Articles by Dr. Parvez

Why is a Muslim man required to keep a beard? 1. Beard is part of fitrah. (as per a Hadith narrated by Ummul Mumineen Hazrat Aishah ؓ  from Huzoor ﷺ). It has been recorded by Muslim, Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah and Nisai. 2. Keeping a beard is a Sunnah muakkadah. The Prophet ﷺ and Sahaba kiraam ؓ have always had beards. 3. Certain scholars aver that keeping a beard is Wajib. (deriving from a Hadith recorded by Muslim and Ahmad in which there is an instruction to grow the beard and trim the moustache) 4. The Prophet ﷺ has also said that My Lord has commanded me to grow the beard and trim the moustache. Shaving is detestable because: 1. It makes a man resemble a woman; and it should be known that the Mercy unto Mankind ﷺ has cursed those men and women who seek to resemble those of the opposite gender. 2. It makes a Muslim resemble a non-Muslim. Imam Bukhari has recorded: Ibn Umar ؓ narrates that the Prophet ﷺ had said, Grow the beard and look different from the polythe

Selfie with the Kaaba Of late, with the ubiquitous presence of smartphones and their high resolution cameras, people have developed the habit of ‘capturing the moment’ on their phones. Gone are the days when a person would think twice before exhausting every film of his 36-film Kodak role. These days, people just keep clicking at will. Wherever, whenever, whoever. The selfie culture has become so overwhelming that we can hardly come across a recreational or tourist place where selfies are not becoming an eyesore. And while this can be excused when it comes to recreational and tourist places, it should not be so in places of worship. Pilgrimage is not a recreational tour. We don't go on a Hajj and Umrah ‘tour’. This tour word is a misnomer, and a blasphemy at that. But what we are witnessing today is an epidemic of selfies and video calling in the very mutaaf of the Haram, near the pulpit of the Prophet and in every conceivable and inconceivable area in and around the Harmain Shar

If someone has ever wronged you, hurt you or being unjust to you AND he refuses to apologise for it, you have two legitimate options of response- you can either choose to forgive that person even if he has not sought forgiveness or you can choose to retaliate. “The recompense of an injury is an injury of equal degree. But if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God. God does not love the unjust.” [Surah ashShura ayat 40] Retaliation can be taken in this world, but it should not exceed limits. “If you punish, punish with an equivalent of that which you were harmed.” [Surah anNahl ayat 126] This means that if someone slaps me, I am allowed to slap him back, but I am not allowed to slap him with a greater intensity. But although allowed, retaliation is not recommended. The same ayat further says, “But if you are patient, it is better for those who are patient”. The next ayat says, “And be patient. Your patience is not but from God. And do not grieve ove

How the Prophet Dealt with ‘Others’ Prophet Muhammad ﷺ , contrary to popular perception, was not just a saint who used to preach righteousness. He was also a statesman, a commander, a law-giver, a social reformer and the first president of the erstwhile State of Madinah. After having been conferred prophethood at the age of 40, he spent the remaining twenty three years of his life dealing with the myriad issues of people- both spiritual and material. In fact, he holds the unique distinction in history for having seamlessly intertwined the spiritual and the material aspects of people’s lives, such that every material deed was ingrained in spirituality and every spiritual act passed through the material realm. Of the people he immediately dealt with, the vast majority was that of the tribal Arab pagan population which worshipped multiple gods. Another major force he had to deal with was the Jewish population of Madinah and the adjoining suburbs, as also the Christians of Najra

Why this topic at all? Indian Muslims- unlike those Zoroastrians who came from Persia (hence, ‘Parsis’) and settled in India- are not those Muslims who have immigrated from abroad and become Indians. On the contrary, we are those Indians who have become Muslims by accepting Islam. We are as much ‘sons of the soil’ as anyone else is. My ancestry, for instance, traces its roots to Gujarat and not to the Arabian Peninsula. So when we speak of the role of Muslims in developing India, we are actually speaking of the role of those Indians who have accepted Islam. On the face of it, discussing the role of those Indians in developing India who have accepted a particular religious ideology in their personal lives seems utterly uncalled for. Why single out Muslims and enquire about their contributions? While this can definitely be a lame academic exercise, the way winds are blowing in our country these days makes this discussion uncomfortably pertinent. Muslims are asked these days what they h

This is the Urdu version of my article on The Hudaibiyah Expedition. The English version can be found on the blog as well.

Published in Payame Sidrah September 2018

Published In Payame Sidrah October 2018

My article on Taubah published in Inquilab dated 19th October 2018

O ur life is an examination. And as with all other examinations, we have some question papers to solve here. Each person has a different set of papers to answer, which essentially means that we all have different trials and temptations which we need to overcome and come out clean with flying colours. Something might be a trial for me, but it might not be a trial for you, and vice-versa. For example, I might be addicted to the use of foul language and my test, thus, is to control my tongue. You, on the contrary, might have perverted eyes, and using foul language does not come naturally to you. So your test lies in controlling your eyes and my test lies in controlling my tongue. But why these examinations at all? The idea behind putting people to trial is to purify them and purge them of all inner impurities, so that they might develop qalbe saleem (a sound heart). This concept has been elaborated in the Qur'an and the Hadith at many places, by giving variou

This new law being imposed upon society, says that if a man pronounces three divorces at once, it would be considered null and void (i.e. not even a single divorce would be counted) and he would be imprisoned for 3 years and he would have to financially support his wife during that time. Here are 10 reasons why this law is untenable: 1. It is against Islamic law. Although there is a difference in opinion as to whether 3 divorces pronounced at once would be considered 3 or 1, there is no difference over the fact that at least one divorce would have been pronounced. This new law ordains something that is absolutely against Islamic personal law, and hence an infringement upon our constitutional rights and privileges. 2. If the divorce is not to be implemented, then why is the husband being punished? Why is he being imprisoned for 3 years for a crime that has not been committed at all? 3. If the divorced wife lodges a complaint with the police against her husband, and

I have been interviewed by a Chennai based educational Urdu magazine, Payame Sidrah for their Sept issue. Had had a discussion on MSS, IIC, literature and a host of other topics. Do have a look...

Let us begin by exploring two prominent friendships: God ﷻ and Abrahamؑ : Every reader of the Qur’an would readily appreciate how emphatic and furious God seems whenever there is any allegation or even an allusion to Him having a son or daughter or parent or wife or partner. From about a dozen references that can be cited in this regard, allow me to quote a few: “But they have attributed to Allah partners - the jinn, while He has created them - and have fabricated for Him sons and daughters. Exalted is He and high above what they describe. He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He does not have a companion and He created all things?” [Surah alAn’am ayaat 100-101]   “And they say, ‘The Most Merciful has begotten a son’. You have done an atrocious thing. The heavens almost rupture and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation that they attribute to the Most Merciful a son.” [Surah Maryam ayaat 88-91]   But have you ever notic

Juvenile Delinquency C hild is the father of Man. This line by William Wordsworth is so profound that it has made its way to the list of cherished English idioms. A paradox at first sight, but an ocean of wisdom in its import! Every person on earth is here to develop his personality. What he eventually makes of himself is a product of years and years of internal and external influences- right from his childhood to his adolescence to his youth to his greying years. Of these, it is his formative years- those during his adolescence- which prove most decisive. It is during these years that a person usually embarks upon his future path- the path that either leads him to eternal bliss or one that leads him to infernal doom. Any deviation in this age can be compared to an angular deviation- the farther the line goes, the more it distances itself from the straight path. Adolescence is a period of internal conflict... a phase wherein he is neither boy nor man. He is s