Articles on

Ibāḍī Studies

By: Al-Muatasim Said Saif Al-Maawali

 1


Book: Articles on Ibāḍī Studies

Author: Al-Muatasim Said Al-Maawali

Email: [email protected]

Publisher: the author

First Edition

February 2016

Oman\ Muscat

All rights reserved for the author

For more copies or suggestions:

call

00968 99700066

or email

[email protected]
 2

This Compilation

Contains Academic Essays and Dissertation

introduced to the University of Birmingham in order to

obtain a Master Degree in Islamic Studies.

 3

The Distinction

between Ibāḍīs and Khārijites

Introduced to: Prof. Jørgen S. Nielsen

 4

Introduction:
The present paper tries to clear many misconceptions ascribed
to one of the first and most moderate classical Islamic schools of
thought, Ibāḍīsm. The chief reason beyond causing these
misconceptions is the inaccurate attribution of Ibāḍīs to
Khārijites by many classical historians such as al-Ash'arī (1980,
p.102), al-Bagdādī (1997, p.78, 103), ibn Hazm (1321 AH, v.4
p.188), etc. Therefore, this essay attempts at shedding some
light over some examples of the key differences between Ibāḍīs
and Khārijites, and these examples will be confined only, due to
the word limit, to the political and theological spheres.
The driving force to write on this topic can be summarised in
two main reasons: first, the serious complications of this
association which, in turn, leads inevitably to ascribe Khāriji
thought and misbehaviour, like charging other Muslims with
infidelity, killing them, taking their property, etc., to moderate
and tolerant Ibāḍī thought; second and most importantly in the
current time, with the emergence of some extremist and violent
groups recently such as ISIS, this issue of Khawārij was brought
back again to the arena of discussion, placing the contemporary
moderate Ibāḍīs with these terrorist groups, pointing out that
the current Ibāḍīs are extension to the classical Khāriji
movement, of which none is left except Ibāḍīs, as claimed.
 5

However, the difficulty of this research lies on the fact that

there is no written literature extant for Khāriji thought recorded
by the followers of this thought themselves. Hence, the
researcher should bear in mind that the writings of any group
against their opponents cannot be taken for granted. Yet, what
concerns me in this paper is to negate such radical ideologies
and practices from Ibāḍīs, and whether Khārijites, in reality,
believed and did all what was attributed to them or not.
However, I will attempt through this academic essay to examine
the authenticity of what has been propagated for a long time by
the aforementioned classical historians, that the Ibāḍīs are part
of Khārijites, and to show through the Ibāḍī early sources that
there always have been clear distinctions and decisive
differences, politically and theologically, between Ibāḍīs and
Khārijites. And those historians and many contemporary
researchers, who fell in the same trap, did not follow academic
integrity by referring those opinions to the Ibāḍī sources. On the
contrary, they were content with transferring and quoting what
the Ibāḍī opponents said about them. To that end, I divided this
paper into three sections. The first of which serves as an
introductory section to the other two, then comes the
conclusion of the main research outcomes.
 6

Section One: a Historical Context of Emergence of

Ibāḍīs and Khārijites
After the murder of the third rightly-guided Caliph Uthmān b.
Affān and appointing the fourth rightly-guided Caliph, ‘Alī b. Abī
Tālib, Muāwiyah b. Abī Sufyān, the governor of Levant (al-
Sham), marched with his army against ‘Alī, demanding him to
execute the assassins of Uthmān or put them on trial. Because
of that the battle of Siffin (37 AH/ 657 CE) took place between
the two armies. Meanwhile, when Muāwiyah saw that his army
is being defeated by ‘Alī’s troops, he came up with the plot of
arbitration i.e. each party chooses one of his followers as a
representative and arbitrator, speaking on the behalf of his
party. When the conspiracy was disclosed by removing ‘Alī from
any authority and installing Muāwiyah as a new Caliph, ‘Alī
refused the result of this arbitration and it became clear to him
that it was no more than a scheme to get out of that defeat,
therefore, he decided to carry on fighting them again. At this
ambiguous situation which relates to Muslims’ blood, a group of
‘Alī’s army ‘went out’ of the army, this is why were called
Khārijites (Bierschenk, 1988, p.109), and withdrew themselves
from any further military participation (Montgomery Watt,
1996, p.106), preferring to keep themselves away from any
bloodshed in this unclear condition, especially as they had
already refused the arbitration prior to ‘Alī’s final acceptance,
declaring that there is no arbitration but Allah’s, denoting that
Allah has already arbitrated and judged on this issue in the
 7

Quran when he asked the believers to keep fighting the

transgressive party until it repents and that is why this group of
people was known in the Islamic history al-Muhakkimah, which
means the arbitrators [Q 49:9] (Bierschenk, 1988, p.109;
Montgomery Watt, 1996, p.108-109).
It is said that ‘Alī was about to fight Muāwiyah’s army again, but
eventually he was convinced by one of his followers, al-Ash'ath
b. Qays, to fight those who left his army and isolated
themselves, al-Muhakkimah. Consequently, ‘Alī fought them
and most of them were killed in the battle of an-Nahrawān (38
AH/ 658 CE) and many who could survive had fled (Montgomery
Watt, 2002, p.12-13).
At this point of time, this group of al-Muhakkimah did not hold
any political or theological thoughts other than denying the
human arbitration, as they suggested. Yet, after a period of time
(64 AH), they divided into two main categories; first, those who
decided to take military and violent actions against their
opponents. Under this category fall Sufriyyah, Azariqah and
Najdat. The second category is those who refused to take any
military action and preferred to sit down, and that is why they
were called al-Qa’idah or al-Waqifah, meaning those who sat
down and did not stand up to fight. This is what was confirmed
by Savage (1990, p.7-8) who said: ‘However, those members of
Basra’s Ulamā, who subsequently were identified as early
Ibāḍīs, had maintained a deliberate distance from the violent
 8

dissidence of the extreme Khawārij. This very distinction was a

principal characteristic of the early ‘Ibāḍī’ movement in the late
seventh century‘. This category is the one that was called
Ibāḍīsm, being attributed to Abdullah b. Ibāḍ, one of the
followers and adherents to this thought. Therefore, from this
group, in particular, the Ibāḍī school of thought had emerged
and from it their school of law had flourished (Higazy, 2000, 4;
Montgomery Watt, 1996, p.107-109).
I think because of the fact that the spiritual leader of Ibāḍīs was
Jabir b. Zaid (18- 93 AH), the Ibāḍīs at first did not acknowledge
this attribution to Ibn Ibāḍ and following did not accept to call
themselves more than Muslims or people of Da'wah, missionary
activity. That is why researchers in history never find this term
Ibāḍīs or Ibāḍīsm in the Ibāḍī literature until the end of the third
century AH (Ghubash, 2006, p.27). Afterwards, when these
people saw that this term has become as a reality with others
and Ibn Ibāḍ was one of their political spokesmen, they
accepted this association as there are no bad implications on it,
but the Ibāḍīs never considered Ibn Ibāḍ their Imam, let alone
they agreed unanimously on his Imama, as al-Baghdadi claimed
(al-Baghdadi, 1997, p.103).
On the other hand, because attributing Ibāḍīs to Khawārij makes
a lot of confusions and mixes up their distinct thoughts with
many faulty beliefs, the Ibāḍīs never acknowledged this
attribution due to the dangerous implications in both the
 9

political and theological level, unlike the term Ibāḍī. Explaining

some of the distinguished political and theological thoughts
between Ibāḍīs and Khārijites is what I am going to elaborate on
in the following two sections.
Section Two: the Political Differences between Ibāḍīs
and Khārijites
The differences between Ibāḍīs and Khārijites are not confined
to one aspect. Rather, they fall under more than one category.
However, the political differences are the first ones and the
initial bases for the division. In this section is an attempt to
highlight some of these clear differences that distinguish Ibāḍīs
from Khārijites:
First: the ruling of revolting against the tyrant ruler: the
Khārijites hold that the rebellion against the unjust ruler is
mandatory. Thus, the public have no choice but to exert their
utmost efforts to overthrow such rulers. Whereas the Ibāḍīs do
not agree with Khārijites in maintaining this attitude. Rather
they are of the opinion that it depends on the surrounding
circumstances. If they are in the position of power and strength,
and it is most likely that the rebellion against tyranny is going to
succeed, then going against this ruler is permissible and lawful,
not obligatory as Khārijites adopted. On the other hand, if they
are in the position of weakness and inability, and their success is
not expected, then they must not rebel against him; otherwise
the Muslims’ affairs would become disorder and mess. What
 11

confirms this idea is the practical peaceful application by the

Ibāḍī followers and leaders during the first century under the
Umayyad rule, and in Oman when it was ruled by some
transgressive governors (al-Sabee, 1999, p.175; Ennami, p.25;
Muammar, 2001, p.499, 502-505).
Second: the ruling of Isti’rad, giving the security to the innocent
people then killing them without any warning nor legitimate
reason. Isti’rad, this reprehensible assassination, was
considered to be one of the distinguishing marks of Khārijites,
especially Azraqis, throughout their history. However, the Ibāḍī
writings recorded many letters attributed to multitude of Ibāḍī
scholars. Most importantly, many of those scholars were
contemporary to early Khāriji movements, who witnessed the
developing bloody conflicts during the second half of the first
century and the first half of the second century AH. These
writings show how the early Ibāḍī scholars opposed the notion
of Isti’rad and condemned this act in the time of war, let alone
the time of peace. Of those scholars is Salim b. Dhkwan al-Hilali
(died 101 AH/ 719 CE) in his famous Sīra, long letter, who said:
‘We do not approve of assassinating our people (i.e. non-Ibāḍī
Muslims) or killing them secretly, even if they were misguided’
(Ennami, p.25, 34-36).
Third: the ruling of Khuruj, making Hijrah, emigration, to their
camp. The Khārijites introduced the doctrine of Hijra from the
areas of their Muslim opponents to their own camps.
 11

Furthermore, they made this kind of Hijra compulsory upon

every individual Muslim. Therefore, they imposed upon all
Muslims to join them, as they consider their opponents’ abode
‘dar al-harb’, land of war. On the other hand, the Ibāḍīs refused
this notion and did not join them nor did they go out with them
to fight other Muslims, raising the Prophetic tradition as a
slogan ‘La Hijrat bad al-Fath’, meaning ‘There is no Emigration
after the Conquest of Mecca’ (al-Bukhari, 1:3). Hence, Khārijites
called them al-Qaadah, i.e. those who sat down and did not join
them to fight. What confirms this clear difference between
Ibāḍīs and Khārijites is the fact that the reader of Ibāḍī literature
never finds one single war initiated by Ibāḍīs on sectarian bases.
Hence, all Muslim lands, including the opponents’ lands, are
considered by Ibāḍīs as lands of peace and Islam, not lands of
war and disbelief (Ennami, p.27-28).
Fourth: the property of the opponents. The Khawārij consider
their oppositions’ properties as a legal wealth for them to take
and a kind of a permitted spoil. Hence, we find in Khāriji history
that the Khārijites would wage wars against their opponents and
take their belongings as booty of war. However, this extreme
action would not be accepted by the Ibāḍī community at all. As
such, it is clear with the Ibāḍīs that the Muslim’s property,
regardless of whoever he/she is, is unlawful as long as he
declares the testimony of Tawhid, the Oneness of Allah. They
base this firm stance on the Prophetic saying: ‘Verily your blood,
your property and your honour are as sacred and inviolable as
 12

the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in

this town of yours’ (al-Bukhari, 18:1524). This Ibāḍī principle
was reflected in their behaviour with their fellow Muslims over
the course of the Ibāḍī history, where the researcher does not
find in their history one single case in which the Ibāḍīs took the
other Muslims’ belongings as a spoil, even in the time of war.
The clear instance for this is that when Ibāḍīs took over San'a,
Yemen, and liberated its people from the tyrant ruler of Bani
Umayyah. Their illegal wealth, i.e. the Umayyad’s, was brought
before the Ibāḍī conqueror, Talib al-Haqq, and he did not take
for himself nor for any of his followers anything. On the
contrary, he distributed all that to the people of that city (al-
Salimi, 1989, p.512-513).
Section Three: The Theological Differences between
Ibāḍīs and Khārijites
First: accusing their Muslim opponents of disbelief. The main
distinguishing feature of Khāriji thought is that they accuse their
opponents of being kuffār, infidels. I consider this feature the
key marker of Khārijites and the most crucial one, due to the
fact that many of the theological and political Khāriji thoughts,
such as ist’rad and despoiling other’s property, were built upon
this extreme and radical thinking. As a result, the researcher in
this field should be careful when dealing with this sensitive
issue, especially in relation to the Ibāḍī theological thought, for
two main reasons: first, this term kufr is used in the original
 13

textual evidence, Quran and Sunnah, for more than one

meaning: shirk which takes one out of the fold of Islam and kufr
Neamah (Allah’s favour), infidel-ingratitude which means simply
‘sin’, which does not remove the description of Islam. Hence, it
is called sometimes minor kufr or practical kufr, therefore, this
kind of kufr does not get one out of the religion of Islam.
Second, it is well-known in the historical references that the first
one to use this term kuffār, intending the major kufr or shirk, to
label other Muslims was Nafia b. Al-Azraq, the head of Azariqah,
and that was only after the split of al-Muhakkimah in 64 AH/
684 CE. With all that in mind, it becomes clear that there is
nothing reported authentically to prove that the early
Muhakkimah, which includes Ibāḍīs, used this term against any
Muslim. However, if we were to say, for the sake of argument,
that some of early Muhakkimah had used it, we would interpret
that to be minor kufr which could be termed to any sinful
Muslim as well, as the textual evidence did and legitimised (al-
Sabee, 1999, p.131, 176; al-Msqri, 2011, p.121).
Second: accusing any one committing a major sin of being kāfir
kufr sherk, i.e. committing major infidel. The Khawārij based
their ruling upon a misinterpretation of the Qur’anic verse in
which Almighty Allah says: ‘If you were to obey them, you would
indeed be infidels’ (Q, 6:121). They claimed that this verse
means that if you obey the disbelievers in eating carrion, the
non-slaughtered animal flesh, you would be considered
disbelievers like them. However, the Ibāḍīs disagree with this
 14

interpretation and argue that the ruling of the verse ‘disbelief’ is

not built on eating the dead animal meat, rather on believing
the unlawful thing lawful. This Ibāḍī argument is widespread in
the Ibāḍī literature such as the theological and Qur’anic
commentaries. Sheik Atfayish, an Algerian Ibāḍī scholar (died
1385 AH/ 1965 CE), says: ‘However, the correct understanding
of this verse is that those who make carrion lawful are heretics’
(Attfayish, 2015, p.18).
Third: denying some Islamic punishments, Hudūd, which have
not been mentioned in the Qur’an, such as denying the stoning
entirely. Furthermore, it is attributed to Khārijites that they do
not acknowledge stoning as an Islamic punishment anyway. And
the argument given for their opinion is the fact that this kind of
punishment is not mentioned in the Quran, the first source of
Islamic legislation. However, the early Ibāḍī writings approve of
the stoning for the married adulterer or adulteress as a
legitimate punishment in Islamic penal law. Consequently, all
Ibāḍī jurists have agreed unanimously over the general
legitimacy of stoning in Islam (al-Rabeea, 2011, p.149,151; al-
Misaqri, 2011, p.125).
 15

Conclusion
To sum up, it has been made clear by this concise discussion
that one should deal with the books of history carefully, as each
historian embarks on his writing from his own political or
sectarian background, especially when it comes to describe or
evaluate his adversaries, and this is totally consistent with the
research hypothesis suggested in the introduction of this paper.
Although this research was limited by a certain number of words
and a short period of time, the research shows some
outstanding outcomes. Part of these is the fact that although
the Ibāḍīs share with the so-called Khārijites the denial of
arbitration, they differ with them in most of the political and
theological decisive points.
On top of these key differences is that the Khārijites describe
their opponents as being unbelievers which is, as far as I am
concerned, the prime reason beyond the other political and
theological extreme approaches of Khārijites. Therefore, it is
historically incorrect to give one group, Ibāḍīsm, the whole
descriptions or ideologies of another group, or even to consider
it part of that group because it had agreed with that group on
one single ijtihadi, arguable, issue especially when it comes to a
classical Islamic school considered as ‘a quietest and pietist third
branch of Islam’, according to Gaiser’s description (Gaiser, 2010,
p.206). Additionally, this fact has been acknowledged even by
 16

many non-Ibāḍī scholars such as al-Tanukhi, a specialist

researcher in the literary and religious Ibāḍī heritage died 1966
CE, who stated: 'Indeed, attributing the word 'Khawārij' to
Ibāḍīs is one of the unjust claims which stemmed from the
political aggression first, and religious fanaticism second,. They
mixed up between Ibāḍīs and Azariqh, Sufryyah and Najdat.
However, there is no commonality between Ibāḍīs and the
Khārijites apart from denying the arbitration between ‘Alī and
Muāwiyah' (Muammar, 2001, p. 150).
It is hoped that this paper will open the gate for subsequent
research to investigate the Islamic historical heritage and to re-
read it in an unbiased way. Most importantly, to clear the
misconceptions and correct the misunderstanding that are
happening between the current Islamic rites, and that might
result definitely in narrowing the differences, bridging the gaps
and letting the various legal Islamic schools lead a more tolerant
and harmonious common life.
17

Bibliography
- al-Ashari, A. (1980) The Articles of Muslims. Islamic
Publications.
- Attfayish, I. (2015) The Differences between Ibāḍīs and
Khawārij. Muscat: Al-Dhamri Bookshop.
- al-Bagdadi, A. (1997) The Distinction between Sects.
Beirut: Dar al-Marifah.
- Ennami, A. (ND) Studies in Ibāḍīsm. Muscat: Islamic
Information Centre.
- Ghubash, H. (2006) Oman – The Islamic Democratic
Tradition. Durham: Durham Modern Middle East and
Islamic World.
- Ibn Hazem, A. (1321 AH) al-Fesl fi al-Milel wa-l-Ahwaa
wa-l-Nihal. Dar al-Feker.
- Higazy, A. (2000) The Development of Ibāḍī Educational
thought in North Africa. Beirut: Al-Asryyah Bookshop.
- Montgomery, W. (1996) A Short History of Islam. Oxford:
Oneworld Publication.
- Montgomery, W. (2002) The Formative Period of Islamic
Thoughts. Oxford: Oneworld Publication.
- al-Msqri, N. (2011) Ibāḍīsm in the arena of truth. Muscat:
al-Anfal Bookshop.
- Muammar, A. (1990) Ibāḍīsm a Moderate Sect of Islam.
Muscat: Ministry of Justice, Endowments and Islamic
Affairs.
 18

- Muammar, A. (2001) Ibāḍīsm among the Islamic Sects.

London: Dar al-Hikmah.
- Sabee, N. (1999) Khawārij and the lost reality. Muscat: al-
Geel al-Waed Bookshop.
- Salemi, A. (1989) Jawhar a-Nizam. Muscat: Nur al-Deen
al-Salimi Bookshop.

Journal articles:
- Bierschenk, T. (1988) Religion and Political Structure:
Remarks on Ibāḍīsm in Oman and Mzab (Algeria).
Maisonneuve & Larose. [online] . Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1595760?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference
& references_tab_contents#page_scan_tab_contents [Accessed
22 March 2015].
- Gaiser, A. (2010) Muslims, Scholars, Soldiers: The Origin
and Elaboration of the Ibāḍī Imamate Traditions .Oxford:
Oxford University Press. [online] . Available from:
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9
780199738939.001.0001/acprof-9780199738939[Accessed 05
April 2015].
- Savage, E. (1990) Survival through Alliance: The
Establishment of the Ibāḍiyya. Bulletin (British Society for
Middle Eastern Studies). [online] . Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/194826 [Accessed 04 April 2015].
 19

Book Review

Oman - The Islamic Democratic

Tradition

Introduced to: Prof. Jørgen S. Nielsen

 21

Book Review
Oman - The Islamic Democratic Tradition
‘Oman - The Islamic Democratic Tradition’ is the title of a very
valuable book in the fields of both Islamic Politics and Omani
History. This scholarly work, which took ten years of research
and writing, was originally written in French and then translated
into several languages, including Arabic and English. The author
of this work is Dr. Husain Ghubash, a UAE politician and former
ambassador for the UAE to several countries. In general, the
book traces what the author calls ‘the unique and successful
experience of the Omani Islamic democracy’ which embodied in
the Ibāḍī Imama system, a parallel to the Royal ruling system,
over the last twelve centuries, up to the accession of His
Majesty Sultan Qābūs in 1970.
At the outset of his book, Dr. Ghubash explains the fundamental
democratic bases on which the Omani Islamic ruling system,
Imama, had been based and through which the Omani
democratic experience had succeeded and flourished. Part of
these principles are al-shura (consultation of the senior Muslim
scholars), equality before the law and the free election of the
Imam (the leader of the state). What made the Omani Imama
experience unique is the fact that it didn’t stipulate that the
publically elected Imam be from a certain Arab tribe, rather
every citizen is eligible, regardless of his skin colour or racial
group.
 21

Afterwards, the author talks about what he terms ‘The true

expression of the spirit of Omani Islamic Democracy’. Here, he
considers the Ibāḍī constitution – not only the first of its kind in
the Arab and Islamic worlds, but one of the first constitutions in
the whole world, as it was laid down in the second half of the
first century AH. Consequently, and unlike most historians, this
led Dr. Ghubash to regard the Ibāḍī Imama system as the true
inheritor of the Islamic Caliphate of the first rightly-guided
Caliphs.
However, the writer places a great emphasis in his scholarly
work on the establishment of Imama as the backbone of the
democratic experience of modern Oman. This establishment
consists mainly of three vital institutions: the Majlis of the
Ulamā (the Council of Scholars), the ‘Majlis al-Am (the General
Council), and the tribal component. The Majlis of the Ulamā is
considered the supreme council in the Imama system because it
is made up of the most senior and expert Muslim scholars, who
are very close to the Imam and trusted by public. Those
scholars are called Ahl al-Hall wal `Aqd, i.e. the people who have
the authority of decision-making and dissolving with regards to
constitutional and political affairs, as this council holds the
legislative power in the Imama state, knowing that establishing
this particular council is following in the footsteps of the first
Islamic Caliphate (11- 40 AH/ 632- 660), in which a council of
senior scholars played a key role.
As for Majlis al-Am, the General Council, it is considered a
traditional local council in almost every region. This Majlis
 22

represents the real participation of the public in political life.

However, this Majlis is headed by a highly-respected figure,
usually a prominent Muslim scholar, Ālim, who has a strong
connection with the central authority. The writer then stresses
the significant role of the third Imama institution, the tribal
component. This institution plays a key part in backing the state
and enforcing its democracy. Therefore, it is regarded by the
writer as ‘the prime political institution’, which reminds us of
Ibn Khaldūn’s theory (732-808 AH) about the notion of Asabīya
‘the group’s feeling or social solidarity’ and its role in the
establishment and rise of civilisations. Additionally, the tribe’s
custom and common laws, urf, were always a source of
legislation in the Islamic legal and judicial system. Hence, the
religious legislator should use the urf as a basis for new laws.
More importantly, these Imama institutions collectively proved,
over the course of the Omani history, to be consistent and
effective, and that which paved the way for the Imama to
practically achieve the fundamentals of a successful democratic
experience - the principles of consensus, contract, consultation,
and so on. By the real activation of these institutions, the
interior of Oman, the Imama zone, enjoyed a period of stability
in both the social and political spheres.
The author goes deeper, explaining the succession of modern
competing imperialist powers whose interest in the Gulf region
was nothing but to take over trade routes and achieve political
domination. However, as a result of the eventual victory of
British colonialism through the signing of treaties with the Arab
 23

tribes, the revolution of Azzan (1285- 1287 AH/ 1869-1871 CE)

to revive the Imama rule was thwarted at the very beginning by
the Royal system. As such, the second attempt to establish the
Imama ruling system was contained by the signature of the
Treaty of al-Sib (1339 AH, 1920 CE), by which the Imama of
Oman was cornered to the interior side, and then an economic
blockade was imposed by the British colonialists, which resulted
in decades of suffering from a lack of material and medical
supplies. This was the case until the discovery of oil in the
Imama areas, which led to collaboration between the Sultan,
Royal system, and the British Air Force to breach the treaty and
overthrow the Imama system.
Finally, what distinguishes this book is the fact that it depends,
to a large extent, on many Western documents recorded by
intellectuals who accompanied the colonial expeditions as
eyewitnesses. Most of these documents are disclosed, through
this book, for the first time. Moreover, this work draws the
West’s attention to a preceding successful democratic
experience that had existed since the eighth century CE and
lasted for twelve hundred years, and never had any dependency
on Western democratic theories, but it was rather the
intervention of West that ended it by force in the mid-twentieth
century. This book is a truly historic addition to the study of
Islamic democracy, and therefore undoubtedly worth reading.
 24

The Embryonic Miracles

in the Holy Quran

Introduced to: Dr. Galateia

 25

Index

Introduction

The Stages of Embryonic Development in the Mother’s

Womb

The Implantation of the Fertilised Egg

The Three Darkness in the Mother’s Womb

The Responsible for Determining the Sex of the Child

Conclusion

Bibliography

- Books

- Academic articles
 26

Introduction:
This scholarly paper tries to shed some light upon the Embryonic

Miracles in the Holy Quran. The importance of this topic is

derived from the current global concern with the issue of the

Holy Quran to both Muslims and non-Muslims. In fact, proving

or disproving the Divinity of the Qur’anic text is considered the

cornerstone of the ongoing discourse regarding the Holy Quran.

Therefore, evidencing that the Quran is a miraculous text has

been the major proof introduced by Muslim scholars over the

course of history since the emergence of Prophet Muhammad

(Peace be upon him), in the 7th century AC, onward.

However, the aspects of the Qur’anic miracles vary significantly

and are not restricted to one area of human life, rather all of our

life’s aspects are touched by the miraculous Qur’anic text. For

instance, the linguistic miracle, the historical miracle, the

 27

informational miracle and the scientific miracle. However, due to

the limited time, the focus will be on the scientific miracle in the

Holy Quran as an example of the Qur’anic miracle, and due to

the vastness of this topic as well, the paper will present

particularly the Embryonic Miracle in the Holy Quran as an

example of the modern scientific Qur’anic miracle.

As a matter of fact, it could be a good chance for the people of

this era, the era of technological advancement and modern

sciences, to examine the actual authenticity of this book, the

book that was revealed over 1400 years ago, in order for them to

acknowledge to what extent this book corresponds with the

definitive scientific facts. Based on that, this paper will

investigate this issue in order to get a conclusive answer to this

critical enquiry.

Additionally, the methodology adopted by the writer in this

research paper is clarified as follows:

 28

- Showing the translation of the verse or the relevant part

of that verse.

- Commenting on the meaning of the verse.

- Offering what the modern science says regarding the

meaning of the verse.

- Explaining to what extent the Qur’anic text corresponds

with the modern scientific facts.

Furthermore, here are some important definitions for the most

frequent terms mentioned in this paper to remove any ambiguity
away from the reader:

- Miracle

For the sake of clarity, it is better to give the word ‘Miracle’ two
definitions: linguistic definition and theological definition, as
follows:

 First\ the linguistic definition: it is an unusual and

mysterious event for human being, because it does
not follow the usual laws of nature.
 29

 Second\ the theological definition: it is a surprising

fact or supernatural phenomenon that is beyond the
capability of the human being, given by God to one
of his Prophets.
- Quran: is the book that was revealed by the Almighty
God 'Allah' to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the
7th century AC.

- Verse: is a complete statement in the holy Quran.

Therefore, each full statement in the Quran is called
‘verse’ and each Qur’anic chapter consists of a set of
statements ‘verses’.

- Embryology: is the science related to the development

of the human embryo, the fetus, inside the mother’s
womb.

Finally, the findings of this paper definitely could be used as an

effective means to prove the authenticity of the Glorious Quran

as a divine book and to bridge the gap between Muslims and

non-Muslims and to get a better understanding about this great

Divine gift, the religion of Islam.

 31

The Stages of Embryonic Development in the Mother’s

Womb

The stages which the embryo goes through in the mother’s womb

have been mentioned in numerous places in different chapters in

the Holy Quran, such as the ‘Chapter of Believers’, ‘Chapter of

Pilgrimage’ and ‘Chapter of Prostration’. One chosen example of

these verses will be shown in this paper. Furthermore, the

development of the fetus or the embryo in the mother’s womb is

elaborated by the Holy Quran in the ‘Chapter of Believers’ in a

way that conforms totally with the actual stages the embryo goes

through.

The Qur’anic text:

‫ﭧﭨﭽﮕ ﮖ ﮗ ﮘ ﮙ ﮚ ﮛ ﮜ ﮝ ﮞ ﮟ ﮠ ﮡ‬

‫ﮢﮣﮤ ﮥﮦﮧﮨﮩﮪﮫ ﮬ‬
 31

‫ﮭ ﮮ ﮯ ﮰ ﮱ ﯓ ﯔ ﯕﯖ ﯗ ﯘ ﯙ ﯚ ﯛ‬

.٢١ –٢١ :‫ﭼ المؤمنون‬

The translation: ‘And certainly We created man from an extract

of clay, Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm resting-

place, Then We made the sperm-drop into ‘Alaqah’, and We

made the clot into ‘Mudghah’, And We made [from] the

Mudghah bones, and We covered and clothed the bones with

flesh; Then We developed him into another creation. So blessed

is Allah, the best of creators’ [Chapter: 23. Verses: 12-14].

The embryonic stages:

The above mentioned verse can be highlighted in successive

stages as follows:

The first stage: it is stated by this part of verse ‘And certainly

We created man from an extract of clay’ that the initial creation

of the human being is originated out of ‘extract of clay’ or, as

 32

stated in a second place in the Quran, out of ‘dust of the earth’

or, as stated in a third place, out of ‘the essence of clay’. It is

obvious from these Qur’anic statements that the initial origin of

the human being comes from the earth.

Modern science has come recently to know that the human body

contains all the soil components and elements, in other words, all

the components that are found in the soil are also found in the

human being and that is what conforms entirely to the Qur’anic

text (Ashfaq, 1999, p.121-122; Haeri, 1987, p.22). Consequently,

this scientific statement demonstrates clearly the precision of the

Qur’anic expression with regard to the initial origin of the human

being and it also confirms its Divine authenticity.

The second stage: in this part of verse, the Quran talks about the

second stage of the human creation: ‘Then We placed him as a

sperm-drop’. The ‘sperm-drop’ stage covers the period from

fertilising the female ovum to implanting it into the mother’s

 33

womb (Sadaat, 2009, p105). The miraculous Qur’anic aspects in

the Science of Embryology in general, and in ‘man’s semen’ in

particular, cannot be comprehended thoroughly unless by

looking at the Qur’anic descriptions of the seminal liquid of man

which are going to be shown here as follows:

1) ‘Nutfa’: the seminal fluid of man is described in several

places in the Quran as ‘Nutfa’. A remarkable example of

these places is this verse: ‘Does not man see that We have

created him from Nutfa’ [Chapter: 36. Verse: 77]. The

word ‘Nutfa’ in Arabic means the ‘very little amount of

left water’ or just “a minute drop of water” left after

emptying the container. However, it has been recently

discovered that the process of fertilising the female’s

ovum is fulfilled just by one single cell of man’s fluid,

unlike the former portrayal which believed that the human

 34

being was created from a large amount of semen

(Esmaeilzadeh, 2011, p3).

