Ok. Dvija means twice born. Dvijas are Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Ezhavas and Thiyars are outside varna system but were not regarded as Dalits bcoz they were free unlike Dalits who were slaves. They had to endure caste discrimination but a lesser degree compared to Dalits

[THREAD: HISTORY OF THE HINDU TEMPLE]
1/102
Four hours south of Aswan in Lower Nubia, right by the Nile, is a region dotted with temple complexes built more than 3,000 years ago. Some like the temples of Amada, Derr, and Beit el-Wali go as far back as 1500 BC.

2/102
A little further south, not far from the border with Sudan, is another complex dedicated to Ramses II, Hathor, and Nefertari in the village of Ipsambul, better known locally as Abu Sunbul and internationally as Abu Simbel. These go back to the 13th century BC.

3/102
Djeser-Djeseru, also known as the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Upper Egypt also dates to 1400 BC. Over 500 years older is the nearby Mentuhotep II, also a mortuary temple. Both were dedicated to the cult of Amun Ra, besides their respective pharaohs.

4/102
Far older is the Ġgantija complex of Malta. Going as far back as 3600 BC, this one comprises of two temples entirely made of stone and enclosed in a stone wall. From the figures therein, it's understood to be a site of some kind of a fertility cult worship.

5/102
Dating from the same period are the limestone megaliths of Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra, both said to have once hosted ritualistic sacrifices as part of the same fertility cult worship as found in the Ġgantija complex. Malta has some of the oldest temple complexes in Europe.

One key element of the Islamic intellectual tradition is the commentary. Commentaries on the Qurʼan (tafsīr) began early in Islamic history, but from about the 12th or 13th century, well into the 19th, commentaries on other scholarly texts became extremely common. -jm

Usually a commentary is called a sharḥ, and a supercommentary (i.e. a commentary on a commentary) is called a ḥāshiyah. Sometimes you get all the way up to a fourth- or fifth-level supercommentary. -jm

Sometimes it's hard to even tell what the "core text" is, because even a very famous text that's the core of many commentaries might present itself as an abridgement or comment on something even earlier. -jm

Commentaries might serve multiple purposes: to explain obscure grammar or vocabulary, to dig into particular legal cases, etc. Even to show why the core text is wrong. Eventually you get some Ottoman Turkish commentaries that translate Persian poems and then comment on them. -jm

Authors of commentaries often mark quotes from the core text by key words like "qawluhu" ("what he said") and manuscripts often emphasize this by writing these words in red or putting a line over the quoted text, so you can figure out who is talking. -jm

60 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEARERS & WOMEN OF QURAN

A THREAD 🧵

1. The first matter that it befits her to employ is taqwa (fear) of Allah secretly and openly, by exercising caution (wara') with regards to the sources of his food, drink, dress and earnings.

2. She is perceptive about her time and the corruptions of its people, that she may beware of them regarding her religion.

3. She concentrates on her own situation, having the aspiration to reform whatever is corrupt in her affairs, guarding her tongue and choosing her words.

4. If she speaks,, she speaks with knowledge when she sees speech to be correct.

5. If she remains silent, she remains silent with knowledge when she sees silence to be correct.

6. She rarely delves into that which does not conern her.

7. She fears from her tongue things more severe than she fears from her enemy.

8. She imprisons her tongue the way she imprisons her enemy, so that she may be safe from its evil and bad consequences.