Blogs
THE SHIRNI TRADITION
Most Bangladeshi Muslims I know are familiar with the Shirni tradition where some sweet food is offered in gratitude to God after a prayer is answered, a votive is fulfilled or a special occasion observed. The word comes from Persian, meaning “sweet,” and over time it became a widespread tradition within South Asian Muslim communities….
Adam Sayid
REVISITING AND REASSESING VERSE 4:3
Seven years ago, I published my rendition of one of the Qur’an’s most contentious verses, 4:34. This verse has been the subject of intense debate within both traditional and reformist Muslim circles. At the time, I distanced myself from the Hadith-centric interpretation that understood the term daraba in this context to mean “to beat.” Instead,…
‘ULAMA’: SCIENTISTS OR CLERICS?
Though today the word ‘Ulama’ in the Muslim vocabulary has a completely different usage (as with many Qur’anic terminologies unfortunately), in the Qur’an however it is more closer to applying for scientists, experts, scholars, intellectuals etc, who have garnered a remarkable understanding in a specific field in relation to the physical world. As the Qur’an…
MY BEN NEVIS CHARITY TREK 2022
Why I decided to do this trek I’m not a socialist, but I do strongly believe that humans on an individual level are designed to help others around them, which is the key that helps life become more harmonious and beautiful. As the world is full of people who are so engulfed in poverty or…
DAWN STUDY SESSION
The original concept of the evolved and final product of ‘Tahajjud-Salah’ that we see today is as a result of the instigation and encouragement of the Qur’an to forsake a portion of the sleep and to contemplate upon the words of God. Read the following verses in this regard; “Observe intervals for prayer throughout…
THE REALITY OF THE CLAIM OF OSMOGENESIA
Every so often, we hear of a claim of osmogenesia, which is also known in Christendom as ‘odour of sanctity’. Throughout history, pleasant smells of scents have been piously associated with certain religious clerics and saintly figures, usually occurring upon death – known as osmogenesia. In almost all religious circles this kind of spiritual affair…
CROSS-GENDER IMITATION
Generally in every culture there is an inherent dislike for cross-gender imitations, and though Muslim societies have taken a stronger policy on it and made it religiously unacceptable, nevertheless I personally don’t see anything scripturally malicious about it per se. So, if a man for example applied henna, it is completely their perogative in my…
2020’S EID PRAYER CONUNDRUM
Though Hadith-centric clerics claim that Hadith literatures are there to further clarify on issues the Qur’an remains silent on, yet they find themselves stumped on how to determine the performance of the Eid prayers during the COVID-19 lockdown rules. I believe this confusion has arisen due to their current proliferated understanding of the term ‘Bidāh’…