What are the foundational principles for navigating parent-adult-children relationships in Islam?
🌟This suite of resources is the inaugural offering of the Islamic Law Literacy Initiative (ILLI) at Ma’ruf Commons, and it begins exactly where Islamic guidance matters most in everyday life: our family relationships.
Rather than offering simple rules or one-size-fits-all answers, this education suite provides a thoughtful framework for navigating real family situations as they change over time.
📌Start your journey on June 3, 2026
illi.marufcommons.org/paces (link in bio)
When it comes to issues related to our family, such as marriage, divorce, custody, maintenance, or inheritance, many of us don’t know where to stand.
Not because we ignored this part of our relgious learning, but because clarity around this subject is not an individual problem but a structural one.
What was once a living, dynamic legal tradition has been narrowed, fragmented, and disconnected from the structures that gave it meaning. What we’ve inherited isn’t the full picture—it’s a partial one.
This isn’t about the absence of guidance. It’s about understanding what happened to the system that carried it.
Swipe through to see how we got here and what it takes to rebuild what’s missing.
📌Comment “family” to read the full essay: What Happened to Islamic Family Law in the Modern Era?
#illi #familylaw #islam #muslims #muslimlife
You don’t need to be a religious scholar but you do need to be legally literate.
Islamic law shapes our everyday life. Like other areas of life that shape how we live, we need a basic level of legal literacy to navigate it in our daily lives.
😷Consider your health... Unless you are a doctor, you are not qualified to diagnose every condition, prescribe medication, or perform medical procedures. But you still need enough health literacy to: - Understand when something is wrong - Choose an appropriately qualified doctor - Know when to seek a second opinion - Maintain your own preventive care
Your health literacy does not replace the medical professional. It helps you engage medical knowledge and professional more safely, effectively, and responsibly.
Does that help you understand what Islamic legal litearcy means for your life?
📌Islamic legal literacy is similar. It is not about replacing scholars or for you to learn everything to become a scholar. It is about becoming a responsible participant in your own religious life and community living.
👉🏼Islamic legal literacy is not DIY-Fiqh. Islamic legal literacy is - understanding the foundations of Islamic law - having the ability to apply this knowledge responsibly and thoughtfully in daily life - recognizing the limits of your knowledge - identifying the suitably qualified and reliable specialist for needed guidance
🌟Are you ready to become literate on Islamic law?
Where would this literacy matter most for you? Comment “track 1, track 2, track 3 or track 4” to learn more about tailored learning. - Track 1: Everyday Muslims - Track 2: Practitioners – therapists, chaplains, educators, caseworkers - Track 3: Religious Leaders and Seminarians - Track 4: Lawyers and Policy Makers
illi.marufcommons.org
#marufcommons #islamicliteracy #illi #literacy
What are the foundational principles for navigating parent-adult child relationships in Islam?
PACES: Parents-Adult Children Education Suite of resources is the inaugural offering of the Islamic Law Literacy Initiative (ILLI) at Ma’ruf Commons, and it begins exactly where Islamic guidance matters most in everyday life: our family relationships.
📌Rather than offering simple rules or one-size-fits-all answers, this education suite provides a thoughtful framework for navigating real family situations as they change over time.
PACES will provide you with:
✔️ Framework of Islamic principles
✔️ Self-paced online course
✔️ Reflective workbook
✔️Quran & Hadith reference guide
✔️Conceptual Glossary of Terms
✔️ Resources for further learning
🌟Start your journey on June 3, 2026
illi.marufcommons.org/paces (link in bio)
#parents #illi #marufcommons #education
Traditionally trained scholars are best equipped to issue fatwas, while other areas — such as the history of Islamic law, institutions, and responses to orientalist critiques may require additional academic expertise.
“So what I do is I’m providing context to the tradition, and helping us operationalize it alongside traditionally trained scholars. Also having done a rigorous curriculum up to a certain level, I’m also conversant in both worlds, which I think in many ways today, that is what you are looking for. Having a foot in both worlds.” - @dr.mariamsheibani
#islamic #illi #marufcommons #education #scholarship
"When definitions are situated carefully alongside purpose, usage, and common misunderstanding, they become tools for responsible reasoning." - Hadeer Soliman
Comment 'glossary' to learn more about the ILLI Conceptual Glossary
📌Maʿruf Commons’ flagship initiative is the Islamic Law Literacy Initiative (ILLI). ILLI was created to address the fragmented and uneven landscape of Islamic legal learning in English-speaking Muslim communities.
illi.marufcommons.org
#islamiclaw #illi #familylaw #muslims #life
Muslim families have historically used flexible and negotiated ways to distribute wealth before death, since inheritance laws only apply after a person dies. Colonial and postcolonial disruptions weakened these longstanding social practices, creating a disconnect between Islamic law and lived family realities. Muslim communities need to recover and reintroduce these inherited traditions of ethical negotiation and care. - @dr.mariamsheibani
In our recent essay, Samah Marei explores “What Happened to Islamic Family Law in the Modern Era?”
