List Of Articles

Waqar Akbar Cheema Muslim scholars commenting on Orientalists’ contribution to the study of Islam acknowledge that they edited and published and thus introduced scores of classical works of Muslim scholarship that had been out of broad reach for centuries. No doubt Orientalists did make a significant contribution on this account, and its significance outweighs any […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract This paper shows how the Prophetic precedent comes out as pivotal to the sab‘a ahruf scheme. In highlighting aspects of hadith reports confirming this essential point, it is indicated how the grounding the validity of ahruf based recitations to the Prophet’s clear precedent goes with the reported rationale of ahruf. It […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract  One of the differences in the interpretation of ‘Sab‘a Ahruf’ hadith reports is whether sab‘a denotes the specific numeral or signifies an unqualified multitude. This paper analyses the phrase from a linguistic aspect besides exploring the details of the hadith reports bearing on this point. Opinions and proofs of certain past […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract Many of the confusions about Islam persist for the failure to understand the scope and outlook of Islam towards the world. People find it odd for a religion to inspire political ideas, and principles of legislation, governance, business and penalties among other things. In order to get into a better position […]

Ghulam Haider Aasi “[Classical Muslim] scholars did not see world religions as epiphenomenon, nor did they divide knowledge into watertight disciplines, á la modern Western scholarship. In view of the Islamic concept of the unity of knowledge and Truth, they saw religion as the mother of all sciences, the fountainhead and quintessence of all branches […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema [divider] 1. Introduction Qur’an 16:43 and 21:7 are the references some critics of Islam often use to assert that Qur’an testifies the Judeo-Christian people to be the bastions of the monotheistic faith. It is argued that these verses also testify to the authenticity of the Bible. Part of the verses they quote […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract The piecemeal revelation of Qur’an against various contexts in over two decades served the purpose of strengthening the hearts of the first Muslims. Those unable to appreciate this scheme of revelation harbor and pronounce undue skepticism towards the Prophet’s mission and accuse him of making up ‘convenient revelations.’ One such example […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Qur’an 2:178 states; يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِصَاصُ فِي الْقَتْلَى الْحُرُّ بِالْحُرِّ وَالْعَبْدُ بِالْعَبْدِ وَالْأُنْثَى بِالْأُنْثَى فَمَنْ عُفِيَ لَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَيْءٌ فَاتِّبَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَأَدَاءٌ إِلَيْهِ بِإِحْسَانٍ ذَلِكَ تَخْفِيفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ فَمَنِ اعْتَدَى بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَلَهُ عَذَابٌ أَلِيم O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema 1. Introductionz Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) marriage with Safiyya bint Huyay from the Jewish tribe of Nadir has been of regular interest to modern Western critics, missionaries and orientalists. The objections are mostly raised on two accounts: (i) The marriage was solemnized in the aftermath of the conquest of the last Jewish stronghold […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract This article is about an academic inquiry into arguments around a Jauniyya woman’s mysterious and bizarre behaviour in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ) in their first meeting after marriage. The interaction was brief yet odd and it culminated in immediate divorce. The nature of interaction made individual reports about it, […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract  This article reviews contentions around Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) marriage with ‘Aisha when she was nine years old. Highlighting pitfalls in the study of history and factors related to puberty in general the details of the marriage are explored. Moreover, reports showing the nature of relations between the Prophet and ‘Aisha are […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract  One of the differences in the interpretation of ‘Sab‘a Ahruf’ hadith reports is whether sab‘a denotes the specific numeral or signifies an unqualified multitude. This paper analyses the phrase from a linguistic aspect besides exploring the details of the hadith reports bearing on this point. Opinions and proofs of certain past […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema  Abstract Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) allowed Sahla, the wife of Abu Hudhaifa, to nurse Salim to establish the foster relationship between them even though Salim was by then already an adult. This incident has given rise to a lot of discussion and polemics in our times. The instant study is about analyzing the […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract The article is about hadith reports mentioning protection for Makkah and Madina from plague. Relevant reports have been critically analysed to show how the spread of pandemics such as COVID-19 to Makkah and Madina casts no aspersions on sayings authentically reported from Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). [divider]  1. Introduction We have earlier explored […]

Whenever a discussion on the veracity of hadith as such and especially that of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim comes up, the antagonists invariably refer to Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali al-Daraqutni’s (d. 385/995) criticism of these works widely understood to be the two most authentic hadith compilations. In doing so they tend to suggest that rejection […]

Sharif Muhammad Jabir Translated by Waqar Akbar Cheema Translator’s Note: While I had considered translating this write-up ever since I read it on Al-Jazeera Blog the immediate impetus has been a disastrous article by one Atabek Shukurov whose work “Hanafi Principles of Testing Hadith” I reviewed back in 2015. Although I plan to make a […]

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani[1] Abstract One of the arguments forwarded to limit the Prophetic authority manifested in hadith to strictly dogmatic and ritual affairs is the narration about pollination of palm trees. Mufti Taqi Usmani has responded to the argument by carefully analyzing the text of the various versions of the report. By highlighting the […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract Muslim community has from the beginning unanimously held that it is impermissible for Muslim women to marry Jewish and Christian men. In recent times certain revisionists have advocated the permissibility of such interfaith marriages. In this paper the arguments of such revisionists is critically analyzed and it is convincingly shown that […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema* Abstract Lately Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have been subject to much controversy. Critics often times go on to hit the very substance and origin of the laws. In this backdrop the opinions of the Hanafi jurists are usually misunderstood and misquoted. In this article we analyze how the opinions of Hanafi jurists relate […]

