Author Archives: Ijaz Ahmad

Upcoming Debate: Br. Yusuf Ismail and Pastor Fluech

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To contact IPCI for further details, please see their Facebook page. We have requested details about a possible livestream and we have received information that there most likely will be one. As soon as we get any further information we’ll share it, and we’ll also post the link to our social media pages.

The time for the debate for those of us outside of South Africa is as follows:

  • London, UK – 4 PM.
  • New York, USA – 11 AM.
  • Port of Spain, Trinidad – 12 Noon.
  • Lahore, Pakistan – 9 PM.

and God knows best.

Upcoming Debate: Br. Adnan Rashid and Dr. James White

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Details:

  • Debaters – Br. Adnan Rashid and Dr. James White
  • Topic: Do we need the cross for salvation?
  • Date: January 17th, 2018.
  • Time: 7 pm.
  • Livestream: No.

As of yet there is no confirmed livestream of the event, however if this changes we will be sure to update the general public.

The general reception to the words of the published topic are mixed. The cross, literally, is not needed for salvation in Christianity and so it is understood that a more accurate interpretation of the topic itself would be along the lines of, “Do we need the crucifixion/ sacrifice of Jesus/ blood of Jesus for Salvation?” Nonetheless, this is a debate that boils down to soteriological differences between Islam and Christianity. Debates between Muslims and Christians on this topic or those similar to this topic have not seen much progress beyond the overused argument of, “there is no justice in Islam for sin if no one is punished”.

As was done for the debate between Br. Zakir Hussain and Dr. James White, I will publish a bingo card of key phrases/ arguments to be used by the Christian debater. It received a great reception last time around in London, and one can hope the same for this upcoming event. The intent behind a bingo card is not to mock or demean anyone but to encourage the introduction of new argumentation, to move beyond repeating old polemics, it also becomes a fun way to see if it’s possible to predict what argument a speaker would use.

and God knows best.

Dialogue: Navigating Differences in Theology

This dialogue took place in the context of a discussion I have been having with Mr. Kerimli for the past two years. It mainly revolves around the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qur’an’s relationship with both of those books. We explore these relationships, the existence of a possible “Madinan Torah” and other fascinating questions about textual preservation in light of historical evidences. Click here for the dialogue.

Jerusalem and the Fulfillment of Prophecy

In a narration recorded by al Musharrah ibn al Murajja al Maqdisi in his work, Fada’il Bayt al Maqdis, we read a prophecy about ‘Umar’s (may Allah be pleased with him) peaceful conquest of Jerusalem. What makes the prophecy special, is that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also described al Quds al Sharif in great detail to the point that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who had never been to Jerusalem before was able to locate al Quds al Sharif (the Temple Mount) solely based on the Prophet’s detailed and highly accurate description. This video brings to life that narration:

YouTube Mirror: Jerusalem and Umar’s (ra) fulfillment of Prophecy

The Passing of Shaykh Muhammad Mustafa al ‘Azami

It is with a heavy heart that I convey the sad news of the passing away of my teacher, Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa Al-A’zami (rahimahullah).

The Sheikh was one of the world’s premier scholars of Hadith, and received his education at Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband, India (1952), al-Azhar University, Cairo (M.A., 1955),

mmazami

The Shaykh

and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D., 1966). He was Professor Emeritus at King Sa’ud University (Riyadh) where he also chaired the department of Islamic Studies.

He served as curator of the National Public Library, Qatar; Associate Professor at Umm al-Qura University (Makkah); Visiting Scholar at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); Visiting Fellow at St. Cross College (University of Oxford); King Faisal Visiting Professor for Islamic Studies at Princeton; and Visiting Scholar at University of Colorado (Boulder). He was also an Honorary Professor at University of Wales (Lampeter).

