Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

If Islam is submission to Truth/Reality who is against it? If this Reality is known or manifest by what is the Praised One, the Embodiment of all perfections that human nature aspires for, who can dare to oppose it? If the beauty of Muhammad known to select saints and sung by such poets as Jami and Iqbal is known by any human, it is impossible to oppose it or ignore it. If we note the distinction between Muhammad as known by Muslims in history and Muhammad as known by Homo religiosus as its own aspiration for transcendence/ideality or the image of perfection one adores, as the Messenger sent not only to all humans but all creation, as the Mercy of the worlds known and unknown, as the Envoy of the Absolute as such and not a person so and so, it needs to be understood if it is possible or feasible to deny Muhammad. If blasphemy against the Sun is impossible or vacuous that is best ignored, doesn’t it call for revisiting the current debate on blasphemy on theological and other grounds? ...

Exclusivist view of salvation of Muslims that holds sway amongst the laity and even theologians trained in seminaries has been a source of much debate amongst modern intellectuals and certain theologians influenced by modernity or postmodern hermeneutics. It has also been the Achilles’ heel of Muslim rationalism. Given widespread contacts between different faith communities in the face of globalization, classical attempts of defense of exclusivism need rethinking and certain more inclusive arguments need to be revisited.      Regarding apparently exclusivist verses “ Verily the religion, in the sight of God, is Islam… ” and “ If anyone desires a religion other than Islam never will it be accepted of him; in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost, ”  further observations made by several scholars are in order. Several Quran translators including M.A.S. Abdel Haleem insist on using the lowercase “i” suggesting that “islam is being used as a verb, w...

Is Shia-Sunni Division in Islam to be Lamented or Celebrated? Is it possible to conduct an impartial inquiry or trial to see where the truth lies in Shia- Sunni polemics? There are obvious difficulties. Taking both terms in general without commenting on extreme intra-sectarian developments later, let us see how we could proceed. This trial can’t be decisively decided on the basis of history where facts and interpretations mix, passions and ideological lenses colour narratives and the whole enquiry is inherently open ended. It can’t be in the court of (exoteric) theology because that is what is precisely to be judged and it can’t relinquish its own limitations to accommodate the other. It can’t be in legal or even philosophical courts that remain inconclusive given how inconclusive have been prolific polemical works. The jury or court must be acceptable to any neutral believer or analyst as well and its verdict such that could be validated somehow by anyone who bothers to take necess...

Unless deep thinking is done on the issue we would continue to have much heat and little light in debates on Islamic law. Instead of saying what does Islam say we should ask what do Muslim jurists say on this or that point say Caliphate/Islamic State, rights of religious/sexual minorities/women, freedom of belief/disbelief, triple talaq, qurbani, permissibility of music, compatibility of modern banking with Islam, dress code and grooming/hair code. To claim that Islam says this or that, is, generally speaking, impossible. We can only strive to know (to make best approximations) what Islam says/God really means/intends on questions usually asked – on other questions that are more foundational we usually don’t need to ask and do largely know  what Islam says as we know what our fitrah demands or what aqli saleem requires or  what conscience allows. And jurists differ in their conclusions on almost all these questions. They don’t differ in matters of worship to significant ex...

Historically it is the impact of poets, mystics and philosophers in Muslim cultures that has provided an antidote to sectarianism. Given the pandemic of sectarianism, how do we immunize ourselves against the deadly flu? Especially since we refuse the  imposed secularization as vaccination drive that was adopted by the West; that generates serious allergic response and throws away the baby of religion with the bathwater of sectarianism. Historically it is the impact of poets, mystics and philosophers  in Muslim cultures that has provided an antidote to sectarianism sponsored by Mullacracy and sectarian politicians. Let us see how deep rooted sectarian consciousness is in history.       For various reasons we have had divergent sectarian interpretations that have been fighting one another and thanks to changing political equations, fortunes of certain sects would change.  Earliest civil wars in Islam were fought in the name of sectarianism though...

It could well be the most important book of the current century in research in Kashmiri literature.   G.N .Gowhar has already done so much for Sheikh-ul-Alam studies that no history of evolution of the discipline could bypass him. As he grows older his power and resolve to touch taboo areas has only increased. His magnum opus – gowhar - in this field was awaited by us from years and, despite his ill health, has come. Though bound to receive mixed and heated response, and generate debate both for and against some of his theses this Mu’taber Kulliyat-i-Shaikh-ul–Alam seems destined to reorient Sheikh ul Alam studies in a decisive way. It could well be the most important book of the current century in research in Kashmiri literature.       So far proper historical criticism hasn’t been applied to Sheikh corpus. Even the laity and not to speak of many important scholars of the Sheikh has been uncomfortable with what goes popularly in his name. It is diff...

The conception of Ummah seems to be a connecting link to the host of ideas he advocated with great force. Living in a world that appears to be decisively shaped by Enlightenment ideals, how do we theorize the conception of Islamic international community/world order or Ummah, especially in terms that modern political thought would be compelled to take a serious note of? How is it possible to teach to a world wedded to notions of democracy, nation-state, international bodies, like UN, that there is a possible ideal or an alternative to the whole trajectory that has been taken? Today, when political philosophy is exploring afresh once abandoned thinkers or notions to help us manoeuvre the problems and contradictions that have been bequeathed us by Enlightenment thinkers, we discuss a philosopher-martyr, first rate scholar and theorist of Islam and comparative religion and brilliant postcolonial intellectual, Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi who also theorized alternative political approach base...

One of our most brilliant and original scholars, who has been more reviled than read and condemned for certain inferences in which he is not unique. Who remembers authors of 40 fatwas against Iqbal today? Who sends blessings to the person who greeted Sir Syed with shoes? Who respects those who persecuted great thinkers in Islamic history? And isn’t ours an age where argument rather than sermonizing is more convincing? Today’s persecuted, reviled minds could be tomorrow’s celebrities. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, I have reasons to think, is one of our most brilliant and original scholars who has been more reviled than read and condemned for certain inferences in which he is not unique. We mayn’t or needn’t agree with everything of any great scholar in the history of Islam. We need to identify the basic methodology of the scholar to situate him properly in context. Thus approached Ghamidi is rooted in Tradition, builds upon the universally accepted sources, is not a modernist or rationalist...