About quran-e-hakim.com
Quran-e-hakim.com is dedicated to Allah (Subhanahu
wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High): Rabbil-alamin (the Lord of the
Worlds); Ar-Rahman (the Most Gracious); Ar-Rahim (the Most Merciful); Maliki
yawmid-din (Master of the Day of Judgement); Al-Alim (the All-Knowing);
Al-Hakim (the All-Wise); Al-Wadud (the Loving);
Rabbul Arshil Azeem (Lord of the
Mighty Throne).
PLEASE NOTE THAT QURAN-E-HAKIM.COM HAS A HOME PAGE BUT FOR SOME OBSCURE REASON IT IS NOT ALWAYS DISPLAYING PROPERLY ON THE INTERNET. IT APPEARS TO WORK CORRECTLY ON MOBILE PHONES, BUT NOT ON DESKTOPS. THE LINK IS 'HOME'.
IT SHOULD BE OPENING TO A PAGE WHICH AFTER THE BISMILLAH READS: 'All praise and all glory belongs to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High), Rabbil-alamin (the Lord of the Worlds), Ar-Rahman (the Most Gracious), Ar-Rahim (the Most Merciful), Maliki yawmid-din (Master of the Day of Judgement), Al-Alim (the All-Knowing), Al-Hakim (the All-Wise) ...' BUT IT DOESN'T. IT OPENS TO ANOTHER PAGE.
Before proceeding it is important to note that I am
not a scholar. As such it is strictly forbidden for me to give my own opinions
about the teachings of Islam. I am only allowed to quote authoritative sources,
scholars who are recognised in the Ummah (the global Muslim community) as being
qualified to comment upon the teachings of Islam.
There are numerous warnings in the Ahadith of
severe punishments for those who give their own opinions about the religion.
Because I am not qualified I cannot give fatawa
(judgments or legal rulings) about Islam. For those seeking fatawa I would
strongly recommend islamqa.org.
It is operated by qualified Sunni Shaykhs of the Hanafi Mazhab (School). Men
who know and understand the religion of Islam.
You can also contact the Australian National Imams
Council (ANIC) www.anic.org.au .
It is the peak Islamic organisation in the country and “. . . is the sole
national organisation of Imams and Islamic Scholars with broad community
representation”. ANIC issues fatawa and can be readily consulted for guidance
on all spiritual matters.
Quran-e-hakim.com supports the Australian National
Imams Council (ANIC).
If you scroll down the Home page of islamqa.org you will see that it lists other authentic sites that give rulings according to
the other three Schools in Sunni Islam, the Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali Mazhab.
It also lists other sites that can be trusted to give rulings according to the
Hanafi fiqh. The Arabic word ‘fiqh’ means ‘jurisprudence’ or put more simply,
the rules and regulations of the religion.
As well, there are Tabs at the top of the Home page
which allow you to select fatawa in accordance with the ruling of a particular
Mazhab (School).
Note that there is another website called islamqa
but it has a different extension. It is called islamqa.info. It is not
recommended because to the best of my knowledge it promotes Salafi beliefs.
This is a modern-day movement that aims to 'reform' Islam but to the
uninitiated such matters can be confusing.
For an explanation about the Salafi movement see islamqa.org
.
As is evident from the above, there are four Mazhab
in Sunni Islam: The Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali.
The four do differ by degree in some matters, but
the golden rule in looking at such differences is to remember that Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) knows best. You will
find that devout, pious Muslims simply say ‘they are all correct’. And they
are!
For further information about the four Mazhab see
my page headed ‘The four Mazhab –
Schools - in Islam’.
For the sake of accuracy I should note that
Darussalam’s Glossary of Islamic Terms uses a different transliteration from
the one I have mentioned above. It is Madhhab. It is defined as:
“A term used in reference to a particular ‘school
of thought’ in Islam. As Islam spread to new regions outside the Arabian
Peninsula and new social, economic and religious arose, many scholars studied
the sources of Islam to find permissible and practical solutions that believers
could employ to address these issues.
“Over time, the teachings and thoughts of five respected
scholars gained prominence and Muslims tend to adhere to any one or the other
school of thought of these scholars. Each school’s opinions, while differing to
some degree with the others, are considered equally valid as a source of
practical guidance for the ‘lay’ Muslim.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, 2008, Vol.5 Pages
544-545.) [1]
I do not know why the glossary lists ‘five
respected scholars’. I think it is for Darussalam to clarify who is included.
