The Karbala narrative is a systematic reconstruction of the tragic battle that took place in the year 680 AD. Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, along with most of his followers, was killed in what has become a central identifying feature of early Islamic history.  The central theme of the Karbala narrative revolves around the […]

http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1521/1/1521.pdf?EThOS%20(BL) The above link is to a Ph.D dissertation regarding the life of Sayyid `abd al-Husain Sharaf al-Din, a prominent Lebanese Muslim scholar. Sayyid Sharaf al-Din was born in 1873 in Kadhmiyya in Iraq; his father had left his village, Shuhur, in Jabal ‘Anil to pursue his religious studies in Iraq. When Sharaf al-Din returned he followed his […]

Across Lebanon today, many will partake in commemorating the remembrance of the great leader, Imam Musa Al-Sadr (“Imam”). He was born to a highly regarded and prestigious family in the year 1928 in Qom, Iran. His father was the great Sayed Sadr al-Din Sadr (صدر الدين الصدر). Imam Musa Al-Sadr became the leader of the Shi’i Muslim community in […]

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2234&ChannelId=53579&ArticleId=1801&Author= رحب سبعة من ابرز رجال الدين الشيعة السعوديين في القطيف بدعوة الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز لتأسيس مركز للحوار بين المذاهب الاسلامية في الرياض، مؤكدين رفضهم اللجوء الى العنف او استهداف الممتلكات والمؤسسات العامة. وأكد العلماء في بيان «اننا نؤيد وندعم دعوة خادم الحرمين الشريفين ونلتف حول مساعيه الداعية لرفض التقسيمات المذهبية والمناطقية […]

The Pre-Islamic Arabs regarded the oral and literary forms of Arabic as a great honor. Pre-Islamic poetry was filled with fantastic metaphors and similes, and long arrays of adjectives to modify the same word. Classical Arabic poetry emphasized rhyming, which was largely a result of the love of the sounds of words. In a similar vein, the language of the […]

Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949) was an important Egyptian reformer who lived in the early half of the 20th century. He is most well-known for having established, along with six friends in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood ( الإخوان المسلمون). In the city of Isma’iliyy, Egypt, Banna had witnessed growing up the manifestations of moral decadence, political corruption, […]

Shaltut_Article_Download Here Sheik Mahmood Shaltut (1893-1963) was an outstanding Muslim scholar from Egypt. He is most famous for having served as the Grand Mufti of the prestigious Al-Azhar University (الإمام الأكبر‎ or شيخ الأزهر الشريف‎) in Cairo during the key years of 1958-1963. (Zebiri, 210). As one author describes his life, “Shaltut himself had been […]

Morteza Mothhari (1920-1979) is widely acknowledged as having played a seminal role in the build-up to the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. Born in 1920 in a small village not too far from Mashad, the capital of Khorsan province, Mothhari grew up deeply influenced by his study of philosophy. (Dabashi, 148). His major contribution was a […]

Exactly 45 years (or 16,448 days) ago today, Israel (and the world) awoke to a new, stunning geographical reality:  The young Jewish David had essentially humiliated the “Arab Goliath”. Israeli forces were in occupation of the whole of the Sinai and the Gaza Strip (Egyptian territory), the West Bank including Arab East Jerusalem (Jordanian territory) […]

Al-Shahid Al-Thani_Al-Mustafid In the attached article (see directly above), Professor Devin Stewart (Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia USA) has provided an exhaustive survey of some of the foundational legal texts within Imami Shi’i legal tradition. Professor Stewart finds that a considerable number of Shi’i legal compendiums were “based to a large degree on Sunni models.” (Stewart, […]

Wilayah_Ali_Adhan_Article_Download Here In the attached article, Professor Liyakat Takim (McMaster University in Ontario, Canada)  points out that the recital in Imami Shi’i adhan add a line–not included in the original adhan during the time of the Prophet– that references the wilayah (religious and political authority) of Ali ibn Abi Talib. “Thus, after reciting the shahada […]

We are nearing the second anniversary for the passing away of Al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). On July 6, 2010, tens of thousands of Lebanese mourners came to Haret Hreik, Beirut’s southern district, to pay their last respects,“to a man that at times of bleak  fitna (civil strife) […]

Ende_Flagellations_of_Muharram In the attached article (see directly above), The Flagellations of Muharram and the Shiite Ulama, Professor Werner Ende examines the mourning ceremonies (ta’ziyat) popularized in contemporary Shiite religious practice (including, of course, tatbeer). Professor Ende makes clear that his analysis is not about the origin and subsequent historical trajectory of these performances, but instead […]