḥusayn al-Bawwāb, 1st ed., 2 vols. (Mecca: Maktabat al-Turāth, 1987), 2:455. [^190]: Al-Sakhāwī, *Jamāl al-qurrāʾ*, 2:455. [^191]: Ibn al-Jazarī, *Ghāyat al-nihāya*, 1:437–38. [^192]: Nāfiʿ, Abū ʿAmr, and Yaʿqūb. [^193]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 42. [^194]: Al-Bāqillānī dedicated a chapter to the virtues of Abū Bakr and his memorization and knowledge of the Qur’an. Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 182–85. [^195]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 673. [^196]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 221–22. [^197]: Wahb, “Can the Quran be Recited in Different Ways?” [^198]: Wahb, “An Introduction to *ʿUlūm al-Qur'an*.” [^199]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 60. [^200]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 42. [^201]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 55. [^202]: Abū Bakr ibn Mujāhid, *al-Sabʿa fī al-qirāʾāt*, ed. Shawqī Ḍayf (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1979), 68. [^203]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 58. [^204]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 153. [^205]: Al-Kawtharī, *Maqālāt al-Kawtharī*, 33. [^206]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*, 1:303–5. [^207]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 155. [^208]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 158. [^209]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 158. [^210]: *Sunan Abū Dawūd*, no. 461. [^211]: Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, *al-Fat**ā**w**ā* *al-fiqhiyyah al-kubr**ā*, 4 vols. (Cairo: ʿAbdulḥamīd Ḥanafī, 1938), 1:37. [^212]: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*,  9:86. [^213]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf: Dirāsah lughawiyyah tārīkhiyyah* (Amman: Dār Ammār: 2001), 17. Citing ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī’s (d. 643/1245) manuscript of *al-Wasīlah ilā kashf al-ʿAqīla*, a commentary on al-Shāṭibī’s (d. 590/1194) didactic poem on *rasm al-muṣḥaf*. [^214]: Ahmad al-Jallad, “The Linguistic Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia: Context for the Qur’an,” in *The Oxford Handbook of Qur’anic Studies*, ed. Mustafa Shah and Muhammad A. Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 116. [^215]: Macdonald, “Ancient Arabia and the Written Word,” 21. [^216]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *ʿIlm al-kitābah al-ʿArabiyyah* (Amman: Dār ʿAmmār, 2004), 30–52. [^217]: Al-Jallad, “Linguistic Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia,” 116. [^218]: Al-Jallad, “Linguistic Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia,” 121. [^219]: For a historical background of *al-musnad* script, see al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 29–34. [^220]: For more details on the development of the Arabic script, see al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 117–19. [^221]: Al-Ḥamad, *ʿIlm al-kitābah al-ʿArabiyyah*. [^222]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 71–72. Other interpretations held that *ummiyy**ī**n* means all the Arabs, their “People of the Book.” [^223]: Qur’an 75:17. [^224]: Qur’an 87:18. [^225]: Qur’an 98:2. [^226]: Qur’an 2:2. [^227]: Qur’an 2:285. [^228]: Al-Qasṭalāni, *Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt*, 1:98. [^229]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:11. [^230]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 88–89. [^231]: Muḥammad ibn Ḥadīdah al-Anṣārī, *al-Miṣbāḥ al-mudīʾ fī kuttāb al-Nabyy al-Ummyy wa rusulih ilā mulūk al-ard min ʿArabyy wa ʿajamyy*, ed. Muḥammad ʿAzīm al-Dīn, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Beruit: ʿAlam al-Kutub, 1985). [^232]: Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 1st ed. (Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1974), 4. [^233]: Al-ʿIrāqī dedicated a chapter in his poem to the scribes of the Prophet. See Zain al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī, *Nazm al-durar al-saniyyah fī al-siyar al-zakiyyah*, ed. Muḥammad ibn ʿAlawī al-Mālikī, 1st ed. (Jeddah: Dar al-Minhaj, 2005), 123–5. [^234]: For a brief review of these counts, see ʿAbdulḥayy al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, ed. ʿAbdullāh al-Khālidī, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Arqam), 1:151–53; Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 4. [^235]: ʿAlī al-Muḥammad al-Ḍabbāʿ, *Samīr al-ṭālibīn fī rasm wa ḍab**ṭ* *al-Kitāb al-Mubīn*, 1st ed. (Cairo: ʿAbdulḥamīd Ḥanafī, 1938), 9–10. The book was reviewed and edited by the Grand Qārī of Egypt in his time, Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-Ḥuseinī (d. 1939), who gave the approval for al-Ḍabbāʿ’s book to be taught. [^236]: ʿAbdulfattāḥ ibn ʿAbdulghanī al-Qāḍī, *Tārīkh al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf* (Cairo: Maktabat al-Jindī, 1951), 6. [^237]: Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Zinjānī, *T**ā**r**ī**kh* *al-Qurʾan* (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat Lajnat al-Taʾlīf wal-Tarjamah wal-Nashr, 1935),  20–21. [^238]: The total list of the names of the scribes are in Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 113–15. [^239]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *History of the Qur’anic Text*, 68. [^240]: Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**muṣḥaf**: Dirāsah lughawiyyah tārīkhiyyah* (Amman: Dār Ammār: 2001), 78. [^241]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālah al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 69–93. [^242]: ʿAlī al-Aḥmadī al-Mayānjī, *Makātīb al-Rasūl*, 1st ed., 4 vols. (Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Thaqāfiyyah, 1998), 1:7. [^243]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 1:8–50. [^244]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 1:50. [^245]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 1:123–38. [^246]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-Muṣḥaf*, 116–23. [^247]: Al-Kittānī, *al-Tarātīb al-idāriyyah*, 1:149–208. [^248]: Muhammad Hamiduallah, *Majmūʿat al-wathā**ʾ**iq al-siyāsiyyah lil-ʿahd al-Nabawī wa al-khilāfah al-rāshida*, 6th ed. (Beirut: Dar al-Nafais, 1987). [^249]: *Mustadrak al-**Ḥākim*, no. 367. [^250]: Muḥammad al-Azharī, *Tahdhīb al-lughah*, ed. Muḥammad Murʿib, 15 vols. (Beirut: Dār Iḥyā al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 2001), 2:170. [^251]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 73. [^252]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 3004. [^253]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 1:208. [^254]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 160. [^255]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*. [^256]: Aḥmad ibn Yaḥiā al-Balādhurī, *Futūḥ al-buldān* (Beirut: Maktbat al-Hilāl, 1988), 453. Al-Balādhurī listed the names of the seventeen men. [^257]: Ibn Hishām, *al-S**ī**rah al-Nabawiyyah*, 1:350–51. [^258]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 12:398. [^259]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 161. [^260]: Al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 12:393. [^261]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 1:397. [^262]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 162–64. [^263]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 162. Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 74–76. [^264]: Al-Mayānjī, *Makātīb al-Rasūl*, 104 and 117. [^265]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 30–31. [^266]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 30–31. [^267]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 189. [^268]: Ghānim al-Ḥamad listed him among the scribes in Mecca while Jabal listed him among those in Medina. Multiple accounts suggest that he was one of the writers in Mecca. It is also possible that he continued to write in the Medinan period. [^269]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3086. [^270]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 76. [^271]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *al-Iṣābah*, 2:369–70. [^272]: Al-ʿAsqalanī, *al-Iṣābah*. [^273]: Ibn Saʿd, *Kitāb al-ṭabaqāt*, 3:622. [^274]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 79. [^275]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 80. [^276]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 2216; Ḥāmid ibn Zanjawyh, *al-Amwāl*, ed. Shākir Fayyāḍ, 1st ed., 3 vols. (Riyadh: Markaz al-Malik Faiṣal lil-Buhūth wal-Dirasāt al-Islāmiyyah, 1986), 309–10. [^277]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 11. [^278]: Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qalqashandī, *Ṣubḥ al-aʿsh**ā f**ī ṣināʿat al-inshāʾ*, 14 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Misriyyah, 1922), 1:91. [^279]: Al-Qalqashandī, *Ṣubḥ al-aʿsh**ā*; Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 11–14. [^280]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3060. [^281]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 3006. [^282]: Al-Mayānjī, *Makātīb al-Rasūl*, 1:108–14. [^283]: Al-Bāqillānī, *al-Intiṣār*, 189. [^284]: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, *Faḍ**ā**ʾil* *al-ṣaḥābah*, ed. Waṣiyyullah ʿAbbās, 1st ed., 2 vols. (Mecca: Umm al-Qura University’s Markaz al-Baḥth al-ʿIlmī wa Ihyā al-Turāth al-Islāmī, 1983), 1:390. [^285]: Abū Bakr ʿAbdullah ibn Abī Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, ed. Muhīb al-Dīn Wā’iz, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyah, 1995), 1:145. Al-ʿAsqalanī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:328–29. [^286]: Ibn Abī Dāwūd, *Kitāb al-maṣāḥif*, 1:145. [^287]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 83. [^288]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukh**ārī*, no. 4990. [^289]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 165–66; al-Ṣāliḥī, *Subul al-hud**ā* *wal-rash**ā**d*, 12:383–441. [^290]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 26125. [^291]: *Sunan Abū Dawūd*, no. 2507. [^292]: The quote is from his lost book *Fahm al-Sunan*, which many *ʿulūm al-Qur’an* works cite. Badr al-Dīn al-Zarkashī, *al-Burhān fī ʿulūm al-Qur’an*, ed. Muḥammad Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm, 4 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Turāth, 1984), 1:238. [^293]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 168. [^294]: Jabal discussed its transmission citing multiple resources and suggested its authenticity. Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qur’anī*, 169n2. [^295]: Abū al-Khayr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdulraḥmān al-Sakhāwī, *Fatḥ al-mughīth bi-sharḥ Alfīyat al-ḥadīth*, ed. ʿAbdulkarīm al-Khudair et al., 1st ed., 5 vols. (Riyadh: Dār al-Minhāj, 2005), 3:52. [^296]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 16–7. [^297]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 17–18. [^298]: Al-Aʿẓamī, *Kuttāb al-Nabyy*, 18. [^299]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3954. [^300]: Jabal, *Wathāqat naql al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾanī*, 87–88. [^301]: *Sunan al-Bayhaqī*, no. 11065. [^302]: Al-Ḥamad, *Aṣālat al-naṣṣ al-Qurʾānī*, 86. [^303]: Ibn Ḥanbal, *Faḍ**ā**ʾil* *al-ṣaḥābah*, 1:390. [^304]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukh**ārī*, no. 4986. [^305]: Yasin Dutton, “The Form of the Qur’an: Historical Contours,” in *The Oxford Handbook of Qur’anic Studies*, ed. Mustafa Shah and Muhammad A. Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 184–85. [^306]: Angelika Neuwirth, *The Qur’an and Late Antiquity: A Shared Heritage*, trans. Samuel Wilder (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), 143. Also see, Gregor Schoeler, *The Genesis of Literature in Islam from the Aural to The Read*, trans. Shawkat M. Toorawa (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009), 30. [^307]: Makkī ibn Abī Tālib, *al-Ibāna ʿan maʿānī al-qirāʾāt*, ed. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Ismāʿīl Shalabī (Cairo: Dār Nahḍat Miṣr, 1960), 23; ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, *Faw**āʾ**id f**ī* *mushkil al-Qur**ʾā**n* (Kuwait: Wizārat al-Awqāf wal-Shū*ʾ*un al-Islāmiyah, 1967), 27;  Al-ʿAsqalānī, *Fatḥ al-Bārī*, 9:12; al-Suyūṭī, *al-**Itqān*, 2:387; al-Qasṭalāni, *Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt*, 1:95. [^308]: Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-Ḥuseinī, *Khulāṣat al-nuṣūṣ al-jaliyyah fī nuzūl al-Qurʾān wa jamʿih wa ḥukm ittibāʿ rasm al-maṣāḥif al-ʿUthmāniyyah* (Cairo: al-Matbaah al-Misriyaah, 1931), 7; al-Ḍabbāʿ, *Samīr al-ṭālibīn*, 10; al-Qāḍī, *Tārīkh al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf*, 11; al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān al-Karīm*, 39. [^309]: Al-Qāḍī, *Tārīkh al-muṣḥaf al-sharīf*, 26–27. [^310]: Ibn Khaldūn, *Tārīkh Ibn* *Khald**ū**n* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnān*ī*, 1956), 1:757 and 791. [^311]: Al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān al-Karīm*, 116–120. [^312]: Al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān al-Karīm*, 11–1-9. [^313]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf*, 24–26. [^314]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-muṣḥaf*, 36. [^315]: Al-Kurdī, *Tārīkh al-Qurʾān al-Karīm*, 119. [^316]: For more on the history and development of the Arabic script, see al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**muṣḥaf*; Muhammad Ṭāhir al-Kurdī, *Tā**r**ī**kh al-kha**ṭṭ* *al-ʿArab**ī* (Cairo: Maktabat al-Hilal, 1939); ʿAbdulṣabūr Shāhīn, *Tār**ī**kh* *al-Qurʾān*, 3rd ed. ( Cairo: Nahdat Masr, 2007), 103–15. [^317]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**Muṣḥaf*, 172–86. [^318]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**Muṣḥaf*, 175–76. [^319]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**Muṣḥaf*, 169–70, 175–76. [^320]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**Muṣḥaf*, 175. [^321]: Al-Ḥamad, *Rasm al-**Muṣḥaf*, 177–86; Khatib and Khan, “The ʿUthmānic Codex.” [^322]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-**Itqān*, 1:132–33. [^323]: Qur’an 2:281. [^324]: Qur’an 16:90; *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 17459. [^325]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-**Itqān*, 1:195. [^326]: Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, *Dalā**ʾ**il al-nubuwwa*, 1st ed., 7 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1984), 7:147. [^327]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 3086. [^328]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukh**ārī*, no. 4530. [^329]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 2216. [^330]: *Ṣaḥīḥ* *Muslim*, no. 806. [^331]: Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī, *al-Muqniʿ f**ī* *maʿrifat* *mars**ū**m* *maṣā**ḥ**if al-amṣār*, ed. Ḥātim al-Ḍāmin (Beirut: Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah, 2011), 122. [^332]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-**Itqān*, 2:272–85. [^333]: Muḥammad ʿAbdullah Dirāz, *al-Naba al-ʿaẓ**ī**m: Naẓarāt jad**ī**dah f**ī* *al-Qur**ʾ**ān*, 1st ed. (Riyadh: Dār Ṭayba lil-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ, 1997), 204–64. [^334]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*. [^335]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān*. ## Summary Praise be to Allah, who took upon Himself the preservation of His final revelation, saying, "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its Guardian." From the earliest days of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Qur'an was safeguarded through two complementary means: the recitation upon the tongues of men and the transcription upon writing surfaces. These two methods are so integral to the nature of the Qur'an that they are reflected in its very names—"Qur'an," derived from recitation, and "Book" (kitāb), reflecting its written preservation. Both names bestowed by Allah Himself indicate that His speech was destined to be guarded orally and textually alike, and that this preservation began during the lifetime of the one to whom it was revealed, not merely afterward under the caliphs. Certain orientalist and revisionist voices have cast doubt upon this preservation. Nöldeke and Schwally, for instance, suggested that the Prophet ﷺ might have forgotten portions of the early revelation, and that it remains uncertain whether the "collectors" among the Companions had truly memorized the entire text or only large portions. Others, such as Blachère and Burton, questioned whether the Qur'an was written down completely in the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, with Burton going so far as to describe its collection as a "product of a lengthy process of evolution, accretion, and 'improvement.'" Yet these claims rest largely upon philological speculation, differing standards for authenticating reports, and seemingly contradictory narrations. Against them stand the rigorous conclusions of authorities such as Makkī ibn Abī Ṭālib, ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Suyūṭī, and al-Qasṭalānī, who held that the entirety of the Qur'an was written down during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, alongside modern defenders such as al-Aʿẓamī and the philosopher ʿAbdel Raḥmān Badawī, who concluded that the Qur'an in its entirety was arranged in written form during the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime. As for the oral transmission, the Prophet ﷺ was himself the trusted human vessel of the revelation. Allah reassured him regarding his concern over retaining it: "Move not your tongue concerning to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and to give you the ability to recite it." Ibn ʿAbbās explained that Allah would gather it in the Prophet's heart. And Allah promised, "We will make you recite and you will not forget except what Allah wills." Al-Rāzī noted that the Prophet's ﷺ memorization of this lengthy text, despite being unlettered, was itself miraculous. As for the possibility of forgetting, Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī distinguished two types: a circumstantial forgetting that is quickly remedied—as in the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ was reminded of verses he had been "caused to forget"—and the forgetting that accompanies the abrogation of a verse's recitation, as indicated by "We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it." Ibn Ḥajar added that forgetting was impossible before the conveyance of a revelation, and permissible after conveyance only if the Prophet ﷺ later remembered it. The Prophet ﷺ was commanded throughout the Qur'an to recite it to the people: "And recite to them," and "so you might recite to them that which We revealed to you." He fulfilled this through two methods known to the scholars: iqrāʾ, in which he recited to a Companion who then repeated it back, and ʿarḍ, in which the Companion recited back to him for verification. This ʿarḍ was distinguished from the ʿarḍ of hadith by requiring recitation from memory, since the Prophet ﷺ himself neither read nor wrote. The foundation of this oral method was the Prophet's ﷺ own annual review of the Qur'an with Jibrīl each Ramadan, and twice in the final year of his life. So central was recitation that Companions described how he taught them supplications, the istikhārah, and the tashahhud "as he would teach them a sūrah of the Qur'an." The Prophet ﷺ pursued every opportunity to disseminate the Qur'an, and Muḥammad Jabal catalogued fourteen distinct methods. He recited newly revealed verses to his Companions—as with Sūrah al-Ṣaff, al-Jumuʿah, al-Mursalāt, and al-Kawthar—and recited to those he invited to Islam, such as the five Companions Abū Bakr brought, all of whom were promised Paradise. He taught new converts, sent teachers like Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr to Medina before his own migration, recited in the mosque, during travel, in prayer, and in his sermons—Umm Hishām memorized Sūrah Qāf from his frequent Friday recitation. He commanded Companions to teach one another and dispatched envoys such as Muʿādh ibn Jabal and Abū Mūsā to Yemen. Early centers of learning arose, including Dār al-Arqam and, above all, the ṣuffah, whose people al-Bāqillānī held to have memorized all that was revealed during their stay. This dedication crossed every social boundary: enslaved persons like Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt and Sālim mawlā Abī Ḥudhayfah, women such as Umm Waraqah whom the Prophet ﷺ called "the martyr," and children like Zayd ibn Thābit, all bore the Qur'an. The Companions honored the qurrāʾ, whose loss in battle grieved the Prophet ﷺ deeply. At Biʾr Maʿūnah some seventy reciters were treacherously slain—Anas said he never saw the Messenger ﷺ grieve so, invoking qunūt against their killers for a full month. Later, at al-Yamāmah, forty qurrāʾ fell, prompting ʿUmar's fear expressed to Abū Bakr that "if qurrāʾ continue to be killed in large numbers... a large portion of the Qur'an will be lost"—a fear born not of doubting Allah's promise but of pursuing every means to fulfill it. Though only some twenty-one Companions are documented as having memorized the entire text during the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, al-Bāqillānī explained that many concealed their memorization out of humility, and the Companions held a demanding standard—as Abū al-Dardāʾ said, the true bearer of the Qur'an "is the one who listens to it and obeys." This wide transmission established tawātur, for as al-Māzirī observed, even a large text is preserved when many transmit its parts collectively, and al-Kawtharī described how the Companions deliberately distributed portions among people so that the whole was preserved by all. Concerning the written transmission, though Arab society was largely unlettered—the Qur'an itself calling them ummiyyīn—writing did exist, and the Prophet ﷺ commanded, "record knowledge with writing." He initially forbade writing anything from him but the Qur'an, thereby guarding the divine speech from admixture with his own words. Scholars have counted his scribes variously, most placing the total above forty, with around fourteen dedicated to the Qur'an. In Mecca, figures such as Shuraḥbīl ibn Ḥasanah and Khālid ibn Saʿīd wrote; in Medina, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Zayd ibn Thābit, and ʿUthmān were foremost. ʿUthmān declared his the "first hand to transcribe the mufaṣṣal," and Zayd, the Prophet's ﷺ neighbor, kept his writing tools ready for the descent of revelation. The verses were documented instantly upon revelation, as ʿĀʾishah witnessed the Prophet ﷺ saying, "Write, O ʿUthmān," and this immediacy ensured the text was recorded exactly as Jibrīl conveyed it, then reviewed—for the Prophet ﷺ would tell Zayd, "Read [what you wrote]," and correct any omission. The arrangement of verses within their chapters was tawqīfī, established by divine guidance, as Ibn ʿAbbās related that Jibrīl instructed the Prophet ﷺ where to place the final verse of Sūrah al-Baqarah, and the Companions adhered strictly to what they received. Whether the entire Qur'an was compiled in a single volume in the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime remains a point of discussion—Zayd reported it was scattered "on palm leaf, stump, stalk and branches," and scholars such as Yasin Dutton suggest much remained "in the hearts of men." Yet the weight of the classical authorities holds that the whole was transcribed, if dispersed, and even were only parts written, the continuous oral transmission and the swift compilation under Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān secured the complete text. Thus the Qur'an we possess today, in all its 114 chapters, was fully and authentically preserved through the intertwined oral and written efforts of the first generation—a manifestation of the divine promise of guardianship. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How did Allah's promise to preserve the Qur'an take shape during the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime? Allah says, "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will be its Guardian." That promise did not bypass human means. Preservation took shape through two intertwined pathways: oral and written. The Qur'an was taught primarily through constant recitation, memorization, and verification — the Prophet ﷺ reviewed the revelation with Jibril every Ramadan, and in his final year he reviewed it twice. Alongside this, the Prophet ﷺ appointed scribes who documented revelation as it descended and placed verses in their assigned locations within each chapter. ### How did the Prophet ﷺ teach the Qur'an to his companions on a daily basis? Two core instructional methods structured Qur'anic learning. First, recitation-and-repetition (*iqraʾ*): the Prophet ﷺ recited a passage and the companion repeated it back in the same manner. Second, recitation-back for verification (*ʿarḍ*): the companion recited from memory to the Prophet ﷺ for review, correction, and precision. *ʿArḍ* in particular required memorized recitation and exact articulation, creating an ongoing culture of supervised accuracy rather than informal learning by exposure. ### What is the difference between oral and written Qur'anic preservation, and how did they complement each other? Oral preservation is the Qur'an living in people's hearts and tongues through memorization, continual recitation, and supervised correction. Written preservation complemented this oral core — when new revelation descended, the Prophet ﷺ called scribes to write it immediately and place it in its assigned chapter. Together, oral transmission preserved exact recitation while written records anchored what was recited in documented form. Neither channel operated in isolation; each reinforced the integrity of the other. ### Did the Qur'an slowly "evolve" during the Prophet's ﷺ time, as some Western scholars claim? This claim does not hold up against the evidence. The Prophet ﷺ was divinely commanded to recite the Qur'an to people, making oral delivery the primary vehicle of dissemination across a large community from the outset. At the same time, reports describe verses written on multiple materials, and the Prophet ﷺ regularly summoned scribes to write new revelation and assign it within its chapter. This combination of mass oral transmission and immediate written documentation undercuts the idea of an open-ended, late evolution of the text during the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime. ### Could a verse of the Qur'an have been forgotten or lost before it reached us? The safeguards against loss were overlapping and mutually reinforcing. The Prophet ﷺ constantly recited the Qur'an and reviewed it with Jibril every Ramadan — in his final year, twice. At the community level, *ʿarḍ* required companions to recite from memory to the Prophet ﷺ for correction, reducing the space for drift. Revelation was also documented immediately through appointed scribes when it descended. Together, repeated review, supervised recitation, and real-time documentation created multiple layers of protection against any verse being forgotten or lost. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/the-power-of-a-positive-home-environment-what-the-research-says # The Power of a Positive Home Environment: What the Research Says | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 *This post was written in collaboration with [The Family and Youth Institute](https://www.thefyi.org/).* > *Do you have a parenting resolution for the new school year? What about having a more positive environment at home? In this article, The Family and Youth Institute present findings from Yaqeen Institute’s survey on the home environment and mental health. We conclude with strategies that you can implement in your home to improve your family’s mental health and well-being.* > > *Written by Dr. Madiha Tahseen, PhD and Issra Killawi, BA.* You may have heard about how your physical environment impacts your mood–things like the lighting, organization of the space, and clutter can all make you feel better or worse. But, have you thought about how the non-physical part of your home environment – the feelings in the air, support or conflict you experience, relationships with family members – can have a very real impact on your mental health? Extensive **[research](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7103574/#:~:text=In%20the%20analysis%20of%20formerly,%25%20CI%200.49%E2%80%9312.48)** shows us that **home environments in which there is a lot of conflict and less warmth lead to greater anxiety and depression.** Living with family members who constantly display anger, shame, and criticism and do not provide support and compassion can increase anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. A preliminary survey by Yaqeen Institute sheds light on how these relationships work in the Muslim American home. The survey asked about three dimensions of the home environment: - Cohesion: the degree of commitment and support family members provide for one another, - Expressiveness: the extent to which family members are encouraged to express their feelings directly, and - Conflict: the amount of openly expressed anger and conflict among family members. We analyzed each dimension and how it’s connected to anxiety and depression. For each dimension, you’ll find strategies you can use to create a more positive environment in your home. The subsample for the analyses presented here was 74% female, 67% were college graduates, and 84% were between the ages of 18 and 44. The sample was 6% White, 7% Black, 56% South Asian, and 15% Arab. Respondents answered questions about the home environment, anxiety and well-being. --- ## COHESIVENESS Cohesion in your family is about a sense of togetherness and support family members provide for one another. > *In our family there is a feeling of togetherness.* > *In our family we really help and support each other*. We found that greater cohesion in a family predicts lower rates of anxiety and depression.[^1] In other words, having a more cohesive home environment lowers your level of depression and anxiety. ### How to create a feeling of togetherness and cohesion in your family: #### 1) Together, come up with family traditions for weekends, family nights, Eid, etc While younger children may take your lead, teenagers will want to have a say in what you do as a family. Brainstorm ideas together and come to a consensus about how you’ll spend family time. Take turns trying different traditions and discuss what you liked about each experience. #### 2) Have different ways that you spend quality time together - praying together, being active, or going out for ice cream on Friday night Make sure it’s *quality* time where you are talking, listening, and doing things with one another. Movie nights are okay, but they shouldn’t be the only way that your family spends time together. Quality time may also differ from child to child--keep this in mind as you plan together. #### 3) Take on tasks as a family, like making dinner or planning a family vacation Make sure each member of the family has a role to play. This will [help your children feel they are a part of something larger than themselves](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-loan-of-love-appreciating-the-blessing-of-family-in-difficult-times), and that they have opportunities to contribute to the family as well. #### 4) Remind your family that Allah puts barakah (blessings) in doing things together It’s often easier to do a chore/task alone than doing it together, but Allah (SWT) calls us to good collectively: *“And help one another in acts of righteousness and piety.”* --- ## EXPRESSION Expression is the extent to which your family members are encouraged to express their feelings and open up to each another. > *In our family we can talk openly in our home.* > *In our family we sometimes tell each other about our personal problems.* Based on the analyses, we found that greater expression in a family predicts lower rates of depression. In other words, having a more expressive home environment lowers your level of depression. ### How to encourage more openness and expression in your family: #### 1) Ask open-ended questions for more meaningful conversations “What do you think happened?” or “Tell me what makes you say that.” As you listen, remember how [the Prophet (S) modeled the best listening skills](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-importance-of-conscious-parenting-in-raising-confident-muslims) by turning his body towards the person speaking to him, keeping eye contact, listening with empathy, and asking questions. Give your children space to explore their ideas and opinions. Create opportunities for them to voice their questions and curiosities and be mindful of how often you are speaking *at* them rather than *with* them. This builds their trust that you will hear them out and they will come to you when big issues come up in their lives. #### 2) Avoid reacting - be curious instead This is especially important during disagreements, or when your teenager says things like “My life is horrible!” Instead of reacting, take a few deep breaths and approach the conversation with a genuine desire to understand where they are coming from. “I’m sorry to hear that, tell me what’s going on. I’m listening.” Practicing active listening and curiosity creates openness in your relationship with your family and sends the message that you are there for support. #### 3) Initiate conversations about taboo subjects Difficult conversations have the potential to create distance or build closeness in your family. Initiating these conversations with your children signals to them that they can come to you with questions about anything. It gives them the chance to be curious and ask questions in a safe space and allows you to guide the way they think and the choices they make. **Most importantly, it builds the trust and connection in your relationship.** Without this trust, your child may turn to friends or social media for answers or feel the need to hide their curiosity from you. --- ## CONFLICT Conflict is the amount of openly expressed anger, disagreements, and aggression among family members. > *In our family we often put each other down.* > *In our family we lose our temper often.* Based on the analyses, we found that greater conflict in a family predicts higher rates of depression and anxiety. **In other words, having more conflict in the home environment increases your levels of depression and anxiety.** ### How to Manage conflict in healthy ways to have a positive home environment by using these strategies: #### 1) Normalize emotions Even the most righteous people experienced a range of emotions in strong ways - like Prophet Musa (S) who was angry with his brother at one point, or Prophet Yaqub (S) who was grieved by the loss of Yusuf. When your child is experiencing strong or uncomfortable emotions, teach them that this is a part of human nature by acknowledging and helping to name the feeling/emotion. #### 2) Set boundaries for your family Set boundaries for your family around what’s appropriate when someone is angry. Make sure that everyone sticks to these rules (adults too!). Anger or frustration should not be an excuse to lash out, say unkind words, or use violence. [Help your children find appropriate ways to express their feelings](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/coping-with-grief-a-spiritual-and-psychological-guide). “Are you feeling overwhelmed? Would it help if you took a sip of water?” Or “I know you are angry, but it’s not okay to yell or be rude. Let’s pause this discussion and try again later tonight.” #### 3) Model how to make amends It’s important to re-establish love, security, and trust with family members after a conflict. Teach your children to practice humility, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. Remember that the best way to teach this is to practice it in your relationship with them. Taking ownership for a mistake and apologizing is not easy, but [the best of people are those who try to rectify their mistakes](https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2014/01/20/best-sinners-repentance/) with Allah (SWT) and with anyone they may have hurt, intentionally or not. Even though these strategies may seem simple, they can have a big impact on your home environment and on your family’s overall wellness. As the new school year begins, commit to practicing one or a few of these strategies regularly. Tell us which strategies you’ll try by tagging us on Instagram with the hashtag #WhatTheResearchSays --- ## Notes [^1]: We analyzed the data using simple univariate regressions. A linear regression is an analysis that provides a simple understanding of the relationships between two variables. Because of the underlying analytic technique and calculations, one variable is considered the predictor or explanatory variable and the other variable is considered the dependent or outcome variable. For more information, please email [research@thefyi.org](mailto:research@thefyi.org). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/building-resilience-the-psychology-behind-raising-unapologetic-muslim-children # Building Resilience: The Psychology Behind Raising Unapologetic Muslim Children **Authors:** Sarah Sultan, Najwa Awad **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** November 8, 2022 **Updated:** August 30, 2024 This article is the introductory publication to a multi-part series on the topic. --- ## Parental anxiety among Muslim parents If you speak with adults today, most will likely tell you that one of the biggest causes of stress in their lives is parenting: Am I doing the best job I can? Is our family too strict? Perhaps too soft? Are we preparing our children to be successful, independent, and well-rounded adults? For Muslim parents, the uncertainty of parenting can be amplified by fears of failing to raise a child with Islamic values in a global culture of growing atheism, narcissism, and fragile family systems. Will my child continue to choose Islam into adulthood? How much will they adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah? Will they love Allah and strive to seek out His Countenance, or will they just *act* “Muslim” around family? There are so many stories we hear within our communities, sometimes whispered in hushed voices and sometimes vocalized through tearful cries for help from devastated families: - The teenager who got involved with the “wrong crowd,” began to engage in risky behavior, and is now struggling with addiction to hard drugs. - The 8-year-old who comes home saying, “What if Allah doesn’t really exist? My friend said there’s no such thing as God.” - The straight-A daughter who got into an unhealthy relationship with a boy at school, and then watched her self-esteem, spirituality, and grades plummet. - The child who wonders what he did wrong and doesn’t understand why Allah would allow his parents to divorce. - A son who always had a tumultuous relationship with his parents but is now more definitively refusing to pray or engage in any religious activities that his family is involved in. - The 12-year-old, bullied at school, who is extremely depressed and questions why Allah hasn’t protected him or if He exists. Sometimes these might not be stories from those we know in our community, but rather our own children or loved ones. Life feels relatively fine until it hits close to home, doesn’t it? There is no pain like discovering that it’s your daughter who has abandoned prayer, your son who has stopped believing, or your child who is now just a spiritual shell of who they used to be. For many Muslim families, parenting these days can feel like standing on a metaphorical cliff, always one step from falling into the abyss. But what if parenting didn’t have to feel so anxiety-provoking? What if you could lean into an Islamic model of parenting that helps you feel like you are building a spiritual foundation from the inside out rather than assembling a hodgepodge collection of quick-fix tools? What if you could be an empowered parent and help your child through prevention instead of being reactive and constantly putting out fires? What if, instead of striving to evade the worst case scenario, things actually work out—and in a much better way than you had hoped for? Our goal with this parenting series is to focus on prevention, through the means of building resilience, rather than intervention. If the [trauma series](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/trauma) of articles was to help pull adults out of a metaphorical river, this series of parenting articles is to help parents keep children and teens from falling into it in the first place. By working from the ground up and teaching families to develop the tools needed to promote resilience in childhood, our hope is that children will be able to deal with life’s inevitable struggles without suffering unnecessary mental, emotional, and spiritual ramifications. --- ## Goals of an Islamically integrated resilience model of parenting ### To teach distress tolerance and perseverance (Resilience in everyday life) One of the biggest misconceptions about parenting today is that if we create the perfect life for our children, they will grow into ideal adults. If we live in the best neighborhoods, put our children into the best schools, give them the best nutrition and surround them with the best friends, they will turn out to be the best. Over the past few decades, this mentality has manifested in our children as entitlement. Children now expect the best of everything. They expect the latest gadgets, over-the-top gifts and parties, the absolute best quality of life. They expect the path to everything to be smooth—and, well, why wouldn’t they? Shouldn’t we give our kids the best possible life they can have? Due to the nature of *bulldozer parenting*, in which parents attempt to remove all obstacles in their children’s lives, and *helicopter parenting*, in which parents micromanage their children, there is a huge chasm between the dream we as parents hoped for in raising our children and the reality. Unfortunately, children who are given everything develop little training for overcoming adversity, persevering through hardship or tolerating difficulty. A life of ease typically doesn’t prepare children for the unavoidable struggles of life. Research suggests that helicopter parenting often backfires, producing adolescents with psychological maladjustment and decreased self-efficacy.[^1] As you can imagine this causes quite the conundrum for parents. How do parents meet their children’s needs, be empathetic and nurturing, and facilitate environments for success while also teaching distress tolerance, hard work, and perseverance? How do parents foster mental health and increase protective factors for trauma while not causing harm themselves? A big missing piece in the parenting puzzle and the answer many parents are looking for is this: fostering resilience. ### To prevent childhood trauma and spiritual crises (Resilience in the context of mental health) When we began writing *[Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You: The Impact of Trauma on Faith](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/your-lord-has-not-forsaken-you-addressing-the-impact-of-trauma-on-faith)* in 2018, our goal as mental health therapists was to develop an Islamic framework for trauma healing that had never been broached before—one from a psychospiritual perspective. We wanted to create a safe space for healing, destigmatize mental illness, and create an Islamically-based mental health approach that incorporates healing through the mind, body, and soul. As therapists who have worked with hundreds of individuals and families, we have seen the pervasive effects of trauma on people’s mental, physical and spiritual health.[^2] Trauma can enfeeble one’s spirituality, while the compounded loss of faith after adverse experiences can also hinder trauma recovery.[^3] Researchers have gone as far as to say that childhood trauma can lead to spiritual crisis:[^4] > The experience of childhood traumatization functions as a kind of ‘reverse religious experience,’ a process combining overwhelming arousal and overwhelming cognitions that threatens core ‘meaningfulness’ for the child.[^5] We strongly believe that resilience and trauma mitigation are protective factors in helping to preserve both one’s mental and spiritual health, as well as imperative components to integrate in parenting Muslim children. Through fostering resilience and alleviating traumatic responses, long-term trauma and some types of spiritual crises can, by the will of Allah, be prevented[^6] in many cases. As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”[^7] ### Definitions of resilience What is resilience, exactly? Resilience is “the capacity we all possess to rebound from stress and feelings of fear, helplessness and overwhelm.”[^8] It allows us to cope when faced with significant changes, struggles, and risks. Resilience is often compared to a slinky; no matter how far you stretch it, the metal coil naturally rebounds to its original shape. Like a slinky, the goal for ourselves and our children is to nurture the ability to bounce back from stressful and difficult situations. Resilience, or the ability to function and adapt despite adversity, is arguably one of the most important skills parents can teach their children. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ expressed this quality beautifully when he said, > The example of a believer is that of a fresh tender plant; from whatever direction the wind comes, it bends it, but when the wind becomes quiet, it becomes straight again. Similarly, a believer is afflicted with calamities (but he remains patient till Allah removes his difficulties). And an impious wicked person is like a cedar tree that stays hard and straight till Allah cuts (breaks) it down when He wishes.[^9] In this hadith, we see that resilience can enable us to maintain and enhance our connection to Allah during trying times, and that the lack of it can impede that process. --- ## The importance of resilience: The inevitability of struggles Trials and tribulations are an inescapable reality of our time on this earth. Although as parents we hope to protect our children from hardship, we really have no power to do so and sometimes forget that Allah in His infinite wisdom created struggle for a purpose. Consider the following Qur’anic verses and and hadiths: > Do people think once they say, ‘We believe,’ that they will be left without being put to the test? We certainly tested those before them. And (in this way) Allah will clearly distinguish between those who are truthful and those who are liars.[^10] > And surely We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the patient, who say, when afflicted with calamity: ‘To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return.’ They are those on whom (descend) Blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.[^11] > The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Paradise is surrounded by adversity, and Hellfire is surrounded by lusts.”[^12] > The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “A Muslim, male or female, continues to remain under trial in respect of his life, property, and offspring until he faces Allah, the Exalted, with no sin recorded.”[^13] Resilience is the quality that allows us to face these struggles while maintaining a stable connection to Allah; resilience also involves understanding that struggles are not inherently bad and that they are needed for growth and development. While typically viewed as something to simply endure, struggles are actually opportunities that can allow us to thrive in powerful ways. Have you ever heard the proverb, “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly”? Difficult situations can be fuel for growth when we understand them in terms of Allah’s wisdom as the best of planners. Often assumed to be more of an inherent trait, resilience is actually something that can be fostered over time. We see this in the example of Prophet Yusuf (as), who faced trial after trial from childhood through adulthood. We witness his incredible growth through each struggle he encountered, finally culminating with a beautiful expression of resilience in which he proclaimed, “Indeed my Lord is subtle in fulfilling what He wills. Surely He \[alone\] is the All-Knowing, All-Wise.”[^14] With rates of suicide increasing exponentially in the last decade, such that it is now the second leading cause of death among 10-24 year-olds in America,[^15] and 23% of people raised Muslim leaving the faith,[^16] it is more important than ever that we collectively nurture the skills our children need to face the inevitable struggles of life. Resilience is crucial not just for good mental health, but also for spiritual health and strengthening Muslim identity. --- ## Sūrah Luqmān: Parenting lessons from the Qur'an ### The importance of an Islamic framework for parenting We are well aware of the dozens of parenting theories out there and don’t believe that there is a cookie cutter approach superior to all others. Parenting involves a lot of trial and error—figuring out what works for you, your individual children, and your family as a whole. Sometimes two loving parents have different parenting styles that work, and sometimes one parent may use different strategies with different children. If you ask many mental health therapists and parenting experts they will tell you that what’s most important is not the theory itself, but the firmness and consistency of a loving and supportive parent-child relationship. We believe that our proposed parenting theory, unlike numerous others, is backed by both psychosocial research and Islamic texts. It is not within a human being’s capacity to guarantee success; we know that because even our father Adam[^17] and Prophets Nūḥ[^18] and Yaʿqūb[^19] had parenting challenges despite divine guidance. We also are not just psychotherapists, but parents of six children between us and know the trials and tribulations of parenting from firsthand experience. We will not pretend to have all the answers—because we don’t, and nobody today does. However, we are optimistic, *in shāʿ Allāh*, that Muslim parents will find our approach from our decades of psychotherapy experience and humble parenting adventures balanced, flexible, and practical. There are several resilience theory models, some of which incorporate faith-based principles, but none that integrate Islam. While these resilience models are useful and address general concepts beneficial to anyone regardless of faith, they lack an essential component for Muslim parents who want to derive faith-based wisdom from Qur’anic stories and hadith, and for whom religious identity is an important factor in raising children. In line with previous assertions, it is more efficient and prudent to strengthen children with Islamic resilience than it is to introduce Islamic concepts after tragedy. Parents can not expect their [children to turn towards Islam during or after a devastating event](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach) if it was not introduced or modeled before. That is not to say that therapy from an Islamic perspective will not be useful after adversity, but that it will feel more natural and may resonate more deeply for children who have been raised with an Islamic resilience model from a young age. ### The Islamically Integrated Resilience Model (IIRM) When considering what a holistic, balanced approach to building resilience in our children would look like, we wanted to ensure that every component was rooted in worshipping and connecting with Allah. As we discussed in our [*Trauma* series](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/trauma), a relationship with Allah is key to the healing process. It is naturally a core component in developing the resilience needed to prevent trauma from the start. Ibn al-Qayyim beautifully expressed the role a relationship with Allah plays in a person’s spiritual, mental, and emotional wellbeing when he said, > In the heart are disorders that cannot be remedied except by responding to Allah. In it is a desolate feeling that cannot be removed except by intimacy with Him in solitude. In it is sadness which will not leave except by happiness with knowing Him and truthfulness in his dealings. In it is anxiety that is not made tranquil except by gathering for His sake and fleeing to Him from His punishment. In it is a fire of regret that cannot be extinguished except by satisfaction with His commands, prohibitions, and decrees, and embracing patience with that until the time he meets Him. In it is a strong desire that will not cease until He is the only one who is sought. In it is a void that cannot be filled except by His love, turning to Him, always remembering Him, and being sincere to Him. Were a person to be given the entire world and everything in it, that would never fill the void.[^20] We spent almost two years, albeit with breaks, researching and developing our parenting paradigm. Ultimately, our Islamically Integrated Resilience Model (IIRM) was inspired by the verses of Sūrah Luqmān in which Allah says,[^21] > And remember when Luqmān said to his son, while advising him, “O my dear son! Never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs.” > > And We have commanded people to honor their parents. Their mothers bore them through hardship upon hardship, and their weaning takes two years. So be grateful to Me and your parents. To Me is the final return. > > But if they pressure you to associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Still keep their company in this world courteously, and follow the way of those who turn to Me in devotion. Then to Me you will \[all\] return, and then I will inform you of what you used to do. > > Luqmān added, “O my dear son! Even if a deed were the weight of a mustard seed—be it hidden in a rock or in the heavens or the earth—Allah will bring it forth. Surely Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware. > > “O my dear son! Establish prayer, encourage what is good and forbid what is evil, and endure patiently whatever befalls you. Surely this is a resolve to aspire to. > > “And do not turn your nose up to people, nor walk pridefully upon the earth. Surely Allah does not like whoever is arrogant, boastful. > > Be moderate in your pace. And lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is certainly the braying of donkeys.” In these verses, Luqmān al-Hakeem bestows invaluable words of wisdom on his son that are essential for success in this world and the next. He succinctly speaks to his son about key concepts in Islam including the importance of *tawḥīd*, enjoining good, exercising patience, and having good character. What struck us most about these verses, within the context of our parenting research, is that they speak to the biggest components of resiliency-building in research today. These verses not only model *how* we should teach our children, and *what* to teach our children, but outline a solid conceptualization in building resilience. Our Islamically Integrated Resilience Model (IIRM) is based on this paradigm. In the next section, we will look deeper into how these *āyāt*  promote resilience in children. --- ## How to promote resilience in children through the Islamically Integrated Resilience Model ### Layer 1: Attachment #### A. Attachment to Allah > O my dear son! Never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs. The advice of Luqmān al-Hakeem starts with *tawḥīd*, the most important concept in Islam, and what we feel is the cornerstone to resilience both short-term in this *dunyā* and long-term in the *ākhirah*. The research is clear that secure attachment to God and secure attachment to a primary caregiver are pivotal to resilience and mental health.[^22] As Muslims we know that adversity comes from Allah and that nobody can remove it except Allah, so developing an inclination to rely on Him and beseech Him during struggles is crucial for resilience. General attachment is the foundation of our triangular model because it plays a critical role in our ability to bounce back during adversity, and in the next few sections we will explore the various components of attachment within the model. Our IIRM asserts that while healthy attachment to a primary caregiver is invaluable, attachment to Allah comes first and foremost. This premise is based on these key factors: 1. **Stability**: Ideally relationships with primary caregivers are stable, consistent and unwavering, but often they are not. Resilience research shows a strong connection between healthy, secure attachment and higher levels of resilience.[^23] The opposite is true as well: In relationships in which there is attachment anxiety, resilience levels are diminished.[^24] 2. **Control**: An attachment to Allah is something internal, whereas relationships with others are external. An internal locus of control can lead a person to feel a higher sense of control in moments of adversity instead of solely relying on external supports.[^25] A person’s relationship with Allah can be a source of security due to His everlasting presence and stability. It does not involve the fluctuations that naturally occur in relationships with human beings, thereby allowing one’s internal locus of control to thrive. 3. **Continuity**: As a child approaches adolescence their attachment to their primary caregivers generally shifts and more weight is given to friends’ opinions and values. By establishing a solid relationship with Allah from childhood, there is a continuity that is maintained throughout. #### B. Attachment to parents > And We have commanded people to honor their parents. Their mothers bore them through hardship upon hardship, and their weaning takes two years. So be grateful to Me and your parents. To Me is the final return. > > But if they pressure you to associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Still keep their company in this world courteously... Healthy attachment to a parent plays an integral role in stress management,[^26] recovering from adversity,[^27] and relationships with others. So important is the parent-child bond that in these *āyāt* it appears immediately after the command of *tawḥīd*. We also see that the parenting relationship is a two-way street, and that both parties have a commitment to each other that is not necessarily easy. Although the attachment to Allah cannot be matched, the research is very clear on how influential parental attachment can be. We as parents can be instrumental in building resilience in our children through modeling (demonstrating our own resilience), the dynamics of our relationship with our children (attachment) and teaching resiliency skills. Oftentimes parents just focus on teaching skills, which is important, but not nearly as important as the attachment between the parent and the child. This is the difference between reading a manual to fix something and having an experienced professional stand at your shoulder gently directing you every step of the way. It’s not simply about directing our children to learn how to navigate the world, but building a relationship filled with warmth and security that will give them the skills, support, and confidence to navigate it themselves. Attachment between a parent and a child sets the framework for how children view themselves[^28] and how they view themselves in relation to others in the world,[^29] which are both crucial components of resiliency. #### C. Attachment to the prophets and the rightly guided > …and follow the way of those who turn to Me in devotion… In our model, following the way of those who turn to Allah in devotion, namely the prophets, is useful in building resilience. These examples provide the best role models for ourselves and our children to emulate and provide reassurance that amazing people have endured hardship as well. There is something powerful about knowing you are not alone in your struggle and can look back at the best of humankind for inspiration on how to navigate it. Research shows that community support is a valuable part of bouncing back from adversity.[^30] Our model incorporates these *āyāt* in our attachment foundation as it is very difficult to follow a community without love and attachment to them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: > There has come to you the disease of the nations before you, jealousy and hatred. Hatred is the \[shaver\] (destroyer) that shaves (destroys) religious commitment; it does not shave hair. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread (the greeting of) *salam* amongst yourselves.[^31] Today, attachment to those who follow the way of Allah extends to attachment of the *ummah* and our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Muslims do not discriminate between the prophets but we know that there is emphasis in loving Prophet Muhammed ﷺ in a way that is superior to all others: > The Prophet ﷺ said, “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.”[^32] Outside it being a spiritual necessity, there are many resilience-related benefits to cultivating an attachment to the prophets of Allah. When we look at the lives of the prophets, we see that they were not strangers to adversity. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ experienced many difficult circumstances including orphanhood, poverty, personal loss, and physical assault. He was not only resilient but was able to maintain his good character. Seeing his perseverance can inspire us to overcome difficulty with both purpose and grace. ### Layer 2: Connection to self: Identity and self-esteem > But if they pressure you to associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Still keep their company in this world courteously, and follow the way of those who turn to Me in devotion. This *āyah* doesn’t just support one aspect of attachment in the first layer of our model, but also supports the importance of developing an Islamic identity. This verse emphasizes the importance of staying true to one’s purpose of worshiping Allah, even under immense pressure, as the worship of Allah is central to Muslim identity. A strong identity is a necessary component in building resilience, not just for all children but especially for Muslim children living in the West. Allah tells us, “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”[^33] Helping our children to live authentically in accordance with their purpose to worship Allah allows them to face struggles with the resilience that stems from a solid Muslim identity. In an incredibly profound verse of the Qur’an, Allah says, “And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves.”[^34]  In this verse, “forgetting oneself" is a punishment, which indicates that knowing oneself is truly a blessing. When we remember Allah we are blessed to identify as His worshippers and thus to know ourselves. When we forget Him, we forget what is best for us in this life and the next, and thus we forget ourselves. Therefore, building a healthy sense of identity is directly tied to building a healthy connection with Allah. Research has found that religiosity in Muslim teens is associated with positive feelings of well-being, high levels of self-esteem, and low levels of anxiety.[^35] Research also shows that parents can play a big role in fashioning their children's religious identities.[^36] Building a solid sense of identity is, across the board, one of the most common themes in resilience research.[^37] For children growing up as minorities, as Muslim children in the West do, solidifying a robust sense of Islamic identity in the midst of peer and societal pressures is essential for spiritual health.[^38] Even for children growing up in Muslim-majority countries, developing a sense of self based on Islamic values can be a challenge. Shaping a sense of self-worth based on the core of who your child is—a worshipper of Allah, a beloved creation of the Almighty—sets the stage for a strong identity as they face the challenges inherent in daily life. ### Layer 3: Emphasis of purpose and faith through action > Then to Me you will all return, and then I will inform you of what you used to do. > > Luqmān  added, “O my dear son! Even if a deed were the weight of a mustard seed—be it hidden in a rock or in the heavens or the earth—Allah will bring it forth. Surely Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware. > > “O my dear son! Establish prayer, encourage what is good and forbid what is evil…” Just as belief in Allah is essential for success and building resilience, the manifestation of that belief through action is also necessary. Allah links actions that are pleasing to Him with emotional health and good in both this life and the next, > Whoever submits his face \[i.e., self\] in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.[^39] > Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give *zakat* will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.[^40] > Whoever does good, whether male or female, while he is a believer, We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward \[in the Hereafter\] according to the best of what they used to do.[^41] We often discuss faith and spirituality solely through the lens of mental and emotional applications. However, connection to Allah and to our identity as Muslims does not *solely* reside in the heart. Many of us mistakenly believe  that *feeling* a connection to our faith is enough to maintain it. However, action plays a decisive role in actualizing every component of the IIRM. This includes both encouraging action in our children and modeling it for them through our conduct. We see the importance of good deeds, and not merely good beliefs, in the following verses from the Qur’an: > O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do?[^42] > Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds \[that\] for them there is forgiveness and great reward.[^43] Research indicates that active religious practice can diminish the detrimental impact of acculturative stress on  Muslims living as minorities in a post-9/11 world.[^44] A research study involving Iranian Muslim students identified a significant association between positive religious coping, including religious practice, and psychological well-being.[^45] In a powerful study of 200 adolescent Muslim students,[^46] researchers found that the highly resilient teens were distinguished from their peers  on the basis of religious practice. Participants found to be highly resilient engaged in more religious practice and ritual Islamic behaviors motivated by their religious worldview.[^47] Those who engaged in good deeds, described as those whose behaviors towards “family, fellow human beings and the rest of creation including animals and the natural environment” were religiously guided, were also more resilient.[^48] The findings of these studies demonstrate that cognitive and emotional factors are not enough to forge a relationship between religion and resilience. Rather, they indicate the importance of manifesting these beliefs through action. ### Layer 4: Coping: Patience, distress tolerance, and adaptability > “...and endure patiently whatever befalls you. Surely this is a resolve to aspire to.” Patience is the attribute that allows us to tolerate distress and manage struggles in healthy ways. The capacity of an individual to cope during difficulty is an integral part of resilience.[^49] [Any skill that helps a person undergo stressful life experiences unscathed is a part of coping.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/when-our-worlds-are-shaken-finding-strength-in-beautiful-patience.) Allah reminds us of the importance of patience when faced with struggles, > We will surely test you until We make evident those who strive among you and are patient, and We will test your affairs.[^50] > Verily, only the patient will receive their reward without reckoning.[^51] The ability to choose long-term benefit over instant gratification is needed to maintain consistency in worship of Allah, stay away from what He has forbidden, choose the right course of action even when difficult and bounce back from trials. IIRM emphasizes how healthy coping strengthens spirituality and connection to Allah, while deriving research-supported coping skills from the examples of our Prophets and those around them—all of whom succeeded in balancing the *dunyā* and *ākhirah*. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ tied patience to attachment to Allah, indicating the necessity of both for building resilience: > Be mindful of Allah and be patient.[^52] As parents, we all try to protect our children from pain, both physical and emotional. However, one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is allowing them to struggle (to a certain extent). An abundance of research suggests that experiencing some degree of adversity and stress during childhood and adolescence has a protective effect.[^53] Studies have found that when an individual is faced with difficult experiences, they have the opportunity to learn how to navigate them, thereby allowing them to become psychologically stronger and resilient in the face of future stressors.[^54] This is called *stress inoculation.*[^55] Just as vaccinations often involve exposure to weaker strains of disease in order to protect an individual from contracting something detrimental to their health, experiencing stress in manageable doses can increase a person’s capacity for managing exposure to larger doses. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, > Whoever strives to be patient, then Allah will make him patient. There is no gift that is better and more comprehensive than patience.[^56] Distress tolerance is the ability to experience stress without succumbing to it. By allowing our children to foster their ability to tolerate distress, we give them a tremendous gift: the ability to face difficulties and come back stronger. The only way to gain this skill is through practice. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, > Verily, knowledge only comes by learning and forbearance only comes by cultivating forbearance. Whoever aims for good will receive goodness and whoever seeks to evade evil will be protected from it.[^57] Non-faith based models of resilience focus on bouncing back from adversity in the context of the *dunyā*, while IIRM emphasizes the importance of effective coping as necessary for both short-term (*dunyā*) and long-term (*ākhirah*) gain. What purpose would effective coping serve for a Muslim if it did not have any benefit for their Hereafter? What merit would there be in coping with this world only to suffer in the next? ### Layer 5: Character > “And do not turn your nose up to people, nor walk pridefully upon the earth. Surely Allah does not like whoever is arrogant, boastful. > > Be moderate in your pace. And lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is certainly the braying of donkeys.” Character strengths have been explained as “naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied”[^58] and have been connected to positive mental health outcomes. In these *āyāt,* Luqmān al-Hakeem does not outline all of the desirable character traits a Muslim should have, but lists some of the most important including humility, dignity, and sincerity. These traits are especially important today as social media, used by about 30% of 7-9 year-olds and 50% of 10-12 year-olds,[^59] simultaneously breeds narcissism, on the one hand,[^60] and  degraded self-esteem, on the other.[^61] Both effects are equally detrimental to resilience. Character development is essential to cultivating resilience because it is an external manifestation of all the other layers: understanding one’s purpose, remaining good-natured and patient when faced with difficulty, and persevering in maintaining one’s identity despite environmental circumstances. Character strengths help to mitigate trauma, and are positively linked to adjustment, mental health, and well-being.[^62] Character is also essential to doing well in the *ākhirah* as Prophet Muhammed ﷺ said, *“*Nothing is heavier on the scale of a believer on the Day of Resurrection than good character.”