🔗Read the full essay at illi.marufcommons.org (link in bio)
#parents #familylaw #illi #marufcommons
Sabr was never meant to keep people trapped in harm.
For Muslim clients navigating family pain, abuse, boundaries, or emotional exhaustion, one of the most healing things we can do as clinicians is help them separate faith from harmful misconceptions.
True sabr is not silence in the face of oppression.
Tawakkul is not refusing support.
And seeking safety is not a weakness in faith.
In our upcoming clinical integration training with Dr. Mariam Sheibani (@dr.mariamsheibani ), we’ll explore practical frameworks of Islamic law to help clinicians support Muslim families with more clarity, care, and religious nuance.
📌 Last day to register: May 7
Register at RuhCare.com/training
#RuhCare #MuslimMentalHealth #MuslimTherapist #FaithBasedTherapy #ClinicalTraining
📖A Conceptual Glossary for Islamic Legal Literacy
The words we use to talk about Islamic law determine how we understand it, apply it, and pass it on.
When the language is imprecise, the practice that follows is too.
Muslim scholars have always emphasized that clear definitions are the basis for establishing common ground.
The ILLI Conceptual Glossary is not a dictionary.
You’ll find what you need to engage meaningfully with Islamic law as it relates to your everyday life, and to recognize when terms are being used differently or incorrectly as you come in contact with them in your life.
The ILLI Conceptual Glossary is designed as a companion to your learning.
📌Comment ‘glossary’ to understand why precise language is an ethical responsibility of our tradition
illi.marufcommons.org
#islamiclaw #illi #familylaw #muslims #glossary
Working with Muslim families often means holding both clinical complexity and religious nuance.
A client may be trying to honour their parents while feeling emotionally exhausted.
A couple may be navigating marriage through both faith and cultural expectations.
A family may be trying to separate Islamic values from patterns that have become harmful.
These moments require more than general clinical knowledge. They require practical frameworks, cultural understanding, and confidence at the intersection of mental health and Islamic guidance.
Join Dr. Mariam Sheibani (@dr.mariamsheibani ), Assistant Professor of Islamic Thought and Founder of Maʿruf Commons (@marufcommons ), for our 4-part therapist clinical integration training.
📅 May 14, May 21, June 18, June 25
🕑 2:00–5:00 PM EST
📍 Live on Zoom
🎓 Certificate of Completion provided
⚠️ Live attendance required. No replay.
Regular Price: $249
📌 Last day to register: May 7
Register at RuhCare.com/training
#RuhCare #MuslimMentalHealth #MuslimTherapist #ClinicalTraining #IslamicPsychology
Islamic law was never practiced in isolation from society. Historically, Muslims didn’t rely on inheritance law alone to distribute wealth fairly within families. Social practices like gifts, endowments, marriage gifts, and estate planning helped mediate the law long before death.
Families would often organize and transfer property during their lifetime so that only a small portion remained subject to inheritance rules after death. These practices were part of a shared social ethic, not just individual decision-making.
Understanding Islamic law requires looking beyond “law on the books” and recognizing the role of lived social practice, history, and community norms in shaping how justice was pursued.
- @dr.mariamsheibani
📌Maʿruf Commons’ flagship initiative is the Islamic Law Literacy Initiative (ILLI). ILLI was created to address the fragmented and uneven landscape of Islamic legal learning in English-speaking Muslim communities.
illi.marufcommons.org
#islamiclaw #illi #familylaw #muslims #life
Beyond Halal and Haram
Focusing only on whether something is legally valid misses the bigger moral responsibility. For example, disinheriting a child while alive isn’t sinful because it bypasses inheritance laws—inheritance only applies after death—but because it treats children unfairly. The real issue is a kind of legalism: reducing religion to technical rules and validity, while ignoring ethics, character, and social responsibility.
📌Just because something is “valid” doesn’t mean it’s right or free of sin.
🔗Read the full essay at marufcommons.org/secret-marriage
#legalism #IslamicLaw #Muslims #illi #secretmarriages
