No Joke
His friendship and interfaith work with Rabbi Daniel Bogard and Pastor Jim Powell became the subject of the documentary No Joke and the bookNo Joke: A Rabbi, an Imam, and a Preacher Do the Unthinkable and Become Friends for Life.
About Tafsīr Scholar
K. Mufti الطالب الفقير
al-ṭālib al-faqīr
Tafsīr Scholar is K. Mufti’s humble labor of love. Whatever is true and beneficial in it is from Allah; every mistake is mine. My only hope is that the Beloved, the Ever-Living Lord, accepts it as a sincere effort for His sake and allows it to help readers understand His Book and draw nearer to Him.
The project
Begin with the meaning. Continue into deeper study.
Each Qurʾān study is written for readers at different stages. The Summary communicates the essential meaning of a passage. The Simple Explanation develops its context, language, themes, and implications. Deeper Study examines the specialized discussions of commentators, Arabic grammarians, jurists, scholars of Qurʾānic recitation, and other authorities.
The Arabic signature الطالب الفقير,al-ṭālib al-faqīr, expresses the author’s position as a student in need of God.
The author
About K. Mufti
K. Mufti is an American Muslim scholar, teacher, and writer whose education combines traditional training in the Islamic sciences with academic study in physics, mathematics, philosophy, and technology.
Born in Pakistan and raised in Kuwait and Pakistan, he completed his O and A Levels in the British educational system before studying physics and mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Arlington. He later attended graduate school in physics and worked in information technology.
After an intensive study of philosophy and Islam, his faith was renewed. He then devoted years to the study of Islamic creed, tafsīr, ḥadīth, Islamic law, spirituality, and Arabic. His studies took him to scholars and teachers in Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, and elsewhere.
He has served Muslim communities as an imam, khaṭīb, teacher, counselor, writer, and community educator. A khaṭīb is a person who delivers the Friday sermon.
Qualifications
Islamic training and ijāzahs
An ijāzah is a formal authorization given by a qualified teacher. An isnād is the chain of teachers through whom knowledge is transmitted.
K. Mufti’s principal qualifications include a formal Qurʾānic recitation ijāzah, authorizations to transmit works of fiqh and ḥadīth, and sustained study across the Islamic sciences.
Islamic trainingView the full record
Qurʾānic recitation
K. Mufti holds a formal ijāzah in the recitation of Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim through Shaykh Ahmad al-Kulaini. This chain transmits the recitation through named teachers to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, meaning “peace and blessings be upon him.”
Shaykh Ahmad al-Kulaini studied directly with Dr. Abbas al-Misri of Egypt, and the chain includes the renowned Syrian master-reciter Shaykh al-Tarabishi.
Upon receiving his ijāzah, K. Mufti was awarded a prize by Shaykh Ahmad Eisa al-Masarawi, who was then serving as Shaykh Maqāriʾ al-Miṣriyyah and President of Lajnat al-Muṣḥaf at the Islamic Research Academy of al-Azhar.
Transmission authorizations
K. Mufti holds formal ijāzahs to transmit fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, and the major books of ḥadīth, reports concerning the Prophet Muhammadﷺ. These authorizations were received from:
- Shaykh Tihami ibn Muhammad al-Tijani of Rabat, Morocco
- Shaykh Walid Idris al-Misri
Teachers and subjects studied
- Islamic creed with scholars including Shaykh Hasan al-Homaid, a former mufti of Qatar
- Sustained study with his foremost teacher, Shaykh al-Murabit Salim al-Addood al-Shinqiti, raḥimahullāh, meaning “may God have mercy on him.” Shaykh al-Addood was a former Chief Justice of Mauritania’s Supreme Court and a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah.
- Ḥadīth terminology with Shaykh Mustafa al-Azami, recipient of the King Faisal Prize in Islamic Studies and former visiting professor at Princeton University
- The Alfiyyah of Ibn Mālik with Shaykh Imad Iffat of Egypt’s Dār al-Iftāʾ
- Advanced Arabic grammar and morphology with Ustadh Ali Ghonaim
- Arabic rhetoric with Ustadh Magdi of al-Azhar
- Foundational Arabic studies with Ustadh Ghulam Samdani, a student of Mawlana Hamid al-Din Farahi
- Sīrah, fiqh, and spiritual development with Shaykh Muhammad al-Dabusi
- Additional study with teachers including Shaykh Yadali of Mauritania and Dr. Houcine Chouat of Tunisia
This page identifies the nature and route of the authorizations. Private certificates and personal records are not published here.
This training informs the attention Tafsīr Scholar gives to Arabic grammar, morphology, rhetoric, variant Qurʾānic readings, legal interpretation, transmitted reports, and differences among Muslim commentators.
Published work
Writing and public education
K. Mufti has written and developed educational material for Muslims and for people seeking to understand Islam.
He served as a senior content producer for IslamReligion.com and prepared lessons for NewMuslims.com. His work has addressed Qurʾānic studies, Islamic belief and practice, comparative religion, spirituality, ethics, family life, contemporary questions, and the experiences of Muslims in the United States.
He is the author of A Compendium of the Spiritual and Fiqh Aspects of Hajj, an English-language book on the Muslim pilgrimage that received approval from al-Azhar.
Beyond the page
Interfaith and public engagement
K. Mufti has worked with religious leaders, universities, schools, journalists, and civic organizations to improve public understanding of Islam and Muslims. His work has included service on the Board of Trustees of the Central Illinois Interfaith Alliance, interfaith gatherings and community open houses, teaching through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Bradley University, writing about Islamophobia, public speaking, and media interviews.
National Prayer Breakfast
K. Mufti was invited to and attended the first National Prayer Breakfast of Donald Trump’s presidency, which brought together the president, members of Congress, and religious and civic leaders from the United States and abroad.
Why this work exists
The purpose of Tafsīr Scholar
Every translation of the Qurʾān leaves something behind. The Qurʾān was revealed in Arabic, and much of its precision, beauty, emphasis, and depth is carried through features of the language that cannot be reproduced fully in English.
Tafsīr Scholar helps readers look beyond the translation. It explains how Arabic grammar, morphology, and rhetoric, traditionally studied as naḥw, ṣarf, and balāgha, shape the meaning of a verse. These fields also help readers appreciate iʿjāz al-Qurʾān, the Qurʾān’s inimitability and its place as a linguistic masterpiece that cannot be replicated.
Tafsīr Scholar brings several depths of explanation into one verse-by-verse work. Alongside linguistic study, it presents the explanations of Muslim scholars, memorable gems, answers to common misunderstandings, contemporary applications, and opportunities for reflection. Readers may begin with a clear account of a verse’s meaning and continue as far into its language and scholarship as they wish.
A continuing work
Follow the project as it grows.
Tafsīr Scholar is being built progressively. New studies of individual verses, Taʿawwudh, and Basmala will be added alongside reference materials and significant revisions.
Subscribe to be notified when a new verse study, a study of Taʿawwudh or Basmala, an appendix, or a significant revision is published.
Subscribe for updatesSee what’s newEvery part of the tafsīr will remain free to read. The recurring-support goal is $500 a month—$6,000 a year.
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