Insight Islamicus

Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies

University of Kashmir

ISSN: 0975-6590

Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) presented Islam in the form of a movement that emphasized on practice rather than mere preaching. It aimed to create a class of people who will inspire others not by mere oration but with practical deeds. The important consequence of faith, as pointed out in Quran and later reiterated by the Prophet, is enactment of good deeds. The enactment of good deeds will create an underlying atmosphere for justice. Social Justice, one of the fundamental tenets of Islam, could have been achieved only, when the cadre as well as followers of Islam had a very strong character and were committed towards enactment of good deeds. The Companions of the Prophet were therefore, subjected to rigorous training owing to which they led their subjects by example. Character building based on learning by doing, was therefore bedrock of Prophet`s training approach. The focus on Character building as a Prophetic proposition tended to diminish with time and reached an all-time low in various countries of Muslim world. This paper is an attempt to delve into the essence of character building for achieving the goals of social justice as enjoined upon by the Prophet. It will also explore the implications of not using the character building approach while dispensing social justice, and some possible remedies for character crisis in the Muslim world. The word ‘Character’ used in the paper is laden with meaning, which will unfold as the content of paper will progress.

The literal meaning of Tafsīr is to express and to explain something. In conventional terminology, it stands for the explanation and elucidation of the Qur'ānic verses. It provides the exegete with a framework using which he can interpret the meanings of the Quranic verses and also present a sufficient and appropriate explanation of the verses. During the period of the pious caliphate, Islam reached different parts of the globe by crossing the boundary of the Arabian Peninsula. Different countries and several communities embraced Islam, the region of Sindh was also brought within the limits of the Islamic rule. The conquest of Sindh led to the establishment of the Muslim government in the region. Gradually, the population of Muslims increased throughout the Indian subcontinent and it naturally resulted in the dissemination of Islamic teachings, also keeping in mind the specific circumstances of this country, common ethos of its inhabitants, and their mental capacities, thereby calling for a new perceptual approach that needed to be employed in this regard. Several books related to the Qur'ānic sciences and the Qur'ānic exegesis were written apart from the books concerning Ḥadīth and Jurisprudence, histories, and biographies. Apart from Arabic and Persian languages, these works were also compiled in other local languages including Urdu. Although Urdu language is of a much recent origin than other languages of the world, a large number of the Qur'ānic translations have been written in this language. The Qur'ānic teachings, Qur'ānic commandments, anecdotes in the Qur'ān, miracles of Qur'ān, Qur'ānic sciences, Qur'ānic excellences, Qur'ānic arguments, history of Qur'ānic compilation and the history of Tafsīr writing and Mufassirun, etc. are the major topics of interest in which contributions have been made in the Urdu language. Against this backdrop, the purpose of the present study is to present a comprehensive and concise analytical account of some major Tafsīr works that have been authored by Muslim scholars in Urdu from the emergence of this language till recent times.

Kashmir is one of the beautiful places on the globe endowed with charming climate, glorified mountains, rivers, lakes and gardens that still enjoy a great fame. Though there are charming voices for the beauty of Kashmir but its real beauty lies in its intellectual and learning tradition that has hardly been explored so far. Historically the people of Kashmir were more inclined towards the idea of seclusion to worship in comparison to procuring worldly possessions. With the establishment of centers for worship, meditation and religious places, people took keen interest in the acquisition of spiritual knowledge.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has killed millions of people across the globe. The virus has afflicted thousands in Kashmir valley and at the time of compiling this paper, over two thousand people have died. A not too dissimilar scenario existed during the late 19th and early 20th Century, when beleaguered by the triple whammy of illiteracy, poverty and ignorance, thousands of our ancestors were swept away at regular intervals by epidemics of communicable diseases like cholera and smallpox. This article compares the social structure and public health scenario in the valley during these two eras. Reduction in illiteracy and poverty levels over the last 150 years have led to astounding improvements in healthcare indices but the dual concept of dawa (medicine) and dua (prayer) is as viable today in this Sufi-land as it was then. However, despite the extraordinary progress in education, pockets of ignorance still persist, which need to be tackled proactively with emphasis on imparting education as a tool to acquiring knowledge in order to distinguish fact from fiction, as commanded by the Almighty.

One of the primary concerns of this paper is to capture the process of changes in amusements and recreation that occurred in rural Kashmir since 1947 following the changes in governance, economy, education, communication and recent modernization and globalization. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the impact of these developments on amusements and recreation. It begins with a discussion on traditional games, amusements and recreation and there upon other changes have been documented in a systematic manner. The paper is based on both conventional and non-conventional sources. Census reports, vernacular literature and oral sources have been consulted for a holistic understanding of the theme under reference.

