This issue contains 4 articles and 3 queries - scholarly writing, reader questions answered, and a continued record of the journal's ongoing concerns.
A systematic overview of the twin pillars of hadith evaluation — chain criticism and textual criticism — and how modern scholarship has renewed the case for matn-centred analysis.
The Qur'anic prescription for ṣalāh — its fixed times, bodily postures, and demand for inner presence — as a structured counterweight to the perpetual, shallow alertness of the digital age.
Is the gate of ijtihād truly closed? An examination of the historical myth, the continuing practice of independent legal reasoning, and its urgency for Muslim communities navigating new realities.
The Qur'an's invitation to reason — ʿaql — is not a supplement to revelation but intrinsic to it. A rereading of the ulū al-albāb passages and their implications for Islamic intellectual culture.
A reader asks about the Islamic perspective on birthday celebrations. Are they an impermissible bidʿah, or do they fall within the permitted sphere of social custom?
Is all music prohibited in Islam, or does the prohibition target only music that leads to sin? An examination of the classical texts and a nuanced contemporary reading.
A question about the scholarly positions on women leading mixed and single-sex congregational prayers, with a review of the relevant hadith and the limits of scholarly consensus.
