The Magician
Introduction A morbid fascination with the occult doesn’t seem to be limited to a particular society or civilisation. For some sections of the Muslim Ummah, the ‘supernatural’ occupies a place quite centre stage, at...
Scholarship
A sickness, unto death
‘If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs’ Rendered in the famous lines of ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), these seem apt words for the year 2020. Unlike...
Thus spoke Ruwaybidah?
Are we witnessing one of the portents relating to the final hour? The aḥādith of the ‘Ruwaybiḍah’ is often mentioned in various contexts and has been feature of traditional Islamic works of ‘Fitan,’ relating...
Widows (part 1)
Introduction Death is the ultimate fate of every soul. Whether death comes from illness or suddenly and unexpected, it is the inevitable consequence of living. As Allah the Exalted has clearly explained to us: ‘Every...
But ‘the’ Scholars have said
As much as some may behave to the contrary, there is no priestly or rabbinical order that is textually sanctioned in Islam. The Qur’ānic text is replete with examples of censure given to the previous...