Honour Your Lord
A declaration of the truth that lies at the heart of all creation, that flows in every vein…
Character and Ethics
Character sits at the heart of the Islamic tradition, and these articles ask what it means to live well among others. Shaykh Akram Nadwi writes here on sincerity, restraint, the dangers of excess, and the conduct that faith calls for in ordinary dealings. The emphasis is practical: knowledge is measured by how it shapes a person’s manners and heart.
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Sincerity and the Search for Validation
As a person progresses upon this path, they must guard themselves against seeking validation from others regarding the quality of their īmān or the depth of their spirituality. No scholar, teacher, or community can truly…
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Praise and thank your Lord, my beloved daughter!
On the occasion of my daughter Sumaiya, may Allah protect her, receiving her Master’s degree from the University…
Social Realities
Maulana Muhammad Ghufran Nadwi (administrator of Majlis Tahqiqat wa Nashriyat Islam, Nadwat al-‘Ulama’, Lucknow) is a man of…
Excessiveness in Joking
They said: What do you say about joking? I said: It is among the recommended acts—indeed, part of…
Who Are You?
You claim that at your mere signal, lights are extinguished, lanterns go out, stars disappear, the moon enters…
Learning Etiquette with Allah from the Example of Ayyub (peace be upon him)
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ When a person raises his hands towards the heavens, he is not performing a…
A Verse That Always Moves Me
There is a verse in the Book of Allah that never fails to move me. It penetrates deep…
Between the Intellect and the Heart
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ I have previously published several articles explaining the concept of innate disposition (fiṭrah), the…
Do Not Count Your Istighfar on Beads
You are proud that in Ramadan you recite Astaghfirullah a hundred thousand times. Some people make a habit…
Remembering Two Pure Souls of Nadwah
From the village maktab to Oxford, I can never discharge my debt to the honourable teachers and masters…
Delhi is Still Far Away
Shaykh Nizamuddin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Ali al-Badauni al-Dihlawi, known as “Awliya” (633-725 AH), was one of the…
The Study of the Masnavi in the Indian Subcontinent
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (604/1207–672/1273) was not only a great poet of Persian literature but also a profound…
Questions & Answers on Character and Ethics
View all Q&A →Knowing oneself through returning to the Dīn
My student, Abu Hanifah Dilawar, forwarded to me the following question: Assalāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuhu, Shaykh. This is a question from a Bangladeshi reader of the Bangla Facebook page who regularly reads your articles. They wrote: “I could…
“A bedding for a man, a bedding for his wife, a third for a guest, and the fourth is for the shayṭān”
Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4142, narrated by Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah. The hadith says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned bedding and said: “There should be bedding for a man, bedding for his wife, and a…
Balancing birr, patience, and self-protection
My student Dr Areeg asked me the following question: Assalamu alaykum Shaykh Akram, Islam places great emphasis on maintaining family ties and showing birr al-walidayn. However, I struggle to understand how this can be reconciled with situations involving abusive parents,…