[^63] Good character is undoubtedly a protective force for us and our children in this world and the next. --- ## Pyramid of the Islamically Integrated Resilience Model Our model of Islamic resilience is based on the shape of a pyramid, with the base being the most important and foundational—all layers, though, are essential to building resilience from a psychospiritual perspective. Allah connects belief in Him to attaining success, and therefore in IIRM, the base of the pyramid is [***attachment to Allah first and foremost***, followed by attachment to parents](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/securing-healthy-attachment-with-god-and-parents-first-step-in-building-resilience-in-children), the prophets ﷺ and the *ummah* at large. The next layer in the pyramid is ***connection to one’s self***, which encompasses protective factors related to identity and self-esteem. Layer three elaborates on the importance of ***purpose in faith through action,*** and layer four explores the value of ***coping***, primarily through distress tolerance and adaptability. The pyramid culminates in ***character***, which brings to life all of the previous layers and highlights the importance of putting faith into practice. ![The pyramid of the Islamically integrated resiliency model](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image1-1024x956.jpg) --- ## Series format The remaining papers in this series will each explain the five sections of the Islamically Integrated Resiliency Model (IIRM). Each paper will elaborate on one layer of the pyramid above, highlighting one essential factor through the Qur’an and Sunnah, psychological research, and practical techniques to illustrate how to foster resilience in our children. To bring each concept to life we will include a real-life case study (with names and details changed for confidentiality) and break down implementation from a biopsychosocial-spiritual perspective. Just as we did in our [Trauma series](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/psychology-mental-health/trauma), we will emphasize the mind, body, and soul in each section to provide a holistic approach to building resilience in our children and giving them the best tools possible to benefit their life in this world and the next. --- ## Duʿāʾ for family guidance, protection and well-being O Allah, please bless and reward me and my children as we embark on this journey of getting closer to You. You are *al-Mujīb*, the One who responds to prayers and the One who fulfills them. Accept my efforts and my prayers for the best for my children. You are *al-Hādī*, the One who is the source of guidance. Please guide me to the approaches that are best for my child and the words and actions that will be a means of bringing them closer to You. Guide my children to the straight path; allow them to love what You love and guide them to the actions that are most pleasing to You. You are *al-Muhaymin*, the Protector, the Bestower of security, the Guardian, the Safeguarder. Protect my children from every evil and grant them the best of this life and the next. Grant them security and protect them from trauma. Guard them and grant them the strength and ability to face the tests of this life in the best of ways. You are *as-Salām*, the Source of peace, wholeness, and well-being. Heal my relationship with my children and fill it with peace. Allow my words and actions to fill our relationship with safety and stability and support me in my efforts to parent them in the way that is most pleasing to You. Heal my children from anything that may be an obstacle in their ability to connect with You and fill their relationship with You with peace, tranquility, and strength. ~ ~ ~ As you embark on this journey to parent with purpose and to build resilience in your children, we ask Allah to reward you for your efforts and every single moment of struggle that comes with being a caregiver to a child. Parenthood is incredibly hard so remember this during moments of hardship: Allah has chosen you for this child. He is telling you that you’re the most capable person for this job and that you’re strong enough to deal with the ups and downs inherent in this rollercoaster ride. You’re not the perfect parent—no one is. But you’re the parent who is most worthy to care for and raise your child because Allah, in His infinite wisdom, decreed this relationship; otherwise He wouldn’t have chosen you. We sincerely hope you and your child will benefit from this series of articles and that your relationship will flourish in the best of ways. May Allah bless your journey. --- ## Notes [^1]: Charles Ganaprakasam, Kavitha Davaidass, and Sivan Muniandy, “Helicopter Parenting and Psychological Consequences Among Adolescent,” *International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications* 8, no. 6 (2018). [^2]: Najwa Awad and Sarah Sultan, “Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You: Addressing the Impact of Trauma on Faith,” *Yaqeen*, January 10, 2019, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/amp/sarah-sultan/your-lord-has-not-forsaken-you-addressing-the-impact-of-trauma-on-faith](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/amp/sarah-sultan/your-lord-has-not-forsaken-you-addressing-the-impact-of-trauma-on-faith&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302553962&usg=AOvVaw30-eYV10RXqFlASwP-1g_V). [^3]: David W. Foy, Kent D. Drescher, and Patricia J. Watson, “Religious and Spiritual Factors in Resilience,” *Resilience and Mental Health,* 2011, 90–102, [https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511994791.008](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511994791.008&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302554369&usg=AOvVaw1SW8zeNnngvHSFa-rHpS0t). [^4]: Donald F. Walker, Henri Webb Reid, Tiffany O’Neill, and Lindsay Brown, “Changes in Personal Religion/Spirituality during and after Childhood Abuse: A Review and Synthesis,” *Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy* 1, no. 2 (2009): 130–45, [https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511994791.008](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511994791.008&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302554765&usg=AOvVaw3kluQvoWPs7nwXPQUfS27B). [^5]: James Garbarino and Claire Bedard, “Spiritual Challenges to Children Facing Violent Trauma,” *Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research* 3, 1996, 467–78, 467. [^6]: David W. Foy, Kent D. Drescher, and Patricia J. Watson, “Religious and Spiritual Factors in Resilience,” in *Resilience and Mental Health: Challenges Across the Lifespan*, ed. Steven M. Southwick, Brett T. Litz, Dennis Charney, and Matthew J. Friedman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 90–102. [^7]: “Ounce of Prevention, Pound of Cure,” University of Cambridge, October 9, 2012, [https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ounce-of-prevention-pound-of-cure](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ounce-of-prevention-pound-of-cure&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302555501&usg=AOvVaw2pUugKhjDYZFdGGWZZqipH). [^8]: Peter A. Levine and Maggie Kline, *Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parents’ Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience* (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2014), 1. [^9]: *Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 5644; *Sahih Muslim*, no. 2809. [^10]: Qur’an 29:2–3. [^11]: Qur’an 2:155–157. [^12]: *Sahih Muslim*, no. 2823. [^13]: *Sunan at-Tirmidhi*, no. 2399. [^14]: Qur’an 12:100. [^15]: Sally C. Curtin and Melonie Heron, “Death Rates Due to Suicide and Homicide Among Persons Aged 10–24: United States, 2000–2017,” NCHS Data Brief, no. 352, CDC, October 2019, [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302556088&usg=AOvVaw31Y3-SQCvGB_ZHaNJ_m-gJ). [^16]: Besheer Mohamed and Elizabeth Podrebarac Sciupac, “The Share of Americans Who Leave Islam Is Offset by Those Who Become Muslim,” Pew Research Center, May 30, 2020, [https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302556455&usg=AOvVaw3gOxdfUIJGkeZS3hqmEa_7). [^17]: Qur’an 5:27. [^18]: Qur’an 11:43. [^19]: Qur’an 12:18. [^20]: *Madārij al-Sālikīn*, 3:156. [^21]: Qur’an 31:13–19. [^22]: Blake Victor Kent, Matt Bradshaw, and Jeremy E. Uecker, “Forgiveness, Attachment to God, and Mental Health Outcomes in Older U.S. Adults: A Longitudinal Study,” *Research on Aging* 40, no. 5 (2018): 456–79, [www.doi.org/10.1177/0164027517706984](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1177/0164027517706984&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302567843&usg=AOvVaw0fCXlm9XAW1p9ukYeeDncT); Pernille Darling Rasmussen, Ole Jakob Storebø, Trine Løkkeholt, Line Gaunø Voss, Yael Shmueli-Goetz, Anders Bo Bojesen, Erik Simonsen, and Niels Bilenberg, “Attachment as a Core Feature of Resilience: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” *Psychological Reports* 122, no. 4 (2019): 1259–96, [www.doi.org/10.1177/0033294118785577](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1177/0033294118785577&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302568123&usg=AOvVaw0L2KUX5mLP3iinG1t0PO9D). [^23]: Rasmussen et al., “Attachment as a Core Feature of Resilience.” [^24]: Jennika J. Jenkins, “The Relationship Between Resilience, Attachment, and Emotional Coping Styles,” (master’s thesis, Old Dominion University, 2016), [www.doi.org/10.25777/0wcx-gr47](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.25777/0wcx-gr47&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302558475&usg=AOvVaw3vbfHa8cpUFkayW7vpnn1C), [https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology\_etds/28](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/28&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302558682&usg=AOvVaw2xh5-iFRa5sgV_q1G-ynuf). [^25]: Hielke Buddelmeyera and Nattavudh Powdthaveeba, “Can Having Internal Locus of Control Insure against Negative Shocks? Psychological Evidence from Panel Data,” *Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization* 122, 88–109, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2015.11.014](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2015.11.014&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302559138&usg=AOvVaw2aMEUxMS3t9lUyIv3cLK_W). [^26]: Kathleen Anne Moore, Patricia Marriner, and Jon-Paul Cacioli, “The Relationship of Attachment to Resilience and Their Impact on Stress,” in *Stress and Anxiety: Applications to Social and Environmental Threats, Psychological Wellbeing, Occupational Challenges and Developmental Psychology*, ed. Kathleen A. Moore, Krzysztof Kaniasty, Petra Buchwald, and Siobhan Howard (Berlin: Logos, 2014), 73–82, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275833354\_The\_relationship\_of\_attachment\_to\_resilience\_and\_their\_impact\_on\_stress](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275833354_The_relationship_of_attachment_to_resilience_and_their_impact_on_stress&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302559581&usg=AOvVaw06W5w90i54zD4a4IAdGpps). [^27]: Rasmussen et al., “Attachment as a Core Feature of Resilience.” [^28]: Adabel Lee and Benjamin L. Hankin, “Insecure Attachment, Dysfunctional Attitudes, and Low Self-Esteem Predicting Prospective Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety during Adolescence,” *Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology* 38, no. 2 (2009): 219–31, [https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410802698396](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410802698396&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302568564&usg=AOvVaw2tE3IkZM_Flsxi46_IbmOz). [^29]: Oladiti Olawale, “The Impact of Secure Attachment on Interpersonal Relationship: A Review,” *International Journal of Indian Psychology* 4, no. 4 (2017), [www.doi.org/10.25215/0404.079](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.25215/0404.079&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302568973&usg=AOvVaw3fV5YwkTcecC2Ll2N7vm17). [^30]: Fatih Ozbay, Douglas C. Johnson, Eleni Dimoulas, C. A. Morgan, III, Dennis Charney, and Steven Southwick, “Social Support and Resilience to Stress: From Neurobiology to Clinical Practice,” *Psychiatry* 4, no. 5 (2007): 35–40. [^31]: *Musnad Ahmad,* no. 1412. [^32]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 15; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 44. [^33]: Qur’an 51:56. [^34]: Qur’an 59:19. [^35]: Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek, “Religiosity, Subjective Well-Being, Self-Esteem, and Anxiety among Kuwaiti Muslim Adolescents,” *Mental Health, Religion and Culture* 14, no. 2 (2011): 129–40. [^36]: Osman Umarji, “Will My Children Be Muslim? The Development of Religious Identity in Young People,” *Yaqeen*, January 16, 2020, updated October 17, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/will-my-children-be-muslim-the-development-of-religious-identity-in-young-people](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/will-my-children-be-muslim-the-development-of-religious-identity-in-young-people&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302571874&usg=AOvVaw1P2oMKHqksohyXMi7Rujrb). [^37]: S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, Tom Postmes, and Catherine Haslam, “Social Identity, Health and Well-Being: An Emerging Agenda for Applied Psychology,” *Applied Psychology*, 58 (2009): 1–23, [www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464- 0597.2008.00379](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302561563&usg=AOvVaw0WxRYNgLi1VRzOLVF12lVR); Jolanda Jetten, Catehrine Haslam, and S. Alexander Haslam, eds., *The Social Cure: Identity, Health and Well-Being* (New York: Psychology Press, 2012). [^38]: Gloria T. DiFulvio, “Sexual Minority Youth, Social Connection and Resilience: From Personal Struggle to Collective Identity,” *Social Science and Medicine* 72 (2011): 1611–17, [www.doi.org/10.1016/ j.socscimed.2011.02.045](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.1016/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302562000&usg=AOvVaw15nLny96OBYrLInodM0iCr); Anisa N. Goforth, Evelyn R. Oka, Frederick T. L. Leong, and Daniel J. Denis, “Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, Religiosity and Psychological Adjustment among Muslim Arab American Adolescents,” *Journal of Muslim Mental Health* 8, no. 2 (2014). [^39]: Qur’an 2:112. [^40]: Qur’an 2:277. [^41]: Qur’an 16:97. [^42]: Qur’an 61:2. [^43]: Qur’an 5:9. [^44]: Zeenah Adam and Colleen Ward, “Stress, Religious Coping and Wellbeing in Acculturating Muslims,” *Journal of Muslim Mental Health* 10, no. 2 (2016). [^45]: Abdulaziz Aflakseir and P. G. Coleman, “Initial Development of the Iranian Religious Coping Scale,” *Journal of Muslim Mental Health* 6, no. 1 (2011). [^46]: Narayanan Annalakshmi and Mohammed Abeer, “Islamic Worldview, Religious Personality and Resilience among Muslim Adolescent Students in India,” *Europe’s Journal of Psychology* 7, no. 4 (2011): 716–38. [^47]: Annalakshmi and Abeer, “Islamic Worldview, Religious Personality and Resilience.” [^48]: Annalakshmi and Abeer, “Islamic Worldview, Religious Personality and Resilience.” [^49]: Adrian D. Van Breda, “Resilience Theory: A Literature Review,” South African Military Health Service, 2001. [^50]: Qur’an 47:31. [^51]: Qur’an 39:10 [^52]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1223. [^53]: Damian Scarf, John Hunter, Jill Hayhurst, Ted Ruffman, Saleh Moradi, and Mike Boyes, “Somewhere I Belong: Long‐Term Increases in Adolescents’ Resilience Are Predicted by Perceived Belonging to the In‐Group,” *British Journal of Social Psychology* 55, no. 3 (2016): 588–99; Megan R. Gunnar, Kristin Frenn, Sandi S. Wewerka, and Mark J. Van Ryzin, “Moderate versus Severe Early Life Stress: Associations with Stress Reactivity and Regulation in 10–12-Year-Old Children,” *Psychoneuroendocrinology* 34 no. 1 (2009): 62–75; Benjamin G. Shapero, Jessica L. Hamilton, Jonathan P. Stange, Richard T. Liu, Lyn Y. Abramson, and Lauren B. Alloy, “Moderate Childhood Stress Buffers against Depressive Response to Proximal Stressors: A Multi-Wave Prospective Study of Early Adolescents,” *Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology* 43, no. 8 (2015): 1403–13. [^54]: Richard A. Dienstbier, “Arousal and Physiological Toughness: Implications for Mental and Physical Health,” *Psychological Review* 96, no. 1 (1989): 84. [^55]: Donald Meichenbaum and Deborah Fitzpatrick, “A Constructivist Narrative Perspective on Stress and Coping: Stress Inoculation Applications,” in *Handbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects* (N.p.: Free Press, 1993), 706–23. [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6470; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1053. [^57]: Collected by at-Tabarani in *al-Mu'jam al-awsat*, 3:118 and graded *hasan* by al-Albani in *as-Silsilah as-sahihah*, no. 342. [^58]: Timothy D. Hodges and Donald O. Clifton, “Strengths-Based Development in Practice,” in *Handbook of Positive Psychology in Practice*, ed. A. Linley and S. Joseph (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004), 256–68, 257. [^59]: Linda Searing, “One-Third of Children Ages 7 to 9 Use Social Media Apps, Study Says,” *Washington Post*, November 21, 2021, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/social-media-young-kids/2021/11/19/3130ce5a-488a-11ec-95dc-5f2a96e00fa3\_story.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/social-media-young-kids/2021/11/19/3130ce5a-488a-11ec-95dc-5f2a96e00fa3_story.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302569915&usg=AOvVaw0H2uKTo1gy9WITPq98KgU9). [^60]: Mihriban Akkoz and Oytun Erbas, “The Relationship between Social Media Use and Narcissism,” *Demiroglu Science University Florence Nightingale Transplantation Journal* 5, no. 1–2 (2020): 32–38, [www.doi.org/10.5606/dsufnjt.2020.014](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.5606/dsufnjt.2020.014&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302566926&usg=AOvVaw39DparZ9rMF_6jsU9-CK7v). [^61]: Betul Keles, Niall McCrae, and Annmarie Grealish, “A Systematic Review: The Influence of Social Media on Depression, Anxiety and Psychological Distress in Adolescents,” *International Journal of Adolescence and Youth* 25, no. 1 (2020): 79–93. [^62]: Anat Shoshan and Michelle Slone, “The Resilience Function of Character Strengths in the Face of War and Protracted Conflict,” *Frontiers in Psychology*, January 12, 2016, [www.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02006](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02006&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1667944302567432&usg=AOvVaw1T6JeBtvxfA7mQZbxJgOM7). [^63]: *Sunan at-Tirmidhi*, no. 2002. ## Summary Muslim parents today carry a heavy weight of worry, and this concern is not without basis. In a world increasingly shaped by atheism, self-absorption, and fragile family structures, parents rightly fear whether their children will hold fast to the Qur'an and Sunnah into adulthood, whether they will love Allah sincerely, or whether their faith will become a mere performance for the sake of family. Within our communities we hear painful accounts—the youth who fell into addiction, the eight-year-old who questions Allah's existence after a friend's remark, the diligent daughter whose faith and well-being unraveled through an unhealthy relationship, the bullied child who wonders why Allah did not protect him. These are not distant tragedies; they may strike our own households. The aim here is to offer parents a path away from constant anxiety, one grounded not in scattered quick fixes but in a coherent Islamic framework rooted in prevention rather than reaction. The guiding vision is resilience: nurturing children so that they can withstand life's inevitable trials without suffering unnecessary mental, emotional, and spiritual harm. Whereas an earlier body of work on trauma sought to pull adults out of the metaphorical river of suffering, the purpose of this effort is to keep children from falling into that river in the first place. A prevalent misconception is that shielding children from all hardship produces flourishing adults. On the contrary, "bulldozer parenting," which removes every obstacle, and "helicopter parenting," which micromanages the child, tend to breed entitlement and leave children unprepared for adversity. Research indicates that helicopter parenting often backfires, yielding adolescents with psychological maladjustment and reduced self-efficacy. The dilemma for parents is how to be nurturing and empathetic while also cultivating perseverance and the capacity to endure difficulty. The missing piece, it is argued, is the deliberate fostering of resilience. This concern extends into the realm of mental health. Drawing on years of clinical work with individuals and families, the authors observed how deeply trauma can weaken a person's spirituality, and how the loss of faith after hardship can, in turn, obstruct healing. Researchers have described childhood traumatization as a kind of "reverse religious experience," a process of overwhelming arousal and cognition that threatens a child's very sense of meaning. For this reason resilience and the mitigation of trauma are presented as protective factors for both mental and spiritual health. Through such prevention, by the will of Allah, long-term trauma and certain spiritual crises can in many cases be averted—an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. Resilience is understood as the capacity to rebound from stress, fear, and feelings of helplessness, likened to a slinky that returns to its shape no matter how far it is stretched. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ conveyed this quality when he said that the believer is like a fresh, tender plant that bends with the wind and straightens again when the wind subsides, while the wicked person is like a rigid cedar that stands firm until Allah breaks it when He wills. Trials, moreover, are an unavoidable part of this worldly life, decreed by Allah for a purpose. He asks, "Do people think once they say, 'We believe,' that they will be left without being put to the test?" and He informs us, "And surely We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the patient." The Prophet ﷺ likewise taught that "Paradise is surrounded by adversity, and Hellfire is surrounded by lusts," and that the believing man or woman remains under trial in life, property, and offspring until meeting Allah free of sin. Resilience, then, is what allows a person to face such struggles while maintaining a stable connection to Allah, and it can be cultivated over time, as seen in the life of Prophet Yūsuf عليه السلام, who endured trial after trial and finally declared, "Indeed my Lord is subtle in fulfilling what He wills." Given the rise in suicide among the young and the reality that some who are raised Muslim leave the faith, nurturing this quality is more urgent than ever. An Islamic framework is deemed essential because existing resilience models, even those that are faith-based, do not integrate Islam and thus cannot supply the Qur'anic and prophetic wisdom that Muslim families require. It is wiser to strengthen children with Islamic resilience before hardship than to introduce Islamic concepts only after tragedy, for parents cannot expect their children to turn to a faith that was never modeled beforehand. At the same time, no human approach can guarantee success; even Ādam, Nūḥ, and Yaʿqūb عليهم السلام faced parenting challenges despite divine guidance, and the approach offered is presented humbly, without any claim to possess all answers. The resulting framework, the Islamically Integrated Resilience Model, was inspired by the counsel of Luqmān al-Ḥakīm to his son in Sūrah Luqmān, whose verses touch upon tawḥīd, enjoining good, patience, and noble character—concepts that align closely with the components of resilience found in contemporary research. Ibn al-Qayyim's reflection that the heart's disorders can only be remedied by responding to Allah underscores why connection to Him lies at the center of the model. Its layers unfold as a pyramid. The foundation is attachment: first and foremost attachment to Allah, since He alone sends and removes adversity, and reliance upon Him offers a stability, internal locus of control, and continuity that human relationships cannot match. This is followed by attachment to parents, which the Qur'an places immediately after the command of tawḥīd, and which parents build through modeling, warm relationship, and the teaching of skills. It further includes attachment to the prophets and the rightly guided, and to the ummah, for the Prophet ﷺ warned against jealousy and hatred that destroy religion and urged the spreading of salām so that love may grow, and he declared that none truly believes until he loves the Prophet ﷺ more than his own father, children, and all people. The second layer is connection to oneself through a firm Islamic identity and healthy self-esteem, grounded in the purpose for which we were created: "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." The warning "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves" shows that self-knowledge is a blessing tied to remembering Allah, and research links religiosity among Muslim youth to well-being and self-esteem. The third layer stresses purpose and faith through action, for belief must be manifested in deeds; the Qur'an repeatedly joins faith with righteous action, prayer, and zakat as sources of reward and freedom from fear, and rebukes those who "say what you do not do." Studies of Muslim youth found that the most resilient were distinguished by their religious practice and God-conscious conduct, confirming that emotion and cognition alone are insufficient. The fourth layer is coping through patience, distress tolerance, and adaptability. Allah tests His servants "until We make evident those who strive among you and are patient," and the patient receive their reward without reckoning. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Be mindful of Allah and be patient," and that whoever strives for patience will be granted it, there being no gift better or more comprehensive. Allowing children measured struggle—akin to stress inoculation—strengthens them, for as the Prophet ﷺ taught, knowledge comes by learning and forbearance by cultivating it. Unlike secular models, this coping serves both the dunyā and the ākhirah. The pyramid culminates in character, where Luqmān warns against arrogance and commands humility, dignity, and moderation—traits especially needed in an age of social media that fosters both narcissism and diminished self-worth. The Prophet ﷺ said that nothing is heavier on the believer's scale than good character. Each layer will be explored in turn in subsequent parts, with case studies and a holistic approach to mind, body, and soul. Parents are reminded, finally, to turn to Allah in supplication—invoking Him as al-Mujīb who answers, al-Hādī who guides, al-Muhaymin who protects, and as-Salām who grants peace—and to take comfort that Allah, in His wisdom, chose them for their children precisely because they are the most worthy to raise them. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/are-you-a-visual-learner-here-are-5-islamic-infographics-to-learn-from-today # Are You a Visual Learner? Here Are 5 Islamic Infographics to Learn From Today | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Education, Family & Community **Tags:** Blog **Published:** November 2, 2022 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 Visual learners make up 65% percent of the population, so it’s no wonder that infographics are one of the most popular forms of content today. In addition to simplifying complex topics, infographics also improve our retention of the information presented. At Yaqeen, we’re dedicated to making Islamic content as accessible as possible, which is why we offer infographics on various topics. Here are 5 Islamic infographics to check out today. --- ## 1\. Living by Judgment Day’s Promise The Day of Judgment is not some distant reality. It’s a promise. One day, we’ll stand before our Creator and be held accountable for our time spent in this world. For the believer, this day is not just one to occasionally think about and fear. [This infographic](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/living-by-judgment-days-promise-infographic) illustrates the 3 ways that the certainty of Judgment Day can help motivate us and shape our day-to-day lives. --- ## 2\. Is Islam a Hub for Terrorists? As repeated incidents of violence occur in the name of Islam, Muslims have become accustomed to their faith being placed on trial in the media at each occurrence. [This infographic](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/is-islam-a-hub-for-terrorists-infographic) sets the record straight on extremism, Islamophobia, and religious violence. --- ## 3\. From Tongue to Page: The Mechanics of Hadith Preservation Islam’s rich literary heritage shines when we look at the way Hadith transmission and preservation has been managed. [This infographic](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/from-tongue-to-page-the-mechanics-of-hadith-preservation-infographic) walks you through the way Hadith have been preserved, from first spoken to the books we have today. --- ## 4. Tahajjud: Our Infinite Fuel Source *Tahajjud* can help us accomplish our personal goals as well as grant us the energy and the guidance to help others. Learn how you can establish a *[tahajjud](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/tahajjud-our-infinite-fuel-source-infographic)* habit in your daily life and start recharging with this energy source. --- ## 5\. Touched by Trauma: “Why Do Bad Things Always Happen to Me?” Why do some people end up facing the same struggles over and over again? [This infographic](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/part-2-touched-by-trauma-why-do-bad-things-always-happen-to-me), the second of our [series on trauma](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/psychology-mental-health/trauma), focuses on how we can break the cycles of negativity. Want more? [Click here](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics) to browse our entire collection of Islamic infographics on topics from abortion to God’s existence, meditation in Islam, and more. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/its-okay-to-be-different-how-to-talk-to-kids-about-halloween-and-islam # It's Okay to Be Different: How to Talk to Kids About Halloween and Islam | Blog **Author:** Sh. Ibrahim Hindy **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog **Published:** October 28, 2022 **Updated:** October 20, 2023 I was driving my 5 year old son home from his swimming lessons when he told me about a conversation he had with his swimming instructor. It’s a conversation I imagine many Muslim kids and parents in the West have had in one form or another. “He asked me what I’m going to be for Halloween,” Yunus said during the car ride home. I said, “Oh. So what did you tell him?” Yunus just made a gesture of zipping his lips shut and said, “I didn’t say anything.” “Why not? Why didn’t you tell them that you don’t believe in Halloween?” I inquired. “I can’t say that! Next time I’ll just tell them my mom won't let me celebrate Halloween,” Yunus replied. “But that’s not fair, Yunus. Do we not celebrate Halloween because of me or your mom? Or do we not celebrate it because of Allah?” “Because of Allah…” Yunus sheepishly admitted. “So then why do you want to say it’s because of mama? Why not say it’s not part of your religion?” He looked out the window and sighed, “I don’t know. They won’t understand.” I grew up here in Canada just like my son. I know very well the experience of being a child during Halloween. I still have memories of when my parents would shut off all the lights in the house so that we could pretend that we weren’t home when the trick-or-treaters came along. Of course, there were cars in our driveway so that didn’t work too well! But I remember my siblings and I peering out of the window and gazing at all the kids coming to the door. There’s no question that it would cause us to feel left out or even deprived of this great experience (and candy!) that all the other kids were enjoying. And I definitely know the awkwardness of trying to explain to non-Muslim neighbors why I didn’t have a costume–that same feeling that my son is now experiencing. > I think a lot of Muslims who grew up in the West have similar memories. The feelings of being deprived or not knowing how to relate your experience to others might stay with many even into adulthood. But I realized something important as I got older. Going through the experience of not celebrating Halloween in a society that overwhelmingly does helped me in my spiritual growth. It allowed me to grow thicker skin in learning to resist societal pressures. It absolutely came in handy years later when the neighbor’s kids offered cigarettes to me. I was already used to being different. It wouldn’t matter if I would be different once again. In fact, the Qur’an really preaches the ideal of being different. It reminds us in so many verses and ways that “most people do not know” or “most people are not thankful.” Variations of these phrases are found 20 or more times throughout the Qur’an. Moreover Allah brings us the example of Prophet Ibrahim, a young man who stood up against his entire society, refusing to participate in paganism. > There has already been for you an excellent example in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people, "Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah.” \[Surat Al-Mumtahanah, 60:4\] As humans, we find comfort in the company of others, but “most people” will not take us where we need to go. And this isn’t only true in our religion but in our worldly lives as well. To excel in our businesses, we have to develop financial discipline and an extremely strong work ethic–something that “most people” never do. To excel in athletics, we have to eat very healthy foods in particular quantities and train extremely hard–again, something that “most people” will not do. And this is true in our faith. To excel spiritually, to be on the right path, we have to be different from “most people.” As a child, the idea of being different made me feel a sense of inferiority, but now I understand that it actually forces you to be better. It forces you to be uncomfortable, in the best way. So later, I sat with my son and I spoke to him about Halloween. We spoke about *shirk* and paganism, and why participating in any aspect of it is deeply wrong. [This paper](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-is-shirk-the-greatest-sin-of-all) by Dr. Zohair Abdur-Rahman really helped me organize my thoughts. We spoke about the [history of Halloween](http://www.history.com/topics/halloween) and its connection to pagan rituals. I also spoke to him about how I experienced Halloween as a child, and the feelings it brought to my heart, which he might experience too. But I focused on how obeying Allah brought me strength later on–that the sacrifices we make today for the sake of Allah will always bear fruit in the future. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I spoke to him about his swim class. “Are you proud to be Muslim?” I asked. “Of course!” “Tell me, what are the things you love about Islam?” Yunus struggled for a moment but then slowly began to name things “Allah…the Prophet…Eid…going to the Masjid…the stories of the Prophets…the Qur’an…” Soon he couldn’t stop naming the things he loved about Islam! “Ok Yunus, would you trade Islam for anything?” “Of course not!” “Then shouldn’t we be happy to let other people know that we are Muslims and that we have this beautiful religion? Like in your swim class, if they asked you about Halloween, shouldn’t you be proud to tell them that Islam means a lot to you and that’s why you won’t celebrate Halloween?” I’m not very sure how exactly he’ll deal with the question next time, but he seemed far more assured after our conversation. Spiritual growth is a process that your child will have to experience individually. All we can do is be with them, have open communication, and try our best to advise them. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/finding-truth-in-a-post-truth-world # Finding Truth in a Post-Truth World **Author:** Dr. Tamara Gray **Topics:** Contemporary Ideologies, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** October 26, 2022 **Updated:** October 22, 2025 ## Introduction It was a cold winter day and bits of icy snow were still falling on the windshield. I was in the passenger seat of our station wagon and my mother’s mouth was set in “stress.” She said, “When we go inside, you will hear me apologize for being late, and blaming the snow. This is a white lie. We shouldn’t ever lie. But if I don’t, I might lose the appointment.” I was a little bit in awe—my mother was about to *lie*. I walked into the hair salon with ears and eyes paying close attention. And she did mumble something to the receptionist about our precarious ride to the shop, after which we were hustled over to a waiting space and quickly given our turns. The reason this event was forever etched in my mind is that honesty and truthfulness were high priorities in my family. I was taught very early not to lie and that the consequences for lying were far worse than those for mistakes that were truthfully owned up to. Is truth still important? And what about Truth? Truth with a capital *T* is a truth that is not influenced by whether or not people believe it. It will remain True if all the world sees it as false and it will remain True if all the world sees it as true. Truth with a capital *T* has faced centuries of challenges, not the least of which have been human attempts to convey or even enforce Truth. These attempts were not Truth, but human truths that were culturally and/or historically bound and therefore did not serve the greater Truth. Truth still exists today, undeterred by a society termed post-Truth by many. Post-Truth is not a chronological claim—it does not mean that we have moved into a time after truth, but rather into a time where Truth and even truth are deemed less important than personal or political gain. As for truth with a lowercase *t*, it is often connected to a Truth, but does not have to be in order to be true to someone. Lower case *t*\-truths are those that emerge from personal experience, true to one person or many, and connected to the words we say and things we do. The presence of truthfulness is a prerequisite for trustworthiness, and so its absence impacts families, workplaces, and all social and community relationships. A lack of trust—in systems, in institutions, in each other—means a lack of personal safety, and a corresponding need to set boundaries. In a low-trust and post-truth society such as our own, how can one trust that a medical diagnosis is correct, that a restaurant is serving hamburger rather than ground dog, and that a grade on a test is based on an objective rubric?  In a society where Truth is passé, can we be people of truth with one another? How do we locate Truth and live truthfully in a community of truth-tellers? --- ## Locating Truth (capital T) Pre-modern humanity tied Truth closely to religion.[^1] Western societies regarded Church claims as necessarily True, even when they concerned the solar system, human health, and other subjects outside the purview of revelation. Truth for Muslims during this time remained confined to the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and people of God who conveyed their knowledge and experiences to others. There were certainly erroneous claims about science and scientific discoveries that originated in individual Muslim scholars, but they were not considered part of revelation, only interpretations of it. In other words, they were understood as lower case *t*\-truths. As modernity dawned, the gap between the Christian and Muslim attitudes regarding Truth began to widen. Toward the end of these years, new inventions, antibiotics, and a growing confidence in independent human ability began to change Western attitudes toward the source of Truth. Science replaced the Church as the source of Truth.[^2] Muslims began to replace their trust in legal canon with a push for independent research in what were now translated as Islamic “sciences.” However a great difference still remained. While the West became agnostic and atheist, the Muslim “east” was still rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah, though admittedly missing early traditions and discourses. Truth remained with God and His Prophet ﷺ, but miracles that could not be explained scientifically were hidden or denied. This caused a loss of discussion around issues of spirituality and a leaning toward legalism, which in turn had its own effects on Muslim society.[^3] In the mid-twentieth century, science began to disappoint. Though it did bring forth some truths (penicillin as a cure for bacterial infections), it also  brought forth lies (claims of white superiority based on physical characteristics), and confusion (pills prescribed to treat nausea caused frightening birth defects). The reliance on science for Truth began to diminish, especially as it brought about analog machines and eventually the internet. Where colonialism brought the Christian west into power over Muslim lands, the globalizing effect of the internet opened the windows of the world to everyone. Science no longer was Truth. Tradition still was not Truth. Truth lost its capital *T*. Truth became truths and the post-modern stage began. Of course truths have always existed amongst people. Truth (with a lowercase *t*) is related to our interpretations of our own lives. My mother’s lie about the snow-bound roads to the hairdresser was a lie to her because she did not slip on the roads, nor get stuck behind a snow plow. But to me, it was still a truth. There was snow. We had to go slower than usual. Perhaps we got started late because we were looking for boots and gloves, I don’t actually remember. But experiences and interpretations of those experiences are personal truths. They are not universal and can only be known through honest communication with one another, and even then may be understood but not fully known. In this case what is true for one person may not be true for someone else. Muslims should have compassion and respect for everyone’s personal perspectives on truth, and become aware of how privilege silences some experiences and amplifies others. --- ## Lies and Truth/truth-telling In every stage of history—premodernity where Truth was grounded in religion, modernity where it was grounded in science, and postmodernity where it was set aside in favor of truths—people have lied. Sometimes it was the Church, offering position, power, and absolution for money instead of piety. Other times it was  science, claiming to have empirically proven certain peoples inferior to others. And then, though it may seem trivial, there was the Great Lie of Santa Claus. Of course as a child of middle America I fell prey to the great Santa Claus lie. I was told that Santa Claus was real, that he brought me gifts, that he flew in a sleigh and lived in the North Pole. I believed it. Discovering the Truth—that there was no Santa Claus—embarrassed me (for believing such a thing in the first place) and shook my trust in adults (who had conspired to ensure I believed this ludicrous idea for as long as possible). I carefully watched my siblings grow through the Santa Claus years, revealing to them the truth before they embarrassed themselves by believing in what their friends now knew to be a lie. Amazingly, even in a time when everyone’s truth is deemed important, non-Christian children in elementary schools across the United States are still called upon to perpetuate the Great Lie of Santa Claus. Children who discover the truth at home—there is no Santa Claus—are told to uphold the lie to their friends at school who still believe that the jolly man with the flying reindeers is real. I do not know of any research on the impact of a society’s agreement to lie to children, but I cannot imagine that it is positive. I think this lie in particular must be damaging to children who believe it and then find the world has agreed to their deception. What does it do to basic trust in humanity? How does discovering that the man who “sees you when you are sleeping, knows when you are awake, knows when you’ve been bad or good” (lyrics of a famous Christmas song) is made up affect the child’s ability to believe in God? This lie is more than a lie. It is an intentional replacement of Truth. It is more than knowing a truth and denying it; it is knowing something is a falsehood and claiming it is truth. It is perhaps part and parcel of what is now called a post-Truth society. In 2016, post-Truth was proclaimed the word of the year by the Oxford Dictionaries.[^4] Post-Truth implies that truth is no longer important. It is different from a lie. A lie is a falsification of facts; e.g., “I did not eat the cookie.” A liar knows that there was a fact (he ate the cookie), but denies it and claims otherwise. A post-truth statement like “Cookies are a poison, created by bakers, in order to cause chaos in American grocery stores” is not a simple denial of fact, but a fabricated concept meant to distract the listener from the missing cookie. Locating Truth and truth, as well as trusting that truth has been spoken, has become more and more difficult. --- ## Seeking Truth, finding truth, telling the truth, and living a truthful life Truth and lies between individuals build and break relationships. Friends we can trust are those who neither lie, nor hide important things from us. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was called *al-Amīn* (the trustworthy) by his friends and family many years before revelation. This relationship of trust and truth was an important factor in early conversions. When I was 17 years old I was struck by the question of Jesus. Was he really God? God’s son? Or was this another place where Truth was watered down, changed, or just not there? It was devastating to learn that the Council of Nicaea, in the year 325 A.D., had voted on this very issue. Voted? In my young opinion, Truth wasn’t something to vote on. It was either True, or not True. Voting did happen for the president of the United States, however, and in 1984 I was two days shy of 18 so I could not vote. A staunch Democrat from a long line of Democrats, I was incredibly disappointed when Ronald Reagan crushed my home state’s Walter Mondale (a Minnesota candidate with a woman running for Vice President along with him). The media wondered whether President Reagan was only performing or whether he was actually able to fulfill the duties of the presidency. The same uncertainty haunted my religious understanding. How do I know what is true? How do I hold on to Truth? I felt frustrated and helpless. These months were months of elections, religious questioning, and reflections on the fragility of conviction. Of course the internet was not yet a thing, so my search for Truth would take me from person to person. I asked questions, read books, and considered possibilities. I was looking for more than a truth. I was looking for the Truth—about God, life, and what comes next. It was January 1985 when I found it. Truth finally had a name: Islam. I became a Muslim immediately. This Truth was a personal truth, one that came about because of a spiritual experience. It was not based on a long academic search for intellectual proofs or even a family tradition of faith. I was stepping out on my own. A personal truth is sustaining. But in my experience, much of the American Muslim community I came into contact with in 1985 was detached from spiritual traditions and still deeply entrenched in literalism and an unexamined sexism proclaimed as Islam. I was stuck by the disparity between the Truth of Islam and the truths of Muslims that felt nonsensical, sexist, and harmful to me. I didn’t know enough about colonialism, or postcolonial dictatorships, modernism and postmodernism to untangle the sticky truth claims that were attempting to unglue the Truth from my heart. --- ## Al-Ḥaqq and b’il-ḥaqq One of the names of God is *al-Ḥaqq*—the Truth. God is the Truth. God’s presence is real and true. The human being seeks Truth and God provides knowledge of Himself. This is the Truth of God. I became a Muslim on the day I tapped into this Truth. I prayed my first prayer, and in the second *sujūd* asked God the simple question, “Are these your words (the Qur’an)?” I felt an overwhelming certainty that yes, they were indeed the words of God and so when I lifted my head from the prayer mat, I was a Muslim. I had tapped into the Truth, the Ultimate Reality—*al-Ḥaqq*. God is the Truth that is true whether we believe in the Truth of God or not. How did I know it was the Truth? Prayer opened my heart to my inner need for God (*fiṭra)*, curiosity allowed me to pray that prayer, and the prayer itself was an inner signpost that offered me an opportunity to hold on to the Truth that is God. Not only is God the Truth (*al-Ḥaq**q*), but God does things in Truth… (*bi’l-ḥaqq*). - God has created the heavens and the earth, in truth.[^5] - God has created the heavens and the earth in truth, this is a sign for believers.[^6] - Do they not think within themselves Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in truth…[^7] - He created the heavens and the earth, in truth…[^8] - He is the one who created the heavens and the earth, in truth, and the day He will say Be, there will be. His word is Truth and His is the dominion on the day when the Trumpet is blown. He knows all that lies beyond the reach of human perception as well as all that is visible to humanity. He is the Wise. The Aware.[^9] - And Allah created the heavens and the earth, in truth.[^10] - We did not create the heavens and the earth and that which is between then, but in truth …[^11] - He created the heavens and the earth in truth, and formed you in the best of forms…[^12] *Al-Ḥaqq* (the Truth) created *b’il-ḥaqq* (in Truth). What does it mean to create “in truth”? The heavens and the earth have been created for a purpose. Truth and purpose collide here in the seriousness of the act of creation. The whole of creation is measured and correct. Each varied particle and detailed difference is known by God and is part of God’s wisdom. The phrase *b’il-ḥaqq* also implies that the entire universe has been created on a foundation of justice, wisdom, and truth. Though we may be exhausted by the tangled lies, [fake news](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/fake-news-is-nothing-new-misinformation-and-islamic-critical-epistemology), and post truths of social media, there is rest in Truth even when we have no idea what it is. Truth can be accessed in the unspoiled creation of God. Places of natural beauty are a source of rest for the human being, reconnecting us to the Truth and helping us to build truthfulness within because every falling leaf, drop of water, and blade of grass was created *bi’l-ḥaqq* by *al-Ḥaqq*. But we also need to be in communities of trust, places where we can live together in justice and wisdom, accessing Truth through our truthfulness, authenticity, and goodness. A place where individual truths are grounded in sincerity not manipulation, reality not falsehood, and respect not ridicule. --- ## A community of truth He climbed up to the top of Mount Ṣafā—a place well known for important announcements. To the people who had gathered, he asked, “Would you believe me if I told you an enemy was awaiting us around that mountain?” (Ibn Hishām). They replied in the affirmative. He was, after all, the truth-teller. He was *al-Amīn*. He was from noble ancestry, and he was good and kind. They trusted him with their money and their goods, and just recently had trusted him to return the black stone to its correct place in the rebuilding of the Kaaba. They all looked at him expectantly. He announced that he was the Messenger of God, that an angel had visited him, that the Qur’an was being revealed, and that they should follow him. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had told them the truth and had told them about the Truth. He had indeed been visited by angel Gabriel, he had spent months secretly sharing with and growing a small community of believers, and he had now been called upon to make the message public. But this truth was too much. Though his people knew him as the teller of truth, this truth threatened their hold on power. They ridiculed him and denied the Truth of their own truthful one. When the COVID virus of 2019 fell upon the world, there were those who refused to believe in it. As months went on, nurses reported patients dying from COVID even as they remained in denial. “What is wrong with me?” “You have COVID.” “I cannot have COVID, it is not real! Find out what is wrong with me!” and they would keep shouting this until silenced by the ventilator and eventually death. Did they know it to be true and deny the truth of it? Or were they actually confused by social media ‘science’ and the lies of leadership? Rudyard Kipling’s poem “A Legend of Truth” begins: > Once upon a time, the ancient legends tell, > > Truth, rising from the bottom of her well, > > Looked on the world, but, hearing how it lied, > > Returned to her seclusion horrified…[^13] The poem goes on to say that Fiction overtook the world until the world fell to so much evil that she needed Truth (sic) to return, and when she did the truth that needed to be told was so difficult she needed to call Fiction back to help her narrate world events. Sometimes hearing about the horrible things happening around the world is too painful. Knowing the truth of all things can cause anxiety, depression, and heartbreak. Distinguishing between [true](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/finding-truth-in-the-age-of-fake-news-information-literacy-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666809665985564&usg=AOvVaw1Iv6bvk_JTWBJdgUX3QYgz) [knowledge](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/finding-truth-in-the-age-of-fake-news-information-literacy-in-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666809665986506&usg=AOvVaw1gphO8uH86b2o1bijZhYXJ) and false information can be overwhelming. And living in a world we cannot trust is also a cause for emotional pain and difficulty. When I lived in Damascus I quickly learned that there was a deep cultural habit of not telling sick patients the truth of their illness. As a result I never trusted a doctor, often wondered what the truth of my diagnosis was, and lived sick, medicating myself, instead of going to doctor appointments. Early in the pandemic I had compassion for those who did not believe the medical establishment, though at this point—having returned to the United States and its culture of healthcare transparency—I did. I understood that trust was hard won and easily lost, and that the world suffered because of the mix of politics, science, truths and untruths during the early COVID years. To live in a community of truth we must be truth-tellers who rely on Truth. We learn from the Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (in the meaning of the hadith), “the one who is hungry but claims to be full is as who is putting on an act”[^14] and this hadith reminds us to be truthful even in the smallest parts of our lives. It reminds us not to cheat or plan to cheat, and to be grateful about what we have and to not lie about what we do not have. It stands strongly opposed to a lie told to save face, reminding us to be honest about our physical states. This makes truth-tellers of us. And from this germinating seed we grow into a truthful community that relies on Truth. Truthful communities help us grow Truth in the gardens of our souls. A Western philosopher, Jurgen Habermas, once postulated that truth is found in consensus. In other words, we believe something to be true when “our people” say it to be true. Considering that at the very least we are influenced by our communities, living in a truthful community will help us live reliant on Truth. Truthful communities are places where people feel safe enough to be honest, clear, and vulnerable. In general, Muslims do not cultivate such communities today. Living under colonialism and dictatorships, corrupt governments and economic pressures, Muslim cultures can struggle with lies, bribes, manipulation, and exaggeration. (Of course it is fully possible that these ills predate colonialism, and as such were part of what made us colonizable to begin with.) Living through a global earthquake of truth has shaken our foundations and our ability to live in truthful communities based in Truth. --- ## Finding our way home The Prophet ﷺ once said to his companions, “Renew your faith!” and the companions responded, “O Prophet of God, how do we renew our faith?” and he responded with the very cure that they needed: “Increase in *lā ilāha illa Allāh*.”[^15] Repeating this phrase of *tawḥīd* grounds our hearts in Truth. It erases the darkness of lies and obliterates consensus on falsehood. It grants us the light we need to understand. It is the repetition of the Truth. As we seek to build a community of Truth we need to first ask of ourselves to be truthful and trustworthy, in the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is not the truthfulness of justifying hurtful words by saying “I’m just being honest,” but rather the truthfulness of kindness, manners, and a joyful, loving heart. It is truthfulness that builds trust and goodness. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (r) said, “It is not correct to lie, not in seriousness nor in jest. None of you should promise his child something and then not give it to him.”[^16] The building blocks of a truthful community are found in how we interact with children. Here we are advised to be truth-tellers and promise keepers—two concepts woven together so tightly they can be used as thick yarn to knit a community of truth. When we keep our promises, keep silent instead of lying, and create joyful experiences around truthful and beautiful words we are fulfilling the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We are building a community of Truth. We have been called to be the best of people calling to what is beautiful and pushing back on what is ugly. As the poet John Keats said, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”[^17] While the repetition of *lā ilāha illa Allāh*, and a commitment to truth, will help us find the beauty we are all looking for, we also need to know how to maintain faith in a post-Truth world where oppression can be a truth claim and lies are presented as absolute fact. Herein is the intellectual challenge. Ideas need to be identified, untangled, and protected through a mental grappling with and defense of Truth. When I became a Muslim in 1985, the very first verse I read of the Qur’an declared to me a recognition of women: “Verily the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women, the devout men and the devout women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, and the men who give charity and the women who give charity, and the men who fast and the women who fast, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard theirs, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember—for them, God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward” (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, 33:35). This verse, with its rhythmic repetition, spoke a truth that I felt deeply. When I entered the Muslim community, however, I saw, heard, and experienced sexist jokes, *masjid*s that did not welcome me, and cultures that saw women as less than men. I remember literally standing on a street corner and asking God for help. I was confused. My hold on Truth was challenged by truth claims that were harmful and oppressive. I threw myself into learning. I learned Arabic, studied Qur’an, and delved into the study of the Prophet’s ﷺ life and eventually other fields of Islamic study. I surrounded myself with a community of people of light. I avoided books and people who dabbled in the world of lies, ugly words, and corruption. In this way I was able to hold on to intellectual truths that held my heart to the Truth of God, the Prophet ﷺ, and Islam. The identification of Truth is an exercise in connecting with *fiṭra*, cultivating curiosity, and examining external and internal signposts. *Fiṭra*—the internal need for God—is part of the very make-up of every human being. As Allah (swt) says “So be steadfast in faith in all uprightness; the natural Way of God (*fiṭra*) which has been instilled in all people. No change in the creation of Allah. This is the Straight Way, but most people do not know” (30:30). So everyone has a place deep within that craves to know God, to connect to Truth. It is this need and desire that provides energy for the search, and patience on the path of Truth. Yet it must be cultivated and not ignored. The busy nature of modern life often drowns out the inner call to Truth, but spending time in quietness can raise the volume. Convert stories, and stories of heritage Muslims who found faith in spite of great trials and tribulations, often include descriptions[^18] of finding Truth, or becoming aware of what they already knew to be True. This is the gift of *fiṭra.* Curiosity is a skill that allows for the discovery of Truth. When Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr al-Dawsī entered into Mecca per usual, he was accosted by scaremongers warning him to stay clear of the man named Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be upon him), who (they said) spoke words of derision and danger. At first Ṭufayl, overtaken by their lies and fears, stuffed cotton in his ears. Standing in the sacred precinct, however, a few of the words of the man he had been warned against penetrated that cotton, at which point his own truth awoke. He was an intelligent man! Curious about those words he had heard, he removed the cotton and sought out Muhammad ﷺ. His curiosity brought him to Truth and he became a great *sahabi*. I know a young woman whose friends nicknamed her ‘Ṭufayla’ because she too ignored the warnings of some of her friends to avoid “those people.” She allowed her curiosity and the truth of her own discernment to bring her halfway across the world to study religion and the Qur’an, which she memorized on a one-year break from medical school. A signpost on a road tells us to ‘stop,’ ‘yield,’ or look out for a tight curve up ahead. In life our signposts are less easy to read. Some are external—an unexpected opportunity, a clearly answered prayer, a sudden change of plans.  Others are internal. Allah says, “We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth. Is it not sufficient that your Lord is witness over all things?” (41:53). These internal signposts—the feeling that something is right or wrong—are aids on our path for identifying truth and Truth. The formula is this: identify Truth by connecting to *fiṭra,* staying curious, and growing an awareness of signposts. Then hold on to it with *lā ilāha illa Allāh* and other acts of worship; be committed to truth; find people of light and truth and be a person of light and truth as much as you can. Do this through learning, loving, and living in a community of truth and goodness. Do this by rooting yourself in Truth, telling truths, and building and living in truthful communities of Truth. --- ## Notes [^1]: David Rigoni, “Figure 2.1: Major Western World Views” in *Teaching What Can’t be Taught: The Shaman’s Strategy* (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2002) 18. [^2]: Rigoni, “Figure 2.1.” [^3]: Read *The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civil Society* by Dr. Omar Imady for a beginning conversation about this. [^4]: “Word of the Year 2016,” Oxford Languages, [https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2016/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2016/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666809666004586&usg=AOvVaw0s0XoOeLGVp-B60zZ5y1aR). [^5]: Qur’an 16:3. [^6]: Qur’an 29:44. [^7]: Qur’an 30:8. [^8]: Qur’an 39:5. [^9]: Qur’an 6:73. [^10]: Qur’an 45:22. [^11]: Qur’an 46:3. [^12]: Qur’an 64:3. [^13]: See the rest of the poem here: [poems\_legend.htm](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_legend.htm&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666809666007156&usg=AOvVaw27GecqzD5n_78Xy4K_g0_n). [^14]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, bk. 37, hadith 191. The actual words of the hadith are “المُتَشبِّعُ بما لم يُعطَ، كَلابِسِ ثَوبَيْ زُورٍ,” literally “The one who creates a false impression of receiving what one has not been given is like one who wears two garments of falsehood.” The first word, “*al-mutashabbiʿ*,” means the one who claims that they are full (satiated) but are not, which can be interpreted as one who shows that they have something but do not. Hence my rendering “the one who is hungry but claims to be full is as one who is putting on an act.” This rendering includes the idea of two garments of falsehood in the concept of putting on an act. [^15]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, bk. 2, hadith 359. [^16]: *Al-Adab al-mufrad*, bk. 21, hadith 3. [^17]: John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Poetry Foundation, [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44477/ode-on-a-grecian-urn](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44477/ode-on-a-grecian-urn&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666809666013249&usg=AOvVaw1kZDknxm6galwKzLA7Ge-b). [^18]: Samira al-Zayid, *A Compendium of the Sources on the Prophetic Narrative* (Minneapolis: Daybreak Press, 2018), 1:274. ## Summary Truthfulness has always held a place of high esteem, for it is the foundation of trust that binds families, communities, and every human relationship. A small childhood memory—of a mother who apologized for lateness by blaming the snow, calling it a "white lie" even while affirming that lying is wrong—illustrates how deeply the tension between honesty and expedience runs in ordinary life. From such small beginnings one comes to ask whether truth still matters, and whether we can remain people of truth in a society some have named "post-Truth." A distinction must be drawn between Truth with a capital letter and truth with a small one. The former is the reality that remains true whether or not anyone believes it; it stands unchanged even if the whole world denies it. The latter is the personal truth born of individual experience—true to one person or many, tied to what we say and do, yet not necessarily universal. The mother's "white lie" was a lie to her, for she did not actually slip on the roads; yet to the child it remained true, for there was indeed snow and the journey was slowed. Such personal truths can only be known through honest communication, and even then may be understood but never fully grasped. For this reason Muslims should hold compassion and respect for the personal perspectives of others, and remain aware of how privilege silences some experiences while amplifying others. The location of Truth has shifted across the ages. In pre-modern times humanity tied Truth closely to religion; Western societies treated Church claims as necessarily true even in matters like astronomy and medicine that lay outside the scope of revelation. For Muslims, Truth remained confined to the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the people of God who conveyed their knowledge. Erroneous scientific claims made by individual Muslim scholars existed, but these were never regarded as part of revelation—only as interpretations of it, and thus as lower-case truths. As modernity dawned, the West made science its source of Truth and drifted toward agnosticism and atheism, while Muslims began to push for independent research in the Islamic "sciences" yet remained rooted in the Qur'an and Sunnah. A troubling development, however, was that miracles which could not be explained scientifically were hidden or denied, causing a loss of discussion around spirituality and a leaning toward legalism, with its own harmful effects upon Muslim society. By the mid-twentieth century science began to disappoint—producing not only cures like penicillin but also lies such as claims of racial superiority, and confusion such as drugs that caused birth defects—so that Truth lost its capital letter and the post-modern age of competing truths began. Lies have appeared in every age: the Church selling position and absolution, science claiming to prove certain peoples inferior, and even the seemingly trivial "Great Lie of Santa Claus," in which an entire society agrees to deceive its children, and in which non-Christian children are enlisted to uphold the falsehood before their peers. Such a lie is more than a lie—it is an intentional replacement of Truth, the claiming of a known falsehood as true. This is characteristic of what in 2016 the Oxford Dictionaries named the word of the year: "post-Truth." A lie denies a known fact; a post-truth statement fabricates a concept meant to distract from the fact altogether. In such a climate, locating truth and trusting that it has been spoken grows ever harder. Trust is built and broken by truthfulness between people. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was called al-Amīn, the trustworthy, by his own people years before revelation, and this reputation for truth was an important factor in the earliest conversions. One of the beautiful Names of God is al-Ḥaqq—the Truth—for God's presence is real and true, and the human being who seeks Truth is granted knowledge of Him. God is the Truth that remains true whether or not we believe. Moreover, God does all things bi'l-ḥaqq—in truth. The Qur'an repeatedly affirms that He created the heavens and the earth in truth (as in the verses declaring "He created the heavens and the earth in truth"). To create "in truth" means that creation has purpose, that it is measured and correct, and that the whole universe rests upon a foundation of justice, wisdom, and truth. Thus even amid the tangled lies and fake news of our age, there is rest in Truth. That Truth may be accessed in the unspoiled beauty of God's creation, where every falling leaf and blade of grass was fashioned bi'l-ḥaqq by al-Ḥaqq, and in communities where individuals may live together in justice and sincerity. The Prophet ﷺ modeled the community of truth. Climbing Mount Ṣafā, he asked his people whether they would believe him if he warned of an enemy behind the mountain, and they affirmed they would, for he was al-Amīn (as recorded by Ibn Hishām). Yet when he proclaimed the far greater truth of his prophethood, they ridiculed and denied the very truthful one whom they had always trusted, because that truth threatened their hold on power. To dwell in a community of truth we must ourselves become truth-tellers who rely upon Truth. The Prophet ﷺ taught, in the meaning of the hadith, that "the one who is hungry but claims to be full is as one putting on an act," reminding us to be honest even in the smallest matters of our lives, refusing the lie told merely to save face. Yet truthful communities are difficult to cultivate. Because Muslims have lived under colonialism, dictatorship, corruption, and economic pressure, their cultures can struggle with lies, bribery, manipulation, and exaggeration—though it is possible these ills predated colonialism and were part of what made those societies vulnerable to it in the first place. The path homeward begins with renewal of faith. The Prophet ﷺ instructed his companions to renew their faith, and when they asked how, he answered: "Increase in lā ilāha illa Allāh." This repetition of tawḥīd grounds the heart in Truth and dispels the darkness of falsehood. The building blocks of a truthful community are laid in our dealings with children, for ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd said that it is not correct to lie, neither in seriousness nor in jest, and that none should promise a child something and then withhold it. To be truth-tellers and promise-keepers is to fulfill the Sunnah and to knit together a community of truth—not the harsh "honesty" that wounds, but truthfulness joined to kindness and a loving heart. Finally, maintaining faith in a post-Truth world, where oppression may masquerade as truth and lies are presented as fact, is an intellectual struggle requiring that ideas be identified, untangled, and defended. Truth is recognized by connecting to the fiṭra, the innate need for God instilled in every soul, of which Allah says, "So be steadfast in faith in all uprightness; the natural Way of God (fiṭra)... No change in the creation of Allah" (30:30). It is recognized through curiosity, as with Ṭufayl ibn ʿAmr al-Dawsī, who stuffed cotton in his ears against the Prophet's words yet, once a few of them penetrated, removed the cotton, sought him out, and became a great Companion. And it is recognized through signposts both outward and inward, for Allah says, "We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth" (41:53). The way, then, is to identify Truth through fiṭra, curiosity, and awareness of these signposts; to hold fast to it through lā ilāha illa Allāh and other acts of worship; and to be a person of light while dwelling among people of light, learning, loving, and building truthful communities rooted in al-Ḥaqq. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-to-raise-religious-teens-a-self-determination-theory-approach # How to Raise Religious Teens: A Self-Determination Theory Approach **Authors:** Dr. Jihad Saafir, Dr. Osman Umarji **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** BASIC, Paper, Publication **Published:** October 24, 2022 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 ## Introduction Adolescence is always a time of unexpected challenges and tumultuous emotions, but for Muslims growing up in the West, it is particularly frightening. During this fraught period, Muslim youth are burdened with the difficult task of negotiating religious identity amidst racial and class hierarchies, peer pressure, anti-religious polemics, and faith-shaking secular ideologies. The 12th century luminary Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzīy singles out this stage as “being the most distinguished regarding the struggle against the self (*jihād al-nafs*), one’s unbridled passions (*al-hawā*), and the attacks of Satan (*ghalabat al-shayṭān*).”[^1] To endure this onslaught from destructive external and internal forces, adolescents require significant support from adult Muslim socializers, including parents, teachers, and other community members. These socializers need to be equipped with the skills to steer our youth towards internalizing Islamic values, beliefs, and behaviors. Contemporary psychologists also suggest that internalization of values is a fundamental goal of socialization that is beneficial for a young person’s well-being.[^2] Let us consider the hypothetical cases of two adolescents, Bilqis and Abdullah, both of whom represent common adolescent experiences in the Muslim community. Abdullah wholeheartedly accepts Islam as his religion. He regularly prays out of his own volition and enthusiastically attends events at his local *masjid* every week, where he enjoys spending time with many good friends. Abdullah’s parents, who are also religious, speak to him about religion regularly. However, rather than being overly critical, they are positive in their communication and encourage him to ask questions. Bilqis’s parents, meanwhile, regularly criticize and lecture her about all the things she is doing wrong according to Islam. Bilqis reluctantly attends the *masjid* youth group on Friday nights, but only to avoid being further shamed or harangued by her parents. At the *masjid*, she is overcome by boredom, as there are rarely activities that pique her interest. Bilqis prays whenever her parents ask her to, yet she does so resentfully with a sense of compulsion. At this point in life, Abdullah has internalized Islamic values and behaviors more so than Bilqis. Based on their current trajectories, we would expect Abdullah to have a stronger commitment to Islam as he grows into adulthood. Although guidance is ultimately from Allah, as Islamic psychologists, we strongly believe there are identifiable factors that explain the differences in religious commitment between Abdullah and Bilqis. Notwithstanding differences in personalities and other social factors, how did their families and communities socialize them in ways that made them more or less attached to Islam? Religious socialization refers to the interactive process through which social agents (e.g., parents and religious educators) influence individuals’ religious beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. The Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ method of *tarbīya* (religious nurturing) is the gold standard for how we should socialize our youth. How did he motivate his young companions to love Islam? How did he develop an Islamic environment that supported the internalization of Islamic beliefs and practices? Deploying concepts from the contemporary science of psychology that we Islamically substantiate below, we posit he ﷺ created an environment that made his followers feel a sense of religious competence and self-efficacy. Furthermore, he gave them the autonomy to enact unique Islamic identities, whereby different companions distinguished themselves via their diverse talents and dispositions. Although the companions were unique in many ways, the Prophet ﷺ  ultimately ensured the environment facilitated a strong sense of belonging to the community. --- ## Self-determination theory and psychological needs Prophet Muhammad ﷺ understood that religious motivation was central to the process of internalizing the faith and adopting a healthy Islamic identity. This concept is well captured in the famous hadith, “Indeed, actions are \[motivated and evaluated\] based on their intentions.”[^3] By motivation, we do not simply mean momentary enthusiasm regarding a behavior. Rather, motivation is the process by which goal-directed behavior is instigated and sustained by personal and social factors. Thus, believers will engage in religious thoughts and behaviors to the extent that they are motivated by their faith. We believe that self-determination theory (SDT) sheds light on some of the ways in which the Prophet ﷺ motivated and socialized his companions. SDT investigates the growth tendencies and innate psychological needs that form the basis of people’s motivation and personality integration.[^4] SDT, which draws from humanistic psychology, suggests that people have personal agency and are motivated to self-actualize.[^5] Psychological needs are as essential as physiological ones—they are the sleep and nutrition of the mind and soul, without which optimal functionality is impossible. SDT considers the personal and social conditions that may foster or impede human motivation.[^6] According to SDT, we will likely internalize a religious identity when we experience religious environments that provide the three universal psychological needs of (1) a sense of competence, (2) autonomy, and (3) relatedness. Therefore, SDT provides a framework for us to investigate the factors that may explain the religious differences between Abdullah and Bilqis. Of course, as a framework that draws from humanistic psychology, SDT assumes secular notions of selfhood and autonomy. As such, it is blind to the role that faith can and does play in psychological fulfillment. We address this blindspot by aligning SDT’s insights with an Islamic understanding of the human being. Through applying a faith-congruent SDT framework and drawing from the Qur’an and the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, we propose that Muslim adolescents are more likely to thrive and fully internalize their Muslim identity when they are raised in religious environments that support feelings of religious competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In the following section, we discuss each psychological need and provide examples of how the Prophet ﷺ established environments supportive of these needs. --- ## The psychological need for religious competency Competence refers to the human desire to feel efficacious enough to produce the desired results in any situation. From a religious perspective, competence-supporting environments give youth the tools, encouragement, and feedback necessary to gain mastery in practicing their faith and a sense of confidence that they can successfully observe Islam in their lives.[^7] Youths’ perceptions of their capabilities are powerful forces that contribute to their successes and failures. These feelings of competence derive from several social factors, including social comparisons with those performing a similar religious task, measuring the difficulty of the religious task, and surveying the opinions of others (parents, teachers, peers, etc.) regarding their performance of the task.[^8] Competence beliefs are central motivators in deciding whether to engage in a particular task, as we typically engage in activities that we believe we can succeed in and avoid activities that we perceive as too difficult.[^9] Feelings of incompetence are produced by religious environments where a person’s behavior is constantly criticized as sinful, or when feedback is overwhelmingly negative. As part of his *daʿwa* strategy, the Prophet  ﷺ made those around him feel like they were competent Muslims. He would praise them and reinforce their righteousness in various circumstances, even when they were being ridiculed or chastised for making mistakes. In one instance, after hearing Bilāl’s footsteps in front of his in Paradise, he ﷺ inquired about the best religious act that Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ had performed after accepting Islam. Bilāl responded, “I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me.”[^10] Imagine the feelings of efficacy that must have enveloped Bilāl when he was told he would be with the Prophet ﷺ in Paradise. Even when a companion committed a serious sin, the Prophet ﷺ was keen to make that companion feel efficacious, rather than use harsh words that would have harmed the individual’s sense of self. We see this clearly in the case of a companion named ʿAbdullāh who used to make the Prophet ﷺ laugh. ʿAbdullāh had been previously lashed for drinking wine, and one day ʿAbdullāh was found drunk again and the Prophet ﷺ ordered him to be lashed again. Another man said, “O Allah, curse him! How many times has he been brought?” However, the Prophet ﷺ quickly interjected saying, “Do not curse him. By Allah, I know that he loves Allah and His messenger.”[^11] Imagine how ʿAbdullāh felt hearing these words from the Prophet ﷺ affirming his love for Allah and His messenger in a moment where he could have internalized the ridicule and felt incompetence and low self-worth. In another profound event demonstrating the Prophet’s ﷺ attention to creating a competence-supportive environment, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd, the great companion, was once climbing a tree to grab some branches of *miswāk*. Upon seeing his thin legs, some of the companions began laughing at him. One might imagine that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd may have felt some embarrassment. The Prophet ﷺ swiftly responded to the laughter, saying, “What are you laughing at? I swear by Allah that his two legs are heavier on the scale \[of deeds\] than the mountain of Uḥud.”[^12] As these few examples demonstrate, the Prophet ﷺ was always aware of his companions’ psychological states. By praising their religiosity while they were emotionally vulnerable, he ﷺ ensured that they felt reassured of their competency as Muslims. --- ## The psychological need for religious autonomy The need for autonomy refers to the need to experience behavior as volitional and reflectively self-endorsed.[^13] Muslims might object to this notion of autonomy because it appears to give unbounded choice to the individual to do as he or she wills. However, we want to clarify that Islam does not approve of an unbounded notion of choice that violates religious values and laws. Therefore, we must restrict religious autonomy to choices within the realm of the permissible (halal). Religious autonomy is rooted in the notion that, within the halal*,* there are so many different ways to engage in worship that are faith-congruent and personally chosen. When we perform actions with autonomy, we are more likely to put our hearts into these actions because we choose them voluntarily. On the contrary, when people feel pressured to behave a certain way, they may experience frustration and subsequently have less motivation to persist. Whether it be in the home, school, workplace, or a religious setting, studies have shown that people thrive more when they feel a sense of autonomy. Children with more autonomy-supportive parents have fewer behavioral problems.