By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi “Woe unto the mean-hearted – those who, when they take the measure from people, strive to have it full, and when they measure for them, strive to make it short.” (Qurʾān 83:1-3) Although some translations render mutaffifin as fraudsters – perhaps over-influenced by the example of tatfif given in these opening verses – the meaning of tatfif is stinginess, and those who suffer this disposition, the mutaffifin, are stingy, mistrustful, mean-hearted people. Because they are mean-hearted they may pride themselves on being “crafty” in their business dealings, that is, as fraudulent as they can get…
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Reflections on the theory of evolution as a cultural dogma
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi The theory of evolution of all species from a common ancestor, with no special distinction for humankind, spills over from the domain and concern of specialists in biology. It does so because the theory is often promoted as something we have to believe. This upsets religious believers who have a quite different understanding of the origin of humankind. The difference on this point should not lead to mutually intolerant hostility and rejection if the believers’ account of the origin of humankind is understood in relation to its religious purpose, and the scientists’ account of it…
View More Reflections on the theory of evolution as a cultural dogmaSome Reflections on ‘Aqidah
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi A creed is a special kind of formal statement of religious belief or collection of such statements. A very good and justly famous creed among the Sunnis is the document known as al-‘Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah. I will be discussing it at some length. First I wish to clarify the framework in which I will present that discussion. A person might utter a collection of statements about what he or she believes, but this would not amount to something to which we apply the term ‘creed’ in a technical sense. What distinguishes a creed is that it…
View More Some Reflections on ‘AqidahEase and Relaxation in Islam
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Ease is through hardship. Muslims should be suspicious of any ease which does not involve any effort. The obvious example of that is watching t.v. The only effort it requires is to push the button. It actually will be better to sleep rather than watching tvs. There are certain things that the Prophet sanctioned which nowadays are put under the category of entertainment like sports such as archery, horse-riding and swimming. The Prophet accepted the people have to relax, they have to live in this world and so they have to give time to it,…
View More Ease and Relaxation in IslamWomen Scholars
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Even though, for most people, the single most important and useful thing they do in the world is to raise a family — to look after and love their children and prepare them for their journey in life – in the modern world, family life is considered a bit of a nuisance, a distraction from the more exciting business of having a career, wealth, celebrity and status in the world. This is especially hard on women, whose role as mothers and wives is downgraded, and indeed the economy has been so arranged that, in many…
View More Women ScholarsSome notes on Surat al-Shu`ara’
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi This surah addresses theintense anxiety that God’s Messenger, salla l-lahu `alayhiwa-sallam, suffered on account of the kinds of negative response that he got when he conveyed to the people the message that God commanded him to convey. It seems that he blamed himself (v. 26:3). The Prophet grieved that, though some of the people were his relatives, and all of them Arab speakers, the message did not so touch and move their hearts that they would be eager to believe. Was the message not clear enough? Was he failing in his responsibility of conveying it…
View More Some notes on Surat al-Shu`ara’Orientalists and hadith scholarship: some reflections
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Modern Western critical inquiry into texts carrying religious authority has been carried out on the assumption that those texts are of natural (this-worldly) origin and any claims of supernatural origin are simply mechanisms by which the religious authority of those texts is established and sustained. This approach is supported by the historical fact that the Christian scriptures came to be recognized as authoritative concurrently with the establishment of geographically dispersed and, to some extent, competing Christian communities. Only after one of the dominant communities had forged an alignment with the political authority of the Roman…
View More Orientalists and hadith scholarship: some reflectionsInformal notes for a tafsir class on Surat al-Muddaththir
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi In my lecture I will go through the surah in detail. In these notes I take the opportunity to reflect, still in relation to this surah, five general matters that often come up when we are trying to understand the Qur’an. A: What is the relevance of reports going back to the Companions that inform us about the situation in connection with which certain verses were revealed? B: Reliable Prophetic hadiths and/or Companion reports teach us the tafsir (the explanation) of many verses and passages of the Qur’an. How can we benefit from them? C:…
View More Informal notes for a tafsir class on Surat al-MuddaththirSurrogate motherhood
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Your question: Since the surrogate mother is being injected not with sperm, but a fertilized egg. I’m having difficulty understanding the basis of necessitating zawaj (marriage) between the husband and the surrogate carrier. If the issue is social protection and rights those are entirely accounted for via legal contracts. It seems to me that this practice is difficult to do qiyas on, so I’m wondering how you think of it? My response: Surrogacy is an arrangement, whereby a woman agrees to carry a fertilised ovum through to full term, and then give birth on behalf…
View More Surrogate motherhoodSurat al-Mursalat
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi This surah alerts us to the very evident reality that life in this world subsists within a beneficent arrangement that has been put in place and operates independently of human will and agency. Although this reality is obvious everywhere and at all times, human beings have a tendency to ignore it. They tend to forget that, although they are privileged in many ways, as compared to other creatures in the world, they are nevertheless dependent on that world and its arrangement. If, for example, a man plants an apple seed and the seed grows into…
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