2) ‘Sulalah’: the spermatic liquid of man was

described also as ‘Sulalah’. This meaning is stated

explicitly in another verse in the Holy Quran, where the

Quran says: ‘And then He made his progeny from

(Sulalah) of despised fluid’ [Chapter: 32. Verse: 8].

Interestingly, the word (Sulalah) in Arabic has two

meanings and both of them agree accurately with the

reality of the amount of sperm and the reality of the

process of fertilising, these meanings are explained below

respectively as follows:

The first meaning of the word (Sulalah) is ‘the extract or the

best part of something’ and this is what coincides with what has

been mentioned earlier, that the woman’s ovum is fertilised only

 35

by one single sperm, not by a large amount of man’s liquid as it

has been imagined in the past.

The second meaning of (Sulalah) is ‘a long-

tailed fish’ [see figure n.1]. It is known

nowadays through using the advanced

microscopes that the shape of each single

[figure n.1]
‘sperm’ is just like the shape of ‘long-tailed

fish’ (Esmaeilzadeh, 2011, p3). Therefore, it is clear here that the

Qur’anic portrayal of the reality of man’s sperm corresponds

exactly with the modern discovery, either in terms of quantity or

in terms of shape.

3) ‘Amshaj’: in a third place in the Holy Quran, man’s

water is described as ‘Amshaj’ where the Quran says:

 36

‘Verily, We have created man from Nutfah Amshaj’

[Chapter: 72. Verse: 2]. In the Arabic language, the word

‘Amshaj’ means ‘Mixtures’ or ‘Mingled liquid’ which

denotes that the man’s sperm is made up by various

elements and components. This Qur’anic notion is proved

scientifically by Dr. Maurice Bucaille (1976, p.220), a

French medical doctor specialist in gastroenterology who

said: ‘Spermatic liquid is formed by various secretions

which come from the following glands: the testicles, the

seminal vesicles, the prostate gland and the glands

annexed to the urinary tract...’.

As shown in this stage, it is noticeable that all the Qur’anic

descriptions of the man’s sperm, which were foretold precisely

by Muhammad (PBUH) over than fourteen hundred years ago,

have been confirmed recently by the contemporary

 37

embryologists implying the truthfulness of the Prophethood and

the divine Qur’anic message of Muhammad (PBUH).

The third stage: the Qur’anic verse continues describing the

embryonic development of the fetus inside the mother’s womb,

stage by stage. This part of verse ‘in a place of settlement, firmly

fixed’ represents the third stage of the human development

concerning his/her creation. In this stage, the stage of implanting

the ‘Nutfah’ in the wall of the mother’s uterus, the Quran

describes the place in which the sperm-drop ‘man’s semen’ is

implanted as ‘a place of settlement, firmly fixed’ or as ‘a firm

resting-place’. These descriptions given by the Quran refer to a

place of safety and security. Since it is very safe and well-

protected settlement for the child during the period of pregnancy.

The present medical science, using the most sophisticated

equipment and latest advanced instruments, has come to approve

the Qur’anic portrayal of the mother’s womb in terms of strength

 38

and stability (Moor, 1988, p19). Indeed, it became scientifically

known that the mother’s uterus is firm to protect the child and

keep its life intact. In addition to that, this firmly fixed ‘farm’ is

very solid resting-place to suit and fit the needs of the embryo

throughout the period of fetal development. Moreover, that

protection and solidarity are not confined to the physical

preservation and strength, rather they include the suitability for

all necessary aspects to ensure the proper development for the

human being in this critical stage of life, such as the temperature

degree and the full hygiene protection. As a consequent, all these

accurate descriptions to the intrauterine life of the child in this

phase prove the divine origin of the Holy Quran which had been

revealed upon Muhammad (PBUH) more than one thousand four

hundred years ago, before the era of scientific discovery and

technological advancement.
 39

The fourth stage: the following stage, the Alaqah stage, is

portrayed by this Qur’anic statement: ‘Then We made the sperm-

drop into Alaqah’. Thus, the ‘Alaqah’ stage begins on day 15

and is completed on day 24. In reality, ‘Alaqah’ is an Arabic

word and, literally, this word has three meanings given in the

classical Arabic dictionaries (Sadaat, 2009, p105). However, the

most noticeable thing here is that all of these meanings are

applicable and valid to describe the embryo in this certain period

of time, the ‘Alaqah’ phase, as follows:

A. Leech: it is a kind of worm which sucks the other’s blood.

The similarity between the embryo and the leech at this stage is

obvious from two aspects:

- The first aspect: both of them

are similar in the appearance or

shape. In other word, the fetus [figure n.2]

 41

in this stage looks exactly like the leech. [see figure

n.2].

- The second aspect: the leech feeds on the blood of

others and the embryo obtains its nourishment from the

blood of his mother (Moor, 1988, p3. Johnson et al,

2000, p.36).

B. Something clings: or clinging and

hanging substance. As it is clear in

[figure n.3] the human embryo

[figure n.3]
clings and hangs in this stage, the

‘Alaqah’ stage, on the wall of the mother’s womb.

C. Blood clot: ‘Alaqah’ also means, in

Arabic language, ‘blood clot’ or ‘a
bit of accumulated blood’.
The embryo in this stage, the ‘Alaqah’ [figure n.4]
 41

stage, looks like ‘blood clot’ or ‘a bit of accumulated blood’ as it

is shown in the upper part of [figure n.4], that similarity is due to

two reasons: the first one is because the embryo in this stage

consists mainly of accumulated blood. The second reason is

because the embryo, in this stage, is one joint entity and the

blood does not circulate therein (Moor, 1988, p61).

As a result, it became clear that giving the embryo, in this

particular fetal stage, three corresponding and accurate

descriptions at the same time by one single word is something

beyond the human comprehend, and such miraculous

phenomenon could not be justified unless it has come from the

Creator of the human being Himself.

 42

The fifth stage: the ‘Mudghah’ stage is the

fifth phase in the embryonic development,

and it is stated in this part of verse: ‘And We

made the clot into Mudghah’. The embryo

changes from the previous stage, the stage of

‘Alaqah’ to this stage, the stage of [figure n.5]

‘Mudghah’ at the days from 24 to 26 (Sadaat,

2009, p105).

The Arabic word ‘Mudghah’ means a “chewed substance” or

something that has been chewed. For example, if a piece of gum

or flesh was taken and chewed by mouth and then compared in

shape with the embryo at this stage, Mudghah stage, it would be

remarkable that the embryo at the Mudghah stage is similar in

the external appearance to that chewed substance. That clear

similarity is because of the marks at the back of the embryo

 43

which resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance [see figure

n.5] (Moor, 1988, p3).

The sixth stage: as for the sixth fetal phase, the Holy Quran

says: ‘And We made [from] the Mudghah bones, and We covered

and clothed the bones with flesh’. In truth, the people of the past

thought that the flesh is created before the bones but the Quran

here, in this verse, declares that the bones are created before the

flesh, then these bones are covered by flesh, and this agrees

totally with what the modern embryonic knowledge has recently

come to know via its advanced technological tools as Professor

Moor, professor of anatomy at the University of Toronto, (1998)

said: ‘During the seventh week, the skeleton begins to spread

throughout the body and bones take familiar shapes. At the end

of the seventh week and during the eighth week, the muscles take

their positions around the bones forms’. This conclusive medical

notion was also confirmed by Dr. Johnson (2000) when he

 44

stated: ‘The bone structure develops inside this mass in what is

called the mesenchyma. The bones that are formed are covered in

muscle; the word lahm applies to them’.

It is indeed a striking fact, since it is impossible for a layman

lived in the middle of Arabian Peninsula to tell such precise facts

in a book 1400 years old. The only rational answer for this

wonder is that he was being inspired by the Great One, the One

who created the whole mankind.

The seventh stage: the description given to the embryo by this

Qur’anic part ‘Then We developed him into another creation’

represents the phase of the ‘new creation’. This embryonic phase

lasts from the end of the preceding stage, clothing the bones with

flesh, until the full completion of the pregnancy. Medically, this

description is applicable accurately to the fetus after previous

stage for two reasons: firstly, at this stage, the formation of the
 45

embryo becomes complete and recognisably human being.

Secondly, the embryo becomes separate from the mother’s body

and could live independently outside the mother’s womb, as

confirmed by Dr. Ashfaq (1999, p.122) who said: ‘The process

of formation is finished and then a new human being comes into

existence to be separated from the mother to exist independently

of her body’.

Shaping the embryo in a new creation resembling the human

being just in this late stage destroys the previous predominant

belief and the old medical theory which supposes that the

embryo has the human shape since it was a sperm coming out of

the father. The question arises here ‘Who told Muhammad

(PBUH), the illiterate man who didn’t read nor write, these

medical and embryonic mysterious facts? There is no potential

answer for this serious question but God, the Creator, the All-

Wise the All-Knowing.

 46

The implantation of the fertilised egg

.١١٢ :‫البقرة‬ ‫ﭧﭨﭽﯡ ﯢ ﯣ ﯤ ﯥ ﯦ ﯧﭼ‬

The Almighty Allah says:: ‘Your wives are a place of sowing of

seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you

wish and put forth for yourselves’ [Chapter: 2. Verses: 223].

The Quran, in this verse, likens one's wife metaphorically with

the farm ‘a place of sowing of seed’. However, it has become an

indisputable fact in the medical field that once the female ovum

has been fertilized by the male sperm, the female egg descends

via Fallopian tube into the maternal uterus, then, as soon as the

egg touches the wall of the uterus it literally spreads its roots

inside the mucous membrane and implants itself by insertion into

the thickness of the muscle of the mother’s womb exactly like a

grain of seed spreading its roots in the ground, in a process

known embryologically as ‘The implantation of the fertilised

 47

egg’. So clearly, the Qur’anic depiction of the implantation

process in the mother’s uterus is highly precise and in total

compatibility with the established scientific notion. Therefore,

such accurate description must have come from the Creator

Himself whose knowledge encompasses everything, since these

medical facts cannot be based on the primitive human knowledge

in the 7th century CE, when people didn’t possess any form of the

advanced embryonic instruments or microscopic science

(Bucaille, 1976, p.199, 203).

 48

The three darkness in the mother’s womb

‫ﭧﭨﭽ ﭑ ﭒ ﭓ ﭔ ﭕ ﭖ ﭗ ﭘ ﭙ ﭚ ﭛ ﭜ‬

‫ﭝ ﭞﭟ ﭠ ﭡ ﭢ ﭣ ﭤ ﭥ ﭦ ﭧ ﭨ ﭩ ﭪﭫ ﭬ‬

.٦ :‫ﭴ ﭵﭶ ﭷ ﭸ ﭹ ﭼ الزمر‬ ‫ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰﭱ ﭲ ﭳ‬

The Exalted God says: "He creates you in the wombs of your

mothers: creation after creation in three veils of darkness. Such is

Allah your Lord. His is the kingdom, none has the right to be

worshipped but He’ [Chapter: 39. Verses: 6].

It is stated here by this Qur’anic statement

that the fetal development in the mother’s

uterus takes place inside three layers of

darkness. Recently, it has been discovered

by the contemporary embryologists that the embryo inside his

mother womb during the period of pregnancy is covered by three

distinct layers or veils one upon the other. These anatomic layers
 49

are as follows: abdominal wall, the uterus wall and the chorionic

membrane. For further details about this Qur’anic fact, the reader

may go back to:

- Bucaille, The Bible, the Quran and the Science P136.

- Sadaat, Human Embryology and the Holy Quran an

overview P108.

- Mohsen, Holy Quran, New sciences and Development

of the Human Embryo P7.

 51

The responsible for determining the sex of the child

‫ﭧﭨﭽﮚ ﮛ ﮜ ﮝ ﮞ ﮟ ﮠ ﮡ ﮢ ﮣ ﮤ ﮥ ﮦ ﮧ ﮨ ﮩ‬

.٢٣ – ٢٦ :‫ﮪ ﮫ ﮬ ﮭ ﮮ ﮯ ﮰ ﮱ ﯓ ﭼ القيامة‬

– ١٤ : ‫ﭕ ﭖ ﭗ ﭘ ﭙ ﭚ ﭛ ﭼ النننننننننن‬ ‫وﭧﭨﭽ ﭑ ﭒ ﭓ ﭔ‬
.١٦

It has been thought, for a long period of time, that the wife is the

responsible party for determining baby’s gender. However, the

reality in this regard was declared in the Holy Quran fourteen

centuries back when the Quran, in more than one place, told

mankind the responsible couple for determining the child’s sex.

Two obvious examples of these Qur’anic places are shown here:

The Holy Quran says in the ‘Chapter of Judgment’: ‘Does man

think that he will be left neglected in this life, without purpose?

Had he not been a sperm from semen emitted, ejaculated? Then

he was a clot of blood, so He created (him), then made (him)

 51

perfect. And He made of him two mates, the male and the

female’ [Chapter: 75. Verses: 36-38]. In another place in the

Holy Quran, ‘Chapter of Star’, God also says: ‘And that He

creates the two mates - the male and female from a sperm drop

when it is ejaculated’ [Chapter: 53. Verses: 46].

It is denoted in these verses that a minor quantity ‘a sperm drop’

of man’s liquid ‘semen’ is the required to specify the gender of

the child, i.e. the husband’s fluid is the determining factor for the

baby’s gender not the wife, as believed in the past.

As a matter of fact, the modern medical science has come to

admit this reality recently, and it confirmed this notion just in the

second half of the last century, the 20th century. The

embryologists have got to know this fact just when they became

able to study the human chromosomes with the present advanced

microscopes. Upon that, they realised that the male is the

responsible one of the pair for specifying the baby’s sex, because
 52

the chromosome of the female’s liquid is always (X), while the

male’s one varies, sometimes (X) and sometimes (Y). Based on

that fact, if the male chromosome is (X) the baby becomes

female (XX), and if the male chromosome is (Y) the baby

becomes boy (XY).

Professor Moor (1988, p.29-31) states: ‘The embryo’s

chromosomal sex is determined at fertilisation by the kind of

sperm that fertilises the ovum. Hence, it is the father rather the

mother whose gamete determines the sex of the embryo’.

It is really this discovery in embryology giving weight to the

contention that the Qur’an is divine in its origin.

 53

Conclusion:

As stated in the introduction, the main purpose of this study is to

determine to what extent the Holy Quran coincides with modern

scientific facts using the ‘Embryonic Development’ as an

instance of the scientific miracle in the Qur’anic verses.

Therefore, this study adopted a neutral methodology that gathers

showing the Qur’anic text on the one hand, and introducing the

modern scientific viewpoint on the other hand in order to achieve

the logical consequence.

In fact, this distinct methodology in the research paper has gone

towards enhancing a better understanding of the scientific hints

mentioned in the Holy Quran in the light of contemporary

advanced medicine. Thus, the following result drawn from this

present study could be taken provably as a real fact.

 54

Briefly, the conclusion reached by this research is that it is

impossible for an illiterate man, neither read nor write, spent the

whole of his lifetime in the mid of Arabian desert in a Bedouin

environment amongst uncivilised nation one thousand four

hundred years back to come up with such accurate medical facts

which have just been known recently by the current

embryologists via using the advanced microscopes and the most

sophisticated equipment without a Divine guidance from the One

who created the human being, the Exalted God.

In addition to the aforementioned, some of the outstanding

outcomes and recommendations found through this study are

suggested in this conclusion:

- The Holy Quran is a Divine Scripture, and the claim that

the Quran is mere man-made book is refuted by the

definitive scientific facts.

 55

- The Holy Quran is not a book of science, but rather it is a

book of ‘signs’ and many scientific facts have been

mentioned therein in order to guide mankind and to aid

them in recognising the greatness of the Creator.

- The Holy Quran is an exceptional phenomenon, and its

scientific indications and references are worthy of giving

more research and investigation to obtain a better

understanding of the world around us.

Finally, I hope the results and the recommendations of this paper

are eligible to be used to correct some misconceptions about this

Divine revelation, the Holy Quran, and to be used as a stepping

stone in further researches which combine between the Divine

revelation and the human experimental sciences.

 56

Bibliography

Books:

- Ali, Y. (2011) Modern English Translation of the

Holy Quran: meaning and commentary.

Lebanon: Ouloom Al Quran Establishment.

- Ashfaq, Q. (1999) Words that moved the world.

Leicester: The Islamic Foundation.

- Bucaille, B. (1976) The Bible, the Quran and the

Science: the Holy Scriptures examined in the

light of modern knowledge. Lahore: Zulqarnain

Chambers.

- Haeri, F. (1987) Journey of the Universe. London:

Zahra Publication.

- Keith, M. (1988) The Developing Human.

Washington: Saunders Company.

 57

- Johnson, M. Goeringer, G. Keith, M. (2000)

Human Development as Describe in the Quran

and Sunnah. Makkah: Muslim world League

Printing Press.

Academic articles:

- Mohsen, M. Esmaeilzadeh, M. Hamid, S. (2011)

New Sciences and Development of Human Embryo.

WebmedCentral [online], 2(9). Available from:

http://www.webmedcentral.com/wmcpdf/Article_WMC002260.p

df [Accessed 25 August 2014].

- Sadaat, S. (2009) Human Embryology and the Holy

Quran: An Overview. International Journal for

Health Sciences [online], 1.3 (1). Available from:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068791/

[Accessed 18 August 2014].

 58

- Wahaj, A. (2010) On the Scientific Miracles in the

Quran. Journal of Islamic Medical Association of

North America [online] . Available from:

http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/42-2-5326 [Accessed 18 August

2014].
 59

Book Reviews on

Muslim-Christian Relations

Introduced to: Prof. David Thomas

 61

The First Book\ Islam and Christianity as seen in the Bible’:

‘Islam and Christianity as seen in the Bible’ is a contemporary
interreligious book in the field of Christian-Muslim relation
written by Sayed R. Ali and reviewed by two Muslim scholars:
Sheik Essam Eshaq and Dr. Linda Thayer. In addition, this book
was published by ‘Discover Islam- Muslim Education Society’ as
the second issue of Discover Islam Series. The origin of this book
reviewed here is a lecture given by the author in Kingdom of
Bahrain as he states in his preface of the book. The writer aims
through this book to examine both Islam and Christianity in the
light of the Bible to stress that Islam is not a new religion, rather
it is the religion of the previous messengers. Furthermore, the
writer aims at erasing what he thinks misconceptions from the
mind of many Christians and he attempts to equip the Muslims
of today with the proper knowledge when communicating with
Christians.
This book deals with a various range of issues concerning the
religion of Islam and Christianity from a Biblical point of view, as
he claims. The book is divided into two main sections: Islam and
Christianity. The main themes of the first section ‘Islam’ are the
origin and the meaning of the word ISLAM and the concept and
the practice of ISLAM in the Bible. As for the second section
‘Christianity’, it includes the origin and the meaning of the word
CHRISTIANITY and the practice and meaning of Christianity in
the Bible. Since the writer is going to use a comparative
 61

methodology between Islam and Christianity through the Bible, I

expect him to succeed in achieving his goals to a certain extent.
In the first section of this book, the writer argues that the word
‘Islam’ is given to this religion by the Almighty God Himself, and
as this is clearly mentioned in the Quran, it is also understood
from the meaning of numerous Biblical verses which imply the
meaning of Islam, the submission to the will of the one true
God, such as ‘Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord, Lord’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven’ (Matthew 7: 21). Consequently,
submitting to the will of God will result in the second meaning
of the word Islam ‘Peace’ and he quoted to prove that Jesus’s
(PBUH) saying: ‘Blessed are the peacemaker, for they will be
called the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9).
The author goes further to assert that even the main practical
worships of Islam ‘the Pillars of Islam’ are referred to in the
Bible and he goes through these pillars one by one; the Oneness
of God, Prayer, Fasting etc., quoting from the Bible what
supports his notion. For example, he touches upon the Oneness
of God, as the first pillar in Islam and in order for him to support
his contention, he quoted many Biblical statements with
references. For instance: ‘There is no other God beside me, a
just God and a Saviour’ (Isaiah 46: 9) and Jesus (PBUH) said: ’The
Lord our God, the Lord is one’ (Mark 12:29).
As such, the author goes deeply in confirming his
argumentation, claiming that many distinctive features in the
daily Muslim practices are not supposed to be confined
 62

practically to Muslims as they are also emphasised in the

previous scripture, the Bible, such as: prohibiting the pork,
dealing with usury, eating the dead animals, drinking alcohol,
legitimizing circumcision, special dress code for women, the
practice of Islamic greeting and saying: if God wills.. Besides
mentioning these, the writer keeps quoting respectively the
Biblical verses which serve his goal.
The current distorted version of Christianity which differs from
the pure teachings of Jesus (PBUH) is the fundamental writer’s
claim in the second section of his book. As a result, in order to
get to that aim he attempts through performing comparative
Biblical citing between Jesus’s saying and Paul’s saying in terms
of the nature of Jesus (PBUH), his message, his aim, etc. to
conclude that it is the questionable profile of Paul is the first
responsible for the early alteration in Jesus’s mission which its
effects are still taking place up to today.
It seems to me that the book’s author succeeded to a large
extent in proving his assertions and leave the intellectual reader
and the layman alike quite convinced with his opinions since he
showed his ability to quote more than one text in each point
associated with its exact reference to the Bible, the indisputable
Christian source, to remove any doubt or claim away that these
texts were taken out of their contexts or they were
misunderstood or misinterpreted for the interest of some
presumptions. Moreover, what makes the book more worthy of
reading is the fact that the writer does not satisfy to strengthen
his hypothesis with evidencing the similarities in the general
 63

principles only, rather he goes deeply elaborating many minor

practical examples. Personally, I think the book in its entirety is
attractive to the readers and is drawing their attention to carry
on reading till the end without feeling any boredom.
However, if we were to compare this work with other
prominent scholarly works in the same field, such as ‘Islam in
the Bible’ by Thomas McElwain, it would be noticeable that this
work is more accurate when it comes to detail the ritual
practices of Islamic worships, although both of them end up
extracting the same conclusion.
Therefore, I believe strongly that this book could contribute
much in the discipline of Christian-Muslim relation and may give
a good starting point for the seekers of knowledge who are
involved in this area to investigate the original Biblical texts in
their first languages and that consequently opens the gate
widely to trace the shared ideals and the common principles
between the Divine religions which end up, undoubtedly,
bridging the gap and clearing up the pending ambiguous
matters between the main global religions today.
 64

Reference list:
- McElwain, T. (1998) Islam in the Bible. Finland: Adams &
McElwain Publisher.

- How the Bible Led Me to Islam: The Story of a Former

Christian Youth Minister. (2009) Video clip. Joshua Evans.
USA. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYMKQKSV0bY
- Similarities Between Islam and Christianity. (2012) Video
clip. Dr. Zakir Naik. Dubai. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8KXTl5-J6A
 65

The Second Book\ Refutation of the Christians

‘Refutation of the Christians’ by Al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim is a very
valuable document, since it is one of the earliest books in the
Christian-Muslim Relations: as it was written in the first half of
the ninth century CE. The author of this refutation is Al-Qassim
ibn Ibrahim Al-Alawi (785-860 CE). He is a prominent Imam in
the Zaidi Islamic school of thought and well known for his
refutations of his opponents.
The author’s methodology:
The writer declares the importance of the authenticity and
reliability of the proofs given by the debater at the beginning of
his refutation, which implies that he is going to adopt this
scholarly methodology in his argument, as it is the most
convincing way, when debating, to persuade the opposing party.
So, it is time consuming and a waste of effort to provide the
other side with evidence that he does not admit or acknowledge
in the first place.
In the same context, the writer stipulates that he is going to
argue against his opponents with sincerity and in a wise
manner, applying literally the Qur’anic commandments ‘Invite
to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and
argue with them in a way that is best’ [Q 16:125] and: ’And do
not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that
is best’ [Q 26:46].
 66

The writer also reminds himself first, and his opponents second,
of the necessity of being adherent to the principles of justice
and transparency, pointing out that this is the real means to
attain unity and avoid the division between the followers of the
Heavenly religions.
The author’s arguments:
The author begins his response with a very short introduction,
then immediately follows with what he contends are the logical
proofs that can be used when arguing with Christians to
disprove that Almighty God has a father or a son, as the Divinity
is a position that could not be filled by one who has an origin or
an offspring. In other words, that is because the son inherits the
features of his father or mother, and the original carries his
son’s features. Therefore, each one should necessarily be similar
to the other, which contradicts the oneness and uniqueness of
the Absolute God. In addition, being a physical or genuine son or
father necessitates the need for the other and that does not
befit the Absolute Being, the Self-Sufficient, Almighty God.
Furthermore, whoever is descended from an origin, his origin is
surely more deserving to be considered a deity and worshiped,
if the branch himself is divine. As a result, in the case of Jesus
(PBUH), since Jesus (PBUH) is a branch of his mother Mary, his
mother is more deserving of worship than him, and that is
clearly not the situation with the majority of Christians. Thus,
because most of them do not hold this notion, it becomes clear
 67

that Jesus (PBUH) is not a divine figure, rather that he is a pure

human being and a servant of Allah, just like all His messengers.
Moreover, all the Messengers of Allah would eat and drink, and
this is not disputed. Christians witness that Jesus (PBUH) also
would eat and drink. On the other hand, they admit that Jesus
(PBUH) would feel joy and sadness like any other human being.
Therefore, these human characteristics nullify and disprove that
Jesus (PBUH) was a god or a divine individual, as such
contrasting conditions do not befit the Exalted Creator.
Further tangible evidence is employed by the writer in his
refutation. Another instance of this is that Christians admit that
Jesus (PBUH) was devout and sincere in his worship of Almighty
God, and called people to submit to His will and keep His
commandments. Thus, one could conclude witnessing that is a
clear proof that he is no more than a humble servant of God and
one of His great messengers.
In addition to what have been mentioned of the logical and
tangible evidence, the author denies that Almighty God has a
son, as he claimed that attributing fatherhood to God entails
accepting a similarity in divine status between father and son
and this similarity prevents each from being superior over the
other. Therefore, if each cannot be superior over the other, it
means that God’s power is limited, not absolute. And since the
True God is over and above all things without any limitation, it is
 68

logically impossible for Almighty God to be a father to a child or

a son from a fatherly origin.
The writer goes deeper, backing his argument by quoting some
texts from the four Gospels which support his claims with
regards to the real nature of Jesus (PBUH). The quotations, in
short, denote the following points: first, description of the
Messiah as a son of Joseph. Second, Jesus’s (PBUH) witness to
his own disciples that they are all the children of God, which
does not agree with the Christian interpretation of Jesus as the
son of God. Third, Jesus’s (PBUH) attestation to his disciples that
they are his brothers, which agrees with the concept of the
human brotherhood of all Prophets of God with their followers.
Fourth, Mary’s declaration that her son Jesus is a grandchild of
her grandfather David, and both of this quotation and the first
quotation assert the blood relationship between Jesus and his
ancestors, which cannot be reconciled with the claim of the
divine nature of Jesus (PBUH).
Moreover, the author adds that it is an issue of agreement
between all Christian denominations that none of God’s angels,
and none of the preceding Prophets, would worship Jesus
(PBUH), nor did they call him God or the son of God, nor did
they invite their people to worship him alongside Almighty God.
However, if we were to say, for the sake of argument, that Jesus
(PBUH) is the son of God, we would have to interpret that
differently in a metaphorical manner, according to what befits
 69

the absolute Oneness of His Majesty, knowing that the

metaphor is one of the beautiful ways of expressing the
meaning in all languages, including Greek and Aramaic, and the
use of son or father for non-literal uses is widespread in the
speech of these languages. Thus, it could be said linguistically
that the son in this context means: the beloved, the student, the
dependent, etc., as all creatures, including the Messengers of
Allah, are the children of God in this sense, but not in reality His
biological begotten children.
The reasons:
It is believed that the main driving force for the author to write
this book was that he deemed it obligatory upon him to do so.
This is because he believed, as he mentioned right after his
introduction and based on some quotations from the Holy
Qur’an, that those Christians who hold these false beliefs, are
going to sue Muslims in the Day of Judgment before Almighty
God if they did not correct their false beliefs and did not explain
to them the sound creed in this life.
It is clear through careful reading of the book that the author
relies, especially at the beginning, on using logical evidence, as
most of his opponents would not admit the authenticity of his
evidence if he had used Islamic textual evidence, the Holy
Qur’an and the Prophetic Traditions. On the other hand, logical
and rational proofs would be agreed upon by both parties,
Muslims and Christians. In addition, if they were to resort to an
 71

external party or to a neutral referee to be the judge between

them, such standards and criteria would be accepted by him.
However, it is noticed later that the writer supports his
contentions with some textual evidence from the Holy Qur’an
and the Prophet’s sayings. In my own estimate, he is doing so
considering the fact that there is a group of Christians who do
admit that the Holy Qur’an is a true revelation from God, and
that Muhammad (PBUH) is a faithful prophet sent by God,
although they believe he was only sent to the Arabs. Three
distinct examples of these Qur’anic texts could be quoted here.
The first is ‘Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One. Allah, the Eternal
Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any
equivalent" [Q 112:1-4]. Then, second: ‘And to warn those who
say, "Allah has taken a son". They have no knowledge of it, nor
had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their
mouths; they speak not except a lie’ [Q 18:4-5]. Third: ‘And they
say, "The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son". You have
done an atrocious thing. The heavens almost rupture therefrom
and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in
devastation, that they attribute to the Most Merciful a son. And
it is not appropriate for the Most Merciful that He should take a
son. There is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes
to the Most Merciful as a servant’ [Q 18:4-5]. Therefore,
addressing this specific kind of Christian with these textual
proofs may be persuasive.
 71

However, one of the author’s main pieces of evidence to prove

the pure human nature of Jesus (PBUH), is the sensory proof
which could be seen by eyes or heard by ears, such as evidence
of Jesus (PBUH) eating, drinking, worshiping, etc. He resorted to
this kind of evidence because it is undeniable and irrefutable by
his opponents since it is based on something which is actual and
tangible.
Besides, some Biblical quotations were also present in this
refutation, especially when he came to prove the pure humanity
of the Prophet Jesus (PBUH). The reason beyond that, in my
own opinion, is that all of these four Gospels, which he quoted
from, are regarded as authentic and unquestioned texts by his
opponents, the Christians. Rather, they regard them as the
words of God and the main source of Heavenly guidance. In
consequence, quoting the exact texts from these Gospels is the
most incontrovertible evidence that he could be armed with.
 72

The Third Book\ Refutation of the Incarnation’:

The writer of this piece of literature is Abu Isa Muhammad bin
Harun Al-Warraq. He lived roughly in the second half of the
ninth century CE. Abu Isa spent his life in a multi-faith and
pluralist Muslim society in Baghdad, where Christians and other
religious groups were accepted and enjoyed the freedom to
worship and choose their own beliefs. This multicultural
environment had a great impact on Abu Isa, and made him
consequently well-educated and enabled him to get an
extensive knowledge of various faiths, which enabled him, in
return, to produce a large number of refutations against his
opponents.
The chosen book here, ‘Refutation of the Incarnation’, is the
second and last part of his interreligious work ‘The Refutation of
the Three Christian Sects’. This part of the refutation consists of
many arguments against some significant Christian
denominations, chiefly regarding the belief in the concept of
divine unity or Incarnation and the reality of Jesus’s (PBUH)
birth, as will be discussed shortly. The origin of this book is a
response to questions passed to the author in written form.
The author’s methodology:
There is no explicit mention of the writer’s methodology that
can be found in this book. However, by going through his
responses thoroughly, the reader will notice certain patterns the
writer adopts and some primary guidelines he follows. More
 73

specifically, it can be noted that the main methodology he

follows, although not the only one, is that he tries to assume in
every issue all the possibilities or all the alternatives that could
be argued by his opponents. He then attempts to refute all
these possibilities or alternatives one by one in a very rational
way as clearly as possible. It appears that he adopts this
methodology to demonstrate that he is a neutral debater,
detaching himself from any religious presumptions or sectarian
prejudice in order to convince both his opponents and his
readers that this doctrine is incorrect and could not be logically
accepted. Finally, it could be said that the ultimate aim of the
writer through this work is to affirm the absolute uniqueness of
Almighty God and the pure humanity of the Messiah Jesus
(PBUH).
The author’s argument:
The author begins his book by refuting the concept of the Trinity
and Unity, claiming that if his opponents believe that the action
of uniting is performed by one hypostasis only, the Word, they
would acknowledge that the action is only performed by the
son, not by the father or the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if it is
possible for one of the three hypostases to act independently of
the others, it would be possible for each one of them
individually to take over the whole universe and creates and
manages whatever he wishes without his two partners, and this
 74

could result in contrasting wills and consequently the corruption

of the well-knit world.
Responding to the Nestorians and Jacobites pertaining to the
concept of the Incarnation, the author askes them: when did the
action of uniting between the Word and the human who
conceived by Mary take place - before the birth, after the birth
or at the moment of delivering the baby? And he assumes: if
they say it was united before the birth, either before the
pregnancy or before he was shaped, this would go against their
teaching that the united is eternal, because they admit now that
it occurred at a certain time. Also, that contradicts their
teaching that the Word united with an individual human, since
that individual human could only be called an individual human
after he is formed as a man, and not before that.
In a later place, the writer debates with the Melkites concerning
the crucifixion, wondering whether that suffering and killing
afflicted the Messiah only with regards to his human nature - his
physical body -, his divine nature, or both of them? And he puts
forward his answer for each possibility. For example, if they said
that the crucifixion took place only for Jesus’s human body, it
could be replied that in this case God could choose any human
being to fulfil this job as the divine nature was not touched by
any harm. Consequently, this would go against their claim that
any human was not enough to redeem the sins of humanity, but
only through God’s own son.
 75

The last Christian denomination on Abu Isa’s list is the Jacobites.

