Category: Blog

Abstract This paper builds on recent research classifying Islamic charitable endowments—the institution of the waqf—into distinct stages of historical and institutional development. It aims to imagine how the waqf might look today.  Throughout [...]

Introduction Is there slavery in Islam? When people pose this question they usually assume it’s the Islam part that needs clarification. Everyone already knows what slavery is. Actually, it’s quite [...]

Introduction Mālik bin Dīnār (d. circa 127/745) was a pious scholar of Basra. The son of a Persian slave, he lived off pennies made by copying the Qur’an.  Yet Basra’s wealthiest man, [...]

Introduction Nana Asma’u bint Uthman (1793-1864) was a Muslim scholar and  prolific poet from the West African Sahel. She was the daughter of Shaykh Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Salih (d. 1817), known as [...]

Abstract The question of forced conversions to Islam in history is a cornerstone of the centuries-old “spread-by-the-sword” narrative that has been (and continues to be) used to demonize Islam and [...]

Introduction From approximately the ninth century, roughly two hundred years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, charitable foundations and endowments (waqfs or awqāf) began to emerge and spread across [...]

Abstract Historians have widely discredited the narrative that the prevalence of Islam in the world today can be explained as a result of forced conversions. Without denying that there may [...]

Abstract In the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Muslims provided protection to asylum-seekers and the Ansar of Medina treated the Muhajirs, who were essentially refugees, like brothers. During the Crusades, Muslim governments and individuals provided [...]

Introduction In the wake of COVID-19, we’ve all had to deal with the sudden reality that we may not be able to perform acts of worship that are most beloved [...]

Abstract A famous ḥadīth states that ʿĀisha was 9 years old when her marriage with the Prophet ﷺ was consummated. However, in the science of ḥadīth verification (muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth), there are several conditions for the veracity [...]