“For What Sin Was She Killed?” - The Qur’anic Revolution Regarding Women

Epigraph

 The Qur’an paints one of the most haunting scenes ever revealed:

 ‎وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ

“And when the buried girl shall be asked: for what crime was she killed?” (Qur’an 81:8–9)

 This is not poetry. This is the Qur’an holding a mirror before humanity: 

 “Explain yourselves.
Why did you crush her?”

 The verse was revealed about certain tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia who buried their daughters alive — out of shame, fear, societal pressure, and patriarchal honour constructs. But the verse is not limited to one region or one century.

 This verse is a moral X-ray of every society that kills a woman’s dignity, even if not her body.

 From Arabia to the Middle Ages to today, women have bled under different cultures in different ways, where they were labelled witches in medieval Europe and tortured, hunted, and burned, and labelled impure when menstruating, and being isolated, shamed, and treated as untouchable.

 Even blamed for “the original sin,” where Eve alone is considered to have misled humanity. There is no theological foundation in Islam that woman is the source of evil. None. The Qur’an corrects this misconception and states:

 Both Adam and Eve faltered together.
(Qur’an 2:36, 7:20–23)

 The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) gave women legal identity long before Europe even imagined it. Women were granted inheritance rights (Qur’an 4:7), the right to own property, the right to keep their wealth separate, the right to consent to marriage, the right to seek divorce, and the right to an independent economic identity.

 The Qur’an assigns a woman’s wealth as hers. She is not obliged to spend on the family. Man, as the husband is. That is why his inheritance share is larger, as he is obligated to provide for and protect. Hers is untouched security.

The Qur’an’s Verse (4:34) – A Bone Of Contention For The Feminists

 Every institution in the world has one head. God made the husband head of the institution of marriage, not because he is “superior” but because every institution needs a final point of responsibility, and the man is obligated to earn and maintain the household. This is an administrative role, not a dictatorship.

 The Qur’an demands mutual decision-making, consultation, kindness, and honour - a headship based on responsibility, not tyranny. Every institution has a head. Not so that the head may become a dictator, but so that the institution may remain stable, functional, and disciplined. The head is not the “most privileged.” The head is the most accountable.

 Marriage, in the Qur’anic worldview, is also an institution. Therefore, God assigns the husband as ‘qawwam’ (Qur’an 4:34), the one who carries the burden of provision, protection, and responsibility. This is not a license for domination. It is a burden of stewardship.

 The Qur’an does not say: “man is superior.” Rather, it says: man is responsible because he must earn and provide, and maintaining the household is his legal and moral duty. The husband and wife are to make decisions jointly, with mutual respect and consultation. This is the context of 4:34.

 Those who read “headship” as power have misunderstood it. It is actually an obligation. And to keep the marital institution from collapsing under rebelliousness, the Qur’an outlines graduated steps: talk, counsel, warn - not to harm, but to restore order. These are procedural safeguards, not tools of violence.

 The role of ‘qawwam’ makes the husband answerable before God. If he abuses his role, he will stand exposed in the Hereafter. His wife can take him to account before the Lord of Justice. That is a terrifying prospect. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) emphasized this responsibility when he said:

 “The best of you are those who are best to their wives and children.”
And he signaled with two fingers close together, indicating closeness with him in the Hereafter for the affectionate and just husband.

 So Qur’an 4:34 is not about male privilege. It is about male accountability. The husband’s role is to protect, provide, love, care, and uphold the dignity and well-being of the family. That is leadership in Islam. Not domination but responsibility with gentleness.

Conclusion

And yet women are still buried today. Not under sand. But under social pressure in joint families to carry all household labour, manipulative inheritance practices, legal or illegal, that push them out, cultural guilt for wanting their own careers, emotional gaslighting, honour-pressure, religious distortion, and the quiet suffocation of being told “this is your duty”.

They are still being quietly buried alive inside their own lives. The Qur’an came to unbury her.