Here he responds to their comparison of the unity of the two
natures of the Messiah with the coal and its fire. The writer
addresses the Jacobites, asking: is the coal changed when it is
surrounded by the fire or not? If they affirmed the fact that it is
changed or destroyed by the fire, it would be contrary to their
principle that the eternal, the Messiah, could not be changed or
destroyed.
In his conclusion, the writer turns his discussion to the three
sects together, questioning whether or not the Messiah himself
is the one who created his humanity. If their answer is yes, the
response is that this is in counter to the teaching that Jesus was
divine and human, an entity possessing both characteristics at
the same time. Because being the Messiah himself is the creator
of his human nature necessitates that he was divine only before
creating the human nature. However, if their answer is no,
someone else is the creator of his humanity, the reply would be
that you acknowledge now that the Creator is other than Jesus
(PBUH) and this entails, on the other hand, that the Messiah is
himself a created being since there is no third category, all
things are either Creator or created.
The reasons:
Even though, Abu Isa did not explicitly use Qur’anic texts in his
refutations, he applied his deep understanding of the logic of
Qur’anic arguments. The first claim mentioned in this paper is a
 76

clear-cut example of this, as Abu Isa employed the reasoning of

two Qur’anic verses: ‘Had there been within the heavens and
earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined’ [Q
21:22] and ‘Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been
with Him any deity. [If there had been], then each deity would
have taken what it created, and some of them would have
sought to overcome others’ [Q 23:91].
Furthermore, the second example chosen in the author’s
argument serves as a representative of his main methodology in
this book, in which he brings forth the mental possible
responses that could be claimed by his opponents, and then
responds to each one in a rational manner.
As for the third example, which was addressed to the Jacobites,
the author uses the sensory proofs to respond to their
comparison concerning the concept of unity. He resorts to
tangible evidence, that which could be recognised by one of the
five sensors, because no-one can deny or doubt them as the
effect of fire on coal is undeniable; therefore it would be a very
powerful refutation against his opponents.
In his conclusion, the writer directs his argument towards all
Christian sects, refuting a very sensitive and crucial notion which
is an issue of consensus between all these three sects: the
divinity of Jesus Christ. He concludes with it to emphasise the
commonality of these sects, and to remind the reader that all
these denominations are baseless and their responses,
 77

whatsoever they are, cannot withstand in the arena of logical

discussion, and as a consequence, his opponents should submit
if they truly have the basics of the academic integrity.
78
 79

How Islamic

was Islamic Philosophy?

Introduced to: Prof. David Thomas

 81

Introduction
The first time the concept of ‘Islamic Philosophy’ came to
my attention; I thought that it is related to the Islamic system of
theology. After further study, it became clear to me that
this is no more than a broader use of this concept that is used
loosely in some classical Islamic circles. However, the technical
meaning of this concept denotes an entirely different system of
thinking. ‘Islamic Philosophy’, in its narrowest meaning, lasted
for several centuries known as the Golden Age of Islamic
Civilization, roughly dating from the eighth century to the
middle of the thirteenth century CE. But what does
Islamic philosophy, in the technical sense, actually mean? And
how Islamic was Islamic philosophy? An attempt to investigate
these issues is what this academic paper is concerned with.
However, as it is very crucial to understand anything thoroughly,
we should put it in its own perspective, so the first section of
this essay will be dedicated to criticism based on a contextual
basis. This will be very helpful in answering the first question in
particular. On the other hand, in order to answer the second
question, the second and third sections
will engage critically with some textual and rational criticisms
respectively. Therefore, it is hoped by the end of this paper that
an adequate answer will be provided.
Finally, it is worth saying that, although the relevant academic
references that I read through are numerous and there is much
literature written about this topic, I did not restrict myself to the
literal arguments given by the conflicting adversaries. Rather,
most of the time, I used my own critical analyses to either
 81

support or critique what the philosophers held based on my

own religious training in the classical Islamic
Sciences, while acknowledging, at the same time, the
indispensable benefit that I got from a wide range of consulted
texts.

Section One: Criticisms Based on a Contextual Basis:

Apart from the two following bases by which Islamic Philosophy
was criticised, a group of classical Muslim scholars tried to
disapprove it by using different contextual and historical
elements in order for the average person to gain a better
understanding about where philosophy originally comes from
and what it is all about. In fact, these elements are very worthy
of taking into account. Hence, a brief summary of
some of them, with a critical analysis, is given below:
First, this philosophy is, in its origin, related to the Greek
language, its features, concepts, methodologies and ways of
thinking (al-Syuti, nd, p.15). However, although this objection
might be true in itself, it is not qualified evidence to
reject all philosophical thinking, as language and thought are
two distinct things and consequently the influence of
one on another, although it is not denied totally, is very little.
Since each one has its own ___domain. More specifically, language
is nothing more than a tool to communicate and deliver
thoughts. Nevertheless, one might argue that linguistic
factors still have a significant impact on Islamic thought, as both
translation and transliteration might not be
accurate enough and do not represent actually the original text.
 82

Even though this claim, in general, cannot be dismissed, it is not

applicable to the relevant case as the translation process was
not an individual job, and is instead a team effort with lots
of official organisations and specialist commissions set up for
this process. Since this is the case, it becomes clear that such
inexcusable linguistic mistakes are unthinkable.
Second, the strong connection between Greek philosophy, from
which Islamic philosophy sprang, and its pagan beliefs and
practices, which are based on the diversity of divine being,
human speculations and denying the resurrection after death
(Watt, 1979, p.39). Obviously, such ideas go fundamentally
against the whole monotheistic mission of Islam, the absolute
Oneness of God. It is undeniable that there always has been an
overlap and mutual influence between any emerging science
and the predominant and surrounding beliefs. On the other
hand, the Islamic teachings sought to sever the connection with
any pagan thought or practice and to establish, for
Muslims, an independent lifestyle based on the pure divinely
revealed scripture, not upon mere guesswork and
speculation (Ibn Taymyyah, nd, p.9-7, 111-113, 177).
Third, there is no great benefit to be acquired from philosophy,
as it is just a defect methodology for the human reason
concerns in most of its discussions with the external
appearance and forms, prolonging the issues and
overcomplicating the simple realities. Moreover, it is merely
made up of abstract theoretical methods that, at times, seeks to
repeat the established notions and does not seek to add new
constructive and practical ideas (al-Suylim, 2010, p.12-13).
Commenting on this, it is enough to say that, in fact, Aristotle
 83

himself, from whom most Muslim philosophers have taken their

philosophy, is reported to have supported this argument when
he likened the logic to the mud of the way that disturbs the
footsteps and causes the wayfarer to be late (Ameen, 1971,
p.118).

Section Two: Criticisms Based on a Textual Basis:

In this section is an effort to examine some of the main

philosophical notions in the light of the
chief Islamic sources, especially the textual ones: the Quran and
Sunnah. This section is meant to find out to what extent
these disputable ideas are in harmony with Islam’s sources of
legislation.
The First Notion: the Eternity of the Universe. It is claimed by
most Muslim philosophers, such as Avicenna
and Averroes, that the world in which we live is eternal, not
created, a notion that is opposed, according to most Muslim
theologians, by many explicit legislative texts. For these
theologians, the Holy Quran is full of verses that prove the
creation of the whole Universe. For the sake of simplicity, the
response to this notion from the Quran can be divided into
three categories and, for the sake of brevity, only one example
is given for each. The first category consists of the verses that
relate the story of the creation of the Universe. The
example found in the Quran reads: ‘Then He directed Himself to
the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth,
"Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We
have come willingly" (Q, 41:11). The second category consists of
 84

the verses that confirm that Almighty God is the Creator of

everything, which, therefore, includes the whole World. The
Quran says: ‘That is Allah, your Lord; there is no deity except
Him, the Creator of all things’ (Q, 6:102). The third
category consists of the verses that describe Almighty God as
the absolute First and Eternal one, which implies that He was
and nothing was with him. At the beginning of the Chapter of
Iron, the verse says: ‘He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant
and the Intimate’ (Q, 57:3). As for the second main textual
source of Islam, the Prophetic Tradition, the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) is reported to have said, asserting the
creation of the Universe, that ‘Verily, Allah created, on the same
very day when He created the heavens and the earth, one
hundred parts of mercy’ (Muslim, 50:25). Therefore,
from a textual standpoint, it has become clear that the Universe
must actually have been created at a certain point in time;
which is fundamentally different to what the early
Muslim philosophers adopted.
The Second Notion: God’s Knowledge Regarding Particulars. It is
widely known in Islamic scholarly circles that the philosophers
deem that God only knows the universals, and his
knowledge does not pertain to particulars. If this is the case, the
notion could be described as having no basis in Islam and must
be rejected altogether due to its clear opposition of the Quran
and Sunnah. Both these Islamic legal texts emphasise the
absolute knowledge of God, which encompasses every single
object in the Universe. Almighty Allah says: ‘And with Him are
the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He
knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but
that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of
 85

the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a

clear record’ (Q, 6:59). And he says in the Chapter of Jonah:
‘And there does not lie concealed from your Lord the weight of
an atom in the earth or in the heaven, nor anything less than
that nor greater, but it is in a clear book’ (Q, 10:61). The all-
encompassing knowledge of Allah is also emphasised by the
Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH), when he said: ‘The first
thing Allah created was the pen. He said to it: Write. It asked:
What should I write, my Lord? He said: Write what was decreed
about everything till the Last Hour comes’ (Abu Dawud, 42:
105). Additionally, one of the ninety-nine magnificent names of
Allah is al-Muhait, which means the One whose knowledge
encompasses every single thing in the whole creation.
However, Averroes (died 1198) claimed that these philosophers
had been misunderstood on this issue by theologians such as al-
Gazali. Averroes argued that what the philosophers aimed is to
distinguish between the way God and the human beings know
particulars. More specifically, according to Averroes, all what
the philosophers meant is that God does not know the
particular things in a reactionary manner by senses after that
particular thing took place (Ibn Rushd, 1986, p.38-40). Up to this
point, there is no problem between the theologians and
philosophers as this notion is believed by these two parties.
Based on this, both approve that God’s knowledge of the
particulars is eternal and unchanging; unlike human knowledge.
For me, the problem still arises when Averroes goes on to
explain the nature of God’s knowledge of the particulars when
he says: ‘It is the cause of the object known’ (Averroes, 1986,
p.39). Here, the confusion stems from two aspects; first, if that
 86

really was what the philosophers meant, they would have

mixed up between two distinct things: God’s knowledge, which
is eternal and a personal attribute to Him, and God’s action
(creating or bringing things into existence), which is accidental
and a practical attribute of Almighty God. The second aspect, if
the philosophers only wanted to articulate that God does not
know by physical senses as humans do, there would be no
point to the philosophers’ distinction between the universals
and particulars, since both universals and particulars are known
by God eternally, and the particulars are not exempt from this
aspect. Rather the distinction should be between God’s
knowledge and human knowledge, which is accidental,
reactionary, and acquired by means of senses.
The Third Notion: The Resurrection of the Bodies. Among the
crucial issues, for which many Muslim philosophers were
attacked severely, is the issue of the Bodily Resurrection. It is
held by many philosophers in the Islamic sphere, such as
Avicenna, that the resurrection in the Hereafter is only for the
soul, not for the body. As for the body, it
disintegrates gradually upon death and only the soul continues
to live an eternal life. Therefore, the life after creation
is brought up again is a spiritual one. Hence, it is only the
soul that will entertain pleasure and experience torment.
This notion has been rejected by mainstream Muslim scholars.
Their objection is due to the apparent opposition of this concept
to the indisputable reference points of Islamic
legislation, the Quran and Sunnah. According to the Quran,
Almighty Allah promised the believers of Paradise of the many
forms of entertainment that could only be enjoyed
and experienced by the physical organs of the body and, on the
 87

other hand, warned them of the many forms of

punishment that are usually experienced and endured by
the physical body. The Quran reads: ‘The description of Paradise
which the pious have been promised is that in it are rivers of
water the taste and smell of which are not changed; rivers of
milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine delicious to
those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey clear and pure.
Therein for them is every kind of fruit; and forgiveness from
their Lord. Are these like those who shall dwell forever in the
Fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their
bowels?’ (Q, 47:15). In a more explicit verse regarding those
that do not believe in His book, He says: ‘Indeed, those who
disbelieve in Our verses - We will drive them into a Fire. Every
time their skins are roasted through, We will replace them with
other skins so they may taste the punishment’ (Q, 4:56).
As for the Prophet’s Sunnah, it transmitted on the authority
of Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,
"Among the inmates of Hell, a person who had led the most
luxurious life in this world will be brought up on the Day of
Resurrection and dipped in the Fire and will be asked: 'O son of
Adam! Did you ever experience any comfort? Did you happen to
get any luxury?' He will reply: 'By Allah, no, my Lord.' And then
one of the people of Paradise who had experienced extreme
misery in the life of this world will be dipped in Paradise. Then
he will be asked: 'O son of Adam! Did you ever experience any
misery? Did you ever encounter difficulty?' He will say: "By
Allah, no my Lord, I neither experienced misery nor passed
through hardship" (Muslim, 1:462). Besides the clear-cut
meaning of these texts, there is no
evidence to suggest taking these texts out of their literal
 88

meanings to metaphorical or allegorical ones, not even one

single verse or hadeeth from the Prophetic
Tradition. Consequently, this must force the original and
tangible connotations in those legal texts and reject any idea
that does not coincide with them.

Section Three: Criticisms Based on a Rational Basis:

Since the subject-matter of philosophy is logical thinking,

philosophers’ arguments always rely on the rational
and the analytical ways. With this in mind, it makes a lot of
sense to examine their arguments with rational logic in order to
discern the issue in question, how Islamic was Islamic
philosophy?, taking into consideration the fact that Islam, in a
sense, is a rational religion and its teachings never conflict with
sound logical conclusions. Furthermore, due to time and word
limit, this section’s discussion will be confined to the three
decisive issues mentioned earlier, by which the philosophers
were charged of being unbelievers.
The First Notion: the Eternity of the Universe. The philosophers
maintain this idea due to their contention that God is
unchanging and uncaused. Thus, according to them, saying that
the Universe was created by God at a particular moment in time
entails necessarily that God was caused to produce this
Universe, which could never have happened. If this is the claim
and justification, the logical counterargument would be to say
that bringing something into being does not necessitate that
God had been caused by an external effect, a third party,
because God’s knowledge is timeless and His will is absolute.
 89

Based on this fact, He must have known and willed

every single created thing in its particular time and place. As
such, there is no reason that Almighty God could
not will something eternally and did create it actually when its
destined time is up. And the creation of the Universe is not an
exception from this rule. Therefore, it has become understood
that what caused the Universe to come into existence is nothing
other than the eternal will of the Creator Himself, without Him
being affected or created by another external factor.
On the other hand, if we were to agree, for the sake of
argument, with what the philosophers contend, we would have
to say that every creation or incident that takes place apart from
the Universe is immortal otherwise they would have an effect
on God, because what they said in the Universe should be
applicable by extension to every single created being, otherwise
choosing the Universe apart from the rest of creatures would be
arbitrary. By all that, the philosophers’ confusion and
misunderstanding should have been cleared up. However, I
believe that this does not result in its advocates being cast out
of the fold of Islam, as the initial driving force of the
philosophers to come up with this argument is to glorify God
and make Him transcendent above any cause.
The Second Notion: God’s Knowledge Regarding Particulars. The
philosophical belief in this regard is that God’s knowledge
of things is universal, not particular. The logical justification
given for this argument is that it is the nature of the knower to
be changed by the knowledge s/he acquires, which is impossible
to God. The response to this way of reasoning is to say that it is
true that knowledge changes the knower in one way or another,
 91

but that this does not apply to the Creator Himself. The trap into
which the philosophers fell is that they made analogy between
two different things; God’s knowledge and human knowledge.
As such, it is established in the logical sciences that there must
be a valid shared characteristic between the two beings in order
to make a sound analogy, which is not the case here. To
elaborate on this point, God’s knowledge is absolute and eternal
and human knowledge is accidental and reactionary. Hence,
being the eternal knower of everything suggests that any
incident that takes place has no impact or effect on the absolute
and eternal knowledge.
Furthermore, the philosophers stand for their viewpoint with
the argument that God is a pure intellect and His knowledge of
the particulars is not a result of perception, but through the
concatenation of causes that bring them about. To counter this
argument, it can be said that the fallacy of this statement can be
divided into two categories. First, things that are true in
themselves and not disputable but irrelevant to the discussed
issue. Therefore, acknowledging them does not change anything
in the matter in question. The reference to this is their saying
that God does not know by perception, which is true in itself
since He is entirely unique and incomparable to all creatures,
but this does not entail that God knows through a series of the
actual causes as they have claimed. Rather, the correct
understanding which befits the Absolute Being is to say that He
knows everything by His own essence independently as He is
totally complete. Second, things that are unprovable and no
more than mere speculation and guesswork. As a result, their
opponents are not bound to acknowledge these philosophical
and theoretical introductions in the first place, let alone accept
 91

their unnecessary implications. What is referred to by this

category is their saying that God is pure intellect.
The Third Notion: The Resurrection of the Bodies. It is known
from the preceding section that the
philosophers believe that human body will not be resurrected in
the next life. It only exists in this life as the material shell of the
soul and the human intellect. The argument for this is that the
body in this material life is just like a physical container for the
soul and there is no need for the body to be brought back in the
next life, after it has turned to dust after death. Rather, it is
enough that both the soul and the human intellect will be
activated by the heavenly intellects. In a nutshell, logically
speaking, the response to this issue is pretty similar to the
previous one, that this notion is built on an abstract argument
that the human soul will resume its connection to its origin, the
heavenly soul. Since there is no rational basis beyond this
notion, it should not be seen as reliable. Thus, what could be
built on it does not exceed the level of doubt which cannot
withstand as a valid proof in the disputable issues.
 92

Conclusion
To conclude, I believe that ‘Islamic Philosophy’ shouldn’t be
dismissed entirely, as not all its notions are false and not all its
proponents hold these severely criticised notions. On the whole,
Islamic Philosophy in its narrowest sense could be accepted as
an independent branch of the empirical sciences, which arose in
the Islamic environment just like the other empirical sciences,
such as medicine, astronomy, etc. However, that does not
negate the fact that it might contain, with some of its
advocates, some unacceptable notions that go against the
established facts found in the main sources of Islam, including
sound rational thinking. Hence, in order for Islamic philosophy
to be acknowledged and recognised, these incompatible ideas
must be distinguished and their erroneous concepts must be
explained.
The general acknowledgment of Islamic philosophy stems from
the fact that Islamic legal sources encourage people to reflect
on the origin of the Universe, ponder on the celestial moving
bodies, wonder about the sky and the different floating
creatures in it, ruminate on the self and what the human
being encloses, etc. Accepting ‘Islamic Philosophy’ involving
some incorrect thoughts is just like accepting any empirical and
experimental science which may contain within it many
arguable or even rejected notions. Thus, this kind of science
could be accepted, in general, just as any of the other empirical
sciences, based on mere rational contemplation through the
limited senses. Therefore, it should not be considered to be
a branch or form of the religious sciences, which were brought
 93

by the religion of Islam, due to the fact that many of its

teachings do not conform to the established
matters of Islamic theology. Here comes the role of the real
Muslim philosopher to ascertain what can go alongside/against
the classical Islamic sources of legislation including sound
mental logic.
In regards to ascribing this philosophy to Islam and calling
it ‘Islamic’, for me, that does not necessarily mean that it
derives its thoughts primarily from the classical Islamic sources.
Rather, it was the rapid expansion of the Islamic empire via the
continuous conquests of the Eastern and
Western civilizations that had a huge legacy of cultural and
intellectual heritage. More importantly, what enhanced this
element so effectively was the translation movement through
which many Muslims thinkers of the time were exposed to a
completely different intellectual and scientific advancement. As
an inevitable consequence, those Muslim intellectuals had to
accommodate and develop many of those ideas in the Islamic
sphere and within Muslim communities. Hence, this philosophy
was ascribed to Islam.
As for the philosophers who were influenced immensely by
Greek philosophy, such as Avicenna and Ibn Rush, it should be
noted that they were not only philosophers; but
instead they were theologians and prominent Muslim scholars
in different fields including the classical Islamic sciences and
empirical disciplines. In addition, it should not be forgotten that
they came at a time during which the translation movement of
Greek legacy was at its peak. However, although they went
astray in some metaphysical aspects following the chief
 94

founders of Greek philosophy, it is worth bearing in mind that

they did not take foreign philosophies in their entirety blindly;
rather there would be a rational process of investigation one
might differ in its conclusions but should submit to many of its
theoretical principles. Hence, I am not in favour of declaring any
one, who adheres to Islam, professing its testimony
and adopting its teachings, as non-Muslim, taking into
consideration the fact that the philosophers had their own
concepts and terminology which undoubtedly differ radically
from that of Theology, which they were bound to use in
defence of their own beliefs. Finally, their writings must be
understood in an esoteric and technical way, avoiding literal
interpretation and issuing unreflective judgment. In conclusion, I
believe that the question ‘How Islamic was Islamic Philosophy?’
will remain open to discussion and will never have a conclusive
answer.
95

Bibliography
- Ameen, U. (1971) Al-Falsafa al-Rawaqyyah. Cairo:
Egyptian-Anglo Bookshop.
- Averroes, (1986) Faṣl al-Maqāl fīmā bayna al-Sharīah wa-
al-Hikmah min al-Ittiṣāl. Beirut: al-Muassasah al-
Arabīyah.
- al-Suylim, A. (2010) Critical View of Aristotle’s Logical
Theories. Riyadh: Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic
University.
- al-Syuti, A. (nd) Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam an fnn al-
Mantiq wa al-Kalam; Preserving the logic and argument
from the Logic and Argument. Makkah: Abbas Ahme al-
Baz Bookshop.
- Ibn Taymyyah, A. (nd) Naqd al-Mantiq; Refuting the Logic.
Cairo: the Sunnah Bookshop.
- Thomas, D. (nd) al-Ghazali and the Progress of Islamic
Thought. Not published yet.
- Watt, M. (1979) Islamic Philosophy and Theology.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
 96

Fiqh

for Muslim Minorities

Introduced to: Dr. Mustafa Draper

 97

Fiqh for Muslim Minorities

Introduction:
The issue of Muslim minorities is a very important issue
today and it matters a lot for modern Muslims, since almost
one-third of the Muslims today are living as minorities in non-
Muslim societies. Moreover, the concept of ‘minority’ or a ‘fiqh
for Muslim minorities’ did not exist in the era of the Prophet
Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) nor in the time of the rightly-
guided Caliphs and the first centuries of Islam. Therefore,
contemporary researchers don’t find explicit discussions of this
current practical issue in the Qur’anic text, the Prophetic
traditions or the consensus of early Muslim scholars (Fahdi,
1994, p128).
In fact, the concept of Muslim minorities and the call for a
special fiqh were only raised in the last few years, particularly, in
the last decade of the 20th century. The pioneers of the notion
of a fiqh for Muslim minorities were Dr. Taha Jabir Al-Alwani,
the chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America (Rayyan,
2012) and Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. As Mr. Shavit (2012, p417)
says: ‘In the early 1970s Al-Qaradawi began visiting Muslim
communities in the West. Subsequently, together with other
jurists, he developed, systemized, institutionalized and
popularized an approach to the unique challenges faced by
Muslim minorities. Al-Qaradawi defines fiqh al-aqalliyyat al-
muslima as a category of fiqh pertaining to residence in majority
 98

non-Muslim societies. His approach to this topic was propagated

by Wasati Al-Azhar graduates and Islamist-oriented religious
jurists’.
Section one:
For the sake of clarity, the terms ‘fiqh’ and ‘minority’
should be defined both linguistically and technically before
we go deeper into the details of this topic:
- “fiqh”:
A. Linguistically: the concept fiqh literally means
the profound understanding of an ambiguous
meaning. The word fiqh was also defined as ‘the
true understanding of what is intended’ (Philips,
1990, p1).
B. Technically: the word fiqh in Islam refers to ‘the
knowledge of practical Islamic rules and regulations
extracted from the detailed evidence’ (Al-Maawali,
2014, p54).
- “Minority”:
A. Linguistically: according to Oxford English
Dictionary (1992) the word ‘minority’ literally means ‘the
smaller number or part, especially a number or part
representing less than half of the whole’.
B. Technically: the expression ‘Muslim minority’
signifies a group of Muslims living in a political entity in a
99

state or nation in which they are numerically inferior to non-

Muslims (Kettani, 1979, p5).
 111

Section two:
The debate around the notion of a fiqh for Muslim
minorities:
As mentioned previously, the notion of a special fiqh for
Muslim minorities was not discussed in early Islamic juristic
books, let alone in the Holy Qur’an or the traditions of the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). However, as a consequence of
the expansion of Muslim communities during previous
decades in non-Muslim territories, the issue of creating a
certain fiqh for these Muslim communities has been raised
by some contemporary Muslim scholars. On the other hand,
this idea has been refused by another group of conservative
scholars. Naturally, each group of scholars has its own
evidence and proofs to support their claims.
The first group: the supporters of a fiqh for Muslim
minorities
The adherents of a fiqh for Muslim minorities justify their
position with the following reasons:
- Muslims in non-Muslim communities currently face a lot
of problems and challenges, and the solution to their
problems is to set up a modern version of Islamic law,
based on the fundamental sources of classical Sharia: the
Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic traditions (Alwani, 2003,
p7).
111

- The current situation of a closely-connected world was

not experienced by early Muslims, unlike for today’s
Muslims where the world has become one single global
village in terms of communication and interaction. These
new circumstances have resulted in a growing need for a
special kind of jurisprudence which takes into
consideration essential Islamic principles, that seek the
ease and the facilitation to resolve the daily difficulties of
modern Muslims, and that seek to achieve peaceful
coexistence and harmonious cohabitation between
Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbouring communities
(Shavit, 2012, p421).

- The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) not only allowed, but

went further by ordering a group of his companions to
migrate to a Christian territory (Abyssinia) to live there as
a Muslim minority, and this incident took place when
Muslims were weak, like the situation of Muslims today.
However, the presence of a Muslim minority resulted in
them explaining the reality of their religion to the Negus
of Abyssinia and his religious advisors, which led to them
embracing Islam. (Alwani, 2003, p30-32).

- Islamic jurisprudence is established to preserve five

essential objectives: the maintenance of religion, life,
offspring, reason, and property. Therefore, anything that
is necessary to maintain one of these aims could serve as
an independent basis for a new legal decision in order to
 112

keep Islamic identity sound and intact (Shavit, 2012,

p425).

The second group: those who reject the idea of a fiqh for
Muslim minorities
The second party, mainly led by the Salafi movement,
which didn’t accept the notion of innovating a new fiqh for
those who live in non-Muslim countries, asserting their
viewpoint with the following evidence:
- The religion of Allah is complete and Almighty God has
perfected it. Thus, no adjustment should be made to the
divine Sharia, rather it should be strictly obeyed no
matter what hardships Muslims living in non-Muslim
lands experience, and any additions to the truth are
falsehood (Shavit, 2012, p429-430).

- The Muslims lived as a small minority during the Maccan

period for roughly thirteen years, so the situation of
Muslims living as a minority is not a new feature of Islamic
history for which modernists can request a modern
methodology to the approach of Islamic law. Instead it
had been the situation of Muslims at the beginning of the
Prophetic mission for almost thirteen years. However, the
Prophet of Allah and his companions were very clear
towards the majority non-Muslim society in declaring the
religion of Allah, and applied the Sharia rules without any
compromise or asking for any concession. Rather, they
 113

were patient in all that they faced in terms of persecution

and torture (Rayyan, 2012).

The writer’s viewpoint:

It became obvious to the writer, through researching the
previous arguments concerning the debate around the issue of a
fiqh for Muslim minorities, that there is no essential difference
between the liberal and conservative parties in reality. Rather,
the contrasting discussion between them doesn’t go beyond
verbal differences, as each group goes back to the same main
Islamic sources of legislation, such as the Holy Qur’an, the
Prophetic tradition, and the consensus of Muslim scholars. On
the other hand, Neither of the conflicting parties differ, in
principle, on the fact that there is a certain range of acceptable
exceptions in Islamic law as it is recorded by many Qur’anic
verses and numerous Prophetic traditions. However, this
polemic discourse, in the writer’s opinion, is caused by the
difference in methodology adopted by each group when it
comes to juristic practical application and the issuing of legal
rulings on emerging events. For example, the liberals rely more
on the objectives and interests of Sharia. As a result, they give
more emphasis to the Five Necessities: religion, life, offspring,
reason and property. However, the conservatives are more
literalist and rely more on the textual evidence. Therefore, they
don’t look deeper into implementing Sharia interests and
objectives.
 114

Based on this analysis, the writer argues that the most

suitable way to deal with emerging cases is to look at every case
individually, rather than generalising a certain ruling for all.
Consequently, it is hoped that carrying out this methodology
will bridge the gap between the two parties and take away any
negative presumptions. Thus, in the next section we will look at
some individual examples of these polemic issue facing Muslim
minorities in non-Muslim territories.