But, in mainstream Sunni Islam the four Imams are: Malik ibn Anas, who founded
the Maliki Mazhab; Abu Hanifa, who founded the Hanafi Mazhab; Imam Shafi’i, who
founded the Shafi’i Mazhab; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who founded the Maliki
Mazhab.
TO CONTACT QURAN-E-HAKIM
You may contact quran-e-hakim.com at ianccalderwood@gmail.com but
if you wish to do so please remember as I have stated above, I am not a
scholar and can only refer anyone interested in the religion to authoritative
sources. Insha'Allah, I will attempt at all times to do so to the best of my
ability.
For further details see my page 'Contact quran-e-hakim' .
SPREADING ISLAM
Quran-e-hakim.com aims to spread Islam in
accordance with the traditional teachings of the Sunnis by drawing upon English
translations of the Qur’an, Tafsirs and Ahadith and other works
by recognised Islamic scholars.
Among other things, it seeks to help readers access
the materials that scholars have used in their Tafsirs {ED: INSERT FOOTNOTE - UNABLE TO BLACKEN AND BOLD FOLLOWING TEXT} and
satisfy themselves as to the authenticity of the texts they are reading.
Even though quran-e-hakim.com strives to only quote
authoritative sources it is essential that not only readers in general be
assured that all reference works are authentic, but that reverts to Islam are
also satisfied they are not being misled.
One serious problem facing reverts is that they run
the risk of being deceived by spurious works that do not represent the
traditional teachings of Islam.
Occasionally in translation the works of scholars
are abridged and sometimes key information can be dropped, either by mistake or
for the sake of economy. Publishing is expensive and publishers sometimes
shorten texts to reduce printing costs.
One of the most outstanding works available to
reverts is Maulana Mufti Muhammad Shafi’s Tafsir, Ma'ariful Qur'an, but
occasionally in the English edition mention is made of an Hadith without
its source being cited.
An example of this is his commentary on Surah
Al-A’la where in Ruling 2 he quotes an Hadith by Sayyidna 'Uqbah Ibn
'Amir Al-Juhani (Radi Allahu Ta’ala’anhu – may Allah be pleased with him)
(Shafi, 2008, p. 762)[3]without identifying where it is
recorded in the books of Ahadith that are commonly referred to in the
Sunni world.
In such cases, quran-e-hakim.com tries to identify
the source, whether it be from one of the Sihah Sittah, that is one of
the ‘Sound Six’ books of Ahadith that are esteemed by Sunni Muslims, or
one of the other recognized sources of Ahadith such as the Muwatta of
Imam Malik or Musnad Ahmad.
The above comments on Ma’ariful Qur’an should not
be construed in any way as a criticism of this magnificent work. It is possible
the Shaykh cited the source in his original work in Urdu but the details were
dropped in translation.
Ma’ariful Qur’an is one of the most invaluable
works available in English – a profound source of information that draws upon
many of the classical works written about the Qur’an and Ahadith. It is
available from the Darussalam Islamic Bookstore in Sydney and Melbourne, dsbooks.com.au.
Please note that the Darussalam Islamic Bookstores in Sydney and Melbourne are privately owned businesses that mainly - but not solely - sell books published by Darussalam Publishers and Distributors, which is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
I have tried several times to go to the website for Darussalam Publishers and Distributors in Saudi Arabia, but without success.
Every time I try I get the following error message:
"Your connection isn't private
Attackers might be trying to steal your information from darussalamstore.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards).
NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID
Go back
Hide advanced
This server couldn't prove that it's darussalamstore.com; its security certificate is from landing.telstra.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection."
THE SIHAH SITTAH – THE SOUND SIX
When citing an Hadith from the Sihah Sittah,
quran-e-hakim.com usually quotes from one of the English translations of the
‘Sound Six’ published by Darussalam Publishers based in Saudi Arabia, but it also quotes
Ahadith that are published in English by one of the leading publishers
of Islamic books in the Arab world, Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah, in Beirut,
Lebanon.
Both Darussalam Publishers and Distributors in Saudi Arabia and Dar Al-Kotob
Al-Ilmiyah (the website address is al-ilmiyah.com ) are highly reputable publishers esteemed in the Muslim world. Their
books are readily available from Islamic booksellers in Sydney and Melbourne.
There is another related site for Darussalam books that may be of value to readers. It is darussalam.com . It is the London UK branch of Darussalam Publishers. The shop is located within the London Central Mosque.
It should be noted that Darussalam is the
publisher of Tafsir Ibn Kathir, a 10-volume abridged English translation of the
original work in Arabic and also The Noble Qur’an, a nine-volume Tafsir that
has gained wide acceptance among English-speaking Muslims. (It is also
available in a one-volume summarized edition.) Further details about both sets
can be found on my page 'References - Qur'an
and Tafsir'.
