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1.
Translation of ‘Al-Bayan’
This
ongoing project is a translation of Ghamidi’s Al-Bayan
from Urdu. The idea in this exegesis is to unfold the
coherence in the Qur’an through the translation itself
keeping the explanatory notes to a bare minimum.
Work on
the last group of the Qur’an (Surahs Mulk- Naas) has
been completed.
2.
Translation of ‘Mizan’
Islam: A Comprehensive
Introduction (Urdu title of Mizan) is an extensive
study of the contents of Islam by the author. It is an
effort which spans almost two decades of both creative
and critical thinking. The entire endeavour is a fresh
interpretation of Islam from its original sources. In
his own opinion, the reason that he has undertaken it
is that interpretation of sacred texts is a human
endeavour and since this can never remain fault free,
the process should never discontinue. It is as a
result of this principle that the author has continued
to evaluate and re-evaluate even his own findings.
3. Translation of al-Islam
Islam:
A Concise Introduction (Urdu title of al-Islam) is a
condensed version of Mizan, a comprehensive treatise
on the contents of Islam by the author: Javed Ahmad
GhÄmidÄ«. The author himself has produced this abridged
version.
4. Playing God: Misreading a Divine Practice
In
order to understand divine religions, it is essential
to comprehend a certain unalterable practice of God.
Simply put, it is: God, through natural disasters or
through His messengers, punishes and humiliates in
this very world their foremost and direct addressees
who deliberately deny the truth, and rewards in this
very world those among them who adhere to the truth.
However, many scholars have misread this practice of
God; they have regarded it to be a part of the
shari‘ah, and as a result think that after the
departure of the Prophet (sws), later Muslims too have
the right to punish and subjugate people who deny the
truth. As a consequence of this misreading, many other
erroneous inferences have also resulted. Matters which
were to be left to God have been taken up by human
beings. In this manner, they are now guilty of
inadvertently playing God.
This
Book describes this divine practice in detail in the
light of researches carried out by Hamid al-Din Farahi
(1863-1930) and Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904-1997) and
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (b. 1951).
5. Common Misconceptions about Islam
One significant reason for the
various misconceptions which exist about Islam is the
erroneous presentation of the stance of Islam on
certain issues by some of our scholars. In recent
times, the works of Hamid al-Din Farahi (1863-1930),
Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904-1997) and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
(b. 1951) have served to clarify some of these
misconceptions. Although these misconceptions are
numerous, presented in this booklet are some common
ones. Most of them have been clarified by presenting
excerpts from the works of these scholars, whilst in
some cases, the author has attempted to dispel them
himself keeping in view the approach adopted by these
scholars.
6. Islam and Women: Msconceptions and Misperceptions
Many
controversies regarding the stance of Islam on women
have arisen because of misunderstanding the view of
Islam in this regard. In recent times, the works of
Hamid al-Din Farahi (1863-1930), Amin Ahsan Islahi
(1904-1997) and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (b. 1951) have
attempted to clarify the stance of the Islamic
shari‘ah on various issues. Most of the clarifications
presented in this booklet are based on their research.
7. A
Text Book of Qur’anic Studies
This
ongoing work is a comparative study of the Qur’an in
certain specific areas between the traditional thought
and the ideas developed by the Farahi school. Initial
work on the following topics has been completed:
i.
Revelation of the Qur’an
ii.
Theme of the Qur’an
iii.
History of the Qur’an
iv.
Arrangement of the Qur’an
v.
Language of the Qur’an
vi.
Interpreting the Qur’an
(The
above are available in course format at
www.studying-islam.org)
8. Collection and Transmission of the Qur’an
This
tract critically analyzes the traditional view on the
collection and transmission history of the Qur’an and
presents the research of some contemporary scholars
like Farahi, Islahi, Ghamidi and Imadi. It also
presents the view of the Orientalists.
9. Understanding the Qur’an: A Fundamental Premise
This
exposition presents a fundamental premise which must
be understood if one is to properly understand the
Qur’an. As per this premise, there are certain
directives of the Qur’an which have a specific
application and cannot be extended beyond this sphere.
10. Islam and Non-Muslims: A New Perspective
This
article discusses various directives of Islam
regarding non-Muslims and goes on to show that they
have a specific sphere of application. Some of the
conclusions drawn are: non-Muslims of today cannot be
waged war against in the name of religion, Jizyah
cannot be imposed on them and apostates of today are
not punishable by death. The article is developed on
the basis of research work carried out by Ghamidi.
11.
Selected Surahs of the Tadabbur-i-Qur’an
This
booklet (currently under print) contains a translation
of fourteen short surahs of the Tadabbur-i-Qur’an, a
monumental exegesis of the Qur’an by Imam Amin Ahsan
Islahi.
12. A New Economic Framework
In this
article (published as a booklet as well), Ghamidi’s
ideas have been presented regarding the Islamic
guidelines for the economy and economic activity. This
article also presents the outlines of Ghamidi’s
proposition for managing finance in the economy in
accordance with the principles of Islam. This
proposition is based on the premise that Banking --
Institutional Credit Creation to be more precise --
cannot be run without interest and, therefore, the
solution lies not in finding an alternative to
interest but to Banking itself.
13. The Islamic Concept of Taxation
In this
article, Ghamidi’s ideas regarding this subject have
been presented. The basic premises include the
assertion that Muslim citizens of an Islamic state are
under no legal obligation to pay any other tax to the
government apart from Zakah, that Zakah is levied on
all forms of wealth produced, save three exceptions,
and that the receipts from Zakah can be spent on all
areas of state affairs at individual as well as
collective levels. Questions as the problem of revenue
generation and the advantages of a system based on
this principle over those of systems based on other
taxes have also been addressed.
14. Marriages of the Prophet (sws)
The
rationale behind the marriages of the Prophet (sws)
and explanation of the Divine directives in this
regard. Based on Farahi’s
research, this article attempts to dispel many
misconceptions about the issue of the Prophet’s
marriages. |