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Commentary on the Eleventh Contentions
The philosopher Jurgen Habermas claims that "modernism is dominant but dead". A corollary might be : "Islam is despised but thriving". The short essays in this collection give thanks for this defining irony of our culture, and out flesh on a hundred bones of contention. 1. Augustine: man's deformity. Ishmael: his deiformity. (Defy, don't deify.) 2. Peace without justice is not peace at all. 3. A faqih in first class? And pigs will fly ... 4. The Dajjal will only be king when only the blind are left in the valley. 5. British Islam: 'We came as rebels, and found ourselves to be heirs.' (Gershom Scholem) 6. The Liber Asian is the reconciliation between Edom and Juda-yi Ism. 7. Your greatest liability is your lie-ability. 8. No-one is more extroverted than the contemplative saint. 9. Modernity: an accelerating attempt to shovel matter into the growing hole where religion used to be. 10. The Liber Asian vs. the Manu Mission: a woman may be Arahat on Arafat.
176 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
19 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Abdal Hakim Murad
33 books385 followersTimothy John "Tim" Winter (born 1960), also known as Abdal Hakim Murad, is a British Sufi Muslim researcher, writer and teacher. His profile and work have attracted media coverage both in the Muslim World and the West. Conversant in both traditional Islamic scholarship and Western thought and civilization, Winter has made contributions on many Islamic topics.
Born in 1960, Winter was educated at Westminster School, and graduated with a double-first in Arabic from Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge in 1983. He then studied and taught traditional Islamic sciences at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt for several years, and spent several more in Jeddah, where he administered a commercial translation office and maintained close contact with Shaykh Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad. In 1989, he returned to England and spent two years at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he concentrated on Turkish and Persian.
Winter is currently the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University, Director of Studies in Theology at Wolfson College, and a doctoral student at Oxford University, where he is studying the relationship between the government and Sufi brotherhoods in the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] Winter is also the secretary of the Muslim Academic Trust (London), Director of The Anglo-Muslim Fellowship for Eastern Europe, President of the UK Friends of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Director of the Sunna Project, which has published scholarly Arabic editions of the major Sunni Hadith collections.
Born in 1960, Winter was educated at Westminster School, and graduated with a double-first in Arabic from Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge in 1983. He then studied and taught traditional Islamic sciences at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt for several years, and spent several more in Jeddah, where he administered a commercial translation office and maintained close contact with Shaykh Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad. In 1989, he returned to England and spent two years at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he concentrated on Turkish and Persian.
Winter is currently the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University, Director of Studies in Theology at Wolfson College, and a doctoral student at Oxford University, where he is studying the relationship between the government and Sufi brotherhoods in the Ottoman Empire.[citation needed] Winter is also the secretary of the Muslim Academic Trust (London), Director of The Anglo-Muslim Fellowship for Eastern Europe, President of the UK Friends of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Director of the Sunna Project, which has published scholarly Arabic editions of the major Sunni Hadith collections.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 4, 2017
"Contention" : An assertion; an argument one puts forward.
Even before seeing "كتاب شرح المزاعم" written in arabic in the back cover - the very title of the book felt indeed traditional, in vein of commentaries/شروح on specific short hikams.
Short, sharp, synthetic, unapologetic and powerful contentions by an very able British muslim scholar. They are also seem sometimes enigmatic, as Abdal Hakim Murad himself said in an interview.
With their broad scope, these contentions apply brilliantly the axiom of being "witnesses to mankind" (2:143)
Also, where else would you find arabic-sanskrit-turkish-persian-english puns ?
One can only wish for more commentaries on other contentions in the future.
Even before seeing "كتاب شرح المزاعم" written in arabic in the back cover - the very title of the book felt indeed traditional, in vein of commentaries/شروح on specific short hikams.
Short, sharp, synthetic, unapologetic and powerful contentions by an very able British muslim scholar. They are also seem sometimes enigmatic, as Abdal Hakim Murad himself said in an interview.
With their broad scope, these contentions apply brilliantly the axiom of being "witnesses to mankind" (2:143)
Also, where else would you find arabic-sanskrit-turkish-persian-english puns ?
One can only wish for more commentaries on other contentions in the future.
October 12, 2024
This book consists of Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad's short essays which serve as commentaries for his own short quotes which he has termed "Contentions".