Section three:
In this section are three main examples of some debatable
issues in Islamic law pertaining to Muslim minorities who live in
non-Muslim countries, whether they are originally migrants or
converts, as is the case of Muslims living in Britain.
The first issue:

The issue of allowing Muslims to reside in non-Muslim lands

is not an agreed-upon matter, rather it has been an issue of
disagreement between the two extremes throughout the
course of Islamic history. A brief summary of this dispute is
shown here:
Conservatives: the conservative viewpoint doesn’t permit,
in principle, Muslims to initiate migration to settle in these
territories permanently or even to carry on residing there
 115

(Shavit, 2012, p429). This group constructed this strict position

on the following considerations:
- These places are not an abode of Islam (Dar al-Islam),
rather they are an abode of war (Dar al-Harb). As a result,
Muslims in this situation either become participants or
supporters, even implicitly, of the infidels, against their fellow
Muslims or, otherwise, they will be liable to be harmed by the
enemies of Islam if they condemn and denounce what their
opponents do.
- The principle of loyalty and disloyalty (Wala and Bara) are
essential in Islamic doctrine and such things cannot be
compromised in any way. Therefore, Muslims should not
demonstrate the hearty love to those who fight Islamic
Ummah, kill their Muslim brothers and support occupiers who
have taken over Muslim land unjustly. Therefore, residing in
these areas, which implies underlying loyalty to their rulers,
cannot be associated with true belief.
- In such non-Islamic lands Muslims cannot conduct their
ritual worship properly, perform their religious rights
completely, and are not able to establish the rule of Allah as
Allah ordained in His Book and by His Noble Messenger (PBUH).
However, this conservative group made some exceptions
from this general rule, in that whenever there is a pressing
need to travel to the abode of disbelief, such as calling non-
Muslims to Islam and studying the disbelievers’ conditions to
 116

expose their plots against the Muslim nation and warn Muslims
of their corruption, such travel is permitted on two conditions:
 No modification should be made in the Islamic
Jurisprudence, instead it should be obeyed and strictly
adhered to.
 Migrants must not imitate the non-Muslims or apply in
religion any of their innovations (Shavit, 2012, p429-
430).

Liberals: the more liberal Muslim jurists allowed Muslims to

travel and reside in non-Islamic countries and allowed them to
gain citizenship in that country as well, supporting this idea with
the following:
- According to Mr. Fahdi (1994, p130), “The Qur’an does
not specifically command Muslims to live in an Islamic
territory” nor forbid Muslims from residing in other
religious societies. Consequently, the default rule of
permissibility is applicable to this issue and there is no
intact exception that overrides this juristic principle.

- The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked his companions to

migrate to Abyssinia since ‘It has a just king, none is
wronged with him’ as the Prophet (PBUH) said. As a
result, it could be derived from this Prophetic justification
‘It has a just king, none is wronged with him’ that Muslims
are allowed to reside in non-Muslim communities, as long
as justice is established and freedom of worship is
117

guaranteed, as it is the current Muslim situation now in

Britain (Pirzada, 2005, p14).

- Moreover, the Muslim migrants to Abyssinia stayed there

for about fourteen years and didn’t come back, even after
the establishment of the Islamic State in Al-Madina.
Furthermore, the Prophet (PBUH) approved of this and
did not ask them to come back, until he eventually sent
them a letter to join the Muslims in the new Muslim state
after the Battle of the Trench, five AH (Qadhi, 2011).

The second issue:

Participating in Christmas celebrations:
One of the most stressful times for many Muslims living in
minorities in majority non-Muslim countries, such as the UK,
is the Christmas period. This is because Muslims are
expected by their fellow Christians to congratulate them on
this religious occasion and take part in Christmas festivals
and activities. However, by looking back at Muslim history
and Islamic cultural heritage, researchers do not find any
juristic verdict on this issue, simply because the early
Muslim generations did not encounter this matter. Although
contemporary Muslim jurists unanimously agree on the fact
that Muslims are prohibited from initiating any non-Muslim
religious festivities, they differ on taking part in certain
aspects of Christmas, such as congratulating Christians,
 118

giving gifts, and attending events, etc. into two main groups
as follows:
The first group are those who permit Muslims to participate
in this celebration, based on the following evidence. First,
such involvement may soften non-Muslims’ hearts to Islam
and that, in turn, helps Muslims to fulfil their duty to convey
their religion to their Christian brothers. Second, Christmas
commemorates the birthday of Jesus (PBUH) who is,
according to Islamic tradition, one of the mighty
messengers. Third, it is admitted by all that Jesus (PBUH)
praised his birthday in the Qur’an: ‘And peace is on me the
day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised
alive" [Q 19:33]. Fourth, Almighty Allah commands Muslims
to act kindly towards non-Muslims: ‘Allah does not forbid
you from those who do not fight you because of religion and
do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous
toward them and acting justly toward them’ [Q 60:8].
Finally, the Christmas holiday is nowadays considered
primarily a national holyday, and no longer commemorated
as a religious occasion (Shavit, 2012, p433- 437).
As for the second group, they do not allow Muslims to
engage in any form of activity related to Christmas.
Numerous proofs are brought forward by the supporters of
this trend to back their strict stance regarding this ongoing
issue. First, it is a misconception to believe that Jesus
(PBUH) was born on 25th December. According to both the
Qur’an and the Bible, he was born in the summer at the
119

time when the dates were ripe. The Qur’an says to Mary at
the birth of Jesus: ‘And shake toward you the trunk of the
palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates’ [Q 60:8].
And according to Luke 2:8, Jesus’s birth could never have
occurred in Palestine in the month of December as
shepherds were tending their flocks in the field when they
heard the news of Jesus's birth [GoodNews Magazine,
2012]. Second, the celebration of 25th December originally
has nothing to do with either Jesus or with Christianity. In
fact, this comes from a Roman pagan origin. It was the
birthday of the Sun God which was celebrated on December
25th in Rome at the time when Constantine converted to
Christianity and altered a lot of Christian traditions. As such,
Christian historians of the 12th century wrote that ‘it was the
pagan holiday that led to the designation of that date for
Christmas’ (Eichenwald, 2014). Therefore, celebrating this
day is participating in an infidel occasion. Third, taking part
in this occasion denotes an implicit approval of false beliefs,
celebrating the birth of God or God’s son, which goes
against the doctrine of the absolute Oneness of Almighty
God (Al-Khalili, 2014). Finally, if we were, for the sake of
argument, to say that Jesus (PBUH) was really born on that
day, that in itself does not justify the celebration of his
birthday since he himself neither commemorated it nor did
he order his followers to do so. Therefore, doing such things
is an innovation and addition to the religion, just as we are
not supposed to celebrate our Prophet Muhammad’s
birthday (Shavit, 2012, p433- 437).
 111

The third issue:

The applications of Sharia (Islamic Law) Courts by
Muslim minority (Birmingham Sharia Council, an example)
Introduction:
In Islam, marriage is considered a sacred contract for the
benefits that it has. Consequently, Sharia always aims to
keep this marital bond strong and intact. Marital relations
are always prone to pardonable disagreements between
the husband and wife during their daily life. However,
some marital disputes might develop to the point that
they become untenable for both partners, or only one of
them. In that context, Islamic law advocates using all
possible means that could reconcile the husband and
wife, which could eventually end up nominating a wise
referee from each family, according to the Qur’anic
teachings. If these processes fail to rectify the relationship
and bring husband and wife together, divorce can be
considered the final and last resort. In principle, the
husband is the party who possesses the right to initiate
the divorce, but it is still legitimate for the wife to apply to
the Muslim religious judge, Qadi, requesting the
dissolution of the marriage contract, if she has been
harmed by her husband or could not continue her marital
life with her husband for any legitimate reason.
However, based on the non-existence of special Islamic
judicial bodies in non-Muslim communities, the Sharia
111

Councils are the only representatives of the Islamic

courts, and they function as Islamic legal judges in these
countries in order to solve civil issues, especially family
problems.
Since ‘Birmingham Sharia Council’ sets a good example
and plays a key role in Muslim society in Birmingham, it
will be adopted as an example of an Islamic Council
functioning interactively in the surrounding area,
especially in divorce issues. However, the focus in this
essay will particularly be on the Khula‘ agreement. The
discussion will be divided into four main themes: the
religious basis of Sharia Council, the official procedures of
Khula‘ as a living instance, the reasons why women
approach the Sharia Council for separation, and the
authority of the Council’s decisions in the surrounding
Muslim community:

The religious basis of the Sharia Council:

According to Bukhari (2014), a member of Birmingham
Sharia Council, the legal religious authority of this Council
is derived from three Islamic schools of law, specifically
Ḥanafī, Maliki and Hanbali. All these three Islamic schools
gave this group of Muslims, who are represented by
Council members, the authority to have functioning as a
Muslim Judge ‘Qadhi’ in non-Muslim lands, where there
are no Islamic courts. The Birmingham Council committee
consists of three prominent Muslim scholars in the
 112

jurisprudence of family matters. However, when it comes

to issuing religious rulings, the Sharia Council always
chooses the easiest and the most suitable option for both
parties, husband and wife, without confining themselves
to one school of law.

The official procedures:

The official procedures of Birmingham Sharia Council can
be divided into two distinct phases:
The first phase: reconciliation
- The wife should call the Family Support Service and
Counseling Clinic, which is part of the Sharia Council, to
book an appointment.
- She must come personally to the office and fill in an
official form, reporting her request and explaining her
reasons to a specialist female member of the Counseling
Clinic.
- She will provide the office with supporting documented
proofs if available, besides the basic documents such as
the marriage certificate.
- The office studies the case and writes to the husband,
informing him of the issue and requesting that he comes
for a meeting.
- At the meeting, the office brings the couples together and
tries to reconcile them by reminding them of the sanctity
of the marital relationship, the significance of conciliation
in Islam and the dangerous implication of the separation.
113

- Based on a deep analysis, the office puts forward some

suggestions and asks the parties to offer some
concessions to each other, in order to come together
again.
- If all these propositions fail, the office asks each couple to
nominate a wise referee from each family to negotiate on
their behalf with a sincere will to solve the matter in the
best way possible (Birmingham Central Mosque Website,
2014).
The second phase: giving the decision
- Afterwards, if these official attempts at reconciliation do
not work, the issue will be transferred to the Sharia
Council Committee.
- The members of the Sharia Council Committee study the
case carefully and deliver their initial verdict.
- A letter of invitation will be sent to both parties to attend
the final proceedings before the committee members, in
order for the committee to make sure that they still insist
on their stances.
- If the woman still insists on dissolving the marriage, the
committee gives them the most suitable Islamic decision,
which is usually divorce from the husband if it is his fault,
or Khula‘, in which the woman pays the husband an
amount of money to release herself if it is her fault.
- When the verdict is issued, the two parties are given a
certificate within a period of two weeks. The applicant
 114

must pay a fee of £250 for the certificate and the whole
proceeding.
- If this marriage is recorded by British civil law, the
Committee asks the husband to go and record the
dissolution of the marriage in civil law as well, in order to
avoid any further complications in the future (Bukhari,
2014).
 115

The reasons why women approach the Sharia Council

for separation:
According to Rahman (2014), the main driving forces
which lead many women to seek marriage dissolution can
be summarised as three main causes: 1) The lack of
compatibility between the two parties, who got married
only by force or to please their parents. 2) The lack of
verbal communication, especially from the husband’s
side, as the woman tends to disclose her concerns to her
life partner, and if the husband neglects to fulfil her
psychological needs and does not listen to her, she will
become fed up of him. 3) The husband lacks
understanding when it comes to the needs of the wife.
Even though some husbands do listen to their wives, they
still fail to understand them properly, since the husband’s
mental processes tend to give the wife logical solutions
and rational alternatives, while in reality the wife requires
emotional sympathy and mutual concern. Furthermore,
Mr. Najib adds extra reasons that can contribute to
women resorting to the Sharia Council. These reasons are
the lack of parental and close relative intervention to
reconcile or solve the problem, drinking alcohol, physical
or emotional abuse, the long absence of the husband and
neglecting the physical and sexual rights of the wife
(Najib, 2014).
 116

The authority of Birmingham Sharia Council’s decisions

in the surrounding Muslim community:
By performing several interviews within the Muslim
community in Birmingham, it appears clear that
Birmingham Sharia Council is well recognised and
respected by the overwhelming majority of Muslim
individuals in the area surrounding the Central Mosque.
The reason for this authority is that this religious
institution is run by qualified and knowledgeable scholars,
who function in society as prominent and trustworthy
Imams. Moreover, the Qur’an, Sunnah and the authentic
books are always the primary source for deriving Islamic
rulings, especially in marital disputes. Additionally, all
judgments issued must have the consensus of all Council
members (Najib, 2014). Therefore, it would appear that
Sharia Councils in the UK serve as a suitable solution and
a legitimate resort for Muslims living as minorities in non-
Muslim lands.
 117

Bibliography
Books
- Al-Maawali, A. (2014) Al Muatamad fi fiqh A’Salah. 6th ed.
Lebanon: Alaalami establishment.
- Alwani, T. (2003) Towards a fiqh for Muslim Minorities.
London: International Institute of Islamic thought.
- Kettani, A. (1979) The Muslim Minorities. London: The
Islamic Foundation.
- Philips, B. (1990) The Evolution of fiqh. Riyadh: Tawheed
publication.
- Pirzada, M. (2005) Muslims in a Multicultural society. UK:
Al-Karam Publications.
- Doniach, N. (1992) The Concise Oxford English Arabic
Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press.

Journal articles
- Shavit, U. (2012). The Wasati and Salafi Approach to the
Religious Law of Muslim Minorities. Islamic Law and
Society. [online] . Available from:
http://www2.tau.ac.il/internetfiles/yedion/syllabus/06/20
12/0631/0631246301_ILS_019_04_416-
457_Shavit_off_syl.pdf [Accessed 4 November 2014].
 118

- Fahdi. A (1994). Legal debates on Muslim minorities

between rejection and accommodation. Journal of
Religious Ethics. [online] . Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40017844?uid=37
38032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104434516221 [Accessed 28
October 2014].
- Merenkov, Z. (2012). A Muslim Perspective on Christmas.
Islam web. [online] . Available from:
http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/articles/142163/a-
muslim-perspective-on-christmas-i [Accessed 25
December 2014].
- Eichenwald, K. NEWSWEEK (2014). The Bible: So
Misunderstood It's a Sin. [online]. Available from:
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/02/thats-not-
what-bible-says-294018.html [Accessed 28 December
2014].

- Good News Magazine Editor (2012) .Biblical Evidence

Shows Jesus Christ Wasn't Born on Dec. 25 [online].
Available from:
http://www.ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/biblical-evidence-
shows-jesus-christ-wasnt-born-dec-25/ [Accessed 29
December 2014].
 119

Academic lectures:
- The fiqh for Minorities: Muslims living in the west.
Identity, Tradition, Rules and exceptions. (2012) Video
clip. Ryyan. Australia. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6_OZzlcFLY
- Torture to the Prophet and Abyssinia (2011) Episode 14,
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed. YouTube video clip.
Qadhi, Y. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN1Hnvo8Lo4

- Asking the People of Knowledge. (2014) Video. Al-Khalili,

A. Muscat, Oman TV. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fiAsbQlRWw

Interviews:
- Bukhari, M. (19, 21 December 2014). Interview with a
member of Birmingham Sharia Council. UK, Birmingham.
- Najib, M. (23 December 2014). Interview with an
employee at Birmingham Central Mosque. UK,
Birmingham.
- Rahman, N. (23 December 2014). Interview with a
Muslim citizen in Birmingham. UK, Birmingham.
 121

Websites:
- Birmingham Central Mosque (2014) Divorce (Khula)
Procedure [online]. Available from:
http://www.centralmosque.org.uk/downloads/misc/Divorce-
Procedure.pdf [Accessed 22 December 2014]
 121

A Comparative Study
between
Ibāḍī and Ḥanafī Schools of law
through the two books:
The Adopted Opinions in
Jurisprudence of Prayer and Fiqh
of Worships
in the Chapter of Purification

Introduced to: Dr. Mustafa Draper

 122

Introduction

This academic paper will undertake a short comparative study

between the Ibāḍī School of law and Ḥanafī School of law in the
chapter of purification and cleanliness. I have chosen these
two schools because both have precedence over the
majority of Muslim schools in terms of their early establishment
and their rich juristic heritage. With that in mind, the two
chosen books for this essay, The Adopted Opinions in
Jurisprudence of Prayer and Fiqh of Worships, serve as
representatives of
contemporary Ibāḍī and Ḥanafī jurisprudence, respectively. Esp
ecially because both works are authorised and approved by the
official religious authorities of their respective school and have
been adopted by a multitude of followers.
The paper consists of this short introduction and
two sections. The first will give a brief historical overview of the
emergence of each school of law, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm. The
second section contains the main body
of the paper: the comparative study between the two
schools, providing evidence for their opinions and reasons for
their disagreement. Finally, the essay will
conclude with a summary of the
general reasons for the differences between the two
schools on the matter of purification. This academic
paper will argue that most of the disagreements are due to
differences in some juristic principles adopted by each school.
Finally, it is hoped that this study opens the gate to
 123

further detailed comparative research between these

two schools of jurisprudence.
Section One: the Historical Background
This section is divided into two parts, as follows:
āḍī

Ibāḍīsm, or Ibāḍīyya, is an early Islamic school, which emerged

in the second half of the first century of Al-Hjrah. It
is considered to be the first moderate Islamic school because it
is associated with the Omani scholar Jabir b. Zaid, one of
the successors to the Companion, Tabeen. Jabir b. Zaid was born
in 22 A.H and died in 96 A.H. He studied under the Prophet’s
(PBUH) great Companions, such as Aisha, Ibn Abbas, Ibn
Omar, and Abu Huryrah (Muammar, 1990, p.5).
However, for political
reasons, this Islamic school was attributed by the Umayyad
rulers to Abdullah b. Ibāḍh al-Tamimi, one of the
adherents to this tradition.
The misattribution was deliberate and done for many
reasons. First, Jabir b. Zaid was a prominent successor of
the Companions and a very well-known Muslim scholar at
that time, therefore, it was felt that attributing this group to
Jabir b. Zaid may strengthen the position of the Ibāḍī School, at
the expense of the Umayyads. Second, Abdullah b. Ibāḍh served
as the spokesman of the group, who used to argue with and
give advice to the Umayyad rulers and governors, since he
belonged to Bani Tamim, a very powerful Arab tribe. As a
consequence, there was no fear that the Umayyads would
 124

harm him, otherwise his

tribe would rebel against the Umayyads. At the same time,
Jabir b. Zaid was hidden from the Umayyads, lest they arrest
him or even kill him due to his opinions on Umayyad policies,
although the Umayyads did eventually succeed in exiling him to
Oman, his homeland, where
the Ibāḍī state was established and Ibāḍī jurisprudence had
flourished (Ghubash, 2006, p.20; Montgomery, 2002, p.26-27).
As a consequence, the Ibāḍīs did not accept this attribution to
Abdullah b. Ibāḍh because he was not the
founder of the school, nor even one of their religious scholars,
rather, he was a tribal leader and a political spokesman on their
behalf. This is why there is not even one single narrative or
religious opinion, fatwa, that is attributed to
Abdullah b. Ibāḍh in Ibāḍī sources. Therefore, Ibāḍīs were not h
appy with the term and any other terms to describe themselves
other than ‘Muslims’ and ‘the people of Dawah’ (the missionary
activity), because they were keen to follow in the footsteps of
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUP) and his
teachings. Any researcher into Ibāḍī history cannot find the ter
m ‘Ibāḍī’ or ‘Ibāḍīsm’ in the early Ibāḍī writings up to the end of
third century A.H. as, at that time, they saw no harm in this
attribution, especially as it had become a well-
known term associated with them and an unarguable
reality with other Muslims (Ennami, p.17).
Moreover, Ibāḍīsm is considered one of the most moderate and
tolerant sects in Islam, theologically and practically.
The Ibāḍī School bases its rules upon the agreed sources of
Islam, such as the Quran, Sunnah, Consensus, and deductive
 125

reasoning. With that in mind, I believe that what

distinguishes the Ibāḍī School of
jurisprudence is twofold. First, it combines an Islamic school of
law and an Islamic school of thought at the same time, as there
is no separation, in the main sources of Islam, between Islamic
Law, Sharīah, and Islamic thought, Creed (Al-
Khalili, 2000, p.142). Second, based on the fact that Jabir b. Zaid
studied for a long period of time with the Prophet’s
(PBUH) Companions in Iraq and Ḥijaz, the Ibāḍī school of
jurisprudence combined the two schools and took a moderate
position between these two early Islamic schools of
jurisprudence, the school of tradition, Ḥadīth, based in Ḥijaz and
the school of opinion, ra’y, based in Iraq (Al-
Busaidi, 2003, p.1). Therefore, it is deemed by the followers of
this school to be in line with the pure way of Islam, established
by the Apostle of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH) (The Ibāḍīsm of
Oman, 2015).
Part Two: The Ḥanafī School of Jurisprudence

The roots of the Ḥanafī juristic school go back to the time of

the second rightly-guided Caliph Umar (May Allah be pleased
with him), when he sent a great scholar of the Companions,
Abdullah b. Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) to al-
Kūfah . Furthermore, when the fourth rightly-guided Caliph Ali
(May Allah honor his face) came to power, he shifted the Islamic
capital from al-Madīnah to al-Kūfah. All of this enabled
Abdullah b. Mas’ud to found the school of ra’y, which relied, to
a large extent, on opinion and deductive reasoning. I believe
that this school, the school of Iraq, took this
approach for two main reasons: first, the lack of Ḥadīth in
 126

Iraq, as most of the Prophet’s Companions

were in Ḥijaz; and second, the spread
of the Ḥadīth fabrication movement there in order to support
political and ideological agendas. Abū Ḥanīfah (80 – 150 AH/
699 – 767 CE), after whom the Ḥanafī school was named, grew
up in that environment and was trained and taught by
the disciples of ibn Mas’ud in al-Kūfah (Abu Yusuf, 2011).
Like all Islamic legal schools, the Ḥanafītes deem the Quran,
Sunnah and Consensus the main sources
of religious legislation. Alongside these include many subsidiary
and non-textual sources, such as Ijtihaad (deductive
reasoning), Qiyaas (analogy), and Istihsaan (juristic preference).
Based on this, the Ḥanafī School became the real representative
of the school of ra’y (opinion) in al-Kūfah or Iraq, in contrast to
the school of Ḥadīth in Ḥijaz. Even though Abū Ḥanīfah is
considered the main founder of this school of law, it was his
chief students, especially Abu Yusuf (113- 182 A.H) who was
known as the Judge of Judges, and Muhammad b. Al-
Hassan (131- 189 A.H) who laid the foundations of
the Ḥanafī School, taught his jurisprudence, and extracted most
of the Ḥanafī juristic opinions, known today, from his
foundations and principles (Montgomery, 2002, p.260,485;
Montgomery, 1996, p.89).
Subsequently, the succeeding Islamic dynasties of the
Abbasids, Mamlūkis, Seljukis and
Ottomans promoted Ḥanafī jurisprudence and spread this
school around the world. Theses empires adopted the rite
of Abū Ḥanīfah as their official school of law. Furthermore, they
mostly confined the appointment of judges and religious
 127

authorities to Ḥanafī jurists, and taught and

distributed only Ḥanafī literature. Hence, Ḥanafī jurisprudence
is the most widespread and it is estimated that
the Ḥanafīs currently make up one third of the Muslim
nation, the Ummah (Philips, 2009).
Section Two: the Issues of Difference

This section will give several examples of juristic issues in the

chapter of purification and cleanliness through which the
differences between the Ibāḍī and Ḥanafī schools will be
demonstrated to the reader.
The First Issue

Muslim jurists agree that whenever one of

water’s attributes is changed by an impure substance - be it in
terms of taste, colour or smell - the whole water, irrespective
of the quantity, is considered filthy and cannot be purified.
Moreover, they agreed unanimously that if a large amount of
water is touched by an impure substance, but none
of its features are changed, all of the water is still considered
pure.
However, they differ if that amount of water is less
than two Qullahs (a Qullah is a classical Arabic
measurement; one Qullah currently equals approximately 100kg
). Some scholars, such as Sheik Hassan Ayub (p.51), hold that if it
is less than two Qullahs and is touched by
a contaminating substance, it would be considered
contaminated, whether any of its features have changed or
not, applying the literal meaning of the Prophet’s (PBUH) saying:
 128

‘If the water is as much as two Qullahs [or less], it wouldn’t bear
impurity’. Al-Rabeea, (24: 159).
On the other hand, some jurists, such as Sheik Said
Al Qannobi (p.67), maintain that the default ruling of the water,
being clean in this case, is still applied even if the amount of
water is less than two Qullahs, arguing that what the Prophet
(PBUH) said concerns the usual situation of the water, that
usually such a small amount of water cannot bear any filth.
Furthermore, it is admitted by the scholars of the Principles of
Islamic Jurisprudence that whenever the textual evidence is
meant to tell of the predominant or usual situation of
something, then its reverse connotation, derived from its literal
wording, cannot be considered to establish a new ruling. And for
this juristic principle there are many applications, either from
the glorious Quran or the Prophetic tradition.
Interestingly, it is clear that Sheik Hassan doesn’t commit
himself to the Ḥanafī opinions on the Principles of Islamic
jurisprudence when he uses the reverse connotation to derive a
new ruling, while the majority of Ḥanafī scholars don’t consider
the reverse connotation to be a valid principle, unlike the
majority of Muslim jurists. However, although both Sheik
Hassan and Sheik Said initially acknowledge the validity
of this principle, the difference in result is still due
to differences when it comes to applying further prerequisites in
order to apply that principle, as Sheik Said stipulates, and as
explained in the above discussion.
 129

The Second Issue

Muslim scholars agree that it is recommended to perform

both Istigmar (cleansing private parts with pebbles or toilet
paper) (Saleh, 2011, p.105) and Istingaa (washing private parts
with water) (Saleh, 2011, p.106) in order to remove traces
of impurity after passing urine or stool. Yet, they
disagree on whether the Istigmar itself is enough to
remove filth and lift the legal status of impurity or if it
is necessary to use water, Istingaa, as well, in order to be able
to perform worship.
Sheik Hassan Ayub is of the opinion that it is enough to remove
the filth (urine or stool) via Istigmar only i.e. by stone or
paper (p.67, 76). That is sufficient as long as the filth has
gone. However, all Ibāḍī jurists agree that one
must also use water to clean one’s private organs. They support
their opinion by saying that it is only the water that is able to
eradicate the remnants of the filth completely, and remove it
from hidden places (p.74).
It is likely that one of the main
reasons for this disagreement is where each group placed more
emphasis, as this form of worship has two aspects: the
comprehensible aspect and incomprehensible aspect. The first
group favoured the comprehensible aspect, and said: this
worship is meant to cleanse the private organs of impurity.
Therefore, as long as the filth is removed, the worship
is technically fulfilled; as for small traces,
they are pardonable. On the other hand, the second
group favoured the incomprehensible aspect, and said: the
worship is meant ultimately to lift the legal situation of the
 131

minor impurity and, consequently, to allow the performance

of ablution and prayer. Furthermore, they state that there is no
specific evidence that allows leaving these preventable impure
traces, while there is a possible means to
remove them, i.e. water. Additionally, this understanding is
supported by the practical example of Allah’s Messenger
(PBUH).
The Third Issue

According to Islamic etiquette, it is required that the Muslim sits

while urinating. However, Muslim clerics disagree over
the acceptability of passing urine while standing. As far as Sheik
Hassan Ayub is concerned, it is just disliked to urinate while
standing. He corroborates his position with the narrative in
which the Prophet (PBUH) did such a thing, as recounted in al-
Bukhārī, 46:32 (p.74).
On the other hand, the Ibāḍī School of
law completely disapproves of that act and states that this
behaviour goes against Islamic conduct and teaching. They claim
the previous narrative is contradicted by more
famous narratives in which it is reported that the Prophet
(PBUH) would not lift his clothes when he would go to answer
the call of nature until he was as near to the ground as he could
be (Abu Dawud, 1:14). Furthermore, Aisha (May Allah be
pleased with her) denied that the Prophet (PBUH) ever did
this and she said: ‘Whoever tells you that the Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) urinated standing up, do not believe him, for he
would not urinate except while squatting’. An-
Nasa’I, (1:29) (p.71).
 131

I contend that the main reason for disagreement over this

issue is the conflicting narrations, i.e. how the scholars tried to
reconcile between them, according to what was explained in the
books of Jurisprudence Principles. Interestingly, both parties
adopted the ‘outweighing’ methodology, but from different
perspectives. Concerning the first party, they held that the
narration that the Prophet (PBUH) urinated whilst standing has
a sound chain of narrators. Therefore, it outweighs the
other narratives and should be given precedence over
the reports that prevent this act. As for the second party, they
said that the narratives forbidding urinating whilst
standing should override the permissive narrative for many reas
ons. First, they say that the permissive narrative doesn’t
conform to Islamic etiquette and manners when it comes to
answering the call of nature, as the adherents of the first
party themselves always state, and the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) was sent to perfect good characteristics (al-Adab al-
Mufrad, 2:273). Therefore, it is unlikely that the Prophet (PBUH)
himself did so and that, in turn, casts doubt on the
narrative’s authenticity. Second, the grade of that narrative was
already stated by the Messenger’s (PBUH) wife, Aisha, when she
said ‘don’t believe him’ i.e. the one who claimed that the
Prophet (PBUH) urinated standing. Thus, it is a weak
narration and the weak narration does not serve as a valid
proof for legal issues unanimously. Third, that narrative is
contrasted by the agreed-upon practical Sunnah in which the
Prophet (PBUH) would not raise his garment, until he lowered
himself to the ground. Abu Dawud, (1:14).
 132

The Fourth Issue

The fuqahā', scholars of Islamic law, are almost unanimous that

the Messenger (PBUH) wiped over his boots or socks upon
performing ablution instead of washing his feet, and allowed
his Companions to do the same. The narrations that support this
meaning are well-known in
famous Ḥadīth collections. However, Muslim scholars
have differed since the era of the Companions (May Allah have
mercy on them) over the continuity of this ruling until the
Prophet’s (PBUH) death, i.e. whether this ruling is still applicable
to us or if it was already abrogated in the Prophetic era? The
majority of Islamic schools, including the Ḥanafī School of
law, hold that this Prophetic permission is still valid and
applicable in our time (p.90-91). Their evidence is the
consecutive verbal, practical and approval
narrations attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) such as al-
Bukhārī, (8:40).
However, as far as the Ibāḍī Legal School is concerned, wiping
over the socks is no longer applicable in our time.
Their justification can be
classified in two categories: Qur’anic evidence and Companions’
reports. Regarding the first category, it is an issue of agreement
that the very last chapter of the Holy Quran revealed to the
Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) is the Chapter of Al-Maeda,
which includes ‘the Verse of Ablution 5:6’, that explicitly orders
the believers to wash their feet while performing ablution. As
for the second category, there are plenty of narrations
associated with the Prophet’s
(PBUH) Companions that clearly affirm the abrogation of the
 133

initial verdict and warn people against merely wiping

their socks, such as al-Rabeea, (19:123- 127).
The issue of wiping socks is one of the
distinctive facets of Ibāḍī jurisprudence, since the majority of
Muslim schools of law permitted this, while there is a
consensus amongst Ibāḍī scholars on its impermissibility in our
time. The reason for this deep difference is the apparent conflict
between the evidence. As a result, each group chose a way of
reconciliation that brought all the evidence together.
Hence, according to the Ḥanafī School, the Prophetic
narrations outweigh the Qur’anic verse as the narratives are
consecutive and highly detailed; while the verse is indefinite and
the juristic principle states that the indefinite text should
be interpreted according to the definite one. Therefore, in
this instance, the narratives have higher priority than the
verse. On the Ibāḍī side, they state that although abrogation is
the last resort when dealing with contrasting
evidence, it is only when we don’t have any clue about the
matter in discussion. However, in this case, we have supporting
clues given by several Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) that
indicate that this ruling had already been abrogated by
the Qur’anic verse towards the end of the Messenger’s life. Al-
Rabeea, (19: 125).
The Fifth Issue:

