SHARIAsource

The plaintiff, Dennis Balk, a former professor at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in Bahrain, brought this suit against the New York Institute of Technology after he was fired. Balk alleged that he was fired from his position after a daily Bahrain newspaper, Al-Ayam, published an article stating that he had posted to his class website a controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad in rags. Balk brought this claim, which alleged discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin in violation of Title VII. The plaintiff also brought a motion to compel the deposition of Dr. Mohammed Hussein, the Executive Director of the Middle East for NYIT. The District Court determined that Dr. Hussein's deposition was necessary in the "interest of justice" within the meaning of the Walsh Act because of his alleged involvement in the plaintiff's firing. The District Court additionally found that given Dr. Hussein's periodic travel to the US, it was not unreasonable to compel Dr. Hussein to appear.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

This fatwa forbids any depiction of the Prophet/Messenger and his family in film. The fatwa also clarifies that in order to avoid any misunderstanding surrounding the meaning of 'Nur Muhammad', it is inappropriate to use light to depict the Prophet.

This entry provides a definition and analysis of the term ḥadīth, drawing on works by SHARIAsource Senior Scholar, Joseph Lowry, Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania.

This is a reference to the tradition of the House of the Prophet that held the call to prayer (adhān) to be taught to the Prophet by the angel Gabriel. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference as an example of how the tradition of the House of the Prophet compared to the Sunnī belief that the call to prayer originated in a Companion's dream.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

This is a reference to ʿAlī's description of the Sunna of the Prophet. Hossein Modarressi argues that in the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet, the Prophet's Sunna was next to the Qurʾān in importance.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

On January 17, 2023, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed a bill expanding the country’s laws on blasphemy. Previously, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws subjected those who insulted the Prophet Muhammad to the death penalty. The amended blasphemy laws carry a minimum ten-year prison sentence for those deemed to have insulted any of the Prophet’s Companions or Family members, and it renders blasphemy a non-bailable offense.

Ibn Isḥāq's Kitāb al-maghāzī, is a compilation of reports on events that occurred during or prior to the life of the Prophet Muhammad, including his military expeditions. Ibn Isḥāq “arranged [the reports] into what he deemed to be their correct chronological order and to which he added his own comments” adding a chain of narration to most reports. This excerpt is on the birth of the Prophet. 

For more on the text, see Nicolai Sinai and William Montgomery’s entry on the Prophet Muhammad in Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Represents the regional surroundings in Islamic times of Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muḥammad; and Medina, where the Prophet migrated and where Mālik was born, raised, and compiled and taught the Muwaṭṭa’.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

This is a reference to Ṣaḥīfat al-farāʾiḍ, a text on the designated shares of inheritance recorded by ʿAlī from the statements of the Prophet, which Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq possessed and showed to his disciples. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to argue that ʿAlī was "the father" of the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet and that the Prophet's teachings were passed down through the family from one generation to the next.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

This is a reference to Kitāb ʿAlī, an early book that contained material transmitted by ʿAlī from the Prophet, which Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq possessed and showed to his disciple Zurāra. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to argue that ʿAlī was "the father" of the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet and that the Prophet's teachings were passed down through the family from one generation to the next.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

This elucidation of Indonesian Council of Ulama Fatwa No. 11 of 2005 on Ahmadiyya provides background information on the Ahmadiyya sect, its leader (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) and his supposed exaltation by Allah as prophet (nabi) and messenger (rasul), and its history.

This fatwa acknowledges that in certain regions of Indonesia there are religious streams that do not acknowledge the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW as a source of Islamic shari'a law. Such streams include that espoused by Irham Sutarto (employee of PT Unilever Indonesia in Jakarta).

The fatwa states that a religious stream that does not consider the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW to be a source of Islamic shari'a law is misled and misleading, and exists outside the Islamic faith. The fatwa also directs those following such streams, whether they are aware or not, to repent immediately, and for the government to place a prohibition on such streams.

This is a reference to the opinion that held to the continuing legality of mutʿa in the first century and the first half of the second century of Islam, represented by Ibn ʿAbbās and the school of Mecca, which was also held by Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to make the case that mutʿa was considered to be lawful and established by the Qurʾān and the Prophetic Sunna in the legal legacy of the House of the Prophet.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022). 

This fatwa states that joint Christmas celebrations have recently been misinterpreted by a section of the Islamic community, which has subsequently joined in Christmas celebrations and sat on Christmas committees. Christmas celebrations in Indonesia are intended to celebrate and honour the Prophet Isa (A.S.). For Muslims, however, participating in Christmas celebrations involves confusing their creed (aqidah) and worship (ibadah) with that of another religion. Accordingly, this fatwa forbids Muslims from celebrating Christmas.

The Asia Bibi case is one of the recent manifestations of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. The Applicant, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death by the trial court after allegedly uttering blasphemous statements against the Prophet Mohammad to fellow Muslim field workers. Despite serious questions regarding the quality of her defense and the truthfulness of the allegations against her, the appeal to the Lahore High Court was dismissed.

This is a reference to the early legal schools of the Ḥijāz and Iraq. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to argue that the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet differed in its sources and approaches from these schools.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

This is a reference to the recognized status of ʿAlī as a major authority on the Prophet's Sunna. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to argue that ʿAlī was "the father" of the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).