Christians might argue that nevertheless we need lofty ideals to strive for, even if they are virtually unattainable. Muslims might reply that it is detrimental for public morality if unattainable rules are promoted which, of course, are constantly violated by everybody in sight, because that (Christian) approach creates a climate of, and promotes, hypocrisy at a massive scale.
The Islamic revival symbolized by the current resurgence of the hijab is often considered as an attempt of Arab Muslims to restore their pride and identity which have been repeatedly undermined by colonization and economic retardation. Man has always had a conservative tendency and reacts against which is new and unfamiliar without realizing whether it is good or bad for him. Some people still think the Muslim women insist on wearing hijab which is the “very symbol of the oppressed situation because they are enslaved by the tradition and are not sufficiently aware of their lamentable situation. “If only”, they probably think, “the movement of the women’s liberation and independence awakes those women’s mind, they will take away the hijab.”
There is an ongoing slander campaign against Islam, claiming that it is a religion that promotes violence and hinting that it seeks world conquest. Before you buy the malarkey that is being produced by people with their own agendas or prejudices or who are just plain ignoramuses, follow these few suggestions.
After Wensinck’s brilliant study, a fresh examination of the argument for the existence of God in Islam might appear impertinent. Some justification for the present discussion, however, may be found in the fact that some of the material on which this study is based was not available to Wensinck, when his monograph appeared in 1936, and in the slightly different interpretation of certain relevant data here attempted.
The following is a multimedia video of a young man who takes his shahadah (testimony of faith) and affirms that he is a Muslim before a number of witnesses. To be a Muslim is a simple as simply saying Ashhadu ana illaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul Allah (I bear witness that there is no deity but God Almighty and that Muhammad is His Messenger) and he is immediately accepted as a Muslim. Such strict monotheism is the feature of Islam as the religio naturalis of man and the religion par excellence of mankind.
Having been on both sides of the veil, I can tell you that Western male politicians and journalists have no idea what they are talking about when they blame Islam for child brides, female circumcision, honor killings and forced marriages. A careful reading of the Qur’an shows that just about everything Western feminists fought for in the 1970s was available 1,400 years ago to Muslim women, who are considered equal to men in spirituality, education and worth. When Islam offers women so much, why are Western men so obsessed with Muslim women’s attire ? Even British government ministers Gordon Brown and John Reid have made disparaging remarks about the niqab, and they hail from Scotland, where men wear skirts.
At the end of the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca), Muslims throughout the world celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). In 2006, Eid al-Adha will begin on approximately December 31st, and will last for three days. During the Hajj, Muslims remember and commemorate the trials and triumphs of the Prophet Abraham. One of Abraham’s main trials was to face the command of Allah to kill his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to Allah’s will. When he was all prepared to do it, Allah revealed to him that his “sacrifice” had already been fulfilled. He had shown that his love for his Lord superseded all others, that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dear to him in order to submit to God.
According to most Christians, Jesus was God-incarnate, fully man and fully God. Can the finite and the infinite be one ? “To be fully God” means freedom from finite forms and from helplessness, and to be “full man” means the absence of divinity. Christians assert that Jesus claimed to be God when they quote him in John 14:9 : “He that has seen me has seen the Father”. Didn’t Jesus clearly say that people have never seen God, as it says in John 5:37 : “And the father himself which Has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape”?
Some Christian missionaries have the inherent fantasy that Sura’ al-Fatihah (the first Sura’ of the Qur’an) somehow supports their false pagan doctrine of the Trinity. They will first cite the whole ayaat and then twist this interpretation to suit their false doctrine. Let us now deal with this latest polemic in the following paragraphs.
We present as follows a quote from Tony Blair, Prime Minister of United Kingdom, which was published quite recently in Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007.
Since the pagan festival of Christmas, celebrated by the Trinitarian polytheists, is fast approaching on the 25th of December, we would like on this occassion present a fatawa (Islamic ruling) for the Muslims with regard to celebrating their festival or even congratulating them. It should be noted that the Christians believe that Jesus is literally God, hence to participate or even greet them is to agree with their doctrine. Therefore Muslims should be aware of the boundaries with regard to Christmas and how one should approach it.
What then is hajj ? In essence, hajj is man’s evolution toward Allah ; his return to Him. It is a symbolic demonstration of the philosophy of creation of Adam (AS : alayhis salam), the first man. To further illustrate this, it may be stated that the performance of hajj is a simultaneous show or exhibit of many things. It is a show of creation. It is a show of history. It is a show of unity. It is a show of Islamic ideology. It is a show of Ummah, the community of Muslims.
I am growing increasingly frustrated at the mealy-mouthed, apologetic bunch of Muslims paraded across our TV screens these days. And just when one lot suddenly wake up, smell the coffee and begin to disagree with US and British foreign policies, another bunch take their place.
But why did the Muslim react in such a manner when Pope Benedict repeated something that we are already accustomed to hearing from not so friendly western public figures ? After all flamboyant televangelists like Jerry Falwell have said worse things than the Pope –- calling the Prophet of Islam a paedophile and terrorist – yet we never asked for an apology. In the modern era, not least because of the late Pope John Paul II, Muslims have a genuine respect for the head of the Catholic church. The Crusades, the Reconquista, the Inquisitions were far behind us. The Catholic Church with its long history and tradition, its large number of faithful and the authority of its leadership, its unambiguous moral precepts and its liturgies and rites represent what constitutes Christian orthodoxy to ordinary Muslim eyes, as the last bastion against the inexorable march of secularization of western society.
The following is a synopsis of Tarif Khalidi’s book entitled : “The Muslim Jesus”, which might lead people to learn more about Islam. Tarif Khalidi is Sir Thomas Adams’ Professor of Arabic, Director of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. Here is a cross-section of book reviews from a variety of sources.
Nabeel Qureshi died at the age of 34 years old in 2017 from a “rare and deadly form of stomach cancer” on 16th of September 2017 with mixed reactions.
But the first of the four gospels, i.e., the Gospel according to Mark, apparently did not receive Paul’s memo. And this is a very important point as we keep in mind that each of the gospels were initially divorced from each other and were written in different localities for different audiences.
So which is the correct Gospel account concerning the choice of Jesus’ first apostles ? The following Bible contradiction was extracted from an unpublished thesis entitled Ibn Hazm On The Doctrine of Tahrif which cites Kitab al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa’ wa al-Nihal and insha’allah this will be part of an ongoing series to reproduce extracts of Ibn Hazm’s criticisms of the Bible and Christianity.