[^14] Employees in work settings that foster autonomy enjoy their work more.[^15] Students who are given more autonomy in educational settings have higher levels of engagement in the classroom.[^16] In the SDT paradigm, autonomy “refers to the experience of an action as fitting with interests and integrated values that one is wholeheartedly behind.”[^17] The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ created an environment where his companions felt comfortable practicing their faith with a sense of autonomy.  Consider how he ﷺ responded to a companion who added some words to a *dua* in prayer. Conventionally, when the imam says “*samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah*” after rising from bowing, the followers respond by saying “*Rabbanā wa lak-al-ḥamd*.” One day while praying behind the Prophet ﷺ, a companion decided to extend the phrase by saying “*Rabbanā wa lak-al-ḥamdu, ḥamdan kathīran ṭayyiban mubārakan fīh*” (O our Lord! All praises are for You, many good and blessed praises). After concluding the prayer, the Prophet ﷺ did not condemn the man but instead curiously inquired, “Who said these words?” The man replied, “Me.” The Prophet ﷺ responded, “I saw over thirty angels competing to write them first.”[^18] Another companion loved Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ so much that he recited it whenever he led the congregational prayer. Those placed under his charge became concerned about his choice to recite Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ in every prayer that he led. They asked the Prophet ﷺ about the permissibility of this action. After discovering that this man recited this chapter out of his love for Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told them, “Tell him that Allah loves him.”[^19], [^20] Beyond simply allowing a level of autonomy in religious practice, the Prophet ﷺ created a climate that encouraged his companions to share their suggestions and offer feedback on important matters. For example, the companions felt comfortable recommending particular military strategies to the Prophet ﷺ in battle. During the Battle of Badr, Ḥubāb ibn Mundhir asked the Prophet ﷺ if his choice of where to settle the army was based on revelation from Allah or a personal choice. When the Prophet ﷺ told him that it was his personal decision, Ḥubāb recommended the Prophet ﷺ move the army in front of the wells to control the water and prevent Quraysh from accessing it.[^21] Similarly, when the Prophet ﷺ was preparing for the Battle of Aḥzāb, Salmān al-Fārisī suggested that the Muslim army dig a trench around them to prevent the army of the confederates from penetrating Medina. In both instances, the Prophet ﷺ listened carefully to his companions and accepted their suggestions. More powerful than any particular story is how the Prophet ﷺ accepted the diversity of personalities amongst his companions, eschewing any attempt to cast them in the same mold. This was not about autonomy in a particular issue, but allowing each companion to have a unique personality and disposition. Abū Bakr (rA) and ʿUmar (rA) were his closest companions, yet so different were their personalities. Abū Bakr (rA) was known to be incredibly gentle and sensitive, ʿUmar (rA) rougher and tougher. These personality differences likely manifested in varying interpersonal skills and behavioral preferences. The great companions and scholars of Islam understood this notion of religious autonomy well, never imposing their personal preferences of how to worship on others. Once, when ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd was asked why he did not engage in more voluntary fasting, he replied, “When I fast, it weakens my ability to recite the Qur’an, and reciting the Qur’an is more beloved to me than optional fasting.”[^22] Thus, we see ʿAbdullāh (rA) personally valued the recitation of the Qur’an over voluntary fasting, and that he felt he had the autonomy to choose from multiple righteous actions what he valued most. This understanding of religious autonomy can also be seen in the life of Imam Mālik. One day a righteous man sent him a letter inviting him to engage in more spiritual practices rather than spending time teaching Islam. Imam Mālik responded beautifully, saying, “Allah, exalted is He, apportioned people’s actions as He apportioned their sustenance. Sometimes He grants a spiritual opening to a person in terms of \[optional\] prayers, but not \[optional\] fasting. Or He grants an opening in giving charity, but not in fasting. To another, He may grant them an opening for jihad. As for spreading sacred knowledge, that is from the best of deeds, and I am pleased with what Allah has opened to me. However, I do not imagine that what I am engaged in is any less than what you are engaged in; and I hope that both of us are upon goodness and righteousness.”[^23] --- ## The psychological need for relatedness and belonging Relatedness refers to our human need to feel cared for by others and have a sense of belonging to a social group.[^24] It has been suggested that humans experience a nearly universal drive to form and maintain relationships with other people.[^25] These desired social bonds have two aspects: frequent positive or neutral (not negative) interactions, and an ongoing framework of mutual caring. Numerous *ahadith* touch on the idea of relatedness and belonging to a group. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim. He does not wrong him, nor surrender him. Whoever fulfills the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs. Whoever relieves a Muslim from distress, Allah will relieve him from distress on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever covers the faults of a Muslim, Allah will cover his faults on the Day of Resurrection.”[^26] This hadith motivates believers to cultivate intimate bonds between one another as a means of connecting with Allah. The Prophet ﷺ taught that a community requires these interpersonal connections to thrive. He created an environment that fostered a sense of belonging and relatedness amongst his companions. When he arrived in Medina after the migration, one of the first things he did was pair people together from Mecca and Medina in brotherhood and sisterhood. This allowed companions from different backgrounds to love each other and feel valued by their community. The Meccan companions, many of whom came empty-handed to Medina, could impart their knowledge of Islam and feel that they were contributing to their new home. Conversely, the Medinan companions were able to provide housing and food, all while helping their Meccan brothers and sisters acclimate to the city. The Prophet ﷺ was especially keen to ensure his adolescent companions felt valued, and he gave them personal attention and major responsibilities. For example, when the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Medina, he assigned ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (rA) to stay in his bed as a decoy and to return the people’s possessions. He ﷺ also assigned to a teenage companion, Usāma ibn Zayd (rA), the role of leading a military expedition.[^27] One can imagine the deep sense of belonging that these companions must have felt as trusted members of the Muslim community. --- ## Religious internalization and motivation Thus far we have argued that healthy religious socialization, as exemplified by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, requires that religious environments provide support for people’s sense of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The fulfillment of these psychological needs provides the necessary motivation for one’s personal commitment to Islam. Thus, when youth feel a sense of religious competence, autonomy, and relatedness, they will most likely make a conscious decision to practice the faith out of their own conviction and love for Islam. However, we know that youth vary in their motivation to practice Islam. Some youth have no religious motivation whatsoever, others practice Islam to please their parents or to avoid disapproval from others, and still others deeply enjoy their religious commitment. How can we better understand these differences in motivation? According to SDT, these different motivations reflect differing degrees to which Islamic values and behavioral regulations have been internalized and integrated. Internalization refers to the process of “taking in” a value or regulation, and integration refers to the assimilation of that value or regulation into one’s sense of self.[^28] A subtheory of SDT, called organismic integration theory (OIT), details the different types of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, as well as the contextual factors that either promote or hinder internalization and integration. OIT categorizes motivation into three states: (1) amotivated, (2) extrinsically motivated, and (3) intrinsically motivated. Amotivation refers to a state where the individual has no desire or intention to do a particular behavior. Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain some external outcome. Intrinsic motivation refers to doing an activity for the inherent satisfaction of engaging in that activity.[^29] There are four types of extrinsic motivation in OIT that reflect varying degrees of integration and internalization of a behavior. External regulation refers to performing an action in order to avoid a punishment or gain a reward. Socializers typically use rewards and punishments to secure compliance from others. Introjected regulation is slightly more autonomous in nature, as the individual performs a behavior to please others, avoid personal guilt, or feel some pride. Identified regulation is where behaviors become more self-endorsed, as engagement is driven by feelings of personal importance and value. Finally, integrated regulation occurs when a person performs a behavior that is fully in line with their identity, congruent with their values, and fully integrated into their sense of self. See Figure 1 for an overview of OIT. ![Figure 1. Overview of Organismic Integration Theory](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image1-1-1024x529.jpg) Figure 1. Overview of Organismic Integration Theory Classical Islamic scholars also discussed motivation, especially how it pertains to the quality of religious behavior. Imam al-Nawawī presented a classification of motivation when discussing the types of intentions that underlie religious worship. He suggests three motivational levels that are the root of religious worship. The first motivational level is the *worship of the servants* (*ʿibādat al-ʿabīd*), which is when a Muslim does religious acts out of fear of God’s punishment. The second motivational level mentioned by al-Nawawī is *transactional worship* (*ʿibādat al-tujjār*), which describes worship that is done primarily to attain the reward of  Paradise. These two motivational levels are extrinsic because they are done for primarily external outcomes (avoiding punishment or seeking reward). Although OIT considers behaviors done for rewards and punishments as similar in motivational quality (external regulation), al-Nawawi considers the pursuit of Paradise a higher motivational state than the avoidance of punishment. From a religious perspective, worshiping Allah out of fear of hellfire or desire for Paradise is considered acceptable. However, there are higher stations one should aim for. Thus, the highest quality of motivation identified by Imam al-Nawawī is the worship of the liberated and free (ʿ*ibādat al-aḥrār*), which refers to acts of worship that are performed out of love and reverence for Allah.[^30] This type of motivation represents a deeper level of internalization and integration, as the person autonomously performs the behavior because it completely aligns with their personal values. This state is what OIT would refer to as integrated regulation or intrinsic motivation. Both OIT and al-Nawawī consider this the ideal. For example, someone who remembers Allah out of complete reverence (and joy) will typically perform higher-quality actions than one who engages in remembrance to avoid hellfire. Socializing agents, such as parents and religious educators, need to be aware of how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can aid or obstruct an adolescent’s path towards identity internalization and integration. Although intrinsic motivation is the highest quality and the level to aspire towards, other levels of extrinsic motivation may be acceptable and a normal part of the developmental process. For example, socializers may utilize rewards to temporarily move someone from a state of amotivation to extrinsic motivation. However, although these extrinsic motivators may be adaptive at times, socializers should not exclusively rely on them because they do not lead to a high level of integration and internalization. For example, if parents use guilt, shame, or punishment to extrinsically motivate their children to pray, it is unlikely to result in the child internalizing the act of prayer as fulfilling and desirable. Although it may lead to temporary compliance and thus appear to work, the use of such forms of punishment is likely to contribute to resentment and dissociation from the action itself over time. OIT breaks motivation into a spectrum of behavioral regulations that range from purely external and extrinsic (no internalization) to purely internal and intrinsic (complete integration). Let us again take prayer as an example of the motivational spectrum. On the most extreme—and lowest quality—end of the spectrum is motivation by coercion, where a parent threatens to severely punish their child for missing a prayer (external regulation). Similarly, they may bribe a child by promising to pay them if they pray. This is done to ensure compliance even if the child is only praying to avoid the punishment or get the reward. Alternatively a parent could inform their child of how proud they would be if they prayed (introjection). This type of motivation is based on obtaining approval from others, which is still extrinsic in nature. Neither of the aforementioned types of motivation will automatically lead to a greater integration of prayer. To get towards integration and intrinsic motivation, a parent may model consistency in prayer themselves, educate their child about the value of prayer, help their child think about how prayer is personally meaningful to them, and explore the meaning of prayer in different life situations. These practices are more likely to make the child personally identify with the action itself, which is more likely to lead to higher levels of internalization. As a youth integrates the act of prayer into their personal life and religious identity, they are more likely to enjoy and find satisfaction in it, as the action is being done autonomously. This motivation for prayer is akin to when the Prophet ﷺ said, “Beloved to me in this world are women and perfume, yet the delight of my eyes is in prayer.”[^31] --- ## Recommendations for socializers In the introduction of this article we mentioned the case of Bilqis, an adolescent Muslim struggling with her Islamic identity, whose religious environments are highly controlling and punitive. In this section we offer practical advice for socializers whose children share similar identity challenges as Bilqis. We recommend that socializers provide Muslim adolescents with structured religious environments that guide them towards a path of religious internalization. Environments that are chaotic and unpredictable typically fail to provide feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Informational structures, meanwhile, should warmly and clearly communicate religious responsibilities and expectations that reflect adolescents’ unique religious capacities. Such structures should not be controlling but rather organized and well-planned to ensure that adolescents are able to more thoroughly internalize religious values due to support of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Every young Muslim adolescent is unique and needs space to become the best versions of themselves, not clones of their peers. Socializers should inculcate mastery learning in their youth, which emphasizes learning at their own pace and mastering prerequisite knowledge before moving on to more detailed aspects of the faith. For example, socializers should not focus on social comparisons between youth, nor should adolescents be shamed for memorizing less Qur’an or knowing fewer companions than their peers. Comparing youth to one another should be avoided as much as possible, as comparisons typically reduce feelings of competence and increase extrinsic motivation. The Prophet’s ﷺ sublime emotional intelligence led him to support his companions’ competence beliefs whenever they felt inferior. On one occasion, the poor amongst the *muhājirūn* (immigrants from Mecca to Medina) felt that Allah favored the rich believers over them, so they disclosed their feelings to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. In an effort to increase their sense of competence and comfort their hearts, he ﷺ responded by informing them that the poor will enter Paradise before the wealthy.[^32] Another motivational strategy is for socializers to explain the wisdom behind the behaviors that Allah commands or prohibits. Adolescents are more likely to internalize religious guidelines and behaviors when they understand the benefits associated with religious obligations and the harms associated with prohibited behaviors. For example, if a young adolescent woman is told to wear the hijab without being informed of its wisdom and benefits, she may not fully internalize the hijab as it may appear to be an arbitrary rule. However, through empathetic conversation about her concerns and explanation of Allah’s wisdom in prescribing Islamic attire, she may begin to internalize hijab as part of her Islamic identity, as the practice has additional value after understanding it better. Similarly, appropriate explanations of the wisdom behind prayer and fasting are essential for youth to adopt these practices wholeheartedly. Another recommendation for inculcating competence and autonomy is to provide process-focused feedback.[^33] Feedback that focuses on the process that led to either success or failure is more beneficial than feedback that is centered around the individual. Our youth will inevitably make mistakes and may have setbacks in the process of internalizing Islam. Feedback after mistakes such as “You are a bad Muslim” or “Allah is going to punish you” are aimed at shaming the individual and are not focused on the the process that led to the behavior. An effective process-oriented strategy is asking “why” or “how” questions such as, “Why did you miss prayer today?” In the situation of a youth missing *Fajr* prayer, the youth may explain that they slept very late. A parent may follow up with a question such as, “Can you think of some ways that you can sleep earlier?” Calmly discussing these questions gets at the process behind the inaction, which in turn suggests actionable solutions. Allowing individuals to arrive at their own solutions further fulfills their need for autonomy. Adolescent Muslims must be given ample opportunities to be heard and to express their creativity; they should also be provided opportunities to make decisions related to religious thoughts and behaviors.[^34] Muslim adolescents should be encouraged to share their ideas about religious activities to facilitate their motivation. For example, when planning youth events, allowing youth to suggest topics, speakers, the format of the event, and other details encourages them to take ownership of religious activities and engage in these activities of their own volition. If youth are not given an opportunity to give feedback and make decisions, it is likely that their desire to participate will diminish. When intrinsic motivation is reduced, socializers will often resort to rewards and punishments that may have limited effectiveness. Finally, we encourage socializers to provide youth with mentors and role models they can connect with on a personal level. Youth crave strong relationships with nurturing mentors who listen to them and are empathetic. When youth are able to connect with mentors who can relate to their experiences, their sense of belonging is enhanced. Through learning from a mentor who may have overcome similar challenges, youth are more likely to imagine themselves growing into the faith. --- ## Conclusion This paper explored Muslim adolescent religious motivation from the perspective of self-determination theory. Religious socializers should be mindful of the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness that Muslim adolescents need to willfully engage in religious behavior. Through a structured approach to providing need-supportive environments for our youth in all spaces, youth are more likely to integrate Islamic values and behaviors into their lives autonomously. An honest assessment of the strategies used to motivate our youth may uncover the practices that enhance or diminish the religiosity of young Muslims. The development of youth religious identity and motivation is complex and includes many psychosocial factors, and socializers need to investigate the extent to which youths’ psychological needs are being met in the various environments they are raised in. Furthermore, strategically thinking about ways to inculcate more autonomous motivational states requires the willingness to let go of extrinsic motivators that appear to work in the moment but may backfire in the future. The process of integrating Islamic behaviors and internalizing the Islamic way of life in the heart of our youth is long and requires foresight to create the proper conditions and patiently wait for the results, with the blessing of Allah. --- ## Notes [^1]: Ibn al-Jawzi, *Awakening from the Sleep of Heedlessness* (Birmingham: Dar as-Sunnah Publishers, 2012), 26. [^2]: Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, *Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness* (New York: The Guilford Press, 2017). [^3]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 54; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1907. [^4]: Koole, Sander L., Caroline Schlinkert, Tobias Maldei, and Nicola Baumann. “Becoming Who You Are: An Integrative Review of Self‐Determination Theory and Personality Systems Interactions Theory,” *Journal of Personality* 87, no. 1 (2019): 15–36. [^5]: Humanistic psychology is derived from humanism and is a perspective that differs from behaviorist and psychodynamic perspectives on human behavior. [^6]: Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “Overview of Self-Determination Theory: An Organismic Dialectical Perspective,” *Handbook of Self-Determination Research* 2 (2002): 3–33. [^7]: Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being,” *American Psychologist* 55, no. 1 (2000): 69. [^8]: Ryan and Deci, “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation,” 84. [^9]: Jacquelynne Eccles, “Who Am I and What Am I Going to Do With My Life? Personal and Collective Identities as Motivators of Action,” *Educational Psychologist* 44, no. 2 (2009): 78–89. [^10]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,* no. 1149. [^11]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 6398. [^12]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 3981. [^13]: Ryan and Deci, “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation,” 68. [^14]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 319. [^15]: Dan N. Stone, Edward L. Deci, and Richard M. Ryan, “Beyond Talk: Creating Autonomous Motivation through Self-Determination Theory,” *Journal of General Management* 34, no. 3 (2008): 6. [^16]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 351. [^17]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 51. [^18]: *Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 799. [^19]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 742. [^20]: *Sirat Ibn Hisham: Biography of the Prophet* (Cairo: al-Falah Foundation, 2002). [^21]: *Al-Mustadrak*, no. 5801. [^22]: Ibn Abi Shaybah, *al-Musannaf,* no. 8909; al-Tabarani, *al-Mu‘jam al-kabir,* no. 8868. [^23]: Al-Dhahabi, *Siyar a‘lam al-nubala* (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Risalah, 1998), 8:114. [^24]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 3. [^25]: Roy F. Baumeister and Mark R. Leary, “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation,” *Psychological Bulletin* 117, no. 3 (1995): 497–529, [https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1666631187317105&usg=AOvVaw170gyC7CpK4_SAVjVBK7L5). [^26]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 2422; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2580. [^27]: *Sahih al-Bukhari*, no. 4469. [^28]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 3. [^29]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 3. [^30]: An-Nawawi,  *Sharh matn al-arba’een an-Nawawiya* (Maktaba Dar al-Fath, Damascus, 1984). [^31]: *Sunan al-Nasā’ī*, no. 3939. [^32]: *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, no. 2354. [^33]: Ryan and Deci, *Self-Determination Theory*, 319. [^34]: Jennifer G. La Guardia, “Developing Who I Am: A Self-Determination Theory Approach to the Establishment of Healthy Identities,” *Educational Psychologist* 44, no. 2 (2009): 95. ## Summary Adolescence poses particular difficulties for Muslim youth raised in the West, who must navigate their religious identity amidst racial and class hierarchies, peer pressure, anti-religious polemics, and secular ideologies that shake faith. To withstand these pressures, young Muslims require support from adult socializers—parents, teachers, and community members—who are equipped to guide them toward internalizing Islamic values, beliefs, and behaviors. Contemporary psychology likewise regards the internalization of values as a fundamental goal of socialization and a benefit to a young person's well-being. To illustrate the stakes, one may consider two hypothetical adolescents: Abdullah, who prays willingly and enjoys the masjid, and whose religious parents communicate positively and welcome his questions; and Bilqis, who is regularly criticized and lectured, attends the masjid youth group only to avoid shame, and prays resentfully out of compulsion. Abdullah has internalized his faith more deeply than Bilqis, and one would expect his commitment to grow with age. Though guidance is ultimately from Allah, there are identifiable factors—rooted in how families and communities socialize their young—that help explain such differences in religious attachment. The gold standard for religious socialization is the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ method of tarbiya (religious nurturing). The centrality of motivation to internalizing faith is captured in the hadith, "Indeed, actions are [motivated and evaluated] based on their intentions." Motivation here is understood not as fleeting enthusiasm but as the process by which goal-directed behavior is instigated and sustained. Self-determination theory (SDT), drawn from psychology, offers a framework for understanding how the Prophet ﷺ motivated his companions, positing that people internalize a religious identity when their environments satisfy three universal psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. It must be acknowledged that SDT, arising from humanistic psychology, assumes secular notions of selfhood and autonomy and is blind to the role faith plays in fulfillment. This blindspot is addressed by aligning SDT's insights with an Islamic understanding of the human being, drawing upon the Qur'an and the Prophetic biography. Religious competence is the felt confidence that one can successfully observe Islam, nurtured by encouragement, tools, and constructive feedback, and undermined by environments where behavior is constantly branded sinful. The Prophet ﷺ consistently made his companions feel competent as Muslims. After hearing Bilal's footsteps ahead of his in Paradise, he ﷺ inquired what act Bilal had performed, to which Bilal replied that he prayed after every ablution, day or night. Even after serious sin, the Prophet ﷺ protected his companions' sense of self: when a companion named ʿAbdullah, who had been lashed repeatedly for drinking wine, was cursed by another man, the Prophet ﷺ interjected, "Do not curse him. By Allah, I know that he loves Allah and His messenger." Likewise, when companions laughed at the thin legs of ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud as he climbed a tree for miswak, the Prophet ﷺ swore, "his two legs are heavier on the scale [of deeds] than the mountain of Uhud." In such moments of vulnerability, the Prophet ﷺ reassured his companions of their worth. Religious autonomy is the experience of one's worship as volitional and self-endorsed. This is not an unbounded license, for Islam does not sanction choice that violates its laws; rather, autonomy is exercised within the permissible (halal), where many faith-congruent ways of worship remain open to personal choice. Actions chosen freely are performed more wholeheartedly, whereas pressured behavior breeds frustration and diminished persistence. The Prophet ﷺ fostered such an environment. When a companion added the words "Rabbana wa lak-al-hamdu, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan fih" to his prayer, the Prophet ﷺ did not condemn him but inquired who had spoken, then said, "I saw over thirty angels competing to write them first." When another companion insisted on reciting Surat al-Ikhlas in every prayer he led out of love for Allah, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Tell him that Allah loves him." He further welcomed his companions' counsel, accepting Hubab ibn Mundhir's advice at Badr to control the wells, and Salman al-Farisi's suggestion to dig a trench at the Battle of Ahzab. More broadly, he embraced the diversity of his companions' personalities, as seen in the gentleness of Abu Bakr and the toughness of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them. The pious understood this principle: ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud preferred reciting the Qur'an over voluntary fasting, and Imam Malik, invited to devote himself to spiritual practices instead of teaching, replied that Allah apportions people's deeds as He apportions their sustenance, and that he was pleased with the opening Allah had granted him in spreading sacred knowledge. Relatedness is the human need to feel cared for and to belong to a group, sustained by frequent positive interactions and mutual caring. Many ahadith touch upon this: the Prophet ﷺ said, "Every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim. He does not wrong him, nor surrender him... Whoever relieves a Muslim from distress, Allah will relieve him from distress on the Day of Resurrection." Upon reaching Medina, he ﷺ paired the Meccan and Medinan companions in brotherhood, allowing the immigrants to contribute their knowledge while the helpers provided housing and food. He gave adolescents weighty responsibilities, entrusting ʿAli ibn Abi Talib to sleep in his bed as a decoy and to return the people's deposits, and appointing the teenage Usama ibn Zayd to lead a military expedition—cultivating in the young a deep sense of belonging. The fulfillment of these three needs supplies the motivation for genuine commitment to Islam. Organismic integration theory, a subtheory of SDT, classifies motivation as amotivated, extrinsically motivated, or intrinsically motivated, and distinguishes four grades of extrinsic motivation: external regulation (acting for reward or punishment), introjected regulation (acting to please others or avoid guilt), identified regulation (acting from personal value), and integrated regulation (acting in full harmony with one's identity). Classical scholarship offers a parallel. Imam al-Nawawi described three motivational levels underlying worship: the worship of servants (ʿibadat al-ʿabid), done out of fear of punishment; transactional worship (ʿibadat al-tujjar), done to attain Paradise; and the worship of the free (ʿibadat al-ahrar), performed out of love and reverence for Allah. Notably, whereas OIT treats reward-seeking and punishment-avoidance as equal in quality, al-Nawawi ranks the pursuit of Paradise above the mere avoidance of punishment. Both traditions regard love-driven worship as the ideal, akin to the state reflected in the Prophet's ﷺ words, "the delight of my eyes is in prayer." Socializers may sometimes use rewards to move a youth from amotivation to extrinsic motivation, but should not rely on them exclusively, for guilt, shame, and punishment tend to yield only temporary compliance and eventual resentment. Several practical recommendations follow. Socializers should provide structured, informational (not controlling) religious environments that clearly communicate expectations suited to each adolescent's capacity. Mastery learning should be encouraged, letting youth progress at their own pace without shaming them or comparing them to peers, since comparison reduces competence and fuels extrinsic motivation—recalling how the Prophet ﷺ comforted the poor muhajirun by informing them they would enter Paradise before the wealthy. Socializers should explain the wisdom behind commands and prohibitions, so that practices such as hijab, prayer, and fasting are embraced rather than seen as arbitrary. Feedback should be process-focused rather than shaming, favoring "why" and "how" questions that let youth arrive at their own solutions and thus satisfy their need for autonomy. Youth should be given opportunities to voice ideas and make decisions about religious activities, and should be provided with empathetic mentors and role models with whom they can personally connect. The development of youth religious identity is complex and involves many psychosocial factors; nurturing autonomous motivation requires releasing extrinsic motivators that work momentarily but backfire later. This process is long and demands foresight and patience in creating the proper conditions—and awaiting the results, with the blessing of Allah. ## Key Takeaways 1. Adolescence is a period of acute identity formation, and for Muslim youth growing up in the West, it is complicated further by peer pressure, anti-religious narratives, and secular ideologies. Whether teens come to embrace Islam or merely tolerate it depends significantly on the religious environment cultivated by parents, teachers, and community members during these formative years. 2. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, Muslim teens are more likely to internalize Islam when their religious environment supports three core needs: competence (feeling capable of practicing Islam), autonomy (being able to engage with the faith voluntarily and on personally meaningful terms), and relatedness (feeling cared for and belonging to a community). The Prophet ﷺ modeled all three in how he nurtured his companions, including the youth among them. 3. Coercion, shame, and constant criticism may produce short-term compliance but rarely lead to lasting religious commitment. Long-term internalization is built through warmth, process-focused feedback, explaining the wisdom behind religious commands, and giving young people opportunities to make their own choices within the bounds of the halal. The goal is to raise Muslims who worship Allah out of love and conviction, not just out of fear of punishment or pressure from others. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I raise teens who genuinely love Islam rather than just go through the motions? The goal of religious socialization is internalization, which means a young person comes to embrace Islamic beliefs and practices as their own rather than performing them out of compulsion. Research on motivation suggests that adolescents are most likely to internalize their faith when three psychological needs are consistently met in their religious environment: competence (feeling capable of practicing Islam well), autonomy (feeling that their religious actions are chosen rather than imposed), and relatedness (feeling cared for and connected within the Muslim community). When these needs are supported, teens move toward what classical scholars described as the worship of the free and liberated, where acts of worship flow from love of Allah rather than fear of punishment or hope of reward alone. Parents, teachers, and mentors who focus only on enforcement may secure short-term compliance, but they often produce resentment and disengagement over time. Raising teens who love Islam requires patience, intentional environments, and a willingness to nurture motivation rather than coerce it. ### Why does pressuring my child to pray often backfire? Pressure produces compliance, not conviction. When a child prays only to avoid a parent’s anger, escape guilt, or earn approval, the motivation behind the action is external. Psychological research and classical Islamic insight both recognize that this kind of motivation rarely leads to lasting integration of the practice. The child may pray now, but the action remains detached from their personal sense of self, and once the source of pressure is removed, the prayer often fades with it. Over time, harsh enforcement can also generate resentment that becomes attached to the act itself, making prayer feel like a burden rather than a refuge. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ rarely relied on harshness even when companions made serious mistakes. He affirmed their love for Allah, praised their good qualities, and protected their sense of religious self-worth. Parents who model prayer consistently, explain its meaning, and connect it to their child’s own life circumstances are far more likely to see their children embrace prayer as something personally meaningful rather than something endured. ### Should I let my teen choose how they practice Islam, or does that risk them straying? Giving teens space to choose within the halal is not the same as letting them drift. Religious autonomy is not unbounded freedom to do whatever one wants, which Islam clearly does not permit. It refers to the wide space within the halal where Muslims can choose how to express their devotion in ways that feel personally meaningful. Within that space, choice strengthens commitment rather than weakening it, because people put their hearts into actions they choose voluntarily. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ modeled this generously. When a companion added praise to a phrase in prayer, he ﷺ told him that over thirty angels rushed to record his words. When another companion insisted on reciting Surah al-Ikhlas in every prayer he led out of love for Allah, the Prophet ﷺ told him Allah loved him back. Companions like Ibn Masʿud chose recitation of the Qur’an over voluntary fasting because it spoke to him more deeply. Imam Malik later observed that Allah opens different doors of worship for different people. A teen who is allowed to express their faith in their own way, within Islamic boundaries, is far more likely to grow into a Muslim who worships out of love and conviction. ### Are rewards and punishments effective for getting kids to practice Islam? They have a limited and specific role. Rewards and punishments can sometimes move a child from total disengagement to at least beginning to perform a behavior, and this temporary scaffolding is not inherently wrong. However, parents who rely on them as a long-term strategy usually find diminishing returns. A child who prays for money may stop praying when the money stops. A child who prays to avoid punishment may stop praying the moment the threat is no longer present. More damaging, when shame or guilt becomes the primary association with worship, the child often develops resentment toward the act itself. The deeper work of raising religious teens lies elsewhere: modeling consistency, explaining the wisdom behind religious practices, helping the child explore what prayer or fasting means in their own life, and walking with them through their mistakes with patience rather than punishment. Reward and punishment may secure the appearance of religiosity, but love, understanding, and modeling are what build the real thing. ### Why does explaining the “why” behind Islamic rulings matter so much for teens? Teens are far more likely to internalize a religious practice when they understand the wisdom behind it. A young Muslim woman told to wear hijab without ever being shown its meaning may experience it as an arbitrary rule imposed on her, and rules without meaning rarely take root in the heart. When parents take the time to listen to her concerns and to share the wisdom behind Islamic attire, hijab can begin to feel like part of her own identity rather than a demand made of her. The same principle applies to prayer, fasting, and other obligations. Empathetic conversation about purpose and benefit makes a religious practice feel personally valuable rather than externally imposed. This is also why process-focused feedback matters when teens fall short. Asking “why did you miss prayer today” and following up with “how could you arrange things to make it easier next time” engages the teen in their own problem-solving instead of shaming them, which supports both their sense of competence and their motivation to try again. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-and-the-lgbt-question-reframing-the-narrative # Islam and the LGBT Question: Reframing the Narrative **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Contemporary Ideologies, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Editor's Picks, LGBTQ, Paper, Publication, Trending Papers **Published:** October 7, 2022 **Updated:** June 4, 2026 *The following article is based on a video presentation by Dr. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui on Blogging Theology with Paul Williams (July 17, 2022) and has been slightly modified and annotated for readability in collaboration with the presenter. The link to the original presentation is referenced below.*[^1] --- ## Introduction On May 17, 2022, which marked Canada’s annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, a poster, promoted under the auspices of a Canadian university, depicted two Muslim women in headscarves on the verge of kissing.[^2] A number of other Canadian universities and high schools allowed the poster to circulate as a way of promoting “diversity in love.” The poster also featured a biracial homosexual couple, a black heterosexual couple, and a couple consisting of a fully-abled and a disabled person, alongside the two Muslim women, with each couple engaging in a romantic act. Many Canadian Muslims were enraged after the release of this poster, and rightfully so considering the appropriation of a patent Muslim symbol (i.e., the hijab) for a cause that is explicitly prohibited in Islam. The Muslim community organized collectively and submitted a petition signed by thousands of individuals, from young students in high school to leaders of Muslim organizations, demanding that the university take down the poster. One Muslim wrote to the university, “Shame on you \[...\] for such an insulting mockery post to my religion.” Soon after, LGBTQ Nation published an article titled “University pulls image of women in hijabs kissing after Muslim community protests.”[^3] The university initially pushed back against the petition, conceding that the topic was “complex and intersectional” but insisting that the poster would remain. The LGBTQ Nation article ended with the following statement: “Muslim culture isn’t inherently anti-gay: the Qur’an says nothing about homosexuality (unlike the Bible); Islamic history is filled with texts openly depicting homosexuality as a beautiful, matter-of-fact thing; and more American Muslims support same-sex marriage than do Christian Evangelicals, Protestants, and Mormons, according to a Pew Research Study.”[^4] The framing of the article as a whole, from its title to its final paragraph, portrays Muslims who objected to the poster as unnecessarily “homophobic”: they were protesting a beautiful thing that their own religious scripture supposedly does not condemn and that their own history has allegedly celebrated for centuries. In the end, however, the university acquiesced to the demands of the Muslim community and pulled the poster down. There is an uplifting lesson here. The Muslim community—starting with the young students who had the intelligence and awareness to decipher the subversion of Islamic teachings and the courage to raise their voices against it and the Muslim organizations who came to their aid—is to be congratulated. Even against the aggressive agenda of the cultural, political, and capitalist elites, the Muslim community scored a small but significant victory for their faith and in favor of truth and reason. As elaborated below, Islam’s prohibition of homosexual acts is categorical, and its teachings on gender relations and sexual norms are foundational and inseparable from belief in Allah and His revelation. There is no room in Islam for the new direction in which the liberal culture appears to be dragging the West and, through its coercive ideological apparatus, the world as a whole. It is a culture that denies the natural and divinely ordained norms of union between men and women, erasing sexual differences in favor of a utopian, ideological, anti-religious, and anti-scientific androgyny. One would have to reject Islamic guidance root and branch in order to incorporate this radical gender egalitarianism. This agenda requires, and has already mobilized, rigorous social engineering domestically, as well as neocolonial wars and anti-religious propaganda in the Muslim world in particular and the Global South generally. Muslims must, therefore, establish and advocate for the Islamic paradigm of gender and sexuality over and against modern and postmodern perversions, while also supporting those Muslims who acknowledge orthodox Islamic teachings, but who struggle with same-sex attractions and/or gender dysphoria, in their struggle to live lives of virtue in conformity with the will of Allah and the teachings of Islam. We cannot explore the Islamic paradigm of sexual morality without first understanding where morality itself comes from. A theocentric worldview, such as that of Islam, takes God as the ultimate source of morality. Our very purpose for existence is to uphold God’s command to the best of our ability: “I have not created jinn and humankind but to worship Me.”[^5] We maintain that God and His Messenger alone are the legislators of what is right and wrong, permitted and prohibited. Allah states in the Qur’an, “It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed into a plain error.”[^6] Islamic morality is not arbitrary; although the divine command is at the heart of our rich tradition, Muslims have long engaged in rational reflection on the wisdom of divine creation and the divine word for centuries, producing a comprehensive discourse on the consequences of acts for the individual and the community, and incorporating it into the *fiqh* tradition. The “diversity in love” poster, discussed above, reminds us that over the last couple of decades, the perspectives and claims of the LGBT movement have become not merely tolerated but championed. They are now pervasive, ubiquitous, and irresistible. Within one generation, LGBT ideas and behaviors have gone from being taboo to mainstream. The questions we need to ask are: 1. How did we get here and why should we care? 2. How can we build a conceptual framework on gender, sex, and morality based on Islamic sources? Given the prodigious changing of the cultural winds, it is no longer sufficient for Muslims—and others who disapprove of same-sex relationships—simply to say that they do not approve of homosexual behavior in the same way that they do not approve of drinking or premarital sex between men and women. The discourse on homosexuality has shifted so quickly and radically that the old Muslim defenses and attitudes (“It is not our problem,” “How is this different for us Muslims from fornication or wine-drinking?,” or “Live and let live”) have become ineffective and we are confronted with grave challenges. Most well-meaning and sincere Muslims are either complacent, helpless, or both. They fail to realize that unlike the haram acts of drinking alcohol and illicit (heterosexual) sex, the affirmation of same-sex relationships and transgenderism is presented as a positive moral cause, undergirded by contentious metaphysical assumptions regarding, among other things, the human self, the place of sex and sexuality in human identity, and the proper balance between the individual and society. It is a discourse that appeals to universal notions of human dignity, justice, respect, and autonomy. Only by engaging with these issues holistically can we properly understand and respond to this challenge. Throughout the past century, so much has changed deep within our conscious understanding that we must expend considerable effort to understand that we, as Muslims in the contemporary West, are dealing with two very different conceptual paradigms. Consider the common occurrence of a young Western Muslim saying to an Islamic religious authority, “I think I’m gay. What does Islam have to say about that?” The shaykh may simply respond, “It’s haram (prohibited)!” The youth in this scenario, however, is asking about an individual and political identity situated within a paradigm without truth or metaphysics—a paradigm that views sexual feeling as being as close to unassailable truth as one can get. To our young, college-going American Muslim, who generally champions liberal causes in the name of justice and love, to say that “being gay” is haram might be like saying that being Arab or South Asian is haram. There is miscommunication between the two because each is operating from a different paradigm. On the one hand, we have the Islamic worldview as it pertains to morality—and to gender and sexuality in particular—and, on the other hand, we have the modern/post-modern secular worldview. The two start from diametrically opposed assumptions. This article sets out to distinguish these worldviews before exploring more specifically the Islamic paradigm on gender, sex, and sexual morality. It then discusses homosexuality and transgenderism from two angles: from the Islamic moral and legal (*sharʿī*) considerations, followed by a discussion of how to support Muslims who struggle with same-sex attractions. By doing so, we hope to illustrate the urgency of challenging the contemporary discourse around sex, gender, and sexuality and equipping ourselves with the proper conceptual framework to better help Muslims struggling with this issue. We conclude with additional resources on the subject that may be of help in providing further direction. *What does Islam say about LGBTQ? Watch the video below:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDbiV4VqEug --- ## The proliferation of the LGBT movement Since the 2010s, there has been a significant growth of LGBT literature geared towards youth in particular. *The Lumberjanes*, for example, is a popular comic book series consisting of seventy-five issues. Its protagonist is a Navajo trans woman (i.e., a biological male who has transitioned to being female) with two gay fathers. In the year 2010, there were approximately ten books published by mainstream publishers for young adults with LGBT characters.[^7] By 2016, a mere six years later, that number had climbed to eighty. We also now see the release of an annual “Rainbow Book List” that provides updates on LGBT-themed books for children of all ages—from infants all the way up to 18-year-olds. Public libraries and elementary schools throughout the United States even host “drag queen story hours,” where men dressed in flamboyant wigs and makeup read to children and, in the process, inculcate highly sexualized caricatures in their young minds. The same representational shift has occurred in film. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) found that of the 118 major studio films released in 2019, twenty-two (18.6%) contained characters who identified as LGBT. Furthermore, more than 250 LGBT characters were counted in children’s cartoons dating back to 1983. Looking at the data from 2010 through 2020—especially in the latter five years of this period—the representation of overtly queer characters skyrockets.[^8] This increase correlates with the US Supreme Court’s 2015 *Obergefell vs. Hodges* decision that legalized gay marriage. In the years following gay marriage legalization, Sesame Street, SpongeBob, and other shows for children were also featuring openly LGBT-identifying characters. The LGBT narrative has also permeated at an institutional level with several states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, mandating LGBT education in various public schools, some as early as elementary school. Other states have rolled out “inclusive” curriculum standards but have not yet signed statewide bills. In Canada, programs like the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI 1 2 3),[^9] which has used Muslim children as symbols in its promotional material,[^10] are devoted to advancing LGBT-related education in schools. One popular means of teaching gender fluidity and sexual identity to students involves the “Genderbread Person.”[^11] This diagram uses a gingerbread man-like figure with a multicolored brain as a teaching tool to explain gender and orientation. It asserts that gender identity is not binary as is traditionally believed; rather, it is fluid and based on one’s self-perception. The red heart in the genderbread person’s chest symbolizes attraction, communicating the belief that sexual attraction can be whatever a person’s heart feels, regardless of his or her biological sex. The diagram states: > Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand, but most people don’t. Like inception. Gender isn’t binary. It’s not either/or. In many cases, it’s both/and. A bit of this, a dash of that. This tasty little guide is meant to be for gender understanding. It’s okay if you’re hungry for more. In fact, that’s the idea.[^12] The diagram also defines the terms “gender identity,” “gender expression,” and “biological sex” as follows:[^13] - Gender identity: how you, in your head, define your gender, based on how much you align or don’t align with what you understand to be the options for gender. - Gender expression: the ways you present gender through your actions, dress, and demeanor, and how those presentations are interpreted based on gender norms. - Biological sex: the physical sex characteristics you’re born with and develop, including genitalia, body shape, voice pitch, body hair, hormones, chromosomes, etc. What is problematic about the “genderbread person” is that it presents natural binaries as a spectrum—a fluid and flexible identity that one chooses based on one’s emotions and desires, effectively robbing biological sex markers of any necessary connection or normative relevance to questions of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. So deeply and so rapidly has this cultural crusade penetrated young American Muslim minds that many are growing increasingly sympathetic to statements like: “*I feel this way internally; therefore, I’m an inauthentic person unless I’m allowed to live my life according to this feeling. And if the Muslim community doesn’t accept my sexual orientation, then they are rejecting me and undermining my dignity as a person*.” As Muslims respond to such individuals and to concepts such as authenticity, identity, choice, and dignity, it behooves us to take stock of the colossal cultural shifts introduced almost overnight into American society and their deeper roots in the modern West. These shifts have also been accompanied by some political and cultural resistance within the United States. Some states and individuals have challenged the institutionalization of LGBT curricula. In 2022, for example, the governor of Florida passed a law banning all teacher-led LGBT-related instruction in state classrooms from kindergarten to grade 3.[^14] This legislation, however, was immediately met with opposition. Faced by mounting pressure from certain groups, the multi-billion dollar Disney corporation came out in full force to reject this proposition on the grounds that it is wrong and homophobic.[^15] This represents a prime example of how an allegedly entertainment-oriented corporation, known for producing cartoons and movies, can be politicized and absorbed by the burning questions of the day. In a similar move in the same year, a Burger King ad in Austria proudly featured the “Pride Whopper,” a burger with matching top and bottom buns—a not so subtle reference to homosexual male intercourse where one partner plays the top role and the other the bottom role.[^16] The company quickly apologized after facing backlash for a “tone deaf” marketing campaign. Ironically, the criticism was directed not at this vulgar sexual representation in a decades-old fast food corporation but at the chain’s failure to understand “how gay sex works” and the accusation of “rainbow-washing” during Pride Month. In response, Burger King Austria issued an apology and promised to properly communicate with experts from the LBGTQ community for future campaigns, as “equal love and equal rights” remain their priority. Beyond the omnipresence of the LGBT narrative in the West, Muslim countries are under growing pressure to also become “LGBT-affirming.” For example, in June 2022, the US embassy in Kuwait tweeted in support of Pride Month: > All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. @POTUS \[the president of the United States\] is a champion for the human rights of #LGBTQI persons. #Pride2022 #YouAreIncluded. US embassies in other Muslim countries did the same. It is thus important to remember that the LGBT movement not only seeks to radically reshape society on a domestic level, but is at the vanguard of a neo-colonial project on an international scale as well. Needless to say, as Muslims we agree that all human beings should be treated with respect and dignity. We learn from the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that we are to, “give everything its due right.”[^17] As Muslims, therefore, we believe in giving all people their due rights. Justice is central to Islam. We disagree, however, with what respect and dignity entail in certain cases. In this context, these terms are used with very specific definitions to imply that if one does not fully endorse homosexual behavior, relationships, and family structures, then one lacks respect for people’s dignity—a serious moral charge. This loaded terminology is then used as a tool for social and political demonization. Here lies the ultimate challenge: the current LGBT discourse, as mentioned above, is presented as a *moral* discourse. We are given to believe that questions surrounding sexual desires and behavior, family structure, and so forth are primarily questions of equality, dignity, and human rights and that any opposition to the goals of the organized LGBT movement constitutes opposition to those three values. But contemporary LGBT discourse has defined equality, justice, human rights, and compassion in ways that have radically altered their meanings. In order to comprehend how this shift in understanding has occurred, we have to look back to the last few decades of Western cultural history. --- ## Tracing the roots: The sexual revolution The Western sexual revolution, which began in the late 1960s, may be taken as the proximate cause for where we are today. The sexual revolution constituted a fundamental rejection of Christian religious and moral norms surrounding gender, sex, and sexuality. Before the 60s, premarital sex and homosexual acts were taboo, and it was rare to find non-married couples living together.[^18] People were generally reticent about discussing sex in both public and private settings. For example, soap operas replaced the word “pregnant” with euphemisms like “she is expecting” or is “with child” since the word “pregnant” was considered too direct. If a film had a scene with a bare-chested woman for even a few seconds, it would be given an R rating. The marketing and sale of pornography and salacious erotic novels were also prohibited by law across the Western world at this time. These sexual norms were born from a cultural understanding that sex is a reproductive act that should only occur in the context of marriage. This is not to say that sex was not also for experiencing pleasure or for cultivating intimacy and love between a couple. But traditionally, before the advent of the first FDA-approved birth control pill in 1960, there was no form of contraception as effective as there is today.[^19] If a couple were to engage in intercourse, they were always running a fairly substantial risk of experiencing the natural consequences of that act: pregnancy. In such a climate, it would be unwise for any society to allow for unregulated sex outside of marriage. Children would be born without knowing the identity of their fathers, without a traceable lineage, and without knowing from whom to seek protection. Mothers would be left to care for these children on their own without anyone to provide for them. Sex out of wedlock, as a rampant cultural phenomenon, directly undermines the structure of society and the stability of the family unit. Family has been the core institution in all societies, historically and anthropologically speaking, even in the modern West. Because sex and reproduction are tightly bound to one another, moral duty requires that sex between two people be confined to those who are lawful to one another. This ensures that children entering the world have a father to provide for them and a mother to care for them, that they are received in stable circumstances conducive to their flourishing, that they have known lineage and extended family connections, along with all the rights, duties, and protections that flow from such fundamental human relationships. It is no casual thing to conceive a child. It was, therefore, naturally considered immoral and detrimental to interfere with a child’s right to enter the world with these safety measures in place.[^20] Illicit sex (i.e., fornication, or sex out of wedlock) was recognized as a direct threat to the social fabric because it was understood to undermine the family unit and, most especially, to jeopardize the well-being of the mother and child. Similarly, up until the 1930s, all major Christian denominations—Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant—were opposed to artificial contraception because they considered it unnatural to separate the sex act from its natural consequences (i.e., possible insemination, pregnancy, and reproduction).[^21] Hence, it was common to find contraceptives illegal in the United States and many European countries. Until the year 1965, for instance, contraceptives were illegal in the state of Connecticut. It is noteworthy here that Islamic law has a more measured attitude toward these issues and offers greater latitude on the use of birth control as compared to Christianity.[^22] ### The Pill First marketed a few years before the onset of the sexual revolution, the birth control pill became its catalyst.[^23] As a more effective form of contraception, the Pill allowed people to divorce the sex act from reproduction. The moral norm that once bound these two variables together increasingly came to be seen as irrelevant. Yet the advent of the birth control pill and the subsequent separation of sex, reproduction, and family were only two of the factors that drove this titanic social change. In a society that revered God and valued devotion to a higher truth, the prevalence of contraceptives and other factors might not have been as devastating as they in fact were in mid-century Western nations. What proved decisive at this juncture is that Western society had long ago chosen a secular path, one centered on the maximization of perceived individual happiness. In contrast, Muslim-majority societies remained theocentric and have resisted sexual decadence even after the introduction of the Pill, although aggressive Western imperialism and internal weakness has made them increasingly threatened and vulnerable to the same trends.[^24] A religious worldview that is rationally coherent and compelling, Islam orients humankind toward God. In turning its back on religion and God, the Western society found no reason for continuing to bind sex, reproduction, marriage, and morality together. In the 1960s, these four were essentially blown apart, and each came to be seen as a free-floating variable, to be defined and practiced according to the dictates of individual preference. In this way, the sexual revolution brought about a wholesale rejection of Christian moral norms as related to sexuality. Men and women started living together before marriage, an arrangement once referred to as “shacking up.” Then, love and commitment between two individuals became the only prerequisites for morally and socially acceptable sex. By the 1980s, only consent mattered anymore. No longer did two people need to be married, in love, or even committed to one another for their sexual relationship to be considered morally legitimate; they merely had to consent before engaging in the act.[^25] This brought about the demise of the nuclear family, with major social dislocations (e.g., divorce, fatherlessness, delinquency, single motherhood, single mother and child poverty, and so on). Women competed against men in the workforce—a new development for middle and upper class families—with “latchkey kids”  returning to empty homes after school because both parents were at work. Without its anchoring in reproduction, marriage, family, and morality, sex came to be seen strictly as a matter of pleasure and individual fulfillment. But this was just the beginning. The sexual revolution also spawned the gay liberation movement. Relations between two men or two women came to seem less objectionable because they, just like heterosexual relationships, now also fulfilled the new sole prerequisite for morally acceptable sex: mutual interest and consent. The civil rights movement, once specifically aimed at the protection and promotion of Black civil rights, expanded beyond race to encompass gender and sexual orientation as well. In doing so, for reasons that lie beyond our scope, powerful groups in Western culture seeking sexual liberation drew a false equivalence between themselves and victims of longstanding racial violence, positioning themselves as equally oppressed by the mainstream. In the wake of the sexual revolution, many denominations of mainstream Protestant Christianity, as well as Reform and Conservative Judaism, have taken on the basic assumptions of the sexual revolution (such as the elective nature of sex that is legitimized through consent alone). Those still trying to hold on to religious moral values find themselves isolated and alienated. --- ## Sexual attitudes in Christianity and Islam The sexual revolution in the West may have been in part an extreme reaction to the “sex-negative” attitudes that have dominated Christian teaching throughout the centuries. Celibacy has always been considered a high calling in Christianity. Mary was a virgin at the time of her miraculous conception of Jesus, even if she married thereafter (hence the “Virgin Mary”). Jesus was also celibate, as are all leaders of the Catholic church. Saint Augustine, who was a licentious man before converting to Christianity in the fourth century, was so disgusted by his previous life of profligacy that he ended up holding a thoroughly mistrustful view of sex. He spread the idea that pure spirituality meant denying oneself all carnal pleasure. Though this attitude aligned more with trends in Greek and Hellenistic philosophy than with biblical scripture, it nonetheless spread throughout Christian lands. The Qur’an addresses this trend among Christians in the following verse: > Then in the footsteps of these \[prophets\], We sent Our messengers, and \[after them\] We sent Jesus, son of Mary, and granted him the Gospel, and instilled compassion and mercy in the hearts of his followers. As for monasticism, they made it up—We never ordained it for them—only seeking to please Allah, yet they did not \[even\] observe it strictly. So We rewarded those of them who were faithful. But most of them are rebellious.[^26] Islam, on the other hand, is the middle path—the path of moderation, balance, and reason in harmony with God-given nature. Allah describes Paradise in the Qur’an as the perfect and perpetual fulfillment while regulating all kinds of behavior in this life, refusing the dualism between physical and spiritual bliss. Accordingly, sexual pleasure is not intrinsically evil, nor is it strictly for the proliferation of the human race. Rather, when enjoyed in licit ways it is a blessing, even a sign of God’s favor upon His creation. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ once told his companions that they would be rewarded for fulfilling their desires lawfully with their wives. Confused, they asked why they would be rewarded merely for satiating their desires. The Prophet ﷺ responded, “Do you not see that if one does it in a haram way, he will have the burden of sin? So if he does it in a halal way, he will have a reward for that.”[^27] Islam’s fundamentally sex-positive attitude meant that Muslim scholars did not shy away from writing about sexual etiquette. Some scholars have even described the moment of climax as a foretaste of Paradise because it is the greatest physical pleasure human beings are able to experience.[^28] Islam mandates that sex occur in the proper context, and so long as that condition is fulfilled, it is an occasion of divine blessing and otherworldly reward. --- ## The antecedents to the sexual revolution To better understand and deconstruct the underpinnings of recent Western movements of sexual licentiousness, we must explore the antecedents of the sexual revolution. Starting around the seventeenth century, sections of Western societies began drifting from a theocentric worldview toward a materialistic, mechanical one. People no longer saw God’s hand in His creation, and this blindness severed every object in the universe, humans included, from its true purpose and nature. Scientists and empirical data alone—to the exclusion of prophets and revelation—became the bearers of truth and knowledge. Meaning, purpose, and natural order all began to fall by the wayside. Enlightenment thinkers in the eighteenth century pushed further, making human reason the standard for all knowledge, including morality. The human mind became the primary moral arbiter in place of God. Revelation in the Christian world became largely discredited through geological and historical criticism of the Bible, whose cultural authority was further undermined by Darwin’s theory of evolution in the mid-nineteenth century. By the closing decades of that century, Nietzsche was able to declare that (for Western man, at least) “God is dead.” In the centuries that followed this epistemic explosion, increasing numbers of people were left to grapple with the meaninglessness that comes from an individualized, self-generated purpose disconnected from a Creator. Just as our existence was stripped of higher purpose, so too were our bodies. No longer were male and female bodies endowed with a natural complementarity whose violation would constitute a moral transgression; they  became material “stuff,” untethered to natural and supernatural laws that could be transgressed without consequence. Another antecedent to the sexual revolution was the rise of liberalism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which ultimately placed individual freedom and personal autonomy above things like community and family. Freedom as a value is widely appreciated: political freedom from tyranny, freedom from oppression, and so on. But modern liberalism has reified and fetishized it, placing it above all other, and even nobler, values, in the process enslaving humans in worse ways than through merely physical and conventional constraints. Modern humans are born into this world demanding complete freedom from all external limitations, be they moral, religious, cultural, familial, or other. Every constraint is perceived as a new barrier to be broken, another boundary to be transgressed on the path to self-actualization. Understanding this mentality is absolutely critical because it informs much of the current discourse around gender and sexuality in the West. The root of all evil lies in turning away from God.[^29] With God no longer at the center of human devotion, the individual self became the single most valuable thing. In other words, man himself became deified. A helpful guide in tracing these transformations in the West is a book by Christian theologian Carl R. Trueman titled *The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution*. In it, Trueman traces the roots of this inflated modern notion of the self to the famous eighteenth-century Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), who located the core identity of the human being in the inner psychological life of the individual, positing that feelings are central to who we are and that an individual’s authenticity is tied to his or her outward expression of inner feelings. Rousseau’s writings on selfhood are what Trueman calls the beginning of the “psychologization”[^30] of the human being: Who I am is no longer the role I play in society (father, wife, guildsman, etc.); rather, it’s my inner feelings. And to be authentic is to express freely and outwardly the full depth and breadth of my inner feelings. Any discrepancy between my inner feelings and outward expression is a lack of self-realization. This captures well the character of contemporary LGBT discourse, as shall be explained presently. Other key strands in today’s rejection of sexual mores include Karl Marx (1818–1883), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), and Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). Marx grounded his passionate quest for justice in materialist history rather than God. Nietzsche railed against all conventional morality, exposing Enlightenment pretensions of reason but replacing them with little more than human quest for power and self-assertion as the ultimate good.[^31] Freud similarly rejected religion and contended that satisfying the sex drive was foundational to human personhood and happiness, but that the possibility of civilization nonetheless requires the containment of this drive. According to Freud, even infants are sexual beings. Though much of Freud’s thought has been debunked for decades, his ideas still inform our cultural psyche. The disciples of these figures pushed the boundaries further. Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957) and Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) called for radical sexual liberation in the 1930s and beyond. Many had by this point come to believe that moral notions were essentially a matter of taste. In other words, one’s individual sensibilities and emotional responses are the primary arbiters of what is right and wrong.[^32] When tracing the epistemology of the Western secular paradigm on sexual morality, we must bear in mind that the defining figures of today’s Western ideologies were nearly all staunch atheists. Their atheism had a definitive influence on their ideas of sexual morality and secular values more broadly, and help explain today’s resistance against God, religion, and nature. Without God to provide objective stability to the cosmos, human nature becomes untethered from its source of teleology and definition. As Muslims, we affirm the reality of the unseen, and our revelation informs us that our worst enemies, Satan and his ilk, are at work to pervert our notions of good and evil so that we prefer our judgments over God’s. We reject the secular European psychologization of the self and its attendant notion of radical autonomy, as these ideas are inherently un-Islamic. Allah declares in Sūrat al-Ḥashr: “And be not like those who forgot God so He caused them to forget themselves.”[^33] Modern Western history is replete with people who have forgotten God and subsequently forgotten themselves. Having lost God, they have little more than their whims to worship: “Have you seen the one who has taken his own desires as his god?”[^34] Replacing revealed guidance with personal sensibilities and emotional judgments as the arbiters of morality turns the human lower self (*nafs*) into a plaything for Satan. It turns vice into virtue and evil into good, like “those whose evil deeds are made alluring to them so that they think they are good.”[^35] ### Homosexuality in the wake of the sexual revolution Central to LGBT discourse is the formation of identity around sexual desire. If we understand the aforementioned historical and cultural groundwork, we can see how fundamentally problematic this movement is for Muslims. Another crucial move in modern sexual delinquency has been to reject the divinely inspired soul as the essence of the human being, as it had been for Muslims as well as Christians, Jews, and others, and to replace it with sexual identity. As Carl Trueman observes, “It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this move to make the sexual desire central to human identity. In modern society, everything from the common use of terms such as ‘straight’ and ‘gay’ in everyday conversation to the underlying assumptions of international human rights law presupposes that this is the case. And the idea that human flourishing is virtually synonymous with sexual fulfillment is a commonplace—in fact, virtually an intuition—of modern Western culture.”[^36] Like all religions, the beliefs of this religion of sexual libertinism demand political expression. Thus, Trueman says: “If we are at root defined in large part by our sexual desires—if sexual desire (or ‘orientation,’ as we now say) is who we are—then sex must be political because rules governing sexual behavior are rules that govern what is and what is not considered by society to be legitimate as an identity*.*”[^37] This has a further consequence: “The old chestnut of ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’ simply does not work,” Trueman writes, “in a world where the sin is the identity of the sinner and the two cannot be separated even at a conceptual level.”