ibn Harm

Author: harmenscholte

  • The ontological reality of the Isnad

    The Isnad system in Muslim tradition refers to the sourcing system which provides credibility for the akhbar which take an important place in Islamic epistemology. Akhbar are also known as Hadith which has meanings relating to “news.” The Quran also uses the word Hadith (ح د ث) in verses like:

    • “On that Day, those who denied and disobeyed the Messenger will wish they were reduced to dust. And they will never be able to hide anything (hadithan) from God.”
    • “Has there reached you the story (hadithu) of Moses?”

    Isnads describe which companion or Imam related to which other person ad primus. For example:

    • “Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Ya’qub (al-Kulayni) has said: A number of our people of whom one is Muhammad b. Yahya al-‘Attar narrated from Ahmad b. Muhammad from Hasan b. Mahbub from al-’Ala b. Razin from Muhammad b. Muslim that Abu Ja’far (al-Baqir) (a.s) has said:”

    The isnad establishes a chain of authority

    More to follow on this topic if it is God’s will.

  • Astaghfirullah

    Een zinsnede die wordt gebruikt om God om vergeving te vragen. Alternatieven zijn: Rabbi Ghfirlie en Allahoemma Ghfirlie. Ghfr of غفر is één van de Namen van God die “de vergever” betekent.

  • Improving credit: the concept of the Sin

    Notwithstanding the magisterial from shame to sin which covers the development of the idea of Sin in Roman contexts I want to propose the following thesis vis-a-vis the nature of Sin.

    That is to say that Sin i.e. the notion of the Sin makes sense only in relation to vita comunalis. I am borrowing H. Arendts monad of vita here although if my memory is accurate she is not the sole porprietor of this goad.

    One counterargument could be the case of Abraham preparing to offer his son to God, as covered by Kierkegaard, which could be interpreted as Sin outside of active communal life.

  • Leercultuur in Nederland

    Als besproken in de laatste Ramadan kan de cultuur in Nederland met betrekking tot leren nog wel beter. Respect voor de docenten is belangrijk.

  • Introduction to Muslim theology

    Muslims believe that every living thing as well as non-living structures are created by the necessary being which acts as a conditio sine qua non with regards to the existence of ensouled entities. Plato proposed a tripartite model which describes the vegetative soul, the appetitive soul and the rational soul. The Quran describes a 1) self-reproaching soul, 2) commanding soul, and 3) tranquil soul. The Quran thus speaks with more psychological language.


    The discussion of the primacy of existence and essence is a topic that resurfaces in intellectual tradition as well as Muslim philosophy. The Quran speaks of Ruh being breathed into bodies which can be interpreted as the primacy of existence.

  • Fomo

    I had a great time during my college years for my pregraduate. I studied Business Information Technology at the University of Twente. There was a bit of a clash between life on campus and life in the city. So some groups had fear of missing out vis-a-vis life on campus and the same in the other direction. The campus was great though.

  • On covering

    Beauty in excess is singled out because a) people mistreat beauty to attract it and sometimes b) people respond adverse to beauty to balance power.

    Covering (hijab) humanizes fetishized beauty again.

  • On proving

    Is it possible to prove statements? Prima facie it seems that it is possible to prove statements. Viz. there are numerous proofs in the field of mathematics. For example Pi is proven irrational in natural language.

    Proving seems to occur at a ontological level however. Proofs occur in rational systems and even in these systems proofs can not be said to be intrinsic. That is to say proofs arise from axiomas. Within the boundaries of Euclidean geometry a triangle’s angles always add up to 180 degrees.

    In other worlds such as hyperbolic geometries this is not the case. Now this seems to mean that metaphysical inquiry into knowledge systems is valuable since finding common characteristics could at minimum tell us something about commonalities in human ways of thought.

    This thought experiment shows how rational thought interconnects with structuralist theories of mind. In destructuralist theories episteme is not bound to form i.e. “everything goes.” as Feyerabend discusses in his Against method.

    One wonders what on a macrosocietal level the consequences would be if Academics would accept the premise that system-thinking intrinsically undermines knowledge creation.

  • Indian weddings

    They can seem extravagent but also why would love between two souls not be celebrated in high spirits?

  • Ibn Sina

    The polymath whose work was so influential that up untill the 21th century (Roman calendar) people believed it to be healthy to drink wine.