Taqi al-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya[1] Translated by Aisha Bewley[2] Hadith forms the bedrock of Islamic tradition. Hadith puts check on far-fetched exegesis of the Qur’an. For this reason the modernists including those masquerading as scholars tend to raise doubts about the authority of hadith and seek ways to undermine its dual role of being the […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Muslim scholars commenting on Orientalists’ contribution to the study of Islam acknowledge that they edited and published and thus introduced scores of classical works of Muslim scholarship that had been out of broad reach for centuries. No doubt Orientalists did make a significant contribution on this account, and its significance outweighs any […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract This paper shows how the Prophetic precedent comes out as pivotal to the sab‘a ahruf scheme. In highlighting aspects of hadith reports confirming this essential point, it is indicated how the grounding the validity of ahruf based recitations to the Prophet’s clear precedent goes with the reported rationale of ahruf. It […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract  One of the differences in the interpretation of ‘Sab‘a Ahruf’ hadith reports is whether sab‘a denotes the specific numeral or signifies an unqualified multitude. This paper analyses the phrase from a linguistic aspect besides exploring the details of the hadith reports bearing on this point. Opinions and proofs of certain past […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema  Abstract Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) allowed Sahla, the wife of Abu Hudhaifa, to nurse Salim to establish the foster relationship between them even though Salim was by then already an adult. This incident has given rise to a lot of discussion and polemics in our times. The instant study is about analyzing the […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract That Ibn ‘Âbidīn attributed the Later Hanafi Position that repentance of a person who blasphemes the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) shall not be accepted in any case to a misreading by al-Bazzāzī has been picked up by modernists/liberals calling for the repeal of Pakistan’s contested Blasphemy Laws. This paper seeks to […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema 1. Introduction Some modernists claiming to be ‘real Hanafis’ in their spree of lies suggest that ‘Ikrimah – the freedslave of Ibn ‘Abbas – is alone in narrating the well-known hadith about the punishment of apostasy, من بدل دينه فاقتلوه Whoever changes his religion, kill him. Coupled with their baseless accusation that […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema [divider] It is well known that Hind bt. ‘Utbah (d. 14/635), the wife of Abu Sufyan b. Harb (d. 31/652), chewed the liver of Hamza b. ‘Abdul Mutalib after he was killed by a slave named Wahshi (d. ca 25/645) during the Battle of Uhud (Shawal 3/December 624), the second major encounter […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Muhammad Ibn Sa’d’s (d. 2330/845) work “Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir” or “Tabaqat al-Kubra” is an important source of information regarding life and times of early Muslims including a detailed account of events and aspects the life of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Part of the work covering the life of the Prophet was […]

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi*[1] Translated and Annotated by Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract Belief in the advent of Imam al-Mahdi is an important tenet for the vast majority of Muslims across sectarian lines. However, some have come to question the decisiveness of the hadiths concerning the advent of al-Mahdi, especially based on Ibn Khaldun’s arguments in […]

The book is actually a translation of Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi’s well known work Al-Intabahāt Al-Mufīdah fī ḥal Al-Ishkālāt Al-Jadīdah by Prof. Hassan Askari and Karrar Husain. During the colonial period Muslims were first exposed to the challenge of scientism. Though the challenge remains it caused the most serious concerns and uproar during the later part […]

Sharif Muhammad Jabir Translated by Waqar Akbar Cheema Translator’s Note: While I had considered translating this write-up ever since I read it on Al-Jazeera Blog the immediate impetus has been a disastrous article by one Atabek Shukurov whose work “Hanafi Principles of Testing Hadith” I reviewed back in 2015. Although I plan to make a […]

Download pdf here Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani Translated by Adeel Abstract More and more people are looking to ijtihad as a means towards the annulment or relaxation of the rules and restrictions derived from the categorical texts of the Qur’an and the hadiths. They want to ignore the texts by invoking their ‘spirit’, thereby seeking to […]

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani Q 1. For People of the Book, meaning those who belong to Judaism or Christianity, does Islamic law give them a firm unchanging right to practice the basics of their religion and have houses of worship – while not being allowed to seek to convert Muslims – or does the right […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Muslim scholars commenting on Orientalists’ contribution to the study of Islam acknowledge that they edited and published and thus introduced scores of classical works of Muslim scholarship that had been out of broad reach for centuries. No doubt Orientalists did make a significant contribution on this account, and its significance outweighs any […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract This paper shows how the Prophetic precedent comes out as pivotal to the sab‘a ahruf scheme. In highlighting aspects of hadith reports confirming this essential point, it is indicated how the grounding the validity of ahruf based recitations to the Prophet’s clear precedent goes with the reported rationale of ahruf. It […]

Waqar Akbar Cheema Abstract  One of the differences in the interpretation of ‘Sab‘a Ahruf’ hadith reports is whether sab‘a denotes the specific numeral or signifies an unqualified multitude. This paper analyses the phrase from a linguistic aspect besides exploring the details of the hadith reports bearing on this point. Opinions and proofs of certain past […]