I recently came across some posts about black magic. so what do you know about it and which sources did you read or find?

Help!!Anyone has predicted question or papers for Islamic studies paper 22

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥-𝐁𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐢 (𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝟓𝟏𝟔𝐚𝐡) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥-𝐓𝐡𝐚'𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢 (𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝟒𝟐𝟕𝐚𝐡) - 𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧

Like most books of tafsir, al-Baghawi used and built on the works that came before him. The work that he relied on most heavily was Tafsir al-Tha'labi. 𝐈𝐛𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐡 described the relationship by writing:

[والبغوي تفسيره مختصر من الثعلبي لكن صان تفسيره عن الأحاديث الموضوعة، والآراء المبتدعة]

"al-Baghawi’s tafsir is an abridgement of al-Thalabi’s, but al-Baghawi cleansed it of fabricated hadith narrations and innovated views." [Majmoo’ al-Fatawa 13/354]

𝐃𝐫. 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥-𝐆𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐝𝐢 (associate professor of Tafsir & Qur'anic Studies at Umm al-Qura University) wrote a paper comparing these two books of tafsir (see here). In the final section of the paper, she made some general observations and summary points, including:

𝐇𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐡: al-Tha'labi has been criticized by many scholars for his lack of discernment in terms of hadith authentication and the inclusion of sahih, weak and fabricated hadith narrations in his work. Ibn Taymiyah compared al-Tha'labi to a حاطب الليل or a person who searches for fire wood in the dark, unable to distinguish between the good, the bad and the snake. On the other hand, al-Baghawi was a hadith expert who removed all fabricated narrations from his work and relied on his own chains of transmission to populate his tafsir with sahih and hasan narrations.

𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐛 𝐚𝐥-𝐍𝐮𝐳𝐨𝐨𝐥: Both al-Tha'labi and al-Baghawi placed considerable importance on reports providing the context surrounding the revelation

𝐐𝐢𝐫𝐚'𝐚𝐭: Both authors gave special attention to listing the differences among the 10 qira'at and attributing each way of recitation to its reciter, however al-Tha'labi would more often include additional ways of recitation beyond the 10 qira'at and would often fail to mention if those ways were valid or non-canonical.

𝐓𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐥-𝐈𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐢 [searching for "hidden meanings" in the text]: One of al-Tha'labi's sources for his tafsir was the earlier "Haqaa'iq al-Tafsir" of al-Sulami which is known for its dubious innovated mystical "hidden meaning" explanations of the Qur'an. al-Baghawi purged his work of these explanations.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐟: One of the outstanding features of al-Tha'labi's tafsir is the rich collection of statements of the salaf from various pathways and sources that it offers. al-Baghawi adopted this strength in his own work, writing in his introduction that most of the tafsir statements of the salaf that he included were narrated to him from his teacher al-Shurayhi from his teacher al-Tha'labi.

You can also read more about the relationship between these two works from ibn Taymiyah here.

https://preview.redd.it/9iul6oehwpwd1.jpg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbdea33bb123babc9f0f25dee9827db342ec434d

https://preview.redd.it/k4ed86miwpwd1.jpg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=113a67c43f2e1104b21e625233dfdf8821d4055b

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Sheikh ‘Abdullah al-‘Awaaji (former professor of Tafsir at the Islamic University of al-Madinah) wrote the following on Twitter in response to a question he received:

ذهب بعض الباحثين المعاصرين إلى أن أول من ألف في هذا الفن هو يحيى بن يعمر ( ت : 129 هـ ) اعتمادا على هذا النص الذي نقلتم من القرطبي وهو لابن عطية في المحرر الوجيز وهو قوله : « و أما شكل المصحف ونقطه، فروي أن عبد الملك بن مروان أمر به وبعمله فتجرد لذلك الحجاج بواسط وجدّ فيه، وزاد تحزيبه، وأمره -وهو والى العراق- الحسن ويحيى بن يعمر بذلك، وألف إثر ذلك بواسط كتابا في القراءات، جمع فيه ما روي من اختلاف الناس فيما وافق الخط ، ومشى الناس على ذلك زمانا طويلا إلى أن الف ابن مجاهد كتابه في القراءات ». ـ

