Lowering the Gaze

Fatwā Lowering the Gaze by Ml Yusuf Karaan 11 May 2023 QUESTION What are the views of the four madhāhib in relation to the obligation of lowering the gaze for both genders, with or without desire. ANSWER السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته I will limit my reply to the matter of gazing between unrelated (ajnabī), … Read more

The Fiqh of Fasting

The Arabic words siyâm and sawm literally mean ‘abstention’ and as such any avoidance even of speech may be called sawm. An example of this comes in sûrah Maryam, verse 26: “I have taken an oath to perform sawm… and as such I will not speak to any human today.” Legally however it means: “for a specific person [the mukallaf who intends it] to abstain from specific matters [the three nullifiers] for a specific period [from true dawn until sundown].”

Fleeing from Fate to Fate

40 AḤĀDĪTH ON CONTAGION AND PANDEMICS
The idea of collecting a number of aḥādīth on contagion, pandemics and related matters was born just as the second wave of Covid-19 infections began rising in South Africa. A medical professional requested texts from the seminal sources of Islam that would counter a narrative in which religion was being pitted as inexorably anti-science. What began as a handful of ḥadīth texts grew into a collection of 40 aḥādīth on adopting preventative measures during pandemics – in line with the time-honoured arbaʿīn format of the Muḥaddithīn.

by Mufti Mohammad Taha Karaan

Legacy of the Shāfiʿī Madhhab in SA

The following short lecture series by Mufti Taha Karaan methodically covers the historical development of the Shāfiʿī madhhab. This includes the Usuli development of the madhhab, major figures that propagated the madhhab, evolution of the madhhab in different geographical locations including the impact the had on the outlook of the madhhab, and the personalities that undertook the task of synthesizing or refining the variant opinions within the madhhab.

by Mufti Mohammad Taha Karaan