My name is Abdul Malik and I currently work in a UK library. I have a bachelors degree (honours) in Theology from the University of Birmingham where I studied under various Muslim scholars, including an Al-Azhar (Egypt) alumnus who completed his postgraduate studies in London.
I am launching this blog as a counter to much of the discourse on Islam in the West that does not respect our classical/normative tradition. Foundational Islamic principles are either being deliberately dismissed or genuinely misunderstood, especially in the West where Muslims find that maintaining their values and identity is ‘like holding onto hot coals’ as mentioned in a famous hadith.
In the realm of political discourse and action, Muslims in particular are being targeted with selective censorship and are now afraid to speak out about issues such as the current ongoing genocide in Palestine. Normative Islam recognises that there is a political dimension to our faith and that the Islamic Shariah cannot be ignored when seeking solutions to our problems. Normative Islam also stresses the importance of spirituality and connecting directly with our Creator, all in accordance with the Sacred Law.
Although occasional reference may be made to a few ‘alims present today or deceased but from recent times, the focus of this blog will be the writings of the classical jurists, theologians and hadith scholars of the past. We also recognise that in Islam, despite the differences of opinion (ikhtilaf) in some matters between the four schools of jurisprudence, all of them remain equally valid. The present writer is a Hanafi but this does not mean that the articles on this site will lean in that direction.
Whilst this site is primarily aimed at Muslims, those of other faiths as well as those without a faith are welcome to leave comments or ask questions. If there is a topic you would like us to cover, please do not hesitate to ask.
Wa ma tawfiqi illa bi’Llah!
Normative Islam 