Islam did not come to make women lesser. Islam came to lift them after the world had pushed them down. Islam came to speak for the girl who had no voice. Islam came to ask the question that shook centuries: “For what sin was she killed?”

 Every time we erase a woman’s right, crush her dreams, take her agency, shame her for existing, we step into the crime this verse condemns. The Qur’an defended her. Muslims who claim to be the bearers of the Qur’an today must do the same. A society is measured by how it treats the girl it once buried.

 May we not be the generation that buries her again, this time with culture instead of soil.

Aamir Yazdani
MPhil Islamic Thought & Civilization (Pakistan)
MSc Irrigation Engineering (UK)

The Divine Gift of Reflection: What Makes Us Human? (English Translation of presentation by Mr. Rizwanullah, Scholar Al Mawrid, Lahore)

 

The Divine Gift of Reflection: What Makes Us Human? 

(English Translation of presentation by Mr. Rizwanullah, Scholar Al Mawrid, Lahore) 

Epigraph

"And He made for you hearing, sight, and hearts — yet little are you grateful."
— Qur'an 32:9

Reading Time: 8 minutes

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We share much with the animal kingdom. Like other living creatures, we experience hunger and thirst. We possess instincts that drive us to seek fulfillment. We work to preserve ourselves and continue our species. In these fundamental aspects, humans and animals walk parallel paths.

Yet something profound distinguishes us. When the call of religion reaches humanity, responses vary dramatically—some embrace it wholeheartedly, others turn away with indifference or avoidance. This divergence reveals a unique human capacity. But what exactly sets us apart? What transforms a biological creature into a human being?

The Qur'anic Account of Human Creation

The Qur'an, particularly in Surah As-Sajdah, provides a profound explanation of our origins:

"He began the creation of man from clay. Then He made his progeny from an extract of a humble fluid. Then He proportioned him and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you hearing, sight, and hearts." (Qur'an 32:7–9)

This verse reveals that human creation unfolded through distinct phases. In the beginning, human beings appeared and perished like other creatures. Then Allah initiated a new process—fashioning and perfecting the human form from humble origins. The culminating act was breathing into humanity something of His own spirit (rūḥ).

This divine breath is what fundamentally distinguishes us from all other living beings. No other creature received this gift—this infusion of a divine element.

Beyond Instinct: The Spiritual Dimension

After Allah breathed His spirit into humanity, the Qur'an tells us He granted faculties of listening, seeing, and understanding—capacities that enable us to comprehend, reflect, and make moral decisions.

Now consider animals also see, hear, and think to some extent. We observe these cognitive activities among them. However, their faculties function entirely within the sphere of instinct and immediate need—finding food, water, shelter, and ensuring reproduction. Their perception serves only survival.

Humans, in contrast, use these same faculties not merely for physical survival but for higher purposes. We can reflect beyond our instincts. We contemplate meaning, pursue justice, create beauty, and seek truth. This capacity emerged after Allah breathed His spirit into us. Through this divine endowment, humanity became distinguished from all other creatures.

The Nature of Divine Spirit (Rūḥ)

When the Qur'an speaks of Allah breathing His spirit into humanity, what does this mean? Does our physical life depend on this spirit?

The word rūḥ operates on two levels. In everyday language, we use it to mean life or soul—"a person's spirit has departed." But in the Qur'anic sense here, the word transcends physical life.

Even before Allah breathed His spirit into the human form, biological life already existed—the body was animated, functioning, living. According to the hadith, after about one hundred and twenty days, the spirit is breathed into the developing child. Yet even before this moment, the embryo possesses biological life—a beating heart, movement, and growth.

This rūḥ is something different from the realm of the unseen, a reality whose true nature we cannot fully comprehend. When the Qur'an says, "He breathed into him of His spirit," it doesn't mean literal blowing, but rather that something proceeds from God's command—an act of creation giving rise to consciousness, perception, reflection, and moral discernment.

This is what distinguishes the human being from all other creatures.

The Honor and the Responsibility

Allah has honored humanity by granting these faculties. But this honor entails responsibility—we must use them as they were meant to be used, especially in understanding divine truth and responding to God's message.