Some contemporary researchers have concluded that the first person to author a work in the field of the qira’at was Yahya ibn Ya’mar (died 129 AH). They based this conclusion off of the text which you have brought from al-Qurtubi, which originally comes from ibn ‘Atiyyah ibn al-Muharrar al-Wajeez, and that was his statement:

As for adding the vowel markings and dots to the mushaf, it has been relayed that ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan commanded this to be done and he delegated that task to al-Hajjaj who was in al-Wasit. al-Hajjaj did a good job of that, also adding the dots to group ayaat into equal groupings. He ordered al-Hasan and Yahya ibn Ya’mar to do that while he was the governor of Iraq. Following that, he also wrote a book on the qira’at in al-Wasit in which he brought together the differences which had been transmitted which matched with the script of the ‘Uthmani mushaf. The people continued to use that for a long time until ibn Mujahid wrote his book on the qira’at.

وتذكر كتب التراجم والفهارس كتبا في القراءات بعده تنسب إلى بعض كبار القراء والمفسرين مثل: أبان بن تغلب ( ت : 141 هـ ) مقاتل بن سليمان ( ت 150 هـ ) أبي عمرو بن العلاء ( ت : 154 هـ ) حمزة الزيات ( ت : 156 هـ) الكسائي ( ت : 189 هـ ) ـ

The books of scholarly biographies and lists of authored works mention some books in the field of the qira’at that were written after that time which were attributed to some of the senior reciters and scholars of tafsir, such as:

Aban ibn Taghlib (died 141 AH)

Muqatil ibn Sulayman (died 150 AH)

Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Alaa’ (died 154 AH)

Hamzah al-Zayyat (died 156 AH)

al-Kisa’i (died 189AH)

وجزم ابن الجزري بان أول إمام جمع القراءات في كتاب هو أبو عبيد القاسم بن سلام ( ت : 224 هـ ) حين قال : « فكان أول إمام معتبر جمع القراءات في كتاب أبو عبيد القاسم بن سلام وجعلهم فيما أحسب خمسة وعشرين قارئا مع هؤلاء السبعة ». ـ

Now ibn al-Jazari declared that the first scholar to collect the qira’at in a book was Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Salam (died 224 AH), saying:

The first scholar of note to collect the qira’at in a book was Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Salam, and I believe he selected 15 reciters including the famous seven.

والظاهر أن ما ذكره ابن عطية من كتاب يحيى بن يعمر كان في بدايات التدوين، ومعلوم أن البدايات في أغلب الأمر لا تخضع للترتيب المحكم والقواعد الضابطة للتأليف، ولعله وصل إلى هذه الدرجة عند ابن سلام في القرن الثالث؛ فلذلك جزم ابن الجزري بأوليّته. ـ

What seems to be the case is that what ibn ‘Atiyyah mentioned about the book of Yahya ibn Ya’mar was that that was at the beginning of the formalization of this science, and it is well-known that in most cases the beginnings of a field do not yet have well-established norms and standardized practices for authoring a work, so perhaps the field only reached that point at the time of ibn Salam in the third century and that was the reason why ibn al-Jazari declared him to be the first one to have authored a work in this field.

وكل هذه الكتب مفقودة وأول الموجود هو ( السبعة في القراءات ) لأبي بكر بن مجاهد ( ت : 324 هـ ). ـ

However all of these books have been lost to time and the earliest work that is still available is al-Saba’ah fee al-Qira’at by Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid (died 324 AH).

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[Arabic as found on the al-Istisharat al-Qur’aniyyah Twitter page on 2/14/2024, translation mine]

Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right sub to ask this question, but I hope you can help me. I recently learned that the works written by Christian female mystics create a peculiar corpus, very distinctively feminine in the way the love and the longing for God are described. I would like to investigate Sufi women’s relationship with the Divine and was wondering if a similar phenomenon occurs in the works of Sufi women throughout history. If so, could you recommend books, articles, etc. that could help me delve into the subject?

