“Windows To Spirituality”
Anabaptism Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista, from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- “re-” and βαπτισμός “baptism“,) is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. The movement is generally seen as an offshoot of Protestantism, although this view has been challenged by some Anabaptists. Approximately 4 million Anabaptists live in the world today with adherents scattered...
History Of Early Christianity The history of early Christianity covers the Apostolic Age (1st century, CE) and the Ante-Nicene Period (c.100-325 CE), to the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. The earliest followers of Jesus comprised an apocalyptic, Second Temple Jewish sect of Jewish Christians. Eventually, the inclusion of Gentile God-fearers led to a departure from Jewish customs, the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion,...
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and needed to become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English history, especially during the Protectorate. Puritans were dissatisfied with the limited extent of...
Canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public cult and entering his or her name in the canon, or authorized list, of that communion’s recognized saints. Catholic Church Canonization is a papal declaration that the Catholic faithful may venerate a...
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’. The ROC, as well as its primate, officially ranks fifth in the Orthodox order of...
Church Of the East The Church of the East, also called the Persian Church or Nestorian Church, was a Christian church of the East Syriac rite established c. 410. It was one of three major branches of Eastern Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies of the 5th and 6th centuries, alongside the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches....
Marian Apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The figure is often named after the town where it is reported, or on the sobriquet given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition. Marian apparitions sometimes are reported to recur at the same...
Ismailism Ismailism ( الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah; اسماعیلیان, Esmâ’īliyân) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Ismāʿīlī get their name from their acceptance of Imam Ismaʻil ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja’far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelvers who accept Musa al-Kadhim, younger brother of Ismaʻil, as the true Imām. Ismailism rose at one point to...
Zaidiyyah Zaidiyyah or Zaidism (الزيدية az-zaydiyya, adjective form Zaidi or Zaydi; occasionally known as Fivers) is one of the Shia sects closest in terms of theology to the Ibadi and Muʿtazila schools. Zaidiyyah emerged in the eighth century out of Shi’a Islam. Zaidis are named after Zayd ibn ʻAlī, the grandson of Husayn ibn ʻAlī and the son of their...
The Twelve Imams The Twelve Imams (ٱلَأَئِمَّة ٱلْٱثْنَا عَشَر, al-ʾAʾimmah al-ʾIthnā ʿAšar; دوازده امام, Davâzdah Emâm) are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, including that of the Alawite and Alevi sects. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule...
Twelver Twelver (ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; ʾIthnā ʿAšarīyah, شیعه دوازدهامامی, Šī’eh-ye Davâzdah-Emâmī), also known as Imamiyyah (إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shia Islam. The term Twelver refers to its adherents’ belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Imam al-Mahdi, lives in occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi. According to Shia tradition,...
Alevism Alevism (Alevîlik or Turkish: Anadolu Alevîliği/Alevileri, also called Qizilbash, or Shī‘ahImāmī-Tasawwufī Ṭarīqah, or Shīʿah-ī Bāṭen’īyyah) is a syncretic, heterodox, and local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical (bāṭenī) teachings of Ali, the Twelve Imams and a descendant—the 13th century Alevi saint Haji Bektash Veli. Alevis are found primarily in Turkey among ethnic Turks and Kurds, and make up between 11-12% of...
Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (عَلِيّ ٱبْن أَبِي طَالِب, ʿAlī ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib; 13 September 601 – 29 January 661) was a cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who ruled as the fourth caliph from 656 to 661. He is one of the central figures in Shia Islam and...
History Of Islam The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic and developments of the Islamic civilization. Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century, approximately 600 years after the founding of Christianity. Muslims, however, believe that it did not start with Muhammad, but that...
Ahl al-Hadith Ahl al-Ḥadith (أهل الحديث, The people of hadith) was an Islamic school of thought that first emerged during the 2nd/3rd Islamic centuries of the Islamic era (late 8th and 9th century CE) as a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority...
Khawarij The Khawarij (الخوارج, al-Khawārij, singular خارجي, khāriji), Kharijites, or the ash-Shurah (الشراة, ash-Shurāh “the Exchangers”) were a sect that appeared in the first century of Islam during the First Fitna, the crisis of leadership after the death of Muhammad. It broke into revolt against the authority of the Caliph Ali after he agreed to arbitration...
Muʿtazila Muʿtazila (المعتزلة, al-muʿtazilah) is a rationalist school of Islamic theology that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both now in Iraq, during the 8th to the 10th centuries. The adherents of the Muʿtazili school, known as Muʿtazilites, are best known for rejecting the doctrine of the Qur’an as uncreated and co-eternal...
Traditionalist Theology (Islam) Traditionalist theology or Athari (الأثرية—al-Aṯharīya) is an Islamic scholarly movement, originating in the late 8th century CE, who rejects rationalistic Islamic theology (kalam) in favor of strict textualism in interpreting the Quran and hadith. The name derives from “tradition” in its technical sense as a translation of the Arabic...
Black Hebrew Israelites Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. To varying degrees, Black Hebrew Israelites incorporate certain aspects of the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism, though...
Haymanot Haymanot (Ge’ez: ሃይማኖት) is the branch of Judaism which is practiced by the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews. In both Geʽez and Amharic, Haymanot means ‘religion‘ or ‘faith.’ Thus in modern Amharic, it is common to speak of the Christian haymanot, the Jewish haymanot or the Muslim haymanot. The term is only associated with a particular religion (Judaism) in Israel. Religious leaders Nabiyy...