True gratitude (shukr) for these gifts doesn't simply mean saying "thank you." In Arabic, shukr means recognizing the value of something and using it for the purpose for which it was given. If someone gives you a gift, you appreciate it not only by expressing thanks but by using it rightly—for the purpose intended by the giver.

When Allah says, "little do you give thanks," He means we must:

1. Be thankful that He made us human, not animals—granting us the honor of being descendants of Adam
2. Use these faculties as He intended—to recognize His signs, understand His guidance, and follow truth

If these two forms of gratitude are absent, we fail to fulfill the purpose of the divine gifts we received.

The Moral Decline: When Faculties Are Misused

But what happens when these God-given faculties are not used for their higher purpose?

A person may excel intellectually in worldly affairs—in science, technology, business, or art—yet when it comes to religion, revelation, or reflection on God's message, their mind becomes inattentive and dull. It is as if their ears cannot hear, their eyes cannot see, and their heart cannot comprehend.

The Qur'an describes such people powerfully:

"They have hearts with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle — nay, more astray. They are the heedless ones." (Qur'an 7:179)

Why "more astray" than animals? Because animals use their limited faculties correctly, for their basic survival needs, as nature intended. They cannot be blamed for lacking higher consciousness.

But humans were granted intellect, understanding, reflection, and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. We were given the capacity to hear God's message, to reflect on its depth, and to recognize truth from falsehood. When we fail to use these faculties, we fall below the level of animals. We sink beneath the rank God honored us with.

The Parable of the Shepherd

The Qur'an presents a vivid parable to illustrate this spiritual deafness:

"The parable of those who disbelieve is that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but a call and a cry; they are deaf, dumb, and blind — they do not understand." (Qur'an 2:171)

Just as sheep hear the sound of the shepherd's voice but do not comprehend what he says, so too does someone who ignores the divine message. Though they hear it, they are spiritually like those animals that hear sound but fail to grasp meaning. The Qur'an paints the picture of a person deaf, blind, and heartless—not in a physical sense, but in the sense that their spiritual perception has died.

A Modern Paradox

Here lies a contemporary paradox: "The world is cash and the Hereafter is deferred payment." Modern humanity sees immediate benefit in worldly pursuits—using God-given abilities to master technology, science, and achieve material progress. Yet when it comes to religion, the same person becomes lethargic and indifferent.

Why this disparity?

The answer requires reflection. If these abilities—intellect, creativity, and observation were meant only for worldly gain, then animals too achieve similar goals within their sphere. If a person believes they've been granted something higher, something more profound, then limiting those powers only to material life is irrational and ungrateful.

When we recognize that our intellect and faculties were meant to serve higher moral and spiritual purposes, we cannot in good conscience confine them to worldly aims alone. Otherwise, we waste the very gift that sets us apart.

The Path Forward: True Gratitude

The essence of this teaching is clear: Whenever we are invited toward Allah—whenever someone calls us to faith, reflection, or righteousness—it becomes our duty to use our God-given faculties of hearing, sight, and understanding to pay attention and respond sincerely.

The faculties that God has granted us—hearing, sight, reflection, and understanding—must be used not only for worldly benefit but also for recognizing and serving Divine truth.

To be truly grateful (shākir) for these gifts means:

1. To acknowledge God for granting them
2. To employ them for the purpose for which they were given—in the service of faith, truth, and moral reflection

If we fail to do so, the Qur'an warns, we descend to the level of animals: "They are like cattle, rather they are more astray." (Surah al-A'rāf 7:179)

Conclusion: A Sacred Trust

Our intellect, senses, and reasoning are not merely evolutionary faculties developed for survival. They are trusts (amānāt) (Qur'an 33:72)—sacred responsibilities meant to lead us toward recognition of the Creator.

While animals see, hear, and think in service of instinct, humans possess these faculties to seek truth, pursue justice, contemplate beauty, and recognize the Divine. The breathing of God's spirit elevated us beyond the instinctive realm into the moral and spiritual dimension.