If I quote an Hadith that is from the Darussalam
collection of the Sihah Sittah, that is one of the ‘Sound Six’ books of Ahadith,
and that Hadith or the commentary cites the Qur’an, then the translation of the
latter will be from The Noble Qur’an.
For those seeking guidance about the various books
of Ahadith, there is an excellent discussion included in the Preface to Volume
1 of Sunan Ibn Majah published by Darussalam. The editor writes:
“The Four Books of Sunan (Sunan Arba'ah)
refer to Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Nasa'i and
Sunan ibn Majah. The term Sihah Sittah, widely known in the
Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, refers to the six books of Hadith, that is,
the foregoing four books of Sunan and the Sound Ahadith of Bukhari
and Muslim (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). The latter two books, also
called Sahihain, are believed by orthodox Muslims (Ahlus-Sunnah)
to contain only Sound (Sahih) Ahadith. With respect to the chain of
narration (Sanad), no Hadith in those two books is weak.
“Shah Waliullah[4]wrote, while
commenting on the two books: ‘As for the two authentic books of Ahadith
(Bukhari and Muslim), scholars of Hadith sciences are unanimous
that the Muttasil (Connected)[5] and Marfu
(Traceable) [6] contained in the twain are
absolutely Sound and Mutawatir (Continuous) up to their compilers and
that anyone who belittles the two is an innovator (Mubtadi’) following a
way other than that of the believers.” (Ibn Majah, 2007, p. 21) [7]
It is wise to heed the warning contained in Shah
Waliullah’s statement “that anyone who belittles the two (ED: Sahih Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim) is an innovator (Mubtadi) following a way other than that
of the believers”.
Anyone who demurs would be well advised to read the
following Hadith reported from Abu Umamah (Radi Allahu Ta’ala’anhu
– may Allah be pleased with him) in Jami’ At-Tirmidhi. The Hadith is No.
3253 in Chapter 43. Regarding Surat Az-Zukhruf. (Abu ‘Eisa At-Tirmidhi,
2007, pp. 557-558). [8]It reads:
“Abu Umamah narrated that the Messenger of Allah
(Sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “No people go astray after having been guided, but they resort to
arguing.” Then the Messenger of Allah (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the
blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) recited this Ayah: ‘. . . They quoted
not the above example except for argument. Nay! But they are a quarrelsome
people[9] . . .’ (Hasan)”[10]
“[Abu Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan
Sahih. We only know of it as a narration of Hajjaj bin Dinar, and Hajjaj is
trustworthy, average in Hadith. Abu Ghalib's name is Hazawwar. (Hajjaj
and Abu Ghalib are narrators in the chain.)”
The editor of Jami’ At-Tirmidhi added the following
explanation to the Hadith: “When talking about the call and mission of
the Prophets, the name of ‘Eisa (alayhi as-salam – may the peace of Allah be
upon him) would be mentioned; the Quraish used to say, Muhammad (Sall-Allahu
alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) criticised
our gods but he admired ‘Eisa (alayhi as-salam – may the peace of Allah be upon
him) and regarded him a deity. It was then said that those people said so
merely for useless argument and quarrel, otherwise they knew very well that the
Qur'an did not speak about ‘Eisa (alayhi as-salam – may the peace of Allah be
upon him) as a deity, he was mentioned as an obedient servant of Allah and a
Messenger.”
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE
QUR’AN
There are many English-translations of the Qur’an,
but in quran-e-hakim.com four have been highlighted to help readers grasp the
meaning of the Qur’an.
Those four are:
· Tafsir
Ibn Kathir (Abridged). Published in 10 volumes. Volumes 1-9 are 2nd
editions, published in July 2003; Volume 10 is a 1st edition, published in
September 2000. The work was abridged by a group of scholars who were
responsible for translating the commentary, but the translation of the Qur’an
is the one from The Noble Qur’an by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr.
Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Published by Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
· The
Noble Qur’an. Published in nine volumes. Volumes 1-2 carry no date. Volumes
3-9, are 1st edition copies published in January 2000. Translated and compiled
by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-din Al-Hilali. Published
by Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [11]
· Ma’ariful
Qur’an. Published in eight volumes. Volume 1 is a 7th edition published in
2009. Volume 2 carries no date. Volume 3 was published in 2008. Volume 4, 2010,
and volumes 5-8, 2008. It was originally written in Urdu by the late Maulana
Mufti Muhammad Shafi, but has been rendered into English by various
translators and revised by the Mufti’s son, Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani.