[^38] Being “authentic” is not inherently objectionable, but our true self is that which aspires to the ultimate truth of God, not the one that is given to transgression, lust, prejudice, and satanic whispers. As Muslims, we affirm that the human being must be considered holistically in mind, body, and soul. Every self is unique and precious, but nurturing the self is a moral choice, and our duty is to nurture our potentials, train our bodies, and shape our desires in accordance with God’s revealed guidance, which is the reflection of our truest and deepest human nature. The ultimate expression of submission in Islam is prostration: the lowering of one’s mind to the ground while uttering *subḥāna rabbī al-aʿlā*, “Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.” While in this position, we realize our teleology and embody our most authentic selves, namely, as creations of God humbled before our Creator. It is as God states in the Qur’an, “And I have not created the jinn and humankind except to worship Me.” Worshiping God, then, is the most authentic human good.[^39] --- ## After the Ball: The plan to alter America’s sexual morality Unfortunately, Western Muslims who parrot LGBT talking points do not realize that much of their moral sensibility has been shaped by people with a deliberate agenda to destroy religious mores. In 1989, neuropsychologist Marshall Kirk and social marketing and advertising executive Hunter Madsen co-authored the book *After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s*. Both these Harvard-trained authors identified as gay, and their book served as a manifesto for normalizing homosexuality in Western societies. Since its release, the book’s plan has been implemented lock, stock, and barrel by members of the LGBT movement. The authors boldly state early on in the book: “The campaign we outline in this book, though complex, depends centrally upon a program of unabashed propaganda, firmly grounded in long-established principles of psychology and advertising.”[^40] Kirk and Madsen employed the principles of desensitization in their campaigning. They sought to build on people’s primal instincts, whereby “a flood of gay-related advertising, presented in the least offensive fashion possible,” would get the job done. “If straights can’t shut off the shower,” the authors quip, “they may at least eventually get used to being wet.” On their notion of “conversion,” the authors write, “We mean conversion of the average American’s emotions, mind, and will through a planned psychological attack in the form of propaganda fed to the nation via the media.”[^41] As Muslims, it is paramount that we recognize and stand firm against such calculated efforts to desensitize us to the limits set by Allah. --- ## Contemporary moral discourse It goes without saying that in stark contrast to Islam, in the West the divine command bears practically no relevance whatsoever to contemporary moral discourse. Subordinating divine omniscience to the temporal and temperamental whims of modern society is bound to bring ruin, and its effects are only beginning to be seen. Allah tells us in the Qur’an that “It could be that you dislike something, when it is good for you; and it could be that you like something when it is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know” (2:216). When religion becomes irrelevant to sexual behavior and life at large, people feel compelled to form their own, thoroughly personal and subjective moral frameworks regarding sexuality. People’s emotions, personal taste, sensibilities, or even perverse desires guide their notions of acceptable sexual behavior. Furthermore, contemporary moral and ethical discourse replaces central religious concepts with ersatz (i.e., substitute) notions such as: - Freedom: In popular culture, this is understood as the radical elimination of external barriers to achieve maximum happiness. In Islam, freedom is based on servitude to God, which frees us from serving our desires, material things, and falsehood. - Individual autonomy: The latter is a word formed from the suffixes *auto*, meaning “self,” and *nomos*, meaning “law.” The West’s notion of autonomy literally means “giving oneself the law” whereby each person determines what is right and wrong without recourse to a higher power. In Islam, by contrast, God and His messenger alone have the right to legislate. - Authenticity: The modern West defines this as complete, unfettered expression of the inner self (thoughts, feelings, desires), whereas in Islam, we are our true authentic selves as human beings only when we have found and submitted to our Creator (in consonance with our *fiṭra*, that is, natural or inborn, inclinations). - Consent: The modern world has come to fetishize *choice* and *consent*, which are derivatives of the notions listed above. Any action a person takes is legitimized by his choice and consent to do it so long as there is no harm to others, and this is especially the case for sexual activity. In contemporary culture, notions of “moral character,” and particularly any consideration of “virtue,” are deemed antiquated, old-fashioned, and unnecessary for the cultivation of authentic selfhood. In this vein, how a person behaves sexually has no bearing on his or her moral character as long as the acts are consensual. Given the postmodern premise that all notions are socially constructed, the emphasis on consent as the fulcrum of moral validity is utterly incoherent. In Islam, choice and consent are balanced through revelation and reason with other desiderata critical to human flourishing, such as the maintenance of the family, the cultivation of piety, and the repeated divine command to “enjoin good and forbid evil.” --- ## Islamic norms In contrast to the rapidly changing societal attitudes towards sex, gender, and sexuality in secular societies, we find in Islam a timeless framework for approaching these topics, rooted in the Qur’an as well as the prophetic Sunnah. ### On the creation of the male and female A fixed principle in Islamic law and theology is the creation of only two genders, the male and the female: “And He created the two sexes, male and female.”[^42] The Shariah makes no distinction between biological sex and what people in the West today (mostly from the 1970s onward) refer to as “psychological gender.” If a person is born in a male body, then the norm is that he would identify and express himself as a male (and vice versa for females). For him to identify otherwise would be an exception, comparable to the modern notions of gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria. The Islamic paradigm for gender and sexuality is reflected in a number of verses: - And \[by\] His creation of the male and the female.[^43]  - And that He created the two mates: the male and the female.[^44] - And the male is not like the female.[^45] - And of His signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves so that you may find comfort in them. And He has placed between you compassion and mercy. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect.[^46] - O mankind! Be mindful of your Lord Who created you from a single soul, and from it He created its mate, and through both He spread countless men and women.[^47] These verses recognize two genders, distinct yet complementary in nature, that were created by intentional design to be companions of one another. In another verse, Allah Almighty stresses both the uniqueness of men and women and their spiritual equality: > Surely \[for\] Muslim men and women, believing men and women, devout men and women, truthful men and women, patient men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, men and women who guard their chastity, and men and women who remember Allah often—for \[all of\] them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.[^48] In the following, Allah declares men and women allies: > The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give *zakat* and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those—Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might, Wise.[^49] Through this description, Allah teaches us not to compete for the same roles and responsibilities, but rather to work alongside one another in enjoining good, forbidding evil, and forming communities that exalt the Divine Command: > And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allah of His bounty. Indeed Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing.[^50] Despite their spiritual equality, men and women are different on a practical level: they have different roles, rights, and responsibilities that guide how they interact in the domestic sphere and in society at large. In short, they are not treated the same because they are not created the same. Allah declares the equality of men and women in the Qur’an in their duty to worship Him, as well as in their ability to develop themselves morally and spiritually in fulfillment of that duty. In various biological, psychological, dispositional, and physiological ways, however, men and women are different by God’s intentional design. These differences, now rejected or resisted by extreme leftist ideology, have in fact been documented in scientific literature for a very long time.[^51] For example, Allah declares that “men are the protectors and maintainers of women” (*al-rijālu qawwāmūna ʿalā al-nisāʾ*).[^52] Men also take on certain leadership roles, such as head of the household and, paradigmatically speaking, religious leadership (e.g., as imams in places of worship). Women, on the other hand, are granted the right to be supported financially throughout their lives. We maintain that male and female bodies each have an inherent teleology, a God-given *purpose**—*hence their obvious biological complementarity. Reproduction is the primary purpose of this complementarity, but unlike in traditional Christianity, not every sexual act in Islam necessarily has to allow for the possibility of conception, as the Shariah permits spouses to enjoy each other also for the purpose of pleasure. The complementarity of men and women goes beyond biology, however. In our dispositions (*khilqah*), we find a duality of masculine and feminine traits. Fathers and mothers are *not* interchangeable. God’s law, the Shariah, takes these differences into account. Although by default men and women follow the same religious rulings, in certain aspects the rulings pertaining to the two sexes differ (e.g., in aspects of prayer, inheritance, and dress code).[^53] Ultimately, as the Creator of our bodies, God has the categorical prerogative to endow them with meaning and to place limits on how we use them. It is not for us to devise purposes or assign meanings of our own accord, or to dispose of our bodies (which ultimately belong to God) as we see fit. The slogan “My body, my choice” is therefore antithetical to Islam. It challenges God’s moral authority by denying Him that right and placing it in the hands of individuals. ### Mind the difference Cultivation of behavior that accords with one’s biological gender is an Islamic obligation, and deliberate imitation of the opposite sex in dress and behavior is forbidden. The Prophet ﷺ cursed men who purposely imitate women and women who purposely imitate men.[^54] This hadith, it should be noted, is not about men who naturally exhibit more effeminate traits (e.g., a soft voice or effeminate mannerisms or gait) or women who naturally exhibit some masculine traits. Rather, the hadith pertains to individuals who deliberately impersonate the opposite sex in speech, mannerisms, dress, and so on. Drag queens may be the most conspicuous and exaggerated example of this behavior cursed by our Prophet ﷺ, who was sent as mercy to all the worlds and who would not curse a thing unless that thing were a cause of corruption and evil. ### Islamic sexual morality: “Do not go near zinā” Immersed in this secular paradigm, many Muslims are not fully aware of Islam’s sexual and gender norms. Islam has a rich, comprehensive moral system that concerns itself with human sexual behavior because it is so intimately tied to one of the most central and vital of human institutions, namely, the family. The importance of the family derives from the fact that it constitutes the very basis of society, and not just Muslim societies. As mentioned earlier, sex is reproductive; it gives rise to dependent children. Children and parents need stability. In addition to its familial and societal ramifications, *zinā* gravely compromises personal virtue, moral character, and one’s standing before Allah. The scriptural texts concerning the norms of proper gender and sexual behavior are so numerous, clear, and foundational that the jurists categorize them under one of the five objectives of the Shariah. The objective of Islam’s legislation on sexuality is to preserve the family and the extensive network of relations and community around any child, which is of paramount importance for human flourishing. Engaging in unlawful sex (*zinā*) is strictly forbidden and constitutes a major sin (*kabīrah*). In fact, illicit sexual behavior is not merely a personal sin, but a crime, potentially adjudicable in an Islamic court of law. So how does Islam render its prohibition of *zinā* a realizable moral norm for the average man and woman? It begins by limiting or regulating any act that opens the door to temptation and desire. Men and women alike are commanded to lower their gaze and not to look at one another with sexual lust, to cover their bodies, and to maintain modest dress, speech, and behavior.[^55] Muslims are also expected to avoid both physical contact and isolation (*khalwah*) with unrelated (non-*maḥram*) individuals of the opposite gender. When it comes to sexual behavior, all acts are forbidden by default unless specifically permitted by divine revelation (*al-aṣl fī al-abḍāʿ al-taḥrīm*). Allah states in Sūrat al-Muʾminūn, “\[Successful are\] those who guard their chastity, except from their spouses or those whom their right hands possess––for these are free from blame.”[^56] Everything outside of an explicitly sanctioned union between a man and a woman is prohibited. This includes anal intercourse,[^57] sexual acts short of intercourse (such as manual stimulation or oral sex), exposing one’s *ʿawrah* (i.e., private parts) to anyone other than a lawful partner (or for medical need). The prohibition is extended to any behavior that systematically threatens to lead to illicit relations or creates such desires, such as touching, gazing, isolation (*khalwah*), immodest speech, dress, behavior, and so on. God commands us in the Qur’an to avoid any act that potentially leads to *zinā*: “And go not near *zinā*; verily it is iniquity and an evil way.”[^58] ### Protection of family and lineage in the Shariah Adhering to the bounds of permissible sexual activity within Islamic law fulfills a key objective of the Shariah: the protection of family and lineage (*nasl* and *nasab*). Non-marital sex entails the risk of obscuring (or “mixing”) lineage, known as *khalṭ al-ansāb*. This is crucial for a number of reasons. First, a fraction of a person’s inheritance devolves upon close relatives according to predetermined shares. The rights of inheritance cannot be fulfilled by individuals who cannot identify their blood relatives. For example, a man needs to know the identity of his children in order to spend on them just as he needs to know the identity of his parents in order to receive inheritance from them. Furthermore, blood ties as a basis of lineage must be established through natural reproduction, not artificial means. The Shariah prohibits surrogacy, egg donors, and sperm donors and considers such reproductive practices as tantamount to *zinā*. The only exception to prohibition of artificial insemination, according to most Islamic scholars, is in the case of a married man and woman: if, for example, the husband has healthy sperm and the wife has healthy eggs (but, say, her fallopian tubes are blocked and she thus cannot conceive through natural means) and she carries the baby, in such a case the couple may seek artificial insemination. The child in this situation will have been delivered by his biological mother and with the fertilized egg and sperm of his biological parents, thus honoring God’s intended reproductive order for His human creation. Reproductive techniques that rely on sperm donors, egg donors, or surrogate wombs are prohibited because, ultimately, they reproduce the consequences of *zinā*, such as *khalṭ al-ansāb*, by mixing lineage and blurring natural family lines.[^59] Protection of lineage and family is one of the many wise purposes of the divine law against illicit sexual behavior. There may be even more important reasons, such as the protection of the children from the harms that come from being born outside of a normal and complete family and protection of the mind and heart from unbridled sexual lust, which is one of the greatest obstacles to focused worship and a God-centered life—worship being the very purpose of our creation. --- ## Gender nonconformity Contemporary liberalism severs natural, biological sex from both gender identity and expression, on the one hand, and sexual orientation, on the other. Prior to 2013, a person experiencing such a dissonance between his or her biological sex and gender identity would have been clinically diagnosed with a condition called Gender Identity Disorder. This term signaled an understanding that one’s sex/gender was based primarily in biology and that a mismatch between one’s external sex and one’s internal gender identification constituted an objective psychological disorder. Over time, however, Gender Dysphoria replaced Gender Identity Disorder as the condition requiring treatment. What is now deemed acceptable to treat are the feelings of anxiety and depression experienced by those struggling to identify with their biological sex.[^60] Today, it is unacceptable to do anything other than validate a person’s feeling that “I am in the wrong body.” One’s objective physiology and biology have lost all meaning in Western culture, as deference to biological facts is seen by the postmodernist and post-truth mind as offensive and unjust, to be resisted and overcome. Although the original advocates of liberalism and the modern self might be aghast at these consequences, by rejecting divine guidance these champions of reason paved the way for these most frivolous displays of unreason. According to Islamic guidance, God Almighty has intentionally designed the human body such that these three things are normatively aligned. When they are not aligned, people with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and same-sex attraction should make reasonable efforts to conform to God’s objective and intentional design of their biology. Exceptions to the rule where a person may fall subjectively outside the natural gender binary or normative opposite-sex attraction do not undermine the rule itself or the normativity of the conjunction between biological sex, psychological gender identification, and sexual attraction. Given the key Islamic principle that one is only responsible for what one has control over, people are not morally responsible for gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction to the extent that they did not *choose* to feel what they feel. However, we are all responsible for our actions. Engaging in prohibited sexual behavior or deliberate impersonation of the opposite sex *would*, therefore, be sinful. This includes cross-dressing and socially, chemically, or surgically transitioning to the opposite sex, as well as engaging in any form of sexual behavior or intimacy with members of one’s own sex. In distinguishing masculinity and femininity, scholars take into account the societal conventions (*ʿurf*) to which individuals are subject. The *ʿurf* may be referenced in order to determine what specific dress, interests, and mannerisms are perceived as masculine or feminine in a given time and place. The bottom line is that, despite cross-cultural and cross-historical differences, every society differentiates between its male and female members, even if the specifics of that differentiation are, to an extent, socially dependent. For example, if we traveled back in time and visited eighteenth-century Americans, we would find the men dressed in big, white, curly wigs, frilly blouses, and tight stockings. Such sartorial features strike us as decidedly feminine given our current-day norms, to the extent that dressing in such a manner today would likely be identified as drag. This example demonstrates that conventions of masculine and feminine dress are often unique to particular times and places. So long as *ʿurf* does not violate the rights and responsibilities of men and women as outlined by Islam, a Muslim is typically required to respect the known conventions (*ʿurf*) of his or her gender. However, as we note below, there are limits to this expectation, as Islam guides and corrects customs that go to extremes, transgressing both nature and human interest.[^61] Scholars recognize that a person can have gender-atypical mannerisms, gait, voice, and so on, which manifest in a person either naturally (*khilqī*) or through deliberate affectation (*ghayr khilqī*). The term *mukhannath* refers to a male with effeminate mannerisms, while the term *mudhakkarah* refers to a female with masculine mannerisms. Purposefully affecting gender atypical mannerisms is prohibited by our revealed texts and the consensus of Muslim scholars. As for those whose gender-atypical mannerisms are *khilqī*, scholars have differed: some rule that the *mukhannath* and the *mudhakkarah* must make reasonable attempts to recondition their mannerisms in order to align more closely with those of their own sex, while other scholars have ruled that they are under no obligation to attempt such reconditioning. Islam, as a rule, is not overly prescriptive concerning the specifics of what counts as masculine versus feminine, and we must be mindful of false *ʿurf*—one that has been socially engineered for excessive profit or other immoral ends. Girls are free to pursue sports and bricolage, just as boys are free to pursue art and cooking. Our Prophet’s *sīrah* and the *sīrah* of his companions present us with many examples of men and women behaving in ways that violated pre-Islamic Arab gender norms, such as men crying profusely, women fighting in battle, and the Prophet ﷺ participating in domestic chores. Similarly, certain Victorian notions of womanhood, which presented the ideal woman as a dainty, delicate, ever-fainting damsel in distress, are not to be mistaken for indigenous Islamic norms. Similarly, what constitutes appropriate same-sex interaction in Islam is also, to a fair extent, conventional and based on a society’s ʿ*urf*. For example, many Muslim men, particularly in the Arab world, are rather “touchy-feely” compared to their Western counterparts. Such men may be seen kissing one another on the cheeks upon meeting, holding hands or hooking arms in public, or calling one another by names of endearment (e.g., *ḥabībī*, meaning literally “my love”). For Western men, these platonic acts would be interpreted as overtly homosexual. Norms of Arab male friendship are changing, though, as the West continues to propagate its gender and sexual paradigm globally through mass media. Muslims are not immune to this propaganda, which pushes Western norms as morally necessary. We must be vigilant against the impact of such norms on our psyches and maintain our commitment to Islamic guidelines on gender and sexuality. --- ## Questioning the terms: Homosexuality and LGBT To understand homosexuality—as well as the broader trends and identities included under the LGBT label—from within an Islamic framework, we must begin by questioning the terms of the discourse and the underlying assumptions they encode. As one principle in the Shariah states, “passing judgment on something is contingent upon its (proper) conceptualization” (*al-ḥukm ʿalā al-shayʾ farʿ ʿan taṣawwurihi*). There is no word in classical Arabic—or any other Islamicate language, for that matter—that is equivalent to  “homosexuality,” just as there had traditionally been no concept of a gay or LGBT identity (with corresponding vocabulary) even in the West before the late nineteenth century. The term “homosexual,” first coined in Germany in the 1860s as a medical term to study (and, if possible, to treat) individuals who had sexual relations with members of the same sex, has been elevated to a *sexual identity*. “Sexuality” itself is a fairly recent neologism in the West. Traditionally, in both East and West, sexual behavior has been something an individual *does*, not what a person *is*. On its own, the word “homosexuality”—formed from the Greek word “homos,” meaning “the same,” added to the Latin-derived word “sexuality”—preserves a scientific and purely descriptive connotation, meaning simply “same-sex” in plain English. In contemporary parlance, homosexuality could refer to *feelings* of romantic and or/sexual *attraction* to members of one’s own sex, as well as to *behavior* based on those feelings. More poignantly, however, it typically also refers to a full-blown personal and social *identity* based on such feelings and behaviors. Collectively, these three meanings mirror the contemporary Western understanding of the self and its conflation of desire, behavior, and identity. ![Graphic on the modern western's conflation and separation of different aspects of sexuality and relationships](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image1-2-1024x1024.jpg) Only in contemporary Western liberalism are desires, behaviors, and identities inextricably fused together. It is from this paradigm that the identities “gay,” “lesbian,” “queer,” and so on were born. This is all very new and specific to the contemporary West, and, as Muslims, we must resist taking on terminology fraught with un-Islamic beliefs and ideas, such as this inextricable conflation of desire, behavior, and identity. It is morally problematic to elide any meaningful distinction between desires and actions, for the mere existence of a desire can never be a moral justification for acting on it. Rather, we must appeal to independent moral criteria in order to evaluate any given desire and the moral status of acting upon it. For the post-sexual revolution West, that criterion is consent: as long as two adults consent, the act shared between them is seen as justified and unassailable. Compare this to the verse in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb: > It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if anyone disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed gone manifestly astray.[^62] Reflecting upon this verse highlights the dilemma Muslims face today. On the one hand, we must look to revelation to know what is permitted and prohibited of the various desires we experience. On the other hand, the hegemonic discourse of the liberal West insists upon treating homosexuality and other prohibited behaviors as identities needing to be preserved, defended, even honored, in the social, political, and moral arenas. Bombarded with this attack on the fundamentals of their religion, young Muslims today start with the deck already stacked against them. Any disapproval of homosexual or transgender behavior is immediately perceived as an attack on a personal *identity*, accompanied by accusations of “denying people’s dignity,” practicing “exclusion,” or otherwise being motivated by hate, bigotry, or prejudice. To reclaim our language and conceptual framework, let us turn to how  homosexual acts are characterized by our Creator and Lord Almighty. ### Verses on the people of Lot (as) A discussion of Islamic sexual ethics, and homosexuality in particular, would be incomplete without mentioning the Qur’anic verses on the people of Lot. In recent years, the clear and traditionally undisputed interpretation of these verses has been questioned by secularly-trained Western academics, including those who identify as Muslims. Let us take a look at these passages. The people of Lot are mentioned in at least nine different places in the Qur’an, in a total of more than seventy-five verses. The emblematic sin of Lot’s people, according to the Qur’an, is their engagement in sexual behavior with other men. A few verses (e.g., Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt, 29:29) make incidental mention of other misdeeds on their part, but their primary transgression mentioned in all cases is “approaching males with desire (*shahwah*) instead of females.” Revisionists, who are often open about their desire to read whatever meaning they need to into the Qur’an, have attempted to reinterpret their sin as one of rape or inhospitality to Lot’s guests. This flies in the face of plain, academically rigorous, and historically unanimous readings of the passage. One verse states: > And \[mention\] Lot, when he said to his people, “Do you approach iniquity (*fāḥishah*) such as none in creation have committed before you? Verily, you come with desire unto men instead of women. Nay, you are a people transgressing \[beyond bounds\].” But the only reply of his people was to say, “Turn them out from your town. Surely, they are a people who make themselves pure.”[^63] In an exercise of eisegesis (reading meaning *into* a text, as opposed to exegesis, which involves reading *out of* a text the meaning imbedded in it as intended by its author), many of these revisionists draw from contemporary Christian and/or Jewish reinterpretations of the biblical story of Lot in the Book of Genesis and read these—no matter how implausibly—back into the Qur’an as a rape narrative.[^64] Other verses that bring clarity to the story include: > The people of Lot belied the messengers. Behold, their brother Lot said to them, “Will you not be mindful \[of God\]? Indeed, I am a faithful messenger unto you, so fear your Lord and obey me. I ask from you no reward for it; my reward is only with the Lord of the worlds. Do you approach males from among all creation, leaving what your Lord has created for you from your spouses? Nay, but you are a people transgressing \[the bounds\].” They said, “Lot, if you do not desist from this, you shall certainly be driven out.” He said, “I am, in truth, of those who loathe your deeds. My Lord, deliver me and my family from what they do!”[^65] > And \[mention\] Lot, when he said to his people, “Do you commit iniquity (*fāḥishah*) with eyes wide open? Do you indeed come with desire unto men instead of women? Nay, but you are a people behaving foolishly.”[^66] > And \[mention\] Lot, when he said to his people, “You commit iniquity (*fāḥishah*) such as none in creation have committed before you. Do you indeed come unto men, and cut off the path, and practice evil deeds in your assemblies?” The reply of his people was but to say, “Bring upon us God’s punishment, if you are among the truthful.”[^67] > And when Our messengers \[the angels\] came to Lot, he was anguished on their account and constrained from helping them. And he said, “This is a trying day!” And his people came hastening unto him, and before they had been working evil deeds. He said, “O my people, these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So fear God and disgrace me not with respect to my guests. Is there not among you a right-minded man?” They said, “You know well that we have no claim on your daughters, and indeed, you know what we want.”[^68] Revisionists have presented this last verse as evidence that Lot’s people were punished for rape, the highest crime being attempted rape of God’s messengers (angels) who visited their city in the form of men. But if their crime were rape, then why would Lot offer his daughters (which some have understood as a reference to the women of the town) to his people instead? In addition to this, Lot concludes by reaffirming God’s standard for sexual morality: “O my people, these are my daughters; they are *purer for you*.” This reinforces the fact that their crime was intended sodomy, not rape, for one does not decry rape on account of its being “impure,” proposing non-rape as the “purer” alternative. Indeed, it would be abusive to interpret this verse as anything other than a condemnation of (male-male) anal intercourse—which it would be perfectly conventional to denounce as “impure”—and a commendation of the “purer” (*aṭhar*) alternative of male-female intercourse as designed and intended by the Creator. The only morally pure avenue for fulfilling one’s sexual desires is in the manner that God has decreed, and He has clearly prohibited sexual relations with members of the same sex. Furthermore, the highest crime of Lot’s people could not have been the rape of the angels, for the angels were sent to punish them for the crime of “approaching men with lust instead of women” in which they had hitherto long been engaged. Reinterpreting this narrative as rape is a classic example of anachronistically projecting contemporary notions—such as the post–sexual revolution fixation on “consent” as the only relevant criteria for sexual relations—onto the revealed texts and their exegesis. Only in the last three decades has “consent” become the one and only measuring stick of sexual morality in the West. Projecting this peculiar moral outlook thousands of years into the past, and reading it into a text where an alternative narrative is explicit, is unacceptable. Some of the world’s leading biblical scholars, such as John Barton and others (who themselves are not literal followers of the Bible), emphatically state that the revisionist case on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has failed.[^69] In the only acceptable reading of the story, the primary sin of Lot’s people was homosexual acts, *not* rape. Others have tried to historicize the moral implications of Lot’s story by arguing that God had decreed such ethical standards to an ancient society in their Near Eastern context and that His standard no longer applies to us today. We refer our readers here to one of the best written works debunking this argument found in “Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts? Qur’anic Revisionism and the Case of Scott Kugle,” by Mobeen Vaid.[^70] --- ## Building an Islamic framework To begin building an Islamic framework, we note that Islam does not categorize human beings on the basis of mere desires, especially if such desires are for acts declared not only illicit but also unnatural and deserving of punishment. Accusing someone of being a *lūṭī*, for instance, carries a *ḥadd* punishment for libel or slander (*qadhf*) according to most schools.[^71] Accepting a Western sexual identity framework changes the discussion, elides moral concerns, and frames the issue as one of social justice (defined subjectively) as opposed to Allah’s command, which embodies perfect justice. We cannot claim to be more just and compassionate than God, for He is al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. Next, we note that the Shariah categorizes sexual acts—not sexual identities—as halal and haram. Halal sexual relations are those between a man and a woman in marriage bound by an Islamically valid contract; all else is illegitimate. Haram acts are further subdivided into enormities (*kabāʾir*), which include male-female *zinā* (fornication and adultery) and (male-male) sodomy (*liwāṭ*), and non-penetrative sexual acts such as *siḥāq* (female genital rubbing), manual and intercrural stimulation, oral sex, and all other such acts between any two persons (of either sex). All of these are classified as *muḥarram li-dhātihi* (prohibited intrinsically). Furthermore, the Shariah recognizes and prohibits preludes to these sexual acts, such as touching, gazing, *khalwah*, and immodest dress, speech, and behavior. These are considered *muḥarram li-ghayrihi* (prohibited on account of another, i.e., because they lead to that which is prohibited intrinsically). ### Faithful strugglers It is a fact that there are Muslims—including very faithful and practicing ones—who experience same-sex attractions and/or gender dysphoria. How do we respond when they say that their inner feelings and desires make them feel like a “lesser” Muslim or ask, “Does Allah hate me? Am I a walking sin? Am I going to hell for these desires?” Our response to these individuals ought to begin with the principle that we have noted earlier, namely, that Islam does not define or categorize people on the basis of internal feelings, sexual or otherwise. Rather, it affirms our core identity as servants of God, defined essentially and primarily in terms of our belief in Allah, our love of and submission to Him, and our devotion to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and obedience to the path he was sent to establish for the welfare and success of mankind until the Day of Judgment. In addition, the Shariah differentiates between feelings and acts and, further, between the commission of (private) sins and (public) advocacy on behalf of those sins. Given these considerations, it is necessary for us to deconstruct the contemporary liberal paradigm and, by doing so, properly historicize and provincialize it. By offering Muslims who contend with same-sex attractions and/or gender dysphoria an Islamic paradigm and language through which to conceive and express their experiences, we reassure them that their faithful struggle with such challenges may even be a means for them to attain the rank of true *mujāhidūn* in the path of God. As the Prophet ﷺ has said: > A striver (*mujāhid*) is he who strives in God’s obedience, and a migrant is he who migrates from sin and error.[^72] Furthermore, we should emphasize that falling into a sin does not make one unworthy of God’s love, forgiveness, and mercy. Sexual transgressions, while serious, do not amount to *kufr*, and many are those in our day who struggle with pornography, *zinā*, and related trespasses. We ought to remind those who wish to live in the path of Allah—regardless of the specific nature of their challenges—that the door of *tawbah* is forever open and that, indeed, as the Prophet ﷺ has emphatically reassured us, “Allah rejoices more at the repentance of His slave than one of you (would rejoice) upon finding his mount after having lost it in a waterless desert.”[^73] It is important that Muslims dealing with same-sex attractions and/or gender dysphoria be able to find support among trusted individuals within the Muslim community, be they imams, counselors, family, friends, or others. Concomitantly, Muslims who do not experience same-sex attraction or GID should understand that such feelings cannot simply be turned on and off like a switch, that they are frequently intertwined with painful emotional wounds and experiences, and that they can represent a substantial challenge on various levels for those who must deal with them. In light of these factors, it can be particularly unhelpful when individuals who may be well-meaning but who are unfamiliar with the territory, so to speak, volunteer facile advice suggesting that a person “merely need do *x* or *y*” for all his problems to be solved. In addition to providing general emotional and spiritual support, family, friends, and community leaders should direct those struggling with same-sex attraction and/or gender identity issues to the numerous specialized resources that now exist in the Muslim community. The most important of these is the 88-episode podcast A Way Beyond the Rainbow,[^74] produced by Br. Waheed Jensen, a physician, medical researcher, and practicing Muslim who understands the struggle with same-sex attraction from within and has produced a comprehensive resource that deals with the issue from all conceivable angles—psychological, spiritual, medical, emotional, sociopolitical, personal, familial, and communal. (Many episodes, in fact, explore topics in a manner that is useful even for Muslims who do not deal specifically with same-sex attraction or gender identity issues.) In addition, two support networks currently exist for Muslims experiencing same-sex attraction and/or GID, namely, the Straight Struggle Discord group[^75] and the UK-based Strong Support foundation.[^76] Finally, Br. Yousef Salam, the longtime moderator of Straight Struggle, has published an insightful and well-written article that serves as an excellent introduction to, and statement of principle on, homosexuality in Islam and the Muslim community. This article is well worth the read for any Muslim who is concerned about this issue.[^77] To reiterate a point raised above, in responding to those dealing with such issues within our community, we must emphasize that one of the most perilous traps for Muslims in the West is the ubiquitous gay identity paradigm, which insists that one must, as a question of core identity, conceive of and present oneself as “gay” or “lesbian” if one is attracted to the same sex. This is the language and attendant conceptual framework that the dominant secular culture of the West has prescribed for interpreting and processing such feelings. Despite its seeming ubiquity, however, the current paradigm in fact represents a very particular and idiosyncratic way of construing such experiences, one that is neither transhistorical nor cross-culturally universal. To accept this paradigm, moreover, is to completely upend the moral discourse of the Shariah by incriminating it in the exclusion of people’s core identities and the undermining of their human dignity. As Muslims, we do not base our identities on our sexual drives, but rather on our commitment and submission to God and His purpose for us. --- ## Conclusion: From challenging the framework to recovering morality The foregoing treatment has shown how contemporary Western liberalism unknots three dimensions of the human experience once recognized as being bound together by nature and religious law: sex, reproduction, and marriage/morality. At the same time, it conflates three things that ought to be differentiated: desire, action, and identity. If our desires transgress divine law, they should not be acted upon; and even if they are acted upon, they should not become our identity. Up until the recent past, religious morality had furnished social meaning, norms, and structure and disciplined desires by determining which of them should be actualized and which should not. In today’s liberal extremism—which has overtaken, eliminated, or disfigured nearly all traditions—the only sacred deity is the subjective desire of the *nafs*. In this liberal extremist dogma, as long as two parties consent, whatever action they decide to engage in is morally unobjectionable assuming no harm results (or at least does not appear to). In reality, the desires to which such parties consent are mass manufactured, and the  definition of “harm” by which they abide is carefully determined by a self-serving elite. What was once morally unobjectionable only for that extremist elite has been mainstreamed and then forced down the throats of populations unable to resist. Crucial to this agenda is the transformation of the non-normative desires of the few into a sacred right that must be approved and then celebrated by all. This process necessitated the transmutation of desire into identity, such that objecting to someone’s desires and/or concomitant acts becomes synonymous with objecting to their very existence, and hence comparable to a violation of basic human rights and fundamental dignity. The following summarizes a number of recommendations that result from the exposition offered above. ### 1\. Reclaiming our language We must begin by reclaiming our language. Key terms of discourse on sexual desire, behavior, and identity have been infused with enormous political and social baggage as part of a deliberate campaign. For this reason, it is best for us to avoid using terms such as LGBT—whether the acronym itself or its constituent labels—as a description of reality, limiting it to critical analytic discourse. Rather, when discussing the issue in terms of unchosen tendencies that Muslims and others experience, we should opt for descriptive terms devoid of identitarian baggage such as “same-sex attractions,” “homosexual inclinations,” “gender dysphoria,” and the like. When speaking of prohibited sexual behaviors—whether male-female *zinā*, male-male sodomy (*liwāṭ*), lesbian sex (*siḥāq*), or any other—we should be forthright, in appropriate contexts, in using language that conveys the moral opprobrium attached to such acts by the Shariah (such as *fāḥishah*, etc., or English equivalents). ### 2\. Clearly establishing the Islamic gender and sexuality paradigm As a community, how do we deal with this issue effectively in a just and compassionate way? First, we need to strongly and confidently establish our Islamic gender and sexuality paradigm as independent and distinct from the one inhabited by the contemporary West. Though stating this is taboo, we regard gender as something essential and not merely incidental or socially constructed. We affirm gender differences as real and God-given. Deconstructing the conflated sexual desire–behavior–identity framework of the West allows us, and teaches others, to appreciate the wisdom and legislation of our Creator. We should also continue actively critiquing and deconstructing the Western paradigm post–sexual revolution while simultaneously asserting our own paradigm. Condemning post–sexual revolution norms does not make Muslims “prudes.” Licit sexual activity is not only permissible in Islam but celebrated and rewarded. Illicit sexual expression—whether it be heterosexual or homosexual—leads to individual and communal destruction and chaos. ### 3\. Pointing out the neocolonial nature of the LGBT project for the Muslim world We should also stress that the spread of the LGBT paradigm throughout the world today begins with cultural imperialism and brainwashing but, like feminism in the Second Gulf War, could be easily weaponized as part of the attempt to justify neocolonial coercion and sanction.[^78] In other words, the LGBT normalization project that originated in the West is being forced upon other societies as a non-negotiable “truth.” Others are expected to align themselves with Western interests, ideas, and ideologies as a matter of principle because “the West knows best; it always has and it always will.” Advocates of the progressive left in the West speak of “deconstructing” and challenging neocolonialism yet have done little more than trade one kind of neocolonialism for another. We cannot criticize Victorian morality imposed on the Muslim world by British colonizers in the nineteenth century while turning a blind eye to the post–sexual revolution paradigm imposed on the Muslim world today. ### 4\. Rejecting the sexual identity paradigm Individuals in Islam are not identified by their sexuality, and normative Islamic sources and tradition have no terms by which to mark people off in terms of a “sexual identity.” We dignify people with respect to their having been created by God, not the kind of desires they experience. The sexual identity paradigm is inherently incompatible with Islam. We should use descriptive terms and adjectives, such as “he experiences same-sex attraction” or “she experiences gender dysphoria,” rather than essentializing identitarian language, like saying that “he is gay” or “she is trans.” Doing so allows us to avoid reducing these individuals to a single facet of their existence, namely, their sexual desires. It also helps Muslims who experience such challenges avoid seeing themselves in essentialized and reductive sexual identity terms that are likely to lead to an unresolvable head-on collision with Islamic teachings. ### 5\. No gay exceptionalism What is meant by “gay exceptionalism” (either positive or negative) is simply this: pushing for the acceptance of same-sex or “gender-bending” acts in an Islamic environment is just as unacceptable as pushing alcohol, *zinā*, and so on. There is no special license to act upon, or to promote acting upon, what Allah has prohibited simply because it is acceptable in contemporary Western societies or because one has embraced the current Western sexual identity paradigm. As Muslims, we do not tie homosexual acts to identity. Therefore, disallowing or condemning such acts in Muslim spaces is not a violation of a person’s human rights or a rejection of their dignity. In the same manner, we should not stigmatize or single out other Muslims for merely having and faithfully struggling with gender identity issues and/or same-sex attractions. If another Muslim confides in you about this issue, embrace them and support them in their efforts to realize their purpose as a Muslim and live their life in submission to God and His religion. Every person battles with things that they did not necessarily bring upon themselves. In Islam, the test of submission is reforming the *nafs* to align with God’s commands. Whether the struggle concerns drugs, alcohol, same-sex attraction or gender identity, envy, or backbiting—“successful indeed is the one who purifies himself \[from what God has prohibited\].”[^79] ### 6\. Balancing subjective feelings with objective truths Another necessary component of realizing our principles is balancing individual and communal needs, as well as subjective feelings and objective truths concerning what is right and wrong. To achieve this balance, we should offer struggling Muslims private support and consultation as opposed to public “accommodation” or “inclusion.” Defiant activist types should not be allowed to disrupt Islamic spaces or impose their will on the community. This is similar to how one might treat a Muslim who drinks alcohol: we would ban them from selling alcohol at an Eid carnival while also providing private support to them if they struggle with a drinking habit. ### 7\. Supporting the faithful struggler We should show empathy and understanding to Muslims dealing with same-sex attractions or gender identity issues for what is often a very difficult and emotionally taxing issue. As mentioned above, one should support the person in their general spirituality and in other ways: finding them mentors, advising them, lending them a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. But one should also know one’s limits: the issues involved are often complex and deeply embedded. Do not pretend to know everything about how the person should deal with things. Rather, be there for general support, but point them in the right direction to find the resources they need. For additional resources on this topic and other general background information, please see the references cited below.[^80] ### 8\. Upholding the Straight Path When engaging with this issue on an individual and/or communal level, we should remember the “three Cs” for maintaining the Straight Path: clarity, compassion, and conviction. Being compassionate toward someone struggling with gender identity or same-sex attraction does not mean bending God’s commands or misrepresenting the Islamic paradigm on gender, sexuality, morality, and identity. No one is more merciful or compassionate than God; true compassion thus involves guiding others to the truth and what pleases the Creator. Contemporary LGBT discourse often makes Western Muslims feel embarrassed by Islamic teachings on sexual ethics. Islam’s sexual ethics are not the problem, however. Rather, they are the only solution to our problems—the solution that the West and all of the world desperately needs. It is a Qur’anic imperative to uphold our ethical standard with confidence, as Allah states: “Call \[people\] to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful admonition, and dispute with them in the most courteous of ways; for your Lord knows best who has strayed from His way and who is rightly guided.”[^81] This is the command that we have been given, and this is the command that we are bound to fulfill. *O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant that we may follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant that we may avoid it. Ameen!* --- ## Notes [^1]: Carl Sharif El-Tobgui, “Islam and ‘LGBTQ’: Gender, Sexuality, Morality & Identity,” Blogging Theology, YouTube video, June 17, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_M4aHFvrCuI&t=39s. [^2]: Adan Butt, “Western University: Remove the Depiction of Hijab from Your LGBTQ Post,” Change.org, [https://www.change.org/p/western-university-remove-the-depiction-of-hijab-from-your-lgbtq-post](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.change.org/p/western-university-remove-the-depiction-of-hijab-from-your-lgbtq-post&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459790536&usg=AOvVaw3emWc0hpkkR77cx8bt0xse). [^3]: Daniel Villarreal, “University Pulls Image of Women in Hijabs Kissing after Muslim Community Protests,” LGBTQ Nation, May 19, 2022, [https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/05/university-pulls-image-women-hijabs-kissing-muslim-community-protests/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/05/university-pulls-image-women-hijabs-kissing-muslim-community-protests/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459790167&usg=AOvVaw0lB4hhiP_HrXBysQZuiS1U). [^4]: Villarreal, “University Pulls Image.” [^5]: Qur’an 51:56. [^6]: Qur’an 33:36. [^7]: Malinda Lo, “LGBTQ YA by the Numbers: 2015–16,” *Malinda Lo* (blog), October 12, 2017, [https://www.malindalo.com/blog/2017/10/12/lgbtq-ya-by-the-numbers-2015-16](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.malindalo.com/blog/2017/10/12/lgbtq-ya-by-the-numbers-2015-16&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459792242&usg=AOvVaw1y-WvTmTGXIDOeqodMduGx). [^8]: Victoria Whitley-Berry, “After Decades in the Background, Queer Characters Step to the Front in Kids’ Media,” NPR, June 30, 2021, [https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011310695/after-decades-in-the-background-queer-characters-step-to-the-front-in-kids-media](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011310695/after-decades-in-the-background-queer-characters-step-to-the-front-in-kids-media&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459792606&usg=AOvVaw3gIqh7c37eqfoyNb6BolCJ). [^9]: SOGI 1 2 3, 2019, [www.sogieducation.org/](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.sogieducation.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459794479&usg=AOvVaw1drE0u6oVzS8EIJIR3w5x-), accessed September 13, 2022. [^10]: “Results,” SOGI 1 2 3, [https://www.sogieducation.org/results](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sogieducation.org/results&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459803223&usg=AOvVaw2gu37SBfLsGYedh37whNgZ). [^11]: Sam Killermann, “The Genderbread Person V4.0,” The Genderbread Person, 2017, [www.genderbread.org/resource/genderbread-person-v4-0](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.genderbread.org/resource/genderbread-person-v4-0&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459794312&usg=AOvVaw082V6_6AiYWHzp0M1eUMYF), accessed September 13, 2022. [^12]: Sam Killermann, “Breaking through the Binary: Gender Explained Using Continuums,” March 27, 2015, [https://www.genderbread.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Breaking-through-the-Binary-by-Sam-Killermann.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.genderbread.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Breaking-through-the-Binary-by-Sam-Killermann.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459794824&usg=AOvVaw091r8o7qaU7Hgs5wqT12D3). [^13]: Killerman, “Breaking through the Binary.” [^14]: Wikipedia, s.v. “Florida Parental Rights in Education Act,” last modified May 28, 2025, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida\_Parental\_Rights\_in\_Education\_Act](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Parental_Rights_in_Education_Act&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459797408&usg=AOvVaw3aGKienDUbNddvwVsOOnM2). [^15]: Wikipedia, s.v. “Florida Parental Rights in Education Act,” sec. The Walt Disney Company. [^16]: Anna Cooban, “Burger King Has a ‘Pride Whopper’ with ‘Two Equal Buns,’” CNN, June 7, 2022, [https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/business-food/burger-king-pride-whopper](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/business-food/burger-king-pride-whopper&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459790812&usg=AOvVaw0OOLc9r3DsbqwHt8cgUWpl). [^17]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, no. 1968. [^18]: See Meg Jay, “The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage,” *New York Times*, April 15, 2012, [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-downside-of-cohabiting-before-marriage.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-downside-of-cohabiting-before-marriage.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459791139&usg=AOvVaw3PRC_Xr7r_VNBZQ_nMQBsC). [^19]: See Mary Eberstadt, *Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution* (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012). [^20]: See Katy Faust, *Them Before Us* (New York: Post Hill Press, 2021). [^21]: See Sherif Girgis, “The Historic Christian Teaching Against Contraception: A Defense,” *Public Discourse*, August 10, 2016, [https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2016/08/17559/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2016/08/17559/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459792888&usg=AOvVaw3DHl-71KSDsU7pDOAOPLX-). [^22]: Omar Suleiman, “Islam and the Abortion Debate,” *Yaqeen*, March 20, 2017, updated September 20, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-and-the-abortion-debate](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-and-the-abortion-debate&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459803881&usg=AOvVaw0AF3rCXO7mZtg27PdVVKhI). [^23]: The Pill was hailed as a success as a contraceptive in the closing years of the 1950s. See  Nicholas Bakalar, “Birth Control Pills, 1957,” *New York Times*, October 25, 2010, [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/health/26first.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/health/26first.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459795329&usg=AOvVaw2lCmcLMz29Ud1pfiSwFYcp). [^24]: Nicholas Eberstadt and Apoorva Shah, “Fertility Decline in the Muslim World: A Demographic Sea Change Goes Largely Unnoticed,” Hoover Institution, June 1, 2012, [https://www.hoover.org/research/fertility-decline-muslim-world](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hoover.org/research/fertility-decline-muslim-world&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459803531&usg=AOvVaw0-cQAQ7-MlvObjRRJsBgjd). [^25]: For a short but useful treatment on the problematic notion of “consent” as employed in contemporary liberal discourses surrounding sex and sexuality, see Timothy Hsiao, “The Limits of Consent,” *Public Discourse*, September 23, 2015. [^26]: Qur’an 57:27. [^27]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 1006. [^28]: For one such instance where spiritual ecstasy is likened to sexual climax, see Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij al-sālikīn*, translated by Ovamir Anjum as *Ranks of Divine Seekers* (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 2:224–25. [^29]: Qur’an 8:20–23. [^30]: The concept of psychologization is discussed in Carl R. Trueman, *Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution* (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), Ch. 4. [^31]: For a relevant discussion of the thinkers named here, see the aforementioned work by Carl R. Trueman, *The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution* (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), chap. 5 and 6. [^32]: This idea, called emotivism, was studied and critiqued at length by Catholic philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre in *After Virtue* (1980). [^33]: Qur’an 59:19. [^34]: Qur’an 25:43. [^35]: Qur’an 35:8. [^36]: Trueman, *Strange New World*, 74. [^37]: Trueman, *Strange New World*, 79. [^38]: Trueman, *Strange New World*, 157. [^39]: For more on this, see Dr. Shabbir Akhtar’s essay, which discusses the Qur’anic notion of *fiṭra* and its corruption: Shabbir Akhtar, “A Path Straightened Out: Perspectives on Human Nature in the Qur’an,” *Yaqeen*, October 22, 2020, updated November 5, 2020, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-path-straightened-out-perspectives-on-human-nature-in-the-quran](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/a-path-straightened-out-perspectives-on-human-nature-in-the-quran&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459797091&usg=AOvVaw3wSImWtWLUSsMg6lp_WBIx). [^40]: Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, *After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s* (N.p.: Plume, 1989), xxviii. [^41]: Kirk and Madsen, *After the Ball*, 149. [^42]: Qur’an 53:45. [^43]: Qur’an 92:3. [^44]: Qur’an 53:45. [^45]: Qur’an 3:36. [^46]: Qur’an 30:21. [^47]: Qur’an 4:1. [^48]: Qur’an 33:35. [^49]: Qur’an 9:71. [^50]: Qur’an 4:32. [^51]: See, for instance, Leonard Sax, *Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences*, 2nd ed. (New York: Harmony Books, 2017). See also Steven E. Rhoads, *Taking Sex Differences Seriously* (New York: Encounter Books, 2005); Peter J. O’Connor and Cressida M. Brown, “Sex-Linked Personality Traits and Stress: Emotional Skills Protect Feminine Women from Stress but Not Feminine Men,” **Personality and Individual Differences** 99 (September 2016), 28–32; Ron Su et al., “Men and Things, Women and People: A Meta-analysis of Sex Differences in Interests,” *Psychological Bulletin* 135, no. 6, National Library of Medicine (Nov. 2009), 859–884; “Sex Differences in Brain Anatomy,” National Institutes of Health (July 28, 2020). [^52]: Qur'an 4:34. [^53]: For instance, in all major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, men can be imams and lead a congregation in prayer, whereas women cannot; men are strongly recommended to pray in congregation at the *masjid*, while women are given a free choice, and it is preferred for them to pray at home (some schools strongly recommend against women praying in *masjid*s); the ideal row for men is the front row, while for women it is the back row. One hadith states: “The best rows for men are the front rows and the worst are the back rows. The best rows for women are the back rows and the worst are the front rows.” *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 440. [^54]: *Ṣaḥīḥ al-**Bukhārī*, no. 5885. [^55]: Mohammad Elshinawy, “Ḥayāʾ: More Than Just Modesty,” *Yaqeen*, August 5, 2021, updated October 8, 2021, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/haya-more-than-just-modesty](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/haya-more-than-just-modesty&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459793220&usg=AOvVaw2j0V-S4a4APDqpUCFi4rYl). [^56]: Qur’an 23:5–6. [^57]: Anal intercourse is categorically prohibited, including between a man and woman who are lawful to each other (such as in marriage), because the rectal cavity is not a proper or suitable receptacle for the male organ and its fluids. Such an action is considered a gross misuse of the body, as well as a violation of the God-given teleology of our sexual and other organs. [^58]: Qur’an 17:32. [^59]: For a summary of the rulings and numerous relevant references to contemporary juristic deliberations and conclusions on the question, see Ayman Shabana, “Islamic Law, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, and Surrogacy,” *Islamic Law Blog*, June 30, 2021, [https://islamiclaw.blog/2021/06/30/islamic-law-assisted-reproductive-technologies-and-surrogacy/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://islamiclaw.blog/2021/06/30/islamic-law-assisted-reproductive-technologies-and-surrogacy/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459798051&usg=AOvVaw08Qb_8dvEzi4b1V6Ya4beb), accessed September 16, 2022. [^60]: With the publication of *DSM*–5 in 2013, “gender identity disorder” was eliminated and replaced with “gender dysphoria.” See the American Psyhiatric Association article “Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis,” [https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/cultural-competency/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/cultural-competency/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459804336&usg=AOvVaw3G0GF6lAmoqc6nvY2zidQN), accessed September 15, 2022. [^61]: For the notion of ʿ*urf* in Islamic law, see Ayman Shabana, *Custom in Islamic Law and Legal Theory: The Development of the Concepts of ʿURF and ʿĀDAH in the Islamic Legal Tradition* (New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2010), especially chap. 2. For a thorough discussion on the role of culture in determining gender norms, how these norms change over time, and how Muslims should relate to them at various stages of their transformation, consult the interview with Shaykh Mustafa Umar and Waheed Jensen on the *A Way Beyond the Rainbow* podcast, episode 77 “On Shar‘i Perspectives: Gender Roles and Gender Nonconformity,” February 14, 2022, [https://awaybeyondtherainbow.buzzsprout.com/746186/9323916-77-on-shar-i-perspectives-gender-roles-and-gender-nonconformity](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://awaybeyondtherainbow.buzzsprout.com/746186/9323916-77-on-shar-i-perspectives-gender-roles-and-gender-nonconformity&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459799690&usg=AOvVaw1MuGYN1WqFVonYnORK9FL-). [^62]: Qur’an 33:36. [^63]: Qur’an 7:80–82. [^64]: For a detailed examination and thorough deconstruction of such revisionist attempts, see Mobeen Vaid, “Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts? Quranic Revisionism and the Case of Scott Kugle,” MuslimMatters, July 11, 2016, [https://muslimmatters.org/2016/07/11/can-islam-accommodate-homosexual-acts-quranic-revisionism-and-the-case-of-scott-kugle/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimmatters.org/2016/07/11/can-islam-accommodate-homosexual-acts-quranic-revisionism-and-the-case-of-scott-kugle/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459803028&usg=AOvVaw1kfIta0dud99v2M_TjiY50). [^65]: Qur’an 26:160–169. [^66]: Qur’an 27:54–55. [^67]: Qur’an 29:28–29. [^68]: Qur’an 11:77–79. [^69]: A strong case for this is made in the highly regarded work on biblical scholarship by Robert A. J. Gagnon, *The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics* (‎Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002). [^70]: Vaid, “Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts?” [^71]: See, for instance, Ibn Qudāma, *al-Mughnī*, 10 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira, 1388/1968), 9:87. [^72]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 23958, declared sound by al-Albānī. [^73]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2675. [^74]: Waheed Jensen, *A Way Beyond the Rainbow*, [https://awaybeyondtherainbow.buzzsprout.com](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://awaybeyondtherainbow.buzzsprout.com&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459804905&usg=AOvVaw10P4mML7YtmuTq30E4PALO). [^75]: Straight Struggle, Discord server, [https://discordservers.com/server/686461916939288584](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://discordservers.com/server/686461916939288584&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459805094&usg=AOvVaw3Wa3rHL6M1Q5WEXB0cb8nz). [^76]: Strong Support, [https://www.strongsupport.co.uk/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.strongsupport.co.uk/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459805232&usg=AOvVaw0Pm5dtT8s1Z690NjKOwBW5). [^77]: Br. Yousef, “From a Same-Sex Attracted Muslim: Between Denial of Reality and Distortion of Religion,” MuslimMatters, August 22, 2016, [https://muslimmatters.org/2016/08/22/from-a-same-sex-attracted-muslim-between-denial-of-reality-and-distortion-of-religion/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://muslimmatters.org/2016/08/22/from-a-same-sex-attracted-muslim-between-denial-of-reality-and-distortion-of-religion/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459805614&usg=AOvVaw03nU0oWVBYoJ7vqQBgQ828). [^78]: For the role of liberalism and feminism in justifying the Second Gulf War, see Lila Abu-Lughod, *Do Muslim Women Need Saving?* (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), 29–34. [^79]: Qur’an 91:9. [^80]: Waheed Jensen, “Straight Struggle | The Human Component | LGBTQ+ Conference,” EPIC MASJID, YouTube video, March 3, 2020, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipxCFABfYjA](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DipxCFABfYjA&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459806189&usg=AOvVaw1i5M3AnT_Cd0WPkwZKdZkx); Yousef, “From a Same-Sex Attracted Muslim”; Omar Suleiman, Mustafa Umar, Sarah Sultan, and Ubaydallah Evans, “Islam and LGBTQ,” Yaqeen Institute, YouTube video, June 16, 2022, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb\_aqp3yAho](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dwb_aqp3yAho&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1749584459806442&usg=AOvVaw2JgmROp6p67hyxry-8xLIc); El-Tobgui, “Islam and ‘LGBTQ’”; [^81]: Qur’an 16:125. ## Summary # Islam and the Contemporary Discourse on Gender and Sexuality In May of 2022, a poster promoted by a Canadian university depicted two Muslim women in headscarves about to kiss, appropriating the hijab—a patent symbol of Islam—for a cause categorically prohibited in our religion. The Muslim community, beginning with young students and joined by Muslim organizations, gathered thousands of signatures and, despite the university's initial resistance, succeeded in having the poster withdrawn. An LGBTQ publication reporting the episode claimed that "the Qur'an says nothing about homosexuality," that Islamic history celebrated it, and that Muslims who objected were merely "homophobic." Such claims are false, for Islam's prohibition of homosexual acts is categorical, and its teachings on gender and sexual norms are foundational and inseparable from belief in Allah and His revelation. There is no room in Islam for the erasure of the natural and divinely ordained union between men and women. Any discussion of sexual morality must first ask where morality itself originates. The Islamic worldview is theocentric, taking God as the ultimate source of right and wrong. Our very purpose is to worship Him, as He declares: "I have not created jinn and humankind but to worship Me" (Qur'an 51:56). It is Allah and His Messenger alone who legislate what is permitted and prohibited, for He states: "It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed into a plain error" (Qur'an 33:36). Yet Islamic morality is not arbitrary; Muslims have long reflected rationally upon the wisdom of divine legislation, incorporating this into the tradition of *fiqh*. Within a single generation, LGBT ideas have moved from taboo to mainstream. It is no longer sufficient for Muslims simply to say they disapprove of such behavior as they disapprove of drinking or fornication, because—unlike those sins—the affirmation of same-sex relationships and transgenderism is now presented as a positive moral cause appealing to notions of dignity, justice, and autonomy. When a young Muslim asks a shaykh, "I think I'm gay; what does Islam say?" and receives only the reply "It is *haram*," a miscommunication occurs, because each is operating from a different paradigm: one Islamic, the other a modern secular framework that treats sexual feeling as unassailable identity. These two worldviews begin from diametrically opposed assumptions. The growth of this movement is documented in literature, film, and public education. Whereas roughly ten young-adult books with LGBT characters appeared in 2010, by 2016 the number had climbed to eighty. GLAAD found that of 118 major studio films in 2019, twenty-two contained LGBT-identifying characters, and this surge correlates with the 2015 *Obergefell v. Hodges* decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States. Several states have mandated LGBT education in public schools, and in Canada programs such as SOGI have used Muslim children in promotional material. Teaching tools like the "Genderbread Person" present natural binaries as a fluid spectrum, severing biological sex from any normative relevance. Beyond the West, Muslim countries face growing pressure to become "LGBT-affirming," as when the US embassy in Kuwait tweeted in support of Pride Month in 2022. This reveals that the movement is not merely a domestic project but the vanguard of a neo-colonial enterprise. As Muslims we affirm that all people should be treated with respect and dignity, for our beloved Prophet ﷺ taught us to "give everything its due right," and justice is central to our faith. We disagree, however, with definitions that make full endorsement of homosexual behavior the very measure of respect. To grasp how the meanings of equality, justice, and compassion were so radically altered, one must look to the Western sexual revolution of the late 1960s, which rejected Christian moral norms and, aided by the birth-control pill, severed sex from reproduction, marriage, and morality. In a society that had already turned from God, these four came apart; eventually consent alone was held to legitimize any sexual act. From this soil grew the gay liberation movement, which drew a false equivalence between itself and victims of racial oppression. Islam, by contrast, is the middle path, rejecting both the "sex-negative" tendencies that dominated Christian teaching and the licentiousness that followed as a reaction. The Qur'an itself notes that monasticism was an invention: "As for monasticism, they made it up—We never ordained it for them" (Qur'an 57:27). In Islam, lawful sexual pleasure is a blessing, and the Prophet ﷺ taught that a man is rewarded for fulfilling his desire lawfully, saying, "If he does it in a halal way, he will have a reward for that." The deeper antecedents of the revolution lie in the drift from a theocentric to a materialistic worldview from the seventeenth century onward, the Enlightenment's enthronement of human reason, and the atheism of figures such as Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. As the Christian theologian Carl Trueman argues in *The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self*, Rousseau began the "psychologization" of the human being, locating identity in inner feeling—a notion that underlies contemporary LGBT discourse. We reject this radical autonomy, for Allah warns: "And be not like those who forgot God so He caused them to forget themselves" (Qur'an 59:19), and He describes "the one who has taken his own desires as his god" (Qur'an 45:23). Trueman further observes that once sexual desire becomes central to human identity, "the old chestnut of 'love the sinner, hate the sin' simply does not work," because sin and identity can no longer be separated. Our true self, however, is that which submits to God, embodied in prostration while declaring *subḥāna rabbī al-aʿlā*. Worship of God is the most authentic human good. It is worth knowing that in 1989 Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen authored *After the Ball*, a manifesto openly describing "a program of unabashed propaganda" to convert "the average American's emotions, mind, and will" through media—so Muslims who echo these talking points often do not realize their sensibilities have been deliberately engineered. The Islamic paradigm affirms the creation of only two sexes: "And He created the two sexes, male and female" (Qur'an 53:45). The Shariah draws no distinction between biological sex and so-called psychological gender. Men and women are spiritually equal, as the Qur'an makes plain in listing the believing men and women who guard their chastity and remember Allah often (Qur'an 33:35), and they are "allies of one another" who enjoin good and forbid evil (Qur'an 9:71). Yet they are complementary and different by intentional design, for "the male is not like the female" (Qur'an 3:36), and "men are the protectors and maintainers of women" (Qur'an 4:34). Because our bodies belong to God, the slogan "My body, my choice" is antithetical to Islam. Deliberate imitation of the opposite sex is forbidden, for the Prophet ﷺ cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men—a ruling that concerns deliberate impersonation, not one's natural disposition. Islam's sexual ethics protect the family, which is the basis of society, and the jurists count this among the objectives of the Shariah. Illicit sex (*zinā*) is a major sin and even a crime, and the default ruling is that all sexual acts are forbidden unless expressly permitted, for Allah praises "those who guard their chastity, except from their spouses" (Qur'an 23:5–6). He commands: "And go not near *zinā*; verily it is iniquity and an evil way" (Qur'an 17:32). Thus Islam regulates the gaze, dress, and seclusion (*khalwah*) to close the doors to temptation. Protecting lineage (*nasl* and *nasab*) is central; hence the Shariah prohibits surrogacy and sperm or egg donation as tantamount to *zinā*, permitting artificial insemination, according to most scholars, only between a married couple using their own gametes. Regarding gender nonconformity, Islam holds that God has aligned biological sex, gender, and attraction by design; where they do not align, one should make reasonable efforts to conform to that design. A person is not morally responsible for feelings such as gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction that he did not choose, but he is responsible for his actions, including cross-dressing and transitioning. Scholars distinguish between traits that are natural (*khilqī*) and those deliberately affected (*ghayr khilqī*); the *mukhannath* and *mudhakkarah* whose traits are affected are prohibited by consensus from persisting in them, while for those whose traits are natural, scholars have differed—some requiring reasonable reconditioning and others obligating nothing. Islam is not overly prescriptive about the specifics of masculine and feminine, taking custom (*ʿurf*) into account, as illustrated by the changing conventions of dress across time and the touch-based friendships common among Arab men. We must remain vigilant, however, against a false *ʿurf* engineered for profit or immoral ends. We must also question the very terms of this discourse, for a Shariah principle holds that "passing judgment on something is contingent upon its proper conceptualization." Classical Arabic possesses no equivalent to "homosexuality," and even in the West no concept of a "gay identity" existed before the late nineteenth century; the term "homosexual" was coined in Germany in the 1860s. Traditionally, sexual behavior was something one *did*, not what one *is*. Only in contemporary liberalism are desire, behavior, and identity inextricably fused, and Muslims must resist this conflation, since the mere existence of a desire is never a moral justification for acting upon it. The people of Lot are mentioned in more than seventy-five verses, and their emblematic sin is "approaching males with desire (*shahwah*) instead of females." Revisionist attempts to reinterpret this as rape or inhospitality fail before the plain text. When Lot's people demanded his guests, he offered his daughters and called them "purer for you" (Qur'an 11:78)—which would make no sense if their sin were rape, since one does not condemn rape as merely "impure" while offering another act as "purer." Even non-Muslim scholars such as John Barton conclude that the revisionist reading fails. For a thorough refutation of such arguments, including those of Scott Kugle, readers may consult Mobeen Vaid's "Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts?" The Shariah categorizes sexual *acts*, not identities. Lawful relations are those between husband and wife under a valid contract; all else is prohibited, whether the enormities of *zinā* and sodomy (*liwāṭ*) or non-penetrative acts such as *siḥāq*, all being *muḥarram li-dhātihi*, along with their preludes, which are *muḥarram li-ghayrihi*. It is a reality that faithful Muslims may experience same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria and may ask whether Allah hates them. We must reassure them that Islam does not define people by their feelings but by their servitude to God, that it distinguishes feelings from acts and private sin from public advocacy, and that their faithful struggle may raise them to the rank of true *mujāhidūn*, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "A striver (*mujāhid*) is he who strives in God's obedience, and a migrant is he who migrates from sin and error." The door of *tawbah* remains ever open, and Allah "rejoices more at the repentance of His slave than one of you would rejoice upon finding his lost mount in a waterless desert." Such Muslims should be directed to resources such as the podcast *A Way Beyond the Rainbow* by Br. Waheed Jensen, the Straight Struggle group, and the UK-based Strong Support foundation. We must reject the gay identity paradigm, which insists one must conceive of oneself as "gay," for it upends the moral discourse of the Shariah entirely. In conclusion, contemporary liberalism unbinds what nature and law joined—sex, reproduction, and marriage—while fusing what should be distinguished: desire, action, and identity. We are advised to reclaim our language, using descriptive terms such as "same-sex attraction" rather than identitarian labels; to establish our gender and sexuality paradigm confidently as independent of the West; to expose the neocolonial character of the LGBT project; to reject the sexual identity paradigm; to practice no "gay exceptionalism," treating such acts as we would alcohol or *zinā*, while never stigmatizing those who faithfully struggle; to balance subjective feelings with objective truth through private support rather than public accommodation; and to support the faithful struggler with empathy while knowing our limits. In all this we should hold to the "three Cs"—clarity, compassion, and conviction—for true compassion means guiding others to what pleases their Creator. Islam's sexual ethics are not the problem but the solution the world needs, and we are commanded: "Call people to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful admonition, and dispute with them in the most courteous of ways" (Qur'an 16:125). O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant that we may follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant that we may avoid it. Ameen. