According to Le Bon, the first conspicuous feature of the collective mind is a temporary eclipse of certain dimensions of the individual personality. By entering the crowd a person forfeits part of his individuality and of his sense of personal responsibility. Because his deeds are lost among the actions of thousands of others, his awareness… Continue reading The Psychology of Crowds and Religious Movements
Gustave Le Bon and Religious Movements in India
Gustave Le Bon, the Psychology of the Crowd, and the Religious Movements of the Indian Subcontinent: A Critical Study While examining the contemporary religious movements of the Subcontinent, the question repeatedly presents itself: how did these movements succeed in attaining, at the popular level, an extraordinary degree of stability, expansion and influence? The question is… Continue reading Gustave Le Bon and Religious Movements in India
The Quran as the Heart of the Nation
Al-Qurʾān is the very heart of this ummah. When the body weakens, physicians hasten to heal it; when wealth diminishes, it can be replenished; when sovereignty is lost, it may be restored. Yet, if the heart is extinguished, no life remains thereafter. For this reason, your gift surpasses every throne, outlives every state, and is… Continue reading The Quran as the Heart of the Nation
The Eternal Legacy of the Quran
Your gift has outweighed the cosmos in value, O Beloved of the Lord of the worlds! O you upon whom no eye has ever looked at one more excellent! How astonishing is the affair of time: it swallows kingdoms as the sea swallows the footprints upon the shore; it folds up states as the wind… Continue reading The Eternal Legacy of the Quran
Who Is Free from Disbelief (Kufr)?
A position for an imam became vacant at a mosque here in England, so the mosque trustees engaged one of our friends to serve. For some time he led the prayers, taught the children, and delivered talks. When the mosque’s governing council became satisfied with his abilities, they asked him to submit an application for… Continue reading Who Is Free from Disbelief (Kufr)?
Who Is a Student of Knowledge?
A student of Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ once asked me: “Shaykh, who is a ṭālib al-ʿilm (student of knowledge)?” I fell into contemplation. Some questions demand reflection and silence before words. Then I spoke: You have asked me to describe one of the most delicate creations, one that cannot be confined within a few defining words. You… Continue reading Who Is a Student of Knowledge?
Guidance on Conducting with Others
It is mentioned in the book Tanbīh al-ghāfilīn by al-Samarqandī: Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh said: “Let the portion of a believer from you be three: If you cannot benefit him, do not harm him; if you cannot gladden him, do not grieve him; and if you cannot praise him, do not blame him.” My companion, refraining… Continue reading Guidance on Conducting with Others
Different Approaches to Teaching Arabic Language
Two Divergent Methodologies for Teaching the Arabic Language in Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ Written 7/6/2026 CE Among the pedagogical questions that have occupied the educational mind of Nadwat al-ʿUlamāʾ, and have provoked a profound scholarly debate among its shuyūkh and lecturers, is the question of the curriculum that ought to be followed in teaching the Arabic language… Continue reading Different Approaches to Teaching Arabic Language
My Heart Is Not Mine
I have called many things my own in life: my books, my dreams, my thoughts, my efforts, and even my sorrows. Yet the more I have tried to understand myself, the more a certain truth has unfolded before me: the thing closest to me, dearest to me, and most deeply felt within my existence is,… Continue reading My Heart Is Not Mine
The Dangers of Excess in Life
Excessive Watering Turns the Rose Yellow 5/6/2026 CE Man escapes from deficiency towards abundance, only to discover after long striving that abundance itself is but another face of want. He thirsts for favour as the traveller in the midday heat thirsts for water; the moment he reaches the spring he drinks until he is full,… Continue reading The Dangers of Excess in Life