The essays are on various topics such as morality, sufism, politics, piety, ideologies, etc. and are full of great wisdom and observations and should be read again and again.
The issue is with the book itself. It has no table of contents for reference, no introduction for how to approach the book, no proper citations for the various other works referenced (including Ahadith), no footnotes giving background information or explanation for vague or new terms. And also, the cover is horribly designed.
As it is now, it's practically inaccessible for readers. It would be great if a second edition could be published which rectified these oversights.
The essays are on various topics such as morality, sufism, politics, piety, ideologies, etc. and are full of great wisdom and observations and should be read again and again.
The issue is with the book itself. It has no table of contents for reference, no introduction for how to approach the book, no proper citations for the various other works referenced (including Ahadith), no footnotes giving background information or explanation for vague or new terms. And also, the cover is horribly designed.
As it is now, it's practically inaccessible for readers. It would be great if a second edition could be published which rectified these oversights.
March 12, 2017
This has to be one of the greatest books I've ever got my hands on. Truly insightful, full of wisdom and light. Honestly, shaykh abdal Hakeem Murad stands unparalleled as a cultural critic, a Muslim mystic, and a brilliant academic in our confused and often chaotic world.
I find myself going back to this book every couple of months, reach time finding new hidden treasures.
I find myself going back to this book every couple of months, reach time finding new hidden treasures.
February 15, 2015
Usai sahaja buku ini diterima daripada kiriman pos, sempat membelek halaman-halaman awalnya. Menarik, tetapi agak berat untuk saya terima ketika itu.
Hanya sesudah beberapa bulan kembali di tanah air barulah tergerak untuk menyudahkannya. Antara yang saya kira berat pada permulaan ialah untuk menangkap 'istilah' yang dipakainya secara konsisten seperti Liber Asian, Edom, monoculture. Melangkah dari satu sharah ke sharah yang lain barulah makna istilah-istilah ini lebih jelas.
Gaya persembahan 'contentions' ini juga menarik, tanpa sharahnya ia akan kelihatan seperti tweet sebelum popularnya Twitter masa kini.
Hanya sesudah beberapa bulan kembali di tanah air barulah tergerak untuk menyudahkannya. Antara yang saya kira berat pada permulaan ialah untuk menangkap 'istilah' yang dipakainya secara konsisten seperti Liber Asian, Edom, monoculture. Melangkah dari satu sharah ke sharah yang lain barulah makna istilah-istilah ini lebih jelas.
Gaya persembahan 'contentions' ini juga menarik, tanpa sharahnya ia akan kelihatan seperti tweet sebelum popularnya Twitter masa kini.
July 10, 2014
I find it rather hard to truly realize the depth and breadth of the book, without sufficient knowledge of many subjects, including religion, history and philosphy.
June 16, 2015
Source of wisdom and reflections
September 2, 2017
Brilliant! I applaud Dr. Murad's thinking, and strongly recommend this short book.
London; 21.8.2017.
London; 21.8.2017.
April 20, 2014
Felt like he tried too hard. Excessively convoluted and reliant on historical and academic terminology. It could have been a lot more relevant to contemporary life, rather than being so traditional, and I found some of the traditionalism disagreeable.
February 1, 2016
It deserves more than 5 stars.. Love every single sentence in it. A true gem
March 25, 2025
This is probably one of the most difficult and rewarding reads I have ever had. Every word seemed to be perfectly placed to intellectually stimulate me, which led to me taking a lot longer to read the book then I actually did. It was a lot of hard work to read and a lot of times I was getting tired of having to search a new thing a few sentences after I had just searched something, but looking back on it I can see the overall process was very fruitful.
I would recommend it to any Muslim, but probably give them a frank warning that it's not book that comes easy, I think I'll have to re-read it a few more times to properly understand a lot of concepts. The book is scribbled with questions, appreciations and understandings from me which gives a good idea of how reading it went.