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does the Qur’an actually say anything about homosexuality? The claim that the Qur’an is silent on this topic does not hold up to a basic reading of the text. The people of Lut are mentioned in at least nine separate places across more than seventy-five verses. In each instance, their primary transgression is described plainly as approaching males with desire instead of females. Prophet Lut (as) confronts his people directly, calling their act a *fahisha* (an enormous iniquity) unlike anything in creation before them. Some have attempted to reinterpret these verses as a condemnation of rape or inhospitality rather than homosexual acts. But this reading collapses under scrutiny. Lut offers his people an alternative and describes that alternative as “purer.” One does not counter rape by offering a “purer” option; one counters a prohibited sexual act that way. The unanimous reading of Muslim scholars across fourteen centuries confirms that the primary sin of Lut’s people was homosexual acts. This consensus is not a product of cultural bias; it is grounded in the plain meaning of the Qur’anic text itself. ### Is it a sin to feel same-sex attraction, or only to act on it? Islam does not hold a person morally responsible for feelings they did not choose. Same-sex attraction, to the degree that a person did not willingly cultivate it, does not carry sin in itself. The Sharia distinguishes clearly between internal states and deliberate actions. What a person is accountable for is what they choose to do with those feelings. Engaging in prohibited sexual behavior would be sinful, just as it would be for someone experiencing illicit heterosexual desire. But simply experiencing an attraction while struggling to remain within Allah’s boundaries is not a sin. In fact, that faithful struggle may elevate a person spiritually. The Prophet ﷺ said: “A striver is he who strives in God’s obedience.” A Muslim who carries this test with patience and sincerity is not “a walking sin,” and Allah’s door of repentance and mercy is open to every believer without exception. ### Is Islam against people who identify as LGBT? Muslims affirm, as the Prophet ﷺ taught, that every person is owed their due right. Human dignity is not in question. What is in question is how “dignity” is being defined. In the current discourse, dignity has been redefined to mean full endorsement of specific sexual behaviors and identities. Islam affirms the dignity of every person as a creation of Allah while maintaining that Allah alone has the authority to legislate what is permitted and prohibited. These are not incompatible positions. A person experiencing same-sex attraction is not lesser before Allah for experiencing it. The community’s responsibility is to support those who struggle with sincere compassion, to connect them with appropriate resources, and to help them live according to their faith—not to validate a framework that reduces people to their sexual preferences. ### I have a Muslim friend who identifies as gay. How should I treat them? One of the most important things a Muslim can do for a friend in this situation is to refuse the assumption that a sexual desire constitutes an immovable, essential identity. Islam has no concept of sexual identity in this sense; it has always categorized acts, not persons, as halal or haram. Your friend is a Muslim first. Offer them the ordinary bonds of friendship, mentorship, and a listening ear. If they are seeking to live within Islamic bounds and struggling, point them toward specialized resources like the podcast *A Way Beyond the Rainbow*, which addresses these questions from psychological, spiritual, and personal angles. Do not offer simplistic advice. The issues are often deeply personal and emotionally complex. Being present and grounding the friendship in shared Islamic identity is what matters most. ### What should I say when someone tells me Islam needs to “catch up” with the times on this issue? The framing itself deserves scrutiny. The assumption behind “catching up” is that the West’s current sexual paradigm represents moral progress and that any deviation from it is backwardness. But this paradigm is historically very recent, geographically specific, and rooted in a secular liberal framework that sidelines or completely rejects divine authority. The sexual revolution of the 1960s severed sex from reproduction, marriage, and morality, and what followed—family breakdown, fatherlessness, and the commodification of human intimacy—are observable consequences, not abstract fears. Islamic sexual ethics are a coherent, theocentric framework grounded in the recognition that Allah, who created us, has the categorical right to tell us how to use our bodies. As the Qur’an says: “It could be that you dislike something, when it is good for you; and it could be that you like something when it is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know” (2:216). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/tadabbur-10-steps-to-a-deeper-connection-with-the-quran # Tadabbur: 10 steps to a deeper connection with the Qur’an | Blog **Author:** Sh. Yousef Wahb **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Blog **Published:** October 6, 2022 **Updated:** July 30, 2024 “Whoever receives the Qur’an, it is as Allah has spoken to him.” In this statement, Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurẓī (d. 108/726) expresses one of the most important objectives in revealing the Qur’an: to personally connect with it. At Yaqeen, we want to cultivate this reflective connection, or [*tadabbur*](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/keys-to-tadabbur-how-to-reflect-deeply-on-the-quran), with the Qur’an by exploring the profound meaning and history of its divine text. To facilitate these discussions, the Qur'anic Studies Department has launched a new podcast called “Qur'an Convos.” In the first season, we talk about *tadabbur* and how you can maintain a focused and deep connection with the Qur'an. Each episode, hosted by Sh. Suleiman Hani and special guests, explores how you can engage your inner self when reciting Qur’an. The topic was inspired by al-Ghazālī’s work, *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn.* Embarking on his own journey and reflecting on the practices of righteous scholars before him, al-Ghazālī identified ten necessary acts for a focused and meaningful engagement with the Qur’an: --- ## 1\. Appreciate the source of the speech First and foremost, we should realize that we are not worthy of communicating with Allah. If it was not for Allah’s subtleness and kindness, He would not have made His speech (*kalām*) manifest to us in a human language. At times, it may be difficult to understand the meanings of the Qur’an, but the fact that understanding is possible is a blessing in itself that is worthy of endless gratitude. --- ## 2\. Praise Allah, the One Who revealed the Qur’an Studying language, theology, legal theory, and other Qur’anic sciences is not the sole prerequisite to understanding the meanings of the Qur’an. An essential way to bring tranquility to your heart is by glorifying the sacredness of the Book and indulging in its spiritual quality. As eloquently described by al-Ghazālī, “The one who glorifies the speech he recites receives glad tidings from it, finds serenity in it, does not get heedless of it.” --- ## 3\. Keep your heart present Before attempting to unlock the meanings of the Qur’an, make sure your heart is ready. Regain focus by dismissing all irrelevant thoughts and distractions. “Hold fast to scripture” is not just a command from Allah to His Prophet. It is a perpetual command for every one of us seeking to connect with Allah’s sacred words. Meaning will reveal itself if your heart is present. --- ## 4\. Reflect Reflection (*tadabbur*) is not the presence of the heart. It is the state resulting from it. The word *tadabbur* in Arabic is related to the concept of “thinking of the consequences.” Think of *tadabbur* from this lens: it is something beyond listening, pronouncing, or even bringing the heart into your recitation. It is to feel the meanings and embody them in your daily life. The word *tadabbur,* moreover, implies other meanings like: reflecting until reflection becomes a habit, exerting tireless efforts until it happens, doing it gradually, and transforming the *tadabbur* into an elevated spiritual rank. The lifelong journey of connecting with the Qur’an demands all of these aspects. --- ## 5\. Try to understand Do the first four acts in order and you’ll position yourself to receive guidance from the Qur’an. Appreciation, praise, an open heart, and reflection all prepare us to return to Allah spiritually and, in turn, allow us to truly understand and receive reminders from the Qur’an. Understanding the Qur’an is an endless pursuit of tools that unravel the marvels and mysteries of the book while maintaining introspection. Learn, wonder, inquire, check, discuss, and refer to authorities in seeking to comprehend the multi-layered meanings and significations of each verse. Part of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an is that “it does not become worn out by repetition and its wonders do not come to an end.” --- ## 6\. Remove the barriers to understanding the Qur’an Many roadblocks will constantly get in your way of understanding the Qur’an. Among the roadblocks al-Ghazālī highlighted are: 1) being obsessed with the verbal articulation of words at the expense of looking into their deeper meanings (proper *tajwīd* is mandatory but it was never intended to make understanding the meanings secondary), 2) blind following of a doctrine, opinion, or sect that results in fanaticism (fanaticism blinds one from finding the truth), and 3) persistence on sinning, arrogance, or following self-whims, which are the major causes of darkening the heart (the more consuming and recurring desires are, the more obscure meanings will become). --- ## 7\. Make it personal: imagine that Allah is speaking directly to you The Qur’anic message is universal. While the context of its revelation is important, the Qur’an itself often reminds us to personally relate to it and to find ourselves in every single verse. When you come across glad tidings, warnings, commands, or prohibitions, position yourself as the intended addressee. This mindset is a recognition that the Qur’an is a message to all of us. It is replete with stories of historic events with everlasting purposes for us to learn from. --- ## 8\. Be emotionally invested in what you are reading Different verses will affect you in distinct ways. Welcome emotional states of sadness, fear, joy, and hope suitable to each meaning you internalize. Intimidating and fearful moods, for example, are prevalent in the Qur’an. Even verses that talk about mercy and forgiveness will make them conditional on qualities we often lack: > “My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it for those who fear Me and give zakat and those who believe in Our verses” \[Qur’an, 7:156\]. The serious challenge is to avoid being a mere narrator of what you are reading. If you recite, “I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day” and you are not genuinely “afraid” of that, you are just narrating a statement rather than applying it to yourself. Allah condemned those who do not know the Scripture except hearsay or through mere recitation \[Qur’an, 2:78\]. --- ## 9\. Strengthen your connection with the Qur’an Strive to elevate your rank of connection. Read the Qur’an as if you are standing before Allah, talking to Him and knowing that He watches and hears your recitation. This should cause you to be intimidated and to call upon Allah for mercy. Building this connection should increase your attention and thoughtfulness in reading and motivate you to glorify Allah. --- ## 10\. Stay humble Do not approach your relationship with Allah with overconfidence or self-satisfaction. As long as you believe in your purity and nobility, you will not reach the ultimate station of love; selfish love of yourself and the love of Allah cannot subsist together in one heart. When you read the verses that praise the pious, do not include yourself among them but hope that Allah will include you among them. When you read the verses that condemn the wrong-doers, assume that they talk about you and ask Allah to protect you from infidelity and sin. Tune in to Qur’an Convos every week, as we explore how to engage in the many aspects of reflection, from fighting distractions to finding echoes of ourselves within the stories of the Qur’an. Take the show on the go by listening here or on your favorite [podcast platform](https://yqn.io/yaqeenpodcast).If you prefer to watch the show, check it out [](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/suleiman-hani/quran-convos-taddabur-trailer/)[here](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/suleiman-hani/quran-convos-taddabur-trailer/) or on our [YouTube Channel](https://youtube.com/yaqeenpodcast). --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/not-ready-to-say-goodbye-dealing-with-grief-and-loss # Not Ready to Say Goodbye: Dealing With Grief and Loss | Blog **Author:** Ustadha Zaynab Ansari **Topics:** Psychology & Mental Health, Trauma **Tags:** Blog **Published:** September 12, 2022 **Updated:** September 2, 2026 I am not a person who likes goodbyes. And this topic is a difficult one to tackle as it is deeply personal for me. As I write this piece, however, I am preparing my children to say goodbye to their beloved grandfather. My father was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain cancer that there is. It is also extremely rare, with an [incidence rate](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470003/) of 3.19 per 100,000 persons in the United States. What that means is that around 14,000 people will be [diagnosed with glioblastoma](https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2017/glioblastoma-research-making-progress) every year out of a population of 330 million. I never imagined my father would be among those 14,000. And I never imagined I would be preparing myself and my children to say goodbye to my father who just turned 73. I remembered saying to myself when I first learned about his diagnosis that this must be impossible, that the elders in my father’s family had lived to be 90+ years, and surely we could plan on 20 more years with my amazing Dad. But here we are getting ready to write letters to my father and read them to him as he is placed in hospice care. The children call him “Jiddou” in honor of his Lebanese heritage. I’ve always called him Dad. But these names don’t convey the depths of our love for him, nor do they convey how grateful to him we are for all he has done for us, nor do they make up for all I wish we could have done to cherish our time with him. Alhamdulillah, he is still with us. He still comprehends what is going on around him and recognizes faces even though the names don’t readily come. He can still speak a little even though the tumor is causing tremendous swelling in the brain. And he still wants to get better. We all want him to get better. But we have come up against two things: A terminal diagnosis and the *qadar* of Allah, both of which have brought us to this moment of trying to figure out how to say goodbye to a man who means everything to us. When my husband died in 2015 in a motorcycle accident, I was in a state of shock. In the weeks after his death, I walked around in a daze trying to understand how my life had been completely turned upside down. I remember talking to someone who rattled off a list of the most common causes of death, noting that sudden death ranks highest on the list of traumas impacting the surviving family. For me, that helped to explain why I was feeling the way I was. I was simply not ready to say goodbye to my husband and the abrupt nature of the loss meant that I wasn’t at all mentally or emotionally prepared for it. So I consoled myself by telling myself that some types of loss are “easier” to handle than others. I remembered saying that surely in the cases where a loved one falls ill, the family is better equipped to deal with the finality of the situation. And now here I am in just that situation. And I can say this: Loss is loss, no matter what, but there are lessons I have learned that I am trying to apply to this experience. And, no, it doesn’t make it “easier” in the most common sense, but it makes it possible to navigate this with more patience and awareness. With the tips below, I’d like to offer some advice to families dealing with the pain of a terminal diagnosis: --- ## 1\. It’s not your fault. It’s not their fault. Really. I think in our haste to find a “logical” cause for puzzling diagnoses, we want to look at everything and start second-guessing. Maybe it’s cell phones. Maybe it’s microwaves. Maybe it’s environmental. The reality is that no one knows what causes glioblastoma or the many other types of cancer that claim the lives of numerous people from all walks of life. Elderly people will die from cancer. Middle-aged people will die from cancer. Teenagers will die from cancer. Even young children will die from cancer. Now I’m not saying we should be fatalistic and not study the etiology of disease and fund cancer research. We should! What I’m saying is that Allah (swt) tells us in multiple recurrences in the Qur’an, “Every soul shall taste of death” \[21:35\]. --- ## 2\. We will all leave this dunya some way or another. We all have to take that exit ramp. And we don’t get to choose when to take that exit ramp, how long we get to live until we have to exit, nor the circumstances under which we will exit. We don’t get to say to Allah (swt), I want this kind of death and not that. We can certainly make *du’a* for a good end that is free of suffering. But what we really need to be asking, for ourselves and our loved ones, is *husn al-khitam*, the best ending, which is to die upon faith, upon the firm belief of *la ilaha illa Allah Muhammadun rasul Allah.* --- ## 3\. Help your loved one to remember this reality. You should absolutely be encouraging them to be hopeful, trust Allah’s judgment, and ask Allah for *shifa*. Constantly make the following *du’a* for them  أَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ أَنْ يَشْفِيْكَ As’al Allah al-Adheem rabb al-arsh al-adheem an yashfik I ask Allah the Magnificent, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, to heal you for healing as this was the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). As to how many details to share with the person facing a terminal illness, that really depends on the person’s emotional and psychological makeup and their ability to process such difficult information. I used to think it was sugarcoating to not tell the person about the diagnosis, but after speaking to a number of people who’ve cared for a terminally ill loved one, including religious scholars, I’ve concluded that the best thing to do is to encourage them to maintain hope in Allah’s (swt) mercy so that they meet Allah with the best opinion of Him. --- ## 4\. Provide appropriate spiritual counsel. A terminal diagnosis is really frightening and the person experiencing such a diagnosis (and those around them) may react with sorrow, anger, or disbelief. During this time, it’s really important to validate those feelings while also reminding them of the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He always taught us to feel those difficult feelings but not to utter that which is displeasing to Allah. Anas ibn Malik reported: We entered the house of Abu Sayf along with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who was the husband of Ibrahim’s wet-nurse, upon him be peace. The Prophet (pbuh) took hold of Ibrahim, kissed him, and smelled him. Then, we entered after that as Ibrahim was breathing his last breaths. It made the eyes of the Prophet shed tears. Abdur Rahman ibn Awf said, “Even you, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said, “**O Ibn Awf, this is mercy.**” Then, the Prophet wept some more and he said, “**Verily, the eyes shed tears and the heart is grieved, but we will not say anything except what is pleasing to our Lord. We are saddened by your departure, O Ibrahim.**” \[*Sahih Bukhari*\] --- ## 5\. It’s okay to smile and even laugh. The topic of death and dying is such a heavy thing on the person who is ill and their loved ones but even in the midst of facing one’s mortality, it’s important to hold on to those light moments, those human moments of happiness. So reminisce about special times, encourage them to share stories about their childhood if they are able to speak, and even add a little levity to the conversation by reminding them how much you love (or groan) over their jokes. This is not inappropriate. This is actually really important for your and their mental health. It means that even in the midst of this hardship, Allah has blessed you with some ease, and that is a good thing. Am I ready to say goodbye? Probably not. But do I trust that God knows best? Yes. I am grateful for my father’s legacy of faith, service, and joy. I will forever be indebted to him for believing in me and my sister and providing us with a sound Islamic education. Whenever I look at a Persian rug or browse an Islamic book, I will remember those as my father’s great loves after his family and community. And my children will forever remember their beloved Jiddou as the father figure in their lives after their father passed away. And very importantly, I am grateful to Allah that I get to say goodbye, that my father is surrounded by people who absolutely adore him, that he is being well taken care of by my amazingly courageous mother. Not everyone facing a terminal illness has such an opportunity and I want my Dad to know that Allah does not task us with that which is beyond our reach. My father was my first Qur’an teacher and when I go to see him, I think I will recite the following verses for him: > مَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ لِقَآءَ ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّ أَجَلَ ٱللَّهِ لَـَٔاتٍۢ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ > > وَمَن جَـٰهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـٰهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَغَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ > > وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَنُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمْ وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَحْسَنَ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ > > “Whoever should hope for the meeting with Allah – indeed, the term decreed by Allah is coming. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing. And whoever strives only strives for \[the benefit of\] himself. Indeed, Allah is free from need of the worlds. And those who believe and do righteous deeds – We will surely remove from them their misdeeds and will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.” \[Qur’an, 29:5-7\] --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/saving-truth-and-beauty-the-destruction-of-nature-and-the-islamic-solution # Saving Truth and Beauty: The Destruction of Nature and the Islamic Solution **Author:** Rhamis Kent **Topics:** Environment, Islamic Ethics, Nature & Science, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Prophetic Cure, Publication **Published:** August 29, 2022 **Updated:** December 3, 2025 ## Introduction The destruction of nature can be understood as a running indictment of the collective character and state of the human species. The ecological health of a given place mirrors the true ethical, spiritual, and psychological condition of its inhabitants. The connection between our moral failings and the destruction of the Earth is affirmed by Allah in the Qur’an when He tells us, “Corruption has appeared on the land and sea, by reason of what your hands have earned. That Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.”[^1] History is strewn with catastrophes rooted in the application of erroneous cosmological and epistemological assumptions, and a failure to properly translate what is being perceived into appropriate responses to the world—and the reality—humans find themselves occupying. This delusional misunderstanding of one’s self and one’s surroundings produces repeatable and predictable consequences. This paper examines some of these misunderstandings, using the Islamic tradition as a reference point, in an attempt to identify solutions for a clearly persistent human problem. Our objective is to highlight the clear moral and ethical injunctions found in the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions, which together comprise a distinct framework of comportment towards nature that offers a practical alternative to the ruinous path humanity finds itself traversing. The Qur’an, referring to the role designated for Adam and his kind, recounts, “And \[mention\] when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed, I will make upon the Earth a steward (*khalīfa*).’”[^2] The angels’ response indicates an awareness, even at the moment of humanity’s genesis, of this species’ potential for profound evil: “They (the angels) said, ‘Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare your praise and sanctify You?’” To this, Allah gives a decisive rebuke: “I know that which you do not know.” And then, we are told: “He taught Adam the names—all of them.”[^3] According to broad scholarly consensus, the *names* are the Divine Names or *Attributes of Allah* reflected in His creation—including human beings: “We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”[^4] These verses provide a cosmological, cosmogonical, epistemological, and teleological explanation for how human beings should orient themselves in relation to the abode they’ve been situated within. If the world is indeed an expression of Divine Attributes—or, as some have said, meanings rendered into objects and images—belief in and reverence for Allah demands that it be dealt with in a manner that ensures its preservation and nurtures its ability to thrive. That is what would qualify as a sincere display of gratitude for the gifts bestowed—and gratitude, ultimately, is the key to saving the Earth and ourselves. --- ## A dilemma of history and humanity In his book *Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed*,[^5] Dr. Jared Diamond identifies five factors that have historically contributed to civilizational collapse: climate change, hostile neighbors, collapse of essential trading partners, environmental problems, and failure to adapt to environmental issues. He also lists 12 environmental problems facing mankind today, the first eight of which have historically contributed to the collapse of past societies**:** 1. Deforestation and habitat destruction 2. Soil problems (erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses) 3. Water management problems 4. Overhunting 5. Overfishing 6. Effects of introduced (invasive) species on native species 7. Overpopulation 8. Increased per-capita impact of people Furthermore, he says four new factors may contribute to the weakening and collapse of present and future societies: 1. Anthropogenic climate change 2. Accumulation of toxins in the environment 3. Energy shortages 4. Full human utilization of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity Interestingly, the top three factors listed (deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems, and water management problems) share the same origin: all are products of the sustained degradation of landscapes due to human mismanagement. Even the COVID-19 global pandemic—along with a number of other relatively recent viral outbreaks such as Ebola, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, H1N1 aka “swine flu,” Nipah, even malaria—is directly linked to increasing rates of deforestation (particularly in tropical regions like Southeast Asia).[^6] These phenomena are so closely correlated that the rate of deforestation in a given area was found to be the number one predictor **of where the next pandemic will most likely emerge**.  Approximately 60 percent of new infectious disease outbreaks over the past few decades were animal-borne—or zoonotic—diseases, including the aforementioned viral outbreaks. Climate change is anticipated to multiply this threat. ![Figure 1: What are Zoonoses?](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/image3-1-463x1024.png) Unsurprisingly, the economist E. F. Schumacher, citing *Topsoil and Civilization* by Tom Dale and Vernon Gill Carter,[^7] argues that the outcomes of empires and civilizations throughout human history have been largely dictated by how well—or poorly—the resource base that makes their existence possible has been managed.  For those that have ultimately failed, the means and modes of failure are repeatable and predictable. According to Dale and Carter, between 10 and 30 civilizations have followed the same self-destructive pattern of behavior. As cited, this pattern involves: - The cutting and burning of most usable timber from forested hillsides and valleys - Mismanaged grazing of domesticated livestock, resulting in large areas of denuded and overexposed land - The widespread destruction of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife - Excessive soil erosion and removal of productive topsoil, and the subsequent silting of streams, reservoirs, irrigation canals, and harbors - Mismanaged extractive industries resulting in the wasting of easily mined metals and minerals - The loss of adequate resources and functional land necessary to support dense sedentary populations, forcing the pursuit of new land Our modern crisis, then, in many ways reflects humanity’s eternal dilemma: How do we create a life for ourselves that is dignified, pleasant, and free from undue pain without undermining the ecosystem within which our species has been situated? History has a great deal to teach us about how well we’ve been able to accomplish this task in the aggregate. It also communicates what kind of people we are—a true, unfiltered reflection of the quality of our collective character as manifested by the condition of the lands we dwell in, and a world that responds reciprocally to what we do to it. As W. C. Loudermilk wrote in his book *Conquest of the Land Through Seven Thousand Years:* > In a very real sense the land does not lie; it bears a record of what men write on it. In a larger sense a nation writes its record on the land, and a civilization writes its record on the land—a record that is easy to read by those who understand the simple language of the land.[^8] Examining what has been documented within the annals of history—and, more critically, on Earth’s landscapes—leaves us with a damning verdict. Again and again, history and nature have borne witness to humanity’s inability to moderate its most destructive tendencies. According to many conventional accounts, the advent of agriculture introduced us to the common crises that have marked human life on Earth for the past 7000 years. Dr. Jared Diamond, for instance, reckons that agriculture was the worst mistake in the history of the human race.[^9] The environmental degradation that marks this current period was initiated with the development of agriculture as the basis for state formation—not to be confused with “civilization.” Its emergence brought malnutrition, starvation, epidemic diseases, deep class divisions (i.e., a small, mostly non-productive consumer elite class and a comparatively large producer, peasant and working class), tyranny, and warfare. The food surpluses generated by intensive agriculture led to the development of a variety of new “labor-saving” technologies and fields of specialization including segments of the population serving in policing and military capacities (i.e., the development of standing armies and professional militaries)—mostly to protect the relatively rich along with their property from the poor and destitute, as well as from invading bands of itinerant raiders making a living by plundering the accumulated wealth of sedentary societies. James C. Scott, a professor of political science and co-director of the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University, documents similar findings, asserting that agriculture was made possible by way of what he calls “the four domestications”: plants, animals, fire, and people.[^10] He suggests one of the ways people have been domesticated is through a gradually progressive process of “de-skilling,” making them more dependent on goods and services provided by others who possess them or the means to produce and supply them. This, in part, marks humanity’s transition from communities of relatively independent producers to an increasingly dependent, captive population of consumers. Diamond’s and Scott’s assessments are neither flawless nor universally agreed upon. The history of Muslims’ engagement with agriculture and cultivation of land, as relayed through the *Filāḥa*[^11] texts, stands in stark contrast to their narratives. Guy Theodore Wrench’s book *[Reconstruction by Way of the Soil](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/Wrench_Recon/Wrench_Recon_ToC.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908334856&usg=AOvVaw3QDpBmQrsxIL3G4ruU_ts_)*[^12] chronicles a markedly different set of outcomes—as told mostly by European historians—on the basis of the formidable skill, knowledge, and acumen employed by Muslim cultivators: > The Arabs had even a greater aptitude for agriculture than for letters and arts. What means of irrigation are now found in Andalusia were made by them.[^13] > In short, they had irrigated and cultivated the land so excellently that it was befitting to call Andalusia a garden.[^14] > Agriculture and horticulture were developed to an extent never heard of before.[^15] The agricultural system of the Moors in Spain, writes \[American\] historian S. P. Scott, was: > … the most complex, the most scientific, the most perfect, ever devised by the ingenuity of man. Its principles were derived from the extreme Orient, from the plains of Mesopotamia, and from the valley of the Nile—those gardens of the ancient world where, centuries before the dawn of authentic history, the cultivation of the earth had been carried to a state of extraordinary excellence. To the knowledge thus appropriated were added the results obtained from investigation and experiment, from the introduction of foreign plants; from the adoption of fertilizing substances; from the close and intelligent observation of the geographical distribution and climatic influence. > > No cultivators had a more profound knowledge than these people of the value of water. They, like the great riverine peoples, from whom they derived so much knowledge, realized that the proper use of water was civilization. Without its just and conservative distribution, the true justice and magnanimity of civilization do not really exist.[^16] Wrench explains that this was made possible by prioritizing and acting in accordance with Islam’s ethically-based cosmological, epistemological, and metaphysical framework. It is to this framework that we now turn. --- ## Rediscovering our role In his book *Al-Dharīʿa ilā makārim al-sharīʿa (The Path to the Noble Qualities of the Sacred Law),* the Persian scholar Abū al-Qāsim al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad, better known as al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 1108), wrote about what he understood to be the existential role of the human being per the Islamic tradition. He stated: > Man has three specific functions. The first is to cultivate and prosper in the earth (*ʿimārat al-arḍ*), which is stated in the verse “He brought you out from the earth and made you inhabit it” (Qur’an 11:61). He should obtain his livelihood from earth, for himself and others. The second is to worship God as is stated: “I have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me” (Qur’an 51:56). This means man should obey God’s commands and prohibitions. The third is his vicegerency, which is mentioned in: “... and \[I will\] make you successors in the land and, then, \[I will\] observe what you will do” (Qur’an 7:129). This \[vicegerency\] is the imitation of God in accordance with man’s ability to rule by applying the noble qualities of the Law, which are wisdom, justice, forbearance, beneficence, and graciousness. Their purpose is to gain Paradise and proximity to God.[^17] What is particularly fascinating about this quote is that two of the three purposes noted (*ʿimārat al-arḍ* and *khalīfa)* deal with the manner in which humanity comports itself in relation to the creation. Worship (*ʿibādāt*) accounts for only one of the three and even seemingly mundane acts—such as planting a tree—could count as worship if that is the intention in performing them. The famous hadith of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ confirms this: “Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended…”[^18] The dangers accompanying the corruption of the creation are unequivocally communicated within the Qur’an and hadith literature: > ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ  > > Corruption has appeared on the land and sea, by reason of what your hands have earned. That Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.[^19] ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās understood this verse to mean: > Corruption has appeared through the death of cattle, drought, lack of food and vegetation in the plains, mountains, countryside, and wilderness as well as in townships and cities because of the transgressions committed by people, (that He may make them taste) that He may make them be seized by (a part of that which they have done) of transgressions, (in order that they may return) in order that they may repent of their sins and thus be relieved.[^20] The Qur’anic and hadith references are clear and unambiguous in communicating the importance of humanity’s conduct with creation—and how nature’s resulting condition reveals the true quality of a person’s character. > وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ > > And whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.[^21] > > The world is sweet and verdant, and verily Allah has made you stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourselves.[^22] Yet another clear warning provided in hadith: "Beware of the earth for it is your mother/unavoidable abode/home. No one does good or evil on her except that she will speak of it (on the Day of *Qiyāma*)."[^23] Nature’s ability to expose falsehood is often underappreciated. In many ways it manifests truth, and does so elegantly and beautifully. Plato is famously quoted to have said that “beauty is the splendor of truth.” We should also be familiar with the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ stating: “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.”[^24] Indeed, Truth and true beauty are indissoluble. Nature—with the intrinsic beauty and truth it embodies—cannot be corrupted without the corruptor eventually experiencing the consequences of doing so.  Human beings are not exempt from this reality. We often forget that the human species is also a part of nature—a vital organ placed within the corpus of the terrestrial body comprising the Book of Creation. This terrestrial body forms what can be described as an ecological system or ecosystem—a biological community of organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment. Ecological harmony depends on the establishment and recognition of rules of engagement, the violation of which could endanger the system’s operational integrity. System failures are likely if breaches of protocol are permitted. This failure occurs not as an exogenous phenomenon, but as internal feedback arising from the system’s misuse. In that respect, system failure is not unexpected—or at least it shouldn’t be. For example, the function of physical pain is to alert the body that some error needs to be addressed. Pain prevents further injury only if it is acknowledged. Acknowledgment assumes the understanding and good judgment required to respond appropriately. Faith traditions have been gifted to us to explain the Truth of Reality, the purpose of our existence, supplying a metaphysical map for navigating the human condition. If taken seriously, they should affect the way we think and how we behave in the world—determining if we decide to serve as divinely sanctioned exploiters or nurturers. Recall that our father, Adam, was taught “the names” of everything, a privilege which rendered our status higher than that of the angels: > وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ > > And He taught Adam the names—all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, “Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful.”[^25] Consider the significance of knowing what to call things. These designations provide insights into the existential reality, and right, of creation. Endowed with that knowledge, we are also equipped with an understanding of how to properly transact and conduct our lives. William Chittick addressed the importance of this point in his piece *Ibn ‘Arabi on the Benefit of Knowledge,* and it is worth quoting at length: > All of creation makes demands upon man, because he is created in God’s form and has been appointed His vicegerent (*khal*ī*fa*). He has the God-given duty, woven into his original created nature (*fitra*), to recognize the *haqq* \[right\] of things and to act accordingly. It is this *haqq* that must be known if his knowledge is to be true, right, worthy, and appropriate, for this *haqq* is identical with the *khalq* \[creation\] that God has established. > > In short, beneficial knowledge is knowledge of ‘the what’ and ‘the why’ of ourselves and of things. In order to know a thing truly and benefit from the knowledge, we need to know what it is—its reality (*haqīqa*), which is nothing but its *khalq* and its *haqq*—and we need to know how we should respond to it. What exactly does it demand from us, rightly, truly, and appropriately? To put this into a formula, *tahqīq* means knowing the *haqīqa* of God and things and acting according to their *haqq*; Realization is to know things as they truly are and act appropriately in every circumstance.[^26] Knowledge acts as a safeguard against unconsciously transacting our lives as oppressors and destroyers—violators of an order deservedly expecting its right and reality to be recognized and honored. With knowledge comes *adab*, and it is from *adab* that we develop the noble character and ethical comportment (*akhlāq*) needed to conduct human affairs in a manner consistent with our Reality. Having access to true knowledge prevents us from being subject to the conjecturing, hypothesizing, and theorizing of our own selves and other people—or stated another way, true knowledge liberates us from the tyranny of mankind’s ideas. > >  وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ > > And if you were to obey most of those on earth, they would lead you away from Allah’s Way. They follow nothing but assumptions and do nothing but lie.[^27] Improperly interfacing with the creation guarantees certain repercussions. Human history is littered with an extensive catalog of civilizational collapses, disasters, and catastrophic events. These episodes are not random or without cause, as human error in the form of ignorance, intemperance, and hubris was more often than not the catalyst. Distinct, manifestly discernible patterns await our observation of them. This cyclical rising and falling—exaltation and abasement—follows a narrative arc that is both comforting and frightening in its predictability. Our inability to read and decipher the proverbial Book of Creation—and the critical messages it communicates about our behavior—imperils us. Our apparent reluctance to learn this language, our dismissal of it as undeserving of deliberation, is all the more disappointing given that we are beings designed to read and decipher patterns. The Qur’an reminds us of this: > وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّا أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ الْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا > > When guidance came to the people, nothing prevented them from believing and asking forgiveness from their Lord but the fact that the pattern of previous peoples did not occur to them or that the punishment did not appear before their eyes.[^28] > وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن ذُكِّرَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا وَنَسِيَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ ۚ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا ۖ وَإِن تَدْعُهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَىٰ فَلَن يَهْتَدُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا > > And who could do a greater wrong than someone who is reminded of the Signs of his Lord and then turns away from them, forgetting all that he has done before? We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Though you call them to guidance, they will nonetheless never be guided.[^29] > Partake of \[the Earth\] gladly, so long as you are a benefactor, not a despoiler; a cultivator, not a destroyer.[^30] --- ## The human species as producer-cultivator or consumer-destroyer Most of us function in the world as consumers rather than producers. If we’re honest, this is what we’ve been conditioned to be since birth in an age dominated by industrial consumerism—especially within the context of so-called “first world” nations and economies. Nothing less is required of us if this particular system is to continue to function. We are defined and valued more as consumers than as citizens. This is all but confirmed by the practice of measuring the health of nation-states by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a metric overwhelmingly determined by consumer activity. Producing and consuming our own goods and services within a self-contained, independent community (describing an autarky or autarkic system) would fail to register as “productive economic activity” from the standpoint of the consumer-driven GDP metric. The operational logic of  modern economies thus *demands* ever-expanding consumption of products and services. If consumers became their own producers of goods, either as individuals or communities, consumer-based economies would crater. This system is logically suspect and ethically bankrupt. According to modern economics, taking responsibility for our own lives and that of our communities by providing ourselves with what we need is an activity without value. Our era is marked by the presumption that technology has made us more efficiently and effectively productive, generally speaking—which it has in many respects. It has also made us more efficiently and effectively destructive, and more oblivious of this fact due to the way technological convenience distances us from its deleterious impacts. With modern technology comes an endemic opacity that mediates our direct experience of the outside world. The real world is easily confused with the one that has been reconfigured for us based on our preferences as consumers. Protracted, thoughtless action has never been so easily enabled—nor the volume of distraction and misinformation so overwhelming. This opacity compounds our blindness to the ways in which our inability to moderate our behavior is ravaging the world we inhabit. The 14th-century historiographer and historian Abū Zayd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Khaldūn al-Ḥaḍramī, more popularly known as Ibn Khaldūn, warned that [pursuing the pleasures of civilization](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fountainmagazine.com/2017/issue-117-may-june-2017/ibn-khaldun-on-luxury-and-the-destruction-of-civilizations&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908351189&usg=AOvVaw0PGSsqZHeGLH4BhfUPPzcg)[^31] has repeatedly led to civilizational destruction through the corruption of human beings—rendering them susceptible to moral, ethical, spiritual, social, physical, political, and economic decay. The places such degraded people inhabit merely reflect their collective state. This seemingly insatiable appetite for constantly expanding levels of wealth, luxury, comfort—and, for some, power—has been the primary driver of the destruction wrought by human beings on Earth and its living systems from time immemorial. As argued by the British soldier, scholar, and author Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb in his seminal essay, *The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival,*[^32] human history consists of an identifiable and reasonably predictable progression of phases. He states that we fail to learn from history because our studies of it are brief, prejudiced, and atomized, with the intertwined events that comprise overarching patterns often taught as discrete and unrelated. Sir Glubb claims that a regular patterned length of national greatness emerges, lasting approximately 250 years. This average has not varied for 3000 years, by his estimation. The stages characterizing the rise and fall of great nations are seen in Table 1. Sir Glubb concludes that the life histories of great states are very similar and primarily driven by internal factors. Their falls are diverse mostly due to their being heavily influenced by external causes. He feels that history should be taught as a comprehensive account of the human species with an emphasis on identifying these overarching phenomena within the context of one’s own national history. Wendell Berry’s classic book *The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture* masterfully covers all of these points in the specific case of the United States. The topics of exploitation, consumption, victimization, and destruction are placed front and center: > If there is any law that has been consistently operative in American history, it is that the members of any established people or group or community sooner or later become “redskins”—that is, they become the designated victims of an utterly ruthless, officially sanctioned and subsidized exploitation. The colonists who drove off the Indians came to be intolerably exploited by their imperial governments. And that alien imperialism was thrown off only to be succeeded by a domestic version of the same thing; the class of independent small farmers who fought the war of independence has been exploited by, and recruited into, the industrial society until now it is almost extinct… The only escape from this destiny of victimization has been to ‘succeed’—that is, to ‘make it’ into the class of exploiters, and then to remain so specialized and so ‘mobile’ as to be unconscious of the effects of one’s life or livelihood. This escape is, of course, illusory, for one man’s producer is another’s consumer, and even the richest and most mobile will soon find it hard to escape the noxious effluents and fumes of their various public services. What we are seeing now is not a new phenomenon. It’s an old story dressed in new clothes. The demolition of nature is simply being accomplished with more sophisticated technology capable of amplifying our character flaws in ways we’ve never imagined possible. This destruction is harder to recognize, or deem worthy of our attention, in a world offering endless methods of  keeping  us entertained, distracted, titillated, and made comfortably numb—all while being so satisfied and impressed with what our hands have created. > We are the octopus congratulating itself for becoming fat by eating its own legs.[^33] ![Table 1 - Stages characterizing the rise and fall of great nations](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/image2-776x1024.png) --- ## Forgetting our role Consider the following list of [The Most Toxic Countries in the World](https://weather.com/science/environment/news/maps-toxic-countries),[^34] published by The Eco Experts. Nine of the top 10 are nominally majority Muslim nations.  When examining lists of countries also suffering from problems associated with environmental and ecological degradation, including food and water insecurity, we unfortunately find much of the same. This has serious implications concerning prospects related to regional stability, civil unrest, refugee populations, internally displaced people, etc. Again, we find that among the most challenged nations, those classified as Muslim-majority are at or near the top of the list: **The 10 Most Toxic Countries**[^35] 1. Saudi Arabia 2. Kuwait 3. Bahrain 4. Qatar 5. United Arab Emirates 6. Oman 7. Turkmenistan 8. Libya 9. Kazakhstan 10.  Trinidad & Tobago ![Figure 2 - The 10 most toxic countries](https://cdn.yaqeeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/image1-1024x771.png) Regardless of the worldly causes that may have brought about this situation, Allah is ultimately in control, and we must ask ourselves honestly, with deep introspection, why we are facing this situation. As evidenced by the above,[^36] Muslims have tragically underperformed in offering a more comprehensive and broadly beneficial Islamic alternative capable of obsoleting the current dysfunctional arrangement. Collectively, many Muslims have also come to endorse a “misenchanted way of life” that tacitly—if not explicitly—approves of the generation of riches and profit at the expense of beauty and truth. The credibility and sincerity of those claimants professing a love for Allah, but showing little regard for what Allah has created, should be called into question. To participate in the careless handling and cavalier destruction of things that are manifestations of Divine Attributes—Signs of The Divine—serves as an indictment against us. Need we be reminded where this motivation to corrupt what Allah has made perfect emanates from? > وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الْأَنْعَامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيْطَانَ وَلِيًّا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُّبِينًا > > \[Satan said\]: “And I will surely lead them astray, and arouse desires in them.  I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle; I shall command them and they will change the creation of Allah.” Whoever takes Satan as a protector in place of Allah has clearly lost everything.[^37] > وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ > > وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُ اتَّقِ اللَّهَ أَخَذَتْهُ الْعِزَّةُ بِالْإِثْمِ ۚ فَحَسْبُهُ جَهَنَّمُ ۚ وَلَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ > > Among the people there is someone whose words about the life of this world excite your admiration, and he calls Allah to witness what is in his heart, while he is in fact the most hostile of adversaries. > > When he leaves you, he goes about the earth corrupting it, destroying crops and animals. Allah does not love corruption. When told to have *taqwā* of Allah, he is seized by pride which drives him to wrongdoing…[^38] If the creation consists of Allah’s Signs, and those Signs serve as reminders of the Divine, what happens when those Signs are removed from the Earth or allowed to be continually corrupted, distorted, degraded, or destroyed altogether? If these corrupted Signs become the basis of our reflection and remembrance, how would our perspectives not also grow corrupted, distorted, and degraded? What precarious world do we produce by substituting for those Signs a mirror of humanity’s basest desires, whims, and caprices?[^39] This destruction of nature is perpetrated and tolerated in the pursuit of economic interests—a state of affairs seemingly accepted, largely, by people who identify themselves as Muslim (likewise by self-identified Christians and Jews, or “People of the Book”). As noted by the Malaysian scholar Dr. ‘Adi Setia,[^40] a properly Islamically-oriented cosmological, cosmogonical, and epistemological worldview sees the natural and cultural resources provided by our Merciful Creator as blessings and bounties that are, in truth, unlimited in principle. A functional worldview tethered to reality would regard these resources as abundant, and the material needs, wants, and desires of human beings as limited—and rightfully so. This particular understanding has been inverted, and its inversion has apparently been legitimized and accepted by people who ought to know better. Building on this premise, Dr. Setia argues that our beliefs demand that these resources be considered favors from the realm of transcendence, eliciting an ethical and cognitive response rooted in gratitude and ultimately bringing about contentment. Therefore, the human being—if properly oriented and aligned—will take according to his or her needs, but not his or her greed and ambition to accumulate. Gratitude then becomes an existential and psychological state of being that demonstrates this observed reality of abundance in both the material and spiritual sense. We are provided for abundantly if we acknowledge the biophysical limits of the planet, and we acknowledge those limits by living our lives according to metaphysical realities. In fact, the planet’s living systems will over-deliver. The problem for the human species is that we tend to consistently underperform—and it still delivers in spite of us.[^41] According to Dr. ‘Adi Setia, > Desires are in fact limited by various dimensions of objective biophysical realities—and ultimately by death… Sound desire is self-limiting, but the consumerist rendering of the world isn’t particularly fond of that idea—so we’re constantly artificially stimulated through perpetual ubiquitous marketing and advertising. We do not exist in a neutral milieu in that regard. > > The paradox of ‘earthly life’ is that we simply need to respect the biophysical 'limits' of nature—which essentially consists of having proper *adab* (manners, etiquette, adherence to protocol) with creation—if we are to enjoy ‘unlimited’ bounties. > > Additionally, desires are limited because enjoyments are limited, or bounded; that's an objective fact since we know experientially that unbounded enjoyments and desires degenerate into suffering and humiliation by way of addiction.[^42] > أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِۦ وَقَلْبِهِۦ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِۦ غِشَـٰوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ > > Have you seen \[O Prophet\] those who have taken their own desires as their god? \[And so\] Allah left them to stray knowingly, sealed their hearing and hearts, and placed a cover on their sight. Who then can guide them after Allah? Will you \[all\] not then be mindful?[^43] A desire or an enjoyment, beyond a certain limit or boundary, ceases to be so. That's the nature of mortal life (i.e., it becomes self-destructive and hence not really a true desire, for no person desires self-destruction). Hence, greed (or ‘pathological desire’) is the desire of the insane. Greed is, at its core, wastefulness—a quintessentially “Iblisian” quality and behavioral archetype. As such, it is also essentially self-destructive. As indicated by the following hadith: > Ka’b ibn ʿUjra reported: A man passed by the Prophetﷺ, peace and blessings be upon him, and the companions of the Messenger of Allahﷺ saw his endurance and vigor. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, if only this man was in the way of Allah!” The Prophetﷺ said, “If he goes out striving for his small children, he is in the way of Allah. If he goes out striving for his elderly parents, he is in the way of Allah. If he goes out striving for himself to abstain from wrongdoing, he is in the way of Allah. If he goes out vainly and boastfully, he is in the way of Satan.”[^44] In an alternate wording of the same hadith: > The Prophet ﷺ—Allah bless and give him peace—was sitting one day with his Companions, and they observed a strong, sturdy youth setting out early to work. They said, “Woe unto this man; would that his youth and strength were spent in the path of Allah.” The Prophet—Allah bless and give him peace—said, “Do not say this; for if he works for himself in order to restrain himself from begging and to be independent of people, then he is in the path of Allah. If he works for his impoverished parents or for his impoverished children so as to enrich and suffice them, then he is in the path of Allah. **If \[however\] he works for the sake of showing off (*tafākhuran*) and accumulation (*takāthuran*) \[of wealth\], then he is in the path of Satan**.”[^45] That the earning of wealth for selfish, self-aggrandizing purposes puts one on the path of Satan is unsurprising, as such behavior is wasteful and thus demonic: > إِنَّ ٱلْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوٓا۟ إِخْوَٰنَ ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينِ ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِرَبِّهِۦ كَفُورًۭا > > Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful.[^46] Setia goes on to highlight that the ecological desolation we see within both the cultural and natural landscape is consistent with the ingratitude that stems from secular disbelief, where scarcity is perceived as the default condition. Accompanying this assumption is a crippling fear of insufficiency and paucity. Competition and hoarding logically follow. Without belief in a Merciful and Generous Creator who provides abundantly, anxiety fuels the greedy and wasteful depletion of resources while blinding one to its True Source, reinforcing a negative feedback loop marked by perpetual ingratitude and unending yearning. It is within this state that the “pathology of consumption”—where satisfaction is ephemeral, and disillusionment and ennui are all too familiar—leaves its signature upon us and upon our world. Imam Al-Ghazālī stated that Allah has made the afterlife the abode of reimbursement and chastisement, and this world the abode of struggle, deception, and tribulation.[^47] Our struggle in the *dunyā* is not, and should not be, confined to concern about the afterlife. Imam Al-Ghazālī saw our worldly livelihood as a means of return to the afterlife, viewing the world as a seedbed for the Hereafter. There is a clear incentive to live Islam’s ethics for both worldly and otherworldly benefits. Our livelihoods depend on the manner in which we transact our lives with Allah’s creation and our ability to render what is rightfully due to everything comprising it. This is one of the most significant and practical expressions of sincere gratitude. > وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌۭ > > And \[remember\] when your Lord proclaimed, “If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.”[^48] In the words of 19th-century British writer John Ruskin, wealth is the possession of the valuable by the valiant.  Its opposite—*“illth”*—are the wages proffered through waste, death, destruction, and discord. Those either unwilling to, or incapable of, making this distinction are clear impediments on the path leading to wealth in its truest sense. > There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest numbers of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest, who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others.[^49] --- ## Concluding thoughts and solutions The epistemology, cosmology, and cosmogony of the Islamic intellectual tradition pellucidly explains the importance of transacting with the natural world as a means of manifesting one’s moral and ethical goodness. A famous and oft-cited saying tells us: > He who knows himself knows his Lord.[^50] The Qur’an also informs us: > لَهُۥ مُعَقِّبَـٰتٌۭ مِّنۢ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِۦ يَحْفَظُونَهُۥ مِنْ أَمْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا۟ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍۢ سُوٓءًۭا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُۥ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ مِن وَالٍ > > For each one there are successive angels before and behind, protecting them by Allah’s command. Indeed, Allah would never change a people’s state \[of favor\] until they change their own state \[of faith\]. And if it is Allah’s Will to torment a people, it can never be averted, nor can they find a protector other than Him.[^51] This may, in part, be understood as an exhortation to remember and reflect upon our human origins—the reasons we were brought into existence and the functional role we were tasked with fulfilling. To know ourselves is to realize that we weren’t made to serve our own selfish pursuits and desires. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya affirms this point when he states in his *a**l-Fawāʾid*: > Whoever desires to purify their heart, then let them prefer Allah to their own desires.[^52] We were not endowed with our capabilities for the purpose of leading a life of constant entertainment and self-indulgence. Humans aren’t here to remake the world in the image of our personal preferences. The Creation—of which we comprise one of many aspects—was made to manifest the Majesty and Beauty of The One that brought it out of nothingness so that He may be known by means of it. This world was made as a test to prove our mettle and display our qualities of character. It will either testify as a proof for us, providing a vehicle to reflect Divine attributes bestowing benefit on everything we come into contact with—or it will mirror the disorder, dysfunction, and evil residing in our hearts and made manifest by our limbs. Our inability to rein in and sublimate our worst tendencies is on trial. Yet this is the real fight too many of us have run away from—the battle against ourselves: > > كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ شَرٌّۭ لَّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ > > Fighting has been made obligatory upon you \[believers\], though you dislike it. Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you and like something which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know.[^53] This is the deception we have tragically fallen prey to: not applying the call to fight, first and foremost, to our own selves against our own selves. Our failure has lost us much truth and beauty in this world. As stated previously, to know yourself is to know Allah. To know Allah is to know Majesty and Beauty, so that we, too, may serve as signposts for these qualities through our daily conduct—not only through our worship, but also by the manner in which our worship conditions and inspires us to be majestic and beautiful in our worldly transactions, understanding that they have otherworldly consequences. As explained by Dr. Othman ‘Abdur-Rahman Llewellyn,[^54] a methodological approach to utilizing, and transacting with, nature may be detailed in light of the goals and objectives of the Sacred Law. Everything in existence was created and imbued with a unique and innate value. The purpose of all created things is to serve The Creator by playing their designated role in maintaining balance and order, ensuring the functional integrity of Creation as a whole. All sentient beings are bound together in this endeavor. Human beings are tasked with the special responsibility of trusteeship and stewardship of the earth. To show magnanimity towards the entirety of Creation is to embody *iḥsān* (excellence), as exemplified by its resulting practical benefit, moral rectitude, and  holistic beauty. If the central aim of Islamic law is to facilitate the manifestation of excellence, and to ensure comprehensive well-being, it could be said that environmental stewardship is an expression of *iṣlāḥ* (improvement, betterment), as manifested in the revival of degraded land and the enrichment of the earth. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ clearly indicates that the fructification and beautification of the earth is a thoroughly ethical act: > Whoever revives dead land, for him is \[to be found\] reward in it; and whatever any creature seeking food eats of it shall be reckoned as charity from him. > > There is no Muslim who plants a tree or sows a field, and a human, bird, or animal eats from it, but it shall be reckoned as charity from him.[^55] Shaykh Abdul-Hakim Murad (Dr. Timothy Winter) made these points central to his ʿĪd al-Fiṭr *khuṭba* titled “Sultan of the Heart.” In it, he outlined what attitude we need to adopt and what practical steps we need to take to begin rectifying our collective situation, not only as people of faith but as a human species. He first declares Islam “the religion of nature” (*al-dīn al-fiṭra*), the Qur’an “the book of nature” and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ “the prophet of nature.” All clearly command us to be cultivators and greeners of Allah’s creation through planting, sowing, and repairing what has been damaged and destroyed. This is highlighted by Book 41 of *Ṣaḥīh al-Bukhārī*—*The Virtue of Planting and Sowing* (*Muzāraʿa*) and Sūrat Al-Aʿlā.[^56] Just as importantly, Shaykh Murad eviscerates the “solutions” to modernity’s ecological crisis put forward by the likes of Elon Musk, who wishes to save humanity by taking us to Mars—“a hell,” in Shaykh Murad’s words, of dust, carbon dioxide, and radiation that, even after billions of dollars’ worth of Mars expeditions, has not yet yielded “one single organic particle…not even the tiniest fragment of something that exists in its trillions within any human body.”[^57] To abandon our home is to save neither the Earth nor ourselves. We will have to solve our problems right here, in the world that has sustained us for so long—and the solution will demand more than more technology. As Shaykh Murad so eloquently put it: > It seems to be the function of the secular world to destroy while boasting of progress. But it must be the function of the religious majority of mankind, and not just the *ummah* of Islam, to repair. Where they pull up, we must plant. Where they gorge, we must fast. It is the function of Bani Adam in his role as *khulafa* of Allah *subhana wa ta’ala* in His Earth to heal. To fix things. To be those who put \[things\] right. > > How strange is the mentality of so many secular people \[on\] the Earth. Where they see science and technology as leading us into some kind of paradise on Earth. \[It’s\] not happening. Look at the state of the Earth. Look at the state of people’s minds. Look at the depression and the anxiety. Look at the collapsing planet beneath our feet. This is not progress. > > So what do we do? Every one of us has this answer within reach. We have this blessing way, this way of living in a natural and restrained way within the world which is called the Sunnah of the Chosen One (ﷺ).[^58] --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 30:41. [^2]: Qur’an 2:30. [^3]: Qur’an 2:30–31. [^4]: Qur’an 41:53. [^5]: Jared Diamond, *Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed* (New York: Penguin Books/Penguin Group, 2011). [^6]: Gus Fisher, “Deforestation and Monoculture Farming Spread COVID-19 and Other Diseases,” Truthout, May 12, 2020, [https://truthout.org/articles/deforestation-and-monoculture-farming-spread-covid-19-and-other-diseases/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://truthout.org/articles/deforestation-and-monoculture-farming-spread-covid-19-and-other-diseases/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908386455&usg=AOvVaw0PJ8svw4g4YJIiG8EssTXv). [^7]: Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, *Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered* (New York: Harper and Row, 1973). [^8]: Walter Clay Loudermilk, *Conquest of the Land Through Seven Thousand Years* (U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service, 1948), 1. [^9]: Jared Diamond, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” Discover 8, no. 5 (1987): 64–66, [https://web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/materials/Diamond-TheWorstMistakeInTheHistoryOfTheHumanRace.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/materials/Diamond-TheWorstMistakeInTheHistoryOfTheHumanRace.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908387152&usg=AOvVaw2Nh2UroD2Cvh3PPsxei4Os). [^10]: James C. Scott, *Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States* (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017). [^11]: The Filaha Texts Project, [http://www.filaha.org/](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.filaha.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908388028&usg=AOvVaw3pe0_e7xknGFm3VF5HBpp7). [^12]: Guy Theodore Wrench, *Reconstruction By Way of the Soil* (London: Faber and Faber, 1946), 262. [^13]: Monsieur Gustav le Bon, *La Civilisation des Arabes*, 1884, as quoted in Wrench, 169. [^14]: Monsieur Sédillot, *Histoire Générale des Arabes*, 1877, as quoted in Wrench, 169. [^15]: Martin Hume, as quoted in Wrench, 169 (referring to “the farming art of the Spanish Arabs”). [^16]: Wrench, 170. [^17]: Abū’l-Qāsim al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, “*al-Dhari’a ila makarim al-shari’a* (The Path to the Noble Qualities of the Sacred Law),” [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54e6208ee4b05860a4600103/t/595a4c9a9f74562cf8fb1225/1499090076162/Raghib+Path+to+Virtue+Translation.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54e6208ee4b05860a4600103/t/595a4c9a9f74562cf8fb1225/1499090076162/Raghib%2BPath%2Bto%2BVirtue%2BTranslation.