Faisal H - Notes
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Personal notes and reflections on Quran & Islamic Law

Main channel: t.me/FaisalTelegrams
Faisal Academy: faisal.thinkific.com
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I was recently asked about Tafsir al-Manar by Rashid Rida (d. 1354/1935), so I thought I'd share my notes on the work here.

Rashid Rida (d. 1354/1935) – ‘Tafsīr al-Manār'
- This work began as lesson notes of Muhammad Abduh (d. 1323/1905), which was built on by Rashid Rida over a period of 35 years. The tafsir was initially published in the al-Manār journal and then published again separately.
- The tafsir lessons by Abduh took place between 1318-1323/1900-1905 – and he ended at Surah Nisa’: 125 (‘wa kāna (A)llāhu bi kulli shay’ muḥīṭ(an)’). (See Tafsir al-Manar 1/14 and 5/441)
- Abduh would read from Tafsir al-Jalalayn in his lessons, and would highlight areas of disagreement. (1/14-15)
- (For his approach, see Tafsir al-Manar 1/14-16, 17-19, 17-31.)

- Providing his assessment of the book, Abdullah al-Judai says the work draws from reports while offering personal insights and reflections and connects verses to lived realities.
- Judai argues that the work contains views that can be disputed like any other book, or even rejected, like the dismissal of some authentic reports without strong justification which is considered the main criticism.
- Judai says the book was authored over an extended period, and serves as a historical record of events given its focus.
- The work was not completed and ended on Surah Yusuf, verse 101 – with the last verse being ‘tawaffanī muslim(an) wa alḥiqnī bi al-ṣāliḥīn’.

- Yusuf al-Qaradawi (d. 2022) later had student notes from his public tafsir lectures compiled on the chapters after Surah Yusuf - namely Ra’d, Ibrahim and Hijr.
- In his introduction to Surah Ra'd, he says that he had covered Surah Yusuf before and was asked by others in Qatar to start Surah Ra’d thereafter. He saw this not only as a continuation of his previous lectures but also a continuation of the Tafsīr al-Manār project which he had been asked by others to continue before.
- He explains, however, that it should not be viewed as an exact copy of the work for several reasons, one being that while he admires Rida, he is not his clone. (See 10-11)
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InSha'Allah I'll soon share my detailed notes from Sh. Hatim al-Awni on 'Kitab al-Maqalat' by Abu al-Qasim al-Balkhi al-Ka'bi (d. 319).
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Sh. Hatim al-Awni - 'Kitab al-Maqalat' by Abu al-Qasim al-Balkhi al-Ka'bi (d. 319) - (personal notes)

https://youtu.be/ohgV3qOGoS0?feature=shared

This book is important (to understand Mu'tazili thought) because al-Balkhi died before other early Mu'tazilah figures like al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar and Abu al-Husain al-Basri.

Balkhi was a senior scholar amongst the Mu'tazilah. Contrary to other Mu'tazilah, he was somewhat familiar with the science of Hadith, although not a scholar of it. This allowed him to make a stronger argument than other Mu'tazilah with respect to Hadith.

One of his teachers was Abu al-Husain Ibn al-Khayyat (d. c. 290), author of الانتصار والرد على ابن الراوندي الملحد.
Balkhi rebuts his view on Khabar al-Ahad.

The [publication] uses a manuscript dated 408 AH, so written within a hundred years between it and the author.


Fourteen miscellaneous topics from Kitab al-Maqalat:

1) Balkhi mentions that the Zaydiyyah and Mu'tazilah are very similar. The early Zaydiyyah from the 2nd century had a strong inclination to I'tizal.
This is why many of the manuscripts of early Mu'tazilah works are in Yemen.

2) Balkhi states that the scholars among the Khawarij are few. This indicates that those who have literalistic and takfiri tendencies possess little juristic understanding (fiqh). They may be narrators of hadith but rarely will you find a jurist in their ranks.
Balkhi mentions that most senior of the Khawarij are narrators as opposed to scholars who possess fiqh and athar, with the exception of a handful whose association with the school is contested. He then lists ten or so people.
'Ikrimah, for example, is known for Khuruj but he was primarily known as a narrator or scholar of Tafsir. There are hardly any fiqh opinions transmitted from him. Knowledge of Tafsir primarily required transmission and knowledge of language. On the other hand, Fiqh requires knowledge of the Sunnah in addition to other sciences.
(see p. 154 - ورجالهم كثير...)

