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In Surat al-Baqarah, Allah says: وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ “And when his Lord tested Ibrahim with certain words, and he fulfilled them. He said, ‘I am making you a leader for humanity.’ He said, ‘And from my…
It is permissible to put Islamic calligraphy on walls as decoration, as long as it is treated with respect. Many scholars have said that there is nothing wrong with hanging Qur’anic verses, hadiths, or Islamic reminders in the home, office, or other suitable places if the aim is to remember Allah and benefit from the…
The Prophet ﷺ warned us in the well known hadith to stay far away from seven destructive sins, which he called al mubiqaat, meaning sins that are ruinous and fatal, the kind that can flip a person’s life and destroy them in this world and the next. The seven destructive sins (al mubiqaat) «الشِّرْكُ بِاللهِ،…
The fiqh of dual residents Imagine you live part of the year in London and part of the year in Karachi, or you split your life between your parents’ house in one city and your own flat in another. When you go from one to the other, are you a traveller (musafir) in the shariʿah…
The original title of this series is Al-Kasb, meaning halal earning. In this journey we have been following the footsteps of Imam Muhammad bin al-Hassan al-Shaybani, the student of Abu Hanifa and the one who recorded and preserved the Hanafi school. The Hanafi tradition is deeply indebted to him. He is the one who wrote…
Contemporary practice of mudaraba In modern settings, the most common example of mudaraba (profit sharing) is when you deposit money into an Islamic bank. The bank acts as the mudarib, investing the money in Sharia-compliant ventures, while you, the depositor, are the rabb al-mal. You remain a silent partner, and the bank conducts the business….
What were the major outcomes of the establishment of the Prophet’s ﷺ marketplace (Souq al-Nabi ﷺ)? The existing markets When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he sought to understand the city’s economic structure. At the time, there were three markets, the largest of which was operated by the Jewish tribe of Banu Qainuqa. It…
Introduction to Mudaraba In this section, we will explore the contract of mudaraba, following the sequence of Imam al-Ghazali, in his renowned work Ihya Ulum al-Din, particularly in the section about al-kasb (earning). Imam al-Ghazali divided earning into six common contracts that people frequently use in business transactions. We have already discussed most of them,…
The Prophet ﷺ said: يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ الصَّابِرُ فِيهِمْ عَلَى دِينِهِ كَالْقَابِضِ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ “A time will come when the one who patiently bears the pain and trials of staying true to his religion will be like someone grasping a piece of burning coal.” (Tirmidhi) We are familiar with this hadith, which the Prophet…
Are string instruments permissible in Islam? The permissibility of music In Islam, any ruling of prohibition has to be based on authentic evidence and clear meaning. In music there is no such evidence, so we can’t pronounce it haram. The use and the accompanied actions might be haram, that’s a different discussion. If a…
Continuing the series, Seeking the Halal, the Ijarah contract is the fifth type of contract, based on Imam al-Ghazali’s categorisation in Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din, in Kitab al-Kasb (The Book of Lawful Earning). Imam al-Ghazali divided the subject of earnings into six main types of contracts, around which most forms of trade and business revolve. We have…
Istisnaʿ is a sale contract where a buyer (the mustasniʿ) requests a manufacturer or seller (saniʿ) to produce or construct a specific item according to agreed specifications, for an agreed price and delivery time. In the previous session, we mentioned that the salam contract originally began in an agricultural society. Farmers usually lacked cash…
Seeking halal earnings (part 6) – The Salam contract As part of our series on finance, we will look at one of the forms of contracts. In this, I am following Imam al-Ghazali, in his book Iḥyaʾ ʿUlum al-Din. He has a section that speaks about halal earnings, and under that he mentioned the common…
Core Principles Justice and fairness are the foundation of Islamic financial dealings. Riba is prohibited because it perpetuates oppression and exploitation. Money is a medium of exchange, not a commodity to be sold for profit. Trade involves risk and effort; charging for money itself without value addition is forbidden. Islam promotes economic balance, not extremes…
In Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, Allah describes in vivid detail the events of the Battle of the Trench, also known as the Siege of the Parties. This took place in the fifth year after Hijrah, when the Prophet ﷺ and the believers faced one of the most severe trials in the early history of Islam. A confederation…