What Sources Do You Use?

Salaam alykum,

I would like to begin this post with a very clear request: challenge me. If I write something that you don’t like, that doesn’t make sense to you, challenge me. Please be sure to have reasons and resources, but I honestly mean this, challenge me, challenge your Imam, challenge anyone and everyone, just make sure you know what you’re talking about, and if you’re unsure of where they are getting their information, request it, and if you can’t do that, find it out yourself.

That being said, I would like to think that I leave a very solid footprint, as I cite where in The Qur’an something is, and then I proceed to use the Hadith, citing which collection in particular I found it.

The decisions that I write generally focus upon The Qur’an and the Sunnah. When there is a need to explain the context of a Hadith, I do so with what information I can gather about that particular Hadith. That is why I prefer Hadith from Imam Malik’s Muwatta, which provides this and underlines the subsequent rulings that emerged from these Hadith.

As far as the process I use in order to answer a question, this is informed by the jurisprudential tools that my madhab would emphasize, though I personally am quite flexible in using various tools, as all madahab are. The Schools of Law (madahab) simply emphasize a particular set over others, while some madahab may completely rule out the use of a particular tool.

The sources on matters of jurisprudence and on the background of The Qur’an and Hadith that I use the most are:

Imam Abu Hanifa
Imam Malik
Imam Shafi’i
Imam Hanbal
Imam Jaafar
Mahmud ibn Umar az-Zamakhshari (Zamakhshari)
Muhammad Fakr ad-Din ar-Razi (Razi)
Abu Jaafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari (Tabari)
Abd ar-Rahman Jalal ad-Deen as-Suyuti
Al-Ghazali
Ismail ibn Kathir
Abu Muhammad Ali ibn Hazm
Mehmed Ebussuud Efendi
Wasil ibn Ata
Muhammad Abduh

While the modern jurists and scholars that I use the most as reference:

Sheikh El Sharaawy
Sheikh Ahmad at-Tayeb
Mufti Ali Gomaa
Sheikh Sayyid Tantawi
Suhaib Webb
Tariq Ramadan
Intisar Rabb
Muhammad Asad

The ultimate source on the Arabic language, is Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur. If you need help with Arabic, use that.

Though, it must be said, that without question, the three most influential people upon my perception of Islam are: My father, my grandfather (Allah yerhamik ya Giddo), and my uncle, who do not just possess tremendous Islamic knowledge that I have benefited from, but they have given me what little positive aspects I have. Alhamdulilah, I am beyond grateful for them.

There are certainly more people I should cite, but those are the ones that come to mind. Please do not use this as the comprehensive list of where I get my information from, but, if you have the time, I would suggest reading any of the aforementioned people.

As far as where I got the background to the Hadith on eyebrow plucking, no one denies that the background to what The Prophet said was in reference to a practice that was done by prostitutes. No one.

The debate is whether that fact constitutes enough of a context to deem the practice permissible or not. I would argue that, especially in conjunction with the fact that we are able to cut our hair, trim our beards (or mustaches, whatever), shave our heads (after Hajj), remove hair from various places on our body, that to make the argument that removing some eyebrow hair is changing God’s creation… I’m sorry, I just cannot accept that line of reasoning, it’s poor, especially in light of the changes we do to other parts of our body. I won’t even get into the politics of how some scholars conveniently allow its permissibility if one’s husband requests it.

You don’t need to cite me, and in fact, if you need a tangible resource that prostitutes were doing this practice, refer to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s book “The Lawful and The Prohibited in Islam” (its translated a bunch of ways, it’s famous, trust me). In fact, it lists both Hadith that I use in that post.

Therefore, to answer your question on my “footprint,” I only cite my sources on things that I believe are potentially disputed, and quite frankly, the context of that Hadith is not one of them. I think of it like this: if I’m writing a paper on a subject, there are certain facts that simply do not require a citation, because it is a widely known and agreed upon fact.

That being said, and I promise you, I sincerely and genuinely mean this: If I have written anything that runs contrary to history, the true intent or context of a verse in The Qur’an or from the Hadith, please show me where I am mistaken, because perhaps I have made a mistake. Believe me, I would love to be corrected, insha Allah.

This is going to be the last post I write about eyebrows, honestly, if people would put HALF the effort they put into dissecting what level or amount of hair is acceptable to remove from their face as they did into actually learning how Islamic Jurisprudence works, I swear, this world would bloom with knowledge. I cannot understand why I stir up more trouble by saying that someone can fix their eyebrows or listen to music, than by arguing that Shariah is not in use anywhere in the World or that women can work and get educations.

I am honestly confused and am frankly tired of not just spending my time, but at watching Muslims dedicate hours of debate and discussion on these miniscule tasks, when instead, we could be talking about how to perhaps start Awqaf (Endowments) for helping people, or starting a Muslim-led Soup Kitchen, or even discussion methods towards improving our actions, instead of hording useless opinions by scholars over what exact angle your elbows should be when in sujud, because God-forbid you drop your elbow too low.

I apologize to the anon who asked me this question (all this wasn’t directed to you), and to all of you for that matter, but can we just take a moment and look at ourselves?

Can we just look at what we aspects of Islam we pour our energy into?

Insha Allah, I hope God forgives me for my outburst, and I hope that you forgive me for whatever frustration or rudeness I have displayed in this post. I apologize, sincerely, and I do not think you are challenging me, and in fact, I encourage you to challenge me. I hope that I if I am mistaken in anything, that God quickly provides me a means towards correcting my faults, in all matters, in my life, and in my work, and in my conduct, insha Allah ya Rabb.

Insha Allah, if you, or anyone else, has a question on any subject, please do not hesitate to ask me.