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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi,
Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to religious questions. In the past, he has also spent significant time in India guiding the community. 4499 Answers
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Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour,
Sheikh Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour is lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies, London, and a visiting lecturer at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Oriental Studies. He was raised in Iran and holds a BA and an MA in Sociology from Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran. He has also studied at Queen Mary College London and the London School of Economics. 15 Answers
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Abbas Jaffer,
Sheikh Abbas Jaffer is an optometrist by profession and has a Master’s degree in Islamic Sciences. He is a part time lecturer at the Islamic College in London and is currently writing his doctoral thesis on the challenges faced by educators of young Muslims in modern day Britain. He has also co-authored a book on Qur’anic sciences for the Islamic College as well as translating several works from Persian into English. 14 Answers
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Zoheir Ali Esmail,
Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD from the University of Exeter in the philosophical and mystical readings of Mulla Sadra in the context of the schools of Tehran and Qum. 374 Answers
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Mateen Charbonneau,
Sheikh Mateen Joshua Charbonneau achieved a certificate from Harvard University in Islamic Studies. He undertook Howza classes under esteemed scholars since 2013 and has been teaching at Imam Mahdi Howza since 2017. He has compiled and published several books, has filmed several documentaries on Islamic subjects and has also promoted Islamic propagation in US jails. 64 Answers
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Amina Inloes,
Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the Islamic College in London and also the Managing Editor of the Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies. 730 Answers
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Sayyed Muhammad Husaini Ragheb,
Sayyed Muhammad Husaini Ragheb has a BA in Law from Guilan University, Iran and has also undertaken Hawzah studies in Qom. He used to be a Cultural Affairs director of Ethics Group of Al-Mustafa Open University. He obtained his Master's degree in Applied Ethics and now is a PhD candidate in Islamic Ethics besides doing his Bahse Kharej in Qom Hawza. 101 Answers
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Anwar Jaffer,
Born and raised in London, Sheikh Anwar Jaffer has a Bsc in Economics and Finance from Queen Mary University of London. In 2010 he began his religious studies in Najaf and transferred to Qom in 2015 where he currently resides with his family. No Answers
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Shyrose Jaffer Dhalla,
Zakira Shyrose Jaffer Dhalla is a graduate of York University in Canada from where she obtained a BA in Psychology and Sociology and a Masters in the field of Education. She lectures on Islam at mosques, universities, churches and interfaith gatherings and also recites majalises in Urdu, English and Gujarati. A published freelance writer, playwright, motivational speaker and Anti-Racist Educational Counsellor by profession, she conducts workshops on Race and Cultural sensitivity and often appears on TV program panels and radio talk shows to speak on Race Relations. 4 Answers
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Masuma Jaffer,
Dr Masuma Jaffer is a qualified dentist, with a Masters in Islamic Studies and has also attended Hawza in Qum. She obtained a PGCE - teaching qualification – and has taught Hawza studies at the Islamic College in London. She also has a Diploma in Counselling and is a Qualified Chaplain and worked with women prisoners at Holloway and with Hertfordshire Police advising them on Muslim matters. 10 Answers
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Zaid Alsalami,
Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from ANU, Canberra. He has written and translated several Islamic texts and also prepared educational videos on Islamic rulings and practices. 858 Answers
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Seyed Ali Musawi,
Seyed Ali Musawi studied religion and history at the University of California, San Diego and subsequently he studied for more than 8 years at the Islamic Seminary in Qum, Iran, focusing on Islamic history and jurisprudence. 12 Answers
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Seyed Ali Shobayri,
Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the Islamic College of London. He also studied at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England and continues Hawza and Islamic studies with private teachers. 164 Answers
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Seyed Saied Alavi,
Seyed Saied Alavi is a researcher based in Qom who has studied from the Howzah of Qom and also completed a Pastoral studies program. He is currently a university lecturer in the fields of Shia Theology and the History of Religions as well as other subjects. 9 Answers
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قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
Translation: Say, “He is Allah , [who is] One, Allah , the Eternal Refuge [As-Samad], He neither begets (gives birth to) nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” [Surah Ikhlas]
The tafseer of this great surah, Surah Ikhlas is very, very extensive; volumes of books have been written on it. One of our writers, Abdul-Ahad, may Allah bless him and increase him in his nearness to Allah, has written very extensively about this surah. Therefore, I will suggest to you some great readings about this great surah, and instead, break down the Arabic grammar word by word.
Tafseer of Surah Ikhlas
Grammatical Analysis
- Qul (قُلْ): Say. It is a command (fi’l amr), both to the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), in response to the question of the mushrikeen “tell us the lineage of your Lord,” and to us. There are four surahs that begin with qul–surah Ikhlas, Surah Naas, Surah Falaq, Surah Kafiroon. (We completed tafseer of all these surahs already, walhamdulillah.)
- Huwa (هُوَ): He, or it. One of the most common words you’ll come across. It’s technically third-person, singular, and masculine. In this case, it refers to Allah.
- Allah (اللَّهُ): This word is called laf dhuw jalaala (the honorable name) when we refer to it. Because it’s not proper to say “Allah is mansoob (having fatha on the last letter)” or “Allah is marfoo’ (having damma on the last letter)” when we speak about grammar.
- Ahad (أَحَدٌ): Ahad means “one.” Then again, wahid also means one; the difference is that, if I said I have wahid books, it means I have one book. Or two books. Or more books–“I have one book.” On the other hand, if I said I have ahad books … that means I have one and only one book. Not two. Not three. Just one. So here, he is Allah, Al-Ahad–the one, the unique (perhaps unique is a better translation of ahad).
- As-Samad (الصَّمَدُ): This is one of the names of Allah. It means the one who everybody depends on, but the one who doesn’t depend on anyone. Like if there was a fund-raiser and there’s only one person in the community who has the money, and he pays it–he can be described as samad. Allah is AS-Samad, THE samad, who we all depend on.
- Lam (لَمْ): Lam is a particle of negation similar to laa or maa or other negations. Lam makes mudaari’ (present/future-tense) verbs majzoom (having sukoon on the last letter).
- Yalid (يَلِدْ): Yalidu is mudaari’ (present/future-tense), singular, and masculine. It’s from the verb walada, which means to give birth to. It’s majzoom (yalid and not yalidu) because of lam.
- Wa (وَ): Wa by itself, means “and.”
- Yuwlad (يُولَدْ): This is the passive form of yalid (evidenced by the damma and fatha on the first and second letters). So “yalidu” means “he gives birth to,” and yuwladu means “he was given birth to.” It’s also majzoom, with sukoon, because of lam (it’s connected by the wa, which carries over the grammatical case, too).
- Yakun (يَكُن): Yakunu is the mudaari’ of kaana (he was). It means “he is.” Again, it’s majzoom because of lam.
- Lahu (لَّهُ): Lahu is the preposition “li” (for), and hu is the majroor version of huwa. So li + huwa = lahu, roughly translated as “for him.”
- Kufuwan (كُفُوًا): If you look in the fiqh books about the chapter of orphan girls, they must be married to someone of the same “kufwan,” someone of the same level and status and rank as she is. So here, it’s saying that there’s nobody at the same level as Allah–because he is Al-Ahad.
Wassalam