Comments on: Differences in Islamic Law

By: Heba Ahmad

Heba Ahmad — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:36:24 +0000

Masha’Allah..

This is an amazing and invaluable article. I learnet a lot from it.

Thank you.

By: Constructive Criticism » Suhaib Webb - audio, discussions, translations and musings

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:08:52 +0000

[…] Read also: Differences in Islamic Law. http://www.virtualmosque.com/islam-studies/differences-in-islamic-law/. You may also refer to Ihyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn by Imām […]

By: Kholoud Nakshabandi

Kholoud Nakshabandi — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:23:26 +0000

Salam
Thank you for sharing this with us. It’s very new to me to read such an article in English and in your explicit style.
I think i am going to read it once again to summarize the whole picture, but as for now i have one comment. Quoting a part you mentioned on behalf of Ibn al-’Arabi : “A (sound) scholar does not reach sublime maturity in knowledge until he overcomes honorably all forms of fanaticism.”, Don’t you think that his explanation is not specific?! When he said “All forms of fanaticism”, what’s his definition of “All”?. Or is his whole explanation highly not feasible?

Again .. Thank you ..
May Allah reward you
Kholoud

By: Abu Adam

Abu Adam — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:48:28 +0000

Salam aleikoem wr wb,

There’s enough written about the moonsighting and there’s a great respect about the differences about it. . Elhamdulileh the arabic speaking nationals and the local dutch Muslims all start with Saoudie Arabia, only the Tukisch Muslims start with theyre country. Turkey has the date already fixed a year before.

Abu Adam, Ibrahim
Amsterdam, Holland

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:06:04 +0000

As salamu alaikum,

JazakAllahu khairan for this article. These types of articles are always valuable and well appreciated. However, I am wondering if you can provide a bit more guidance on moving to reconcile the differences from just respecting the differences. For example regarding moonsighting:

1) If a masjid or community is undecided on whether to follow local versus global moon sighting then simply respecting the validity of the other opinion is not enough when neither side will move from their position. So many of us have no knowledge of usul ul fiqh or maqasid ash shariah, but we have leadership positions in the community.

2) Also regarding moon sighting: How much does the advancement of secular science influence the usul? For example, the supporters of global moon sighting have their arguments and they trace them back to the salaf (radiAllahu anhum). It has been known for a few centuries that the earth is not flat, so the probability of moon sighting is different from place to place (even town to town). Is this factored into the judgment by the scholar? Should the laymen use these points in arguing their positions?

3) Based on my limited understanding, the governor/sultan/khalifa would “lift the differences” in a situation like this. The people would fast and break their fast based on the declaration of the authority. Since we do not have this authority in the West, is it appropriate to make an analogy where the moon sighting authorities in one’s country could take the place of the Sultan (only for this issue)?

May Allah increase you in knowledge and benefit to the umma.