Articles by Dr. Parvez

Students of the Qur’an would note one very striking difference in the space allotted to ‘religious’ injunctions and ‘social’ injunctions. While details of major and obligatory acts of worship like prayers, fasting, hajj and zakat have been left to the Prophet ﷺ to explain, social and familial norms and etiquettes have been elucidated in such fine detail that even exceptional cases have been elaborated in the Qur’an. One such important social injunction concerns the Law of Inheritance, a major part of which has been discussed in Surah anNisa’. Why is the Law of Inheritance Required? Greed is an important element of human personality. Man tends to amass all benefit for himself, even if he has to deprive others of their rightful share in the bargain. So when a person dies, it is the human tendency of every near and far relative, even acquaintances, to claim a lion’s share of the departed soul’s estate. This would necessarily result in pandemonium and strife, and it is for this ...

While in school, when I learnt about Adolf Hitler, I noticed that he was being portrayed as the epitome of evil. This image of Adolf Hitler as an undisputed villain is ubiquitous all over the world, to the point that anyone denying the holocaust can be put behind bars in Europe. To me, this overtly emphatic discourse somehow appeared to be a prejudiced exaggeration. There surely had to be something about this man who pulled out Germany from the utter collapse it suffered in World War I and the consequent Treaty of Versailles and made her strong and competent enough to initiate an entire World War yet again! Hence, to give the devil his due, I purchased a copy of Mein Kamph from Planet M to understand the other side of the story. So impressed was I with his views on democracy and certain other social issues that for many years hence my email address was parvez_hitler@yahoo.co.in; not out of some love for Adolf per se, but as a mark of protest against the systematic domonisation of a per...

This article was published in the March edition of Payame Sidrah

H O M O S E X U A L I T Y Impact and Solution DR. PARVEZ MANDVIWALA Abstract Homosexuality is either frowned upon and stigmatized (as in religious societies) or condoned and encouraged as a legitimate expression of one's sexuality (as in liberal societies). Accordingly, this also has a profound effect on the institution of marriage. In societies where it is stigmatized, homosexuality is considered a disease, which is either ‘cured’ by marrying the person concerned in a heterosexual union, or the homosexual person himself enters into a marriage of convenience. On the contrary, in societies where homosexuality is completely accepted, the homosexual person either remains unmarried or enters into a homosexual union depending upon the laws of his country/state. This paper seeks to explore all these four possibilitie...

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 pol...