Ikram Hawramani's Blog, page 28

How to learn Quranic Arabic

Assalamualaikum. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to learn Arabic in the Qur’an? I already know how to read the Arabic, but since I want to understand deeply about Qur’an maybe you have learning methods which you can suggest. Jazakallah brother

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

You may be interested in my book Learning Quranic Arabic for Complete Beginners. The contents can be accessed for free at my site here.

Learning Arabic properly requires thousands of hours of effort. It doesn’t really matter what book you select or what learning method you choose as long as you continue to read new books and benefit from free online courses such as on YouTube.

The way I learned Arabic was from watching Arabic-dubbed anime cartoons as a child (here is an example). You can also watch Arabic TV series that use standard Arabic, such as the Omar series.

Once you have some understanding of the language, you can move on to reading Arabic-language books, such as novels. Amazon.com actually sells a lot of Arabic books, including the Harry Potter books in Arabic. You can check them out here. Once you have a good knowledge of standard Arabic, reading and understanding the Quran deeply become possible.

I believe that the most important thing in language learning is consistent effort to try to read the language, and reading books in the language is the best way to do that. I learned English from reading hundreds of novels.

On political correctness

What do you think of 'Political Correctness'?

I consider it an extremely harmful thing. Political correctness simply means that an unelected elite decide for the rest of society which truths they are allowed to speak and which truths they are not allowed to speak. In the United States this basically means that those who own the major media outlets and publishing houses decide what is allowed to be discussed in public.

An extreme example of harm of political correctness is recent attempts to make discussions of the harms of being overweight and obese politically incorrect. Thus doctors who speak about the science on the dangers of obesity are attacked for discriminating against obese people.

Another example is the fact that discussing the powerful influence of Israel on US politics is politically incorrect. This makes it impossible for intellectuals to discuss the fact that having a foreign country have so much power over one’s own country may not be in the best interests of the home country.

In my view it is a betrayal of God to hide any important truth for political reasons, so I have little respect for those who consider political correctness to be more important than truth. I am a supporter of free speech and believe that an important duty of Muslim intellectuals is for them to be speakers of truth. Recently a scientist was attacked for studying the possibility that the practice of cousin marriage among Muslims in Britain may be responsible for the high incidence of birth defects among certain Muslim-majority ethnicities. I have only contempt for people who attack scientists for studying such politically sensitive issues. If it is true that cousin marriage among Muslims in Britain is leading to increased birth defects, the first step toward a solution is for this to be openly discussed. But the ignorant, narrow-minded media elite of Britain, rather than discussing the actual facts involved, attacked the scientist’s motive for studying the subject. Even if the scientist hated Muslims (and there is no evidence that he did), if what he said is true, then it must be discussed and taken seriously.

On nail polish and ablution

As-salamuʿalaykum, I recently i have come across Dr. Shabir Ally's thoughts on the nail polish dilemma on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOpxO...). I'm inclined towards his reasoning for it but would like to know your take on his opinion too if possible.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

I watched the video but unfortunately he did not say anything new on the issue. I believe that nail polish is at best in a gray area, which means that it should be avoided as part of piety.

He mentioned that oil can be used on the skin, which can be barrier to water. But the human skin naturally produces oil and absorbs it, so it is not directly comparable to nail polish. As for kohl, unlike nail polish it does not create an impermeable barrier to water because as far as I know the skin pores continue to remain open after using it, although I am not sure about the exact science of how it interacts with the skin. The comparison with kohl is interesting and hopefully if the exact science of its interaction with the skin can be determined, a similar substance may be possible to create to use as nail polish, although it will likely not create the “polish” that ordinary nail polish creates.

I believe that the possibility of people being turned away from Islam because of the prohibition on nail polish is not significant enough to warrant permitting it.

Another solution would be the development of nail polish stickers that are easy to remove before ablution, although they would be a hassle to use.

Converting to Islam against parents’ wishes

I want to take my shahada infront of an imam but my parents do not support me. I tried going to church and I felt like I died inside and I cried for days before going to church( I know it sounds dramatic but my heart only belongs to Allah). My parents are also open to the idea of me marrying a Muslim boy but … I dont want to wait or specifically look for that just to convert. Would it be wrong if I converted without their support ?

You can take your shahada right now and that would be official. There is no need to do it with an imam although that is of course a nice experience.

Welcome to Islam and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

As for converting without their support; it is obligatory in Islam to go against your parents’ wishes if they try to interfere with your faith. The Quran says:

We have advised the human being to be good to his parents. But if they urge you to associate with Me something you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. To Me is your return; and I will inform you of what you used to do. (The Quran, verse 29:8)

You shouldn’t wait for their approval to convert. If you are convinced that Islam is the true religion, then it can be argued that it is actually sinful if you avoid the Islamic duties when you know in your heart that you should be doing them.

There are many organizations that support converts, such as the Muslim Convert Network. Reach out to them and inshaAllah you will get many benefits.

You may also be interested in The New Muslim’s Field Guide, although I haven’t read it, it has many positive reviews. 

Best wishes.

The permissibility of wiping off wudu water

Salam alaikum. Is it permissible to wipe off our wudu, as in drying the water off our skin with a towel, after taking a wudu before prayer?

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

According to Imām al-Nawawī, all scholars agree that it is permitted. But there is disagreement on whether it is makrūh (“disliked”) thing to dry off the wudu water or whether it is mubāḥ (“permitted and neutral in value, netiher good nor bad”). The fatwa I cite below says that it is sunna to not dry off the water (since the Prophet PBUH never did that), but that doing so has no harm.

