Dr. Shehzad Saleem says that Muslims commonly believe that when a person commits blasphemy, the crime is punishable by death. But he says this punishment is not found in the Quran or any genuine narrative of the Prophet. He says blasphemy is often wrongly conflated with apostasy. And he argues that Muslims cannot take the law into their own hands; there must be due process. Dr. Shehzad Saleem is an Islamic researcher who completed his PhD from the University of Wales, UK on the history of the transmission of the Quran. In 2020, he published, “History of the Quran - A Critical Study.” Dr. Shehzad is a fellow at Al Mawrid Institute and a student of Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and Amin Ahsan Islahi, whose teacher, Hamid Uddin Farahi was an important scholar of the Quran and the Arabic language in the Indian subcontinent. If you enjoy this video, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks

"As a Muslim, I have compared all the major religions and I found Islam to make the most sense. But sometimes I get a thought in my mind that maybe some other religion would make more sense, which I don't know of. How can I deal with this thought? Any guidance would be helpful." Dr. Shabir Ally responds to a viewer's question by explaining that we have to resign ourselves to the fact that we can't know everything. He says it's unreasonable to expect that God will hold us responsible on the Day of Judgment for exploring all the religions out there. He also shares why he's confident Islam is the religion for him. If you enjoy this video, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks

Dr. Shehzad Saleem offers a unique take on 9:5, a controversial verse of the Quran. He says the verse should be read in the context of other scriptures in which God creates lesser days of judgment to remind us of the punishment of the Day of Judgment and help us remember our accountability before God. God uses His messengers as instruments of justice to punish those who deliberately deny the truth after it has been made evident to them in a manner that is conclusive. Only God knows and divulges this information to His messengers. Human judgment cannot come into play, so this practice cannot be extended by human beings in the post-prophetic era. For us, judgment is deferred until the Day of Judgment. Hence the so-called sword verse cannot be applied today. Dr. Shehzad Saleem is an Islamic researcher who completed his PhD from the University of Wales, UK on the history of the transmission of the Quran. In 2020, he published, “History of the Quran - A Critical Study.” Dr. Shehzad is a fellow at Al Mawrid Institute and a student of Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and Amin Ahsan Islahi, whose teacher, Hamid Uddin Farahi was an important scholar of the Quran and the Arabic language in the Indian subcontinent. If you enjoy this video, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks

Though Dr. Shabir Ally may offer different answers from what is widely and popularly known, nonetheless he follows a strict methodology that relies on the primacy of Quran and genuine narratives of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He says that contrary to the theoretical concept of Ijma, many scholars hold diverse opinions on the same questions. Sometimes he finds that one such opinion relies of stronger evidence. Occasionally, he will develop his own opinion when dealing with new issues. He says the use of reason is Islamic; without it, we would not be faithful to God in using the gifts He has given us. He speaks at length about the weakness of his approach, and his own personal weaknesses. He concludes that our generation has the same responsibility as generations past to shape the faith in a way that is reasonable, practical and shows the beauty and wisdom of God in our time, even if it means doing something different from our predecessors; he says they were right, and hopefully we are also right by the grace of God. If you enjoyed this series, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks

The Quran emphasizes reason and invites us to use it. Dr. Shabir Ally says there's been a long struggle between people who advocate reasonable approaches and people who advocate traditional approaches, and the latter won out. He explains that if we didn't use reason, we wouldn't be faithful to God's commandments in the Quran or the narratives that are reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him). Dr. Shabir advocates for reason informed by revelation which incorporates all spheres of learning, including science, arts and philosophy. If you enjoy this video, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks

Last time, Dr. Shabir Ally questioned the idea of a scholarly consensus. Now he explains that the presumption of a scholarly consensus is used to silence dissent and stifle fresh thinking. He says we should think of ijma as a theoretical concept; it was never put into practice. Rather, ijma often refers to a scholarly opinion that became dominant and accepted over time. Dr. Shabir says he would hesitate to go against any scholarly view, but if the situation is so pressing that it really needs a modern answer and contemporary solution, then he would closely examine the evidence to find out how the scholar made the ruling. He says that when we adopt a modern stance that goes against what is considered the dominant opinion, we are not going against the Quran or what is genuinely creditable to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), since scholarly opinions can only arise when something is not clearly specified within the sources, and sometimes there is a wide variation between what the Quran actually says and what people claim it means or claim Islam teaches on a particular subject. If you enjoy this video, please support our work financially by visiting our website http://www.quranspeaks.com OR sending an etransfer to igive@quranspeaks.com OR subscribing monthly at patreon.com/quranspeaks ► DONATE: http://www.quranspeaks.com/ ► SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=quranspeaks COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/LetTheQuranSpeak Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/QuranSpeaks.tv Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Quran_Speaks