“Windows To Spirituality”
Immaculate Conception In Christian theology, the Immaculate Conception is the conception of the Virgin Mary free from original sin by virtue of the merits of her son Jesus. The Catholic Church teaches that God acted upon Mary in the first moment of her conception, keeping her “immaculate“. The Immaculate Conception is commonly confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the...
Marian Feast Days Marian feast days are specific holy days of the liturgical year recognized by Christians as significant Marian days for the celebration of events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her veneration. The number of Marian feasts celebrated, and their names (and at times dates) can vary among Christian denominations. History and development Early history The...
Veneration Of Mary In The Catholic Church The veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church encompasses various Marian devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance...
Catholic Mariology Catholic Mariology refers to Mariology—the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation—within Catholic theology. Mary is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints. The Catholic Church teaches that she was conceived without original sin, therefore receiving a higher level...
Marian Devotions Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, but generally rejected in Protestant denominations. Such devotional prayers or acts may be accompanied by specific requests for Mary’s intercession with God. There is significant diversity of form and...
Assumption Of Mary The Assumption of Mary into Heaven (often shortened to the Assumption) is, according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course...
Perpetual Virginity of Mary The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Marian doctrine, taught by the and held by a number of groups in Christianity, which asserts that Mary (the mother of Jesus) was “always a virgin, before, during and after the birth of Jesus Christ.” This doctrine also proclaims that Mary...
Expedition Of Al Raji The Expedition of al Raji occurred directly after the Battle of Uhud in the year 4 AH of the Islamic calendar. Background Immediately after the Uhud battle, a group of men from Adal and al-Qarah came to Muhammad; requested him to send with them a few instructors to...
Who Is Khatam an-Nabiyyin? Khatam an-Nabiyyin (خاتم النبيين, khātam an-nabīyīn; or Khātim an-Nabīyīn), usually translated as Seal of the Prophets, is a title used in the Qur’an to designate the prophet Muhammad and it is also translated as The Best and The Most Perfect of all Prophets. It is synonymous with the term Khātam al-Anbiyā’ (خاتم الأنبياء; or Khātim al-Anbiyā’)....
Splitting Of The Moon The splitting of the moon (انشقاق القمر) is a miracle in Muslim tradition attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is derived from the Quranic verses 54:1-2 and mentioned by Muslim traditions such as the Asbab al-nuzul (context of revelation). Some Muslim commentators, particularly from the...
Children Of Muhammad The children of Muhammad include the three sons and four daughters of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The common view is that all were born to Muhammad’s first wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid except one son, named Ibrahim, who was born to Maria al-Qibtiyya. However, it has been suggested by Shia scholars that three of Muhammad’s daughters were,...
Muhammad And The Bible Arguments that prophecies of Muhammad in the Bible presaged his birth, teachings, and death have formed part of Muslim tradition from the early history of Muhammad’s Ummah (أُمَّـة, Community), although Christians like John of Damascus, Martin Luther, and John Calvin have interpreted Muhammad as being the Antichrist....
Muhammad In The Quran The Quran enumerates little about the early life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or other biographic details, but it talks about his prophetic mission, his moral excellence, and theological issues regarding him. According to the Quran, Muhammad is the last in a chain of prophets sent by Allah (33:40). The...
Relics Of Muhammad Traditionally, Islam has had a rich history of the veneration of relics, especially those attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. There exists historical evidence that some of the earliest Muslims practiced the veneration of relics, and the practice continued to remain popular in many parts of the Sunni Islamic world...
Qisas Al-Anbiya or Stories of the Prophets The Qisas Al-Anbiya (قصص الأنبياء) or Stories of the Prophets is any of various collections of stories adapted from the Quran and other Islamic literature, closely related to the exegesis of the Qur’an. One of the best-known is a work composed by the Persian author...
List Of Biographies Of Muhammad This is a chronological listing of biographies of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ranging from the earliest traditional writers to modern times. Earliest biographers The following is a list of the earliest known Hadith collectors who specialized in collecting Sīra and Maghāzī reports. 7th and early 8th century (1st century...
Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia Religion in Pre-Islamic Arabia included polytheism, Christianity, Judaism, and Iranian religions. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on the veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzzá, and Manāt,...
Mawlid Mawlid or Mawlid al-Nabi al-Sharif (مَولِد النَّبِي mawlidu n-nabiyyi, “Birth of the Prophet“, sometimes simply called in colloquial Arabic مولد mawlid, mevlid, mevlit, mulud among other vernacular pronunciations; sometimes ميلاد mīlād) is the observance of the birthday of Islamic prophet Muhammad which is commemorated in Rabi’ al-awwal, the third month in the Islamic calendar. 12th Rabi’ al-awwal is the accepted date among most...
Muhammad’s First Revelation Muhammad’s first revelation was an event described in Islam as taking place in 610 AD, during which the Islamic prophet, Muhammad was visited by the archangel Jibrīl, who revealed to him the beginnings of what would later become the Quran. The event took place in a cave...
Migration To Abyssinia The Migration to Abyssinia (الهجرة إلى الحبشة, al-hijra ʾilā al-habaša), also known as the First Hegira (هِجْرَة hijrah), was an episode in the early history of Islam, where Prophet Muhammad’s first followers (the Sahabah) fled from the persecution of the ruling Quraysh tribe of Mecca. They sought refuge in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum, present-day...