References:

Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)

Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell

Get it on Amazon

This book is a withering criticism of the class of society that Thomas Sowell calls the “intellectuals” (journalists and columnists, public intellectuals, writers, sociologists).

Sowell’s thesis is that intellectuals try to persuade the public to support policies that may do greater harm than good while enjoying complete immunity from the bad consequences of their recommendations. For example in the 1920’s and 1930’s intellectuals widely called for disarmament, making it very difficult for British politicians to order the military to arm itself in response to Nazi Germany’s growing military power. The intellectuals in charge of Britain’s media had created an atmosphere where politicians would have risked their jobs if they had done what they know to be right, since the public had been indoctrinated by the intellectuals to fight rearmament. In this way the intellectuals were responsible for making Britain almost lose World War II to Germany, and yet no intellectual faced any consequences for recommending such a self-defeating policy.

Thomas Sowell is an economist and in this role considers the intellectuals pests in issues of economic policy. They recommend vast changes in economic policy without having the competence to understand the consequences, and without suffering any repercussions when their policy recommendations do great harm to major sections of society.

Intellectuals throughout the 20th century have called for gun control laws, thinking that this would make society safer. They ignore the fact that Switzerland, where gun ownership is extremely high, suffers far less crime than the United States. And when intellectuals in Britain managed to pass strong control laws, this actually lead to a vast increase in crime. Intellectuals also strongly supported weaker punishments of criminals in Britain, which according to Sowell is partly responsible for Britain’s crime crisis. And when conservatives in the United States managed to create strong anti-crime policies in the 1990’s, which lead to a sharp decline in crime, the intellectuals only expressed bewilderment at this “unexplainable” phenomenon when to Sowell the explanation is extremely obvious: keeping more criminals in prison means fewer criminals out there committing crime.

This book should be required reading for all Muslim intellectuals living in the West. It is a great help in creating a critical attitude toward nice-sounding popular doctrines promoted by Western intellectuals.

Sowell belongs to the neoconservative Hoover Institution. He shares the anti-Muslim bias of neoconservatives; almost all mentions of Muslims in his books are negative (while having worked extremely hard to defend the image and rights of Jews while always ignoring the possibility that Jewish behavior may have had something to do with anti-Semitism). In this book he does not disappoint:

The intelligentsia in some European nations have gone further—being apologetic to Muslims at home and abroad, and having acquiesced in the setting up of de facto Muslim enclaves with their own rules and standards within Europe, as well as overlooking their violations of the national laws in the European countries in which Muslim immigrants have settled.

The Hoover Institution is active in promoting the image of Muslims as the West’s new Jews as the Jews were seen in the past: separate, alien, unpatriotic, living in enclaves, and having large numbers of anti-Western radicals among them.

However, Sowell’s anti-Muslim bias should be no obstacle to Muslims to benefit from his expertise and his very important work in promoting a more rational intellectual atmosphere and in defending Western civilization from, ironically, largely Jewish attempts to undermine its pride and patriotism. See The Uniqueness of Western Civilization by Ricardo Duchesne, published by the highly respected academic publisher Brill, for the extreme over-representation of Jews among intellectuals that have worked hard over the past 100 years to promote the idea that Western civilization is inherently evil and immoral (although the Duchesne himself rarely if ever makes mention of the Jewishness of these intellectuals).

Can I consider Allah as my friend?

Can I consider Allah as my friend?

In the Quran God calls Himself the mawlā of the believers (8:40 and elsewhere), which is usually translated as “protector”. But it actually also means “friend”, “companion”, “supporter”, “master”, “chief”. So it contains all of these meanings.

However, in modern usage “friend” implies that the person is equal in status to you, which naturally does not apply to God. So God can be a friend in that He is our companion in life, that He supports us and cares for us. But He is not just a friend, He is also a master and a mentor, so focusing only in His being a friend leads to a biased understanding.

Forex and stock trading in Islam

Is trading forex and the stock market permitted in Islam?

Selling one type of currency for another and making a profit by this is permitted in Islam. However, what is known as “forex” can contain many practices that are prohibited in Islam, such as interest or futures contracts. So there cannot be a general statement on the permissibility or not of forex until that specific company’s practices are studied.

As for stock trading, this too is permitted technically as long as there is no interest or futures is involved, and as long as the stock being traded does not make its profit largely by a practice that is forbidden in Islam, such as bank stocks that make most of their money through interest. But investing in a stock such as Microsoft that makes some money through interest but that makes most of its money through permissible means is permitted, however, the amount of profit it makes through interest must be deducted and donated from the value of the stock annually.

Also note that any money invested in currency or stock trading is annually zakatable. So if a person has a million dollars invested in currency or stock trading (or real estate trading), they are required to pay 2.5% of this money annually for zakat whether they make a profit or loss. The principle is that all speculatively invested wealth is zakatable.

References:

Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)Fatwa from the Jordanian Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)

Do blood tests or donating blood nullify the fast?

I need to have a blood test will this invalid my fast that I’m making up for Ramadan?

The removal of blood from the bloodstream, whether for tests or for donation, does not affect the fast, so you can do that without issue.

References:

Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)

On artists who build shrines to their characters

I am fond of drawing fictional characters (fan arts) up until recently. After some research, I've learned that there are some people in various fan communities who would build tiny shrines dedicated to their favorite characters (whether it be joking or sincere) and/or call them their "god(dess)"/"lord and savior" for simply being admirable or breathtaking. How should I react to this? Should I stop drawing the characters I like, even if my sentiments are innocent? Should I dispose my old fan arts, too?

The behavior of other artists has no bearing on what you do. You are only responsible for your own art and behavior. So I wouldn’t worry about that.