To misuse or neglect these gifts is to betray our essential nature—to sink from the human to the animal level, or even lower. True humanity lies not in biological classification but in fulfilling the purpose for which we were created: to listen to the voice of truth, to reflect on divine signs in the world, and to align our lives with God's moral law.

The question each of us must answer is simple yet profound: Will we use the divine gifts we've been granted for their intended purpose, or will we squander them on pursuits that reduce us to something less than human?

The choice, ultimately, is ours.

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"And He made for you hearing, sight, and hearts — yet little are you grateful." (Qur'an 32:9)

Source: Mr. Rizwanullah, Scholar Al Mawrid, Lahore

🌿 Hashish: Intoxication, Law, and the Ethic of Reason

🌿 Hashish: Intoxication, Law, and the Ethic of Reason

Epigraph (Reading Time: 4 minutes) 

“Believers! This liquor, and gambling, and stone altars and divining arrows are all filthy handiworks of Satan. So, avoid them that you may succeed.  Satan only seeks to stir up enmity and malice among you by getting you involved in liquor and gambling, and to keep you from the remembrance of God and from prayer. Then will you abstain from [these things?  Abstain from them] and obey God and His Messenger and continue to abstain [from disobedience]. But if you turn away [from this guidance of Ours], then be informed that the only responsibility of Our Messenger is clear communication” – Qur’an (5:90-92)

It is evident from common sense that the real reason for the prohibition of liquor is the inebriation which it causes. For this reason, everything that intoxicates will similarly stand prohibited, and a small quantity of it shall also be prohibited as a large quantity on the principle of forbidding things that may lead to grave evils.

The question of whether hashish (or cannabis) is allowed is often discussed today in the language of medicine, culture, or recreation. Yet the moral framework approaches it differently — not merely through legality or custom, but through the ethics of reason and intoxication.

 ⚖️ The Principle Behind the Prohibition

 The Prophet (peace be upon him) declared that “Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden.” (Sahih Muslim, 2003)

 The underlying wisdom is not the drink, the leaf, or the chemical itself — it is the effect that clouds human reason. The Qur’an repeatedly reminds us that the human mind (‘aql) is a trust (amānah) from God, the very faculty through which moral and spiritual understanding arise. Anything that diminishes or disables this faculty, even temporarily, violates that trust.

 Hence, if a substance has the capacity to alter consciousness or impair judgement, whether in small or large amounts, it falls under the same rule as wine.

 🌀 “A Little Won’t Hurt” — The Modern Rationalization

 Many people argue: “I only use a small amount; it doesn’t make me lose control.”

 But this reasoning misses the ethical principle. Once a substance has the potential to intoxicate or produce euphoria, it can lead a person toward a state of indulgence. The pleasure itself — that shift of consciousness — becomes a subtle intoxication, guiding one’s will away from clarity and restraint.

 The reasoning is similar to the example:

 “I can drive safely on the wrong side of the road; no accident will happen.”

 The law is not crafted for exceptional individuals who claim self-control. It is made for the universal human tendency to guard against what the majority may fall into.

 💭 The Spiritual View

 In Islam, halāl and harām are not arbitrary boundaries; they are moral fences built around the sanctity of the human mind and soul. The prohibition of intoxicants is not meant to suppress joy, but to protect inner freedom — the very ability to think, discern, and worship consciously.

 Hashish, in its essence, shares the same potential for euphoria and disconnection from reason as wine or other intoxicants. Even if its medical use may be discussed under legitimate prescriptions, its recreational use cannot be justified within this ethical frame.

 🌙 Conclusion

 The permissibility of hashish cannot be established by the absence of visible harm or loss of control. It must be judged by the principle of potential intoxication — and by that standard, it remains impermissible.

 The moral law aims not to regulate pleasure but to preserve clarity. For once the mind — the seat of reason and faith — becomes dimmed, the human being loses what makes him truly human.