The reason it isn't a 5/5 is two reasons. Number one, the book could be organised better. A lot of Googling could have been avoided if there was a glossary to look up things, especially because some stuff is explained. Secondly, these contentions could be a lot longer to actually explain some of the things to someone who is coming it with much less knowledge than the author. I still have no idea what Dejeuner Sur l'herbe has to do with modernity, and I have spent a long time thinking about it. The Shaykh has a lot of knowledge but unfortunately I think without a deep understanding of the topics he talks about (fiction, art, philosophy, history, science) it can be very convoluted for someone to read. I am not sure the solution to this since it's a difference of knowledge between author and reader, but further commentaries that are more simplistic and fact based would probably help? The last contention is Wittgenstein's similarity on absurdity of language and the Quranic element of the use of language in perceiving God and his qualities, but if you have no idea who Wittgenstein is (or even if you do, and you aren't well read in his philosophy, ie me) you will be left very confused for a bit whilst you try and sort out the jigsaw pieces. The sorting out is not the issue, but it'd be nicer if the pieces were all there for you to sort out.
Will try and email the Shaykh some questions and see if some of my questions can be answered :)
8.5/10
I would recommend it to any Muslim, but probably give them a frank warning that it's not book that comes easy, I think I'll have to re-read it a few more times to properly understand a lot of concepts. The book is scribbled with questions, appreciations and understandings from me which gives a good idea of how reading it went.
The reason it isn't a 5/5 is two reasons. Number one, the book could be organised better. A lot of Googling could have been avoided if there was a glossary to look up things, especially because some stuff is explained. Secondly, these contentions could be a lot longer to actually explain some of the things to someone who is coming it with much less knowledge than the author. I still have no idea what Dejeuner Sur l'herbe has to do with modernity, and I have spent a long time thinking about it. The Shaykh has a lot of knowledge but unfortunately I think without a deep understanding of the topics he talks about (fiction, art, philosophy, history, science) it can be very convoluted for someone to read. I am not sure the solution to this since it's a difference of knowledge between author and reader, but further commentaries that are more simplistic and fact based would probably help? The last contention is Wittgenstein's similarity on absurdity of language and the Quranic element of the use of language in perceiving God and his qualities, but if you have no idea who Wittgenstein is (or even if you do, and you aren't well read in his philosophy, ie me) you will be left very confused for a bit whilst you try and sort out the jigsaw pieces. The sorting out is not the issue, but it'd be nicer if the pieces were all there for you to sort out.
Will try and email the Shaykh some questions and see if some of my questions can be answered :)
8.5/10
August 1, 2021
Este señor es un auténtico regalo para los musulmanes. Acostumbrado a escucharle hablar (habla muy bien), me ha gustado comprobar que también escribe con gusto, profundidad y estilo.
No le pongo cinco estrellas porque muchos textos han sido un poco difíciles de entender para mí, que soy un poco zoquete. Sé que es extraño penalizar un texto por las limitaciones del lector, más que por fallos del escritor, pero oye. Yo que sé.
No le pongo cinco estrellas porque muchos textos han sido un poco difíciles de entender para mí, que soy un poco zoquete. Sé que es extraño penalizar un texto por las limitaciones del lector, más que por fallos del escritor, pero oye. Yo que sé.
May 11, 2025
A short concise and timeless introduction into the Neo-Traditionalist tradition within Islam; predicated on refocusing on the four Madhabs and the spiritual aspects of Islam (Sufism). Connecting deeply with the modern tradition, Sheikh Abdal Hakim masterfully understands and conveys what being Muslim means in the modern context, and how the latent human spirit and nature, fitrah, is inherently leaning towards Islam.
April 8, 2024
Uno de los mejores libros escritos en ingles, la sabiduria del sheyh Abdal Hakim Murad y su profundo conocimiento no solo del din pero al mismo tiempo del mundo moderno, hacen de cada uno de los cortos ensayos una verdadera perla.
March 9, 2023
These contentions are for every human being who seeks meaning about God, the world and existence. The truth is in there. Seek it.
Read
September 19, 20235, 16, 17, 29, 41, 57, 58, 61, 62, 73, 78, 94
As Allah’s khalifa he is worthy to rule His earth; as clay he deserves only to be trodden underfoot. This is why the conservation of 'ird, dignity and honour, is one of the purposes of the Law.
An ism makes a principle into an ideology
Spirituality must not be the Law’s battered bride.
As Allah’s khalifa he is worthy to rule His earth; as clay he deserves only to be trodden underfoot. This is why the conservation of 'ird, dignity and honour, is one of the purposes of the Law.
An ism makes a principle into an ideology
Spirituality must not be the Law’s battered bride.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews