Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad

Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad

I am a lawyer, teacher of Religious Education and an interfaith activist. My passion is on the Quran which I have memorised by heart at the age of 19. I run the Quran Study Group in London.

Location London

Activity

  • Magdalena, you can feel a similar effect if you listen to the Qur'an. Have you tried listening to the Qur'an in youtube? For example, listen to this recitation by a young Indonesian who has memorised the whole Quran by heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMG-rCMwhZw

  • The above youtube link Meriem provided is Surah al-Fatihah (The Opening) which is the first and most frequently recited chapter of the Qur'an recited in every prayer. It is a bit like the Lord's Prayer for Christians but linguistically much more extensive. It contains the essence of the Qur'an where God is described as "the Most Compassionate, the Most...

  • Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    Karen, the answer to your question is yes. The Qur'an can be recited by individuals privately or it can be recited publicly either by listening to an individual reciter or reciting collectively.

  • Mark, hopefully from this course you can learn a great deal about Islam and Muslims in Britain.

  • The Quran says: "God wants ease for you and not difficulty" (2:185) after the verses on fasting. So normal laws are 'relaxed' with various dispensations due to changing circumstances. Amanda has already beautifully explained the modifications in relation to purification and prayer if one is physically unable to do the full ritual.

  • Mark, I'm glad that you now have some clarification. Please note that the so-called '5 pillars of Islam' are only some salient features of Islam to identify the Muslim faith and not the totality of the religion. Furthermore, some of these pillars are 'conditional' e.g. Zakat (mandatory 2.5% financial contribution to the poor and needy annually) if certain...

  • Thank you Mark for the above link. I have known Dr Bill Gent (Associate Fellow, University of Warwick) for a number of years. His doctoral thesis was an empirical study of Hifz (Qur’an memorisation) and he has published a number of articles on this subject (see the latest article at http://bit.ly/1Zm2Xsj). He previously attended my double-weekend ‘Journey...

  • Sheila, we have an open house at the Quran Study Group as we have Muslims and non-Muslims participating from different backgrounds. As we are not a 'closed' group, we entertain, debate and accept different views but ask participants to consider which view is closest to the text and spirit of the Qur'an.
    Mark, you are absolutely right. I memorized the...

  • Moshe, Muslims are frequently asked in the Qur'an to "obey the Messenger", which means to follow the Prophet. Imitating his lifestyle and habits are, although secondary, done out of love as the Prophets of God are more beloved to us than any other human beings.

  • Thank you Professor Gilliat-Ray for your compliment. I am sure all of us- educators and participants can learn a great deal from each other. Thank you for facilitating this healthy discussion forum.

  • Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    I hope you find m y answer useful.

  • Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    Sue, it seems difficult at first but it is easy to incorporate the prayers in our daily routine and it doesn't affect our daily lives as it becomes second nature. At the relevant prayer time which is fixed between two points (beginning and end) one can just pop away for as little as 5 mins (like a smoking break or going to the toilet). It's really is not...

  • Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    Sue and Celia. I am a Hafiz- someone who learnt to memorise the whole Qur'an by heart- from the aged of 15 to 19 at an evening Qur'an school in Britain. The Qur'an is recited in this chanting mode and not silently like an ordinary book. It certainly does have an effect on the reciter and listeners and also enhances learning and memorisation.

  • Lindsay, Islam recognises the freedom of believing and not believing for every human being whom God created with freedom of choice. The Qur'an says clearly "There is no compulsion in religion" and hence we cannot force our views on others. But this does not mean that the Qur'an does not have its own vision of reality as it sees it. While Muslims are...

  • Some excellent observations Lynne and Sarah. I'm glad that we have all joined the course.

  • I think this course is suitable for everyone even if you don't have basic knowledge of Islam and Muslims.

  • In Arabic Jameel means 'beautiful' and it is one of the attributes of God. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Indeed God is Beautiful and He loves beauty"!

  • I am really excited to join the course with fellow learners. I am a trained Religious Education teacher with an MA in Islamic Studies from SOAS and active in interfaith work but I think I can still learn a great deal from the course and fellow learners. I particularly have an interest in the Quran and run the Quran Study Group (you can google this name to...

  • I am a lawyer and teacher of religious studies by profession. By the Grace of God I learnt to memorise the whole Qur'an by heart in Britain. My teenage daughter has also recently completed the memorisation as well. This makes it easy for us to access the Qur'an like a walking encyclopedia without having to refer immediately to any other book as the Qur'an...

  • Hi, Lindsay. I'm glad that you have decided to join this course to objectively study the Islamic faith and practice as practised by Muslims in Britain. Please have an open mind as there are so many negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims out there.