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908388763&usg=AOvVaw2UX1KyKsMOryhRxzQka8Gj). [^18]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 1, bk. 1, hadith 1, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908389351&usg=AOvVaw3V5m5VOqpybQmJX2L9_c9d). [^19]: Qur’an 30:41. [^20]: Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas and Ibn Ya’qub al-Firuzabadi, *Tafsir Ibn ‘Abbas: The Great Commentaries of the Holy Qur’an (Volume II)*, ed. Yousef Meri, trans. Mokrane Guezzou (Amman, Jordan: The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought: Fons Vitae, 2008). [^21]: Qur’an 42:30. [^22]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2742, bk. 49, hadith 12, [https://sunnah.com/muslim:2742](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/muslim:2742&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908390788&usg=AOvVaw0EpjeoOwYgVTOQdRtYWu0x). [^23]: *Faydul Qadir*, Hadith: 3260, As-Sirajul Munir, vol. 2 pg. 158, *Al-Mu’jamul Kabir*, Hadith: 4596, *Majma’uz Zawaid*, vol.1 pg.241. Also see *Targhib*, Hadith: 312; Grade: Hasan Li Ghairihi. [https://hadithanswers.com/beware-of-sinning-on-the-earth/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hadithanswers.com/beware-of-sinning-on-the-earth/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908401743&usg=AOvVaw2lLcljLFrwraMjHKINY8LR); Also refer to Qur’an 99:1-8. [^24]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 91a; *al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ*, no. 6906. [^25]: Qur’an 2:31. [^26]: William C. Chittick, “Ibn ‘Arabi on the Benefit of Knowledge,” in *The Essential Sophia*, ed. Seyyid Hossein Nasr and Katherine O’Brien (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2006). [^27]: Qur’an 6:116. [^28]: Qur’an 18:55. [^29]: Qur’an 18:57. [^30]: ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, related by Yahya ibn Adam al-Qurashi in *Kitab al-kharaj* on the authority of Sa’id ad-Dabbi. [^31]: Alice Bolton, “Ibn Khaldun on Luxury and the Destruction of Civilizations,” *Fountain* 117 (May–June 2017), [https://fountainmagazine.com/2017/issue-117-may-june-2017/ibn-khaldun-on-luxury-and-the-destruction-of-civilizations](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fountainmagazine.com/2017/issue-117-may-june-2017/ibn-khaldun-on-luxury-and-the-destruction-of-civilizations&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908375314&usg=AOvVaw3Wwn9wqgsI6GxMHzcbO8zc). [^32]: Sir John Glubb, *The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival*, 1976, [http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908376604&usg=AOvVaw3o5ZaAdXqLcHO2NkScYb5N). [^33]: Masanobu Fukuoka, *Sowing Seed in the Desert: Natural Farming, Global Restoration, and the Ultimate Food Security* (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing: September 3, 2013). [^34]: Pam Wright, “Map Reveals World’s Most and Least Toxic Countries,” The Weather Channel, July 7, 2017, [https://weather.com/science/environment/news/maps-toxic-countries](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weather.com/science/environment/news/maps-toxic-countries&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908382703&usg=AOvVaw3nAqrh5-msR8T2P2WxYZHU); Charles Clark, “This Map Shows the Countries with the Most ‘Toxic’ Environments on Earth,” *Insider*, February 9, 2017, [https://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-most-polluted-and-toxic-countries-2017-2](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-most-polluted-and-toxic-countries-2017-2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908383216&usg=AOvVaw0HWCGmZFYcgJ22lWTRzuQP); Alexandra Simon-Lewis, “The World’s Most Toxic Countries Laid Bare on This Alarming Map,” *Wired*, January 2, 2017, [https://www.wired.co.uk/article/this-map-reveals-the-most-toxic-countries-in-the-world](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/this-map-reveals-the-most-toxic-countries-in-the-world&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908383779&usg=AOvVaw18qw26-76T12SbGrWqIrlb). [^35]: Simon-Lewis, “World’s Most Toxic Countries.” [^36]: Anusuya Datta, “Maps Reveal Top ‘Toxic’ Nations in the World,” *Geospatial World*,  February 18, 2017, [https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/maps-reveal-top-polluted-countries-world/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/maps-reveal-top-polluted-countries-world/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908384774&usg=AOvVaw0DdBZdajJIebLzMr2JhoGT); “Most Polluted Countries 2022,” World Population Review, [https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-polluted-countries](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-polluted-countries&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908385225&usg=AOvVaw2nCef9oPn-dnDD2yxSdizd). [^37]: Qur’an 4:119. [^38]: Qur’an 2:205–6. [^39]: One of the interesting lessons learned from observing nature is that insects typically considered to be pests starve on healthy plants—they don’t offer anything to eat such as simple sugars and amino acids. This is explained by trophobiosis theory. (“Earth Repair: A Unified Theory,” World Permaculture Association, [https://worldpermacultureassociation.com/earth-repair-unified-theory/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://worldpermacultureassociation.com/earth-repair-unified-theory/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908392898&usg=AOvVaw2WYJ-YWLb6ZRbML_vAGTwH).) Similarly, locusts are found to plague landscapes in regions that have become degraded mostly due to human mismanagement (for example, from destructive agricultural practices or overgrazing of domesticated livestock). Our societies, too, once weakened and diseased, are prone to “pest attacks”—diagnostic indicators of the absence of something crucially important. To escape such attacks, communities require a habitat and a means of sustaining the people who comprise them. As put by Bill Mollison: “We lay waste to our lives in proportion to the way in which the systems we support lay waste to the environment. Although societies for *social* responsibility are rapidly forming, we need to expand the concept to *social and environmental responsibility*, and to create our own financial and employment strategies in those areas.” See Bill Mollison, *Permaculture: A Designer's Manual* (Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari Publications, 1988). [^40]: ‘Adi Setia, “Mu’amalah and the Revival of the Islamic Gift Economy,” *Islam and Science* 9, no. 1 (Summer 2011). [^41]: This is principally the charge, for example, made by the animals against the humans in the court of the jinn king, referring to the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ’s famous text: “Once given words, the animals have much to say, both about their own plight and about the human condition. They present themselves not as mere objects of study but as subjects with an outlook and interests of their own. That casts the essay into a moral mode: the animals warmly appreciate the bounty of Creation but passionately criticize human domination and systematically indict its underlying rationales as the products of human arrogance... The ingenious and insightful design of every creature, say the animals, testifies to God’s creative and providential beneficence. But the natural piety, generosity, courage, and trust of the animals model virtues that human beings too often lack. The animals become living, speaking rebukes of human waywardness, faithlessness, negligence, and insensitivity.” See Lenn E. Goodman and Richard McGregor, eds. and trans., *The Case of the Animals versus Man Before the King of the Jinn* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 696. [^42]: Correspondence via WhatsApp with Dr ‘Adi Setia, August 29-30, 2021. [^43]: Qur’an 45:23. As put by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in his *Al-Fawa’id* (see footnote 51): “Whoever loves this worldly life will \[overestimate\] its value and make themself a slave to it—and it will humiliate them.  And whoever neglects it will notice their own great value—and it will serve them and it (this world) will humiliate itself for them.” [^44]: *Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr lil-Ṭabarānī*, 19:129, [https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2022/08/26/jihad-supporting-family/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2022/08/26/jihad-supporting-family/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908395829&usg=AOvVaw1MvSwGNT0hwhHVynkUxwXA) (translation modified); al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Mu’jam al-kabīr* (Cairo: Maktabat Ibn Taymīyah, Dār al-Ṣumayʻī, 1983), 19:29, no. 282; authenticated by Shaykh al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-jāmi’ al-ṣaghīr* (Damascus: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1969), 1:301, no. 1428; al-Haythamī also said the narrators were reliable in *Majma’ al-Zawā’id* (Cairo: Maktabat al-Qudsī, 1933), 4:325, no. 7708. Translated by Abu Amina Elias. [^45]: Al-Ṭabarānī, *al-Mu’jam al-Ṣaghīr* (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1985), 2:148, no. 940. [^46]: Qur’an 17:27. [^47]: Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali, *The Book of the Properties of Earning and Living* (*Kitab Adab al-Kasb wa al-Ma’ash*), trans. with introduction and notes by ‘Adi Setia (Kuala Lumpur: IBFIM, 2013). [^48]: Qur’an 14:7. [^49]: John Ruskin, *Unto This Last and Other Writings* (London: Penguin Classics, n.d.). [^50]: Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani, *Ḥilyat al-awliyā’* *wa-ṭabaqāt al-aṣfiyāʼ*, 2nd ed. (Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kotob Illmiyah, 2018), 10:208, [https://kitaabun.com/shopping3/hilyat-awliya-tabaqat-asfiya-arabic-asfahani-p-3430.html](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kitaabun.com/shopping3/hilyat-awliya-tabaqat-asfiya-arabic-asfahani-p-3430.html&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908379134&usg=AOvVaw0UTAVR2-MVG0YumgGEojBY). [^51]: Qur’an 13:11. [^52]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, *Al-Fawa’id: A Collection of Wise Sayings*, trans. Bayan Translation Services (Mansoura: Umm Al-Qura, 2004), [https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/Al-FAWAID.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/Al-FAWAID.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908398800&usg=AOvVaw2ai6P1Z39Revi2lfFlXnZ3). [^53]: Qur’an 2:216. [^54]: Othman ‘Abd Ar-Rahman Llwellyn, “Islamic Jurisprudence and Environmental Planning,” *Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics* 1, no. 2 (1404/1984), [http://www.iefpedia.com/english/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Islamic-Jurisprudence-and-Environmental-Planning-by-Othman-Abd-Ar-Rahman-Llewellyn.pdf](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.iefpedia.com/english/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Islamic-Jurisprudence-and-Environmental-Planning-by-Othman-Abd-Ar-Rahman-Llewellyn.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908377979&usg=AOvVaw1fJNMZoFP4eE-px7oT6vCX). [^55]: *Ṣ**aḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 2320, bk. 41, hadith 1, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2320](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2320&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1662069908379912&usg=AOvVaw1i-CNPOw8Gdcqh6vnXdN-g). [^56]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, no. 2320, bk. 41, hadith 1, [https://sunnah.com/bukhari/41.](https://sunnah.com/bukhari/41) [^57]: Abdul Hakim Murad, “Sultan of the Heart – Abdal Hakim Murad: Eid Sermon,” YouTube video, May 2, 2022, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuAERjKy6Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuAERjKy6Y). [^58]: Murad, “Sultan of the Heart.” ## Summary **The Corruption of the Earth and the Recovery of Human Stewardship** Allah, Most High, has bound the outward condition of the earth to the inward condition of its inhabitants, for the destruction wrought upon nature stands as a testimony against the character of mankind. This truth is affirmed in His words: "Corruption has appeared on the land and sea, by reason of what your hands have earned. That Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return" (Qur'an 30:41). The ecological ruin of a place is thus a mirror reflecting the ethical, spiritual, and psychological state of a people. When human beings misunderstand themselves and their surroundings, and fail to translate rightly what they perceive into fitting responses, the consequences are repeatable and predictable across history. The origin of the human role is disclosed in the Qur'anic account of Adam. Allah announced to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the Earth a steward (khalīfa)" (Qur'an 2:30), and the angels, aware even then of this species' capacity for evil, asked, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare your praise and sanctify You?" To this Allah replied decisively, "I know that which you do not know," and then "taught Adam the names—all of them" (Qur'an 2:31). According to broad scholarly consensus, these names are the Divine Names and Attributes reflected throughout creation, including within human beings, as He says, "We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth" (Qur'an 41:53). If the world is an expression of Divine Attributes, then reverence for Allah demands that His creation be preserved and nurtured, and this preservation is itself the truest display of gratitude—gratitude being the key to saving both the earth and ourselves. History bears out the peril of neglecting this trust. Dr. Jared Diamond, in *Collapse*, identifies five factors behind civilizational failure—climate change, hostile neighbors, collapse of trading partners, environmental problems, and failure to adapt—and lists twelve environmental problems facing mankind, of which the foremost three (deforestation, soil degradation, and water mismanagement) share a single origin in human mismanagement of the land. Even recent pandemics, including COVID-19, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and swine flu, have been closely linked to deforestation, with roughly sixty percent of new infectious outbreaks in recent decades being zoonotic in origin. The economist E. F. Schumacher, citing Dale and Carter's *Topsoil and Civilization*, observed that between ten and thirty civilizations have followed the same self-destructive pattern of felling forests, overgrazing land, destroying wildlife, eroding topsoil, and exhausting resources until forced to seek new territory. As W. C. Loudermilk wrote, "the land does not lie; it bears a record of what men write on it." It should be noted, however, that these narratives are not without dispute. Diamond regarded agriculture as the worst mistake in human history, and James C. Scott of Yale described its rise through "the four domestications" of plants, animals, fire, and people, arguing that mankind was gradually "de-skilled" and rendered a dependent, captive population of consumers. Yet these assessments are neither flawless nor universally agreed upon. The record of the Muslims stands in stark contrast, for Guy Theodore Wrench, drawing largely upon European historians, chronicled the extraordinary agricultural achievement of Muslims in Andalusia. The historian S. P. Scott described the agricultural system of the Moors as "the most complex, the most scientific, the most perfect, ever devised by the ingenuity of man," rooted in a profound understanding of water, for they realized that "the proper use of water was civilization." Wrench attributed this success to their acting in accordance with Islam's ethical, cosmological, and metaphysical framework. Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 1108) explained the human being's threefold function: to cultivate and prosper in the earth (ʿimārat al-arḍ), as in "He brought you out from the earth and made you inhabit it" (Qur'an 11:61); to worship Allah, as in "I have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me" (Qur'an 51:56); and to exercise vicegerency (khilāfa), as in Qur'an 7:129, by imitating the noble qualities of the Sacred Law—wisdom, justice, forbearance, beneficence, and graciousness. Two of these three functions concern man's conduct toward creation, and even a mundane act such as planting a tree may become worship according to intention, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended." Ibn ʿAbbās understood the verse on corruption (30:41) to mean the death of cattle, drought, and scarcity brought about by human transgression, so that people might repent. Other evidences reinforce this: "And whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned" (Qur'an 42:30); the saying of the Prophet ﷺ that "the world is sweet and verdant, and verily Allah has made you stewards in it"; and his warning, "Beware of the earth for it is your mother… No one does good or evil on her except that she will speak of it on the Day of Qiyāma." Since Allah "is beautiful and He loves beauty," nature embodies both truth and beauty, and cannot be corrupted without the corruptor eventually tasting the consequences, for mankind is itself part of nature. William Chittick, expounding Ibn ʿArabī, explained that man is obliged by his very fiṭra to recognize the ḥaqq (right) of things and act accordingly, for true knowledge is to know the reality (ḥaqīqa) of a thing and respond to it rightly—this being taḥqīq. Such knowledge, joined with adab, produces the noble character (akhlāq) required for proper conduct, and liberates one from mere conjecture, for "if you were to obey most of those on earth, they would lead you away from Allah's Way" (Qur'an 6:116). The Qur'an rebukes those who ignore the patterns of former peoples (18:55) and those whose hearts are covered so they cannot understand (18:57), and it enjoins us to "partake of the Earth gladly, so long as you are a benefactor, not a despoiler; a cultivator, not a destroyer." The present age has conditioned mankind to function as consumers rather than producers, so that nations are measured by Gross Domestic Product, a metric that would collapse if people provided for themselves within self-sufficient communities—an arrangement described as logically suspect and ethically bankrupt. Technology, while increasing productivity, has also increased destructiveness and, through its opacity, blinded people to the harm they cause. Ibn Khaldūn warned that pursuit of civilization's pleasures repeatedly corrupts human beings and destroys them, and Sir John Bagot Glubb argued that great nations rise and fall in a predictable span of roughly two hundred and fifty years, unchanged for three thousand years. Wendell Berry, in *The Unsettling of America*, exposed the ceaseless cycle of exploitation and victimization, showing that our modern destruction is merely "an old story dressed in new clothes." We are, in the striking image offered, "the octopus congratulating itself for becoming fat by eating its own legs." Tragically, nine of the ten most toxic countries listed by The Eco Experts—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkmenistan, Libya, and Kazakhstan—are nominally Muslim-majority nations. Whatever the worldly causes, Allah is ultimately in control, and Muslims must ask with honest introspection why they find themselves thus. Many have adopted a "misenchanted way of life" that pursues profit at the expense of beauty and truth, and the sincerity of those who profess love for Allah yet disregard His creation must be questioned. The impulse to corrupt what Allah has perfected stems from Satan, who vowed, "I shall command them and they will change the creation of Allah" (Qur'an 4:119), and it resembles the one who "goes about the earth corrupting it, destroying crops and animals. Allah does not love corruption" (Qur'an 2:205). Dr. ʿAdi Setia argues that a properly Islamic worldview sees the Creator's provision as, in principle, unlimited, while human needs are rightly limited; but this understanding has been inverted. Gratitude produces contentment, whereas greed—"pathological desire"—is wastefulness and a quintessentially Iblisian trait, for "the wasteful are brothers of the devils" (Qur'an 17:27). The Prophet ﷺ taught that one who strives to support his family or restrain himself is in the way of Allah, but one who strives "for the sake of showing off and accumulation" is in the way of Satan. Setia notes that ecological desolation flows from the ingratitude of secular disbelief, which assumes scarcity and breeds hoarding, whereas Allah promises, "If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more" (Qur'an 14:7). Imam al-Ghazālī saw this world as the seedbed of the Hereafter, and John Ruskin declared that "there is no wealth but life." The Islamic tradition thus explains clearly that dealing rightly with the natural world manifests moral goodness, for "he who knows himself knows his Lord," and "Allah would never change a people's state until they change their own state" (Qur'an 13:11). Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya wrote in *al-Fawāʾid* that whoever wishes to purify his heart must prefer Allah to his own desires. The true struggle is against the self, for "fighting has been made obligatory upon you, though you dislike it… perhaps you dislike something which is good for you" (Qur'an 2:216). Dr. Othman ʿAbdur-Rahman Llewellyn explains, in light of the objectives of the Sacred Law, that every created thing possesses innate value and serves its Creator by maintaining balance, while man bears the special trust of stewardship. Environmental stewardship is therefore an expression of iḥsān and iṣlāḥ, as the Prophet ﷺ declared, "Whoever revives dead land, for him is reward in it," and "There is no Muslim who plants a tree or sows a field, and a human, bird, or animal eats from it, but it shall be reckoned as charity from him." Shaykh Abdul-Hakim Murad, in his khuṭba "Sultan of the Heart," called Islam "the religion of nature," the Qur'an "the book of nature," and the Prophet ﷺ "the prophet of nature," and he refuted schemes such as Elon Musk's proposal to escape to Mars—"a hell" of dust, carbon dioxide, and radiation yielding not "one single organic particle." Salvation lies not in abandoning our home nor in more technology, but in repair: "Where they pull up, we must plant. Where they gorge, we must fast." Every one of us holds this answer within reach through the Sunnah of the Chosen One ﷺ—a way of living naturally and with restraint within the world. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/8-questions-your-muslim-teens-are-asking # 8 Questions Your Muslim Teens Are Asking | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog **Published:** August 18, 2022 **Updated:** September 12, 2025 Our students and children are naturally inquisitive. Out of their curiosity, they often ask questions about our beliefs and the things we do.  Sometimes, even as teachers, we ourselves don’t know how to articulate a proper answer. Although life experiences may have given us certainty in our faith, we’re not always equipped to answer their questions directly. --- ## 1\. “Is God real? How do we know God exists?" The golden word: proof. Our current world emphasizes the need for evidence to believe anything. “Proving” God exists against modern objections, however, may leave you flustered. Rest assured, our tradition has multiple ways of establishing the existence of God.  Find how to help your child or student answer this question by checking out our curriculum unit on [“The case for Allah’s existence.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/principles-of-faith/the-case-for-allahs-existence) --- ## 2\. “Why does God let bad things happen?” In an unfortunate circumstance, say another school shooting occurs. We must be the voice of comfort to our children and students. When they see the news unfold, from shootings to wars, they may ask us how all of this evil can exist if Allah is ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful. In these moments, we need to explain the nature of a merciful God despite all the suffering we see around us. You can navigate this conversation with the aid of our unit, [“How can evil coexist with a merciful God?”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/principles-of-faith/how-can-evil-coexist-with-a-merciful-god) --- ## 3\. “Are prophets real? How do we know?” We don’t live in a time of prophets. Nor does our current society welcome the idea of messengers being sent from God. It’s no surprise then that our youth might question someone’s claim to prophethood. But even during their lifetime, prophets still had to prove to their people that they were indeed sent from Allah. Our curriculum unit, [“The proofs of prophethood,”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/principles-of-faith/the-proofs-of-prophethood) delves into this exact topic. --- ## 4\. "How is the Qur’an a miracle?" For many of us, understanding the miraculous nature of the Qur’an can be challenging. This is even more so the case for young Muslims who cannot access its language and magnitude. We know in our hearts that this book is the divine speech of Allah, but how do we explain it with evidence? And how can we prove that it was not the Prophet ﷺ who authored it himself? Introduce your students to the historical accuracy of the Qur’an and its literary miracles with our unit, [“Qur’an: The living literary miracle.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/principles-of-faith/quran-the-living-literary-miracle) --- ## 5\. "What does Islam say about taking care of the environment? Why should I care?” Climate change, global warming, and green initiatives have dominated public debates on the environment in recent years. While a lot of our youth have voiced concerns over these issues, few realize that Islam has a lot to say about protecting and caring for the environment. Students who know this can be empowered to root their activism in Islam. Discover more details by going through our unit, [“When the earth speaks against us: environmental ethics in Islam.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/the-everyday-ethics-of-life/caring-for-earth-is-worship) --- ## 6\. "If Allah knows everything that’s going to happen, how do I have free will?" Explaining the relationship between divine decree and free will is often one of the hardest questions we have to answer as parents and teachers. At face value, it may not make sense. “What’s the point of trying,” your students ask, “if Allah already decreed that I’m going to fail?” In our unit, [“Conscious or coerced: divine decree in Islam,”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/principles-of-faith/divine-decree-in-islam) we explore the ways we can reconcile the fact that even though Allah knows everything, we are still morally responsible for our actions. --- ## 7\. "Why is Islam so difficult? Why do I have to give up so much as a Muslim?" As Muslims, it sometimes feels like we have to do a lot. We give up food in order to fast, time to pray, and money to donate. But completing these ritualistic acts doesn’t always have to feel burdensome. In fact, these acts of sacrifice don’t just help build a connection with Allah. They build our character, our lives, and our communities. Help your students reimagine what it means to give things up for Allah in our unit, [“Winning through sacrifice: a rewarding means of worship.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/faith-in-action/winning-though-sacrifice) --- ## 8\. "I sometimes feel anxiety or feel overwhelmed by emotions. How can I control my emotions and thoughts?" Today, we are drowning in noise and distraction. Our students are always on their phones or laptops, leaving their senses constantly stimulated. It’s no wonder that, without any quiet time, they begin to lose control of their emotions, and anxieties run high. Train your students to regain control over their negative thoughts by taking time to practice prophetic mindfulness with our unit, [“Clear mind, connected soul: Islamic mindfulness.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum/the-everyday-ethics-of-life/islamic-mindfulness) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-unique-storytelling-style-of-the-quran # The Unique Storytelling Style of the Qur’an **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Topics:** Faith, Quran **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** August 15, 2022 **Updated:** November 4, 2025 In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy We find that stories constitute approximately one third of the Noble Qur’an, the greatest Book of guidance ever revealed to the world. And in its greatest chapter (*al-Fātiḥah*), we are taught to pray for guidance by alluding to the stories of those “favored by God”[^1] with guidance to the Straight Path before us. These scriptural phenomena validate the immense power of stories to move hearts and minds, dispelling the faulty assumption that stories are just for children or that incorporating them into our discourse detracts from its intellectual vigor. However, the Qur’an did not just validate storytelling. It proceeded to identify its own stories as unique and most potent for reforming its readers into the best versions of themselves. This paper explores why the Qur’anic style of storytelling is one that, while rather unconventional for some people, is replete with wisdom indicative of its Divine origins. --- ## Storytelling at its finest “We relate to you, \[O Muhammad\], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur’an.”[^2] Should we infer from this noble verse that the account of Prophet Joseph (as) which unfolds in the very next verses, is the single greatest Qur’anic story? Some scholars have argued this, but it is rather unlikely for many reasons–-not the least of which is the multitude of Qur’anic references to the life and mission of Moses (as). Should we then infer that all the stories God chose to include in the Qur’an equally count as the “best of stories”? This seems to be the stronger position, but not the full explanation. Exegetes of the Qur’an point out that Allah did not say in this verse that He relates to us the best *qiṣaṣ* (stories), but rather the best *qaṣaṣ* (storytelling).[^3] In other words, Allah not only makes the ideal choices on which stories to tell, but also tells them in the most ideal way. And just as the “prologue” of *Sūrah Yūsuf* identifies the Qur’anic style of storytelling as best, its “epilogue” elaborates further with Allah’s words, > There was certainly in their stories (1) a lesson (2) for those of understanding. (3) Never was it \[i.e., the Qur’an\] a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it and (4) a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.[^4] This verse deepens our understanding about some important features of Qur’anic storytelling, and why its methodology best serves the Qur’an’s ultimate objective of offering “guidance and mercy for those who believe.” It built on the preexisting affinity for storytelling gatherings in Arabia and in every known human civilization (even today, albeit in the form of film and television above all), and then elevated its function to serve the loftiest of all purposes: heeding the Divine call. ### 1\. Lesson-oriented While the Qur’an is remarkably captivating, Allah (the Glorified and Majestic) makes it crystal clear that His wondrous words did not penetrate the barriers of this universe to simply fascinate us. Rather, it is *al-Qawl al-Faṣl* (the Decisive Word),[^5] here to set the record straight on sacred truths, establish measures of justice, and pass final verdicts for humanity on the ethical framework approved by Almighty God. This does not, however, preclude it from being a tapestry of Divine art that creatively guides people towards lessons that aid them in embracing these truths and teachings for their betterment in this world and the next. In that vein, the stories of the Qur’an are articulated and situated in ways that best elucidate for us the prescribed laws of the Divine, and motivate us to align ourselves with them. As Muḥammad ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1973), an esteemed contemporary specialist of the Qur’an, explains in *al-Taḥrīr wal-Tanwīr*, Qur’anic storytelling does not qualify as the “best storytelling” solely because it is lesson-based, or because it restricts itself only to true stories. After all, there are many non-Qur’anic stories that are true, and from which valuable lessons can be derived. What makes Qur’anic storytelling exceptional is its efficacy in carving—not just introducing—its timeless lessons into the worldview of its readers and listeners, and steadily strengthening their interest in imbibing them.[^6] People tend to tell stories in ways that offer little benefit—stories that either entertain without purpose, or that bury their purpose under superfluous details that weaken their potency for moral refinement. These were among the reasons why traditional scholars often wrote works cautioning against “professional” storytellers.[^7] The Qur’an, however, is not just lesson-based; it is lesson-oriented and lesson-orienting. In order to inculcate rather than merely preach its moral vision—to not just explain ethics to its readers, but to *make* them ethical—it departs from the storytelling approach to which so many of us are accustomed. Quite often, for instance, the Qur’an omits the names of people and their lineages, as well as the names of towns and their locations, in distinct contrast to the historical and biographical works with which we are familiar. These omissions are “by design,” for they better enable the reader to focus on the lesson itself, and not restrict its relevance to some transient moment in the annals of history.[^8] So why does the Qur’an not clearly tell us, for instance, whether or not earlier humans ever coexisted with dinosaurs, or what the birthname was for the “believer from Pharaoh’s family,” or where the cave of the “Seven Sleepers” is located? Perhaps His perfect knowledge of how easily excess information distracts us is part of the wisdom for such facts being redacted. Did not theologians historically debate, at great lengths, what kind of fruit the Forbidden Tree produced in the story of Adam (as), despite that being of no beneficial consequence? Did not the assumed location of certain pious figures’ graves lead to the erection of shrines at which the deceased are invoked instead of God, the only All-Hearing? Did not the historical emphasis on ancestry in religious scriptures lead to doctrines that perpetuated “elite bloodlines” in ways antithetical to God’s justice? Qur’anic stories therefore come with an infinitely wise framing, one that assists us both by what they include and what they exclude, sealing shut inlets to misguidance, and thus keeping history’s darker chapters from repeating themselves. Consider how Allah reclaims the distorted narrative of the “Seven Sleepers” in the cave. At the onset, He declares, “It is We who relate to you their story in truth. Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord…”[^9] In other words, Allah tells us, discard the framing of those Jews who nationalized their religion and considered ethnic roots the ultimate determinant of human value; it was rather them being youth who had their whole lives ahead of them, and them choosing faith despite facing religious persecution, that was of paramount importance and worthy of celebration, not their “coincidental” belonging to one ancestry or another. As the story progresses, we find that not only will the names and ages of these young heroes remain undisclosed, but that Allah is delivering a clear caution against any polemical debates pertaining to their number; “Say \[O Muhammad\], my Lord is best aware of their number. None know them save a few. So contend not concerning them except an outward contending.”[^10] In other words, only dispute over this in ways that do not get under your skin, since such facts are neither strongly evidenced nor very consequential. And finally, at the climax of their story, we are guided to focus on the great sign of God’s power in reviving these sleepers three centuries later: “That is how We caused them to be discovered so that their people might know that Allah’s promise \[of resurrection\] is true and that there is no doubt about the Hour.”[^11] Therefore, it is Divine grace that we are not teased away from the primordial truth of God’s power here by the year of this historic event, nor by the name of the city they stumbled into with their archaic silver coins, nor by the geographical coordinates of the cave to which these righteous youth were tracked and ultimately discovered. This distinctive feature (lesson-orientation) brings us to some of the wisdoms behind the narrative repetition we find in the Qur’an. Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿah (d. 1333), for instance, authored a work entitled *al-Muqtanaṣ* which presents seven benefits of the repetition of certain stories.[^12] One wisdom lies in the fact that Qur’anic storytelling, much like preaching, is often didactic in nature. It would be odd to ask a preacher, “I recall you mentioning this personality in a sermon last year; why are you repeating yourself?” when the respective context each time justified it. Similarly, the Qur’an may reference the same story whenever the context benefits from its presence, and whenever that repetition helps lodge the intended lesson in the reader’s soul.[^13] In response to the question of why the Qur’an “repeats itself,” it is difficult to resist the urge to say, “Because you need to be told a thousand times to clean your room.” We have a little child inside us all, and a messy room inside all our minds and hearts. Just like the child, we too need a wise and methodical approach to work past our inexperience and impatience, one that can effectively wean us off our myopic tendencies to try everything firsthand, and to impulsively grab whatever we want when we want it. Otherwise, our potential optimism bias (false sense of security) about everything, or our dependence on instant gratification, will negatively impact every dimension of our wellbeing—be it physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual. With their wise and consistent messaging, the stories of the Qur’an do just that: they rescue us from our crippling naivety, compel us to acknowledge reality, and inculcate within us the incentives to engage it prudently. The elderly often admit that their lifespans were in fact too short to allow for the timely discovery of such treasures. The Creator of the human psyche knows our need for reinforcement through repetition. Without a vivid recollection and regular reiteration of these stories, we would never internalize them nor recognize the subtle threads between them—and thus our busy lives may very well erode even their most priceless lessons. We can all recall profound moments of pause in our lives—moments when time seemed to stop, or we wished it would. Whether these moments were like an invigorating rainfall of intense gratitude, or a devastating sledgehammer that left us feeling shattered beyond repair, life went on and those showers abated and those pains were sedated. Thus is the destiny of man, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Adam forgot, and so too will his progeny forget.”[^14] Hence, we find Qur’anic stories accounting for the inherent deficiency of human memory, puncturing the nearly impervious stone of our ego with a steady stream of droplets spanning days, months, and years, rather than a short-lived downpour that rinses the dust off of the stone’s surface but causes no meaningful change therein. As Allah says, “The disbelievers say, ‘If only the Qur’an had been sent down to him all at once!’ \[We have sent it\] as such \[in stages\] so We may strengthen your heart with it. And thus, We have revealed it at a deliberate pace.”[^15] A second wisdom behind the repetition found in the Qur’an is to evidence its linguistic brilliance. Authors often shy away from theme repetition, in fear of sounding redundant, while the Qur’an exhibits a unique boldness in doing the very opposite. Experts of Arabic often express their intrigue with how the Qur’an “repeats itself” with such artistic variation that its rhetorical richness remains unblemished and its appeal undiminished. The Qur’an somehow avoids misstating the facts of each story despite employing variant wordings in each “retelling.” It also intersperses nuggets of additional nuance in some iterations of a story, and subtracts them from others, without compromising the overall integrity and coherence of the accounts. Hence, a closer examination of this “repetition” often reveals impeccable subtleties and nuanced distinctions that boast of the linguistic mastery of the Qur’an while offering further enlightenment and refinement to inclining souls. Alongside noting these three complexities (versatility, consistency, and coherence), we should  appreciate how this linguistic sophistication is compounded further by the Qur’an’s original status as a spoken corpus, not a written work, with a compositional structure without precedent in pre-Qur’anic Arabia. Ibn ‘Āshūr asserts that elaborate, story-driven dialoguing, as found in the Qur’an, was nonexistent in the poetry of pre-Islamic Arabia. Hence, one of the benefits of including stories in the Qur’an was that, without them, the master poets of Arabia could have attempted to hide their inability to meet the Qur’anic challenge to “produce its like” by avoiding interactive dialogue.[^16] Perhaps it was the linguistic guardrails that tightly governed their poetry’s structure and synonym counts that forced them to invoke brief imagery and passing analogies but not conversation-centric storylines. Whatever the reason, it’s as if the Qur’an is declaring to the Shakespeares of every civilization:[^17] I’ve diversified the styles of storytelling for you, and yet, the eternal challenge to wield your languages in any one of these ways is still unmet. A third benefit of Qur’anic stories resurfacing in various places is that, while the memorization of the Qur’an is common, most Muslims have historically not committed the entire Book to memory. Even during the Prophet’s time, people would visit him ﷺ or his Companions, memorize parts of the Qur’an from them, and then return to their respective hometowns. Therefore, to ensure every believer’s familiarity with the Qur’an’s paradigmatic stories, regardless of what they have and haven’t memorized, these stories are, through repetition, made available throughout the Book.[^18] While only some were introduced above, below are the seven insights offered by Ibn Jamā‘ah for the repetition we encounter in the stories of the Qur’an: 1. Elucidating the stories gradually with additional nuance each time; 2. Ensuring that believers everywhere, laymen and scholars, are familiar with the major stories of the Qur’an; 3. Displaying the unique eloquence of the Qur’an through compatible portrayals of a single scene through  myriad terms; 4. Ensuring maximum reach of its teachings, as people are more motivated to circulate stories than instructions; 5. Humbling the masters of Arabic rhetoric who could not match a single variant of the Qur’anic narratives; 6. Preempting polemicists from claiming that the Qur’an could not reframe its stories in different ways, so why challenge its rejectors to do so? 7. Retaining the readers’ interest, who need to immerse themselves in these scenes time and again, by offering a remarkably “fresh” depiction each time.[^19] ### 2\. For people of understanding Qur’anic stories are intentionally structured to invite conscious engagement. While part of the onus is on the reader to be thoughtful and reflective to benefit from the Qur’an, its style of composition facilitates an active engagement and alertness to the priceless messages embedded in its stories. As al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 1108) points out in his historically acclaimed dictionary of Qur’anic terms, stories carrying *ʿibrah li-ulī ‘l-albāb* (translated as: a lesson for people of understanding) literally implies them being a bridge for the *ʿubūr* (crossing over) of their meanings into our lives.[^20] This uncovers for us some of the wisdom behind breaking up and distributing these stories across the Qur’an: not just for the brevity that refreshes our interest, but also to interrupt the over-immersion that hinders introspection in light of the story at hand. Think of novels and movies; irrespective of whether they are truth or fiction, people often get so absorbed in their storylines that they forget to ask themselves why these accounts make them feel this way, or what they should learn from them for their own lives. This is precisely the attitude that excludes someone from finding their path illuminated by the Qur’an, as Allah says, “Certainly there were in \[the account of\] Joseph and his brothers signs for those who ask.”[^21] It is those *asking* themselves the grand existential questions about life and its purpose, and those *asking* for proof of the Qur’an truly being from Almighty God, who will find the Qur’an and its stories fruitful. Those too indulgent for introspection, or too heedless for reflection, will not. It was once said to Ibn ʿAbbās (rA), a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ hailed as *Turjumān al-Qurʾān* (Master Interpreter of the Qur’an), “How did you develop such profound knowledge?” He said, “With an inquisitive tongue and a receptive heart.”[^22] As Allah says elsewhere, “Indeed in that is a profound reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present \[minded\].”[^23] Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350) notes that this verse captures—in the most succinct way—the three factors necessary for any message or story to have an impact. It must have an intrinsic potency for impact, its “target” must be open to stimulation or impression, and any hindrances between the force and the impact must be removed. “In that is a profound reminder” refers to the intrinsic potency of the Qur’anic narrative. “For whoever has a heart” refers to the sincere soul who is alive and able to comprehend the implications of the message. Finally, “who listens while he is present” refers to mindfulness. So the Qur’an in its entirety (including its stories) will not confer its precious lessons upon those who engage it without actively seeking to understand it. In another verse, Allah says to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, “So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought.”[^24] It is therefore a two-step process, whereby the Qur’an brings people to the ideal reservoir through which they can quench their thirst, but it remains upon them to drink from it. Those who ignore or hastily gloss over the Qur’anic stories will never be quenched by the stream of perspective and inspiration that it brings to others’ lives. An easy example of this are the critics who, driven by their dogmatic defensiveness of their religious traditions, disparage the Qur’an as lacking coherence of composition. This is a generally-held view among some orientalist academics past and present, some of whom even proposed “making the Qur’an more comprehensible” by rearranging its contents thematically.[^25] But given that this Book is a medium of guidance for “people of understanding,” and this class of people harbor an adamant presumption about its incomprehensibility, they seldom make a genuine attempt to understand it. As a result, studying it only causes them to stray farther and their biases to grow stronger. As Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) says, “We send down in the Qur’an healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss.”[^26] Were it not for their adversarial approach to the Qur’an, they would have been among the “people of understanding” who find each *sūrah* (chapter) a self-contained and unified discourse with one or more central themes. The *sūrah* would then escape its apparent atomism, and each of its stories, instead of seeming like random pivots to irrelevant digressions, would now develop the overarching theme for the reader. Which parts of each story are included per *sūrah*, and where they are stationed within that *sūrah*, gradually become context clues to help render it a prized collection of matching pearls on a single necklace, not bulky stones randomly scattered on the ground. For instance, near-identical mention of prior prophets and their hardships came in different contexts with different aims: 1. To console the Prophet ﷺ during moments of intense suffering and abuse; 2. To illustrate the commonality of the call to monotheism by all of God’s prophets and messengers; 3. To note the common end of all those who rejected earlier prophets; 4. To caution disbelievers against deluding themselves with baseless, recycled arguments against faith; 5. To precisely disclose “lost knowledge of the distant past” which only the highest caliber scholars among the Israelites remained privy to, etc. Similarly, the following two verses make a near-symmetrical visit to the “genesis story,” while sitting 18 chapters apart, with very different implications: > God is He who created the heavens and the earth and everything between them in six days, and then established Himself on the Throne.[^27] > > We created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days, and no fatigue touched Us.[^28] In isolation, these distinct passages seem to carry near-identical implications. But in their contexts, each is clearly and perfectly situated to solidify a different and independent truth. The first is that man should never doubt the omnipotence of the Almighty and His power to resurrect the dead with ease (a clear theme throughout *Sūrah al-Sajdah*). The second (in *Sūrah Qāf*) is that you (O Prophet ﷺ) can find the resilience to rise above the insults others hurl by recalling that God who, after creating the cosmos in six days, tolerated those who accused Him of needing to rest from exhaustion on the seventh day. As the next verse in *Sūrah Qāf* continues, “...so endure what they say and proclaim the praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun, and before sunset.”[^29] In his compendium on Qur’anic sciences, Ibn ʿAqīlah al-Makkī (d. 1738) marvels at how the Qur’an repurposes many of the same stories, simply by couching them (sometimes with subtle rewordings) in new contexts, to saliently bolster a vast multitude of unrelated concepts. He then invoked the analogy of how scholars continue their exceptional praise of Imam al-Bukhārī (d. 870) for the masterful design of his hadith compilation; specifically how al-Bukhārī would classify the same prophetic tradition under several headings due to the spectrum of inferences he was capable of extrapolating from a single concise hadith.[^30] Of course, the immeasurable disparity between al-Bukhārī and the Creator of his extraordinary intelligence is a given. Similar to Ibn ʿAqīlah’s line of thought, Ibn ʿAbdīn says, “If you see something that appears repetitive in the Qur’an, look deeper into it. Take note of what came before it, and after it, so that its purpose may disclose itself to you.”[^31] Another notable aspect of Qur’anic discourse is its multilayered meanings, whereby several implications are simultaneously made by the same story or scene. In *Sūrah al-Qaṣaṣ*, for instance, we are told about Prophet Moses (as), “Then one of the two women came to him, walking bashfully. She said, ‘My father is inviting you…’”[^32] We can stop at *bashfully*, (as translated above), which would make this adverb a description of her demeanor of walking. However, we can also pause at *walking*, which would turn *bashfully* into a qualifier of the following verb, rendering it a description of the modest manner in which she spoke.[^33] Were it not for the deliberate and subtle syntactic placement of *bashfully*—just after *walking* and just before *saying*—it would not have succinctly straddled both implications simultaneously as it does. This brilliant and clear display of eloquence is a profound linguistic feature that pervades the entire Qur’an, within its stories and elsewhere. This is yet another feature lost on hasty critics of the Qur’an. Where they see the multiple implications of certain verses as a lack of precision, Qur’anic scholars recognize them as a deliberate enrichment of the scriptural narrative, and often mention how the pausal modes (*waqf* and *ibtidāʾ*) are among the critical tools necessary for a deeper understanding of the Qur’an’s stories in particular.[^34] Another type of dual meaning is found in the closing remarks of *Sūrah Yūsuf* wherein Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) says, “This is news from the past that We reveal to you \[O Muhammad\]. You were not present with them when they plotted and agreed on a plan.”[^35] The obvious meaning here is that Allah has just privileged Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with access to lost knowledge as a testament to the truth of his prophethood, which even included the details of the secret plotting done by the mischievous characters of that story. However, the event that prompted the revelation of this *sūrah* suggests that this verse also serves as a threat to those who were currently plotting against the Prophet ﷺ. To explain, the Jews (a people of Scripture) were consulted by the pagan Arabs on the best way to stump Muhammad ﷺ. Their advice was to question him about Joseph the Israelite, at which point *Sūrah Yūsuf* was revealed, staggering the counselors and their clients with its uncanny truth. However, the *sūrah* does not end with the ending of the story. Allah knew that after failing with their polemics, the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would shift from brains to brawn, and soon convene to plot their physical aggressions. *Sūrah Yūsuf* implicitly invokes this context. Just before folding away Joseph’s (as) blessed story, the tape is rewound and pulled back into the limelight are Joseph’s brothers—how they plotted, deliberated, and executed, and how Allah caused their “well-calculated” plan to fail. It is as if Allah is challenging the belligerent pagans, “Go ahead, make your next move; dare to plot against your own flesh and blood, Muhammad, and your other brothers from Quraysh—just as the brothers of Joesph once did. Go ahead and convene your private meeting about forcing the Muslims into exile—just as the brothers of Joseph once exiled him. We will always be one step ahead of you.” Without warning, the idolators of Mecca ran into a wall of realizations: Allah does not only possess full knowledge of the unseen past, but also the most discreet whispers in the present (which some Arabs doubted).[^36] Even more, they realized that they were not the only ones plotting, but that Allah was also plotting against them. The story of Joseph and its buried history from centuries ago, to which these pagans had been oblivious, suddenly carried a world of daunting relevance for them. In a divinely orchestrated plot twist, the story they traveled so far to learn and weaponize against Muhammad ﷺ was suddenly their story, directly pointed at them, without the guarantee of a happy ending. ### 3\. Realism The Qur’an’s unwavering commitment to truth infuses its storytelling with a distinctive realism—both in its detailed historical accuracy and  uncompromising (but not despairing) depiction of this world’s imperfections. Together, these stories neither assert any falsities to be discredited in the future, nor perpetuate fairy tales that would misguide people’s expectations of the present. Either of these hypotheticals would be unbecoming of an omniscient, compassionate God who loves to guide His creatures from the darknesses and into the Light. As for truths from the lost past, the Qur’an brought surgically accurate accounts of history that only the most well-versed scholars in earlier scriptures knew, and were sure that Muhammad ﷺ could not have known unless he was in fact a true messenger of God. Furthermore, the Qur’an excludes some of the historical details found in the Bible (such as [pharaohs existing](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-inimitable-quran-the-revelation-to-prophet-muhammad&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1660583617381602&usg=AOvVaw2CcER2lSf62rIKva_iupyG) in the era of Abraham or Joseph)[^37] that would be later disproven. In addition to proving his prophethood ﷺ, these demonstrably true stories also elevated the recipients of this Qur’an in Arabia from an unlettered Scripture-less people to those who now carry—like their Judeo-Christian counterparts—the mantle of sacred knowledge and Divine insights.[^38] Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) said, “This is one of the stories of the unseen, which we reveal to you \[O Prophet\]. Neither you nor your people knew it before this.”[^39] As for true accounts of the future, this can be evidenced—for instance—through the story of how the [Byzantines would soon rebound](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DYuCGyhEvr2s%26list%3DPLQ02IYL5pmhF2OG4GEdWPxQO72WauTwaO%26index%3D21&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1660583617382421&usg=AOvVaw2iWcjC4bvU533Ajm9eLw9X) after facing extinction at the hands of the Persian Empire,[^40] and the story about how the mummified [corpse of Pharaoh would be preserved](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DYuCGyhEvr2s%26list%3DPLQ02IYL5pmhF2OG4GEdWPxQO72WauTwaO%26index%3D21&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1660583617382661&usg=AOvVaw3W-dCzPSkwt8lrg9a9vQ0K) and rediscovered.[^41] This historical rigor, aside from affirming the Qur’an’s miraculous origin, serves a greater moral purpose. By only citing true stories, the Qur’an grounds us in a concrete sense of reality that we often distort  through our frequent consumption of fictitious stories. People underestimate just how deeply influenced they are by today’s massive fantasy genre of books, films, video games, and advertisements. Regular exposure to these stories will inevitably manipulate a person’s emotions and sensibilities well beyond the page (or screen). Just as they say, “the truth will set you free,” the pristine truth of Qur’anic accounts liberates us from any wild or unrealistic expectations of life and the world. Even the proportionality of certain archetypal figures arising in the Qur’an helps reinforce a realistic worldview. Ibn ʿAqīlah astutely identifies an intriguing anomaly in the stories of the Qur’an; namely that some accounts, like those of Prophet Joseph (as), Dhu’l-Qarnayn, and the sleepers of the cave in *Sūrah al-Kahf*, are only mentioned once, period. In that non-repetition, he argues, is a profound wisdom—an indirect reminder to believers that happy endings in this world are the exception and not the norm. The “success archetypes” who prevail against their enemies in this world, and become living legends due to their piety here on earth, are as rare in Allah’s Book as they are in human history. This crystallizes people’s expectations of this world as the trial and the next as the verdict, where people will receive what they deserve.[^42] Does this Qur’anic realism not remedy the theodicy question—“Why does God allow pain and suffering?”—which is the [primary contention](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-do-people-suffer-gods-existence-the-problem-of-evil&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1660583617383526&usg=AOvVaw21vLhJB1a7h2T4FPY1E3wa) cited by Western atheists for their non-belief? Does it not dismantle the crude “prosperity theology” that correlates God’s love for people with His lavishing them with fortunes in this life, whereby God is misperceived as a banker and our righteousness as an immediately cashable currency? Does it not rescue people from the utopian mindset curated at the hands of Disney and its ilk, frustrating people for a lifetime due to the “happily ever after” idealism they espouse but can never provide? After all, true and lasting happiness is not a byproduct of materialism (a widespread fraud in today’s global culture) but of meaning and purpose, which is what Islam offers for contentment in this life and eternal happiness in the life to come. Similarly, Qur’anic stories mention doomed individuals and nations more often than not because human beings doom themselves more often than not. The elites of most nations will insist on self-destruction for themselves and their followers, and therefore it should be expected that accounts of Iblīs (Satan), or the people of Noah (as) or Lot (as) and their like, are repeated as regularly as they are. And of course, since no other prophet compares with Moses (as) in his likeness to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and no other nation compares with the Israelites in its likeness to the *ummah* of Muhammad ﷺ, “the Qur’an in its entirety was almost going to be solely the story of Moses (as).”[^43] In summation, the Qur’an provides a perfectly balanced set of affirmations for patterns in life through its stories. ### 4\. Visualizing Divine Wisdom Since on some level “seeing is believing,”[^44] and “a picture is worth a thousand words,” the Qur’an’s stories visualize its themes and expand on them. Most of us, for instance, know in our heart of hearts that God is good, but without “seeing” that unfold in detail from a reliable source, that understanding can get smothered and consequently not nourish our spirits much at all. The Qur’an therefore uses stories to “detail” this notion that Allah wishes for us to recall. We’ve all witnessed how actors in the worlds of marketing, business, fundraising, education, and beyond leverage the distinct emotional and imaginative power of images and short story animations to generate demand for their products. The Qur’an, by virtue of its storytelling prowess, employs a similar technique. The following are examples of how the depictions we find in Qur’anic storytelling afford us potent, detailed visuals of its general principles. 1. **Visualizing the power of God.** Instead of stopping at declarative statements about God being the Almighty and invincible, the Qur’an presents story after story on how the believers triumphed despite their many disadvantages. Instead of merely promising a good outcome for the faithful even if cornered by a bleak reality, Allah “shows” us Jonah (as) in the belly of the whale as “he called out \[from\] within the darknesses, ‘There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.’ So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.”[^45] 2. **Visualizing God’s master plan.** Once, when the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions had neared Mecca for their *ʿumrah* after a long and grueling journey, a camel belonging to the Prophet ﷺ named al-Qaṣwāʾ sat down and adamantly refused to advance. People chastised the camel for its apparent stubbornness, to which the Prophet ﷺ responded, “No, al-Qaṣwāʾ is not being stubborn, nor is that one of its qualities. Rather, it is being restrained by the One who restrained the \[army of\] elephants.”[^46] Bask in the radiance of this Qur’anic personality; how clear its visuals were in his blessed mind and how present its wisdoms were in his blessed heart. Immediately, he ﷺ was able to glean from the concise *Sūrah al-Fīl* (Chapter of the Elephant) a lesson for this scenario that beckoned him to surrender to Divine intervention, and that guides us to realize that the immovable boulders (elephants) we all have in our lives should not overstress us. 3. **Visualizing human history.** Just as mainstream educational systems provide accounts of world history from a very particular frame of reference, be it political or economic or otherwise, the Qur’an also teaches history in a very systematic way: from the prophetic perspective. Its methodology is one that openly calls the reader to understand world history as, most importantly, the grand story of *tawḥīd* (God’s Oneness) and how that pertains to the human condition. It emphasizes that this—embracing or rejecting *tawḥīḍ*—is the single most consequential quality of every civilization and every individual, and the ultimate determinant for the outcome of each nation. As Allah says, “So these are their houses in utter ruin, for they did wrong. Indeed, in that is a great sign for people who know.”[^47] In other words, never assume it was the natural disaster or strife or non-productivity that brought about their demise; it was their wrongdoing. 4. **Visualizing the world stage.** The prevalence of illiteracy in Arabia had resulted in (along with paganism) uncreative materialists who struggled to appreciate abstract knowledge. Their minds were to a great extent tethered to their immediate environment, and hence the majority of their poetry revolved around concrete objects such as the tent, the sword, the bucket, and the goat. But since these trailblazers (the first Muslims of this *ummah*) would soon engage others on a global level, carrying Islam to them far and wide, they needed to broaden their horizons. Stories in the Qur’an played a major role in stirring interest in the outside world, and humility when confronting the strengths of these great civilizations. It also helped immunize Muslims against some of the delusion and conceit that inevitably creep up on every superpower, and neutralize the paralyzing fear of other nations that kept them subservient to their regimes.[^48] There remains, of course, renewed relevance to “think big” even for those at the pinnacle of the modern world—to live for a greater purpose than convenience, and to see oneself as above being a captive of personal luxury and consumption. 5. **Visualizing human nature.** As social creatures who desire to like and be liked, and incomplete creatures who are interdependent in many respects, we often unconsciously choose to imagine people as having greater regard for us than they actually do. This paves the way for feelings of disappointment and betrayal each time we rediscover that “people are people” in their selfish motives and unpredictable temperaments. Even the Prophet ﷺ experienced this, but “seeing” similar occurrences through the Qur’anic stories suppressed his anger. In one of many examples, after the Battle of Ḥunayn, when a hypocrite accused him ﷺ of inequitable distribution of the spoils, he ﷺ consoled himself by saying, “Allah have mercy on my brother, Moses. He was abused more than this, and yet he was still patient.”[^49] In this vein, Allah says, “And each \[story\] We relate to you from the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart.”[^50] --- ## Conclusion The various stories in the Qur’an, as uniquely told by the Qur’an, offer us invaluable reminders and timeless lessons on universal themes that pertain to every dimension of the human experience. Through them, faith in Allah’s beautiful names and lofty attributes is found and not just defined, illness is endured when it cannot yet be cured, the oppressed remain optimistic until relief comes, and so much more. While those who settle for a cursory glance at the Qur’an may not realize the distinct wisdom in how its stories are mapped out, those who believe in this Mighty Book and dedicate themselves to rehearsing its stories will find layers upon layers of enlightenment, healing, and guidance therein. As partially captured in this brief paper, the truths of these stories, their respective locations and lengths in the Qur’an, and how Allah chooses to articulate them each time, all contribute to the unique lessons to be derived from them, and drive us to our betterment in this world and salvation in the next. --- ## Notes [^1]: See: Qur’an 1:7. [^2]: Qur’an 12:3 (*Saheeh International* translation). [^3]: See: Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymīyah, *Majmū‘ al-Fatāwā* (Madinah, KSA: King Fahd Complex, 1995), 17:18-22. [^4]: Qur’an 12:111 (*Saheeh International* translation, with added numbering). [^5]: Qur’an 86:13 (*The Clear Quran*). [^6]: Muhammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr* (Tunisia: Dār al-Tūnisīyah lil-Nashr, 1984), 1:64. [^7]: See: Ibn al-Jawzī’s *Kitāb al-quṣṣāṣ wal-mudhakkirīn*, al-Ḥāfiẓ al-‘Irāqī’s *al-Bā‘ith ‘ala al-khalāṣ min ḥawādith al-quṣṣāṣ*, and al-Suyūṭī’s *Taḥdhīr al-khawāṣ min akādhīb al-quṣṣāṣ*. [^8]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 1:66. [^9]: Qur’an 18:13 (*The Clear Quran*). [^10]: Qur’an 18:22 (Pickthall, *The Meaning of the Glorious Koran*, with slight adaptation). [^11]: Qur’an 18:21 (*The Clear Quran*). [^12]: While *al-Muqtanaṣ fī fawā’id tikrār al-qaṣaṣ* is nonextant, these seven benefits have been preserved for us by al-Suyūṭī (d. 1505) in *al-Itqān* and al-Zarkashī (d. 1392) in *al-Burhān*. [^13]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 68. [^14]: *Jami’ al-Tirmidhi*, nos. 3076 and 3367, *hasan* chain according to al-Tirmidhi. [^15]: Qur’an 25:32 (*The Clear Quran*, with adaptation). [^16]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 66. [^17]: Contrary to the claim of some Orientalists that the Qur’an as a linguistic masterpiece is no different than the celebrated sonnets of Shakespeare and *Iliad* of Homer, see here ten major literary differences between the Qur’an and the writings of Shakespeare: Mohammad Elshinawy, *The Final Prophet: Proofs for the Prophethood of Muhammad* (N.p.: Yaqeen Institute, 2022), 186–91. [^18]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 69. [^19]: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān* (Lebanon: Dār al-Fikr, 1996), 2:184. [^20]: Ḥusayn ibn Muhammad al-Aṣfahānī, *al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qur’ān* (Mecca: Maktbatat Nazār Muṣṭafā al-Bāz), 1:416. [^21]: Qur’an 12:7 (*The Clear Quran*, brackets added). [^22]: Ismā‘īl ibn Kathīr, *al-Bidāyah wal-nihāyah* (Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī, 1988), 8:329. [^23]: Qur’an 50:37. [^24]: Qur’an 7:176 *(Saheeh International* translation). [^25]: See: Mustansir Mir, *Thematic and Structural Coherence in the Qur’an: A Study of Islahi’s Concept of Naẓm* (The University of Michigan, 1983), 2–3. [^26]: Qur’an 17:82 (*The Clear Quran*). [^27]: Qur’an 32:4 (*The Clear Quran*). [^28]: Qur’an 50:38 (*The Clear Quran*). [^29]: Qur’an 50:39 (*The Clear Quran*). [^30]: Ibn ‘Aqīlah al-Makkī, *al-Ziyādah wal-iḥsān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān* (Sharjah: Markaz al-Buhūth wal-Dirāsāt, 2006), 6:368–75. 6:371. [^31]: Ibn ‘Abdīn, *al-Taqrīr*, 31. [^32]: Qur’an 28:25 (*The Clear Quran*). [^33]: Grammarians have identified that the syntactical structure of this sentence allows for the adverb *bashfully* to be in reference to the act of coming, walking, or speaking. The latter was selected above simply to demonstrate the phenomenon of complementary multilayered meanings in the Qur’an. See: ‘Abdullaṭīf al-Khaṭīb et al., *al-Tafṣīl fī i‘rāb al-tanzīl* (Kuwait: Maktabat al-Khaṭīb, 2015), 20:100–101. [^34]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qur’ān,* 1:231. [^35]: Qur’an 12:102 (*The Clear Quran*, brackets added). [^36]: *Tafsīr* books document some debates between Quraysh and Thaqīf on whether or not God can hear whispers, as opposed to public speech, under the verse: “...but you assumed that Allah does not know much of what you do.” Qur’an 41:22. [^37]: Elshinawy, *The Final Prophet*, 193–95. [^38]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 1:65. [^39]: Qur’an 11:49 (*The Clear Quran*). [^40]: Elshinawy, *The Final Prophet*, 119–20. [^41]: Elshinawy, *The Final Prophet*, 191–92. [^42]: Ibn ‘Aqīlah, *al-Ziyādah wal-iḥsān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān*, 6:375. [^43]: Al-Suyūṭī, *al-Itqān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān*, 1:157. [^44]: The Prophet ﷺ said, “News is not equivalent to eyewitnessing.” Narrated by Ahmad (no. 2447) and Ibn Hibban (no. 6231) and deemed authentic by al-Albani in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi‘* (no. 5374). [^45]: Qur’an 21:87–88 (*Saheeh International* translation, brackets added). [^46]: *Saḥīḥ Bukhārī*, nos. 2731 and 2732. [^47]: Qur’an 27:52 (author’s translation). [^48]: Ibn ‘Āshūr, *Tafsīr al-taḥrīr wal-tanwīr*, 1:67. [^49]: *Saḥīḥ Bukhārī*, nos. 3405 and 6336. [^50]: Qur’an 11:120 (*Saheeh International*). ## Summary In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy. Stories occupy a remarkable place in the Book of Allah, comprising roughly one third of the Noble Qur'an. Even in its greatest chapter, al-Fātiḥah, the believer is taught to seek guidance by invoking the memory of those whom Allah favored before us upon the Straight Path. These scriptural realities affirm the immense power of storytelling to move the heart and mind, and they refute the mistaken notion that stories are meant only for children or that they diminish the intellectual weight of discourse. Yet the Qur'an did more than merely validate storytelling; it declared its own stories to be uniquely potent for reforming the soul. It is this Divine style of narration—unconventional to some, yet saturated with wisdom that betrays its heavenly origin—that deserves careful reflection. Allah says, "We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an." Some scholars inferred from this that the story of Prophet Yūsuf (as), which follows immediately, is the single greatest Qur'anic narrative. Yet this is unlikely, not least because of the abundant references to Mūsā (as) throughout the Book. The stronger view is that all the stories Allah chose to include qualify as "the best of stories," though even this does not exhaust the meaning. As the exegetes observe, Allah did not say He relates the best *qiṣaṣ* (stories), but rather the best *qaṣaṣ* (storytelling)—affirming that He chooses the ideal stories and conveys them in the ideal manner. The closing of Sūrah Yūsuf deepens this, for Allah says: "There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was it a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe." From this verse arise several defining features of Qur'anic storytelling. The first is that it is lesson-oriented. The Qur'an is not revealed merely to fascinate but to serve as *al-Qawl al-Faṣl*, the Decisive Word that settles sacred truths and establishes justice. Muḥammad ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1973) explains in *al-Taḥrīr wal-Tanwīr* that Qur'anic storytelling is not deemed "best" simply because it is true or instructive, for many non-Qur'anic true stories carry benefit. What distinguishes it is its power to carve its lessons into the worldview of its listeners rather than merely introduce them. For this reason it often omits names of people, lineages, towns, and locations—by design—so that the reader focuses on the lesson and not on transient particulars. This is why the Qur'an does not disclose the birthname of "the believer from Pharaoh's family," nor the location of the cave of the sleepers, nor the nature of the Forbidden Tree over which theologians debated at length to no benefit. Consider how Allah reclaims the story of the sleepers: "It is We who relate to you their story in truth. Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord." He cautions against disputing their number—"Say, my Lord is best aware of their number… so contend not concerning them except an outward contending"—and directs attention instead to the great sign, "so that their people might know that Allah's promise is true and that there is no doubt about the Hour." This lesson-orientation also illuminates the wisdom behind the Qur'an's narrative repetition. Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿah (d. 1333) authored *al-Muqtanaṣ*, in which he set forth seven benefits of such repetition: elucidating stories gradually with added nuance each time; ensuring that both laymen and scholars everywhere become familiar with the major narratives; displaying the Qur'an's eloquence through varied portrayals of a single scene; maximizing the reach of its teachings, since people circulate stories more readily than instructions; humbling the masters of Arabic who could not match even one variant; preempting the claim that the Qur'an could not reframe its own stories; and retaining the reader's interest with a fresh depiction each time. Repetition also accords with human nature, for the Prophet ﷺ said, "Adam forgot, and so too will his progeny forget." Allah addressed the doubters directly: "The disbelievers say, 'If only the Qur'an had been sent down to him all at once!' [We have sent it] as such so We may strengthen your heart with it." Ibn ʿAshūr further notes that elaborate, dialogue-driven storytelling was absent from pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, so its inclusion in the Qur'an closed off any avenue by which the master poets might have concealed their inability to meet its challenge. The second feature is that these stories are addressed to "people of understanding." Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 1108) notes in his dictionary of Qur'anic terms that *ʿibrah li-ulī 'l-albāb* implies a bridge for the *ʿubūr*, the crossing over, of meaning into our lives. Thus the stories are distributed throughout the Book partly to interrupt the over-immersion that hinders introspection, as Allah says, "Certainly there were in [the account of] Joseph and his brothers signs for those who ask." Ibn ʿAbbās (ra), the Turjumān al-Qurʾān, when asked how he attained his knowledge, replied, "With an inquisitive tongue and a receptive heart." Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350) explains that the verse, "Indeed in that is a profound reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present," captures the three conditions for any message to leave an impact: an intrinsic potency, a receptive recipient, and the removal of intervening barriers. Hence those who approach the Qur'an adversarially—such as certain orientalists who deemed it incoherent and proposed rearranging it thematically—only stray farther, for "We send down in the Qur'an healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss." Were they of the people of understanding, they would find each sūrah a unified discourse whose stories develop its central themes. This contextual placement explains why near-identical passages carry distinct implications. The mention of creation "in six days" in Sūrah al-Sajdah affirms Allah's power to resurrect, while the near-identical wording in Sūrah Qāf—"and no fatigue touched Us"—consoles the Prophet ﷺ against the insults of those who claimed Allah rested, continuing, "so endure what they say." Ibn ʿAqīlah al-Makkī (d. 1738) marvels at how the Qur'an repurposes the same stories in new contexts, likening it to how scholars praised Imam al-Bukhārī (d. 870) for classifying a single hadith under multiple headings—though the disparity between him and his Creator is immeasurable. Ibn ʿAbdīn advised, "If you see something that appears repetitive in the Qur'an, look deeper into it… so that its purpose may disclose itself to you." The Qur'an also employs multilayered meaning, as in the verse describing the daughter who came "walking bashfully," where the syntactic placement allows *bashfully* to describe both her walking and her speech. Likewise the closing of Sūrah Yūsuf, "You were not present with them when they plotted," both proves the Prophet's ﷺ access to unseen knowledge and warns the Meccan pagans—who, on the advice of the Jews, had questioned him about Yūsuf—that their own plotting would fail as the brothers' plotting once did. The third feature is realism. The Qur'an's commitment to truth infuses its narration with historical accuracy and an unflinching yet non-despairing depiction of this world. It conveys knowledge that only the learned among earlier scriptural communities possessed—"This is one of the stories of the unseen… Neither you nor your people knew it before this"—while excluding biblical details later disproven, such as the presence of pharaohs in the age of Ibrāhīm. It foretold the Byzantine resurgence and the preservation of Pharaoh's corpse. Ibn ʿAqīlah observes that the singular, unrepeated mention of Yūsuf, Dhu'l-Qarnayn, and the sleepers signals that worldly happy endings are the exception, not the norm, teaching that this world is the trial and the next the verdict. Conversely, the recurring accounts of doomed nations reflect that people ruin themselves more often than not, and because no prophet resembles Muhammad ﷺ like Mūsā, and no nation resembles his ummah like the Israelites, it was said that "the Qur'an in its entirety was almost going to be solely the story of Moses." The fourth feature is that these stories visualize Divine wisdom. Rather than merely stating that Allah is powerful, the Qur'an shows Yūnus (as) calling from within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You… Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers," after which "We saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers." The Prophet ﷺ himself drew upon such imagery when his camel al-Qaṣwāʾ knelt near Mecca, saying, "It is being restrained by the One who restrained the [army of] elephants," recalling Sūrat al-Fīl. The Qur'an teaches history from the prophetic vantage of *tawḥīd*, declaring of ruined nations, "these are their houses in utter ruin, for they did wrong." It broadened the horizons of an insular people and steadied the Prophet's ﷺ heart against betrayal, as when he responded to a hypocrite after Ḥunayn, "Allah have mercy on my brother, Moses. He was abused more than this, and yet he was still patient," for Allah says, "And each [story] We relate to you from the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart." In sum, the stories of the Qur'an, told as only the Qur'an tells them, offer timeless lessons across every dimension of human experience. Through them faith is found and not merely defined, hardship is endured, and the oppressed remain hopeful. Those who dedicate themselves to rehearsing these narratives discover layers of enlightenment, healing, and guidance—for their truths, their placement, their length, and the manner of their retelling all combine to drive the believer toward betterment in this world and salvation in the next. