Comments on: Spencer, the NDU scholars, the securocrat and his books

By: Traditionalist

Traditionalist — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 20:41:37 +0000

It would behoove all to understand that Reliance of the Traveler is far from a comprehensive translation. Keller himself states this. I am a little tired of all the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed traditional Islamists championing that book and that man as the end-all , be-all of proper, traditional Islam. The first thing one learns is that there is a wide variety of opinion and teaching within traditional Islam. And Keller contradicts that on many fronts.

Just a warning.

By: irn_bru

irn_bru — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:25:03 +0000

Yusuf, interested to know why you deleted the link?

Because it links to a pirate download of a copyrighted book, which is illegal and could expose me to legal action.

By: irn_bru

irn_bru — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:02:53 +0000

You can download "Reliance of the Traveller" from [deleted] Only yesterday, I was reading a refutation of the concept of 'greater and lesser jihad' http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15128

By: Yusuf Smith

Yusuf Smith — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:06:15 +0000

Bikhair: well, the Reliance is not the be-all and end-all of Islamic legal texts but it is the most authentic and extensive of those translated into English. Parts of it are concerned with tasawwuf but the sections related to jihad are those of the original author (Shaikh Ahmad bin Naqeeb al-Misri) and various other classical, mostly Shafi’i, imams. “Salafis” commonly object to it because of the parts related to Sufism and because it defends Ash’ari aqeeda and advocates following a madhhab, i.e. because it is not a “Salafi” text. To call it garbage is incredibly ignorant, even for someone who disagrees with its basic standpoints.

By: Bikhair aka Taqiyyah

Bikhair aka Taqiyyah — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 04:58:38 +0000

Yusuf,

What is the status of this book of fatawa among the Salafis or the “Wahhabis”? Isnt Nuh Keller a sufi? Why would anyone consult that book as being the definitive book of all Islamic understanding except to suggest that you may not have access to any other Islamic material? This is the problem with the Arabic illiterate.

I asked my husband about that book and he told me it was Sufi garbage. I am not allowed to bring anything of Syed Qutb in the house. What refers to this book? Why isnt anything from Ibn Taymiyah consulted or any of the four Imams?