The Tale of the Fox’s Tail is False
One day I was giving a lesson to my students. The topic was envy (ḥasad), and I wanted…
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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Finitude and divine judgement
The death of a person introduces a decisive ontological and moral transition. While the living remain agents capable of deliberation, repentance, revision, and moral growth, the deceased can no longer participate in the processes through…
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Folding of Space and Time
ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Shaʿrānī reports in Lawāqiḥ al-anwār fī ṭabaqāt al-akhyār that his own shaykh, ʿAlī al-Khawwāṣ, would…
The Eyes Were Made to See You
Eyes behold the speck of dust, the towering mountains, the towns and the wastelands, the moon and the…
Then What?
You wish to be wealthy and well-off—trading, earning, planting, harvesting, storing money—captivated by the blossom of this world,…
Beyond States and Stations
The travellers upon the ṭarīqah take pleasure in discussing such states as constriction and expansion, grief and joy,…
You Can Build the Taj Mahal, but Not the Kaʿbah
It was a Friday — the blessed moment of the fourteenth of Ṣafar, 1447 AH — when our…
The Help of Allah Cannot Be Compared to the Help of Man
Today, the world feels foreign to the Muslim. It seems as though he is a resident of a…
Do Not Cling to the Fading Light of Yesterday
Every day, the sun rises upon the horizon in its full splendour, and then gradually sets, disappearing into…
To My Granddaughter Amani
O Amani! Listen well and take heed (A word to my granddaughter Amani, the daughter of my daughter…
Learn to Walk Alone
A Counsel to the Students of Al-Salam Institute You are among the fortunate ones who have been blessed…
Mercy upon Those Women
Ah! Those women— They were not of those who merely passed through our lives in passing, nor did…
My Daughter Denies That I Am Growing Old
“I am as you see me—not as time sees me.” There was nothing in advancing age that frightened…
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,…