It is published by Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom, Karachi, Pakistan. [12]
·
The Quranic Arabic Corpus website. [13] The site, which is part of the
Language Research Group at the University of Leeds, is an important tool for
anyone studying the Qur’an who wants an in-depth evaluation of classical
Arabic.
Of the four listed above, three are Tafsirs: Tafsir
Ibn Kathir, The Noble Qur’an and Ma’ariful Qur’an.
Quran-e-hakim.com is using the Word by Word section
of the Quranic Arabic Corpus website as the basis for some of
the transliterations of the Qur’an and sometimes to also serve as a
translation of the text.
The site includes a Quran Dictionary, an English Translation
menu which lists up to seven different interpretations and a division devoted
to Quranic Grammar.
Quran-e-hakim.com also uses the transliterations in
Tajweed Qur'an by Subhi Taha, published by Dar-al-Maarifah, Damascus, Syria and
draws upon the glossary that is published by Darussalam in its Ahadith series
of The Sihah Sittah – the Sound Six. The glossary invariably appears in the
final volume of each set.
For example, Darussalam’s publication of Jami’
At-Tirmidhi comes as a six volume set. The Glossary of Islamic Terms
appears at the end of volume six. It is excellent and provides a sound
foundation for the transliteration of Arabic terms.
Quran-e-hakim.com has maintained the use of ‘surah’
as opposed to ‘surat’ and 'sura' throughout the site. Some publishers prefer
either of the latter, but for the sake of consistency quran-e-hakim.com has
opted for ‘surah’.
STYLE GUIDE
In citing sources, quran-e-hakim.com lists some
details in the text, such as the title of the work, the year of publication,
volume number if it is a set and page number. Further details such as name of
the author and the place and name of the publisher are given in
endnotes.
Even though quran-e-hakim.com sometimes uses the
past tense or present perfect tense in citing sources, on occasions, where the
context seems better suited, it uses the present tense.
[1]Sunan Abu Dawud (1st ed. July 2008). (Vol.
5 – Glossary of Islamic Terms Pages 545-546). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
[2] “Tafsir. Any kind of explanation, but
especially a commentary on the Qur’an. Translations of the Qur’an from Arabic
into other languages such as Spanish, Urdu or English are considered
interpretations of the Qur’an, since only the original Arabic text actually
constitutes the content of the Qur’an.” Jami’ At-Tirmidhi (1st ed.
November 2007). (Vol. 6 – Glossary of Islamic Terms Pages 637-638). Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
[3] Shafi, Maulana Mufti M. (2008) Ma’ariful-Qur’an.
(Vol. 8). Karachi, Pakistan: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom Karachi.
[4] Shah Waliullah Dehlawi was an Islamic scholar who
lived in India in the 18th century. He was esteemed for his piety and knowledge
of Islam.
[5]Muttasil (Connected). An Hadith with
a continuous chain of narration.
[6]Marfu (Traceable). An Hadith
attributing the words of the Hadith to the Prophet (Sall-Allahu alayhi
wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
[7] Imam Muhammad Bin Yazeed Ibn Majah Al-Qazwini.
(2007) Sunan Ibn Majah. (1st ed. June 2007). (Vol. 1). Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia: Darussalam.
[8] Imam Hafiz Abu ‘Eisa Mohammad Ibn ‘Eisa
At-Tirmidhi (2007) Jami’ At-Tirmidhi. (1st ed. November 2007). (Vol. 5).
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
[9] Surah Az-Zukhruf 43:58.
[10] “Hasan: (Good).” Jami’ At-Tirmidhi
(1st ed. November 2007). (Vol. 6 – Glossary of Islamic Terms, Page 569).
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
[11] Al-Hilali, M. T., & Khan, M. M. (no date,
2000) The Noble Qur’an (Vols. 1-2 no date. Vols. 3-9, 1st ed.
January 2000). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Darussalam.
[12] Shafi, Maulana Mufti M. (2008-2010) Ma’ariful-Qur’an.
(Vol. 1, 7th ed. 2009. Vol. 2, no date. Vol. 3, 2008. Vol. 4, 2010. Vols.
5-8, 2008). Karachi, Pakistan: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom Karachi.
[13]http://corpus.quran.com/
Ian C. Calderwood:
Newcastle, NSW. 16 March 2022.
EDITED 23 August 23 at Lakemba, NSW
WEBCOPY 10 NOV 23 ICC
EDITED 10 November 23 CORRECTING TEXT, CHECKING LINKS