Writer

Habib Swaleh: Saint of the Coconut Cutters

The Kenyan archipelago of Lamu, nestled on the Swahili coast, is decorated with winding lanes, humble homes and the beautiful...

Saints of the Savannah: The Mughals in Africa?

In the heart of Nairobi’s bustling city centre, lies a somewhat peculiar landmark. With the arrival of Sayyid Abdullah Shah...

Saints of the Savannah Series: The Punjabi Labourer

Riding through the Kenyan countryside on the modern standard gauge railway one comes across a peculiar sight. Not very far...

Ibn Battuta in East Africa

Ibn Battuta (d.1369) the renowned Moroccan qadhi, or judge of Islamic law, is best known as an explorer who traveled...

Saints of the Savannah Series: The Great Cleric

Buffalo and lions roamed the periphery of the swampy lands, that were uninhabited except for the meeting of the Kikuyu...

Dada Masiti: The Rabia Al Adawiyya of East Africa

Muazzam Mir on the life of the great East African saint, Dada Masiti. As Muslim consciousness awakens from post-colonial slumber,...

sacredfootsteps

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of Muslim Modernity by @saadyacoob via the LINK IN OUR BIO✨

One of the most important thinkers of the last century, ʿAllāmah Muhammad Iqbāl was born in Sialkot in 1877. A third generation Muslim, his thought offers us a basis for building a civilisational movement rooted in the love of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

The core question that fueled Iqbāl’s thought was the issue of colonial domination. Iqbāl was born in the British Rāj, a territory that was larger and more populous than its ruling empire.
If the Indian population was to rise up and resist British domination together, British rule would become entirely unsustainable. The question for Iqbāl, then, was the nature of British methods of control and the framework for resisting them.

Intellectually, the British had convinced the Muslims of their civilizational inferiority, and spiritually, the vibrant traditions of taṣawwuf in India, which had once guided emperors and commoners alike, had begun to spiritualise their despair – an attitude that he viciously attacked in his poetry.

Well read in the literary, theological, and philosophical traditions of English, German, Urdu, and Farsi, Iqbāl’s inquiry led him to the realisation that the British exerted control over India as a whole, but especially over Indian Muslims. What one finds in close examination of his thought is an urgent desire to reconcile the tension between what he believes to be Quranic priorities and modern realities – not at a granular level but rather at a core, conceptual level.

By the time of his passing, Iqbāl was considered the most prominent Muslim intellectual in India, and his thought influenced important Muslim intellectuals around the world. His work calls us to take up the divinely ordained role of Islam and Muslims in the world, to cast off despair and don the cloak of hope in Allah’s majestic mercy.

Words: @saadyacoob Video: @mhmal1k

The Malay World and the Ahl al-Bayt Islam arrived

The Malay World and the Ahl al-Bayt

Islam arrived in the Malay world through “good word” and quickly established itself though various kingdoms that would later become centres of learning. Zain al-Haddad (@zainhd) speaks to Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās about the major Muslim figures in the Malay world and the development of an indigenous Islamic scholarship which was nevertheless rooted in networks of authenticated scholarly chains across the centuries.

🎧 PODCAST: Islam in the Malay world with Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās | LINK IN BIO or listen via iTunes, Spotify or other platforms.

⭐️Sacred Footsteps is run by a small team of volunteers. It is funded entirely by our followers/readers/listeners. If you enjoy our content and share our vision please consider supporting us financially via the link in our bio ✨

The khalwa (place of seclusion) of Sayyida Nafisa,

The khalwa (place of seclusion) of Sayyida Nafisa, the great, great, great-granddaughter of the Messenger of God ﷺ.

Known for her knowledge and piety, Sayyida Nafisa (ra) would retreat to this spot, then located outside the city (now within Cairo) to spend time in seclusion and worship, as her grandfather ﷺ before her and the women and men of God were known to do regularly.

The place is preserved in her memory, and visitors can go and sit in the place in which she once worshipped. A beautiful scent emanates from within.

“In the remote village of Kiselchovo, tucked awa

“In the remote village of Kiselchovo, tucked away in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains, a small mosque without a minaret stood quietly, preserving the memory of a little-known Muslim community. I hadn’t come to Bulgaria expecting to find traces of Islamic history, but there it was, waiting to be encountered.”

✍️ Dr Rose Aslan’s (@dr.rose.aslan) latest article on Bulgaria’s Hidden Muslim Heritage is available to read now on sacredfootsteps.com - LINK IN BIO✨

⭐️ Sacred Footsteps is run by a small team of volunteers. It is funded entirely by our followers/readers/listeners. If you enjoy our content and share our vision please consider supporting us financially via the link in our bio ✨

A conversation with @barakablue and @yasmineaismet

A conversation with @barakablue and @yasmineaismet about our forthcoming course ‘Islamic Cosmology’ in collaboration with @rumicenterarts

This 7 week online course in collaboration with th

This 7 week online course in collaboration with the @rumicenterarts, is a deep study of the themes explored in William Chittick’s book Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul: The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World. Each week we will cover one chapter and discuss the key ideas within it.

Taught by @barakablue, co-facilitated with @zara_choudhary of Sacred Footsteps, with special guest William Chittick.

Sponsored by @meccabooks students will be provided with a discount link to purchase the book.

⭐️ Sign up: via the LINK IN OUR BIO✨

Aql: What is Islamic Thought? This is one of many

Aql: What is Islamic Thought?

This is one of many topics we will explore in our upcoming 7 week online course in collaboration with the @rumicenterarts - a deep study of William Chittick’s book Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul: The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World. Each week we will cover one chapter and discuss the key ideas within it.

Taught by @barakablue, co-facilitated with @zara_choudhary of Sacred Footsteps, with special guest William Chittick.

Sponsored by @meccabooks, students will be provided with a discount link to purchase the book.

⭐️ Sign up via the LINK IN OUR BIO ✨