وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ
[Oh Muhammad] And when My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me, and believe in Me, that they may be guided.
2:186
Welcome to The Qarawiyyin Newsletter!
It has been almost a year since the coronavirus pandemic was announced, and international lockdowns put a stop to many of our lives. There has been a lot of adjustment, a lot of change and insha'Allah a lot of lessons learnt too. As the excitement of the new year wanes, February presents a perfect opportunity to banish any winter blues and refocus our attention on all the things we have to be grateful for in these testing times.
On a brighter note, one of the highlights for us at TQP this January has been the publication of Shaykh Akram Nadwi’s ‘al-Wafā’ bi asmā’ al-Nisā’, a 43 volume biographical collection on over 10,000 Muslim female scholars & transmitters of Hadith! We pray it becomes a means of goodness for the entire Ummah.
The destroyer of pleasures: A reflection on Death culture, Aaminah Y.
Upon hearing the news of people losing their loved ones every other day, death no longer feels like a distant phenomenon that will approach us later on in life. We need to ensure we truly understand Death as Allah intended and not internalise the flawed ethos of pure tragedy or a culture of indifference brought about with modernity. Aaminah Y. writes on the Islamic perspectives of Death, and our obligation to dignify the deceased and maintain compassion in an increasingly digitalised world that has largely desensitised death.
Podcast Ep. 12: Green Wave – Islam in Europe | ACHIME
On Episode 12, The Qarawiyyin Podcast welcomes two guests: Sara K. Shehlawi and Noha El Haddad, the founders of ACHIME. As European populism and anti-Islamic sentiment manifest in new and uglier ways, we ask: what sparked this, and what does it mean for the global Ummah? Sara and Noha examine the challenges Muslims face in Spain, Prophetic wisdoms for dealing with them, and projections for the future of Islam in Europe.
Best of 2020: Bookstagram Recommends
To start 2021, we asked some brilliant Bookstagrammers to share and review their favourite reads of 2020. With a range of genres from spirituality to politics, the top picks were:
Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife - Imam Ghazali, Translated by T. J. Winter
I Refuse to Condemn - Edited by Asim Qureshi
Educating Muslim Women: The West African Legacy of Nana Asma’u, 1793-1864 - Jean Boyd and Beverly Mack
Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas - Sylviane A. Diouf
The Invisible Muslim - Medina Tenour Whiteman
With the good news from Shaykh Akram Nadwi, it is only right to include the much shorter English adaptation of his biographical works and research, Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam. Its most important feature is how it showcases the role and involvement of Muslim women in seeking and spreading knowledge, which has often been undermined. Muslim women have always had a close connection to the faith, as teachers and students - so we must honour the efforts of those before us, however big or small and use it as a means to encourage and elevate more Muslim women to get involved and excel in Islamic scholarship.
As well as periodically updating our resource bank, here we share some other insightful contributions from prominent Muslim figures and organisations.
Interview: Scholarship as Resistance, An interview with Dr Wael Hallaq
An insightful interview with Dr Wael Hallaq, where he shines a light on the purpose of scholarship. Beyond the realm of personal interest, what should be the aims of the research we invest so much time and effort into? He positions his scholarship as resistance, and focuses on its translation into the social and political dynamics of society today.
“Almost nothing in Euro-American writings on the sharīʿa made sense to me, not even when mere common sense is applied to the issues this scholarship raised. The bottom line – if I am allowed to bluntly cut through the chase – is that my scholarship, as I see it, has always aimed to expose the duplicity and political corruption of Western scholarship on Islam in general and on the sharīʿa in particular.”
Podcast: Cyber warfare - Seriosity
The Seriosity team discuss the increasing relevance of cyber warfare by analysing prominent cyber attacks in the twenty-first century, exploring cyber warfare’s complex relationship with geopolitics, and the possible legal and moral consequences.
Article: Biden and the Uncivil War That Divides America - Muhammad Jalal, Traversing Tradition
The storming of the Capitol was front page news in January and will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the republic’s most astounding events. For some, Biden’s presidency brings with it an end to Trump’s tantrums and an opportunity for change; but Muhammad Jalal argues that nativism remains a potent force that can still destabilize the republic.
Support: TŪNIQ, Ethical Clothing
TŪNIQ has been working to build an ethical clothing manufacturing cooperative that relies on indigenous crafts and production techniques to bypass the violence of the fashion industry. They aim to support more artisans, and offer an ethical alternative that intervenes at every stage of the supply chain, from sheep to shop. Support them on LaunchGood and visit their website to learn more about their ethical production.
If you have any questions, feedback or would like to feature in our next newsletter, let us know. Email us at contact@qarawiyyinproject.co or visit our website to find out more about our article submission process.
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Until next time, Assalaamu Alaykum.