The fuqahā' differ over the permissibility of touching the

Quran if one is sexually impure, and whether this major impurity
is due to monthly period, postnatal
bleeding or Janabah (ejaculation or sexual intercourse). The
 134

author of Jurisprudence of Worship, Sheikh Hassan Ayub,

maintains that there is no harm for one who is sexually impure
to touch the Quran. Furthermore, we should not blame the one
who touches the Quran in that state, because the purity
meant in the Prophetic tradition, ‘the Quran should only be
touched by those who are pure’ is indecisive and can be
interpreted to denote its spiritual sense and, likewise,
the impurity to mean its spiritual sense, polytheism (p.114).
However, the Ibāḍī School of Fiqh adopts the view that it
is totally prohibited for anybody who is sexual impure to touch
the Glorious Quran as long as he is still in a state of major
impurity. They back up their position with two
main narratives: one of them is practical and the other is verbal.
The practical one is the narration of Ali (May Allah honour his
face), who said: ‘The Prophet would not cease from reciting the
Quran in all his conditions except when he is Junub, sexually
impure’. As for the verbal, it is reported that the Prophet
(BPUH) said to those who are sexually impure: ‘They don’t
recite the Quran, and don’t touch it with their hands until they
are completely pure’ al-Rabeea, (3:12).
I contend that the difference between the two parties may have
stemmed from one of two aspects. The first is the difference in
interpreting the word ‘pure’, according to the adopted juristic
principle. The first party confined the word to its spiritual
dimension, polytheism, and consequently allowed whoever is
not a polytheist to touch the Quran, irrespective of their purity
status, due to the juristic principle that ‘whenever the
probability is found in the proof, its probable
connotation should be dropped’. Therefore, we should retain
 135

the default ruling of, the original non-

liability. By contrast, although the second
party acknowledges that this word ‘pure’ is probable, the
common technical meaning, the physical purity, should be
given precedence in the textual evidence, taking into account
the juristic principle: ‘No resort to the metaphor whenever the
real (technical) meaning is possible’.
The second reason for this disagreement in these classical
schools of fiqh, especially with the early
jurists, might have developed as a result of the lack
of Ḥadīth. Although the practical Ḥadīth adopted by the second
party is explicit in its meaning, it was only narrated by Imam al-
Rabeea, an early Ibāḍī scholar born in the first century of Al-
Hijrah. Therefore, it is most likely that the early Ḥanafī jurists
didn’t know this Ḥadīth, while the Ibāḍīs were aware of it from
the very beginning, which explains why they established
the ruling so early.
The Sixth Issue

Sheik Hassan Ayub contends that when the Imam, the prayer
leader, finds out that his prayer was invalid because of an
impure substance found on his clothes, such as semen, he has
to clean it off and make up the prayer, but the al-
Mamumeen, his followers, don’t have to repeat that
prayer. Ayub supports his arguments with the narrative that
such a thing happened to two Caliphs, Umar and ‘Uthman, and
neither of them asked their congregations to substitute their
prayer (p.120). On the other hand, Sheik Ahmed Al-
Khalili, currently the most prominent Ibāḍī scholar, maintains
 136

that both the Imam and followers must repeat the

prayer, because the prayer of the followers is interlinked
with that of the Imam. Therefore, if the prayer of the Imam has
become invalid, the followers’ prayer must also have become
null and void (p.292).
It seems that one of the
main reasons behind the controversy over this issue is the
disagreement over whether the Companions’ actions and
opinions are considered valid and legislative proofs or not. Sheik
Hassan considered the Companion’s action and opinions to
be legislative proof. Based on this, he supported his argument
with recourse to some of the Companions’ actions. In
contrast, Al-Khalili affirms the position of
the majority of scholars that the Companions’ opinions and
actions do not serve as independent proof. As a
consequence, he did not consider either this evidence or its
derivative, but rather he resorted to Ijtihaad, deductive
reasoning, to extract a more suitable verdict. He stressed that
prayer is a collective worship, constituting the Imam and
followers. Therefore, the followers’ prayer is
interlinked strongly with the Imam’s prayer. Al-Khalili advocated
this rule with multiple forms of evidence. Consequently, the
followers’ prayer is interlinked with the Imam’s, and entails the
general rule that ‘whenever the Imam’s prayer becomes invalid,
the followers’ prayer becomes invalid accordingly’.
 137

Conclusion

To sum up, I would say that although both schools are in total
agreement on the main sources of Islamic
legislation, there still have been several
factors that played a major role in causing differences of
opinion between, particularly in the chapter of purification. The
study therefore confirms the initial hypothesis, which is that
most of these disagreements occur because of differences in
some principles of jurisprudence between the two
schools. Among these factors lie the following reasons:
 The disagreement on the authenticity of
some Prophetic narrations, on
which some independent rulings have been established.
 The disagreement on understanding, or
interpreting, some textual evidence related to the
discussed issues.
 The disagreement on the order of steps by which the
process of reconciling conflicting evidence is conducted.
 The disagreement on some juristic rules, which result
in differences over their application.
 The disagreement on some forms of worship as
to whether they are comprehensible
or incomprehensible.
 The disagreement over some forms of evidence as
to whether they are still valid or whether they are already
abrogated in the Prophet’s time.
 138

Finally, I would recommend to other researchers that their

subsequent research be in the field of comparative juristic
studies, between different Islamic schools of law, as
this would result in greater understanding of one another and
open the way to a more tolerant Islamic coexistence with the
non-Muslim world.
 139

Bibliography
Books
 Ayub, H. (2010) Fiqh of Worships with their Proofs in
Islam. Cairo: Dar Al-Salam for Printing, Publishing,
Distribution and Translation.
 Al-Busaidi, S. (2003) the Intellectual Side in
the Ibāḍī sect. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.
 Al-Farahide, A.
(2011) Kitab A’trteeb Sahih Ḥadīth collection. Cairo:
Muscat bookshop.
 Ghubash, H. (2006) Oman – The Islamic Democratic
Tradition. Durham: Durham Modern Middle East and
Islamic World.
 Khamali, M. (2003) the Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.
 Al-Maawali, A.
(2014) Al Muatamad fi fiqh A’Salah. 6th ed.
Beirut: Alaalami establishment.
 Montgomery, W. (1996) A Short History of Islam.
Oxford: Oneworld Publication.
 Montgomery, W. (2002) The Formative Period of
Islamic Thoughts. Oxford: Oneworld Publication.
 Muammar, A. (1990) Ibāḍīsm a Moderate sect of
Islam. Muscat: Ministry of Justice, Endowments and
Islamic Affairs.
 141

 Saleh, M. (2011) Dictionary of Islamic Words and

Expressions. Riyadh: Darussalam.

Academic lectures:
 The Ibāḍīsm of Oman, (2015) Video clip, uploaded on
24 Feb 2015. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6E-muXutWM [Accessed
13 March 2015]
 Philips, B. 2009. Foundation of Islamic Studies. Video
clip, uploaded on 28 Oct 2009. The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG7rNevw3fE&list=PL380
4FDF7C78D0649 [Accessed 17 March 2015]
 141

A proposal essay to the dissertation:

Research Methods in Islamic Studies

A Comparative Study between the Ibāḍī

and Ḥanafī Schools of law
a Case Study of
the Chapter of Prayer

Introduced to: Dr. Mustafa Draper

 142

Introduction
This paper tries to give a comprehensive overview about the
academic dissertation ‘Research Methods in Islamic Studies: a
Comparative Study between Ibāḍī School of Law and Ḥanafī
School of Law in the Chapter of Prayer’. For the sake of clarity
and simplification, this preliminary paper is divided into three
sections. First of which is dedicated to explore the dissertation’s
topic and give a critical analysis to the title’s wordings and
clauses, explaining and justifying why that word or phrase has
been chosen particularly in this place. Regarding the second
section, there will be a brief clarification for the research plan
and what falls under each chapter.
The third section of this paper will provide an elaborated critical
review of the six key texts that the writer is going to adopt as
representative for each school of law and for each branch of the
main fields related mainly to the dissertation theme:
Jurisprudence, Hadith and Juristic Principles. Finally, the paper
will end with a concise conclusion to sum up what has been
discussed throughout this introductory paper and what is
expected of the subsequent dissertation. I hope that this
proposal would pave the way for my dissertation to achieve its
goals and to be an effective means of its success.
 143

Section One: The Chosen title ‘Research Methods in Islamic

Studies: a Comparative Study between Ibāḍī School of Law and
Ḥanafī School of Law a Case Study of the Chapter of Prayer’.
Ever since the dawn of the major Schools of Islamic
Jurisprudence, the comparisons between their opinions and the
debates around them have been highly important and fruitful to
the Islamic cultural and scholarly legacy. In fact, all those
debates contributed effectively for supportive Islamic Sciences
to emerge and develop in order to serve the ultimate goal of
reaching the most authentic juristic verdict. Of the most
important sciences that serve Islamic Jurisprudence are the
Science of Hadith, Prophetic Tradition, and the Science of
Jurisprudence Principles, Usūl al-Fiqh.
However, among the very early Islamic legal Schools which
came to being in the first century AH, the seventh CE, is the
Ibāḍī School of law. Although this school predated all major
Muslim Schools and it has a very rich jurisprudential heritage, it
is not usually considered in the comparative studies. On the
contrary, it has been ignored for a long time even in most
modern academic studies. Hence, it is worthy of looking at and
choosing to be one of the two schools compared here.
As for the other school, the Ḥanafī School of Law, it has been
chosen here to be contrasted with due to various factors. First,
it was the first school to be established in relation to the other
three major Schools of Law: Mālikī, Shafi'i and Hanbali
respectively. Second, it is the School that has more followers
than other Islamic Schools. Third, it is the School that was
 144

adopted by the major Islamic dynasties, such as Abbasid,

Mamlūki, Seljuki, and Ottoman. Finally, it is the predominant
School of which the writer of this academic paper is doing his
work.
Moreover, based on the fact that the Islamic law has been
always renewable and its issues are endless over the passage of
time, the reliance in this paper will be upon certain selected
contemporary works which serve as representatives for the
current Jurisprudence of each school of law, Ibāḍīsm and
Ḥanafīsm. Besides, other contemporary texts serve as good
examples for the other two supplementary fields: Hadith and
Juristic Principles. However, it is worth pointing out here that
the reasons beyond choosing those particular texts are given in
detail in the third section of this essay, the section pertaining to
the literature review.
Because the Prayer is the first practical pillar in Islam after the
testimony of Tawhīd, the most obvious and frequent form of
worship performed by Muslims five times a day and perhaps the
kind of worship which has the most controversies over its
details, the focus of this the dissertation will be on the Prayer as
an example to compare the opinions adopted by each of the
two Schools, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm.
Hence, the suggested title of this dissertation is ‘Research
Methods in Islamic Studies: a Comparative Study between Ibāḍī
School of Law and Ḥanafī School of Law, a Case Study of the
Chapter of Prayer,’. However, it is worth pointing out here that
with this precise title, this study will be the first academic
 145

comparative study between these two schools in the Chapter of

Prayer, as far as I know.
Furthermore, this academic paper attempts to examine my
hypothesis that most of those differences that are taking place
between the Ibāḍī School and Ḥanafī School in the chapter of
Prayer, Salah, can be traced back largely to the differences in
the Science of Prophetic Hadith and Science of Jurisprudence
Principles, or the way by which each School is approaching their
fundamentals when it comes to reconcile the apparently
conflicting evidence. I hope that this study achieves its aims, to
be a successful means for further comparative studies between
the two Schools and to be a fertile ground for fruitful dialogues
between all Muslim scholars in general, and Ibāḍīs and Ḥanafīs
in particular.
 146

Section Two: Research Skeleton

Specifically speaking, the dissertation will be including three
main chapters beside the introduction and conclusion.
Concerning the introduction, it will have the research question
or thesis argued by the writer. Then, the means or the
methodology adopted to achieve the study goals and to
examine and evaluate critically to what extent that hypothesis is
sound. After that, the dissertation structure and what the
research is going to include and what it is going to exclude.
Finally, the introduction will have an overall discussion about
the difficulties that the writer has experienced throughout his
research journey.
As for the first chapter, a historical background of the two
chosen legal schools will be given. Following that with the main
features of each school and what distinguishes each in relation
to the other one. In regards to the second chapter, which
represents the main body of the dissertation, it will have a
detailed discussion about the aspects of differences and
controversies between the two schools, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm,
in the form of separate issues. Under each issue lies a brief
juristic background about that issue. Then, the Ibāḍī viewpoint
on that issue with their evidence, whenever it is mentioned.
After, the Ḥanafī viewpoint on the same issue will be pointed
with their evidence, whenever it is mentioned in the key text.
Finally, an attempt will be made to identify the reasons for that
disagreement in the light of the textual and intellectual
evidence, especially the Hadith and Juristic Principles, and give a
 147

critical evaluation to what extent that justification, use of

evidence, fits the general fundamentals of that school itself.
Finally, the dissertation will end with a concise conclusion,
containing the outstanding findings of the research, especially in
relation to the initial research question or hypothesis suggested
in its introduction. Additionally, the conclusion will summarise
the main causing roots for disagreements between the clerics of
the two schools, particularly in relations to Hadith and Usūl.
Consequently, it will show the implications that these causes
have on the detailed issues of Prayer, Salah. Finally, some
constructive recommendations derived from the whole
discussion will be suggested there.

Section Three: Literature Review

Even though the jurisprudential heritage of both the Ibāḍī and
Ḥanafī Schools are vast and hard to count, carefully chosen key
texts on which the dissertation chiefly relies will be presented in
this section. However, there will be many subsidiary and
consulting texts on both sides beside the key ones; some of
them will be presented in the bibliography. To that end, the
current section is divided into three parts, covering the three
main areas of discussion: jurisprudence, Hadith and juristic
principles. Each part reviews the adopted key text in each school
in that particular area, explaining the main features of the book
and the reasons beyond that selection. Therefore, the
discussion flows as follows:
 148

Part One: Jurisprudence

The Adopted Opinions in Jurisprudence of Prayer
Among the best-selling and readership books in contemporary
Ibāḍī Jurisprudence nowadays is The Adopted Opinions in
Jurisprudence of Prayer, written by al-Muatasim Said al-
Maawali. This book is taught across the Sultanate of Oman at
mosques, schools, colleges and Sultan Qābūs University.
Although the first emergence of the book was just in 2009, it is
widespread and present extensively in the areas predominantly
populated by Ibāḍīs. The defining features of its success are the
driving force to choose this book as a key text representing the
contemporary Ibāḍī jurisprudential thought in this comparative
study.
These distinguishing features can be summarised as follows.
First, the book was written in a simple modern Arabic language.
By that, the book has been able to convey its juristic and
complex material to all society members with comprehensible
and understandable language. Second, The Adopted Opinions is
an inclusive and comprehensive work, absorbing the ablution
and the prayer topics and that, in turn, allows lay people,
enquiring readers and seekers of knowledge to find what they
need just in one single combination. Third, the book relies only
on the juristic preferences of the most renowned and
knowledgeable Ibāḍī scholars in the Muslim World at the
present time, Sheik Ahmed al-Khalili and Sheik Said al-Qannobi,
whose trustworthiness and reliability are unquestionable and
indisputable by all Ibāḍīs. Fourth, prior to its publication, the
 149

book had undergone an extensive process of linguistic

proofreading and scholarly revision by specialists on both sides;
this includes the remarks of al-Khalili and al-Qannobi, whose
opinions are the basic foundations of this book. Hence, all these
features qualified the book to be the main reference point for
the contemporary Ibāḍī jurisprudence (al-Maawali, 2014).

Fiqh of Worships with their Proofs in Islam

On the Ḥanafī side, Fiqh of Worships is the chosen juristic work.
The compiler of this book is the Egyptian scholar Sheik Hassan
Ayyub, a graduate from al-Azhar University, Cairo. Although the
present compilation, Fiqh of Worships, involves mostly all ritual
forms of worship, Prayer, Charity, Fasting, etc., it gives the main
proofs for most opinions mentioned in its chapters.
Furthermore, the author contrasts the different juristic opinions
and attributes each one to the particular Islamic Legal School
that adopts that opinion. Though the writer of this comparative
work belongs to a certain School of Law, yet he does not show
in his comparisons any prejudice to his own School. Rather, he
shows that he follows the proof wherever it appears
irrespective of what the Ḥanafī School maintains. It is worth
saying that the writer meant for his book to be an adequate and
comprehensive reference to both lay people and students of
knowledge, as he stated clearly in his introduction.
However, before he started writing his book, Ayub had to
undergo a long period of academic and practical experience in
 151

the field of Islamic Studies. This experience started from him

being a teacher in the Ministry of Education, a senior preacher
and a manager of the technical office in the Ministry of
Endowments, Egypt. Then, he was asked to work in Kuwait as a
preacher and an expert in the field of Islamic Sciences.
Afterwards, he moved from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia and was
appointed as a professor of Islamic Culture in King Abdul Al-Aziz
University. Eventually, he was promoted to be a professor of the
Institute of Preparing Preachers in Mecca.
I believe that his late books, such as Fiqh of Worships, were
influenced greatly by this broad theoretical and practical
expertise, as it combines different fields. Most importantly, this
expertise involves all main Schools of Law. In more detail, the
first environment he worked in, the Egyptian society, is
predominated by both Ḥanafī and Shafi’i Schools, then, Kuwaiti
society is a majority Maliki one, and lastly, the Saudi community
is largely following the Hanbali School of Law. Therefore, all this
must have had a great impact on his work Fiqh of Worship, as it
is clear when one goes through his juristic discussions in this
book and the subsequent volumes. Hence, I am convinced by
this choice being a suitable representative for the contemporary
Ḥanafī Jurisprudence (Ayub, 2010).
 151

Part Two: Hadith

Al-Jamea al-Sahih, The Sound Collection of al-Rabeea b.
Habeeb al-Azdi al-Omani
Al-Jamea al-Sahih is deemed by all Ibāḍīs to have been the most
authentic source of Hadith, Prophetic Tradition, and the second
authentic book for Islamic legislation, as far as the Ibāḍī scholars
are concerned, after the Holy Quran, (al-Salimi, 1993). It was
composed by the Ibāḍī scholar al-Rabeea b. Habeeb al-Azdi al-
Omani (died between 175- 180 AH/ 796- 801 CE ) in the second
century AH, eighth century CE. Hence, al-Rabeea’s collection is
of the first collections of the Prophetic Reports. The high level of
authenticity and reliability of this book can be ascribed to three
chief reasons: firstly, al-Rabeea was the religious leader and the
main reference of Ibāḍīsm in his time. Secondly, its chain of
narration is considered to be the most reliable Hadith
transmission with the scholars of Hadith, since it consists in
most cases of only three narrators (Abu Ubaidah: al-Rabeea’s
direct teacher, Jabir b. Zaid: the direct student of the
Companions and the Prophet’s Companions) and that is known
by the scholars of Hadith as the Golden Chain, meaning the
highest chain of reporters, according to the rule: the less
reporters the Hadith has, the closer to the Prophet (PBUH) it is
and, consequently, the more reliable and authentic it becomes
(al-Baikuni, 2004, p7).
 152

Thirdly and most importantly, all the three main transmitters,

who are involved in this chain, are authentic and trustworthy by
the witness of the specialists in the Science of Hadith’s
Narrators Authentication, al-Jarh wa al-Tadill, even from non-
Ibāḍī biographers, let alone Ibāḍīs. Concerning al-Rabeea
himself, both ibn Ma'in and ibn Shahin said about him: ‘Theqah’,
trustworthy and Ahmed b. Hanbil said: ‘I see no wrong with
him’. Regarding his Sheik Abū ‘Ubaydah, ibn Ma'in said: ‘There is
no harm on him’. As for Jabir b. Zaid, ibn Hagar said: ‘Theqah
Faqeeh’, trustworthy jurist.
Al-Rabeea’s collection is classically ordered now by the juristic
chapters known in the books of Islamic Jurisprudence after it
was ordered initially by its own writer according to the
narrators’ names. Moreover, this collection has two main
commentaries, the earlier one was written by Abu Sittah, a
Tunisian Ibāḍī scholar (died 1088 AH), in five parts.
Subsequently, the Omani prominent scholar Nur al-Deen al-
Salim (died 1332 AH) made an extended explanation of three
large volumes. His commentary is considered now the most
common explanation on al-Rabeea’s collection (al-Wargalani,
2003, p.15-16).

Sahīh al-Bukhārī, the Sound Collection of al-Bukhārī

Sahīh al-Bukhārī is the most celebrated book of Hadith known in
Muslim literature. Its fame is due to the fact that most Muslims
consider it to be of the most authentic and reliable Hadith
collection. The compiler of this work is Imam Muhammad b.
 153

Ismail al-Bukhārī (died 256 AH). Al-Bukhārī started learning

Hadith and the basic Sharīah sciences with his father in his
homeland, Bukhara, known currently as Kazakhstan. Although
al-Bukhārī came from a predominantly populated Ḥanafī
environment, most biographers consider him as an independent
jurist, not following a particular school of law. Rather al-Bukhārī
does have the means and the ability to extract the rulings
directly from the main legal sources. However, what drives me
to introduce this book as a key Hadith text is the very fact that it
is the first Hadith reference with Sheik Hassan Ayub, the author
of Fiqh of Worship on which the study relies largely.
However, al-Bukhārī moved later on southward to Iraq to study
with the famous scholars of Hadith in his time, such as ibn
Ma'in, ibn al-Madīnī and Ishāq b. Rahwayh. By a reference from
his teacher Ishāq b. Rahwayh, al-Bukhārī started writing his
collection which took him sixteen years until he finalised it
completely in 232 AH/ 846 CE. What distinguishes Sahīh al-
Bukhārī is that his book is organised and ordered systematically
according to the chapters of Jurisprudence. In addition, he
chooses for each chapter a very accurate title through which
many rulings and jurisprudential verdicts can be drawn (Abdul-
Jabbar, 2007, p.23-24).
Beside the strict criteria al-Bukhārī laid from the beginning to
identify and collect only the sound Hadiths, he showed his work
to the most renowned Hadith senior scholars, such as Ahmed b.
Hanbil, ibn Ma'in and ibn al-Madīnī. Fortunately, he obtained
their approval of what he collected in his book. Moreover, al-
 154

Bukhārī spent his last twenty four years teaching and

proofreading every single hadith he wrote which, in turn,
minimised the possibility of any hidden flaw he was not aware
of at first (Karimov, 1998, p.48-50).
 155

Part three: Principles of Jurisprudence

Talat al-shams: sharh shams al-usūl
It is roughly translated as ‘The Sunrise: a commentary on the
Sun of Principles’. It is considered to be one of the main key
texts on the Principles of Jurisprudence in the Ibāḍī Legal
School. This work was authored by the famous Ibāḍī cleric, Sheik
Abdu Allah b. Humaid al-Salimi (died 1332 AH/ 1914 CE). The
book consists of two volumes; each one contains over 500
pages. The book is an extended explanation of a concise poetic
text in the field of ‘Jurisprudence Principles’, written by the
commentator himself. The importance of this work is derived
from the innovative way of writing the compiler has adopted.
Beside the classical juristic chapters known by the Ibāḍī jurists,
the writer goes further to compare the Ibāḍī opinions with a
wide range of opinions held by juristic scholars from different
Islamic law schools. Moreover, the writer does not hesitate to
comment or add some of his opinions which arise as a
consequence of this comparative effort whenever he concludes
that the proof on that particular issue is evident, although in
many cases that differs from the established opinions with the
School that he belongs to. The reason beyond this is that the
writer has undertaken to implement and follow full academic
integrity.
What may interest the reader of this book is the fact that the
writer could produce a very comprehensive work to absorb
 156

mostly all chapters of Jurisprudence Principles. In addition, he

shows, despite his physical blindness and the lack of sources at
the time, a high ability to extract each opinion from the original
books of each juristic school and refer it to those who hold it
from their own writings. Partly, that enables him to renew many
issues related to the ways of deriving the rulings from the main
legislative sources. On the other hand, he acknowledges most of
the secondary sources used by the classical jurists, such as:
analogy, original innocence, public interests, Sharīah goals,
juristic preference.
In relation to the Ḥanafī School of Jurisprudence, in spite of the
fact that the author liberates himself from any blind imitation,
Taqlīd, even to the scholars of his own School of law, it is
notable that he agrees with them on many fundamentals of Fiqh
Principles. Among the main agreed opinions between him and
Ḥanafī scholars are the following: first, the area of the science of
’Jurisprudence Principles’ is the unelaborated evidence and
their rulings, unlike the majority of scholars who confined this
science to the evidence apart from their rulings (al-Salimi, 2008,
p.23); second, he agrees with the Ḥanafīs on the issue of al-
Mushtarak, which refers to a word that has multiple meanings;
like the word ‘Ayn’ in Arabic, which has various meanings such
as eye, gold, spring, spy, etc. Whether we should interpret al-
Mushtarak, when it comes in the textual evidence, with one
meaning only or we should apply it to all its meanings; most
scholars are of the last opinion, while al-Salimi along with
Ḥanafīs are of the first one (al-Salimi, 2008, p.138).
 157

Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence:

The presented book is considered the most detailed work in the
field of ‘Jurisprudence Principles’ written originally in English by
Dr. Mohammad Kamali. This book comes to meet the need of
Islamic Studies students in the Western academies. The former
English writings in this area were superficial and distant from
the deeper classical juristic writing, whereas this book
succeeded in fulfilling the urgent demand and fill the gap that
has been in the English library of Islamic Studies for a long time.
‘Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence’ is authored by Kamali, a
Professor of Islamic law, Sharīah, at the International Islamic
University of Malaysia. The importance of this work stems from
the fact that it is a result of the long academic experience of the
writer in the field of Fiqh and its principles, as he had been
teaching in this University for a long period of time. Although,
the first version of the book was published in 1989, the current
revised version of 2003 comes with many valuable additions.
The author’s experience, added to this version, started from him
being an LL.M student, and a PhD student at London University,
then obtaining the post of Assistant Professor at the Institute of
Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montreal and finally as
Research Associate in the Social Science and Humanities
Research Council of Canada. Therefore, the book combines both
the classical and modern Juristic style at the same time, and
ultimately it serves as a good representative of Ḥanafī
Jurisprudential Principles in the present comparative studies.
 158

As mentioned earlier, the book covers the main themes in Usūl

al-Fiqh, Principles of Jurisprudence, such as: the Islamic sources
of legislation, Textual Implications, Commands and Prohibitions,
Fatwa of the Companions, Considerations of Public Interests,
Presumption of Continuity, Blocking the means of corruption,
Conflict of Evidence, Personal Reasoning, etc. What
distinguishes the book, besides its theoretical fundamentals, is
the fact that the writer mentions many examples for each
principle especially from the Quran and Sunnah, providing even
the original Arabic text.
 159

Conclusion
It is anticipated that this essay will play a significant role in
facilitating the way to the intended dissertation ‘Research
Methods in Islamic Studies: a Comparative Study between Ibāḍī
School of Law and Ḥanafī School of Law, a Case Study of the
Chapter of Prayer, as an example’. The essay has discussed
many relevant issues to the aforementioned topic. Among these
discussed issues are the research question which the
dissertation will try to address, the research skeleton upon
which the dissertation will be built, analysing the research title
from which the dissertation will set out, the methodology
according to which the research will be conducted, reviewing
the main key texts on which most of the discussion will rely, etc.
Clarifying all these dimensions from the very beginning will
contribute positively for the dissertation to achieve its
objectives.
Finally, I hope this subsequent work will clarify many
misconceptions and clear different misunderstandings that
could have taken place formerly either with the followers of
these two schools themselves or with the followers of the other
Islamic schools. This clarification will be due to the fact that this
study will display each party’s evidence on all controversial
issues. Hence, each enquiring Muslims are expected to
appreciate these differences, although the followers of each
school perhaps practise something else other than what they
 161

usually do, yet they still have their own considerable proof or
evidence.
 161

Bibliography
First: Jurisprudence
- Ayub, H. (2010) Fiqh of Worships with their Proofs in
Islam. Cairo: Dar Al-Salam for Printing, Publishing,
Distribution and Translation.
- Ennami, A. (ND) Studies in Ibāḍīsm. Muscat: Islamic
Information Centre.
- Al-Maawali, A. (2014) Al Muatamad fi fiqh al-Salah. 6th
ed. Beirut: Alaalami establishment.
- Al-Salimi, A. (2010) Maarij al-Aamal. Muscat: Imam al-
Salimi Bookshop.
- Al-Salimi, A. (2010) Jawabat al-Imam al-Salimi. Muscat:
Imam al-Salimi Bookshop.
- Hallaq, M. (2007) Fiqh According to Quran and Sunnah.
Riyadh: Dar al-Salam.
- Thanvi, A. (2007) Heavenly Ornaments: a Classic Manual
of Islamic Sacred Law. Karachi: Zam Zam Publishers.

Second: Hadith
- Abdul-Jabbar, G (2007) Makers of Islamic Civilisation;
Bukhārī. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 162

- al-Baikuni, U. (2004) al-Mandomah al-Bayqunyah. Beirut:

Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah
- Al-Farahide, A. (2011) Kitab al-Trteeb Sahih Hadith
collection. Cairo: Muscat bookshop.
- Karimov, I. (1998) Light form the Depth of Centuries.
Tashkent: Publishing and Printing Concern.
- Al-Salimi, A. (1993) Sharh al-Jama al-Sahīh. Muscat:
Golden Press.
- Al-Bukhārī, M. (1987) The Translation of the Meanings of
Sahīh Al-Bukhārī: Arabic-English. India: Kitab Bhavan.

