The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud QuestionsIbn Kathir and Ibn TaymiyaQuestions:Was Ibn Kathir considered to be part of Ahl al-Sunna by the orthodox community even though he was a student of Ibn Taymiya?Was Ibn Kathir’s Islamic faith (‘aqida) actually different than Ibn Taymiya’s? If so, on what points? (I will need references.) I know he differed on many fiqh issues, but that is because Ibn Kathir was a Shafi‘i scholar, one such difference being the Mawlid.Ibn Kathir’s tafsir (Qur’an

Question 1: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud QuestionsImam Ash'ari Repudiating Asha'rismQuestion:The Salafis claim that Abul Hasan Ash‘ari formulated the Ash‘ari tenets of Islamic faith (‘aqida) while he was between the Mu‘tazila and Ahl al-Sunna, and that he later refuted his formulations and joined Ahl al-Sunna in the Hanbali madhhab before he died. Is there any truth in this? They say his last book, al-Ibana, contains the refutations. If not, how can I prove it to these people? They also say

Question 2: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud QuestionsRe-forming Classical TextQuestion:As far as Wahhabi tamperings with classical texts goes, how widespread is this heinous crime? Can you give some serious examples of this?Answer:I do not know how widespread it is, but it certainly does exist. Of hard evidence that I have personally seen, there is the work that I am currently translating, Kitab al-adhkar [The book of remembrances of Allah] by Imam Nawawi. The text that Nawawi wrote in the Boo

Question 3: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud QuestionsDawud al-Dhahiri and ibn HazmQuestion:Are the Hanbali Mujtahid Imams Dhahiri and Ibn Hazm considered Ahl al-Sunna?Answer:Dawud ibn ‘Ali ibn Khalaf Dhahiri of Isfahan (d. 270/883) and ‘Ali ibn Ahmad Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) were not Hanbalis but Dhahiris. Whether they were mujtahids (qualified to issue expert Islamic legal opinion) is debatable, not only for reasons I will discuss, but also because little that was written by Dawud 

Question 4: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud QuestionsImam Ahmad ibn HanbalQuestion:Was Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal an anthropomorphist as is alleged by the Salafis? Can you provide me examples of the sayings of Imam Ahmad that show he did not hold the anthropomorphic ‘aqida of the neo-Salafis, as they claim?Answer:Regarding the question of whether Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855) was an anthropomorphist, this is something that has been asked since early times, particularly since someone forged an 

Question 5: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud Questions The Ijazas of Ibn Baz and al-AlbaniQuestion:The Salafis allege that both Ibn Baz and al-Albani have ijazas (authorizations of mastery of a book, etc. in Islamic knowledge from the scholar it was studied with) from great sheikhs. They say that al-Albani has an ijaza from some sheikhs in Syria, do you have any information on this?Answer:Our teacher in hadith, Sheikh Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut, tells my wife and me that Sheikh Nasir al-Albani learned 

Question 6: The Re-Formers of Islam

The Re-Formers of Islam Excerpts - The Mas'ud Questions Haqiqat al-MuhammadiyyaQuestion:Many Pakistanis and people of the Naqshbandi tariqa (and maybe of others) consider the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be Nur Allah, the ‘Light of Allah’, and find it offensive that we call the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) bashar, a ‘human being’, even though the Qur’an states him to be so. I have also been made aware of a hadith in Tirmidhi that states that the prophets (upon 