Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Al-Serat (A Journal of Islamic Studies)

Author: Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

www.alhassanain.org/english

Contents

Islam, the Qur'an and the Arabic Literature 4

Islam and Arabic: a unique relationship 4

The Qur'an: Muhammad's strongest argument 5

The role played by language in pre-Islamic Arabia 5

The role of the poet in pre-Islamic Arabia 7

The inimitability of the Qur'an 8

The impact of the Qur'an of the Arabic language 9

Structure and content 9

Lexical borrowing 11

Structure and style 12

Islam, the Qur'an, and the internationalization of the Arabic language 15

Conclusion 17

Footnotes: 18

The Concept Of Martyrdom In Islam 21

Notes 25

Religious Education of the Younger Generation 26

Elegy (Marthiya) on Husayn: Arabic and Persian 31

Notes 40

The Excellences of the Imam Husayn in Sunni Hadith Tradition 41

EXCELLENCES OF THE AHL AL BAYT 42

HASAN AND HUSAYN 45

CONCLUSION 48

Notes 49

The Fast of 'Ashura 50

The History of the Islamic Calendar in the Light of the Hijra 52

Lawnd or Kabisa 55

The Solar Calendar 56

Bibliography 58

Martyrdom of Imam Husayn and the Muslim and Jewish Calendars 59

The Principle of Ijtihad in Islam 64

The appearance of the Akhbaris in Shi'i Islam 70

The struggle with Akhbarism 72

A sample of the two ways of thinking 74

The hadith of the sixth Imam concerning the kind of taqlid which is illicit 76

Regarding the popular belief that the `ulama cannot be tainted by immorality 77

Taqlid permitted by the shari`a 78

Why is taqlid of a dead person not permitted 79

How the faqih's outlook on the world affects the legal opinions he issues 80

The understanding of necessities 81

An important recommendation 82

The division of the sciences into specialised branches 82

The progress made in fiqh during the last thousand years 82

Footnotes 85

The Illustrious Period of the Imamate of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin 88

ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS IMAMAT 88

UNITING THE SHIA COMMUNITY 89

TEACHING TRUE ISLAM 90

Imam Hasan 'The Myth of his Divorces' 93

The Scholarly Jihad of the Imams 95 - 148 A.H 99

Part II 103

Notes 106

The Interior Life in Islam 108

Notes: 113

Kitab al-Irshad' by Al-Mufid 116

Islam and the Question of Violence 119

The Spiritual Significance of Jihad 123

Karbala and the Imam Husayn in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature 128

Your religion is your Husayn, greed and wish are your pigs and dogs 129

'Al-Kafi' by Al-Kulayni 135

The Author 135

Al- Kafi 135

Notes: 139

The Imam Husayn's Concepts of Religion and Leadership 140

Imams - Clear and Coherent Policy 146

The Prophet and Prophetic Tradition - The Last Prophet and Universal Man 150

Reflections on Islam and Modern Life 158

Notes 167

Revelation and Salvation Towards an Islamic View Of History 171

Notes: 180

'Man la yahduruh al-Faqih' by Al-Saduq 182

The Author 182

Man la yahduruh al-faqih 183

Notes: 185

Why "Islamic" Science? 186

'Tahdhib al-Ahkam' and 'Al-Istibsar' by Al-Tusi 192

The Author 192

Tahdhib al-ahkam fi sharh al-muqni 'a 193

Al-Istibsar fima 'khtalaf al-akhbar 195

Notes: 196