His publications include Ageless Qur’an: A Timeless Text, The History of the Qur’anic Text, Studies in Early Hadith Literature, Hadith Methodology and Literature, On Schacht’s Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence, Dirasat fi al-Hadith an-Nabawi, Kuttab an-Nabi, Manhaj an-Naqd ‘ind al-Muhaddithin, and al-Muhaddithin min al-Yamamah. He had also edited numerous other works including Kitab at-Tamyiz of Imam Muslim, Muwatta of Imam Malik, Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah and Sunan Ibn Majah to name a few.
In 1980 he was the recipient of the prestigious King Faisal International Award for Islamic Studies.

In the western world, the Sheikh was best known for his critical investigation of the writings of the famous orientalists Ignác Goldziher, David Margoliouth, and Joseph Schacht.

I was fortunate to spend almost 15 years with the Sheikh learning from him and benefiting from his knowledge.

A great loss for the Muslim Ummah!

Source: Imtiyaz Damiel, Facebook.

The Changes to the First Words in the New Testament

Last month I published a paper on how the very first words in the New Testament evolved over time. It was entitled, “The Inscriptio of the Gospel Attributed to Matthew.” Today we have produced a 2 minute video that simplifies and summarizes the research from that research paper:

Alternative YouTube Link: Click Here.

For more information, you can see a quick 15 minute talk on how the Old Testament was corrupted (including the Shema Yisrael!). To view or download the presentation slides from the 15 minute video, please click here.

To download or read the paper mentioned in this post, please click here.

and God knows best.

The Inscriptio of the Gospel Attributed to Matthew

For many Christians the authorial identity behind the first Gospel (as per the Augustinian order), commonly attributed to Matthew usually appears to be a matter of little or no concern. This is in part due to the inscriptio of the Gospel itself as is found in most modern translations of the New Testament. Without this inscriptio, the first mention of the name Matthew appears in Matthew 9:9. While at first this may not seem like an issue of note, a critical examination of the inscriptio with respect to its inception, and eventual adoption and evolution can give us deep insight into the perception of this document by those contemporaneous to its creation and development.

Who was authorship ascribed to, if anyone at all in the manuscript tradition? Was it considered to be scripture from inception? How has the use of the inscriptio in today’s modern translations affected the belief that an individual identified as Matthew did indeed write the first Gospel?

For those who would prefer to download the document or access it through other means, here are some alternative options:

This is the first article in a series of articles that will cover the New Testament and the Qur’an in light of textual criticism.

and Allah knows best.

 

Dialogue Video: Navigating Differences in Theology – Br. Ijaz and Mr. Alex Kerimli

I recently had a dialogue with my friend and colleague, Mr. Alex Kerimli in Toronto. Today the video of that event is being released. The event was graciously hosted by the i3 Institute, which offers courses for young Muslims in the Greater Toronto Area.

Poster

The event went extremely well and in the end I have to say that I definitely enjoyed my time with Mr. Kerimli. We met a second time following the dialogue and had a second more informal dialogue that would be released in the near future. In the meantime, this dialogue took place in the context of a discussion I have been having with Mr. Kerimli for the past two years. It mainly revolves around the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qur’an’s relationship with both of those books. We explore these relationships, the existence of a possible “Madinian Torah” and other fascinating questions about textual preservation in light of historical evidences.

At the end of the dialogue, it was all smiles from both sides of the theological divide.

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In addition to releasing the video of the dialogue I am also including my PowerPoint presentation slides in PDF form. There are two versions of these slides. There is the original presentation as I used it in the dialogue. Following the event I noted that there was a miscitation of a quote from Mark, instead of Mark 4:15 I accidentally put Mark 4:20. There was also another miscitation, instead of Pslam 40:6-8, I wrote Isaiah 40:6-8. Along with that error, I also clarified my use of terms in the table comparing the contents of the Shema in the Gospels and the Septuagint editions. To be fair, I am releasing both the original version with the errors and the corrected version for clarity. I will follow up with Mr. Kerimli to see if he would be willing to do the same.

Here is the dialogue video:

and Allah knows best.

 

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