Third: Jurisprudence Principles

- Harmush, M. (ND) The Ibāḍī Juristic rules. Muscat:
Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.
- Khamali, M. (2003) the Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.
- Al-Salimi, A. (2008) Talat al-shams: sharh shams al-usūl.
Beirut: Dar al-Rashid.
- Al-Syabi, K. (2005) Fusul al-Usūl. Muscat: Ministry of
Heritage and Culture.
 163

Dissertation title:

Research Methods in Islamic Studies

A Comparative Study between Ibāḍī School of

Law and Ḥanafī School of Law in the Light of
Ḥadīth Rules and Jurisprudence Principles

a Case Study of the Chapter of Prayer

Supervisor: Dr. Mustafa Draper

 164

Contents
Introduction
1. Historical Background
1.1. The Ibāḍī School of Law
1.2. Features of the Ibāḍī School of Law
1.3. The Ḥanafī School of Law
1.4. Features of the Ḥanafī School of Law

2. The Issues of Controversy

2.1. The Opening Supplication
2.2. Raising the Hands upon the Consecrating Takbīr
2.3. Reciting al-Basmallah Loudly
2.4. Saying Āmīn after Reciting al-Fatiha
2.5. Reciting al-Fatiha behind the Imam
2.6. Reciting Surah after al-Fatiha in the Day Prayers
2.7. Raising the Index Finger in the Tashahhud
2.8. Combining the Two Prayers on Travel
2.9. Al-Qunut in the Prayer
3. The Reasons for Disagreement
Conclusion
Bibliography
 165

Introduction:
This study will attempt to shed some light on some controversial
issues relating to how prayer is understood by two of the oldest
Islamic schools of law, Ibāḍīsm (established in the second half of
the first century AH) and Ḥanafīsm (established in the first half
of the second century AH), with an analytical effort to
understand the reasons for this diversity of opinions on the
same issue in the light of the Science of Ḥadīth and the Science
of Jurisprudence Principles. The decision to discuss the
conflicting matters in light of Ḥadīth and Jurisprudence
Principles, Usūl al-Fiqh, was because it is contended that many
of the disagreements taking place between the two schools in
the chapter of prayer are the result of fundamental differences
in the Ḥadīth rules and the Jurisprudential principles. Hence, the
research will try to address the question: ‘To what extent is this
initial thesis accurate and applicable to the discussed issues?’.
The choice to compare between these particular schools of law,
Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm, is due to two main reasons: first, both of
these schools have a chronological precedence in comparison to
the other law schools known today. Second, the Ibāḍī School of
law is the dominant school in the area from which the
researcher comes from, Oman, and the Ḥanafī School of Law is
the dominant school in the area in which the researcher
conducts his research, Birmingham due to the south Asian
 166

Muslim communities, besides being the school that has more

followers over the course of Islamic history up to modern-day.
Furthermore, building on the fact that the issues facing Muslims
in their worship, that demand new juristic verdicts, are endless,
the decision was to choose as authoritative texts, two
contemporary books, each of which serves as a good
representative of each Juristic school, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm.
These chosen books are respectively as follow: The Adopted
Opinions in Jurisprudence of Prayer which was selected because
it was scholarly well reviewed by the highest religious authority
in Oman, the office of the Grand Mufti, and The Salah of the
Believer in The Qur’ān and Sunnah which was selected due to
the fact that it is one of the most widely read books in Ḥanafī
communities nowadays, especially in the UK. Besides, some
supplementary classical text-books in the field of Ḥadīth,
Prophetic Tradition, and Jurisprudence Principles, Usūl al-Fiqh
are consulted as well.
However, due to the vastness of this topic, on the one hand, and
the word and time limitation of the dissertation, on the other
hand, the research will be confined to the nine main issues of
difference in the chapter of prayer between the two schools:
the opening supplication, raising the hands upon the
consecrating Takbīr, reciting al-Basmallah loudly, saying Āmīn
after reciting al-Fatiha, reciting al-Fatiha behind the Imam,
reciting surah after al-Fatiha in the day prayers, raising the
index finger in the Tashahhud, combining the two prayers on
travel and al-Qunut in the prayer. For the sake of brevity, the
 167

average space given for each issue is around one thousand

words, and for the sake of simplicity, the discussion of each
matter is divided into four sections: the background; the Ibāḍī
view and evidence; the Ḥanafī view and evidence; and finally
the analysis section. The analysis will try to explore the root
causes of the disagreement and how they might have been
influenced by the divergent opinions between the two schools
in the Science of Ḥadīth and the Science of Jurisprudence
principles, as suggested by the research hypothesis.
This dissertation will consist of three chapters. The first chapter
takes a historical approach to demonstrate the historical
context that accompanied the initial emergence of the two
schools in discussion, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm, in order to disclose
what distinguishes each school in relation to the other. While
the second chapter, which represents the central focus of the
study, is dedicated to discussing the main cases of conflict
between the two schools. The chapter is divided into four
sections, as just explained formerly. As for the third chapter, it
summarises the grounds of disagreement between the two
schools, according to their theme, under two categories: ‘Ḥadīth
and ‘Jurisprudence Principles’. Finally, the dissertation
conclusion contains the research’s main outcome as to whether
the initial hypothesis of the research has been proven to be
correct or not, besides the recommendations suggested by the
researcher.
Finally, it is essential to mention that the approach adopted in
this study is the analytical approach which was chosen in order
 168

to be an effective means to discern the root causes of the

different opinions on the same issue between the two legal
schools despite using the same primary sources, such as: Quran,
Ḥadīth, Consensus, etc. The analytical approach is conducted by
looking critically at each single evidence provided by each party
and trying to examine the content of the text and criticise the
chain of narrators. Moreover, by the use of the analytical
approach, the Science of Jurisprudence Principles is employed
as an active means to understand the different ways used to
extract the textual implications and their concluded applied
rulings.
 169

1. The Historical Context

This first chapter is concerned with giving a historical
background of both Ibāḍī and Ḥanafī Schools of Law. Moreover,
this background tries to shed some light on the political and
religious circumstances that surrounded the early evolution of
these juristic schools. Based on the chronological order, the
start will be with the School of the Ibāḍī Jurisprudence.
1.2. The Ibāḍī School of Law
The study of Ibāḍī fiqh (jurisprudence) gains a high level of
importance in the general history of Islam due to the fact that
the Ibāḍī School of Law is the first Islamic school of
jurisprudence (Wilkinson, 1985, p.234). The early roots of the
Ibāḍī origins go back to the time of the second Rightly-Guided
Caliph Umar b. al-Kattab (d. 18 AH/ 639 CE). At the rule of Umar,
Abu ash-Shatha Jabir b. Zaid, to whom the Ibāḍī denomination
belongs, was born into an Omani religious family in the year (18
AH/ 639 CE). According to all Ibāḍī references and most non-
Ibāḍīs’ sources, it was the great Successor Jabir b. Zaid who laid
the basic foundations of the first school of Islamic jurisprudence
in the second half of the first century AH/ the seventh century
CE (as-Saee, 2007, p.364, 371). Despite Jabir being born in what
became the Islamic capital of Oman, Nizwa, he left his homeland
at an early age along with his family to go to al-Basra, where he
pursued the religious sciences. There, in al-Basra, he met many
eminent jurists, including many Successors and some
 171

Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Nevertheless,

it seems that all this did not satisfy his thirst to obtain a good
portion of the Sharīah sciences. Thus, he directed his face
towards al-Hijaz where he adhered for a long period to the great
and prominent scholars of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Companions,
such as: Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Aisha, Abu Hurairah, etc., so much
so that he said: ‘I have met seventy Badry (one who took part in
the Battle of Badr) and encompassed what they have of
knowledge except the Ocean’, meaning Abdullah b. Abbas
(Wilkinson, 1985, p.235; al-Harthi, 2006, p.96-107).
Although Abu as-Shatha was present between the Companions
(May Allah be pleased with them) at the time of fitna, the
Companions’ political dispute, it seems that he did not take
part, give an opinion or issue any fatwa on those military
conflicts. That might have been due to the fact that he was still
at the time a young man and student of knowledge and did not
hold any political views (al-Aghbari, 2013, p.83). However, it was
only since the year (64 AH/ 683 CE) that Jabir b. Zaid emerged as
a religious authority to what was known later as Ibāḍīsm. In the
year (64 AH/ 683 CE), al-Muhakkimah (those who left the fourth
Caliph Ali and refused to accept the arbitration) would split. At
this turning point, al-Muhakkimah had divided into two main
groups; the first group decided to take a military action against
their opponents and considered the others’ land as an abode of
disbelief and war. Only this group was known at that time as
Khawārij or Khārijites. The second group decided to remain
peaceful and remained determined to avoid any violent act
 171

against their adversaries (Savage, 1990, p.7-8). Moreover, they

preferred to refrain and sit down from conducting any physical
attack against any monotheist. Because of this behaviour they
were called al-Qa’idah (the sitting down people) (al-Abri, 2015,
p.42). Having said that, it has become clear that ignoring or even
not knowing this crucial distinction between the two groups
might lead to mixing up between Ibāḍīs and Khārijites, as it is
the case with many classical historians, such as: al-Bagdādī
(1997, p.78, 103), al-Ash'arī (1980, p.102), and ibn Hazm (1321
AH, v.4 p.188).
However, from (64 AH/ 683 CE) onwards, Jabir b. Zaid would
become the official spiritual leader and founding theorist of al-
Qa’idah, who were the direct roots to what was known shortly
afterwards as the Ibāḍīs. Despite Jabir being the first man in al-
Qa’idah, he hid himself from public life and confined himself to
his close students (al-Aghbari, 2013, p.73)., due to the
continuous oppressive pursuit of the Umayyad Caliphs and their
governors to their opponents, including this group, al-Qa’idah,
which never acknowledged the Umayyad rule as a
representative of the Islamic Caliphate, rather they deemed that
the Umayyads turned the Rightly-Guided Caliphate into a
hereditary kingship imposed upon Muslims unjustly (Ajmi, 2013,
p.27). These circumstances caused Abu ash-Shatha to remain
away from the public eye and push Abdullah b. Ibaḍ to be the
official representative and political spokesman. Ibn Ibāḍ was
chosen for this task because he was a strong tribal leader in his
 172

well-known tribe of Bani Tamim (an-Nami, nd, p.45; al-Aghbari,

2013, p.73). Although the Umayyads were aware of Jabir being
the real director behind the group and Ibn Ibāḍ being directed
by Jabir, they preferred to ascribe this group to Abdullah b. Ibāḍ
calling them Ibāḍīs or Ibāḍīyya. This was driven by two main
reasons: firstly, Ibn Ibāḍ being known by the common people as
the public representative and spokesman of the group especially
his famous letters to the Umayyad Caliph Abdu al-Malik b.
Marwan (Cuperly, 2009, p.18). Secondly, and most importantly,
attributing the group to Jabir would weaken the Umayyad
position and raise the Ibāḍīs’ for the fact that Jabir b. Zaid is
considered a reliable and authoritative figure by all Muslims of
the time (al-Jaabiree, 2015, p.32-47). Thus, ascribing the group
to Jabir would lead people to incline towards his group and
thoughts at the expense of the loyalty to Bani Umayyad.
Although the Umayyads kept on calling them Ibāḍīs, al-Qa’idah
of that time did not acknowledge this attribution to Ibn Ibāḍ
because he was not their real religious or spiritual leader.
Instead, they insisted on calling themselves what was known at
the time of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH); thus, they called
themselves only ‘Muslims’, ‘The group of Muslims’, ‘The people
of Da'wah’, etc. (al-Aghbari, 2013, p.73). In the same context,
the early Ibāḍī writings of the first three centuries, such as al-
Mudawana, ar-Rabeea collection, Jabir letters, etc., did not
make any mention to the term Ibāḍī or Ibāḍīsm (Khalifat, 1978,
p.12). This reality, in turn, reflects the Ibāḍī insistence to keep
 173

the origin and avoid any confusing or misleading attribution.

However, it appears that this association was eventually
accepted by Ibāḍīs because it had been accepted for a long time
by other communities as the only term they would be known by.
On the other hand, although Ibn Ibāḍ never represented any
religious authority, he was still a righteous man and faithful
member of the people of Da'wah. With all that in mind, they did
not, at the end, see any shame to accept this ascription, taking
into account these considerations. Accordingly, only for the first
time the concepts Ibāḍīs and Ibāḍīsm appear in the Ibāḍī
writings. This appearance was in the late third century AH/ ninth
century CE, specifically in the theological book Usūl ad-Dainunah
as-Safia compiled by Amros b. Fath an-Nafusi, a Libyan Ibāḍī
writer who died in (283 AH/ 896 CE) (an-Nafusi, 1999, p.68; al-
Madani, 2011, p.9).
Finally, it is worth pointing out that despite the precautionary
and preventive measures that Jabir b. Zaid undertook to save his
movement and followers away from the Umayyad persecution,
he was caught by al-Hajaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi, the Umayyad
governor of Iraq, and imprisoned then exiled at a late part of his
life to his country of origin, Oman, and died in (93 AH/ 711 CE).
When the news of Jabir’s death reached the great Companion
and servant of the Prophet, Anas b. Malik, he is said to have
remarked: ‘Today, the most knowledgeable man on the whole
earth has died’ (al-Harthi, 2006, p.209).
 174

āḍī

Based on the above biography, one can deduce many features

that distinguish the Ibāḍī School of Islamic fiqh. Firstly, the Ibāḍī
School is the earliest Islamic legal school in relation to the four
Sunni schools (Wilkinson, 1985, p.234). More specifically, when
Jabir b. Zaid died in (93 AH/ 711 CE), the first Sunni Imam, Abu
Hanifa, was only thirteen years old while the second Imam,
Malik b. Anas was just born in that year, (93 AH/ 711 CE). As for
the other two Sunni Imams, ash-Shafiee and Ahmed, they had
not yet been born, as they were born in (150 AH/ 767 CE) and
(164 AH/ 780 CE) respectively. Another feature is that the
founder of this school, Abu ash-Shatha, was a direct student of
many of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Companions in both Hijaz and
Iraq, including their eminent jurists, such as: Ibn Abbas, Aisha,
Ibn Mas’ud, Abu Hurairah, etc. (Wilkinson, 1985, p.235). As a
consequence, he transferred to his followers the actual
Prophetic practice and sayings just as those Companions
witnessed the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) would do and say. The
third feature is marked by the fact that Jabir studied in both
Hijaz and Iraq, thus his school combined between the Ḥijazi
School of Ḥadīth and Iraqi School of ra'y (opinion) (al-Jaabiri,
2015, p.99). This, in turn, gave him full awareness of the various
opinions in circulation at the time and, furthermore, enabled
him to set up a balanced and moderate juristic school. Fourth,
by the death of Jabir at the end of the first century AH/ the
beginning of the ninth century, the jurisprudential School of
Ibāḍīsm was already established and its rules were complete
 175

and well-organised (al-Jaabiree, 2015, p.97). This was clearly

embodied in the fatwas of Jabir, of which many are still
recorded in his published answers. In addition to Jabir’s
answers, many early writings are also still extant and available,
for example: the books of Abu Ubaidah, al-Mudawanah of Abu
Ghanim, the Musnad of ar-Rabeea. All these early writings,
which were written at most in the first half of the second
century AH/ the first half of the ninth CE, show how well-
systematised the Ibāḍī jurisprudence was from its early days
(an-Nami, nd, p.120-121).
 176

1.4. The Ḥanafī School of Law

The early roots of the Ḥanafī Legal School are associated with
the great Companion, Abdullah b. Mas’ud (d. 33 AH/ 653 CE)
(May Allah have a mercy on him). This goes back to the time
when the second Rightly-Guided Caliph Umar b. al-Kattab sent
Ibn Mas’ud to Kūfah in order for the latter to teach the people
of Kūfah and give religious opinions, fatwas. The position of Ibn
Mas’ud in Kūfah was advocated by the shift of the Islamic
capital from Madīnah to Kūfah at the era of the fourth Rightly-
Guided Caliph, Ali b. Abi Talib (May Allah honour his face)
(Corinne, 2003, p.6). By that, Ibn Mas’ud had become the chief
scholar of this learning centre in which many students sought
the religious sciences. Unlike many Companions like Ibn Umar
(May Allah have a mercy on him), Ibn Mas’ud tended to give
more weight to deductive reasoning, personal ijtihād or legal
diligence. Among Ibn Mas’ud’s eminent students was Hammad
b. Abi Suleiman, the main teacher of Imam Abu Hanifa after
whom the well-known Ḥanafī School of Islamic Jurisprudence is
named (Abu Yusuf, 2011).
In his early years and before engaging in the religious studies,
Abu Hanifa an-Nuaman b. Thabit grew up as a debater. That was
because he studied logic and mastered, in his youth, the
philosophical arguments and was famous with his mental
abilities to convince and persuade his opponents. Afterwards,
Abu Hanifa decided to start mastering different disciplines of
Islamic sciences. On top of these fields of knowledge, he studied
 177

under his first Sheikh, Hammaad b. Abi Suleiman, both Ḥadīth

and Fiqh extensively for a period of eighteen years in Kūfah.
After Hammad’s death in the year (120 AH/ 738 CE), Abu Hanifa
took over his mentor’s post and succeeded him in being the
dean of the School of Kūfah or, as it became to be known, as the
School of ra'y, opinion, as opposed to the School of Ḥadīth,
Prophetic Tradition, in Hijaz (Philips, 1988, p.64; Moin, 1968,
p.155). Having said that, it is worth noting that the surrounding
circumstances that accompanied the nascent Iraqi school
contributed immensely in giving the school its unique shape,
namely, relying to a large extent on opinions at the expense of
Hadīths (Philips, 1988, p.49).
Many compelling conditions were imposed upon the new
growing school to adopt this methodology, relying more on
opinions. Among these driving forces are the following: first,
the lack of Ḥadīth in Iraq due to the fact that most of the
Prophet’s Companions (May Allah please them) who met the
Prophet (PBUH) and heard from him resided in Hijaz and only a
very few number of their jurists moved to Iraq (az-Zuhili, 2001,
p.12). Second, due to Kūfah being the new political capital of
Islam, the scholars had to face new challenges which did not
exist when the revelation was being sent down at the time of
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Therefore, these issues did not
have any mention in the textual legislative sources. Thus, there
was a dire need to have religious verdicts on these matters
which were placed on the shoulders of the clerics of Kūfah, in
particular. In other words, there had been a great responsibility
 178

upon ulamā (scholars) of Kūfah to use deductive reasoning and

sound analogies which, in turn, could enable them to arrive at
the accurate ruling and the most suitable judgement, which
more effectively fits the new environment (Philips, 1988, p.49).
Third, because of the spread of Ḥadīth fabrication movements
in the late Umayyad and early Abbasid periods, which coincided
with the establishment stage of the Ḥanafī School, the founders
of the school laid down strict rules and regulations to distinguish
between the sound and authentic hadīths from that which is
fabricated. That, accordingly, contributed to the development of
the Science of Ḥadīth Criticism, on the one hand, and on the
other hand, reduced remarkably the number of hadīths used in
fiqh issues and gave a wider room to other sources of legislation
which fall under the ra'y or non-textual category (Philips, 1988,
p.48, 50; az-Zuhili, 2001, p.42).
Although the school of ra'y came to be attributed to Abu Hanifa,
it was his early disciples who set up the final foundations of the
Ḥanafī fiqh and greatly enhanced the spread of his school. More
specifically, even though Abu Hanifa did not compile his own
narrations and opinions in a written form, it was his senior
students, such as Abu Yusuf, Muhammad b. al-Hasan and Zufar
b. al-Hudhil, who recorded his reports and documented his
opinions (as-Saghirji, 2000, p.21-22). Furthermore, at the time,
many of Abu Hanifa’s religious issues were codified under
general jurisprudential principles and rules, extracted from Abu
Hanifa’s detailed opinions and teachings (az-Zuhili, 2001, p.6, 7,
8). Moreover, Abu Yusuf, being the chief judge in the Abbasid
 179

dynasty, played a significant role in spreading Ḥanafī thought.

This was accomplished by confining the appointment of judges
and religious teachers to the followers of the Ḥanafī School.
Hence, many people converted to the school of Abu Hanifa and,
consequently, its principles spread all over the Abbasid dynasty
(Bedir, 2004, p.151). This notion was confirmed by Philips (1988,
p.68) when he said: ‘In his capacity as a chief judge, he [Abu
Yusuf] used to appoint judges for the various cities and all his
appointees were followers of the Hanafee Madh-hab [school of
law]. Thus, he was instrumental in the spread of this school of
thought throughout the Muslim empire’.
1.5. Features of the Ḥanafī School of Law
The Ḥanafī School of Law’s unique attributes can now be
summarised as follows: firstly, the Ḥanafī reliance on the ra'y
(opinion) more than Ḥadīth was not a matter of choice; rather,
it was something dictated by surrounding circumstances and
dire need. Secondly, the Ḥanafī School of Law, its opinions and
principles, were not a result of an individual effort. In fact, they
were a production of a collective work of Abu Hanifa and his
senior students (Nurit, 1998, p.3-4). Thirdly, the spread of the
Ḥanafī School is indebted to the succeeding Islamic dynasties,
e.g.: the Abbasid, Suljoki, Ottoman, etc. since these major
empires adopted the Ḥanafī fiqh as the official legal framework
of the state (Bedir, 2004, p.150-151; Burak, 2015, p.3,17).
Fourthly, unlike the Ḥijazi fiqh, a large portion of the Ḥanafī
jurisprudence is theoretical, in which imaginary situations are
 181

assumed by Abu Hanifa and his students, then suggested

solutions and juristic verdicts are offered (Philips, 1988, p.49).
 181

2. The Issues of Controversy

Chapter two constitutes the main body of this study, as it
includes almost all main points of difference between the two
schools, Ibāḍīsm and Ḥanafīsm. The chapter involves
particularly nine issues of controversy between the two schools.
Specifically speaking, each issue is divided into four sections:
first of which gives a juristic background about the discussed
matter. The second provides the Ibāḍī viewpoint and their
evidence. As such, the third section offers the Ḥanafī view and
their various proofs. The final section contains the most
important part of the issue; that is a critical discussion
pertaining the debatable issue and what might have led to that
controversy in the light of Ḥadīth rules and jurisprudence
principles.
2.1. The Opening Supplication
The Background
One of the first actions of the prayer is the opening
supplication, tawjeeh. It is even referred to in the Holy Qur’ān,
where Allah Almighty says: ‘And hymn the praise of your Lord
when you stand’ (Q, 52:48). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), it
is recorded, would start his prayer with this particular
supplication ‘Glory be to you, oh Allah, and praise. Blessed is
your name and Elevated is your Majesty. There is no God
besides you’. Although the Islamic law schools agree, in general,
on the authentic attribution of this supplication to the
 182

Messenger of Allah and it being of the first prayer’s actions to

start with, they differ on the exact position in which the tawjeeh
is conducted.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
The Ibāḍī School of law is of the view that the opening
supplication is performed right before the consecrating takbīr.
Their evidence for that can be summarised in the following
points. First, it is proven from many narrations that the people’s
speech is abrogated in the prayer after the consecrating takbīr
except what the evidence allow such as; seeking refuge from
Satan, praising Allah, the transitional takbīrs, etc. (Muslim,
5:39). However, there is no authentic narration that states that
the opening supplication is one of these exceptions and can be
done after the consecrating takbīr. Thus, it is more cautious to
be done before the takbīr than after it, as the juristic principle
states, when there is a conflict between two states; one of them
is more cautious than the other, we should resort to the
cautious one as the Prophet (PBUH) says: ‘Give up what is
doubtful to you for that which is not doubtful’ (At- Tirmidhi,
1:55). Thus, we are required to take the precautionary measures
to ensure the validity of our worship whenever it is possible (as-
Salimi, 2008, p. 313). Second, the Prophet (PBUH) said to the
one who did not pray properly three times: ‘When you get up
for the prayer, perform the ablution properly and then face the
Qibla and say Takbīr (Allahu Akbar), and then recite of what you
know of the Qur'an’ (al-Bukhārī, 83:45). If the tawjeeh is after
the takbir, the Prophet (PBUH) would have told the man to read
 183

it before the Qur’ānic recitation. Third, on the authority of Aisha

(May Allah be pleased with her) who said when the Messenger
of Allah (PBUH) would begin his prayer, he would say: "Glory be
to Thee, O Allah," and "Praise be to Thee" and "Blessed is Thy
name, and Exalted is Thy greatness...” (Abu Dawud, 3:775).
Based on this narration, Ibāḍī scholars said: this should be
before takbīr as the Prophet would start his prayer actions with
it. If the takbīr had been before it, the narrator would have said
the Prophet would start with takbīr, not tawjeeh. (al-Maawali,
2014, 238-239).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
However, the Ḥanafī legal School, in accordance with the
mainstream Sunni opinion, contends that the place of the
opening supplication is to follow after the consecrating takbīr,
not before it. Sheik Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul-Haq supports this
notion in his book The Salah of the Believer in The Qur’ān and
Sunnah, with many narrations. Part of these narrations is the
following. First, the abovementioned Ḥadīth of Aisha (May Allah
have a mercy on her) that the Prophet (PBUH) would begin his
prayer with the Opening supplication (Abu Dawud, 3:775).
Second, on the authority of Abu Said al-Khudri who said: ‘When
the Prophet (BPUH) would begin Salah he would say Subhanak
Allahumma...’ (Ibn Abi Shaibah, 2402). Third, what is narrated
by Ubdah that ‘Umar bin al-Khattab would recite the following
words in prayer out loud Subhanak Allahumma…’ (Abu Yalaa,
3735). Forth, what Aswad reports that when Umar bin al-
Khattab would begin his prayer he would say Subhanak
 184

Allahumma…’ (Tahawi, 1:198). Fifth, the writer quoted many

names of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Companions and
many of the Companions’ followers, Tabiaeen, and a multitude
of Muslim scholars after them, arguing that they all would recite
the opening supplication after the consecrating takbīr (Abu
Yusuf, 1998, p.36-37).
The Analysis
It seems, based on the above discussion, that the controversy
could be traced back to multiple factors. First of all, the
difference in understanding the texts. In more detail, although
the apparent wording of the quoted textual evidence by the two
parties are almost the same, they still differ on the place alluded
to by the narrator’s sayings ‘would start’ and ‘would begin’. The
Ibāḍīs took this ‘start’ or ‘beginning’ literally, in its absolute
sense. As a consequence of that, they do not precede the
opening supplication with any act of the prayer. However, the
other party took it only as a relative beginning or start, not an
absolute one. Thus, they argue that it is described as a
‘beginning’ or ‘start’ in comparison to what follows it of the
prayer, which is in fact most of the prayer actions, and that does
not negate that it could be preceded by another action of the
prayer. Secondly, the Ibāḍī jurists resort to consult external
evidence, which could give them some clues to determine what
is meant exactly by this ‘start’. While, on the Ḥanafī side, there
does not seem that there is any consultation to external texts.
Third, the Ibāḍī School, unlike the Ḥanafī, is of the majority
opinion that the actions and sayings of Companions, let alone
 185

those who came after them, do not serve as a proof or

legislating evidence on the arguable matters except if their
opinion is in a unanimous agreement. Hence, what the Ḥanafīs
resorted to, as a supporting evidence, the Companions and
followers’ opinion, cannot be taken for granted by the Ibāḍī
jurists (Kamali, 2003, p. 318-319).

2.2. Raising the Hands upon the Consecrating Takbīr

The Background
As a matter of fact, the Muslim Ummah scholars disagreed on
the legitimacy of raising the hands on the prayer especially upon
the consecrating takbīr. The majority of them are in favour of its
legitimacy and it being recommended by the Prophet of Allah
(PBUH) in the prayer. However, the Ḥanafīs, unlike the other
Sunni Schools, maintain that raising the hands is recommended
only upon the consecrating takbīr. Thus, they believe that all the
other raisings of the hands are weak and illegitimate. In contrast
to them, the Ibāḍīs, in total consensus from the early Islamic
generations up to the present day, hold that this act of raising
the hands is not part of the prayer nor was it one of the
Prophet’s (PBUH) actions, nor did he recommend it anyhow (al-
Sabee, 2013, p.33). However, what eases this clear-cut point of
difference is the reality that none of those who hold the
legitimacy of raising the hands in the prayer said that it is
mandatory and the prayer of those who do not act upon it is
invalid. Rather, they all agree that the prayer’s validity is not
 186

affected by leaving such action, as an-Nawwai says: ‘They,

(Muslims Scholars) agreed that none of the raising (of the
hands) is obligatory’ (al-Nawwai, v.4, p.99).
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
Technically speaking, the Ibāḍī School of Law advocates not
raising the hands in the prayer for a number of reasons. First,
what was narrated authentically in al-Rabeea, Muslim and an-
Nasa'i that the Prophet (PBUH) denied his Companions when he
saw them raising their hands in the prayer, and, as a result, he
commanded them not to do so anymore. In an-Nasa’i wording,
Jabir b. Samurah said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came out
to us and we were raising our hands during the Salah. He said:
'Why are you raising your hands while praying, like the tails of
wild horses? Stay still when you are praying' (al-Rabeea, 216;
Muslim, 430; an-Nasa'I, 1185). Second, although the narrations
that legitimise the raising of the hands in the prayer are
numerous, they prove to have been inconsistent in regards to its
rule, its count, its postures and the details of its application. If it
had been an established Prophetic Sunnah, the examples would
not have been contradictory and incompatible, especially when
it comes to an issue concerning the most frequently visible act
of worship in the Prophet’s (PBUH) lifetime, the Prayer (as-
Sabee’, 2013, p.35-39). In the same connection, it is
indisputable in the Science of Ḥadīth that the inconsistent
hadīth falls under the category of a weak hadīth (al-Baikuni,
2004, p.8; Ibn Hajar, 2008, p.115). Hence, the inconsistent
reports do not serve as a legitimate proof in Islamic
 187

Jurisprudence. Third, the famous agreed narrations, which

mention the description of the Prophet’s (PBUH) prayer, do not
mention raising the hands at all, such as the famous narration of
the man who did not pray properly in the presence of the
Prophet of Allah (PBUH) (al-Bukhari; 78:660). Fourth,
implementing the principle of taking the most precautionary
choice and going back to the original state in the ambiguous
situations. To elaborate, since this action and all its narrations
are not free of controversy, in terms of their chain of
transmitters, the safer recourse is to go back to the origin and
not to add, in the essence of the prayer, anything except what
fulfils the certainty conditions (al-Maawali, 2014, p.201-202).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
Unlike the Ibāḍīs, the Ḥanafīs rely mainly on the narrative
proofs attributed to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and his
Companions (May Allah be pleased with them). The renowned
contemporary Ḥanafī scholar, Sheik Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul-Haq
(born 1971), in his book The Salah of a Believer in the Qur’an
and Sunnah lists many of the Ḥanafī textual evidence on this
issue. Of this evidence, he mentioned the following hadīths;
first, on the authority of Anas b. Malik who said: ‘I saw the
Prophet say the takbīr and place his thumbs close to his ears..’
(al-Hakim; 822). Second, what is reported by Wa'il b. Hujr who
said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) stood up and faced the
Qiblah and uttered the takbīr (Allah is most great); then he
raised his hands till he brought them in front of his ears’ (Abu
Dawud; 957). Third, Ibn Mas’ud once said: ‘Should I not inform
 188

you of the prayer of the Prophet (PBUH)? He then stood up and

raised his hands once in the beginning’ (al-Nasai; 1026). Fourth,
what is narrated by Ibrahim al-Nakha'i that he says: ‘Abdullah
bin Mas’ud would not raise his hands in any part of the prayer
except in the beginning’ and many other hadīths. (Abu Yusuf,
1998, p.26-27, 44-49).
The Analysis
It is clear from a quick glance at the evidence of each party that
each one took a side to prove its stance. On the one hand, the
Ḥanafīs seem to have been overwhelmed by the great number
of narrations and narrators who attributed to the Prophet
(PBUH) and his Companions that they would raise their hands in
the prayer, irrespective of the differences in the details between
the narrations. Thus, they became content and reassured
without any further investigation of their authenticity. On the
other hand, the Ibāḍī scholars used both the Science of Ḥadīth
and the Science of Jurisprudence Principles to tackle this
problematic issue and reach at a final verdict, reconciling, or
rather, determining which of the two conflicting sets of
evidence deserved to outweigh the other. On the Ḥadīth level,
they conclude that the massive inconsistency between the
reports, in both the chain of narration and the content, cannot
be reconciled anyhow and such inconsistency is considered an
intolerable deficiency and, consequently, renders the hadīth
unacceptable.
On the Usūl level, the Ibāḍīs seem to have utilised the Principles
of Jurisprudence to get to a conclusion and support their view.
 189

The following three examples of principles could serve to

support this claim. First, ‘Whenever evidence is provided that
allows is opposed by evidence that forbids, the forbidding
evidence should be given the priority over the allowing one’
(Harmosh, nd, v.1, p.110; Kamali, 2003, p. 458). Putting this
Principle into practice led the Ibāḍī jurists to give preference to
the narrations which prohibit people from raising the hands,
over those which allow this action (al-Busafi, 2013, p.342).
Second, ‘Whenever a verbal report conflicts a practical one and
there is no way to reconcile them, the verbal one should be
given precedence over the practical’, as far as the majority of
Islamic schools are concerned (as-Shawkani, 2000, p.1138) As all
the narrations that allow and legitimise raising the hands are
only practical ones and the narrations that disallow are verbal,
the disallowing narration should prevail on this issue (al-Busafi,
2013, p.342). Third, Ibāḍī scholars are of the opinion that the
Companions’ views are not valid proof in disputable and
arguable matters, like the one in question (as-Salimi, 2010a, v.2,
p.76; Harmosh, nd, v.1, p.853), unlike what Imam Abu Hanifa
holds (Kamali, 2003, p. 318-319). Therefore, what the Ḥanafīs
reported from the Companions’ own practice and sayings can
neither be independent evidence nor supporting to others, as
far as Ibāḍīs are concerned (as-Salimi, 2010a, v.2, p.97-99).
Finally, what al-Nawwai claimed is not accurate, being that
raising the hands as a recommended act of prayer found the
consensus of all Muslims (al-Nawwai, v.4, p.99), nor what Ibn al-
Munder related, that Muslim Scholars agreed unanimously that
 191

the Prophet (PBUH) would raise his hands when he would

pronounce the consecrating takbīr (Ibn al-Munder, 2001, p.8),
because many jurists hold that all what has been narrated from
the Prophet (PBUH), related to this subject, is not technically
authentic. Thus, it is not valid to be considered an established
Sunnah.