Aamir Yazdani
MPhil Islamic Thought & Civilization UMT, Pakistan
MSc Irrigation Engineering UK

Self Proclaimed Atheist Richard Dawkins and Data (not) Deleting Permanently from the Web

 
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

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Epigraph

“We record that which they send before and their footprints; and all things We have kept in a clear register.”

— Qur’an 36:12

⸻

Introduction

Richard Dawkins, in The God Delusion, makes a passing yet striking observation about the internet: once information is uploaded, it is exceedingly difficult to erase it permanently. Even when original sources are deleted, search engines retain cached versions, storing data that lingers beyond its apparent removal. This notion of persistent digital memory offers a fascinating point of reflection when read against Qur’anic descriptions of divine preservation and human accountability. 

Dawkins on Cached Memory:

“It is hard, however, to delete something permanently from the World Wide Web. Search engines achieve their speed partly by keeping caches of information, and these inevitably persist for a while even after the originals have been deleted.”

Here Dawkins highlights the tenacity of data, an almost inescapable digital trace that survives beyond deliberate human erasure.

Qur’anic Parallel

The Qur’an asserts a similar inevitability, but on a far deeper and metaphysical level. Regarding resurrection and the reassembly of human beings, it declares:

“Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? Yes indeed, We are able to proportion even his very fingertips.” (Qur’an 75:3–4)

This verse reminds humankind that nothing of their existence is lost to time. Even the unique pattern of fingerprints, a modern marker of identity, is preserved by the Divine.

Reflection: From Digital Persistence to Divine Memory

The persistence of cached data in our digital age provides a tangible metaphor for the Qur’anic worldview. Just as information online is never truly erased, the Qur’an teaches that no act, word, or trace of human life is lost. God’s record is far more precise and enduring than any technological memory, extending to the smallest anatomical detail.

What Dawkins describes as an accident of technology — data stubbornly surviving deletion — becomes in the Qur’an a deliberate act of divine omniscience: the guarantee that all existence will be reassembled and accounted for.

Conclusion

The resonance between Dawkins’ scientific observation and the Qur’anic proclamation illustrates how modern realities echo age-old revelations. In both cases, the message is clear: nothing truly vanishes. The human tendency to forget or to hide is countered by a cosmic reality in which everything is preserved — whether in a server’s cache or in the divine register.

Aamir Yazdani
MPhil Islamic Thought & Civilization Pakistan
MSc Irrigation Engineering UK

Teacher or Clergyman - Torch or Extinguisher?

 Epigraph

“There is in every village a torch – the Teacher: and an extinguisher – the Clergyman.” - Victor Hugo

(Reading time: 2-3 minutes) 

His words resonate deeply with the Qur’anic vision of human responsibility. The Qur’an does not call us to switch off our minds, but rather to sharpen them. God honours reason as a gift and condemns its neglect.

“Indeed, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason.” (Qur’an 8:22)

“…But He will place defilement upon those who do not use reason.” (Qur’an 10:100)

“And they will say, ‘If only we had listened or reasoned, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.’” (Qur’an 67:10)

 “And I had no power over you; I only invited you, and you accepted my invitation. So, do not blame me; blame yourselves. Qur’an (14:22)

A teacher enlightens; he awakens thought, encourages reflection, and nurtures growth. The clergyman, when he forgets his role, can extinguish this torch by demanding blind obedience. Yet the Qur’an reminds us that guidance is not compulsion, and that every individual will one day answer to God, alone:

“And all of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection, alone.” (Qur’an 19:95)

True scholarship does not suffocate the mind—it empowers it. The believer is called to listen, reflect, and reason. To embrace faith not as an inherited shell, but as a conscious, thoughtful journey.

The torch of a teacher is the flame of reason; the extinguisher of the clergyman is blind submission. Which fire will we carry into the Day we stand before God alone?

“It is a blessed book which We have revealed to you [O Prophet] so that people ponder on its verses and so that those endowed with intellect are reminded by it.” - Qur’an (38:29)

Aamir  Yazdani
MPhil Islamic Thought & Civilization, Pakistan
MSc Irrigation Engineering, UK