Randomly Mad

Monday, 30. November, 2009

My First WP Theme!

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Yay!
I’ve finally – more or less – finished my first WP template.
It’s build totally from scratch, with a help of tutorials to get me a bit into php and css, but the result isn’t soooo bad, is it?
I will work on the strange sidebar a bit later, so far it’s working well in IE8, FF & Chrome. I might think of putting the theme to be available for download, if someone will want it.
Now, off to bed, it’s so late! I spent two days doing this, heh. It’s really windy outside and the sound of whistling air isn’t particularly calming; not after we watched so many episodes of Lost!

Keep on reading »

By Um Abbas | Posted in Thoughts | Comments (0)

Thursday, 14. May, 2009

The Importance of Having a Reliable (Arabic) Reference for a Convert Muslim , pt. II

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The English translation of Sahih al-Bukhari
and the account of Jesus’ (a) return

Synopsis:
Hadith number 658 in volume 4 of the Arabic/English edition of Sahih al-Bukhari represents a short narration that talks about the coming of Jesus (a) at a time when an “Imam” will be present.
The translation has changed to something rather different in later editions!

Evidence, Analysis and Conclusion
Sahih al-Bukhari is the foremost book of hadith for the Ahl al-Sunnah and is considered by them to be the most reliable book after the Qur’an. Its English translation was undertaken by Muhammad Muhsin Khan in 9 volumes and has been published in many editions.

The hadith under discussion appears in the Dar al-Fikr edition (which is non-dated, though apparently recent) as follows:

Sahih al-Bukhari, Al-Bukhari, Muhammad b. Isma`il (d. 256 AH), volume 4, pg. 437, hadith number 658
Beirut: Dar al-Fikr (9 vols), translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan, n.d.

reference

Those with even a rudimentary understanding of Arabic text will be able to see that the underlined arabic text of the hadith (wa imaamukum minkum) and the English equivalent are completely different! Keep on reading »

By Um Abbas | Posted in Religion | Comments (0)

Tags: download

Wednesday, 13. May, 2009

The Importance of Having a Reliable (Arabic) Reference for a Convert Muslim , pt. I

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The Sahih of al-Tirmidhi and the hadith,
“I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its gate”.

Synopsis:
The well-known and reliable hadith of the Prophet – “I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its gate” is not present in the current editions of the Sahih (alternatively called Jami` or Sunan) of al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH). This book is one of the Sihah Sittah or Six Authentic hadith books for the Ahl al-Sunnah.
This case study will investigate the allegation that this hadith was included by al-Tirmidhi and used to be in his Sahih till it mysteriously disappeared at some stage in history.
Important: The purpose of this discussion is not to prove the reliability of the hadith. That has already been shown in several detailed works. For example, see the three volumes 10, 11 and 12 of Nafahat al-Azhar fi Khulasat ‘Abaqat al-Anwar dedicated to this hadith that show its tawatur. Therefore, for the purpose of this discussion, adverse comments on the strength of the hadith by some of the scholars below will be ignored.

Source of the Allegation
[Nafahat al-Azhar fi Khulasat 'Abaqat al-'Anwar, Sayyid Hamid Husayn Lakhnawi, translated into Arabic by Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni al-Milani, Qum, vol. 12, p. 124]

The Evidence
Al-Tirmidhi lived between the years 209 AH and 279 AH. Several authors of books of hadith, sirah, history and kalam who came after him acknowledged that he has quoted this hadith – in the exact wording stated above – in his Sahih. However, the current editions of the Sahih only have the hadith ‘I am the house of wisdom and ‘Ali is its door’. This hadith can be seen in the extract below:
Sahih (or Jami` or Sunan), al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH), p. 141

ref. here Keep on reading »