In the tumultuous 14th century, a family rises from the shadows of hardship, their journey marked by glory, sacrifice, and relentless conquest. This tale weaves through the fabric of medieval life, painting a vivid picture of the challenges and triumphs that defined an era. The narrator invites you into a world where honor and betrayal intertwine, where the clashing of swords echoes the struggles for power and legacy. As this family climbs the treacherous ladder to success, they face heart-wrenching choices that test their loyalty and resolve. In this gripping narrative, the harsh realities of medieval existence come to life, revealing the strength and resilience required to forge a lasting legacy amidst chaos and despair. Join us as we explore the indomitable spirit of those who dared to dream in a time when survival was the greatest victory.Link:-https://www.wattpad.com/story/366116023?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details_button&wp_uname=rehanhussain5

Es-Selamu-Aleikum brothers and sisters. This question might be a little different than the other questions this subreddit usually gets. I am a type of Muslim who is too obsessed with the ghayb. The unseen. Angels, jinns, shaytan, and stuff. And I like to investigate sometimes and learn more about this stuff. So, a couple of months ago, or longer than that, I came across somewhere that Mikail, an angel, is the archangel in Islam just as he is in Christianity (As Michael translated to English). But something tells me that this might not be true. So, my question is, is there even a word for the archangels for Islam? Is Mikail really an archangel? Because, another angel, Jibril, when he appeared to Muhammad. Muhammad saw him spread his wings across the horizon. Which is pretty much archangelic description. Also, it is said somewhere, I don't have the exact source, that if you traveled from the tip of the ear to the shoulder of an angel, it would take you 700 years. If this fact is true and Islamically accurate, some of the angels are depicted to have human-like features. Human-like features are technically what an archangel is. And because I don't have a strong source, I don't know what's real and what's not. Can anyone explain to me this topic a little bit more? With accuracy? Thanks ahead. May Allah reward anyone who answers my question.

I'm looking for recommendations on books or articles that provide a detailed explanation of the Salafi-Wahhabi movement. Specifically, I'm interested in learning about its historical origins, who founded it, what it was reacting to, and how it influenced Muslim communities and caused a strong shift to a seemingly more conservative ummah. If anyone could point me to resources that cover this in depth, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

When i was child i heard a phrase at the end of any teching or lecture that goes like, " i have done my part.... Allah knows best/Rest is upto Allah". I vaguely remember it . The translation could be wrong. If you know such phrase please let me know.

Assalamu alaikum,

I'm looking to study Arabic standalone to begin my journey into becoming a 'alim in Islamic Studies inshAllah.

I've taken some courses at a school in the States but believe that speaking Arabic continuously outside the classroom is a necessary element for me. Specifically, I'm looking to reach a level of proficiency in the next two years that will allow me to not rely on my teachers for the "tafsir" portion of working through a classical book.

I'm in my early 20s, so I'd appreciate a place that has a vibrant cultural / social scene as well. At the same time, I do prioritize the quality of the education given my ultimate goal. Cost is not a concern. Learning shamy arabic dialect on the side is a plus.

Jazakum Allahu khair for your help!

In his work "Al-Masa'il al-Tabriziyyah," Ibn al-Jazari states: "We did not commit in 'Al-Nashr' to mention every authentic narration and recitation, but rather, we selected from what is authentic. I am considering, however, compiling a book on recitations that will include all that is authentic to us, Insha'Allah."

This declaration is significant because it reveals that "Al-Nashr" selectively presents certain authentic narrations and recitations, rather than encompassing all available authentic ones. This raises important questions about the implications of this selective approach for the study of Qur'anic preservation.

Dr. Sa'id al-Namaranah (former lecturer in qira'at at the Islamic University of al-Madinah) tweeted:

https://preview.redd.it/k9ggl9hq4cdd1.jpg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=131770e5784bcdd44089829c83a8ec23b1e7e4d7

❝Perhaps the first person to put the ten qira'at in a written work - adding the three qira'at to the well-known seven - was ibn Mihran who passed away in the year 381AH. This was in his books al-Ghayah and al-Mabsoot. Then other written works came and other books followed that model after him. And Allah knows best.❞

This is interesting because the seven well-known qira'at were packaged together as seven by Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid who died in 324AH, so ibn Mihran was not much later at all. The list of ten is usually associated with ibn al-Jazari (died 833AH), but obviously the three additional qira'at of

-Abu Ja'far of Madinah
-Ya'qub of Basra
-Khalaf of Kufah

were being recited in the intervening ~500 years between ibn Mujahid and ibn al-Jazari. Otherwise, if oral transmission had stopped, we wouldn't have them anymore!