2.3. Reciting al-Basmallah Loudly

The Background
Among the first pillars of the prayer is reciting al-Fatiha, the
Opening Chapter of the Qur’an. Hence, the prayer does not
count if the person has not recited this chapter. However, the
very first part of the Opening Chapter is al-Basmallah, saying
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahmeem, meaning ‘In the Name of
Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful’. Besides being an
independent verse of al-Fatiha, it is an integral part of it.
Therefore, the prayer of the one who does not recite al-Fatiha is
incomplete.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
Although, generally speaking, both Ibāḍīs and Ḥanafīs are in
agreement regarding the obligation of reciting the Opening
Chapter and its Basmallah upon the Imam, they differ over
some details. Of these issues of difference is the ruling regarding
reciting al-Basmallah by the Imam in the loud prayers as to
whether it should be out aloud or not. Like the Shafiee School of
Law, the Ibāḍīs unanimously make no distinction between any
 191

parts of the Opening Chapter. They maintain that the Basmallah

has to be recited loudly in all loud prayers (al-Khalili, 1984,
p.174, 182, 191). Their main proof is that the whole Opening
Chapter must be recited out aloud in other than the two day
prayers, the Noon, Duhr, and Afternoon, Asr, prayers because
there is no valid evidence which gives a specific exceptional
ruling on the Basmallah. Thus, the original ruling should be
applicable to it as well. Moreover, this default ruling is
supported by an explicit Prophetic tradition narrated by a large
number of the Prophet’s Companions, such as: Ali b. Abi Talib,
Ammar b. Yasser, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Omar and Aisha.
They all confirm that ‘The Prophet would read Bismillah al-
Rahman al-Rahmeem loudly’ (al-Hakim, 1061). Also, it is
narrated authentically from Anas b. Malik, the servant of the
Prophet himself, that all Companions from the Emigrants and
Helpers denounced what Muawyah b. Abi Suffyan did when
they did not hear him recite the Basmallah in the prayer (al-
Shafiee, 138) and this, in turn, shows that the application of all
the Companions is to read al-Basmallah out aloud, not in silence
(al-Maawali, 2014, p.217-218).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
As for the Ḥanafī School of Fiqh, it holds that the Imam should
recite al-Basmallah even in the loud prayers silently, unlike the
rest of the Opening Chapter. They argue that reciting al-
Basmallah silently is the practice of the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) himself and it is the known view and practice of the four
Rightly Guided Caliphs. To that end, Sheik Abu Yusuf advocates
 192

the Ḥanafī standpoint with the following hadīth: on the

authority of Anas b. Malik who said: ‘I prayed salah behind the
Prophet (PBUH), Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (May Allah be
pleased with them) and I did not hear one of them recite
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahmeem loudly’ (Muslim, 399). With
almost the same wording, the hadīth has also been narrated by
the Companion Abdullah b. Mugaffal who said to his son, the
narrator of this hadīth: ‘I have prayed with the Prophet (PBUH),
Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (May Allah be pleased with them),
and I did not hear any one of them recite Bismillah al-Rahman
al-Rahmeem, therefore don’t recite it. When you pray salah
read al Hamudul lillahi Rabbil Aalameen’ (Tirmidhi, 244). Beside
the Companions, Ḥanafī fuqahā support this attitude by
attributing it to many of the Successors, Tabeen, and their
followers, such as Imam Abu Hanifa, his close disciples, Ahmed
b. Hanbil, his followers, Sufyān al-Thawri, etc. (Abu Yusuf, 1998,
p.37-38).
The Analysis
As both parties, the Ibāḍīs and Ḥanafīs, try to prove their
jurisprudential positions with regards to this issue with textual
evidence apparently in contradiction to one another, it would
seem that the disagreement between the two can be ascribed
to the methodology each adopts to settle the issue and in order
to find out which set of evidence outweighs the other.
Regarding the Ibāḍī School, they resort to support their textual
evidence that the Basmillah should be recited out aloud with
the juristic rules such as, ‘The part is given the rule of the
 193

whole’. Thus, as the Basmillah is part of al-Fatiha, the Basmillah

should be given al-Fatiha’s rule and, consequently, recited
loudly. Second, the jurisprudential principle reads that ‘The
original ruling should be presumed and maintained so long as it
is not changed with a valid proof’ (as-Salimi, 2010a, v.2, p. 259).
Practically speaking, the original ruling is that the recitation of
the Night, Isha, prayer is loud. Thus, this ruling should be
continued and not be changed, except with a sound proof, free
of any defect, such as being opposed by another sound proof.
However, Ibāḍīs argue that the Ḥanafī's narrations do not serve
to change this original ruling, as they are being challenged with
another strong proof. Hence, going back to the original ruling,
loudness, is what should be implemented here. Last but not
least, it is worth bearing in mind that the Ḥanafīs do not
acknowledge this juristic principle, presumption of the
continuity of the previous state, in the first place. Thus, they do
not have to comply with it, and that enhances, even partly, the
difference that takes place, as will be mentioned in the Ḥanafī
side (Kamali, 2003, p. 384).
On the hadīth level, the jurists of the Ibāḍī School make use of
the Science of Ḥadīth Criticism to investigate the authenticity of
the Ḥanafī narrations mentioned above. They checked the
historical reliability of the hadīths’ transmitters and argued that
both hadīths’ chains of narrators are not reliable. Regarding
Anas’ hadīth, it contains al-Waleed b. Muslim ad-Dimashqi who
is accused of being a falsifier, as Ibn Hajar mentioned (Ibn Hajar,
2004, v.6, p.750-751). As for the second report of Abdullah b.
 194

Mughaffal, the narrator of this hadīth, the son of Abdullah, is

unknown as many scholars agree (Redha, 2005, v.1, p.76).
On the Ḥanafī side, Ḥanafīs resort, in order to prefer one set of
the conflicting evidence over the other, to the application of the
Companions, their Successors and the followers of their
Successors (May Allah be pleased with them), the first three
generations being the best three Muslim generations. Thus,
when reciting al-Basmillah silently was the practice of the
Companions and their followers, as far as the Ḥanafīs are
concerned, they concluded that the silent narrations should be
given precedence over the loud ones. However, what the
Ḥanafīs resorted to of the Companions’ action, let alone their
followers and who came later, is a disputable matter and rather
not acknowledged as a proof by the Ibāḍī School, as mentioned
previously (as-Salimi, 2010a, v.2, p.76; Harmosh, nd, v.1, p.853).
Hence, the disagreement occurred. Furthermore, another
important element which might have contributed to causing the
controversy, as referred to above, is the fact that the Ḥanafīs,
unlike Ibāḍīs, do not deem Istishab, presuming the continuity of
the original state, as a valid proof in Islamic legislation, whereas
Ibāḍīs acknowledge Istishab as a valid legislative proof when the
sound evidence is absent (as-Salimi, 2010a, v. 2, p. 259; Kamali,
2003, p. 384).
 195

2.4. Saying Āmīn after Reciting al-Fatiha

The Background
In the Glorious Qur’an, Allah Almighty guaranteed that He will
preserve His final revelation, the Qur’an, so no distortion or
tampering will affect it. Consequently, He fulfilled His promise
and hence, all Muslims across the World from the East to the
West are now in complete agreement on what was compiled
between the two covers of the Qur’an that it is part of the
Qur’an and they are in total agreement as well that what is out
of its two covers is not part of the Qur’an. Therefore, there is no
difference of opinions between them that ‘Āmīn’ is not a part of
the Qur’an. However, with this agreement, they differed
whether it is legitimate to say it in the prayer after reciting the
Opening Chapter or not. The Juristic Ibāḍī School is of the view
that it should not be said. Whereas, the Ḥanafī Juristic School is
of the opinion that it is recommended to say ‘Amen’ after the
recitation of the Opening Chapter.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
As far as al-Muatamid in the Jurisprudence of Prayer is
concerned, the Ibāḍī viewpoint is supported with multiple forms
of evidence, as follows. First, ‘Āmīn’ is part of people’s speech
since it is not from the Qur’an by a unanimous consensus, as
established earlier. Indeed, at the beginning of the Prophet’s
(PBUH) mission, people’s speech had been allowed in the
prayer, but towards the end of the Prophet’s (PBUH) life, it was
abrogated by both the Qur’an and Sunnah. Thus, people’s
 196

speech is no longer allowed in the prayer in any form which

includes saying ‘Āmīn’. Second, the prayer is an
incomprehensible form of worship (i.e. we do not know its
ultimate purpose), and the established jurisprudential rule in
this regard is that there should not be in this kind of worship any
addition other than the Qur’ān and the legitimised
remembrance of Allah, except with a valid proof which gives an
exception to what is other than that. According to Ibāḍīs, Āmīn
is not part of the remembrance of Allah, nor is there a valid
excepting proof (al-Maawali, 2014, p.219-220).

The Ḥanafī view and evidence

In support to their position of saying Āmīn after the Opening
Chapter, Ḥanafī scholars of Islamic jurisprudence rely on many
narratives, some of which are attributed to the Prophet (PBUH)
himself and others to his Companions and their followers. The
first proof the Ḥanafī text, the Salah of a Believer in the Qur’ān
and Sunnah, uses is what has been reported by Abu Hurairah
(May Allah have a mercy on him) that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
‘When the Imam says ‘Ghairil Maqhdhoobi Alaihim
WaladhaAlleen’, say Āmīn. For one whose Āmīn coincides with
that of the Angels, he will have all his past sins forgiven’ (al-
Bukhari, 749). Further evidence has been narrated by Wail b.
Hujr who said: ‘The Prophet (PBUH) led us in Salah, when he
recited ‘Ghairil Maqhdhoobi Alaihim WaladhaAlleen’ he said
Āmīn silently’ (Abu Dawood, 1024). Furthermore, the writer of
the Salah of a Believer backs up these narrations, writing:
‘Saying Āmīn silently was the view and practice of Sayyiduna
 197

Umar, Sayyiduna Ali, Sayyiduna Ibn Mas’ud (May Allah be

pleased with them), Ibrahim al-Nakha’i, Sh’abi, Ibrahim al-Taimi,
Imam Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf.. and the people of Kūfah’ (Abu
Yusuf, 1998, p.40).
The Analysis
Unlike the Ḥanafī methodology, what draws the reader’s
attention, in the Ibāḍī discussion, is the Ibāḍīs’ not using of the
narrative texts to defend their position. From a deeper reading
of the literature of the Ibāḍī Fiqh, it can be inferred that Ibāḍīs
did not rely on what have been narrated by their opponents
because they hold that all those narrations are not free of
deficiencies (the intolerable defects which render the hadīths
weak). Of these deficiencies is the weakness in some of the
hadīth narrators as traced by the Ibāḍī contemporary researcher
Rashid al-Busafi in his book The Satisfactory Letter in the Ibāḍī
Prayer, a detailed study on what distinguishes the Ibāḍī prayer.
After examining the chains of the famous narrations, in regards
to ‘Āmīn’, al-Busafi concludes that all these narrations have one
or more criticised narrator (al-Busafi, 2011, v.1, p.151-157). In
addition, the Ibāḍī School excluded many of the ‘Āmīn’
narrations argued by the opposite party, the Ḥanafī School,
because they are general in the legality of saying Āmīn after any
Dua’a, and not explicit in the prayer or after al-Fatiha.
Therefore, they claim that they do not serve as considerable
proofs, since they are irrelevant to the point of dispute (al-
Maawali, 2014, p. 220).
 198

However, the renowned contemporary Ibāḍī Muhaddith,

scholar of hadīth, Sheik Said al-Qannobi makes use of the
Science of Islamic Principles to give preference to one opinion
over the other. He contends that if we were to agree, for the
sake of argument, that some of the ‘Āmīn’ narrations are sound,
in terms of their chains of transmitters, we still would not be
able to use them as specifying evidence in this issue because the
narrations of abrogating people’s speech are general in their
wordings. As a consequence, these general wordings cannot be
confined to their historical contexts (the contextual reasons for
the narrations) due to the juristic principle, ‘There is no
consideration with the specificity of the historical context of an
evidence with the generality of its wording’ (al-Busafi, 2011, v.1,
p.122). Hence, the general wording of the forbidding reports
should be applied over all people’s speech, including Āmīn. In
other words, this generality of the evidence that prohibits
people’s speech cannot be specified by mentioning one instance
falling under that generality, such as Āmīn. All of this is
according to juristic principle acknowledged by the majority of
Jurisprudence Principles scholars (al-Qannobi, 1995b, p.4).
On the other hand, in support of his narrative proofs, Sheik Abu
Yusuf Riyadh ul-Haq followed his textual evidence by saying:
‘and the people of Kūfah’ (Abu Yusuf, 1998, p.40). This indicates
the view found in some of the Ḥanafī literatures that the
practice of the people of Kūfah, the second Islamic Capital, is a
proof, per se. On the contrary, neither the action of the people
of Kūfah, nor that of al-Madina, as it is the case in the Maliki
 199

School, is a legal proof in the Ibāḍī School of Law (as-Salimi,

2010a, v.2, p.122-123).

2.5. Reciting al-Fatiha behind the Imam

The Background
In general, all Muslim scholars have come to an agreement on
the obligation of reciting the Opening Chapter, al-Fatiha, in the
prayer and it being one of the prayer’s pillars. That consensus is
due to the numerous Prophetic sayings that command people to
recite it, and that give the ruling of invalidity to the one who
does not read it. An example of the Prophetic traditions is what
has been related on the authority of Anas b. Malik that the
Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Whoever performs a prayer in which he
does not recite Ummul Qur’an (the Mother of the Qur’an, i.e.,
al-Fatiha), his prayer is deficient; not complete’ (al-Rabee, 225;
al-Bukhari, 887). However, with that overall agreement, the
dispute took place between the Muslim scholars over whether
the follower of the Imam, Mamum, should recite the Opening
Chapter in the congregational prayer or not.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
As far as the Ibāḍī jurists are concerned, reciting the Opening
Chapter of the Qur’ān is compulsory upon every person who
prays in every unit (Rak'ah) whether s/he is an Imam, follower
or an individual, whether it be a mandatory prayer or just a
recommended prayer, whether it be a loud prayer or a silent
prayer. The generality of the previous narration of Anas (May
 211

Allah be pleased with him), in which the Messenger (PBUH) did

not specify the Imam to recite al-Fatiha apart from his
followers, is one of their reliable proofs. Further evidence of
theirs was narrated by Ubadah b. Assamt who stated that
Allah's Messenger prayed the Subh prayer (morning) and he had
difficulty with the recitation. When he turned (after finishing) he
said: 'I think that you are reciting behind your Imam?’ The
narrator said: "We said: 'Yes, Messenger of Allah!' The Prophet
replied: 'do not do that, except for Umm Al-Kitab, al-Fatiha, for
there is no Salah for one who does not recite it’ (al-Rabee, 230).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul-Haq articulates the Ḥanafī viewpoint,
saying: ‘If you are praying in a congregation, then you should
not read behind the Imam anything’ (Abu Yusuf, 1998, 42).
In support of this position, there are many textual proofs listed
by the Ḥanafī School. For the sake of clarity, their textual
evidence could be divided into three categories: Qur’anic,
Prophetic, and narratives from the righteous predecessors. Also,
for the sake of brevity, only one example from each category
will be given. Firstly, the divine commandment of Almighty Allah
in the Chapter of al-A’raaf, the Heights, which reads: ‘And when
the Qur’ān is recited, listen to it attentively and remain silent,
that you may receive mercy’ (Q, 7:204). Secondly, the prophetic
category reports, such as what Abu Hurairah (May Allah have a
mercy on him) narrates that the Prophet (PBUH) turned around
after a Salah in which he recited loudly. He enquired: ‘Has any of
you recited behind me?’ A man replied: ‘I did’. The Prophet
 211

(PBUH) said: ‘I say: what is it with me? I am being contested

with the Qur’ān’. After the people heard this from the Prophet
(PBUH), they stopped reciting with him (behind him) in those
Salah in which he would pray loudly’ (Malik, 194). Thirdly, in this
category the writer mentioned the narration of Nafi’, in which
he reports that when Abdullah b. Umar (May Allah be pleased
with him and his father) would be asked, ‘Should one recite
behind the Imam?’ he would reply: ‘When one of you prays
behind the Imam, the Imam’s recitation is sufficient for him.
When he prays alone, he should recite’. Nafi’ adds ‘Abdullah b.
Umar (May Allah be pleased with him and his father) would not
recite behind the Imam’ (Malik, 193).
The Analysis
From an Usūl point of view, all agree on the fact that the
Qur’anic verse offered by the Ḥanafī School is general, but the
difference still has to emerge because of the diverse views
between the two Schools regarding the generality of the
evidence. Since the Ḥanafī jurists hold that the general evidence
is definitive in its meaning (Kamali, 1998, p.148), it is very
natural that they use the verse as a valid proof, and
consequently, base their ruling upon its generality. On the
contrary, the Ibāḍīs, like the majority of the juristic schools,
don’t follow that principle, as they hold that the general is
speculative, not definite, on its meaning (as-Salimi, 2010a, v.2,
p.225, 229; as-Salimi, 2010b, v.7, p.579; Harmosh, nd, v.1,
p.503). As an application of this principle, whenever there is a
specifying proof, even a solitary one, the specific should be
 212

given priority over the general, as it is the case with this instance
in which the general, the verse, is specified by the,
abovementioned narration of Ubadah b. Assamt (May Allah be
pleased with him). Kamali (1998, p.148) articulates the point of
difference between the Ḥanafīs and the majority of the juristic
schools, with regards to this issue, by saying: ‘The result of this
disagreement becomes obvious in the event of a conflict
between the amm, general, of the Qur’ān and the khass,
specific, of the hadīth’.
Furthermore, from a Ḥadīth point of view, it seems by the way
of comparison between the Ibāḍī narration (hadīth Ubadah) and
the Ḥanafī narration (hadīth Abu Hurairah), that both of them
are actually relating the same occasion but one of them, the
Ibāḍī narration, has an addition not found in the Ḥanafī one,
which states that ‘except for Umm Al-Kitab, al-Fatiha, for there
is no Salah for one who does not recite it’. The Ibāḍī School
relied on this narration due to the hadīth principle which is
approved in the Science of Ḥadīth that ‘The addition of the
trustworthy is acceptable’ (Ibn Hajar, 2001, p.212). On balance,
the other opinion has become the established one in the Ḥanafī
School, although the Ḥanafī scholars might agree with this
hadīth principle, because hadīth Ubadah was narrated in al-
Rabee’ collection of hadīth, an Ibāḍī authoritative source of
hadīth, which might not be acknowledged as a reliable
reference by the Ḥanafī School, or at least, not given the
preference over the Sunni collections of hadīths. As for the
narration of Nafi’ presented by Ḥanafīs, pertaining to Ibn
 213

Umar’s own practice, it remains a Companion’s opinion in a

disputed juristic issue, which cannot stand as a binding proof
with most scholars, including the Ibāḍī jurists, unlike the Ḥanafī
School (az-Zuhili, 2001, p.12).

2.6. Reciting Surah after al-Fatiha in the Day Prayers

The Background
A large number of Muslim scholars are unanimously united in
the fact that reciting what is after al-Fatiha in the first two
rak'ah of the two day prayers, the Noon and Afternoon prayers,
is not obligatory and that the prayer of the one who does not
recite it is complete. Despite this agreement, the difference still
took place between Ibāḍīs and the mainstream Sunni Muslims,
including the Ḥanafī Scholars, as to whether this recitation is
legally recommended or not. The Ḥanafī School adopts the
former, while the Ibāḍī School adopts the latter, as will be
discussed below.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
The Ibāḍī Law School holds the opinion that reciting any part of
the Qur’ān after the Opening Chapter in the first two units of
the silent prayers is not legitimate; rather, it should not be
practised. In support of their standpoint, Ibāḍī scholars suggest
three main kinds of evidence: textual evidence, analogical
reasoning and deductive inference. Regarding the textual
evidence, of their narrative proofs is what has been narrated
from Ibn Abbas that he was once asked: ‘Would the Prophet of
 214

Allah recite in the Noon and Afternoon prayers? He replied: No

no. Then he is asked: Perhaps he might recite the Qur'an quietly.
He said: May your face be scratched (a kind of curse)! This
(statement) is worse than the former’ (Abu Dawud 2:418).
Concerning the analogical reasoning, they argue that, apart
from the point of discussion, it is agreed by all that only al-
Fatiha is recited in all silent rak'ah like the last two units of
Noon, Afternoon and Night prayers.
On the other hand, they agree that the Quran, beside al-Fatiha,
is recited always in all loud units, even if these prayers are day
prayers like the Friday and Eid prayers. Furthermore, this applies
even within the one prayer itself, in other words, we find that
since the first two units of the Sunset and Night prayers are
loud, another surah is recited, whereas, only al-Fatiha is recited
in the silent units within these two prayers. Thus, with all that in
mind, a general rule could be established that whenever there is
a silent unit, al-Fatiha only should be recited. Furthermore,
whenever there is an audible unit, another Surah should be
added to the Opening Chapter. Therefore, by applying this rule,
it is concluded that any Surah, other than al-Fatiha, should not
be recited in the first two units of the Noon and Afternoon
prayers (an-Nami, nd, p.151). As for the deductive inference, the
Surah is recited in order to be heard and listened to by
Ma’mumeen (the followers). Therefore, since the first two units
of the day prayers are silent by consensus, there will be no
listening taking place, thus no Surah is to be recited in that place
(al-Khalili, 1426 AH, p2-9.).
 215

The Ḥanafī view and evidence

The mainstream Muslim schools, including Ḥanafīs, advocated
the opinion of reciting other than the Opening Chapter in the
first two units of the day prayers with some reports ascribed to
the action of the Prophet (PBUH). Among these practical reports
are the following. Firstly, on the authority of the Companion
Abu Qatadah who said: ‘My father said, "The Prophet (PBUH) in
Zuhr prayers used to recite al-Fatiha along with two other Suras
in the first two rak`at: a long one in the first rak`a and a shorter
(Sura) in the second, and at times the verses were audible. In
the `Asr prayer the Prophet (PBUH) used to recite al-Fatiha and
two more Suras in the first two rak`at and used to prolong the
first rak`a’ (al-Bukhari, 10:153). Secondly, Khabbab b. al-Art
(May Allah have a mercy on him) was once asked: ‘Did the
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) recite (the Qur’ān) in the Noon and
Afternoon prayers? He replied: Yes. We then asked: How did
you know this? He said: By the shaking of his beard, [due to the
movement made by speaking] may peace be upon him’ (Abu
Dawud, 2:411). Thirdly, some other narrations, in which the
Messenger (PBUH) was reported to have recited some specific
Qur’anic chapters in the day prayers, e.g. what was narrated by
Abu Said al-Khudri, that the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) used to
recite in every rak'ah of the first two rak'ahs of the Noon prayer
about thirty verses and, in the last two, about fifteen verses or
half (of the first rak'ah) and in every rak'ah of the 'Asr prayer of
the first two rak'ahs about fifteen verses and in the last two
verses half (of the first ones) (Muslim, 4:177).
 216

The analysis
It seems that the Ibāḍī jurists doubted the authenticity of the
reports introduced by the Ḥanafī School after having subjected
them to a process of examination. A number of Ḥadīth flaws
could be sensed from their arguments. For instance, the
inconsistency between the narrations, in terms of the chapters,
claimed to have been recited by the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) in these silent units and the portion of these chapters
that the Prophet (PBUH) would read, taking into account that
the inconsistent hadīth falls under the category of weak hadīth
which is invalid as a legal proof (Ibn Hajar, 2008, p.115).
Furthermore, the way that some of the Companions learned the
recitation of the Prophet (PBUH) after al-Fatiha is through a
doubtful way, that was only by observing the movement of his
beard, as it is the case with Khabbab’s narration. Despite being a
weak way to prove such a disputable issue, it is hard to believe
that the Prophet’s Companions would look around during their
prayer, bearing in mind the repeated Prophetic prohibition and
threat from practising such an action during the prayer, which
would most likely result in the absence of the prayer’s
consciousness. Moreover, another criticism directed to the
content of hadīths is that, according to some of the
abovementioned narrations, the Companions would hear the
Prophet (PBUH) reciting some verses from different chapters. If
this is the case, it that the Prophet (PBUH) would exceed the
limits of silence, and enter the limit of loudness, and that prayer
would cease to be silent prayer anymore.
 217

With all that in mind, it appears that it is quite peculiar that the
Ḥanafīs adopted the opinion of the majority if you take into
account that of their methodology is to give preference to
Ijtihād over the narrative proofs, and that they give preference
to Qiyās over the solitary narrations, which means that they do
not rely on individual narrations when they are probable, let
alone criticised ones, as it is the case here (al-Khalili, 1426 AH,
p.21).
However, the Ḥanafī view still could be justified in the light of
some juristic principles. That is the jurisprudence rule: ‘The
affirmative proof is given precedence over the negative proof’
(az-Zarkashi, 1994, p.466; ash-Shawkani, 2000, p.1137). In other
words, the narrations that state that the Prophet would recite
other than al-Fatiha in the day prayers are affirmative, whereas,
those which deny this recitation are negative. Nevertheless, the
other party might retort against this proof, claiming that this
method of evidence is valid when both the affirmative and
negative are equal. Since this is not the case, as the negative
reports are explicit on negating the Prophet’s (PBUH) recitation
and the affirmative are speculative, the affirmative cannot be
given precedence over the negative as far as al-Busafi is
concerned (al-Busafi, 2011, v.2, p.83).
 218

2.7. Raising the Index Finger in the Tashahhud

The Background
Although the jurists of Islam agree on the general legality of
saying the Tashahhud in both sittings, including saying: ‘There is
no God but Allah’, they differ over the legitimacy of raising and
moving the index finger upon saying the aforementioned
testimony of Oneness of Allah. Regarding Ibāḍīs and Ḥanafīs,
this issue is considered among the disputable matters in the
prayer between the two schools; whereas the Ibāḍīs maintain
its illegitimacy, the Ḥanafīs maintain the legality, as will be
elaborated below.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
Having to abstain from moving the index finger at Tashahhud, or
even raising it in the first place, is what has been maintained by
the Ibāḍī Law School. The argument was by various evidence,
some are textual and others are concluded by deductive
reasoning. From a textual point of view, many of the Ibāḍī
scholars state that there is no authentic hadīth valid to prove
the issue, rather, according to them, all of what was narrated
had subtle defects when applying the Science of Ḥadīth
Criticism (al-Busafi, 2011, v.2, p.110), as will be discussed shortly
in the analysis. As for the deductive point of view, they argue
that raising the finger is an additional action in the prayer, like
the previous controversial actions, and unless an unambiguous
sound proof is provided, we should stick to the original legal
non-liability (as-Salimi, 2010b, v.4, p.272).
 219

The Ḥanafī view and evidence

It is worth stating that although the Ḥanafīs, unlike Ibāḍīs,
maintain the legality of raising the index in Tashahhud, they
share with the Ibāḍīs the view that moving this finger, the index,
constantly in the posture of sitting is not legitimate. Thus, it is
only the issue of raising the index in the sitting posture they
differ over. Having determined the point of controversy
between the two parties, the only Ḥanafī proof given by Sheik
Abu Yusuf (1998, p.173) should be provided here. It is narrated
on the authority of Abdullah b. al-Zubair (May Allah be pleased
with him and his parents) who wrote: ‘The Prophet (PBUH)
would point with his finger when he prayed and he would not
move it’ (Abu Dawood, 2: 600).
The analysis
As is clear from the above mentioned discussion, this
contentious issue is marked by the scarcity of evidence provided
by both parties. Despite that scarcity, a critical look at the
information available might reveal some clues as to why they
differed over the issue. First, the Ibāḍīs did not find one single
narration in their legal literature that supports the action of
raising the forefinger in Tashahhud, neither in their hadīth
books nor in their Jurisprudence combinations. Based on that, it
could be understood that the Ibāḍīs relied on the practical
transmission of the prayer description all the way back to the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself. In other words, it seems
that they never found any of their righteous predecessors
raising their index fingers. Bearing in mind that the founder of
 211

their school of law, upon his opinions the Ibāḍīs rely, was Jabir
b. Zaid whose teachers were the senior jurists of the Prophet’s
(PBUH) Companions, e.g. Ibn Abbas, Aisha, Abu Hurairah, Ibn
Mas’ud, Ibn Umar, etc. who witnessed that he attained vast
knowledge in the Islamic Fiqh. Therefore, it is unlikely, if raising
the index was a Sunnah, that they did not tell him or he did not
teach his followers this established Sunnah.
The second attempt to understand what might have been part
of the root causes of this disagreement is by a comparative
study of the numerous divergent reported narrations. By doing
this narrative comparison, it seems that Ibāḍīs might have
arrived at the conviction that these diverse reports were proven
to be inconsistent. The inconsistency of these narrations is
reflected, as a result, in the irreconcilable opinions derived from
them. Technically speaking, the inconsistent hadīth falls under
the category of weak hadīth, which does not serve as a sound
proof in the Fiqh issues, according to the four Sunni schools (al-
Baikuni, 2004, p.8).
 211