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/how-do-i-ask-allah-for-forgiveness # How Do I Ask Allah for Forgiveness? | Blog **Author:** Roohi Tahir **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Blog, Self-Improvement **Published:** August 11, 2022 **Updated:** August 19, 2024 ## What are major sins and minor sins in Islam? The first step to asking for forgiveness is knowing what to repent from. Scholars differ over what exactly constitutes [a major or a minor sin](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/yahyaibrahim/ep-5-are-all-sins-equal-road-to-return). It is generally accepted that sins that Allah has designated a specific punishment for are considered major sins. Some examples of major sins include associating partners with Allah (*shirk*), murder, adultery (*zina)*, and disrespecting parents. Minor sins, on the other hand, include praying incorrectly, acting immodestly, or cursing. Despite their name, we shouldn’t take minor sins lightly! The Prophet ﷺ said, “Beware of minor sins like a people who descend into the bottom of a valley, so one comes with a stick and another with a stick until they have fire to cook their bread. Verily, when a person is held accountable for these minor sins, they will destroy him” \[*Musnad Ahmad* #22302\]. This hadith gives us a visual sense of small sins piling up on one another until they accumulate to a raging fire. --- ## How do I repent for a minor sin? Good deeds wipe away minor sins, as Allah says, “And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember” \[Qur’an, 11:114\]. It is from the immense mercy of Allah that minor sins are forgiven readily through virtually every good deed and act of worship, like giving in charity, reading Qur’an, or praying *[tahajjud](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/tahajjud-waking-soul-and-society)*. So if you’ve ever wondered, for example, “Will Allah forgive me for watching bad things?,” know that the door to repentance is always open. Quickly seek Allah’s forgiveness and follow up the bad deed with a good one. --- ## Can minor sins become major ones? Imam Al-Ghazali notes that pride and pleasure in minor sins drive people to engage in major sins; thus, major sins are almost always preceded by minor sins. We’re discouraged from discussing even our minor sins because keeping them a secret gives us the opportunity to repent. It also protects others from the harm that comes with publicizing and normalizing one’s sins. --- ## How do I ask Allah for forgiveness for major sins? There are four key steps to repentance. An easy way to remember them is through **the four 'R's: remorse, repent, resolve, repair.** 1. **Remorse:** Feeling guilty is a sign of faith in your heart. Follow up your misdeed immediately with regret and remorse towards Allah. 2. **Repent** sincerely by verbalizing ‘*astaghfirullah*,’ which means, “I seek forgiveness from Allah.” 3. **Resolve** to never commit the sin again. 4. **Repair:** If the sin involved wronging someone, make reparations by seeking their forgiveness and recompensing them if possible. --- ## What if I repeat a sin again? One of the tricks of Shaytan is to discourage people from repenting. Shaytan knows Allah forgives often. Therefore, Shaytan tricks you with whispers of, “You’re going to do it again anyway,” or “You’re repenting again? You think Allah will forgive you?” Shaytan introduces doubt in Allah’s forgiveness. But we shouldn’t doubt the Forgiver, al-Ghafir. --- ## Will Allah actually forgive me? The reality is that we won’t know for sure if Allah has forgiven us until we meet Him on the Day of Judgment. We must constantly pray that we meet Him with our mountains of sin forgiven simply out of His mercy. What we do know for sure is that Allah is al-Ghafur. Every few pages of the Qur’an highlights a merciful Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said, > “When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His book with Him upon the Throne: Verily, My mercy prevails over My wrath.” > > \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #3194\] So we can be hopeful that no matter what sin we’ve committed, if we’re sincere in turning back to Allah, He will shower us with His forgiveness. The believer's hope in Allah can't be stated and stressed enough! --- ## Is there a du’a I can make to erase all sins? The Prophet ﷺ taught us a very important *du’a* for seeking forgiveness from Allah. It’s often titled *sayyidul istighfar,* or the Best \[*Du’a\]* for Seeking Forgiveness: > O Allah, You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshiped but You. You created me and I am your servant. I am committed to Your covenant and promise, as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from the evil I have done. I acknowledge all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So, forgive me, for indeed, no one forgives sins but You.  > > *Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaha illa anta, khalaqtani wa ana abduka, wa ana ala ahdika wa wa’dika mastata’tu. A’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u laka bini’matika ‘alayya, wa abu’u bidhanbi faghfirli fa-innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa anta.* The Prophet ﷺ added, > “If somebody recites this \[*du’a*\] during the day with firm faith in it, and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise; and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it, and dies before the morning, he will be from the people of Paradise.” > > \[*Sahih al-Bukhari* #6306\] --- ## Seeking forgiveness is part of our religion Allah made us human and knows that we will fall into mistakes. Know that hope in Allah is at the heart of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Never give up hope because Allah loves to forgive. The core of our faith is to believe that He will forgive us, no matter how much we struggle to overcome our sins. The more we sincerely try, the greater our status is in the sight of Allah. If you want to learn more about the topic of repentance, read the paper, [“Repentance as a Way of Life: Islam, Spirituality, & Practice.”](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/repentance-as-a-way-of-life-islam-spirituality-practice) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/fasting-ashura-what-is-ashura-and-why-is-it-important # Fasting Ashura: What Is Ashura and Why Is It Important? | Blog **Author:** Sh. Ibrahim Hindy **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia **Tags:** Ashura, Blog **Published:** August 4, 2022 **Updated:** June 23, 2026 ## What is Ashura and what does it mean? As we welcome the new Islamic year, we should take the time to reflect on ourselves and how we can make this year better than the last. One of the best opportunities to get a fresh start is by fasting the day of Ashura. Ashura literally means ‘the tenth’ and refers to the 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the [Islamic calendar year](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-months-ordained-by-allah-reviving-the-islamic-calendar). It is a day that our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ fasted and encouraged us to fast as well. He ﷺ tells us that [fasting on this day](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/episode-8-3-years-of-fasting-virtues-of-dhul-hijjah) forgives our sins from the previous year! What better way to get started on a clean slate? --- ## Why did the Prophet ﷺ never stop fasting Ashura? The Prophet ﷺ never abandoned fasting the day of Ashura. We are told that, “There are four things which the Prophet never gave up: fasting Ashura, fasting during the ten days \[of Dhul Hijjah\], fasting three days of each month, and praying two *rak’at* before *al-ghadah* \[i.e., Fajr\].” \[*Sunan Al-Nasa'i* #2416\]. Given that fasting Ashura was so important to the Prophet ﷺ, you might be curious as to [why this day is significant](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-happened-on-the-day-of-ashura-contextualizing-the-events-and-meaning-of-ashura). Many of you may have heard that the Prophet ﷺ began fasting the day of Ashura when he arrived in Madinah and found the Jews fasting this day because it coincided with Passover. Ibn Abbas (rA) narrated that: > “When the Prophet ﷺ arrived at Madinah, the Jews were observing the fast on Ashura, and they said, ‘This is the day when Moses became victorious over Pharaoh.’ On that, the Prophet ﷺ said to his companions, ‘You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses' victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day.’”  > > \[*Sahih Al-Bukhari* #4680\] The importance of the day of Ashura, however, can be traced back to an earlier time. In fact, the Arabs from the Quraysh tribe used to fast this day before Islam. Aisha (rA), for example, tells us: > “During the pre-lslamic Era of Ignorance (*Jahiliyya*), the Quraysh used to observe fasting on the day of Ashura, and the Prophet ﷺ himself used to observe fasting on it too. But when he came to Madinah, he (continued) fasting the day and ordered the Muslims to fast it too. When (the command of fasting) Ramadan was revealed, fasting in Ramadan became an obligation, and fasting on Ashura was made voluntary. Whoever wished to fast it did so, and whoever did not wish to fast on it, did not fast.”  > > \[*Sahih Al-Bukhari* #4504\] --- ## What happened on Ashura throughout history? The fact that the pre-Islamic Arabs were observing Ashura tells us that doing so was, in reality, a remnant from the teachings of Prophet Ibrahim that they observed, similar to the [rituals of Hajj](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/living-abrahams-legacy-relevance-of-rites-and-rituals-in-the-modern-age). Another hadith, although it is weak, adds that Ashura “is the day that the ship of Prophet Nuh settled upon Mount Judi, and so Prophet Nuh fasted the day out of thankfulness to Allah” \[*Musnad Ahmad* #8717\]. Later in history, the Prophet’s grandson al-Husayn would be [martyred at Karbala](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-happened-on-the-day-of-ashura-contextualizing-the-events-and-meaning-of-ashura) on the day of Ashura while opposing the unjust governance of his time. Imam at-Tabari reported that, in the days leading up to the massacre, al-Husayn reflected on the moral deterioration of some Muslims since the time of the Prophet ﷺ. The loss of truth and justice prompted him to think that true believers would wish to meet Allah to avoid these tribulations. He then concluded, “I can only regard death as martyrdom and life with these oppressors as a trial.” While the [tragedy at Karbala](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/what-happened-on-the-day-of-ashura-contextualizing-the-events-and-meaning-of-ashura) holds theological implications for Shia Muslims that it does not hold for Sunni Muslims, we can interpret it in the grander scheme as another moment in which Allah saves His servant from oppression—this time through martyrdom. --- ## How should we observe Ashura today? Altogether, these events illustrate to us the historic significance of the day of Ashura. Not only did the Prophets of the past observe this day, but it seems to also be connected to [moments of God’s victory on earth](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/yaqeen-institute/what-happened-on-the-day-of-ashura-contextualizing-the-events-and-meaning-of-ashura): Nuh (as) escaping the ridicule and opposition of his people, Musa (as) escaping the tyranny of the Pharaoh, and al-Husayn (rA) escaping the oppressors in power. So as we fast this day in pursuit of Allah’s forgiveness, let's reflect on the examples of the prophets and the righteous, who [opposed tyranny and oppression](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/speaking-a-word-of-truth-to-a-tyrant-sh-omar-suleiman-khutbah) while standing up for the religion of Allah. As the new year unfolds, we pray that Allah forgives our sins of the past and gives us the strength to stand up for His Truth. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ashura and what does it mean? Ashura literally means ‘the tenth’ and refers to the 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar year. It is a day that our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ fasted and encouraged us to fast as well. He ﷺ tells us that fasting on this day forgives our sins from the previous year. What better way to get started on a clean slate? ### Why did the Prophet ﷺ never stop fasting Ashura? The Prophet ﷺ never abandoned fasting the day of Ashura. We are told that, “There are four things which the Prophet never gave up: fasting Ashura, fasting during the ten days \[of Dhul Hijjah\], fasting three days of each month, and praying two *rak’at* before *al-ghadah* \[i.e., Fajr\].” \[*Sunan Al-Nasa’i* #2416\] Many of you may have heard that the Prophet ﷺ began fasting the day of Ashura when he arrived in Madinah and found the Jews fasting this day because it coincided with Passover. Ibn Abbas (rA) narrated that when the Prophet ﷺ arrived at Madinah, the Jews were observing the fast on Ashura and said, “This is the day when Moses became victorious over Pharaoh.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses’ victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day.” \[*Sahih Al-Bukhari* #4680\] ### What happened on Ashura throughout history? The pre-Islamic Arabs of Quraysh were already observing Ashura, which was in reality a remnant from the teachings of Prophet Ibrahim that they observed, similar to the rituals of Hajj. Another hadith, although it is weak, adds that Ashura “is the day that the ship of Prophet Nuh settled upon Mount Judi, and so Prophet Nuh fasted the day out of thankfulness to Allah” \[*Musnad Ahmad* #8717\]. Later in history, the Prophet’s grandson al-Husayn would be martyred at Karbala on the day of Ashura while opposing the unjust governance of his time. While the tragedy at Karbala holds theological implications for Shia Muslims that it does not hold for Sunni Muslims, we can interpret it in the grander scheme as another moment in which Allah saves His servant from oppression—this time through martyrdom. ### How should we observe Ashura today? Altogether, these events illustrate the historic significance of the day of Ashura. Not only did the Prophets of the past observe this day, but it seems to also be connected to moments of God’s victory on earth: Nuh (as) escaping the ridicule and opposition of his people, Musa (as) escaping the tyranny of the Pharaoh, and al-Husayn (rA) escaping the oppressors in power. So as we fast this day in pursuit of Allah’s forgiveness, let’s reflect on the examples of the prophets and the righteous, who opposed tyranny and oppression while standing up for the religion of Allah. As the new year unfolds, we pray that Allah forgives our sins of the past and gives us the strength to stand up for His Truth. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-is-shirk-the-greatest-sin-of-all # Why Is Shirk the Greatest Sin of All? **Author:** Dr. Zohair Abdul-Rahman **Topics:** Allah, Faith **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** July 25, 2022 **Updated:** June 9, 2026 ## Why beliefs matter Humanity’s enduring fascination with the same set of existential questions—life after death, the human soul, morality, ethics and the nature of God—has compelled some anthropologists to describe us as Homo Religiosus, distinct as a species based not on ‘sapience’ (wisdom, intelligence) but on shared religious activity. Even in modern times with the decline of traditional religion, human beings cannot escape these so-called religious questions. Vehement New Atheists spend most of their time pontificating on morality, free will, the purpose of life, and the origins of the universe. New Age spiritualists attempt to invent their own practices of mysticism by haphazardly mixing various ancient traditions. Social media players enforce their fundamentalist notions of right and wrong through hashtags and cancel culture. These are just some of the modern manifestations of the religious impulse that exist within the human psyche. The modern world has not departed from religion, but has simply replaced traditional ones with others. Such religious fixations are the primary concerns of humanity, as they should be. How an individual, community, or civilization chooses to answer these questions determines their very spirit and essence. The answers inform the very purpose of our existence, who we are accountable to, and what we are accountable for. Imagine the consequences of starting with false beliefs on these fundamental issues? Such falsehood at the root will only multiply into branches that ultimately lead to ruin and destruction. Many assume that beliefs are amoral—that a theoretically wrong belief demonstrates a lack of intellectual competence but should not challenge one’s moral integrity. The problem with this assumption is that it equates morally neutral questions with questions of ultimate moral significance. Of course, poor academic performance in school should have no bearing on one’s morality. However, when the issues regard religious questions that ultimately determine what is good and evil, then of course there are moral implications to how one responds. Furthermore, coming to true beliefs about these issues is not based purely on academic aptitude given that many of these questions lie outside the scope of science or deductive reasoning. Rather, coming to the Truth requires the authentic reflection of a pure *ʿaql* (intellect) that draws on all technologies of the mind in a unified pursuit to achieve true understanding. These technologies include spiritual, emotional, moral, and rational intelligence. Moral vices dampen and cloud this process due to the inherent biases that accompany qualities like arrogance, narcissism, negligence. These destructive qualities swerve a person from the straight path, effectively making them incapable of truly authentic reflection, rendering their hearts blind to the Truth. Consider the example of a troubled marital relationship. A person who is arrogant, self-absorbed, and narcissistic lacks the insight to see their wrongdoings or even recognize the pain they may be inflicting on their spouse. This person’s perception, understanding, and view of his relationship has been severely clouded by his own negative moral qualities. In the religious domain, then, believing in Truth versus Falsehood does indeed speak to a person’s moral integrity. It should be noted at this juncture that Islamic eschatology does excuse people who do not reach the Truth due to simply lacking access to clear articulations of it. Beyond this discussion, theologians have also debated whether an individual can independently come to the Truth without guidance in the form of revelation from the Ultimate Source of Truth, Allah ﷻ. Such a debate is merely theoretical as the Qur’an is clear that regardless of whether one is capable of reaching the Truth or not, out of His Mercy, the responsibility to believe in the Truth only comes if a messenger is sent to convey that Truth.[^1] The modern apathy toward truth in general—captured by the coinage of the term ‘post-truth era’ in the 1990s—has resulted in a widespread embrace of salvific pluralism and lack of moral concern regarding religious beliefs. The cliché in our times is “[just be a good person](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/being-a-good-person-is-not-enough-why-ethics-need-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557919548&usg=AOvVaw1s89f2uPTpbypnPKGPPfPC), it doesn’t matter what you believe.” Such a statement is paradoxical, considering the conception of a ‘good person’ is based on a person’s belief in what constitutes the Ultimate Good. Therefore, religious belief is the most important part of being a good person.[^2] One does not need to look too far back in history to reflect on the results of bad beliefs in the world. In the 20th century we saw the greatest catastrophes emanating from Nazi Germany’s belief in Social Darwinism and the Soviet Union’s militant atheistic communism. Their conception of the Ultimate Good was materially destructive. Even other beliefs that are not materially problematic can still be spiritually, psychologically, and morally destructive. The harm of these false beliefs may not be as obvious as they work more on the individual scale than on the political scale, and even then they eventually result in catastrophic material consequences as well. Therefore, the most important first step in the journey of life for any human being is to authentically reflect and ensure they are following the Truth. When the Truth is found, the question of ultimate evil becomes clear. In Islam, the Truth of the universe is *tawḥīd* (Islamic monotheism), which reflects the absolute oneness of the Divine Reality who governs this world and is the very purpose of our lives. By contrast, the ultimate evil is *shirk* (idolatry), where divinity is shared across multiple entities and thus there is no clear purpose to our lives. These two concepts are the most fundamental in the Islamic worldview, and all its branches trace back to this foundation that has echoed throughout history, > And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, \[saying\], “Worship Allah \[alone\] and avoid *Ṭāghūt* (idols, false deities).” And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was \[deservedly\] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.[^3] The greatest of all good is found in the establishment of *tawḥīd* and the worst of all evil is found in the establishment of *shirk*. > The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was asked, “Which is the greatest sin?” He replied, “That you set up with Allah ﷻ a rival and He is the One who created you.”[^4] Many Muslims question why *shirk* is so abhorrent in Islam, such that it damns a person to Hellfire and is seen as the ultimate evil. How is it that such a seemingly harmless belief or practice can be worse than horrendous crimes against humanity? Failure to come to terms with this reality may contribute to doubts surrounding salvation and the afterlife for Muslims young and old. This paper investigates this question through a combined approach that integrates Western ethical paradigms with reflections from the Islamic tradition. We will demonstrate that *shirk* represents the greatest evil from deontological, virtue-ethical, and consequentialist frameworks within the paradigm of Islamic theology. This paper will also explore the psychological factors that produce the disconcordance between a Muslim’s *belief* that idolatry is the ultimate evil and their moral *feeling* that it is not. --- ## Separating emotions from reality Whilst the designation of *shirk* as the ultimate evil may be clearly justified from a scriptural standpoint, it is less so from an intuitive, emotional one. If *shirk* is the greatest evil, why do I feel more outraged by a serial killer’s crime of murder than his personal religious beliefs and practices? My friend or neighbor who has shown me nothing but kindness is worse than a criminal who happens to be a monotheist? Why does a harmless action in this world have such severe consequences in the next? These are questions that plague the minds of many Muslims, especially those who live as minorities in the West. But we must make a distinction between moral outrage[^5] and moral magnitude. Moral outrage is a person’s emotional response to a moral crime, which is relative to a range of contextual factors and not an objective evaluation of the magnitude of the crime. Hence, our feelings and emotions in reaction to certain immoralities are not necessarily indicative of their magnitude relative to others. For instance, a serial killer who has killed five people will generally evoke a stronger emotional response than a politician commissioning drone strikes that kill thousands in unnecessary and foreseeable ‘collateral damage.’ Though both have caused death and destruction, one is responsible for the death of five and the other for 5,000. There is no question that the magnitude of the politician’s crime is much greater, at least from a consequentialist[^6] perspective. However, the intuitive emotional response to the serial killer’s crime is greater because it challenges society’s sense of security. It’s harder to identify with nameless drone strike victims in a foreign country than with serial killer victims who could be your neighbors. Hence, **feelings of personal vulnerability** often determine the intensity of the emotional response. Such feelings are essentially self-preserving rather than an unbiased assessment of how evil an action is. It does not make sense to evaluate the reality of morality based on what is more likely to harm us personally. Yet, our feelings of moral outrage are strongly tied to feelings of personal vulnerability. Another factor is **personal trauma**. People may respond more strongly to crimes akin to those they have experienced themselves. Contrary to this, a person’s committing of certain crimes may seriously dampen  their emotional response to similar crimes. For example, a person who has committed adultery may harbor greater sympathy for an adulterer than a person who has been the victim of cheating in the past. Here we have two vastly different reactions to the exact same crime. Feeling more outrage about adultery because of personal trauma doesn’t make the crime any worse and conversely feeling less outrage due to sympathy doesn’t make the crime any better. Furthermore, recent psychometric studies into the emotion of ‘moral outrage’ have found it difficult to distinguish between **personal anger** and moral anger.[^7] This lends support to the notion that the emotions we experience in response to a crime are not reliable indicators of the objective magnitude of that crime. Lastly, a person’s worldview will majorly determine their reaction to moral crimes. Crimes that challenge **personal values** will elicit strong emotional responses. American patriots who have lost their children in military service will be more outraged at someone disrespecting the American flag than someone overseas who had lost their family and property due to unjust American invasions. In the case of disrespecting the flag, it is technically a ‘victimless’ crime, with no harm directly perpetrated against another individual, yet moral outrage is high. This also informs us that emotional reactions to immoralities are not only based on harm committed against others, but on how strongly a person believes in their values. Hence, a person who does not have a sense of moral outrage against *shirk* has betrayed their own lack of connection with the value of *tawḥīd*. The stronger a person’s love for Allah, the angrier they will feel when people associate partners with Him. As Allah says, > And they said *Ar-Raḥmān* (The Most Merciful) has taken a son. You have come with an atrocious thing. The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth almost splits open and the mountains almost collapse in devastation. That they attribute a son to *Ar-Raḥmān*.[^8] --- ## Why does God care about shirk? Given that Allah is Self-Sufficient and free of need, why does He emphasize the worship of Him alone and condemn the practice of *shirk*? Before responding to this question, it is important to establish a few theological principles about Allah that will help us eliminate certain answers that people may assume. The first principle is that Allah is completely self-sufficient.[^9] Therefore, His commands and prohibitions are based on *our* needs, since Allah has no needs. The second principle is that Allah cannot be harmed or benefited from the actions of His creation,[^10] so anything that He commands or prohibits is based on what is beneficial and harmful to *us*. This is why the Qur’an describes revelation as a cure,[^11] guidance,[^12] light,[^13] and mercy[^14] to humanity. The third principle is that Allah is *Al-Ḥaqq* (The Truth or The Real),[^15] and therefore the magnitude of good and evil is based on what violates His nature. The greatest violation of the Nature of God is to multiply divine entities and thereby deny the ontological reality of God’s oneness. This is the worst violation because God’s oneness is ontologically connected to all of [His attributes](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/series/names-of-allah&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557929200&usg=AOvVaw0XEFTknIUKhw_r_V6Zkzlh). The fourth principle, connected to the third, is that Allah is *Al-Muqsiṭ* (The Just)[^16] and leaving evil unpunished would compromise His justice. Hence *shirk* must be prohibited and punished if Allah is truly Just. Given that it is the worst of crimes, it should also have the severest of consequences. Universally equal treatment of all of humanity in the next life despite the vast disparity in virtue would be unjustifiable: “Should we treat those who submit (to God) just like we treat the criminals? What is wrong with you? How do you judge?”[^17] A person may ask why won’t Allah simply forgive *shirk* like He does other sins? To understand this question we must look to the metaphor of the tree given for *shirk* in the Qur’an: > And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability.[^18] Since *shirk* violates the entire Divine Reality, it is a tree with no roots or fruits. Any of its perceived good  cannot be categorized as such because the necessary foundation of the Divine is missing. The Qur’an references such fruitless endeavors: “Say, shall I inform you of the biggest losers? Those who toil misguidedly in this world and think they are doing something good.”[^19] On the contrary, if a tree is based on *tawḥīd*, then it will always be properly rooted and bear valuable fruit. No matter the crime or the evil, there will be sparks of goodness that can be magnified by *Ash-Shakūr* (The Most Appreciative)[^20] and be the means through which Allah’s forgiveness and mercy is reached. All such decisions are based on the Justice and Mercy of Allah without violation of any of these perfect attributes, “The day in which every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allah is swift in account.”[^21] And it was reported by Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah said, “My Mercy prevails over My Anger.”[^22] Based on the above, we can appreciate that Allah’s condemnation of *shirk* is based on His Love, Care, and Mercy toward us. He does not want us to fall into the multitude of harms that come in this world and the next with the practice of *shirk*. He does not want our souls to fall into the abyss of nihilism or submit to narcissism and self-deification. Rather than self-interest, as anti-theists like to assert, it is out of His care for humanity that He warns against *shirk*. He does not want His creation to be punished by His Justice and Wrath and therefore warns us against Himself! > The day that every soul will find what it has done of good present and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that was a great distance. *And Allah warns you of Himself*, and Allah is Kind to His servants.[^23] This is also connected to the prophetic invocation that seeks protection from Allah in Allah. > ʿĀʾisha (rA) reported, One night I missed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the bed, and when I sought him my hand touched the soles of his feet while he ﷺ was in the state of prostration; they (his feet) were raised and he ﷺ was saying: “O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment, and I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot enumerate Your praises. You are as You have praised Yourself.”[^24] Allah invites us all to the abode of serenity and security (*dār as-salām*) for our own sakes[^25] so we can live eternally in His paradise, immersed in endless bliss, gazing upon His Face. --- ## Immorality and the afterlife Many people assume that crimes with immediate consequences are worse than those with long-term effects. Furthermore, people focus on physical harm to the exclusion of spiritual or psychological damage. Reflecting on the reality of the afterlife helps give us a wider and more complete perspective on the morality of our actions. The consequences in the afterlife are what truly determine the magnitude of evil. This is because the afterlife is the place of ultimate justice, where deeds are recompensed according to their true worth, for better or worse. Allah describes the Day of Judgment, > This Day every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allah is swift in account.[^26] > > Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your \[full\] compensation on the Day of Resurrection.[^27] The Day of Judgment is a time when all crimes are taken to account. If a person evades detection in this world, they will meet their deserved end in the next. If a person committed a wrong that was not considered criminal in society, they will reap the consequences in the court of Allah. Even in Islamic law, there are many immoralities that are grave but carry no legal punishments in this world at all. Lying, backbiting, and mistreatment of parents are all major sins in Islam, but no worldly punishments are legislated for them. The sin of *ribā* (interest) is described as ‘waging war against Allah and His messenger,’ yet has no associated worldly punishment. Public drunkenness, on the other hand, has a prescribed punishment even though *ribā* is worse from a moral perspective. This is even the case with *shirk* itself, which is considered the ultimate evil yet does not have a worldly punishment prescribed for it in Islamic law. It is clear we cannot use legal punishments in this world as a gauge for the magnitude of a crime, even within Islamic law. Islamic law focuses on protecting the most important features of societies, religion, life, property, family, and intellect.[^28] It is not designed to punish every single immorality in this world, nor is any man-made system of law designed to do this. For Muslims, some immoralities are too grave to be handled by human beings and must be escalated to the Supreme Court of the Most High in the next life. --- ## What makes shirk so evil? Hundreds of theories have been posited by philosophers, theologians, and thinkers throughout the millennia regarding the nature of good and evil. Some equate good and evil with pleasure and pain.[^29] Others deny any objective existence of good and evil, claiming they are products of human imagination.[^30] Still others claim good is what leads to the collective flourishing of human civilization,[^31] or assert it is what maximizes individual well-being.[^32] This philosophical variance  is attributable to competing notions of human purpose. That is to say, good and bad are categorizations of reality that necessarily assume an ultimate cosmic purpose. Ayn Rand, the famous 20th-century philosopher, describes values (that which one acts to gain and/or keep) as a necessary precondition for any system of ethics.[^33] Isidor Chein, a 20th-century American psychologist influenced by the psychodynamic school, explains the importance of identifying an individual’s purpose in order to develop a ‘science of morality.’[^34] To understand this point, consider how these terms are used in non-moral settings. In sports, *good* and *bad* are adjectives frequently used to describe the actions of the players. A ‘good’ move is what facilitates the individual or the team fulfilling the *purpose* of the game, while a ‘bad’ move hinders them from it. It would be nonsensical to describe an action as good if there was no point to the game. These words only carry meaning if there is a shared purpose that the players are aiming toward. Similarly, we can only apply the terms *good* and *bad* to life as a whole if it possesses some inherent purpose. If there is no purpose to life, then it would be incoherent to describe anything as good or bad. If life is random, then by definition anything that occurs is valueless. If we assume the purpose of life to be maximizing happiness or pleasure, then good will be anything that leads to this, and bad anything that prevents it. If a person believes that the purpose of life is to achieve a state of *tawḥīd* (Islamic monotheism) by following the path of the prophets,[^35] then the opposite of this—falling into *shirk* (idolatry) by following the demonic path—would be the ultimate evil. While this is a sufficient explanation on its own, there are other perspectives that can help us appreciate the evil of *shirk*. Any theory of ethics attempts to understand the factors essential to something being good or evil. Deontological ethics focuses on the motivation behind an action (intention) and its connection to universal moral principles, but not necessarily its consequences.[^36] It focuses on certain moral principles expressed in the form of rules and laws inviolable under any circumstances regardless of consequences. Historically these moral principles came from religious instruction. As secularism took hold post-Enlightenment, Kant introduced the categorical imperative[^37] as the ultimate moral principle people ought to act by.[^38] The categorical imperative states that moral agents should act as if their actions would become universally applicable. Consequentialism focuses on the consequent benefit or harm an action causes to the individual and society, traditionally in the form of pleasure or pain.[^39] While utilitarianism, which embodies consequentialist ideals to organize socio-political agents, is a relatively recent phenomenon, consequentialism as an idea has been connected to the larger, more ancient tradition of hedonism.[^40] This school focuses on establishing maximum benefit or averting maximum harm for the largest number of people. Virtue ethics, which finds its roots with Aristotle, focuses on the virtue or vice displayed with each behavior,[^41] and what the behavior indicates regarding the overall character of the person. From an Islamic perspective none of the three schools has an accurate or complete philosophy of ethics due to their separation from the Divine foundation.[^42] However, each does speak to a dimension of ethical reasoning supported by Islamic texts. Regarding the categorical imperative, we see the Prophet ﷺ using this form of moral reasoning when asked by a young companion for permission  to commit *zinā*.[^43] > Abū Umāma reported: A young man came to the Prophet ﷺ and he said, “O Messenger of Allah, give me permission to commit *zinā*.” The people turned to rebuke him, saying, “Quiet! Quiet!” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Come here.” The young man came close and he told him to sit down. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Would you like that for your mother?” The man said, “No, by Allah, may I be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Neither would people like it for their mothers. Would you like that for your daughter?” The man said, “No, by Allah, may I be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Neither would people like it for their daughters. Would you like that for your sister?” The man said, “No, by Allah, may I be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Neither would people like it for their sisters. Would you like that for your aunts?” The man said, “No, by Allah, may I be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Neither would people like it for their aunts.” Then, the Prophet ﷺ placed his hand on him and said, “O Allah, forgive his sins, purify his heart, and guard his chastity.” After that, the young man never again inclined to anything sinful.[^44] This young man did not see how *zinā* was evil. Although not explicitly stated in the hadith, we can appreciate how some people can be blind to why consensual *zinā* is a major sin, given no one seems to be ‘harmed.’ Rather than giving a ‘consequentialist’ justification, the Prophet ﷺ implored the young man to think outside of himself and imagine how he would feel if the same act he desired involved his female relatives. In other words, how would he feel if such an action was universally applicable to the extent of necessarily involving his own family? If a person believes it is wrong for someone to commit such an act with their own family, then how can they justify it as permissible for themselves?[^45] Though it comes from a consequentalist paradigm, the harm principle is a recognized tool in ethical decision-making within Islam. A well-known prophetic tradition establishes a legal maxim: “There is to be no harm and no reciprocation of harm.”[^46] Furthermore, al-*maṣlaḥa al-mursala* (public interest)[^47] and *sadd ad-dharāʾiʿ* (preventing the means to harm)[^48] are  recognized legal maxims, from which secondary legislations can be derived according to the Mālikī and Ḥanbalī schools of law. The Ḥanafīs are known for *istiḥsān* (juristic preference)[^49] that also involves consideration of the benefit and harm that would result from a legal ruling. Here we see the consequentialist paradigm given consideration within Islamic legal frameworks. Lastly, we find that virtue ethics is  consistent with the mission of the Prophet ﷺ and the connection of ethics to the Divine Names and Attributes. “I have only been sent to perfect noble character.”[^50] Furthermore, there is a great emphasis placed on using one’s heart and intuition to solve ethical dilemmas, > Wābiṣa bin Maʿbad reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Have you come to ask about good and evil, Wābiṣa?” I said, “Yes,” so he ﷺ joined his fingers and hit his chest and said “Seek judgment from your *nafs* (self), seek judgment from your *heart*” three times. (Then he ﷺ said), “Good is what the self is comfortable with and what makes the heart at peace. Evil is what arouses discomfort in the self and hesitancy in the heart despite the opinions of others.”[^51] The Names and Attributes of God represent lofty qualities we are meant to act in accordance with. Divine attributes of love, kindness, mercy, and gentleness are meant to be embodied in this life, > ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The merciful are shown mercy by *ar-Raḥmān* (The Most Merciful). Be merciful to those on earth and the One above the heavens will show mercy to you.”[^52]  > > If you judge, then judge between them with justice, verily Allah ﷻ loves those who are just.[^53] > > Forgive and overlook; wouldn’t you love for Allah ﷻ to forgive you?[^54] Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH), the great medieval polymath, reflects on this connection between ethics and theology, > Allah ﷻ loves His Names and Attributes, and He loves the consequences of His Attributes and their manifestations upon the servants. Just as He is Beautiful, so He loves beauty. As He is the Most Forgiving, He loves forgiveness; as He is the Most Generous, He loves generosity: as He is All-Knowing, he loves the people of knowledge… So because ​​Allah ﷻ loves those who emulate His Attributes, He is with them according to how much of these qualities they reflect, and this is a special and unique type of companionship.[^55] Hence, we see that the virtue-ethics paradigm only makes sense if it is rooted in the Divine Names and Attributes. Otherwise, the qualities of virtue are mere social constructions or imaginations of the mind. The connection between moral virtue and the Divine Names and Attributes forms the basis of Islamic morality. Now that we have briefly surveyed the three main ethical paradigms we find in the West, and identified their presence in the Islamic tradition, we will examine the concept of *shirk* from their perspectives. We are not attempting to prove that *shirk* is evil through secular ethical paradigms, but we are using various universal methods of ethical reasoning substantiated from our sources to aid our investigation.[^56] As the Islamic axiom states, there is no need for dispute over terms once we understand the concepts behind them.[^57] --- ## Shirk from a deontological perspective: Purpose of life Deontological ethics focuses on universal moral principles that should never be violated under any circumstances. *Tawḥīd* is one such commitment, as established through revelation. Hence, *shirk* becomes the ultimate crime. Even if someone is coerced to violate their *tawḥīd* with a genuine threat to life or limb, they must hold *tawḥīd* in their hearts in secret. Ibn al-Qayyim uses this justification when answering this exact question, “Why is *shirk* the most hated thing to Allah?” Part of his response is that when a person commits *shirk*, “he is acting in direct contradiction to what he has been created for.”[^58] --- ## Shirk from a virtue-ethics perspective Virtue ethics focuses on what a behavior indicates about the character of a person. An action should be judged in part by the quality it demonstrates. When we examine the underlying qualities embodied in an act of *shirk*, we can better appreciate its evil. --- ## Betrayal At the root of *shirk* and its evil is betrayal. It involves betraying one’s purpose in life and betraying one’s Benefactor, given that the person was endowed with the gift of existence and all of the blessings of life and yet refuses to show love and gratitude to that Benefactor. In fact, the word for disbelief in Islam, *kufr*, can also be used to refer to ingratitude.[^59] Indeed an argument can be made that betrayal is the root of all sin and the worst of all crimes. For instance, the worst crime in the eyes of the state is treason, betrayal of the nation.[^60] This is why the harshest punishments are reserved for the crime of treason. The rationale is that the state had provided the citizen with protection, public resources, and dwelling in exchange for loyalty. By choosing to conspire against the state, one has betrayed the entire state. Furthermore, the major sins and crimes people recognize can be reduced to a common theme: betrayal. Adultery, the worst crime in a romantic relationship, is a betrayal of marital trust. The generic social contract that allows human beings to coexist within a society is betrayed by murder and theft.[^61] We find the Sunnah reflects these concepts when the Prophet ﷺ was asked about the greatest evils human beings can commit. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd said, “I asked ​​Prophet Muhammad ﷺ which crime is the greatest according to Allah ﷻ. He ﷺ replied, ‘That you make a rival alongside Allah ﷻ while He created you.’ I said that is definitely a great sin then asked what is next. He ﷺ said, ‘That you kill your own child fearing that he will share your food with you.’ I said what is next? He ﷺ said, ‘That you commit adultery with your neighbor’s wife.’”[^62] Reflecting on this anecdote, we notice that each crime mentioned is described in its most egregious form. *Shirk* is a betrayal of the One who created you, infanticide is the ultimate betrayal of the parental duty of providing, and the worst form of adultery is betraying the trust of one’s own neighbor. The concept of betrayal is also part of Ibn al-Qayyim’s explanation of why *shirk* is the greatest evil, > And for this reason, *shirk* is the most despised thing to Him (Allah) because it diminishes one’s love (for Allah) and transfers it to whoever he associated with Him (Allah). For this reason Allah does not forgive *shirk*… And no doubt this is the greatest crime a lover can commit toward his beloved.[^63] This is a profound point that Ibn al-Qayyim raises. When we recognize our entire life is based on this one relationship we have with our Creator, then the acts that threaten this relationship are the worst that a person can commit in this world. The most destructive action that a spouse can commit is acquiring a secret lover. Any number of actions can terminate a romantic relationship, from divorce to abuse, but the most devastating of them is an affair. To Allah belongs the highest example, but similarly when one betrays their *tawḥīd* and elevates an idol to the position of God, Lord, or Divine, they have committed the greatest act of betrayal in the most important relationship of their lives. The degree of betrayal is determined by (1) the degree of benevolence granted to a person and (2) the degree of trust given to a person. --- ## Degree of benevolence The more benevolence granted to a person, the greater level of loyalty expected—and therefore the greater the betrayal. From this equation we can see how breaking one’s covenant with God would be the greatest act of betrayal, regarded as *shirk*. Every single blessing, including the very gift of existence, comes from the Most Benevolent, the Most Compassionate. Betraying the loyalty demanded by such a reality is worse than any crime we can  fathom. We find this reasoning consistent with the way *shirk* is described in the Qur’an and Sunnah. > O Humanity, what has deluded you from your Gracious Lord? The One who created you, fashioned you, and balanced you in whatever form He willed, assembling you.[^64] > > And out of what We have provided them, they take a portion aside for those (idols) they have no knowledge about. Certainly, by Allah, they will be questioned regarding what they used to invent.[^65] And as mentioned, when the Prophet ﷺ was asked which is the greatest sin, he said, “That you set up with Allah ﷻ a rival and He is the One who created you.”[^66] Betraying the covenant takes multiple forms. Even if there are no external idols, overlooking or choosing not to care about this relationship with Allah to the point of denying or ignoring it is a form of betrayal. This betrayal is still *shirk*. In a word, you set yourself as a peer or superior to God when you feel that you can overlook this covenant, and that your commitment to it is a trivial matter. Through your actions you demonstrate your belief that your ego is in a position to decide on what should be worshiped in your life, what is valued, what matters, and what you should devote your life to. As Allah says, “Have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god?”[^67] --- ## Degree of trust The magnitude of a betrayal is also based on the degree of vulnerability and trust that another person shows to you. This demands a higher degree of loyalty. For example, a husband or wife leaving their spouse at home alone indicates their great trust in their neighbors. A child’s complete dependency on its parent makes infanticide an especially horrific form of murder. The greater the trust violated, the greater the crime. While God is not dependent on anyone or vulnerable at all, He granted human beings a great trust (*amāna*) that is described in the Qur’an, > Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man \[undertook to\] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.[^68] The ‘Trust’ (*amāna*) here is all encompassing and is the responsibility Allah ﷻ has placed on human beings—including the trust between one another. At-Ṭabarī provides multiple early reports on the concept of *amāna*, such as the obligations due to ​​Allah in this life, the trust of private acts of devotion, *ḥudūd* (law), *dīn* (religion), *wadāʾiʿ* (security deposits between people), human faculties of sight and speaking, and the sanctity of life. He concludes by stating, “The correct view is those who say that what is meant by *amāna* in this verse is every single trust and duty found in the religion (i.e., toward God) and every trust and duty between human beings.”[^69] What we learn from this is that the trusts that are violated in crimes between people are actually connected to the ultimate trust bestowed upon human beings by Allah ﷻ. Therefore betrayal between human beings is ultimately a betrayal of God’s gifts to humanity of consciousness, choice, movement, and ability. The worst form of this type of betrayal is to use what God has entrusted to us to violate the very purpose of our existence by committing *shirk*. --- ## Narcissism and self-worship When a person turns away from the worship of Allah, he will inevitably worship the deities that are, in reality, a reflection of his own vain desires. The Qur’an describes such a person: “Have you seen the one who makes his own desires as his god? Then would you be responsible for him?”[^70] In fact, man prefers to worship what is constructed from his imagination in this world rather than submitting to an Authority greater than his ego. Allah says, “Will you argue with me concerning names that you have invented yourselves and your ancestors, of which there was no authority sent down by Allah?”[^71] The worshiping of idols is in reality the worshiping of one’s ego. It is an ego that subconsciously or consciously perceives itself as the creator of gods and deities, the creator of values and morals, the creator of right and wrong. Allah uses the word ‘create’ when describing their false ideologies: “You only worship, besides Allah ﷻ, idols, and you create such falsehood.”[^72] There is no greater inflation of the ego than having the audacity to think one is  qualified to create one’s own religion from whatever the ego fancies. Allah says, “They are only names you have invented yourselves and your ancestors, of which there was no authority sent down by Allah. They are only following their whims and what their self desires, even though guidance has certainly come to them from their (true) Lord.”[^73] While one may think the creation of idols is a bygone practice from thousands of years ago, we are witnessing in the new generation a modern form of idolatry known as ‘moralistic therapeutic deism,’ the default religion of the average Westerner in the 21st century.[^74] Subscribers to this self-serving ideology cherry-pick the virtues found in other religions that make them happy. No authority, scripture, or guidance informs how they live their lives. Instead, these people show the same audacity of the idol-carvers in creating their own way of life based on their own desires. Here, we find the deification of the self manifested in the guise of self-serving moral attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore, the extreme cancel culture perpetuated by social media users reflects a lack of humility when it comes to complex moral issues. Their obsessive focus on others’ faults, as if they hold the Divine right to pass ultimate judgment, is telling of a clear underlying narcissism. The invention of new ideals, norms, boundaries, rights, and wrongs is what the Qur’an describes as lying against God. > And do not say “This is permitted and this is prohibited” based on what your tongues assert as untruth in order to invent falsehood about Allah.[^75] Without a doubt, there are some people who may not realize the true reality of idolatry. They may practice an idolatrous religion or culture because they enjoy being part of a community, the comfort of social cohesion, and the desire to conform. Perhaps they have simply inherited it without giving due consideration of their mind or heart. So their example is like the Qur’an describes, a mere  “statement that emerges from their mouth.”[^76] However, when the ugly truth of idolatry becomes clear to them, they must make a decision to depart from these practices, or close their eyes and continue despite recognizing the great wrong and betrayal that idolatry represents. Allah ﷻ says, > Those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture, and the Polytheists, were not apart, until the Clear Evidence came to them.[^77] --- ## Consequentialism: The harm principle In most liberal societies, the harm principle is the only legitimate standard for right or wrong. An act, in the absence of any clear harm perpetrated against a victim, is often exonerated of any immorality. This is an amputated form of morality due to its disposal of the religious tradition used to inform virtues, vices, and duties toward one’s self, toward one’s society, and toward God Himself. Due to the shortsightedness of this approach, many immoralities without obvious harms are not recognized as evil. We must expand the notion of harm beyond the material, to encompass the effects of an action on the mind, the soul, the community, and of course harms that will be experienced in the afterlife. This section will explore the various harms that emerge from idolatry—psychological, intellectual, and social. Before discussing those harms, though, we must discuss the ultimate harm: that found in the afterlife. ### Afterlife It is important to note that people who engage in idolatry may not experience all its harmful consequences in this world, just as not everyone who drinks alcohol will become addicted, intoxicated, and abusive, or get liver cirrhosis, neuropathy, encephalopathy, and so on. Likewise, not everyone who smokes cigarettes will suffer from lung cancer, emphysema, or a heart attack. It is illegal in many countries to smoke in public places because of the known harmful effects of secondhand smoke exposure. However, not everyone who receives secondhand smoke will suffer the consequences. Similarly, idolatry threatens harm that has a high probability of occurring in this life, and will certainly come in the next life. Allah says, > It has been inspired to you and those before you, if you commit *shirk* your actions will be nullified and you will surely be of the losers.[^78] > > And it will be said, ‘“Invoke your ‘partners’” and they will invoke them; but they will not respond to them, and they will see the punishment. If only they had followed guidance.[^79] This harm is greater than anyone can fathom in this world and so even on the grounds of the ‘harm principle’ should be considered the ultimate evil. Allah says, “And Allah wronged them not, but they had been wronging themselves.”[^80] The oppression of idolatry may have not directly harmed anyone else, but it harmed its practitioners, so this crime is considered an example of an individual oppressing themselves. Ibn al-Qayyim also describes the great oppression idolatry brings upon a person in the next life. > When Allah said He purchased our souls, we have to realize that the value of the commodity is correlated to both the status of the buyer and the price. You are the commodity, and you are so valuable that Allah is purchasing you, and the price is Paradise, which you receive along with seeing Allah, and hearing His speech, in the abode of complete peace and tranquility. Allah chose you and only chooses that which is honored and blessed—and built for you a dwelling place close to Him and made the angels as servants for you, making sure you are taken care of in this world when you are awake and when you are sleeping, when you are alive and when you will die. When a person commits *shirk*, he sells himself to the other gods (he worships), and so he is deprived of paradise, the mercy, love, and care of Allah.[^81] ### Psychological harms Beyond this, when we analyze the effects of *shirk* on the individual in this world, we can appreciate that the harms of *shirk* are not exclusive to the next life. The Qur’an compares idolatry to being co-owned by two quarreling partners: > Allah presents an example: A slave[^82] owned by quarreling partners and another belonging exclusively to one man—are they equal in comparison? Praise be to Allah! But most of them do not know.[^83] This analogy demonstrates that idolatry is the greatest threat to one’s sense of meaning and fulfillment in the world. Al-Rāzī comments, “So then he is left confused, not knowing which of them is most deserving of being pleased and which of them he should seek for his needs. For this reason he is in continuous punishment and endless misery.”[^84] Having a coherent purpose in life is essential to psychological well being. Dr. Viktor Frankl, the holocaust-surviving psychiatrist, famously coined the phrase ‘will to meaning’ when describing the most important asset to the human psyche. He commented that a student of his performed a study on 60 university students who had attempted suicide. Of those students, 85% said they had done so because ‘life seemed meaningless.’ Around 93% of the respondents were socially engaged, academically successful, and had a family circle. Frankl remarks, “If a person has found the meaning sought for, he is prepared to suffer, to offer sacrifices, even, if need be, to give his life for the sake of it. Contrariwise, if there is no meaning he is inclined to take his life, and he is prepared to do so even if all his needs, to all appearances, have been satisfied.”[^85] Multiple studies have quantitatively corroborated Frankl’s analysis by demonstrating the strong correlation between meaning and wellbeing.[^86] In fact, purpose in life is a mediator between religiosity and happiness.[^87] This means that [religiosity correlates with happiness](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/faith-in-mind-islams-role-in-mental-health&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557966454&usg=AOvVaw1X_xTYCPqAIEOcF2i4T7IP) because it endows its practitioner with a purpose in life. Those who simply affirm a religious identity out of culture, for instance, without internalizing it as a way of life will not find happiness in their superficial religious attachment. A person may object by pointing to polytheistic religions, which seem to challenge the notion that idolatry negates a meaningful worldview. While it is true there are polytheistic religions, they often contain an element or trace of monotheism. Often there is an ‘ultimate’ or ‘supreme’ God that reigns over the other gods. This is why Allah says in the Qurʾan, “Most of them don’t believe in Allah except that they associate partners with him.”[^88] The polytheistic element, if taken seriously and to its logical conclusion, can only result in the destruction of meaning. Meaning is defined as ‘making sense, order, or coherence out of one’s existence.’[^89] Purpose is defined as ‘intention, some function to be fulfilled, or goals to be achieved.’[^90] There is no greater threat to these concepts than *shirk*. As Allah ﷻ says, “Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides ​​Allah ﷻ, they would have been ruined.”[^91] This ontological challenge to idolatry states that competing divine wills would inevitably result in constant struggle and resistance, compromising the very fabric of reality. People recognize the global destruction that would ensue if the nuclear powers of the world were to engage in war. If there were competing Divine Wills, the collateral damage would be reality itself. Hence, it is impossible to maintain a meaningful belief about the world through idolatry. Furthermore, believing in multiple idols entails divergent and contradictory aims in life, resulting in dysfunctional goals. The human being is left lost in this world with no coherent understanding of who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. They can only live in a constant state of fear and anxiety from the wrath of their gods without any clear guidance. One god may be happy with an offering but another one may be spiteful. There will be no clarity in one’s value system, belief system, or life purpose. *Shirk* thus makes life meaningless. Someone may respond by positing a form of idolatry where all gods have the same will without any resistance against each other. The problem is that if we claim they all have the same will, then they are no longer multiple entities since a distinct agent is known by its distinct will and agency. A genuine belief in idolatrous ideology, albeit a rarity in the Western world, is thus the most debilitating idea that can infiltrate the human mind. Just as alcohol, drugs, and any other neurotoxins can seriously damage the brain, the presence of *shirk* in the mind seriously damages the soul. It suffocates its only source of life, which is meaning and purpose in life through *tawḥīd*. Atheism is a modern form of *shirk* that endows natural entities or concepts with Divine attributes. The creation of reality is ascribed to ‘nothingness,’ ‘singularity,’ ‘the unknown,’ and a set of arbitrary mathematical constants found in the universe. This worldview is technically a form of *shirk*, even if it does not affirm any gods. Certainly, nihilism is more obviously a consequence of atheism than polytheism. We discussed earlier how people have carved idols by inventing their own morals and beliefs without deference to any authority other than their own egos. There is another kind of idol, absolute in its psychological destruction—carved not from stone, but from the vain desires of humanity, manifesting as social media celebrities and the rise of the ‘influencer.’ Chris Hedges, a famous contemporary writer, has diagnosed various cultural maladies that pervade the American conscience, including the problem of ‘celebrity worship’: > “We all have gods,” Martin Luther said, “it is just a question of which ones.” And in American society our gods are celebrities. Religious belief and practices are commonly transferred to the adoration of celebrities. Our culture builds temples to celebrities the way the Romans did for divine emperors, ancestors, and household gods. We are a de facto polytheistic society. We engage in the same kind of primitive beliefs as older polytheistic cultures. In celebrity culture, the object is to get as close as possible to the celebrity. Relics of celebrities are coveted as magical talismans. Those who can touch the celebrity or own a relic of the celebrity hope for a transference of celebrity power. They hope for magic.[^92] These idols, although people themselves, are carved by their ‘worshiper’s’ desires and whims. They would never be idols unless people recognized them, and they would never be recognized unless they conformed (or are carved) to what the people desire. The influencer is actually the one being influenced, and they become the projection of the most superficial and darkest parts of humanity. Ralph Emerson, a 19th-century American philosopher from the Transcendentalist school, is reported to have said, > A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will come out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming.[^93] Vanity, narcissism, sensuality, idleness, wealth, gluttony, and entertainment are just some of the tainted materials by which these idols are created and subsequently worshiped**.** > Have you seen the one who makes his own desires as his god? Then would you be responsible for him?[^94] ### Intellectual harms Pagan ideologies are known for their focus on bad omens, luck, astrology, and other superstitious ideas that influence people’s behaviors. The Prophet ﷺ clearly disavowed the use of any irrational superstitions, thereby establishing rationality as the main tool for making worldly decisions about life. > ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd reported, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Spells, amulets, and charms are certainly *shirk.*”[^95]  > > ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever hangs an amulet around his neck, then Allah will not fulfill his wishes. Whoever hangs a seashell as a charm, then Allah will not grant him security.”[^96] This also extends to medicine based on superstitions without any rational or empirical evidence. ʿImrān ibn Ḥusayn reported the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a man wearing a brass ring, so he was asked what it was. The man said, “It is protection from my shoulder ailment.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Remove it, for it will only increase your ailment and if you were to die wearing it you would never be successful.”[^97] The Qur’an makes it clear that even ​​the Prophet ﷺ did not have supernatural power to influence events for benefit or harm: “Say: I have no power at all for myself to harm or benefit except as Allah wills.”[^98] Continuing on the intellectual front, *shirk* contradicts the scientific discoveries of natural order and balance in the cosmos. The Qur’an explains how the logical consequence of *shirk* is a world of chaos. As quoted earlier, > Had there been in the heavens and earth gods beside Allah, they would have been ruined. So exalted is Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe.[^99] *Tawḥīd*, on the other hand, provides the basis for the ordered world we constantly witness around us. A singular Divine Will is the only way to reasonably account for the signs of intricate design in life and the universe. Allah ﷻ says, “Indeed, within the heavens and earth are signs for the believers. And in the creation of yourselves and what He disperses of moving creatures are signs for people who are certain.”[^100] Idolatry challenges the very foundations of an intelligible universe and hence, if taken to its logical end, would result in the destruction of knowledge. ### Social harms Pagan societies are notoriously hierarchical with class-systems in place that oppress the marginalized, vulnerable, and disadvantaged. This is because the structure of a society reflects its beliefs and values. A pagan society that believes in a hierarchy of gods will organize itself as a hierarchy of people. We have seen similar problems with atheists who adopt Social Darwinism as an ideology, categorizing human beings according to their race and privileging some over others. It was precisely this ideology that led to the horrors committed by Nazi Germany.[^101] Nationalism and populism in the 21st century also divide the world based on race and have strong supremacist overtones. The notion of human ‘equality’ in countries like the United States is explicitly based on the idea of One God, where the Constitution states, “All men are created equal under God.” *Ṭawḥīd* provides a basis for the equality of all mankind since they were all created by the same singular Divine Entity and can be traced back to the same two parents. Abu Nadrah reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said during the middle of the day at the end of the pilgrimage, “O people, your Lord is One and your father Adam is one. There is no favor of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin, nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness.”[^102] Dr. Craig Considine, a non-Muslim professor of Islamic studies, argues that this is the first record of any historical figure explicitly advocating for racial equality.[^103] *Tawḥīd* is a great **unifying** force, granting all people a chance to reach their full spiritual potential without any arbitrary ceiling placed upon them because of the family they happened to be born into. Islam is undeniably the purest expression of monotheism historically and today. This is why we find that the first generations of Islam were unique, in their time, for their egalitarian attitudes. Freed slaves occupied high positions in Islamic scholarship, as did many women. Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ, an African man, became the official *muʾadhdhin* for the Muslims of Madīnah. Sālim, a freed slave, became one of greatest scholars of the Qurʾan among the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr (rA), a woman, became one of the most prolific narrators of hadith, as well as a scholar of law who many men would travel to learn from. Masrūq reported: It was said, “Did ʿĀʾisha (rA) have knowledge of the (laws of) inheritance?” Masrūq said, “By the one in whose hand is my soul, I saw the learned elders among the companions of Muhammad ﷺ ask her about the (laws of) inheritance.”[^104] In the generations that followed, we find freed slaves becoming the most significant scholars, and a continuity of female scholarship. An iconic figure that illustrates how egalitarian early Muslim societies were is ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, a blind man of African descent born with congenital defects that left him with a limp, who became the chief judge and scholar of the most sacred city in Islam, Makkah.[^105] We are not trying to prove that Muslim societies have always been egalitarian, as there are many historical instances of obvious discrimination or racism. But the shift that occurred in those societies due to the egalitarian consequences of the message of *tawḥīd* is best witnessed in the earliest generations tracing back to the Prophet ﷺ himself. Whenever Muslim societies deviated from this egalitarian ethos, it was in contradiction of Islamic principles and not because of them. In fact, Dr. Akram Nadwi has pointed out that the intellectual schools in Muslim history that were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, such as the Muʿtazila or the philosophers, did not have female inclusion. He argues this is because Greek philosophy historically viewed women as inferior to men. In his 52-volume encyclopedia[^106] that documents the names and short biographies of female scholars in Islam, Dr. Nadwi found none among the Muʿtazila or Muslim philosophers, but thousands amongst the scholars of hadith. He concluded that the field of hadith was more inclusive of women because it more strongly embodied the pious culture of the Prophet ﷺ and the earliest generations.[^107] In more recent times, we find the testimony of Malcolm X on his return from the Hajj pilgrimage very telling of the egalitarian culture among Muslims as compared to the mid-20th century United States. In an interview he stated, > While I was at Mecca making the pilgrimage I spoke about the brotherhood that existed at all levels and among all people who were there on that Ḥajj who had accepted the religion of Islam and I pointed out that for what it had done—what the religion of Islam had done—for those people over there despite their complexion differences that it would probably do America well to study the religion of Islam and perhaps it could drive some of the racism from this society as it has driven the racism of the Muslim society.[^108] --- ## Conclusion Throughout this article we have conducted a moral inquiry into the action of idolatry. We have demonstrated through multiple ethical paradigms that idolatry is not only immoral but that idolatry represents the highest category of evil in each paradigm. Emotional reactions to immoralities cannot be confused with their actual magnitude. Human beings are biased by their own subjectivities. Recognizing that there may be a tension between one’s emotions and one’s theological commitments is an important step in resolving any doubts that may emerge regarding the immorality of idolatry. The next step is to be critical of one’s biases, recognizing that one’s emotions are not the criterion of truth. The final step is to continue on the path toward Allah and the closer one connects with Him, the more concordance there will be between one’s emotions and theological commitment. > And those who strive for Us—We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.[^109] --- ## Notes [^1]: Qur’an 17:15. [^2]: Ovamir Anjum, “Being a Good Person is not Enough: Why Ethics needs Islam,” *Yaqeen*, January 27, 2022, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/being-a-good-person-is-not-enough-why-ethics-need-islam](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/being-a-good-person-is-not-enough-why-ethics-need-islam&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557999954&usg=AOvVaw3ydFuriyFyfGQFS2Ktt-cA) [^3]: Qur’an 16:36. [^4]: *Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, nos. 4477, 4761, 6001, 6811, 6861, 7520, and 7532; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, nos. 86a and 86b; [^5]: Erin M. O’Mara, Lydia E. Jackson, C. Daniel Batson, and Lowell Gaertner, “Will Moral Outrage Stand Up? Distinguishing among Emotional Reactions to a Moral Violation,” *European Journal of Social Psychology* 41, no. 2 (2011): 173–79. [^6]: Consequentialism will be discussed later in greater detail. [^7]: O’Mara et al., “Will Moral Outrage Stand Up?” [^8]: Qur’an, 19:88-90 [^9]: Qur’an 35:15 and 47:38. [^10]: Qur’an 3:144, 3:176–77, and 47:32. [^11]: Qur’an 17:82. [^12]: Qur’an 2:2. [^13]: Qur’an 4:174. [^14]: Qur’an 17:82. [^15]: Qur’an 10:32. [^16]: Qur’an 7:29. [^17]: Qur’an 68:35–36. [^18]: Qur’an 14:26. [^19]: Qur’an 18:103. [^20]: Qur’an 17:19 and 76:22 [^21]: Qur’an 40:17. [^22]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 2751; *Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī*, nos. 7422 and 7453; [^23]: Qur’an 3:30. [^24]: *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, no. 486. [^25]: Qur’an 10:25. [^26]: Qur’an, 40:17. [^27]: Qur’an, 3:185. [^28]: These are known as the five *maqāṣid ash-sharīʾah* (objectives of Islamic law). [^29]: A philosophical school called Hedonism. Refer to Ruut Veenhoven, “Hedonism and Happiness,” *Journal of Happiness Studies* 4, no. 4 (2003): 437–57. [^30]: ​​A position referred to as “moral abolitionism.” Refer to: Richard Garner, “Abolishing Morality,” in *A World Without Values*, ed. Richard Joyce and Simon Kirchin (Dordrecht: Springer, 2010), 217–33. [^31]: This has been popularized by new atheist Sam Harris. Refer to Sam Harris, *The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values* (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011). [^32]: A philosophical school called “Eudaimonism” inspired by Aristotle. Refer to ​​Lorraine Besser-Jones, “Eudaimonism,” in *The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being*, ed. Guy Fletcher (Abingdon: Routledge, 2015), 203–12. [^33]: Allan Gotthelf, “The Morality of Life,” in *A Companion to Ayn Rand*, ed. Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri (Chicester, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2016), 76. [^34]: Isidor Chein, “Towards a Science of Morality,” *The Journal of Social Psychology* 25, no. 2 (1947): 235–38. [^35]: The interested reader can refer to a previous article that intellectually justifies this as humanity’s purpose in life: Zohair Abdul-Rahman and Nazir Khan, “Proving God’s Existence | In Pursuit of Conviction II,” *Yaqeen*, October 11, 2019,  [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/in-pursuit-of-conviction-ii-proving-gods-existence](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/in-pursuit-of-conviction-ii-proving-gods-existence&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788558000907&usg=AOvVaw1K2ZBcvrgb3taEXtoFDiGC). [^36]: David McNaughton and Piers Rawling, “Deontology,” in *The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory*, ed. David Copp, [https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195325911.003.0016](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195325911.003.0016&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557983130&usg=AOvVaw36YIKD19OELA7FBswr7Nrn). [^37]: The categorical imperative states that moral agents should act as if that action would become universally applicable. [^38]: For a more accessible work on Kantian ethics, the reader can refer to: Herbert James Paton, *The Categorical Imperative: A Study in Kant’s Moral Philosophy* (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971). The more interested reader can refer directly to Kant’s original work: Immanuel Kant, *Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). [^39]: Anthony Quinton, *Utilitarian Ethics* (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1973), 1. [^40]: Quinton, *Utilitarian Ethics*. [^41]: Peter Simpson, “Contemporary Virtue Ethics and Aristotle,” *The Review of Metaphysics* 45, no. 3 (1992): 503–24. [^42]: For an overview of the Islamic theology of moral ontology, the interested reader can refer to the section on morality in this previous article: Abdul-Rahman and Khan, “Proving God’s Existence.” [^43]: A general term that can refer to any unlawful extramarital affair. [^44]: *Musnad Imām Aḥmad*, no. 22211. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ considered its chain to be *ṣaḥīḥ* in *Takhreej al-musnad*. [^45]: This “golden rule” of reciprocity has been explored in an article by Justin Parrott, “Al-Ghazali and the Golden Rule: Ethics of Reciprocity in the Works of a Muslim Sage,”  *Yaqeen*, March 20, 2017, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/al-ghazali-and-the-golden-rule-ethics-of-reciprocity-in-the-works-of-a-muslim-sage](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/al-ghazali-and-the-golden-rule-ethics-of-reciprocity-in-the-works-of-a-muslim-sage&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788558003882&usg=AOvVaw269fDRMfgxQXEolImk7V80). [^46]: *Muwaṭā Imām Mālik*, no. 1435; *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, nos. 2341 and 2340. Whilst the individual chains have been criticized, the scholars of hadith considered it fair (*ḥasan*) based on corroborating reports from multiple companions, including ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas, Abu Saʿīd al-Khudrī, and ʿUbādah ibn as-Ṣāmit. The scholars who made this judgment include an-Nawawī in his *Arbaʿūn* (hadith 32) and al-Albānī in his *Huqūq an-nisāʾ fī al-Islām* (N.p.: Maktab al-Islāmī, 1984), 67n1. [^47]: A principle that considers the benefit and harms of a legal ruling as an independent source of legislation, as long as it does not contradict the revealed sources. For an introduction to the topic, refer to: Muḥammad Musṭafa az-Zuhaylī, *Kitāb al-wajīz fī uṣūl al-fiqh al-Islamī* (Qatar: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa Ash-Shuʾūn Al-Islāmī, 2006), 1:255. [^48]: A principle that gives prohibitive weight to something that may lead to a known prohibition. Refer to: az-Zuhaylī, *Kitāb al-wajīz*, 1:279. [^49]: This refers to a process where a jurist prefers a weaker evidence to a stronger evidence due to a benefit that is to be achieved or a harm to be averted. This can be done by preferring a weaker analogy to a stronger analogy or making an exception to a general principle for a benefit or to avert a harm. Refer to: az-Zuhaylī, *Kitāb al-wajīz*, 1:247. [^50]: *Musnad Imam Aḥmad*, no. 8952; *Adab al-mufrad*, no. 273. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 476 AH) declared it *ṣaḥīh* in *at-Tamhīd* (N.p.: Wazārat al-Awqāf wa Ash-Shu’ūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1412 AH), 24:333 along with al-Albānī in *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Adab al-Mufrad*, no. 207. [^51]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, nos. 17545, 17999, and 18006; *Sunan ad-Dārimī*, no. 2533; *Musnad Abu Ya**ʾl**ā*, no. 1587. There are minor variations between these narrations. Imām Nawawī has graded it as fair (*ḥasan*) in his *Arbaʾūn* (forty) collection. [^52]: *Musnad Imām Aḥmad*, no. 6494; *Jāmiʾ at-Tirmidhī*, no. 1924; *Sunan Abī Dawud*, no. 4941. Al-Albānī declared it strong (*ṣaḥīḥ*) in *Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dawūd*, no. 4941. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʿūṭ declared it strong due to corroborating evidence (*ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi*). [^53]: Qur’an 5:42. [^54]: Qur’an 24:22. [^55]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *ʿUddat* *us-ṣabirīn wa dhakhīrat ash-shakirīn* (Jeddah: Dār ʿĀlam al-Fawāʾid, 2008), 85. [^56]: The rational justification of the evil of shirk is a project that exists within an Atharī paradigm of theology. As Ibn al-Qayyim stated, “What thing could the intellect verify if it does not know the intrinsic evilness of *shirk*? Knowing that it is evil is intuitive and known by necessity by the intellect.” Ibn al-Qayyim, *Madārij as-sālikīn* (Mansourah, Egypt: Fayḍ al-Maktabah, 2013), 203. This is in contrast to the Ashʿarī school, which denies that the intellect can grasp what is “good” or “evil” independent of revelation \[Ar-Razi, M. (1905) *Muhassal Afkaar al-Mutaqaddimeen wa al-Mutakhireen.* Cairo, Egypt: Al-Matba’ah Al-Husayniya, p. 148\]. [^57]: Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, *Madārij al-sālikīn bayna manāzil īyyāka naʿbudu wa īyyāka nastaʿīn* (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabi, 1973), 3:306. [^58]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Tarīq al-hijratayn* (Mecca: Dār ʿĀlim al-Fawāʿid, 2008), 524. [^59]: Qur’an 2:152. [^60]: J. H. Leek, “Treason and the Constitution,” *The Journal of Politics* 13, no. 4 (1951): 604–22 . [^61]: There is an interesting story found in the books of *tafsīr* regarding the first generation of humans. It is said that when Adam intended to take a religious pilgrimage, he asked the sky to protect his children as an *amānah* (responsibility, trust), and it refused. He then asked the earth, and it refused. He asked the mountain, and it refused. Then Cain (Qābīl, Adam’s son) said, yes, you may go and find your family just how you would like it. This indicates that human beings rely on each other for collective protection, whereas the natural elements have no such trust \[Ibn al-Jawzī, *Zād al-masīr ilā ʿilm at-tafsīr* (Cairo: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2002), 1141\]. [^62]: *Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, nos. 4477, 4761, 6001, 6811, 6861, 7520, and 7532; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, nos. 86a and 86b; [^63]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Tarīq al-hijratayn*, 523. [^64]: Qur’an 82:6–8. [^65]: Qur’an 16:56. [^66]: *Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*, nos. 4477, 4761, 6001, 6811, 6861, 7520, and 7532; *Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*, nos. 86a and 86b. [^67]: Qur’an 45:23. [^68]: Qur’an 33:72. [^69]: At-Ṭabarī, *Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān* (Beirut: Muʾassasat ar-Risālah, 2014), vol 6, 204. [^70]: Qur’an 25:43. [^71]: Qur’an 7:71. [^72]: Qur’an 29:17. [^73]: Qur’an 53:23. [^74]: Christian Smith, “Is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism the New Religion of American Youth? Implications for the Challenge of Religious Socialization and Reproduction,” in *Passing on the Faith*, ed. James L. Heft (New York: Fordham University Press, 2009), 55–74. [^75]: Qur’an 16:116. [^76]: Qur’an 18:5. [^77]: Qurʾan 98:1 [^78]: Qur’an 39:65. [^79]: Qur’an 28:64. [^80]: Qur’an, 16:33 [^81]: Ibn al-Qayyim, *Tarīq al-hijratayn*, 527. [^82]: This passage references the historical institution of slavery. For a more thorough understanding of the Islamic perspective on slavery, please refer to a previous article: Jonathan Brown and Abdullah Hamid Ali, “Slavery and Islam: What is Slavery?,” *Yaqeen*, February 7, 2017, [https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/slavery-and-islam-what-is-slavery](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/slavery-and-islam-what-is-slavery&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788558004983&usg=AOvVaw0X5fvaFUCGNA1RXYpYjhJr). [^83]: Qur’an 39:29. [^84]: Ar-Rāzī, *Mafātīḥ al-ghayb* (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, 1981), 26:277. [^85]: Viktor E. Frankl, *The Unheard Cry for Meaning: Psychotherapy and Humanism* (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011), 2. [^86]: ​​Monika Ardelt, “Effects of Religion and Purpose in Life on Elders’ Subjective Well-Being and Attitudes toward Death,” *Journal of Religious Gerontology* 14, no. 4 (2003): 55–77; Patrick E. McKnight Todd B. Kashdan, “Purpose in Life as a System that Creates and Sustains Health and Well-Being: An Integrative, Testable Theory,” *Review of General Psychology* 13, no. 3 (2009): 242–51; Gary T. Reker, Edward J. Peacock, and Paul T. P. Wong, “Meaning and Purpose in Life and Well-Being: A Life-Span Perspective,” *Journal of Gerontology* 42, no. 1 (1987): 44–49. [^87]: Naser Aghababaei and Agata Błachnio, “Purpose in Life Mediates the Relationship between Religiosity and Happiness: Evidence from Poland,” *Mental Health, Religion & Culture* 17, no. 8 (2014): 827–31. [^88]: Qur’an 12:106. [^89]: Gary T. Reker, Edward J. Peacock, and Paul T. P. Wong, “Meaning and Purpose in Life and Well-Being: A Life-Span Perspective,” *Journal of Gerontology* 42, no. 1 (1987): 44–49. [^90]: Reker, Peacock, and Wong, “Meaning and Purpose in Life and Well-Being,” 44–49. [^91]: Qur’an 21:22. [^92]: Chris Hedges, *Empire of Illusion* (New York: Bold Type Books, 2010), 17. [^93]: “Introduction,” Signs of Our Faith: A Program about Being UU Every Day for Grades 2–3, Unitarian Universalist Association, [https://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/signs/session11/287903.shtml](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/signs/session11/287903.shtml&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557994638&usg=AOvVaw3i0gybf8VL4iQHgD15WB_H). [^94]: Qur’an 25:43. [^95]: *Sunan Abū Dāwūd*, no. 3883. Al-Albānī declared this narration *ṣaḥīḥ* (sound) \[*Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dawūd*, no. 3883\]. [^96]: *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 16951. Al-Arnāʾūṭ declared this narration *ḥasan* (fair) \[*Musnad Imām Aḥmad*, no 16951\] and As-Suyūṭī declared it *ṣaḥīḥ* (sound) \[*Al-Jamiʾ As-Saghīr*, no. 8839\]. [^97]: *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, no. 3531; *Musnad Aḥmad*, no. 19498. The scholars have differed on the authenticity of this report. Al-Albānī declared it *ḍaʾīf* (weak) \[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah, no 3531\]. Bin Bāz declared the chain as good (*jayyid*) \[*Fatāwā Nūr ʿalaa ad-Darb li-Ibn Bāz*, (Riyāḍ: Ar-Riʾāsatu al-ʿĀmmah lil-Buḥūth wa al-Iftāʾ, 2007), vol. 1, 383\]. Regardless of the chain, the content is consistent with other authentic narrations that speak about the prohibition of charms and amulets as quoted above. [^98]: Qur’an 10:49. [^99]: Qur’an 21:22. [^100]: Qur’an 45:3–4. [^101]: Richard Dawkins admits that Hitler drew inspiration from Social Darwinism, but argues it was not a faithful representation of Darwin’s ideas. \[Dawkins, R. (2009). *The greatest show on earth: The evidence for evolution*. Simon and Schuster, ch. 3\]. [^102]: *Musnad Imam Aḥmad*, no. 23489; declared *ṣaḥīḥ* by al-Arnāʾūṭ. [^103]: “Who is the First Anti-Racist?| Dr. Craig Considine”  Emir-Stein Center, YouTube video, June 18, 2019, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTwft2KX9xE](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DhTwft2KX9xE&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788558007271&usg=AOvVaw3vUC-tDUZcSsNbIAtvc1o0) [^104]: *Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah*, no. 30387; declared fair (*ḥasan*) by Ibn Ḥajr al-Haythamī in *Majmāʾ al-Zawāʾid* (Beirut: Dār ul-Kutub ʿIlmīyyah, 2001), 9:285. [^105]: Adh-Dhahabī, *Sīyar* *aʿlām an-nubalāʾ* (Beirut: Muʾassasa Ar-Risālah, 1982), 5:81. [^106]: Mohammad Akram Nadwi, *Al-Muḥaddith̄**ā**t: The Women Scholars in Islam* (N.p.: Interface Publications, 2007). [^107]: “Ask Shaykh YQ Special With Dr. Akram Nadwi,” Yasir Qadhi, YouTube video, July 22, 2020, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjFCF2QsMQ8](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DTjFCF2QsMQ8&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557997811&usg=AOvVaw0IG5McNcQniTYYdUUvFIoZ). [^108]: “Malcolm X: America Needs Islam,” OnePath Network, YouTube video, February 23, 2016,  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvvTYJVZu3A](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DbvvTYJVZu3A&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1658788557998382&usg=AOvVaw1TcRsukp_I8eFRviVu4ew-). [^109]: Qur’an 29:69. [^110]: Peters, T. (2022). When Did Homo Sapiens Become Homo Religiosus?: Just-so Stories, Evolution, and Big History. In *Science, Religion, and Deep Time* (pp. 336-358). Routledge India. ## Summary **Why Beliefs Matter and Why Shirk Is the Greatest Evil** Human beings have always been preoccupied with the same enduring questions: life after death, the reality of the soul, morality, and the nature of God. So central are these concerns that some anthropologists have named our species *Homo Religiosus*, defining us not by wisdom but by our shared religious activity. Even in an age of declining traditional religion, this impulse does not vanish; it merely finds new outlets. The New Atheists pontificate about morality and the origins of the universe, New Age spiritualists assemble their own mysticism from ancient fragments, and social media crusaders enforce their own notions of right and wrong through cancel culture. The modern world has not left religion behind but has replaced old faiths with new ones. How a person or civilization answers these ultimate questions determines its very spirit, for these answers reveal our purpose, to whom we are accountable, and for what. To begin with false beliefs at the root is to invite ruin in the branches. A common assumption is that beliefs are morally neutral—that a wrong belief reflects only a lack of intelligence, not a failure of character. Yet this confuses trivial academic questions with questions of ultimate moral weight. When beliefs concern the very definition of good and evil, they carry moral implications. Moreover, arriving at truth in these matters is not a purely academic exercise, since such questions often lie beyond science and deductive reason. Reaching truth requires the authentic reflection of a pure *ʿaql* (intellect) that draws upon spiritual, emotional, moral, and rational faculties together. Moral vices such as arrogance, narcissism, and negligence cloud this process, veiling the heart from truth—much as an arrogant, self-absorbed spouse cannot perceive the pain he inflicts within his marriage. It must be noted, however, that Islamic eschatology excuses those who never receive a clear articulation of the truth, for the Qur'an makes plain that accountability to believe follows only after a messenger has conveyed the message. Whether one could independently reach truth without revelation remains a theoretical debate among theologians. The modern "post-truth era" has bred a widespread apathy toward truth and an embrace of salvific pluralism, captured in the cliché, "Just be a good person; it doesn't matter what you believe." Yet this is paradoxical, for the very conception of a "good person" rests upon a belief about the Ultimate Good. History bears witness to the destruction wrought by false beliefs: Nazi Germany's Social Darwinism and the Soviet Union's militant atheistic communism produced the greatest catastrophes of the twentieth century. Even beliefs that are not politically destructive may still corrode the soul. In Islam, the truth of existence is *tawḥīd*—the absolute oneness of the Divine—while the ultimate evil is *shirk*—associating partners with God, which robs life of clear purpose. This has been the message of every messenger: *"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], 'Worship Allah [alone] and avoid Ṭāghūt.'"* When the Prophet ﷺ was asked which sin is greatest, he replied, "That you set up with Allah a rival while He is the One who created you." Many Muslims nonetheless struggle to understand why *shirk* should be worse than horrendous crimes against humanity, and this confusion may sow doubts about salvation. Through deontological, virtue-ethical, and consequentialist frameworks—read within Islamic theology—*shirk* can be shown to be the greatest evil, and the psychological gap between believing this and feeling it can be explored. A vital distinction must be drawn between *moral outrage* and *moral magnitude*. Our emotional reactions are shaped by contextual factors and are not reliable gauges of a crime's true weight. A serial killer who kills five stirs more outrage than a politician whose drone strikes kill thousands, because the former threatens our sense of personal security. Feelings of personal vulnerability, past trauma, and one's worldview all distort our reactions; psychometric research even struggles to separate personal anger from moral anger. A person who feels no outrage at *shirk*, then, betrays his own weak connection to *tawḥīd*—for the stronger one's love for Allah, the greater one's distress when others associate partners with Him, as the Qur'an describes the heavens nearly rupturing at the claim that the Most Merciful has taken a son. Since Allah is completely self-sufficient and cannot be harmed or benefited by His creation, His commands rest entirely upon *our* benefit; revelation is described as a cure, guidance, light, and mercy. As *Al-Ḥaqq* (The Real), the greatest evil is to violate His nature by denying His oneness, to which all His attributes are connected. As *Al-Muqsiṭ* (The Just), He must prohibit and punish the gravest of crimes, for treating the submitters like the criminals would be unjust. Because *shirk* violates the entire Divine Reality, it is likened in the Qur'an to a bad tree "uprooted from the surface of the earth, having no stability," bearing no fruit. Deeds built upon *tawḥīd*, by contrast, are always rooted and fruitful, and may be magnified by *Ash-Shakūr* (The Most Appreciative). Allah's warning against *shirk* thus flows from His love and mercy, not self-interest; He "warns you of Himself" while being "Kind to His servants." This is reflected in the Prophet's ﷺ supplication reported by ʿĀʾisha: "I seek refuge in You from You." The true magnitude of any evil is measured by its consequences in the afterlife, the abode of ultimate justice, where every soul is recompensed without injustice. Worldly legal punishments are no gauge of moral weight, for lying, backbiting, mistreatment of parents, and *ribā*—described as "waging war against Allah"—carry no prescribed worldly penalty, whereas public drunkenness does. Even *shirk* itself has no worldly punishment. Islamic law protects the essentials of society—religion, life, property, family, and intellect—but was never designed to punish every immorality; some are too grave for human courts and are escalated to the court of the Most High. Good and evil presuppose an ultimate purpose, just as a "good" move in a game only has meaning if the game has a point. If life's purpose is to realize *tawḥīd* by following the path of the prophets, then *shirk* is its opposite and the ultimate evil. The three Western ethical paradigms each capture a dimension of moral reasoning found in Islamic sources, though none is complete once severed from its Divine foundation. The Prophet ﷺ employed reasoning resembling Kant's categorical imperative when he asked the young man seeking permission for *zinā* whether he would accept it for his mother, sister, or daughter. Consequentialist reasoning appears in the maxim "There is to be no harm and no reciprocation of harm," and in principles such as *al-maṣlaḥa al-mursala*, *sadd ad-dharāʾiʿ*, and *istiḥsān*. Virtue ethics aligns with the Prophet's mission—"I have only been sent to perfect noble character"—and with the counsel to Wābiṣa to seek judgment from one's heart. As Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH) explained, Allah loves the manifestations of His own attributes in His servants. From a deontological view, *tawḥīd* is an inviolable principle, so that even one coerced under threat of death must preserve it in his heart; Ibn al-Qayyim notes that the one who commits *shirk* acts "in direct contradiction to what he was created for." From a virtue-ethical view, *shirk* is rooted in betrayal—the betrayal of one's Benefactor and purpose, for *kufr* itself means ingratitude. Betrayal is arguably the root of all crime, as treason, adultery, murder, and theft each violate a trust; and the degree of betrayal grows with the benevolence and trust extended. Since every blessing, including existence itself, flows from the Most Benevolent, betraying Him is the gravest of all crimes, even when it takes the subtle form of ignoring the covenant or taking one's desires as a god. Man was entrusted with the *amāna*, which at-Ṭabarī explains encompasses every duty toward God and every trust between people. *Shirk* is ultimately narcissism and self-worship, in which man deifies his own ego and "creates" his own morality—a tendency visible today in "moralistic therapeutic deism" and cancel culture, both echoing the audacity of the ancient idol-carvers. From a consequentialist view, harm must be expanded beyond the material to include the psychological, intellectual, social, and eternal. The ultimate harm is in the afterlife, where *shirk* nullifies all deeds. Psychologically, the Qur'an likens the idolater to a slave owned by quarreling partners; al-Rāzī describes him as confused and in continuous misery. Since purpose is essential to well-being—Viktor Frankl observed that meaninglessness drives even the outwardly successful to despair, and studies show purpose mediates between religiosity and happiness—*shirk* destroys meaning itself, for "had there been gods besides Allah, they would have been ruined." Modern forms include atheism, which ascribes creation to nothingness, and celebrity worship, of which Chris Hedges writes that America has become "a de facto polytheistic society." Intellectually, the Prophet ﷺ condemned amulets, charms, and superstition as *shirk*, establishing rationality as the tool for worldly decisions. Socially, pagan and Social-Darwinist hierarchies oppress the vulnerable, whereas *tawḥīd* grounds human equality, since all descend from one Lord and one father, Adam—there being "no favor of an Arab over a non-Arab… except by righteousness." Dr. Craig Considine regards this as the first recorded advocacy of racial equality. The early generations reflected this ethos: Bilāl, Sālim, ʿĀʾisha, and the blind African jurist ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ all rose to prominence, and Dr. Akram Nadwi documented thousands of female hadith scholars while finding none among the philosophically-influenced schools. Malcolm X likewise testified to the racial brotherhood he witnessed on Hajj. Where Muslim societies fell short of this ethos, it was in contradiction of Islamic principles, not because of them. In conclusion, idolatry stands as the highest category of evil within every ethical paradigm. Emotional reactions must not be mistaken for true moral magnitude, for human beings are biased by their own subjectivities. Recognizing the tension between feeling and theological conviction, then scrutinizing one's biases, and finally drawing ever closer to Allah, brings emotion and belief into harmony: *"And those who strive for Us—We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good."* ## Key Takeaways 1. The intuitive discomfort many Muslims feel toward *shirk* being the greatest sin stems from a confusion between moral outrage and moral magnitude. Emotional reactions to wrongdoing are shaped by personal vulnerability, trauma, anger, and worldview, not by an objective measurement of evil. A Muslim who feels no outrage toward *shirk* reveals a weak connection to *tawḥīd* itself, since the strength of one’s love for Allah determines how seriously one regards His being associated with partners. 2. *Shirk* represents the greatest evil because it violates the foundational truth of existence: the absolute oneness of Allah. Since good and evil are measured against the ultimate purpose of life, and the purpose of life in Islam is the realization of *tawḥīd*, the inversion of that purpose through *shirk* is by definition the worst possible action. It is described in the Qur’an as a tree with no roots and no fruit, rendering even seemingly good deeds spiritually void when built on its foundation. 3. *Shirk* registers as the ultimate evil across multiple ethical frameworks, not only by Islamic scripture. From a deontological standpoint, it violates the most universal moral principle; from a virtue-ethics standpoint, it severs the connection between human character and the Divine attributes that ground all virtue; from a consequentialist standpoint, it produces the gravest spiritual and existential harms in both this life and the next. Allah’s condemnation of *shirk* is therefore an act of mercy, warning humanity away from what leads to ruin rather than reflecting any divine self-interest. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why is shirk considered the greatest sin in Islam? *Shirk*, the act of associating partners with Allah in worship, lordship, or attributes, is the greatest sin because it violates the most fundamental truth of existence: the absolute oneness of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ was once asked which sin is the greatest. He answered that it is to set up a rival with Allah while He is the One who created you. Every other moral question presupposes a purpose to life. If life has no purpose, the words “good” and “bad” lose all meaning, just as a move in a game has no value without a goal the game is aiming toward. In Islam, the purpose of life is *tawhīd*, the worship of Allah alone. *Shirk* is the direct rejection of this purpose, which is why it stands at the highest category of evil. It also violates the very nature of the Divine, since Allah’s oneness is connected to all of His other attributes. To deny it is to deny everything that flows from it. Severe consequences follow not because Allah needs anything from us, but because His justice could not allow the greatest violation of reality to go unaddressed. ### Why does shirk feel less evil to me than something like murder? Because the emotional response we feel toward a crime is not the same as the magnitude of the crime. Moral outrage is shaped by several factors that have nothing to do with how grave an act actually is. We feel more strongly about crimes that threaten our own sense of safety, crimes we have suffered ourselves, and crimes that attack values we hold dear. A serial killer who has killed five people generally evokes more outrage than a politician whose decisions cause thousands of deaths overseas, even though the second crime is far greater in scale. We feel more for victims who could have been our neighbors than for those we cannot identify with. Our emotions track what is more likely to harm us, not what is actually worse. The same dynamic applies to *shirk*. A friend or neighbor of another faith who treats us with kindness does not feel like someone committing the greatest evil, even though theologically they are. A Muslim who feels no moral concern about *shirk* has revealed something about their own connection to *tawhīd* rather than something about the actual gravity of the act. The stronger one’s love for Allah, the more naturally a sense of seriousness about *shirk* emerges. ### Why is shirk treated so severely when it can seem like a private belief that harms no one? The assumption behind this question is that the worst crimes are those with the most visible harm against others. That assumption holds for most worldly crimes, but it breaks down when applied to the relationship between a human being and Allah. Three points clarify why. First, Allah is completely self-sufficient and free of need from any of His creation. His prohibitions exist for the sake of human beings, not for His own benefit. *Shirk* is forbidden because it harms the one who commits it, not because Allah is somehow diminished by it. Second, the gravity of an act is measured by the trust and benevolence it betrays, and every breath, faculty, and blessing a person enjoys comes from Allah. Redirecting devotion away from Him is the deepest betrayal possible, even if no other person is visibly harmed. Third, the harm of *shirk* on the individual is real, even when it is not visible. It corrodes a person’s sense of meaning and purpose in life, since coherent purpose depends on a single, ultimate point of orientation. When divinity is multiplied or denied, the human being is left with competing aims, no clear value system, and no stable answer to who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. The severity of the response matches the depth of what is being violated and the depth of what is being destroyed within the person, not the visibility of any immediate harm to others. ### In what sense is shirk an act of betrayal? At its core, *shirk* is the betrayal of the One who gave a person their entire existence and every blessing they have ever known. The magnitude of any betrayal is measured by two things: the depth of benevolence shown by the one betrayed, and the depth of trust they extended. Both are infinite in the relationship between Allah and His servant. Every breath, every faculty, every gift comes from the Most Benevolent. To then redirect love, devotion, and ultimate loyalty to another is the gravest betrayal a human being can commit. This is why the worst crimes in human life share the structure of betrayal: treason against a nation, adultery within a marriage, and infanticide by a parent. The Prophet ﷺ described each of these sins in their most egregious form precisely because the element of betrayal makes them so devastating. *Shirk* is the original and ultimate form of this same wrong, directed against the Being to whom the deepest loyalty is owed. ### Does shirk still exist today, or is it just an ancient practice of worshiping statues? *Shirk* in the modern world rarely involves carved stone, but it is alive in subtler and arguably more dangerous forms. Whenever a person takes anything other than Allah as the ultimate authority over their values, choices, and direction in life, the underlying logic of *shirk* is at work. One contemporary form is what scholars have called “moralistic therapeutic deism,” a self-serving spirituality where a person cherry-picks virtues from various traditions to construct a religion that flatters their preferences, with no scripture or authority guiding them. Another is celebrity worship, where fans build temples of attention around figures whose every word and image they consume, hoping for some transference of meaning or significance. Even atheism can reproduce the logic of shirk when it assigns divine-like ultimacy to created things, impersonal forces, or the self. A subtler form occurs whenever a person follows their own desires as their ultimate authority, deciding for themselves what is right and wrong without reference to revelation. The Qur’an describes this directly: “Have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god” (Qur’an 25:43)? As one writer put it, a person will worship something, and what they worship, they will become. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/healing-the-soul-religion-and-mental-health # Healing the Soul: Religion and Mental Health | Blog **Author:** Yaqeen Institute **Topics:** General Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health **Tags:** Blog, Mental Health, Self-Improvement **Published:** July 20, 2022 **Updated:** July 30, 2024 ## Holding on to the rope of Allah when we feel we can’t hold on. I remember watching my son amble up the jungle gym packed in his snowsuit, while I chatted with my friend one winter morning during a playdate. I had been telling my friend that [our research at Yaqeen](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/faith-in-mind-islams-role-in-mental-health) had uncovered how intertwined mental health and religiosity are in the life of a Muslim. Religiosity and mental health are so linked that when a Muslim experiences mental health issues, it is likely they will also experience a dip in their faith. The converse also holds true: when the believer undergoes tests in their *iman*, they will likely at the same time experience mental health issues. Religiosity and mental health seem inextricably wound together. As parents, we are deeply concerned about how we can raise our children so they can have a fighting chance to hold on to their faith. This faith-mental health connection means that nurturing our children’s mental health is also critical to safeguarding their faith. I squinted at my friend in the winter sunlight as she pushed her daughter on the swing, hoping that had made sense. As scientists, we are painfully aware that the work we do often becomes so abstract and indiscernible that we fumble when trying to explain the real-world application of our research. After listening intently, my friend said, “That makes complete sense. It’s like you want to hold on to the rope of Allah but your hands are slippery.” --- ## The turbulent heart I marveled at how beautifully my friend had captured the crux of the message. When we face mental health issues, our hands do indeed become slippery. Whether it’s our worries that distract us in prayer, depression that makes it difficult for us to see the world with gratitude, or deep grief that can make us lose hope in Allah’s mercy—our emotional state deeply impacts our ability to commune with our Lord. We are emotional beings, and the word *motion* is in the word “emotion” for a reason. Our emotional state is in constant flux. While we may not display our emotions so readily, we certainly witness that turbulence of emotion within our children, who can shift from having a full-blown meltdown, screaming, “You’re the WORST mom ever!!” to smothering us with hugs and kisses, all in a matter of seconds. As our beloved Prophet ﷺ once said, > “The heart of the son of Adam is more inconsistent than boiling water” \[*Al-Jami’ Al-Saghir* #7282\]. Amid this constant emotional turmoil, naturally holding onto the rope of Allah becomes challenging. Indeed, our Prophet ﷺ was acutely aware of this constant state of motion, and the most oft-repeated *du’a* on his ﷺ lips was, > “O Turner of Hearts, make my heart firm on your path” \[*Jami’ At-Tirmidhi* #4522\]. --- ## Seeking the Healer It is easy in this secular world to find comfort or understanding in mainstream outlets—a novel that makes us weep or a movie that stirs our hearts. A simple Google search can yield dozens of mainstream mental health services, therapists, and sources of beneficial knowledge who offer to guide us through the psychological turmoil we are facing. But for the believer, if mental health and religiosity are inextricably woven together, then this therapeutic journey will have something critical missing. As believers, we need to tie the healing of our soul to our Lord, our Cherisher and Guide. When we divorce the healing of our soul from our *Rabb*, we enter murky terrain because we take our Healer out of the equation. In the same way, when the upbringing (*tarbiya*) of our children is devoid of warmth and emotional nurturing, our children may find their *iman* on shaky ground. Inability to process personal trauma is one of the most [common pathways to crises of faith for Muslims](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/youssef-chouhoud/modern-pathways-to-doubt-in-islam/) and overly strict teaching of faith can lead to harboring doubt. As parents, we need to arm our children with the tools of emotional regulation and resilience while we impart the lessons of our *deen*. This is critical so they can navigate the difficult questions in life and face loss, while still nurturing their *iman* and mental health. Finding meaning in our suffering—our deep conviction that Allah has a greater plan for us—is one of the most profound sources of solace for us as believers that helps us hold on to our faith even when our hands get slippery. --- ## The central role of religiosity in Muslim mental health This means that when we face emotional turmoil and mental health issues, seeking care options that nurture both our mental health and spiritual well-being may be the most beneficial. [In our study](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/faith-in-mind-islams-role-in-mental-health), we found that religiosity was the *best* predictor of positive mental health outcomes like life purpose, life satisfaction, and well-being. The other predictors like, age, gender, and education were significant, but didn’t come close to the impact of religiosity. Islamically-integrated mental health care can speak not only to the psychological turmoil we are facing, but also get to our spiritual heart—the beating heart of the believer. --- ## Hiding in the shadows: Muslim doubt Similarly, when a believer faces a crisis in their faith, they will also likely struggle with their mental health. These crises of faith affect the best of us. A companion once came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah! One of us has thoughts of such nature that he would rather be reduced to charcoal than speak about them." The Prophet replied, > “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Praise be to Allah Who has reduced the evil of the devil to only suggestions and whisperings” \[*Sunan Abī Dāwūd* #5112\]. Our *deen* is so merciful that it recognizes that having religious doubts and not improperly acting upon them is a sign of clear faith (*iman*) and our merciful Lord rewards us for the discomfort we feel over those doubts. We are also given practical instruction to deal with our doubts by saying, “*Amantu billah*” (I believe in Allah) and to remind ourselves that doubts are just evidence of Shaytan’s persistence, rather than a sign of our own wickedness. However, many of us feel so ashamed of our doubts and questions that we would rather stumble in darkness than seek help. It was only when I found myself in an *alamiyyah* program with access to scholars every week that I finally gained the courage to approach one of my teachers to help me through an existential crisis. We need to close the gap between ourselves and our teachers. We cannot have people feeling like they don’t have anyone to turn to. In the same way, our children will also struggle with religious doubts. Just the other day, my son stubbed his toe and lamented, “Why does Allah make me get hurt?!” Evidently, even for a child, personal trauma is a pathway to doubt. The number one factor in our homes related to cultivating “sticky faith”—the kind of *iman* that we hold on to for dear life even through all of life’s storms—is open communication, where our kids can come to us with their religious doubts and not have them shut down.[^1],[^2] When we cannot address them adequately, we can role model healthy help-seeking by taking our child’s question to an imam or religious scholar and continuously seeking knowledge ourselves. --- ## The need for deep connection If a symbiotic relationship exists between religiosity and mental health, then this means that we need to teach our children (and us adults) how to emotionally connect with the Qur'an and our *deen*. As Muhammad Iqbal’s father once said to him, > “Son! Whenever you recite the Qur’an, do so as if it is being revealed to your heart. By reading the Qur’an like this, it will soon permeate your very being.”[^3] This deep emotional-spiritual connection is what will bond us to our Lord. This beautiful conversation between a father and his son also points to how we as parents can help our children nurture this emotional connection to the Word of Allah. Without this critical piece, the dry teaching of our faith will lead to a generation who will not find solace in their faith, who will look anywhere and everywhere else for meaning and comfort. A generation for whom faith becomes irrelevant, because when hardship hits, as it inevitably will, their faith will not be there to console them. --- ## Working together moving forward I don't know about you, but I certainly wasn't taught my faith this way. And if this continues, we risk losing our youth, raising a generation who cannot taste the sweetness of faith because it fails to stir their soul. As I watched my son and my friend’s daughter build a snowman together, I considered how working together is the only way to move forward for imams and religious scholars and mental health professionals. It is only through this bridging and collaboration, where imams and religious scholars work in tandem with mental health professionals, that we can ensure the mental health and spiritual well-being of a believer in crisis. All the educators involved in our children’s Islamic upbringing, from Islamic school teachers to the weekend Qur’an teacher at the masjid and Muslim children’s media, need to be a part of this conversation as well. The thoughtful imparting of our *deen* to our children, which fosters their spiritual and emotional growth, will allow their faith to flourish long after we’re gone. Our hands will get slippery. We will face trials in life that will bring us to our knees. In those moments, we may feel distant from our Lord, and this alienation from the Divine will make our hearts shatter. As Muslims we need to take hold of all the tools in our arsenal to draw close to our *Rabb*. Through thoughtful spiritual and psychological counseling, we as believers can find an integration of our spiritual and emotional selves so we can firmly grasp the rope of Allah once again. To learn more about the connection between religiosity and mental health, read our study [Faith in Mind: Islam’s Role in Mental Health](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/faith-in-mind-islams-role-in-mental-health) [\[1\]](#ftnt_ref1) Powell, K., & Clark, C. (2011). *Sticky faith: Everyday ideas to build lasting faith in your kids.* Zondervan. [\[2\]](#ftnt_ref2) Ibn Mas’ud RA also asked for “sticky faith” when he beautifully supplicated for “faith that never wavers” اللهم إني أسألُك إيمانًا لا يرتدُّ ونعيمًا لا ينفَدُ ومرافقةَ محمدٍ في أعلى جنةِ الخُلدِ “O Allah I ask you for unwavering *iman* (faith) and endless bliss and the company of Muhammad SAW in the highest eternal paradise.” [\[3\]](#ftnt_ref3) Sayyid Nazir Niyazi, Iqbal kay Huzur, trans. Ahmed Afzaal (Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 1971), 60–61. --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/blog/5-ways-to-raise-practicing-muslim-children # 5 Ways to Raise Practicing Muslim Children | Blog **Authors:** Yaqeen Institute, Sh. Ibrahim Hindy **Topics:** Family & Community, Parenting **Tags:** Blog **Published:** July 18, 2022 **Updated:** January 26, 2026 Being a parent can be a harrowing experience. At every age and stage in life we worry about our children. We worry about whether our babies have had enough to eat. We worry about whether our toddler might scrape their knees. And we worry about how our teenager will deal with pressure at school. But, to be honest, many of these concerns are trivial and they make us lose sight of the things that truly matter, like [whether our children will remain Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/osman-umarji/will-my-children-be-muslim-doubletake-podcast). Because at the end of the day, our primary mission as parents is to protect and prepare our kids for the hereafter. Allah instructs us in the Qur’an: > “O believers! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones.” \[ Qur’an, 66:6 \] In this day and age, this feels like a daunting task. We’re living in a world that is drowning us in un-Islamic ideas and values, from cartoons and movies, to teachers and classmates. So what can we do to best protect our children? I thought about my experience as an Imam for the past decade and all the kids I’ve met in my community. I’ve interacted with children and youth from all sorts of backgrounds, and some have undoubtedly stood out through their devotion to Islam and beautiful character. When I met these kids, I couldn’t help but wonder: What did their parents do differently? After a lot of reflecting, I realized that all of their parents shared five essential habits: --- ## 1 - They take their kids to the masjid often. One common theme is that their parents bring them to the masjid nearly every day. One father, for example, would be at the masjid multiple times a day, bringing his kids practically once a day with him. The masjid provides a strong Islamic environment and provides an opportunity for children to meet other kids who are being raised similarly. In general, we underestimate the power of the masjid. Even if nothing is happening and the masjid is empty, there is a spiritual benefit just being there. We know there is tremendous reward in our *deen* in merely waiting in the masjid from prayer to prayer. It has a serenity within and reminds us constantly of our Creator, which strengthens our mental health–even that of a child. --- ## 2 - They are best friends with their kids. Not in an overbearing way. Yes, these kids also have close peers their age but they are still very close to their parents. They’ve developed an intimate relationship where they feel comfortable sharing their experiences and talking to their parents about their entire day. No doubt, it takes time to develop this level of rapport and connection, but it is a result of the parent and child spending a lot of time together. Being in the company of your child is important–especially being 'present' with them. This helps us create closeness and the ability to communicate easily. --- ## 3 - They develop supportive peer connections. These parents find families with similar-aged kids, who are raising their children the same way, and spend time together. As a parent, you can befriend your child but you can never be their peer. They need a peer connection in their life, but one that does not undermine the values and ideals that you are raising your own children with. That means you have to be aware and selective of who your children are befriending and ideally play a role in ensuring they are spending the right time with the right kids. The earlier you can establish this, the better. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. By finding like-minded families, these parents have created their own village. --- ## 4 - They are serious about Islamic education. They make use of community programs like youth *halaqah*s, weekend schools, etc. But they go beyond this too. These parents are committed to learning about Islam themselves. The vessel can only pour forth what it contains. Even if your kids attend Islamic programs, they need religious education reinforced at home. You need to be educated enough to teach them their religion, give them resources to learn, and have conversations about the “why,”  like [why God asks us to worship Him](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-does-god-ask-people-to-worship-him) and [why evil exists](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/infographics/why-does-god-allow-evil-to-exist-infographic). You can check out some great resources at Yaqeen like [Conversations](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/conversations) or [Curriculum](http://yaqeeninstitute.org/curriculum) to help you along the way! --- ## 5 - They own the conversation on difficult topics. Kids are now easily exposed to difficult topics like sex, masturbation, drugs, and gender identity. Whether in a public school, a playground, or browsing online, they are often exposed early and outside of a proper Islamic framing. > That means that you need to talk to your kids about these topics much earlier than you would prefer. You need to 'own' this conversation. Talk to them about it, openly and sincerely, allowing for two-way communication. Your kids need to feel comfortable talking to you about these topics. You need to not only frame these issues within a framework of Islamic ethics, but you need to help them think through and manage situations at school where it may be difficult to navigate as Muslim kids. Role-play situations that might happen in the classroom or on the playground to help them build their confidence in social settings so they can stay true to their beliefs. While raising children in today’s world is no easy feat, we can take comfort in knowing that, after we try our best, ultimate guidance is in the hands of Allah. May Allah guide us all and our children to His Straight Path - ameen. Learn more about Keys to Prophetic Parenting. [Watch the video series here.](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/ibrahim-hindy/key-1-vision-keys-to-prophetic-parenting) --- URL: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/prophetic-ethics-a-model-for-those-seeking-god-and-eternal-life # Prophetic Ethics: A Model for those Seeking God and Eternal Life **Author:** Dr. Ovamir Anjum **Topics:** Islamic Ethics, Politics & Practical Theology **Tags:** Paper, Publication **Published:** July 14, 2022 **Updated:** November 4, 2025 For part one in this Ethics Series, see [Being a “Good Person” is Not Enough: Why Ethics Need Islam](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/being-a-good-person-is-not-enough-why-ethics-need-islam) --- ## Introduction “God is Beautiful and loves beauty,” said Muhammad ﷺ, the Final Messenger of God.[^1] And nothing is more beautiful for the human being, after faith in the Truth Most High, than the manifestation of that faith in one’s character, *akhlāq*. “I have come only to perfect the noble traits of character,” he ﷺ declared. Recall that in the previous article we explored the meanings of this statement and showed that Allah instilled the love of truth and moral beauty in human nature (*fi**ṭ**ra*) so that when people encounter divine revelation, they see its truth and beauty instinctively, just as when they encounter beauty and order in creation, they think of the perfection and wisdom of the Creator. People are lovers of goodness by nature and develop many types of virtue even in the absence of direct guidance from revelation. The Messenger of God ﷺ never denied people’s “inner light” but rather appreciated, identified, and enhanced it by providing it the right motivation and direction. However, when bereft of divine guidance, the divinely gifted instinct for truth and beauty, *fiṭra*, is counteracted and at times utterly sabotaged by transgressive desire, false ideas, and/or misguided culture, leading to a struggle between the two and often the total loss of truth and goodness. We showed why ethics need Islam, and why the answer to the question, ‘How ought we to live?’ must come from God, the source and end-goal of life. Good conduct, we learned, is the fulfillment of the ultimate truth and goodness rather than merely a function of utility, feeling, or fulfillment of desire. In this article, we explore the nature and essence of Islamic ethics. The One who gave us life has also given us guidance on how to live it, sending messengers to all peoples to teach both timeless truths and concrete ways to worship. The messengers guided and enhanced humans’ innate nature as well as rational capacity to pursue the good in a dazzling variety of conditions in which humans have struggled and flourished. As humanity matured, God in His infinite wisdom sealed the line of prophets with a final one, sending down a final revelation that would suffice every searching human being in any future time and any circumstance. To ensure human access to guidance, He not only [preserved His final revelation](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-uthmanic-codex-understanding-how-the-quran-was-preserved&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1657834410491595&usg=AOvVaw0NkLxLiKpHDS8gAacEabnZ) that taught the perfected divine law, but also concretized its meaning and secured it against misunderstanding by embodying it in one man, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and declared him the role model for all those “who seek God and the Hereafter.”[^2] Of course, even those afflicted by falsehoods, doubts, or desires may, through their blinkered *fiṭra*, see glimpses of the human perfection that was Muhammad ﷺ, but only those who seek ultimate truth and beauty, “who seek God and the Hereafter,” can love, appreciate, and embody it to the fullest and attain the eternal bliss that the Truth Almighty has promised. This essay reflects on the wisdom (the why) and modality (the how) of the divine choice to embody His final guidance in a man. We show how his mission and method, teachings and conduct, and circumstances of life and community of disciples together created a perfect ecosystem for the revelation and exposition of the final truth and perfect goodness. Put differently, we explain how Islamic ethics are universal, valid for all times, places, and peoples. We begin with a glimpse of the Prophet’s ﷺ character and then, in order to deepen our understanding, proceed to address some common questions about Islamic ethics. ### A glimpse of the Prophet’s character No one can be considered a Muslim without loving, reflecting on, and emulating the character of the Prophet ﷺ. It is no wonder that countless sketches of the Prophet’s ﷺ physical and moral person have been composed throughout Islamic history in every imaginable language and idiom. In his classic treatise *Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn*, Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505 AH/CE 1111) includes an entire section in the second quarter, “Book of Etiquette of Life and the Prophetic Character,” which reproduces several moving and detailed descriptions of the Prophet’s ﷺ character composed by earlier scholars. This, in my opinion, is the noblest section of this epochal text. The entire chapter is worth reading, but space allows us to quote only a small fraction. Nearly every sentence is backed by authentic reports, only some of which will be referenced in the footnotes. > He ﷺ was the most forbearing of men, most courageous, just, and forgiving. He never touched the hand of a woman he did not have the right to touch, or to whom he was not related by marriage.[^3] > He ﷺ was the most generous of men. He would not leave even a dinar or dirham overnight without giving it in charity. If something was left with him, he would not retire to his chambers until he found someone in need to give it to. > He ﷺ took the minimum possible sustenance of dates and barley from what God gave him, leaving the rest for God’s path. He was never asked for charity but that he obliged, so much so that he would give those in need from even his yearly provisions, leaving himself in need. He would fix his own sandal, patch his cloak, serve his family members, and carve meat \[to help his womenfolk\]. > He ﷺ was the most bashful of people, never staring into anyone’s face. He would respond to the invitation of anyone, free or slave, and accept gifts, even if it was a draught of milk or the leg of a rabbit, and reciprocate. He would, however, not eat of charity \[as he was forbidden from doing so\]. His humility was such that he attentively responded to the needs of a little girl or a needy person. > He ﷺ would get angry only for the sake of his Lord but never for himself. He would uphold what is right even if it meant risking harm or pressing a right against his own companions. He was offered help by the polytheists against the \[Meccan\] polytheists but he refused, declaring that he did not seek help from the polytheists. He once found the dearest and noblest of his Companions murdered in the Jewish neighborhood \[of Khaybar\], but he did not hasten against them nor did he veer from the course of justice. Instead, \[resisting penalizing them without conclusive proof\], he paid \[the victim’s family\] the blood wit of a hundred she-camels \[from the treasury\] even as his own companions needed every last one of them.[^4] He would tie stones to his stomach due to the intensity of hunger. He was never fussy and would eat anything licit that was available to eat no matter how rough; at times he had nothing but mere dates without even bread. … He would not eat reclining. His concern for the poor was such that he never filled his stomach even with plain bread for three days straight until he met Allah, not because he didn’t possess the means, but because he gave all in charity.[^5] He accepted invitations, visited the sick, attended funerals, and walked among his enemies without any bodyguard. He was the humblest of men, silent without being insolent, eloquent without being loquacious.[^6] He had the most joyful countenance and was never overawed by the affairs of this world. > He ﷺ wore what was at hand—at times a cloak, at times a striped Yemeni garment, at times a gown of wool; anything permissible that was available. His signet was of silver which he wore now on the little finger of his right hand, now on that of his left hand. > He ﷺ mounted his servant and others behind him on the same beast, rode whatever was available, including a horse, a camel, a mule, or a donkey. He walked on foot, at times barefoot without an outer cloak, turban, or cap. He would visit the sick in the distant outskirts \[of the town\]. > He ﷺ loved perfumes and disliked foul odors. He sat and ate with the poor, showed regard to those who were virtuous in their morals and gave honor to noblemen. He was kind to his relatives without favoring them over those who were more meritorious than them. He did not tyrannize anyone and accepted the excuse of anyone who begged his pardon. > He ﷺ sometimes jested but only spoke the truth, and laughed but without bursting out into laughter. He witnessed and did not disapprove of permitted games, raced sportingly with his wife, and showed patience when voices were raised in his presence. He and his family got nourishment from their milch camels and sheep; he did not eat better food nor wear better clothes than his bondsmen and maids. No moment passed without his performing an action for the sake of Allah or what he had to do for his sustenance. He would go out to the gardens owned by his companions. He never despised a poor man for his poverty and misfortune, nor feared a king because of his power; rather, he urged them equally to Allah. > Allah combined in him virtuous conduct and perfect leadership even though he ﷺ was unlettered, did not read or write, and grew up poor among the shepherds in the land of ignorance and wilderness as an orphan without father or mother. Allah taught him all the fine qualities of character and praiseworthy conduct, the reports of the past and the future, the matters of salvation and reward in the future life and happiness and reward in this world, and to attend to that which is obligatory and forsake what is useless. > May Allah direct us to obey him ﷺ in his commands and imitate him in his actions. Amen, O Lord of the worlds![^7] Frequently, the Prophet’s ﷺ conduct is so lofty that it appears inaccessible to most mortals. But his life is also full of anecdotes of simple, emulable acts of kindness to inspire anyone. Anas, his young attendant and Companion, lived a long life after the Prophet’s ﷺ passing and often recalled such anecdotes: > Allah's Messenger ﷺ had the best of manners (*akhlāq*). I had an (adopted) brother, Abū ʿUmayr who had a little sparrow (*nughayr*). Allah's Messenger ﷺ used to playfully ask the little boy \[in rhyme\], “O Abū ʿUmayr! How is your *nughayr*?”[^8] On other occasions, we witness how his divine purpose allowed him ﷺ to set aside his ego, forgive aggression, and return harshness with kindness, offense with charity, and cruelty with mercy with unassuming magnanimity. Anas b. Mālik reports, > I was walking with the Prophet ﷺ. He had wrapped a thick cloak round him. A Bedouin approached and pulled the cloak so forcefully that his shoulder was uncovered. I was rather perturbed. The Bedouin then said: “O Muhammed! Give me some of my share from the property which Allah has given you.” The Prophet ﷺ turned towards him, gently laughed, and bade that a share be given to him.[^9] Perfectly beautiful and balanced, pleasant in looks and manners, yet fully human. Although he was balanced between mercy and justice, between strength and gentleness, the governing trait of the Prophet ﷺ was mercy and compassion—as described by the Almighty Lord, he was sent as “Mercy for the worlds.” Mercy, or the deeper Arabic original *raḥma*, is derived from the attribute that Allah loves the most from among His own Beautiful Names. He ﷺ was compassionate and merciful, not only when he was weak, but especially when he was strong. He was a commander and a leader, but never overbearing. He not only taught tough, well-nigh unteachable people, but also made them the greatest of teachers. He taught lifelong haters to love and sacrifice for each other. While being the most beloved creation of God, he ﷺ embodied such humility that visitors couldn’t tell him apart from his Companions. The more they knew him, the more they loved him, and those nearest to him were most in love with him. When he first received the divine revelation and feared for himself, his wife beloved Khadīja declared without hesitation that God would never forsake him given his devotion to the weak and needy, chivalry, and nobility.[^10] Anas b. Mālik, who attended on him as a young man, testified, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was never ill-mannered nor rude.” He would not interrupt anybody's speech until the speaker was finished. When someone angered him, Anas continued, he would reproach in the gentlest way, “What is with him, may his forehead be dust-ridden.”[^11] When he ﷺ wished to correct someone’s error, rather than naming them, he would say, “What is with some people who do such and such,” thus avoiding embarrassing them.[^12] Anas also reported, > I served the Noble Prophet ﷺ for ten years. He never said “Uff” (expressing dissatisfaction), nor ever asked me why I did this or did not do that. \[Another version adds at the beginning:\] I never touched brocade or silk softer than the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, nor a smell sweeter than the odor of the Messenger of Allah.[^13] ﷺ He ﷺ was a loving husband, a doting father, many of whose children died and left him crying. He mentioned his love for his wife publicly, interrupted his Friday sermon and prayers to hug, kiss, or entertain his grandchildren before a people to whom expression of love was fit only for sentimental women. He was the most masculine man yet one whose wives could argue with him and raise their voices without fearing retribution. Before him the proudest men sat in humility, yet the youngest children didn’t fear approaching him and old, frail women felt free to interrupt him on the street with their concerns. He ﷺ was the most courageous warrior, even though he disliked violence. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, Allah be pleased with him, the most fearless of warriors, would say that in the thick of battle when the attack was unbearable, he and other Companions would take cover behind the Prophet ﷺ, for he never flinched or cowered.[^14] “He did not strike anybody with his own hands,” reported his wife, ʿĀʾisha, “neither a wife nor a servant. Yet, he ﷺ fought valiantly in the cause of Allah.”[^15] One night the people of Medina were terribly frightened by a strange sound. Some people cautiously proceeded to explore it only to find the Prophet ﷺ returning from that direction, comforting them, having rushed before anyone else, riding a horse without a saddle, a sword hanging from his neck. Another salient trait of the Prophet ﷺ was his loyalty and compassion for his companions and followers. Anyone who joined him or asked for his help, he would satisfy his need or if he couldn’t, would console him until his burden was lifted. His generosity was described as a gentle breeze that delights everyone without discrimination. For his companions he was a protector and guardian, and yet in the matter of rights, all were equal in his eyes. He ﷺ taught and practiced equality and fairness, and disliked social distinctions, all within the limits of common sense. Anas reports, > There was no one more beloved to the Companions than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and yet they would not stand up when they saw him approach because they knew that he disliked that.[^16] He ﷺ also said, > I am a slave of Allah; I eat as other people eat, and I sit as other people sit. He ﷺ honored all visitors and guests. Often, he would spread his shawl for the visitor, and place the cushion which was in his use behind the visitor's back. If the visitor were reluctant to sit on the shawl, he would insist. When a delegation of Negus, the Abyssinian king, came to the Prophet ﷺ, he rose to serve them. His companions told him that they were sufficient to serve them. He ﷺ replied, > They had honored our companions, so I wish to personally serve them. Some fools have fabricated fanciful reports out of love of the Prophet ﷺ or at times with nefarious intentions, but any fair observer would testify that his authentically reported conduct was far superior to the imagination of the fabricators. How can anyone who seeks God and the afterlife not fall in love with him ﷺ? --- ## Theorizing Prophetic ethics How could one human being, inevitably situated in his time and place, be a role model for all? Are moral truths universal? If so, and there exists  a “natural law” so to speak, why did the Almighty not just reveal a book with a list of such rules rather than sending a living human teacher? And if not, were the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ limited to his time and place, now rendered obsolete by modern developments? Such questions are often raised in the name of some ethical paradigm that happens to be in vogue, be it freedom, equality, progress, social justice, or the current state of scientific knowledge. Muslim theologians, as we shall discuss below, entertained both of these paradigms. Another error that surreptitiously makes its way into the thinking of even many well-meaning Muslims is to reduce the Prophet’s ﷺ role-model to a selection of feel-good stories divorced from his divine message of belief in (*tawḥīd*) and submission to God (*sharīʿa*), thus turning him, as secular Christians have done with Jesus, into a darling sage always ready with quotable quotes rather than a role-model to be followed earnestly for guidance in this world and salvation in the next.[^17] In the rest of this essay, we dive deep into the meaning and import of the Prophet’s role-model by exploring these questions. ### The alternative paradigms To understand why it is the example of the Prophet ﷺ, and not a set of abstract principles or the insights of rational contemplation, that lies at the center of the Islamic system of ethics, we need to understand why alternative ethical groundings have proven inadequate. Our ideas of ethics—of what is right and wrong, or morally beautiful and ugly, respectively—are naturally grounded in our fundamental worldviews, sometimes formulated in theological or philosophical discourses. Modern philosophers distinguish the practical question of which actions are right and wrong (‘first order’ concerns) from the theoretical question of the status of moral values and the nature of moral valuation (‘second order’ questions, the concerns of metaethics). One may further subdivide first order concerns into applied ethics (specific policies and decisions in particular spheres of life, answering questions such as, “Is it right for one to tell a white lie to make peace between spouses?” and “Ought I to use the printer at work to print my son’s homework?”) and normative ethics (questions such as “What are the general principles of good conduct?” or “Ought I to do that which pleases God, or maximizes human benefit, or what a virtuous community considers to be good, or do to others what I would have them do to me?” etc.). This division is merely conventional, as the line between metaethics and normative ethics is often blurred, and hence the two can be lumped together as ‘theoretical ethics,’ which in Islam has been dealt with in theological discourses found in the works of Kalam, *falsafa*, *usul al-fiqh*, *tafsir* works, and numerous other genres. Metaethics has profound implications for normative as well as applied ethics. For instance, most modern Western philosophers, given their field’s largely atheistic or agnostic approach, think that the idea of right and wrong is merely a man-made fiction or social construction—the debate often revolves around what kind of fiction.[^18] The only ethics possible in their world are based on secular notions such as utility, emotion, or survival. In contrast, for ancients like Plato, Aristotle, and their disciples (including the Muslim *falasifa*), right and wrong were matters of rational inquiry, and the good was inscribed in the nature of things which a philosopher could read through systematic reasoning. Insofar as reason to them was a divine quality, their systems in fact were at once deeply religious and philosophical, and far nobler than modern secular ethics, but as we saw in the first article, without the benefit of revelation, prone to grave errors. Because all ethical systems are part of a larger worldview (*ʿaqīda*), any comparison is of limited validity. All ethical comparisons must pay attention to both the grounds for similarity between any two systems as well as the disagreements. Ethics can be likened to the skin of an organism, and comparing the softness of bird feathers to the roughness of alligator hide misses the fact that the two perform different functions. Any comparison, furthermore, must be made from within a given framework, which we take to be the shared human nature. And although the shared *fiṭra* (God-given human nature) is a valid ground for comparison, humans have also been given an oversized capacity for self-deception, and *fiṭra* discloses itself only to the discerning. With some holistic discernment, however, we can see the superiority of the revealed wisdom. Think of the contention by Immanuel Kant (d. 1804), purportedly the greatest modern ethical philosopher, that the way to be ethical is to obey the **categorical imperative**—a rule that you would accept being practiced by everyone. In other words, a universal law. Kant’s ethical system, known as **deontological** ethics, went so far as to decry the force of human feelings of love, friendship, or altruism in the performance of the rational, ethical duty. This is an abstract and ultimately unusable formulation of the ancient, revealed wisdom recorded in the Biblical tradition as well as the Prophetic hadith, known as the golden rule. The Prophetic injunction, “One does not believe until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself,” is a rule of thumb that inhabits an entire ecosystem of relationships, beliefs, imperatives, and sentiments that together prevent its misuse and abuse. Now imagine a morally depraved person, like today’s billionaire capitalists. What do they love for themselves? Instant gratification without end, even at the expense of ending all that lives on Earth, and all that is good. What would they choose for others if they want everything on the planet for themselves? Perhaps death (“If I had a life as worthless as yours, I would prefer death”) or some prosperity gospel of equal opportunity (“We had equal opportunity, I won billions and you, the billions, got nothing, fair deal!”). Alternatively, imagine a fanatic believer forcing everyone to his faith, to his truth. In a perfect Kantian world, such a believer would want to be forced to believe as well as forcing others to believe, for the truth and its consequences in the afterlife do not depend on one’s erroneous belief that denies it. Whereas Islamic ethics teaches us that “there is no compulsion in religion” and hence people who choose to hold erroneous beliefs are to be given freedom and rights, such divinely mandated generosity would appear illogical to a Kantian liberal. In the liberal worldview, tolerance can be premised only on the unknowability or irrelevance of the truth. In short, modern liberal ethics grounded in the Kantian imperative is at heart the translation of a religious principle that made perfect sense in shared communities of faith, but has since become a soulless idiom of Enlightenment-era secularism in which empty universalism replaces commitment to the truth. In Islam, as we shall see, we love for our brethren in faith what we love for ourselves: eternal success in the afterlife. And yet, for our brethren in humanity for whom we desire faith, we are constrained by the divine law not to coerce them into faith. Similarly, humans are driven to do good not merely by a sense of abstract rational duty, as Kant insisted they must, but by a combination of acquired virtuous habits, sentiments of love or mercy, desire for reward or fear of punishment or loss in this world and/or the eternal afterlife, and the best of them, for the love of the infinite good that is God. Another modern approach to ethics, called **consequentialism**, judges actions by their consequences. But it is as unhelpful as Kant’s duty-based ethics, because of at least two obvious reasons: first, consequences of actions are typically unknowable in the real world, and second, what consequences should be desired falls into question-begging. A moral philosophical tradition nearer to human nature (and hence Islam) is the ancient tradition of ***virtue ethics***, often attributed to Aristotle. It prioritizes not abstract duty but acquisition of virtues recognized within a morally alert community such as charity, benevolence, courage, temperance, and so on, turning the focus from Kantian mental gymnastics to the habits of the whole human person. One good example of virtue ethics is the tradition of Arab chivalry (*murū’a*) before Islam, one that the Prophet ﷺ both encouraged and often corrected or redirected. Virtue ethics is, however, fundamentally incomplete. What counts as a virtue requires not only the use of rational thinking but also, and this is the crucial part, individual and communal well-being defined by a worldview. In a community of pickpockets, one could become a skillful thief with virtues of speed and nimbleness; among ruthless capitalists, being a heartless shark is a compliment. Virtue ethics does not account for the ultimate consequence of one’s actions and the purpose of one’s life. ### Classical Islamic theories of ethics None of these approaches, notwithstanding the insights they offer, fully encompasses the Islamic approach to ethical formation, for they ultimately neglect or decenter the question of truth. In contrast, notwithstanding its great diversity and intellectual depth, Islamic tradition is committed, metaphysically, to an Omnipotent and Ever-Living God who created humankind to worship Him and, in the social sphere, to the central fact of divine law. As such, Muslim thought derived not from endless puzzlement about the nature and possibility of the good, but from the great, transformative fact of the good revealed by God and embodied in the Prophet ﷺ and in the community he created. Muslim scholars, therefore, did not immediately need to attend to the question of metaethics, and their intense moral lives drew their inspiration from the divine command embodied in the Prophet ﷺ. Even as classical theology expanded into abstractions forced by polemics and reflection, Muslim theologians tended to be guided by the centrality of God’s law in Islam. Consider classical Muslim theologians’ discourse on the well-known “Euthyphro’s dilemma” posed by Plato over a thousand years earlier: Is an action good because “the gods” command it (to use Plato’s language), or do “the gods” command it because it is good?[^19] Whereas the early scholars had silently assumed a harmony between the two, the Muʿtazilites, who were the first Muslims to theologize about ethics and developed  a rational system that became known as Kalam, contended that it was the latter, that Allah commanded only what was already good. This had the unintended effect of binding God to do what human reason demanded. In response, the Ashʿarites, the first Kalam-based defenders of scripture, insisted that it was the former, thus articulating a Divine Command Theory of ethics. To them, ethical value had no ontological existence—acts are not actually good or bad but God, through revelation, freely and arbitrarily labeled certain acts as licit and hence rewarded in the afterlife, and others as illicit and punishable in the afterlife. Precisely because the leading Ashʿarites held to an extreme version of the Divine Command Theory, they sought purely psychological and utilitarian explanations for why and how humans universally assign ethical value to acts. On this view, people call good what they see as benefiting them, or that which evokes a positive reaction in them (a view today called *emotivism*). This prompted leading Ashʿarites like al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) to attend to and write masterfully on psychological aspects of human action, while restrictin