The Concept of Wisdom in the Qur'an Adis Duderija ( the concept of this article based on SAQIB HUSSAIN’s Ph.D.thesis accessible here ) The concept of wisdom, or ḥikmah , stands as a pillar within the teachings of the Qur'an, offering a lens through which divine guidance can be understood not merely as prescriptive law, but as profound insight into the nature of reality and morality. Far from being a simple synonym for knowledge, ḥikmah in the Qur'an is a multifaceted term that has engaged scholars for centuries, prompting diverse interpretations that reflect its complexity and centrality to the faith. Exploring this concept reveals how the Qur'an synthesises earlier wisdom traditions and articulates a vision of spiritual and ethical understanding that resonates across time. From the earliest attempts at Qur'anic commentary, scholars wrestled with defining ḥikmah . Some early interpreters equated it with the normative practice of prophet Muhammad , ...
Belonging, by Fact and by History: Why Islam is Part of the West Generated using copilot for my Islam and Muslim Communities Op-Ed assessment taks Hook If Islam were truly alien to the West, our cities would look different, our libraries would be thinner, and our classrooms would be missing entire chapters of what we call Western thought. Yet the empirical record says otherwise: in England and Wales alone, about 6.5%—roughly four million people—identify as Muslim [AD1] , a minority share but a settled and visible one, in societies that have grown steadily more diverse over the last decade. That is social fact, not rhetoric. Thesis The assertion that Islam and Muslims “do not belong” to the West collapses under three kinds of evidence: demographic reality , attitudinal nuance , and civilisational history . When we look closely at how people live, what publics say, and what our intellectual inheritance contains, Islam is already inside Western life—culturally, so...