2.8. Combining the Two Prayers on travel:

The Background
A unanimous consensus between the scholars across the various
schools of Islamic law is concluded regarding the general legality
of combining the Noon and Afternoon prayers on the one hand
and Sunset and Night prayers on the other hand. Despite the
general agreement, it is notable that, of the juristic issues that
distinguish the Ḥanafī School, is the view that the combination
between the two prayers on travel is restricted to only two
places: Arafah and Muzdalfa. As in, they are opposed by the
other legal schools, including the Ibāḍī School of Law (as-Salimi,
2010b, v.5, p.210-211).
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
Like the majority of jurists, Ibāḍī fuqahā (jurisprudence jurists)
hold that the combination between the two prayers is not
confined to certain geographical areas, rather, it is legitimate to
combine wherever the prayer is as long as he/she is legally
travelling. The proof being the numerous narrations that
provide a practical tradition that the Messenger of Allah joined
the two prayers on so many occasions. The set of textual
evidences are mentioned as follows: first, what is narrated by
Abu Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him
and grant him peace) joined Dhuhr and `Asr on his journey to
Tabuk (Malik, 9:329). Second, the servant of Allah’s Prophet
(PBUH), Anas b. Malik, said: Whenever the Prophet (PBUH)
started a journey before noon, he used to delay the Dhuhr
 212

prayer till the time of `Asr and then offer them together (al-
Bukhari, 18:30). Beside these Prophetic narrations and much
more, some of the supporters of this viewpoint back up their
standpoint with a Qur’anic reference in which Allah Almighty
says: ‘Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its
meridian] until the darkness of the night and [also] the Qur'an of
dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed’ (Q,
17:78). They argue that the verse commands the believers to
offer the prayer only three times: when the sun moves from the
middle of the sky, in order to establish both Noon and
Afternoon prayers, and when the sun sets which involves the
Sunset and Night prayers. And finally, the recitation of dawn
which refers to the early Morning prayer (al-Maawali, 2014,
p.341).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
As explained earlier, all Muslim scholars are unanimous on the
point that it is allowed to join the prayers in Arafah and
Muzdalfa. However, apart from this point of consensus, the
Ḥanafī School does not permit the combination of the two
prayers at the same time. The justification of their firm stance
could be summarised in the following points: firstly, the general
legislative texts that prescribe a particular time for each single
prayer and the texts that order the believers to observe the
prayers on their own time, such as the verse which reads:
‘Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of
specified times’ (Q, 4:103). Secondly, Ibn Mas’ud’s (May Allah
please him) clear statement that he says: ‘By the one who has
 213

no partner in his divinity, the Prophet (PBUH) never prayed a

prayer but on its own time, except that of Arafah and Muzdlifah
(Az-Zuhili, 2007, v.2, p1374). Thirdly, based on some of the early
predecessors, the combination meant in the legal texts is only
‘the nominal combination’. In other words, it is just to delay
performing the first prayer till its last time, then you offer the
second prayer on its very early time. This means that each
prayer is conducted on its own time, despite the apparent
nominal combination. Among these narrations that are used to
support this understanding is what related by Amr b. Dinar, who
said: ‘I heard Abu Ash-sha'tha' Jabir saying, "I heard Ibn `Abbas
saying, 'I offered with Allah's Messenger (PBUH) eight rak`at (of
Zuhr and `Asr prayers) together and seven rak`at (the Maghrib
and the `Isha' prayers) together'. "I said, "O Abu Ash-shatha! I
think he must have prayed the Zuhr late and the `Asr early; the
`Isha early and the Maghrib late." Abu Ash-sha'tha' said, "I also
think so" (al-Bukhari, 19:52; as-Saghirji, 2000, p.276).
The analysis
Not allowing the two prayers to be joined while travelling is a
unique issue to the School of Abu Hanifa. This uniqueness is due
to two reasons: first, it is contrary to the opinion adopted by the
overwhelming majority of Muslims, even within the Sunni
Schools of Law (as-Salimi, 2010b, v.5, p.210-211). Second, it
imposes considerable hardship upon the practitioners of the
Ḥanafī fiqh, especially on their continuous travel as it disrupts
their journey and obliges them to stop more frequently to
perform each prayer on its own time.
 214

Although the Ḥanafīs do not deny all the narrations that allow
the combination of the prayers, it seems that they were
compelled to reinterpret them in order to be in line with that
which was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, the great scholar of Kūfah,
from which the Ḥanafī School had stemmed. Most likely, the
reverence that the Ḥanafīs have towards the founder of the
School of ra'y (opinion), Ibn Mas’ud, would have to have a great
influence on the Ḥanafī ijtihād like the issue in discussion.
Moreover, although it is not strange that the Ḥanafīs give such
weight to the opinion of the founder of the School of ra'y, it is
quite strange that they also rely on the estimation of Abu ash-
Shatha, the founder of the Ibāḍī School, whereas the Ibāḍīs
themselves did not follow the teaching of their first founder.
What could be found suitable to interpret this apparent paradox
is to say that the Ḥanafīs here applied their juristic principle of
not only accepting the mursal, but also that which is transmitted
by the Followers and the second generation of Followers, known
as tabi’ al-tabi’I (Kamali, 2003, p. 109; az-Zuhili, 2001, p.17).
Whereas the Ibāḍī School took another position on this issue,
and applied to all their principle of not accepting the followers’
mursal. In other words, it seems that they were not selective in
this regard even if it was the mursal of their first Imam, the
great follower Abu ash-Shatha Jabir b. Zaid. Hence, the mursal
of Ibāḍīs and non-Ibāḍīs are alike as far as the prominent hadīth
scholar Sheik Saeed al-Qannobi is concerned (al-Qannobi,
1995a, p.157).
 215

Another element that could justify the Ḥanafī position is that

they might have deemed the Prophet’s (PBUH) action of
combining the prayers in Arafah and Muzdalifa as having
nothing to do with travel. As in, it was just part of the Pilgrimage
(Hajj) rites just like the other rites of Pilgrimage, which should
be performed irrespective of the pilgrim being a traveller or
resident. On the other hand, what could have led the majority
to insist on that position, and not accept the probabilities
provided by Ḥanafīs, is the fact that the narrations related to
combining the prayers are so numerous and, therefore, cannot
be confined to only the nominal combination or to only two
occasions. Moreover, some of these narrations are clear that
the Prophet (PBUH) did actually combine between the two
prayers not only on his travel but even in his residence (ar-
Rabeea, 43:254).
 216

2.9. al-Qunut in the Prayer

The Background
As a matter of fact, the origin of al-Qunut (a certain supplication
in the standing position) is not a debatable issue since it is
proven that the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH) would
practise it at certain periods. He would supplicate against some
Arab tribes who had betrayed the covenant with him and
committed horrific acts against some of his Companions until
they killed a number of the Companions (May Allah have a
mercy on them) (an-Nasa'i, 42:12). He did that Qunut for one
whole month, then he was asked by the Qur’ān to leave that
practice when Almighty God sent down: ‘You have no concern
on their affairs whether He turns to them (mercifully) or
chastises them, for surely they are unjust’ (Q, 3:128). After the
Prophet’s demise, Muslims, including the noble Companions,
disagreed on the legality of Qunut. While we find the majority
are of the notion that it is still legitimate, the whole Ibāḍī School
is in favour of the other opinion, the illegitimacy.
The Ibāḍī view and evidence
From their earliest legislative history, the founders of the Ibāḍī
School of Fiqh did not show sympathy towards the issue of al-
Qunut. Instead they considered this action to be abrogated at
the time of the Prophet (PBUH) and, therefore, not applicable to
his Ummah (nation) anymore. Abundant texts are employed to
advocate this position; some of which are Qur’anic whereas
 217

some are narrations from the Prophet’s (PBUH) Companions. Of

the Qur’anic evidence is the previous verse which pertains to
this exact issue. Another verse is narrated by Zaid b. Arqam who
said: ‘We used to talk while engaged in prayer and a person
would talk with a companion on his side in prayer till (this verse)
was revealed: "And stand before Allah in devout obedience" (Q,
2:238). Then, we were commanded to observe silence (in
prayer) and were forbidden to speak’ (Muslim, 5:43). These
verses are used by Ibāḍīs to support the idea of abrogation
despite being practised for a period at the time of the Prophet
(PBUH). As for the Companions’ narrations, it is related on the
authority of Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him and his
father) that he said: ‘We would pray with the Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) and never saw him perform Qunut (ar-Rabeea,
48:303). Another narration is transmitted by Abu Ubaidah
Muslim b. Abi Karimah (d. approx. 145 AH/762 CE) who writes: I
heard that Ibn Umar sees Qunut nothing in the prayer and never
did Qunut in his prayer and would consider it innovation (ar-
Rabeea, 48:304). Finally, Imam Ahmed narrates in his Musnad
that Abu Malik al-Ashjaee relates that his father prayed behind
the Messenger (PBUH), Abi Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and
none of them performed Qunut (an-Nami, nd, p.151).
The Ḥanafī view and evidence
The Ḥanafī School is of the opinion that al-Qunut is a
recommended Sunnah in al-Watr prayer throughout the year,
and not legal in the other prayers except if there is a general
calamity or catastrophe that has befallen the Muslim Ummah
 218

(nation). Then, in this case, al-Qunut is legitimate in only audible

prayers as well (as-Saghirji, 2000, p.180). A group of proofs were
shown in support of al-Qunut; some of them are verbal and
some are practical, as follows: first, the verbal one is ascribed to
Al-Hasan b. Ali who said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) taught
me some words to say in witr in Qunut: O Allah, guide me
among those whom You have guided, pardon me among those
You have pardoned, turn to me in friendship among those on
whom You have turned in friendship, and bless me in what You
have bestowed, and save me from the evil of what You have
decreed. For verily You decree and none can influence You...
etc." (an-Nasa’i, 20:148). Second, the practical is narrated on the
authority of Ubay b. Kab who reported that the Prophet (PBUH)
recited supplication of al-Qunut in witr before bowing (Abu
Dawud, 8:12). Another practical narration is transmitted by al-
Bara b. Azib, stating that the Prophet (PBUH) would perform the
al-Qunut in the Subh (Morning) and Maghrib (Sunset) prayers
(at-Tirmidhi, 2: 254).
The analysis
The Ibāḍī methodology of legislation relied, to a large extent, on
the practical transmission of the Prophet’s (PBUH) prayer. In
other words, they give considerable weight to what Jabir b. Zaid
reported, as they consider him the linking point between them
and the very first generation of Muslims, the Prophet’s
Companions. Based on the fact that Jabir studied under the
great jurists of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Companions, such as: Ibn
Abbas, Ibn Umar, Abu Hurayrah, etc. it is most likely that he
 219

witnessed their prayer which would undoubtedly be an identical

copy of that of the Prophet’s prayer. Hence, the reliability of the
practical transmission of the first Imam of the Ibāḍī School, Jabir
b. Zaid. Thus, the Ibāḍī logic here is that the opposing narrations
in the issue which were only recorded afterwards, in the third
century onwards cannot outweigh the practical transmission of
Jabir b. Zaid who died in the first century, 93 AH/711 CE,
between the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH), when many of
them were still alive.
Returning to the opposing narrations, if it is admitted, for the
sake of argument, that these narrations of al-Qunut are
authentic, the Ibāḍīs see them irrelevant to the point of dispute
because the discussion is not whether Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)
performed al-Qunut or not. Rather, the discussion is whether
this practice is still valid and unabrogated after the Prophet’s
lifetime or not, since the Ibāḍī School has no problem accepting
that the Prophet Muhammad did conduct al-Qunut and
supplicate, in his prayer, against some Arab tribes, but they
argue that all that have been abrogated by his death (PBUH).
Another factor that might have enhanced the Ibāḍī
disagreement with the mainstream Muslim schools is their
principle of religious precaution. Their methodology dictates
that they resort to the agreed upon position in the validity of
prayer and leave that which is doubtful an uncertain.
Furthermore, the advocates of al-Qunut do not consider it a
binding duty without which the prayer is invalid. While those
who hold the illegitimacy of al-Qunut concluded that performing
 221

al-Qunut after being abrogated is a satisfying reason to nullify

the prayer. Therefore, a rigorous analysis reveals that the more
cautious attitude is that which abstains from practising al-Qunut
in order to keep the prayer in the safe haven, as we are
commanded to adhere to the cautious measures by the Prophet
(PBUH) himself, when he said: ‘Give up what is doubtful to you
for that which is not doubtful’ (at-Tirmidhi; 1:55).
On the Ḥanafī side, it seems that the Ḥanafī scholars have been
overwhelmed with the sheer volume of narrations which prove
the fact that Prophet Muhammad did observe al-Qunut, and
that the large number of narrations caused them to prefer the
side of this practice being legal over the abrogation side.
Another fact which might have persuaded them is the word
Qunut, which is mentioned in the Qur’anic verses used to
support the notion of abrogation, has more than one meaning
which causes the text to be ambiguous and not definite in the
point of dispute. Thus, according to Juristic principle ‘The
abrogation is not concluded by probability’, the whole verse
does not serve as an abrogating proof; (az-Zarkashi, 1994,
p.159).
 221

3. The Reasons for Disagreement:

It has become evident from the issues discussed in the second
chapter, and from analysing the evidence provided by each
party, that the root causes of the disagreement in the prayer
issues between the Ibāḍī School of Law and Ḥanafī School of
Law go back to the different approaches adopted by each school
in the Science of Ḥadīth, on the one hand, and the Science of
Jurisprudence Principles, on the other hand. However, these
reasons can be summarised under the two following categories:
The first category: the ‘Ḥadīth’ reasons for disagreement. Based
on the above analysis, the following grounds fall under ‘Ḥadīth’
category:
- The disagreement over the authenticity of certain
Prophetic narrations as to whether they are sound or
have subtle deficiency.
- The availability of certain hadīths with a particular school
as opposed to the absence of these hadīths with the
other school.
- The disagreement on considering a textual addition in a
narration that is not found in the mainstream narrations.
- The disagreement on understanding or interpreting a
legislative text, based on understanding the general
meaning, or a particular word or preposition, in the text’s
wording.
 222

- The difference as to what extent the practical

transmission should be relied on, as opposed to the oral
tradition or transmission.
- The difference over prioritising a certain hadīth collection
over another collection.
- The difference on the consulted texts that are sought to
help determine one of the possible meanings, or which
opinion outweighs the other.
- The different approaches to dealing with and reconciling
the inconsistent and contradictory narrations.
- The disagreement over certain hadīth transmitters, as to
whether they are trustworthy or unreliable.
The second category: the ‘Jurisprudence Principles’ reasons for
disagreement. Among the reasons that influenced the
disagreement to come out are those related to the principles of
Islamic Jurisprudence. Under this category, the following causes
can be highlighted:
- The difference over certain juristic principles as to
whether they are valid in the first place or not. For
example: Istishab, as in presuming the continuity of the
original state or ruling.
- The disagreement over certain practices, as to whether
they are considered valid sources of Islamic legislation or
not, such as: the Companions’ practice and opinions and
the practice of the people of Kūfah.
 223

- The disagreement over some texts, as to whether they

are still applicable today, or have already been abrogated
before the Prophet’s (PBUH) demise.
- The difference on the methodologies for reconciling
conflicting evidence, i.e. the controversy over prioritising
the steps by which the apparent conflict is resolved. For
instance: preference, specification, abrogation, etc.
- The difference over how far the principle of precaution
should be implemented. In other words, the
disagreement on the position that the preventative
measures should take in the issues of dispute.
- The disagreement over the general connotation of the
textual evidence, as to whether it is definitive, as the
Ḥanafī holds, or speculative, as the mainstream holds,
which would include Ibāḍīs.
Despite these different approaches used by each party in both
the Science of Ḥadīth and Science of Jurisprudence Principles,
the ultimate goal of both still remains the same. That is to
detect which proof, and consequently which opinion, outweighs
the other. However, being aware of this reality drives lay
Muslim practitioners to appreciate the differences between the
Muslim legal schools. Moreover, this leads them not to rule in
favour of the invalidity of their Muslim brothers’ prayer as long
as they believe that whatever is adopted and applied by the
other schools is no more than following in the footsteps of the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), according to their own
understanding, and none of them never intended to oppose
neither the Qur’anic text nor the prophetic tradition.
 224

Most importantly, the study shows the importance of the

differences between the Muslim juristic schools as that gives the
body of Islamic Jurisprudence a broader range of variety, and
consequently, more flexibility to cope with the emerging and
endless incidents facing Muslims every day. This capability to
deal effectively with the evolving circumstances stems from the
fact that the legal textual evidence always carry more than one
acceptable interpretation. This, in turn, would create a wider
room of possible and suitable applications that take into
consideration the surrounding conditions of the time and place.
The importance of the differences between the Islamic schools
does not stop at the devotional level or is not confined to the
certain forms of worship. Rather, it exceeds that sphere to other
vital dimensions, including, for instance, the academic and social
domains. On the academic level, this variety enriches the
scholarly research. Moreover, being fully aware of the
differences and their proofs gives the contemporary jurists the
mechanism by which they would be able to extract and derive
new appropriate rulings to the new occurrences. Furthermore,
such differences enhance the scholars of Islamic law, alongside
with the lawgivers, to enact legislations and pass laws that suit
the modern-day society the best. On the social level,
appreciating this diversity within the same community is
expected to qualify Muslims to adapt easily to the more diverse
lifestyles outside the Muslim communities when they are
exposed to non-Muslim individuals or societies.
 225

Conclusion
The initial research hypothesis suggested in the introduction has
been demonstrated as the central issues have been analysed.
Having said that, it has been established that most of the
differences between the two schools, the Ibāḍī and Ḥanafī Legal
Schools, stem from different approaches and methodologies
embraced by each school in the Science of Ḥadīth and Science
of Islamic Jurisprudence Principles. Nevertheless, that does not
negate the fact that there might have been various other textual
and non-textual factors, which exacerbated the disagreement.
Despite the unexpected difficulties that the writer experienced
while writing this piece of work, such as: the lack of very
detailed sources which provide the evidence in every single
issue, and beside the research being written in a second
language, the study has been, as far as the writer is concerned,
very informative and, it is hoped, of high academic value for
subsequent research, being the first comparative study
conducted between the two schools pertaining to the matters
of the jurisprudence of prayer.
However, in addition to the research findings and outcomes, I
would like to put forward the following recommendations and
suggestions which constitute an important practical aspect of
this comparative study. The suggested recommendations are as
follows:
 226

- Comparative studies between the Ibāḍī School of Law and

the other Islamic schools should be encouraged, as that
could result in more understanding and appreciation of
the others’ practices, especially appreciating the scholarly
legacy of this school, Ibāḍīsm, which tends to be
neglected by both classical and contemporary academic
studies.
- The adherents to the different Islamic schools of fiqh
should not rule for the invalidity of their fellow Muslims’
prayers, as each practitioner performs the worship the
way he/she believes that our role model, the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH), would perform, or as the evidence
directs. Thus, the best attitude in such occasions is to
show full respect and acknowledgment to the others’
religious opinions and their ways of practicing the rites.
- Educating lay people that the differences in the details of
practicing the various forms of worship, including the
prayer, between the diverse Islamic schools of law are a
healthy phenomenon, as they are only a disagreement in
the excusable branches of the religion, not in the pillars or
foundations of the religion. Hence, they are worthy of
tolerance and warrant excusing one another.
Finally, it is hoped that this study will contribute positively to
the field of comparative studies in Islamic jurisprudence. Also,
that it will be highly significant in reconciling the Muslim
 227

nations, on one level, and the different schools of Islamic law,

on another.
 228

Bibliography
Books
- Ali, K. (2006) The Prayer According to the Four Schools.
Kuwait: at-Turath Bookshop.
- Al-Abri, A. (2015) Imama in the Islamic Jurisprudence.
Muscat: Ad-Damiri Bookshop.
- Al-Aghbari, I. (2013) The Introduction to Ibāḍī
Jurisprudence. Muscat: Ad-Damiri Bookshop.
- Al-Ashari, A. (1980) The Articles of Muslims. n.p.:
Islamic Publications.
- Al-Bagdadi, A. (1997) The Distinction between Sects.
Beirut: Dar al-Marifah.
- Al-Baikuni, U. (2004) al-Mandomah al-Bayqunyah.
Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah.
- Al-Busafi, R. (2013) The Evident Declare in the
Inconsistency of the Narrations of Raising and
Fastening the hands. Oman: published by the author.
- Al-Busafi, R. (2011) The Satisfactory Letter in the Issues
of Ibāḍī Prayer in the light of Ḥadīth Concepts and
Juristic Principles. Oman: published by the author.
229

- Cuperly, P. (2009) Introduction to the Study of Ibāḍīsm

and its Creed. n.p.: al-Mishkah Bookshop.
- Al-Farahide, A. (2011) Kitab A’trteeb: Sahih Ḥadīth
collection. Cairo: Muscat bookshop.

- Ibn Hajar, A. (2001) Nuzhat an-Nadar fi Tawdih

Nukhbat al-Fikar. Ar-Riyad: King Fahad Library.
- Ibn Hajar, A. (2004) Tahdeeb al-Tahdeeb fi Rigal al-
hadīth. Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah.
- Harmosh, M. (n.d) The Dictionary of Ibāḍī Juristic
Rules. Oman: Ministry of Endowments and Religious
Affairs.
- Al-Harthi, Z (2006) Imam Jabir b. Zaid and Establishing
the Ibāḍī Thought. Muscat: al-Jeel al-Waed Bookshop.
- Ibn Hazm, A. (1321 AH) al-Fesl fi al-Milel wa-l-Ahwaa
wa-l-Nihal. Dar al-Feker.
- Al-Jaabiree, F. (2015) al-Imam Jabir b. Zaid. Muscat:
ad-Damiri Bookshop.
- Al-Jaziri, A. (1993) al-Fiqh According to the Four
Schools. Beirut: Dar al-Arqam.
 231

- Khalifat, A. (1978) The Establishment of the Ibāḍī

Movement. Amman: Dar ash-Shaab Bookshop.

- Al-Khalili, A. (1984) Jawahir at-Tafseer: Anwar min

Bayan at-Tanzeel. Muscat: Istiqamah Bookshop.

- Al-Khalili, A. (1426 AH) Hukm Qiraat as-Surah fi Qiraat

as-Sir. Muscat: Iftaa Office.
- Khamali, M. (2003) the Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.

- Al-Maawali, A. (2014) Al Muatamad fi fiqh A’Salah. 6th

ed. Beirut: Alaalami establishment.

- Al-Madani, M. (2011) Ibāḍiyyah: the People of Truth

and Righteousness. Cairo: Damascus Bookshop.
- Mughniyyah, M. (1982) The Fiqh According to The Five
Schools. Beirut: Dar al-Jawad.
- Ibn al-Munder, M. (2001) al-Igmaa, the Consensus.
Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah.
- An-Nafusi, A (1999) Usūl ad-Dainunah as-Safia.
Muscat: Ministry of National Heritage and Culture.
231

- An-Nami, A. (n.d) Studies on Ibāḍīsm. Muscat: an-

Nahḍah Bookshop.
- Al-Nawwai, Y. (2001) al-Minhaj: a commentary of
Muslim sound collection. Cairo: al-Muktar
Establishment for Publication and Distribution.
- Philips, B. (1989) The Evolution of Fiqh. Riyadh:
International Islamic Publication House.

- Al-Qannobi, S. (1995a) al-Imam ar-Rabee’: his Position

and his Musnad. Muscat: adh-Dhamri Bookshop.

- Al-Qannobi, S. (1995b) The Ruling of Saying Āmīn in

the Prayer. Muscat: adh-Dhamri Bookshop.

- Redha, M. (2005) al-Manar interpretation of the

Qur’ān. Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah.
- As-Sabee’, N. (2013) Ten Reasons Prevent Raising and
Fastening the Hands in the Prayer. Muscat: the writer.
- As-Saee, M. (2007) The Law in the Creed of the Islamic
Sects and Denominations. Cairo: Dar as-Salam.
- As-Saghirji, A. (2000) The Ḥanafī Fiqh and its Evidence.
Damascus: Dar al-Kalim at-Tayyb.
 232

- Saleh, M. (2011) Dictionary of Islamic Words and

Expressions. Riyadh: Darussalam.
- As-Salimi, A. (2010a) Talat ash-Shams: Sharh Shams al-
Usūl. Bidyyah: as-Salimi Bookshop.
- As-Salimi, A. (2010b) Ma’arj al-Amal ala Madarj al-
Kamal. Bidyyah: as-Salimi Bookshop.
- Ash-Shawkani, M. (2000) Irshad al-Fuhul ila Ilm al-
Usūl. Ar-Riyadh: al-Fadilah Bookshop.
- Abu Yusuf, R. (1998) The Salah of a Believer in the
Qur’ān and Sunnah. Birmingham: The Islamic Sharīah
Institute.
- Az-Zarkashi, B. (1994) al-Bahr al-Muheeth. Al-jeezah:
Dar al-Kutubi.
- Az-Zuhili, M. (1999) The Juristic Rules according to
Ḥanafī and Shafiee Schools. Kuwait: Kuwait University.
- Az-Zuhili, W. (2007) al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh.
Damascus: al-Fikr Bookshop.
- Az-Zuhili, W. (2001) The Principles of Ḥanafī
Jurisprudence. Damascus: al-Maktabi Bookshop.
 233

Journal articles:
- Ajmi, A. (2013) Ascribed vs. Popular Legitimacy: The Case
of al-Walīd II and Umayyad ahd. Journal of Near Eastern
Studies. Vol. 72 (1), pp. 25-33. [online] . Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/669096
- Corinne, A. (2003) The shrine of Islam's tragic divisions.
History Today. Vol.53(2), p.6. [online] . Available from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/202816013/fulltextP
DF?accountid=8630 [Accessed 30 November 2015].
- Moin, M. (1968) Imam Abu Ḥanīfah (life and personality).
Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society. Vol.16(11),
p.153. [online] . Available from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1301917658?accou
ntid=8630
- Nurit, T. (1998) The Beginnings of the Ḥanafī School in
Isfahān. Islamic Law and Society. Vol.5(1), pp.1-21.
[online] . Available from:
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/
10.1163/1568519982599607 [Accessed 19 October 2015].
- Savage, E. (1990) Survival through Alliance: The
Establishment of the Ibāḍiyya. Bulletin (British Society for
Middle Eastern Studies). Vol.17(1), pp.5-55. [online] .
Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/194826 [Accessed 04 April
2015].
 234

- Wilkinson, J. (1985) Ibāḍī Hadith: and Essay of

Normalization. The American Theological Library
Association. Oxford. Vol.62(21), pp.231. [online] .
Available from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1308658971/fulltex
tPDF?accountid=8630 [Accessed 08 November 2015].

E-books:
- Bedir, M. (2004) The History of an Islamic School of Law:
The Early Spread of
Ḥanafīsm. [e-book] Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Available through:
http://www.isam.org.tr/documents/_dosyalar/_pdfler/isl
am_arastirmalari_dergisi/sayi17/149_152.pdf [Accessed
29 November 2015].
- Burak, G. (2015) Second Formation of Islamic Law: The
Ḥanafī School in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire. [e-
book] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available
through:
http://bham.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=19248
58. [Accessed 29 November 2015].
 235

INDEX

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN IBĀḌĪS AND

KHĀRIJITES ..................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION: ................................................................................. 4

SECTION ONE: A HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF EMERGENCE

OF IBĀḌĪS AND KHĀRIJITES ........................................................... 6

SECTION TWO: THE POLITICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

IBĀḌĪS AND KHĀRIJITES ................................................................. 9

SECTION THREE: THE THEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

BETWEEN IBĀḌĪS AND KHĀRIJITES .......................................... 12

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 15

BOOK REVIEW ON:

OMAN - THE ISLAMIC DEMOCRATIC TRADITION ..... 19

THE EMBRYONIC MIRACLES IN THE HOLY QURAN 24

INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................... 26

THE STAGES OF EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE

MOTHER’S WOMB ............................................................................ 30

THE IMPLANTATION OF THE FERTILISED EGG .................... 46

THE THREE DARKNESS IN THE MOTHER’S WOMB .............. 48

THE RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING THE CHILD SEX ... 50

 236

BOOK REVIEWS ON

MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS .................................... 59

THE FIRST BOOK\ ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AS SEEN IN
THE BIBLE’: ........................................................................................ 60

THE SCOND BOOK\ REFUTATION OF THE CHRISTIANS ..... 65

THE THIRD BOOK\ REFUTATION OF THE INCARNATION’: 72

HOW ISLAMIC WAS ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY? .............. 79

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 80

SECTION ONE: CRITICISMS BASED ON A CONTEXTUAL

BASIS:.................................................................................................... 81

SECTION TWO: CRITICISMS BASED ON A TEXTUAL BASIS:

................................................................................................................ 83

SECTION THREE: CRITICISMS BASED ON A RATIONAL

BASIS:.................................................................................................... 88

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 92

FIQH FOR MUSLIM MINORITIES ...................................... 96

INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................... 97

THE DEBATE AROUND THE NOTION OF A FIQH FOR

MUSLIM MINORITIES: .................................................................. 100

THE WRITER’S VIEWPOINT:....................................................... 103

ARE MUSLIMS PERMITTED TO RESIDE IN NON-MUSLIM

TERRITORY IN THE FIRST PLACE? .......................................... 104

PARTICIPATING IN CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS: ............. 107

 237

THE APPLICATIONS OF SHARIA (ISLAMIC LAW) COURTS

BY MUSLIM MINORITY (BIRMINGHAM SHARIA COUNCIL, AN
EXAMPLE) ................................................................................................. 110

THE RELIGIOUS BASIS OF THE SHARIA COUNCIL: ............ 111

THE REASONS WHY WOMEN APPROACH THE SHARIA

COUNCIL FOR SEPARATION: ...................................................... 115

THE AUTHORITY OF BIRMINGHAM SHARIA COUNCIL’S

DECISIONS IN THE SURROUNDING MUSLIM COMMUNITY:
.............................................................................................................. 116

A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN

ĀḌĪ AND ḤANAFĪ SCHOOLS OF LAW THROUGH THE TWO
BOOKS:THE ADOPTED OPINIONS IN JURISPRUDENCE OF
PRAYER AND FIQH OF WORSHIPS IN THE CHAPTER OF
PURIFICATION ............................................................................ 121
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 122

SECTION ONE: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .................. 123

PART ONE: THE IBĀḌĪ SCHOOL OF JURISPRUDENCE ........ 123

PART TWO: THE ḤANAFĪ SCHOOL OF JURISPRUDENCE .. 125

SECTION TWO: THE ISSUES OF DIFFERENCE ......................... 127

THE FIRST ISSUE ............................................................................ 127

THE SECOND ISSUE........................................................................ 129

THE THIRD ISSUE ........................................................................... 130

THE FOURTH ISSUE ....................................................................... 132

THE FIFTH ISSUE: ........................................................................... 133

 238

THE SIXTH ISSUE ............................................................................ 135

CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 137

A PROPOSAL ESSAY TO:

RESEARCH METHODS IN ISLAMIC STUDIES ............. 141

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 142

SECTION ONE: THE CHOSEN TITLE ......................................... 143

SECTION TWO: RESEARCH SKELETON .................................. 146

SECTION THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................... 147

PART ONE: JURISPRUDENCE ...................................................... 148

PART TWO: HADITH ...................................................................... 151

PART THREE: PRINCIPLES OF JURISPRUDENCE ................. 155

CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 159

THE DISSERTATION:

RESEARCH METHODS IN ISLAMIC STUDIES: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN IBĀḌĪ SCHOOL OF
LAW AND ḤANAFĪ SCHOOL OF LAW IN THE LIGHT OF
HADĪTH RULES AND JURISPRUDENCE PRINCIPLES ...... 163
INTRODUCTION: ..................................................................................... 165

1. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT ..................................................... 169

1.2. THE IBĀḌĪ SCHOOL OF LAW ............................................... 169

1.3. FEATURES OF THE IBĀḌĪ SCHOOL OF LAW ..................... 174

 239

1.4. THE ḤANAFĪ SCHOOL OF LAW ........................................... 176

1.5. FEATURES OF THE ḤANAFĪ SCHOOL OF LAW ................. 179

2. THE ISSUES OF CONTROVERSY ............................................. 181

2.1. THE OPENING SUPPLICATION ............................................ 181

2.2. RAISING THE HANDS UPON THE CONSECRATING

TAKBĪR ................................................................................................ 185

2.3. RECITING AL-BASMALLAH LOUDLY ................................. 190

2.4. SAYING ĀMĪN AFTER RECITING AL-FATIHA .................. 195

2.5. RECITING AL-FATIHA BEHIND THE IMAM ...................... 199

2.6. RECITING SURAH AFTER AL-FATIHA IN THE DAY

PRAYERS............................................................................................ 203

2.7. RAISING THE INDEX FINGER IN THE TASHAHHUD ...... 208

2.8. COMBINING THE TWO PRAYERS ON TRAVEL: ............. 211

2.9. AL-QUNUT IN THE PRAYER................................................... 216

3. THE REASONS FOR DISAGREEMENT: ........................................ 221

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 225

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 228

INDEX ................................................................................................................. 235