Tafsīr is the branch of knowledge which deals with the interpretation of the meanings of the Qur’ān. The fundamental base of this science was laid right in the earliest time of Islam. During the Prophetic period, this was done by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself. He explained the meanings of the verses of the Qur’ān to his companions (Ṣaḥābah) not only verbally but through his practical demonstrations as well. After his demise, this blessed task was shouldered by the Ṣaḥābah (companions of the Prophet) who taught their students (i.e., the tābiʻūn) whatever they had learnt regarding the tafsīr of the holy Qur’ān. This technique continued afterwards and is practiced even today. The method of teaching and learning in the time of the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʻūn was that the teacher transmitted knowledge to the students verbally or by way of narration and the students used to memorize it. Then, in the third century after Hijrah, which is known as the beginning of the era of systematic book compilation in the Islamic civilization, books on different disciplines began to be written separately. In this time, tafsīr works were also compiled in a systematic way, i.e., from the beginning of this era complete tafsīr of the holy Qur’ān in the order of the written text began to be written. The process of writing systematic tafsīr works continues to date. In the period of these twelve centuries thousands of works on tafsīr have been written in different languages; mostly in Arabic. Against this backdrop, the present paper deals with the explanation of the literal and technical meanings of the term ‘Tafsīr’. An Attempt is made to present a synopsis of the different phases of its development; from the earliest times to the present time. Also, the classification of Tafsīr works is discussed along with an introduction to some prominent Tafāsīr falling under their respective categories.

The Quran, the everlasting miracle, is the final message of Allah for the guidance of mankind in all aspects of life. It is the primary source of all the injunctions pertaining to various issues such as law, constitution, economy, society, politics or ethics etc. From the earliest days, people have delved deep into the treasure of this divine wisdom and spent their lives in search of the knowledge lying buried there. The first output of the intellectual activity of the Ummah, therefore, was the tafsir or the exegesis of the Qur’ān to explain and elucidate the norms of Shari‘ah injunctions contained in the Qur’ān. However, modernity, with its complex socioeconomic, religious, political and cultural developments, presented unique challenges to the muffassirun to contextualise the Qur’ānic message and provide guidance to modern- day Muslims and their worldview. Consequently, many exegetical trends emerged in order to address the emerging issues. This present article briefly reviews modern tafsir trends and how modern tafasir have shaped contemporary Islamic thought.

Intellect is one of the greatest gifts of God to humanity and it’s a major source of knowledge. Animals mostly act and behave through their instincts and they are devoid of higher abstract thinking. Scientifically speaking, humans possess a sophisticated brain which becomes the store house of superior and stupendous conscious thought. Human consciousness is considered by many scientists and intellectuals as the most complex phenomenon in the entire universe. It is evident by these facts that the infallible Word of God must give importance and value to the human intellect and prompt us to use reason in a sound and unbiased manner to reach factual conclusions. In this paper we intend to study various Qur’anic verses which started the intellectual discussions among the Arabs who were devoid of any philosophical and metaphysical worldview and blindly imitated their forefathers engaging in superstitious idolatry

Scholarship and intellectual honesty demand persistent efforts and explorations to know the truer and more bonafide versions of a tradition and phenomenon, more so in presence of hostile environment to it. Islamic Studies entails the study of the methodologies and outputs of the study of Islam as a tradition, a culture and a civilization which encompasses wide regions of the world and long period of human history. It is the study of not only the past but also the present of a living civilization with a projected future. As the discipline of Islamic Studies was developed in the Western European Universities as a part of the ‘Orientalist Studies’, it naturally inherits the biases, prejudices and political and religious agenda of Europe vis-à-vis Muslims, Islam and Muslim lands. Despite hyperbolic claims of objectivity and detached scholarship the ‘Orientalist Project’ on Islamic Studies aimed mostly at supplying material to the Christian Proselytizing Missions for demonizing Islam and Muslims and justifying the need for ‘Colonization’ and ‘Civilization’ mission by the self-acclaimed ‘Civilized West’. The study of ‘inferior’ by ‘superior’ and dominant with strong cultural antipathy has seriously dented the empathetic and sympathetic approaches to the study of Islam and Muslims. Looking for truer and more Bonafide versions of Islamic Studies is poised to usher in an era where commonalities and areas of convergence of traditional cultures civilizations can be explored. Further such studies shall provide the middle path for the humanity where man’s basic world view is shaped by the ‘Divine Knowledge’ and his material engagements are modified and enmeshed in the moral and spiritual edifice of the religion towards a way of salvation from materialism, this worldism and its associate evils and act as a real tribute to rediscovering the worth of ‘Oriental Studies’.