Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Philosophy of Islamic Economics - 31 Mar 2010

AlhamdulilLahx3, following up from the Tasawwur Islam course, equipped with a changed mindset, it enabled me to see that the Islamic Economics is a separate paradigm from the conventional Economics outlined by Sheikh Abdul Halim.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet SAW said, "Richness is not the abundance of wealth, rather it is self-sufficiency.'' [Source:Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

View this video, which outlined wealth, financial independence and patience in Islam:


[Source courtesy of Al Kawthar Academy]

To get one started, read this article by Dr S. M. Hasanuz Zaman and if you like what you read, get the book "Economic Guidelines in the Quran" for further reading.

Afternote: As mankind has taklif (to be accountable for one's deeds in Hereafter), it is essential to earn a 'clean income’ to gain barakah from Allah SWT for self-sufficiency as what goes into our bodily system shall be halal (permissible) and taiban (good) as I can't imagine prostrating to Allah Azza wa Jalla without a 'clean system', which technically is 'on loan' to us from Allah SWT and if we can do that, the rest will fall into place coz truly justice is synonymous with Adab. Wallahualam bissawab. The good comes from Allah SWT and the bad comes from me.
Tafseer Al Quran - 31 Mar 2010

"Al-Quran is not to be stored nor displayed. It is to be read. To be learnt. To seek knowledge and pearls of wisdoms contained in it. For it is the final revelation to mankind. Thus, it contains all that is needed for mankind to conduct their life, so that they can achieve peace, harmony and prosperity in this world, regardless of their religion. Everything is mentioned in Al-Quran. Economy, social, politic, family, psychology, spiritual and much more. Nothing is amiss. What is amiss is people benefiting from its teachings. There is no end to knowledge that can be gathered from Al-Quran. For it is like a bottomless sea with no end. Every generation of ulama will find something new from Al-Quran. This is the miracle of Al-Quran."

AlhamdulilLah, today was just muqaddimah and I look forward to continue learning from Ustaz Rahmat Jumaat as he is reputed to deliver with great clarity when it comes to Tafseer al-Quran, subhan Allah.

He touched briefly on the siirah (history) of how the Quran was revealed in stages over a period of 23 years, beginning with the first wahyu (revelation):

"Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth, (1) Createth man from a clot. (2) Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, (3) Who teacheth by the pen, (4) Teacheth man that which he knew not." [Surah al-Alaq: 1-5]

And that the first complete wahyu (revelation) was Surah al-Fatiha. And the revelation are done via a few ways, namely via Angel Jibril (Gabriel), via dream, via inspiration from Allah SWT. Read more about the revelation here.

Afternote: As we will be perpetually late for the other class, may Sheikh Abdul Halim forgive us for our 'tardiness', insya Allah.

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Concept of Education in Islam

Following up from my earlier post on Child Education, being an instructional designer whose work is closely-related to human resource development either nurturing the young or training the corporate workers, I am keen to apply the concept of Education in Islam to my work, insya Allah.

I'm currently reading a book by Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas entitled The Concept of Education in Islam - A framework for an Islamic Philosophy of Education and will follow-up with another book by Mohd Nor Wan Daud entitled Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas.

Afternote: I hope Sheikh Abdul Halim will soon conduct a program on this to provide elaborate explanation on ways to operationalise the concept of Education as envisaged by Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, insya Allah. The knowledge would motivate me to take up early childhood education.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ulum al-Hadith


Following from my earlier post on Ulum al-Quran, the follow-up is the study of Science of Hadith i.e. to take the definitions and define the parameters of the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. I've included one of the series of lectures by Sheikh Navaid Aziz, subhan Allah.

From Lughrawi or linguistic meaning, Sunnah is defined as Sirah (History) and Tareeq (Path or way that you follow). From conventional meaning, each respected specialists of Islamic Sciences have its own definition:

1. Muhadithin (Scholars of Hadith) defined Sunnah as that which is attributed to Prophet SAW i.e. statement, action or acceptance and which the Prophet SAW sifat Halaqiah (physical description) and sifat al-Huluqiha (character).

2. Fuqaha (Scholars of Fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence) defined Sunnah as a synonym for Mustahab (recommended). In Islam all our actions fall under 5 categories - Fard (obligatory), Mustahab, Mandhu and Sunnah (recommended), Mubah (neither disliked nor preferred), Makruh (disliked) and Haram (prohibited).

3. Scholars of Usul Fiqh (specialised in rules applied to the text of the Quran and Sunnah to derive Fiqh) defined Sunnah as anything that is established from Prophet SAW i.e. statement, action and acceptance that is suitable as proof other than Quran, Sunnah, Ijmah (consensus of Ulama) and Qiyas (analogy).

4. Scholars of Aqidah defined Sunnah as anything that the Syariah approves. The antonym is bid'ah, which is coming from Aqidah perspective in terms of ibadah only.

What I took away from this video is that it is essential to understand factual history of Islam in order to make an informed decision on discerning between true hadith and those which are false. And when quoting a Sunnah, be mindful which angle it was taken from based on the perspective of the 4 specialists of Islamic Sciences. Here is a link on An Introduction to the Sciences of Hadith.

Afternote: Imam Bukhari prayed 2 raka'at to Allah SWT, asking for divine guidance if he should compile a hadeeth. Allah SWT has blessed us with such pious predecessors who were able to preserve the hadeeth till it reaches us today, subhan Allah. Shouldn't we follow it and continue its preservation?
Ulum al Quran


I've been keen to learn Ulum al Quran for sometime, and alhamdulilLah, I've stumbled upon this video, which is part of a series of lectures on the Sciences of the Qur'an by Sheikh Navaid Aziz, one of latest additions to Al Maghrib's instructor line-up as well as one of the youngest :)

He recommends a comprehensive and authentic contemporary book on the Qur'anic Sciences, Manahil al-Irfan fi Ulum al-Quran written by Muhammad Abdul Azim Zarqani (2 volumes). It is an excellent book for studying the history of the Quran and how it came to be, subhan Allah.

Another book recommended is Mabahith fi Ulum al-Quran by Mana'al Qattan. And during my discussion with Ramzan about ayat Makani and Madani, he shared another good reference by Ahmed von Denffer, subhan Allah.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Seeking 'Ilm

"Read - In the name of thy Lord Who creates, Creates man from a clot. Read - And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who teaches by the pen, Teaches man that which he knew not." [Surah al-Alaq:1-5]


[Source: Courtesy of Islamic Media]

The difference between the 'abd and the 'aleem is that the former can easily be tricked by Syaitan. Indeed, the road to paradise is the road of knowledge ('Ilm). View also this video, which outlines the ni'mah of the 'aql - The Position and Role of the Mind in Islam.

Afternote: Truly, Allah SWT rewards those who seek and gain knowledge, subhan Allah!