“Windows To Spirituality”
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Faith (iman) breaks down into six axioms (Six articles of faith):
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What Is Iman? Iman (إِيمَان ʾīmān, faith or belief) in Islamic theology denotes a believer’s faith in the metaphysical aspects of Islam. Its most simple definition is the belief in the six axioms of faith, known as arkān al-īmān. The term iman has been delineated in both the Quran and hadith. According to the Quran, iman must be accompanied by righteous deeds and...
Saqifah Saqifah Bani Sa’idah (سَقِيفَة بَنِي سَاعِدَة, Saqīfah Banī Sāʿdah), commonly known as simply Saqifah, (ٱلسَّقِيفَة as-Saqīfah), was a roofed building in Medina used by the Banu Sa’idah clan of the Banu Khazraj tribe. Saqifah is significant as the site where, after Muhammad‘s death, some of his companions gathered and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, electing him as the first Caliph. Gathering...
Caliphate A caliphate (خِلَافَة khilāfah) is an Islamic state under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (خَلِيفَة khalīfah), a person considered a politico-religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Ummah (Muslim community). Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three...
Ulama In Islam, the ulama (علماء ʿUlamāʾ, singular عالِم ʿĀlim, “scholar”, literally “the learned ones”, also spelled ulema; feminine: alimah [singular] and uluma [plural]) are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam, including Islamic doctrine and law. By longstanding tradition, ulama are educated in religious institutions (madrasas). The Quran and sunnah (hadith) are the scriptural sources of traditional Islamic law....
Imam Imam (إمام imām; plural: أئمة aʼimmah: “leader,” “model”) in a general sense, one who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer. In a global sense, imam is used to refer to the head of the Muslim community (ummah). The title is found in the Qurʾān several times to refer to leaders and to Abraham. The origin and basis...
Ahl al-Bayt Ahl al-Bayt (أَهْلُ ٱلْبَيْتِ, اهلِ بیت) is a phrase meaning “People of the House” , “People of the Household” or “Family of the House“. Within the Islamic tradition, the term mainly refers to the family of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and to a lesser extent (according to Muslims), his...
Islamic Economics Islamic economics (الاقتصاد الإسلامي) is a term used to refer to Islamic commercial jurisprudence (فقه المعاملات, fiqh al-mu’āmalāt), and also to an ideology of economics based on the teachings of Islam that takes a middle ground between the systems of Marxism and capitalism. Islamic commercial jurisprudence entails the rules of transacting finance or other economic...
Islamic Democracy There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. Some modern Islamic thinkers, whose ideas were particularly popular in the 1970s and 1980s, rejected the notion of democracy as a foreign idea incompatible with Islam....
Islamic State An Islamic state is a form of government based on Islamic law. As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As translation of the Arabic term dawlah islāmiyyah (دولة إسلامية) it refers to a modern notion associated with political Islam (Islamism). The concept of the modern...
Political Aspects Of Islam Political aspects of Islam are derived from the Qur’an, the Sunnah (the sayings and living habits of Muhammad), Muslim history, and elements of political movements outside Islam. Traditional political concepts in Islam include leadership by elected or selected successors to the Prophet known as Caliphs, (Imamate for Shia); the importance of following Islamic law or Sharia; the...
Islamic Revival Islamic revival (تجديد tajdīd, “regeneration, renewal”; also الصحوة الإسلامية; aṣ-Ṣaḥwah l-ʾIslāmiyyah, “Islamic awakening“) refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. Within the Islamic tradition, tajdid has been an important religious concept, which has manifested itself throughout Islamic history in periodic calls for a renewed commitment to the fundamental principles of...
Shia–Sunni Relations This article covers Shia–Sunni relations throughout the history of Islam. Shia and Sunni Islam are the two major denominations of Islam. They chose sides following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in AD 632. A dispute over succession to Islamic prophet Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community spread across various parts of the world, which led...
Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah), is an Islamic revival or messianic movement founded in Punjab, British India, in the late 19th century. It originated with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who claimed to have been divinely appointed as both the promised Mahdi (Guided...
Apostasy In Islam Apostasy in Islam (ردة riddah or ارتداد irtidād) is commonly defined as the conscious abandonment of Islam by a Muslim in word or through deed. It includes the act of converting to another religion or non-acceptance of faith to be irreligious, by a person who was born in a Muslim family or who had previously accepted...
Ummah The Ummah (أمة) is an Arabic word meaning “community”. It is distinguished from Shaʻb (شعب) which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history. It is a synonym for ummat al-Islām (أمة الإسلام, ‘the Islamic community’), and it is commonly used...
Nation Of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an African-American political and new religious movement, founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States, by Wallace Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. Its stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans. Its official newspaper is The Final Call. In 2007, the core membership was...
Din-i Ilahi The Din-i Ilahi (Dīn-i Ilāhī, دين إله, lit. “Religion of God”) or Divine Faith was a syncretic religion propounded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582, intending to merge some of the elements of the religions of his empire, and thereby reconcile the differences that divided his subjects. The elements were primarily drawn from Islam and Hinduism,...
The Status Of Woman In Islam The status of woman in Islam constitutes no problem. The attitude of the Qur’an and the early Muslims bear witness to the fact that woman is, at least, as vital to life as man himself, and that she is not inferior to him nor...
Islamic Terrorism Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism are terrorist acts against civilians committed by violent Islamists who claim a religious motivation. See Religious Terrorism The largest numbers of incidents and fatalities caused by Islamic terrorism have occurred in India, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Yemen, and Syria. In 2015 four Islamic extremist groups...
Islam And Violence This critical dilemma is not unique to Islam. All religious traditions agonize about the question of what might constitute a “just war,” and it becomes particularly acute in situations of deadly conflict. Two central points emerge from this that we need to bear in mind in order...
