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Saturday, April 20, 2024

Ibadi Hadith and the Reliability of its Transmitters

Despite being a school that began its formalization process in the second half of the first century AH, the Ibāī school remains under-appreciated and often misunderstood by mainstream Islamic scholarship. A limited understanding of its early sources, foundational figures, and guiding principles has led both Muslim and non-Muslim researchers to unevidenced conclusions and has denied Ibāī scholars a voice in detailing the history of their own school.

In order to offer a corrective perspective, Terron and Roxanna from the Real Talk Podcast are very pleased to have the opportunity to talk to Shaykh Al-Muatasim Said Al-Maawali of Sultan Qaboos University, who is currently completing his PhD on Ibāī adīth literature at the University of Birmingham. His previous work includes an extended comparative study of Ibāī and anafī jurisprudence, a seminal article that takes a multidisciplinary approach to examining the distinction between the Ibāīs and the Khawārij, and a seven-volume series on Ibāī Jurisprudence called al-Mu‘tamad. The first volume, "The Reliable Jurisprudence of Prayer," he has translated into English himself. In his PhD work, he is seeking to carry out a codicological and jurisprudential study of the rarely studied manuscripts of the Ibāī adīth collection Musnad ar-Rabī b. abīb, addressing key questions regarding its early provenance, the historical existence of its compiler, and the reliability of its transmitters and the ittiāl between them. The project will then focus on a case study of one of the collection’s unique narrations and its current application in the growing Islamic banking industry in the Sultanate of Oman.




 

Monday, March 4, 2024

Islam and Christianity as seen in the Bible

Christianity and Islam are two great religions of the world, each with over a billion followers. Though they have many things in common, practically speaking, there is a wide gulf separating them. One of the main reasons is lack of knowledge and proper understanding of each other's views. We need to explore the possible avenues that can bring them together so as to be able to mutually benefit from their common heritage.

One such approach could be for a Muslim to explain to his Christian brother or sister that Islam is not an alien religion as he might think; but is very much Biblical, in the sense that what was taught by all the prophets of God (as we find them in the Bible) is being followed today by Muslims.

This booklet is an attempt to put together certain relevant verses and passages from the Bible that substantiate the Muslim claim that Islam is not a new religion, unfamiliar in its outlook and fundamental principles. References are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version and the New International Version of the Bible. "Mohammed (peace be upon him) in the Bible" is a complementary topic and two articles on the subject (originally published elsewhere) are appended.

It is hoped that this will not only help to erase various misconceptions that some Christians may have but will also equip Muslims with tools for better communication with their Christian brothers and sisters.

Please click on the image to read the booklet.