“From the evil of an envier when he envies”. Envy is a disapproved characteristic both constitutionally [in the human] and in the shari‘ah. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Al-Hasad eats up good deeds as the fire eats up firewood.”1 One of the men of knowledge2 said, “Al-Hasad …
Monthly Archives: July 2024
Learning Communities
The modern age is rooted in the ‘People of the Book’. Ibrahim Lawson has used the term ‘learning community’ for any formal or informal, gathering and configuration of people for the sake of learning together, in person or online, not necessarily led by a charismatic figure or ‘teacher’, but on a model of shared or …
Equity
One hesitates to posit a basic principle of a just non-usurious economy since the history of ‘principles’ and most particularly ‘Islamic principles’ as interpreted by modernists, has been a dismal one. Thus, in their view, very wide principles, both usul and qawa’id, over-rule actual fiqh judgments. Bearing that in mind, one principle we might mention …
Wholes and Parts
“…for the madhhab of Malik is to examine what leaves someone’s hand and what it then receives, and the means, i.e. what is in between, is nullified…” (Al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah, Sales, 5A.) As someone who lays no claim to authority or expert status, I cite with some reluctance my own track record in studying with others, …
A little historic overview
The image of the usurious Jew is a repellent one from the Middle Ages, redolent with the anti-Jewish prejudices of the Christians of the time, but, in fact, the story is much older than that, and had, by the Middle Ages, become almost redundant.