3) Balkhi praises the Ibadiyyah for political justice, despite disagreeing with their theology.
He mentions their power of lands in Jazirah (i.e. Furatiyyah in Northern Iraq), Mawsil, Bahrain, Sijistan, Oman and other areas. He then says ولهم في إنفاذ الأحكام وقسمة الفيء وإقامة الحدود وترك الرشوة سيرة حسنة.

4) Balkhi mentions the chain for the school of I'tizal from Wasil Ibn 'Ata to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
(p.161)
This shows they at least believed they were following the Salaf. We also see this in other issues like Ijma' al-Sahaba, which many of them accept; they accept Ijma' as an evidence in general. This is also indicated in the statement of Ahmad, من ادعى الإجماع فقد كذب، هذه دعوى أبي العباس الأصم [وبشر المريسي].

5) Balkhi transmits the stance of the leading scholar of I'tazal, Hisham Ibn 'Amr al-Futi (d. c. 240, not Fuwati who is another scholar), regarding the period of fitan in the era of the Sahaba.
Balkhi states that Hisham rejected the claim that Talhah and Zubair went out to Jamal for war. He says it was merely for consultation (تشاور). This is the same stance as Ibn Taymiyyah: Aishah, Talhah and Zubair went to hasten the decision of Hadd on the rebels against Uthman. The battle took place inadvertently.
Hisham also says that the Sahaba who were present in Madinah when Uthman was killed did not approve of these events.
Balkhi then states: والذي حمله على هذا حسنُ الظن بالصحابة والطلب لسلامتهم.
This shows that some Mu'tazilah had a good opinion of the Sahaba.

6) Balkhi discusses the Mu'tazilah's actual stance on خلق أفعال العباد. Awni argues that Balkhi's explanation of how a person creates his own actions is merely semantic (خلاف لفظي). In the issue of Qada' and Qadar the Mu'tazilah simply intended to highlight that people have choice, and they feared the significant entailments of Jabr.

7) Balkhi also praises إيمان العوام even if it is not based on sound evidence.

8) Balkhi explains the statements of the Mu'tazilah that Allah is عالم بلا علم وقادر بلا قدرة, and highlights their intention behind these statements.
(p. 258)
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9) Balkhi explains the stance of the Mu'tazilah on abrogation in the Quran. He says that most of the Ummah accept abrogation in commands and prohibitions but not akhbar. The Rafidah and those who agree with them in bada' allow it in akhbar.
Therefore, he cites the different views on akhbar alone. In numerous instances in the book, he himself cites abrogation.
He also highlights the different views on نسخ القرآن بالسنة.

10) Balkhi discusses Hujjiyyah Khabar al-Ahad. He has a book titled قبول الأخبار ومعرفة الرجال.
He states that khabar al-ahad which are probabilistic (dhanni) without contextual arguments (qara'in) raising it to what is conclusive (qat'i) are proof in furu' al-din, not usul al-din. In other words, it is accepted in majority of Fiqh rulings.

11) Balkhi explains the statement إن الله لا يريد المعاصي والكفر according to the Mu'tazilah.

12) Balkhi discusses issues of takfir at length and disagreements amongst the Mu'tazilah.
He mentions a dialogue regarding خلق القرآن between Abu al-Hudhail al-'Allaf and Ja'far ibn Harb. Abu al-Hudhail says that whoever from the general public does not say القرآن مخلوق then he is not made takfir of, while someone who says السماء ليست مخلوقة is made takfir of. This, he argues, is because the former is differed over while the latter is not.
(p. 376)
This dialogue is quoted word-to-word by Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (F: d. c. 414) in البصائر والذخائر (v. 4, pp. 215-216), which indicates the book to Balkhi has sound ascription.
After quoting this, Abu Hayyan says that this is the view of Abu al-Hudhayl (i.e. the view that does not hastily apply takfir). Abu Hayyan says that in his time, however, he finds the Mu'tazilah hastily applying takfir. He says that those most hasty amongst them in takfir are closest to fisq.

