Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

Choosing between Diverse Options in Fiqh. Is our fate in the otherworld linked to following particular juristic school in a given case? Is animal sacrifice ( qurbani ) mandatory for every individual who can afford it ( sahibi Istita'at )? Is the popular understanding of qurbani (especially Hanafi one) based on certain reading of prophetic traditions uncontested in Islamic tradition?  No is the answer to all these questions. Let us explore why. And our inquiry would be relevant to other important issues that often divide us, declare us guilty or cause us to take positions that we are not sure, at some level, we should be identifying with.       It seems that more careful attention to underlying motivations or rationale of what is called Islamic law (more appropriately, human understanding of Revealed Law, Fiqh) would help all Muslims, irrespective of theological or juristic affiliations including reformists/modernists and their traditionalist critics, to approximate consensus on

Why do genuine poets or writers write? Because they are commanded to write and all they know is to obey. “Well, write poetry, for God's sake, it's the only thing that matters.” E. E. Cummings “Nothing matters but the writing. There has been nothing else worthwhile... a stain upon the silence.” Samuel Beckett Indeed, to be is to write, to proclaim to the Muse Labbayka (Here, I am). It is, more primordially, to speak and to speak in the original or true sense is to sing poetry. We know ten commandment starting with love of God and love of neighbor. But few know that both of these commandments may be best embodied in the work of poets. (“Poetry is not a discipline of knowledge but perfume or distilled essence of all disciplines of knowledge.”) Why do genuine poets or writers write? Because they are commanded to write and all they know is to obey. No questions. No turning back on the Muse. As Samuel Beckett said: ““There is nothing to express, nothing with which to express

What is the Faith of Poets? Isn’t poetry a species of faith? Poets open up another window to the Divine. “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” Goethe If one is sad for no reason or has suffered any humiliation or tragedy or one wishes to enjoy travel, nature, friendship or meals better, or one seeks special modes of worshipping or thanking the Divine or anyone we value, read poetry. If one is hankering after a Master, consider taking some help for finding the same from poetry. If one is seeking to heal some strain in relationship with anyone one holds dear, ask poets for help. If one wishes to treasure a great experience or a simple routine work or little tasks that constitute our lot, poets show how and why. If one seeks to taste something from the otherworldly joys here and now, have a lasting truce with the God one imagined during childhood, taste the rare joy of

Let us ask today what is our philosophy and thus begin real muhasaba of ours, a self-audit. We begin our day by rising early, offering Tahajjud and Fajr , or rising late and offering prayer rather late or not offering any prayer at all. We dress and groom distinctively (say, don burqa / hijab /unveil hair and sport a long beard/short beard/no beard) probably reflecting our divergent commitments to belief systems or our diverse hermeneutical choices. We keep commenting on others or judging them according to our interpreted value system. One may be vain, exclusivist, misogynist to various degrees (can you name even one who isn’t?). One may dream of Caliphate or universal democracy or an imminent apocalypse. One takes extreme care in avoiding corruption and another prays for opportunity to fleece new victims. One may be a pro-Pakistani, pro-Indian or Kashmiri nationalist. All these are part of one’s philosophy. It rarely happens that we are really conscious of our philosophical choice

Reading Muslim Philosophers on Religious Sectarianism and Pluralism Better philosophers don’t ideally seek to convert but illuminate a problem for us to consider. We can take or not take their take on an issue but we can’t afford to be old selves after reading them. Encountering such philosophers is like encountering spiritual Masters who indelibly mark us. They open up our eyes and one begins to see another world. One learns to appreciate the other, the other point of view or other paths to truth. One learns negative capability (the capacity to be in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without anxiety to foreclose or jump to conclude or exclude other possibilities) that made, as noted by Keats, Shakespeare great.       Amongst contemporary Muslim philosophers, Abdul Karim Soroush is such an amiable and forceful presence that one can’t avoid falling in love with the man or at least his style. He is amongst the very few important intellectuals who has been formally trained both in trad