Hi, my question is about the genealogy of Imāmī doctrines such as naṣṣ and wilāya. Can we ascribe these ideas to any of the persons that are accepted as Imāms from a modern academic perspective or does it seem more likely that they were formulated by Iraqi theologians such as Hishām b. al-Ḥakam?

My opinion so far is: Imāmī sources themselves say that the Imāms did not speak about these things in public, due to fear of persecution. That seems logical, but of course that would make it impossible for historians to verify these claims. On the other hand, the many Alid revolts in the early centuries of Islam do confirm the general Shīʿī opinion that the Alids claimed a leading role in the community. Yet this does not establish what kind of Imamology they actually had in mind, e.g. whether it was the Imāmī one or the Zaydī one.

(Please answer from a secular perspective. I don't want a religious discussion.)

I need to choose a program for my postgraduate studies in Europe and am considering Oxford's MSt in Islamic Studies & History.

I am sure the program's academic quality is going to be very rigorous since this is Oxford, but what I am uncertain about is whether, as a Muslim, I should study Islam in Europe. My purpose in studying Islam formally is to be more independent in interpreting Islam's guidance in personal lives and legislation. So, my concern is whether such a program would be biased or might not show the full picture of Islam. How can I tell?

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit to post this, but I'm looking for recommendations on a book about Islamic theology that delves into early controversies and schools of thought such as Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, Athari, Sunni, Shia, Khariji, and more. I'm particularly interested in something similar to the introductory chapters of "Reopening Muslim Minds" by Mustafa Akyol or "Misquoting Muhammad" by Jonathan Brown, but not as academically dense as the Oxford or Cambridge handbooks on Islamic theology. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

These are amazing. Haven't gotten through them all, but would definitely recommend. Here is a brief description of each, provided by Darussalam

Book #1: Belief in Allah. Belief in Allah is the most important aspect of being a Muslim. It is a fundamental belief in Islam. But many Muslims have allowed, through different philosophies and mythologies, for distorted concepts of Allah to creep into their minds. Al-Ashqar discusses these concepts, affirms the Oneness of Allah, and proves the theory of evolution wrong in the first part of the Islamic Creed Series.

Book #2: The World of the Noble Angels. We all know that angels exist. But who are they? What are they? And what role do they play in our society? ISBN:

Book #3: The World of Jinns and Devils. There are creatures beyond humans, different from humans. In their creation, in their attributes, and even in their traits. The Jinns are a small portion of these creatures.

Book #4: The Messengers and the Messages. Messengers are humans, just like us, sent from Allah to help us be better people and to guide us to the straight path. Belief in all the messengers is an important part of being a Mu'min, or believer.

Book #5: The Minor Resurrection. What happens after death? When will our world end? What are the signs? These are questions roaming around so many peoples' minds. The answer to these are in his book, directly produced from the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Book #6: The Day of Resurrection. We all know that this is a subject that is vital to every believing men and women. This book talks about it, and for this reason, deserves to be on every Muslim's bookshelf.

Book #7: Islamic Creed Series is Paradise and Hell. The only two places that Allah will have the option to welcome us into in the Hereafter. Obviously, this subject is important. Because nothing is more important to a true Muslim than attaining Paradise and avoiding Hell.

Book #8: Divine Will and Predestination. This concept is the last pillar of faith. Because Muslims believe in predestination, does this mean that they are hopeless fatalists, surrendering to the claws of fate? In this book, Al-Ashqar explains fate in great depth and details.

https://preview.redd.it/k1cft8ka319d1.png?width=894&format=png&auto=webp&s=f44653559aaa433156960fbfdfab8d60b83894c8