13) Balkhi discusses the Hujjiyyah of Ijma' and argues that one who rejects it is an unbeliever. This is also mentioned by his teacher al-Khayyat.
As mentioned previously, the statement of Ahmad not only shows that the early Mu'tazilah accepted Ijma' but they appealed to it excessively.
This shows that they respected the Salaf, and that they did not claim they were more knowledgeable.
Awni argues that the quote cited from them and Ash'ari scholars مذهبنا أحكم ومذهب السلف أسلم is often misunderstood. What is intended is that details (tafsil) in the time of the Salaf were not needed, but when they were required after some time, they were provided. This occurs with every madhhab, even Ahmad when he said القرآن كلام الله غير مخلوق; he provided detail (tafsil).

14) Balkhi mentions issues for which some Mu'tazilah authorities were criticised. He states that Abu al-Hudhail al-'Allaf sometimes discussed issues for intellectual stimulation (إثارة الأذهان والتساؤلات) without accepting (or commiting to) the conclusions. As a result, there are issues attributed to him which he did not accept in reality. This shows it is necessary to verify statements of scholars.


Awni argues that this book also shows that the Mu'tazilah discussed issues the answers to which had no benefit and could not be grasped by the intellect.

(F: also see Awni's ضوابط فهم كلام أهل العلم, pp. 49-51.)
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حديث 'الوائدةُ والموؤودةُ في النّارِ':

قال الشيخ عبدالله الجديعُ: هذا الحديثُ اختُلفَ في سندِه ومتنِه، وبعضُ ما قيلَ في تعليلِه يكفي لإسقاطِه.
هذا الحديثُ لا يثبتُ وهو معلَّلٌ لمعارضةِ القرآنِ ('وإذا الموؤودةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأيِّ ذنبٍ قُتِلتْ') وأيضا هو مُعارِضٌ لما هو أحسنُ منه وهو: 'المولودُ في الجنّة والوئيدُ في الجنّة' (وهو حديثٌ صالحٌ، أي: يُستشهَد بمثلِه، وهو أولى بقبولٍ).

فخلاصةُ القول: حديثُ الوائدة والموؤودة لا يصحُّ، مضطربٌ سندًا ومختلفٌ متنًا، وشرحَ علّتَه البخاريُّ في التاريخ الكبير والدارقطنيُّ في العلل.
This is a hadith also related to the topic of non-Muslim children who pass away before the age of moral accountability. They have secured their place in Paradise InSha'Allah, and there exists a report of Prophet Ibrahim in that regard.
I just remembered I have detailed notes on Sh. Hatim al-Awni's lectures regarding Allah's justice and mercy in relation to the hereafter and salvation.

They're actually quite insightful, and I hope to share them here. Hopefully now that I've mentioned it, it'll force me to actually revisit my notes! 😁🙏
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Sh_Hatim_al_Awni_Divine_Justice_and_Mercy_in_Relation_to_Seeking.pdf
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Sh. Hatim al-Awni - 'Divine Justice and Mercy in Relation to Seeking Truth' (Personal notes in English)
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These are my personal notes from Sh. Hatim al-Awni's three-and-a-half-hour long lectures on the topic.

You can find the links to the original videos here:
Part 1 - https://youtu.be/kcFL8CZ3r3w
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/s3GPZX2lmfs

This is naturally a multilayered topic. My purpose is to simply capture the intent of the speaker rather than share personal thoughts on every point. May Allah bless you all. 🙏❤️
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On the permissibility of women's attendance in mosques:
Forwarded from Faisal
This is a good question. I think tbh its application today is fairly straight forward at least in the West.

If someone acknowledges that the default ruling in the time of revelation, as explicitly stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him), is permissibility of women attending the mosque, then the only question is whether there is any strong reason to depart from this default status - in a way that considers both short-term and long-term harms & benefits in preventing women attending mosques, and that is consistent with how women actually engage in society and occupy spaces in every other domain.
Forwarded from Faisal
But I'll share a bunch of useful references on the topic below:
Forwarded from Faisal
Sh. Yusuf al-Qaradawi on permitting women's attendance in the mosque (Fiqh al-Salah 193-195)
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Forwarded from Faisal
Forwarded from Faisal
Sh. Abdullah al-Judai on the permissibility of women's attendance in mosques (al-Musiqa wa al-Ghina' 38-40)