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Qur’an The Qur’ān, (Quran, Koran, or Al-Qur’an; literally “the recitation”) is the central religious text or Scripture of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind and consider the text in its original Arabic to be verbatim the word of Allah, revealed to Muhammad...
Shi’a Islam Shi’a Islam, Shia or Shi`ism (Arabic شيعة, Persian: شیعه) is the second largest school within Islam. Shi’a Muslims adhere to the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his Ahlul Bayt (family). Shi’as believe that the Imam – their preferred title for the political and religious leader of the Muslim...
Sunni Islam Sunni Muslims are the larger of the two main branches of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Sunnism or as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (أهل السنة والجماعة) (people of the example (of Muhammad) and the community). The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah (سنة ), which means “example” and refers particularly to the the words and actions...
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world’s second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world’s population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches that God is...
The Quran and Scientific Discoveries The formation and the developmental phases of an embryo in the uterus What the Quran reveals about the formation and the developmental phases of an embryo in the uterus is striking: O mankind! if you have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created...
Calculation of Zakāt Zakāt (زكاة, zakāt, “that which purifies”,[1] also Zakat al-mal, زكاة ألمال, “zakat on wealth”[2]) is a form of alms-giving treated as a religious tax and/or religious obligation in Islam[3][4][5][6] for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth,[7] and one of the Five Pillars of Islam.[8] Beneficiaries of zakat include zakat collectors, poor Muslims,...
Zakat al-Fitr Zakat al-Fitr is a charity taken for the poor a few days before the end of fasting in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The Arabic word Fitr means the same as iftar, breaking a fast, and it comes from the same root word as Futoo which means breakfast. Zakat al Fitr is a smaller amount than Zakat al-Mal. See also:...
Zakat Zakat (زكاة zakāh, “that which purifies”,[1] also Zakat al-mal, زكاة المال, “zakat on wealth”,[2] or Zakah)[3] is a form of alms-giving treated in Islam as a religious obligation or tax,[4][5] which, by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (salat) in importance.[6] As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth.[7] It...
Shab-e-barat Shab-e-barat or Barat Night, is a Muslim holiday celebrated on the 14th night of the month of Sha’aban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It commemorates the entry of Muhammad into the city of Mecca. The Arabic name “Laylat al Barat” (ليلة البراءة) means Barat Night where “البراءة” meaning...
Muhammad Muhammad (مُحَمَّد, [muħammad]; c. 570 CE – 8 June 632 CE) was the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet, sent to present and confirm the monotheistic teachings preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is viewed as the final prophet...
Islamic Mythology Islamic mythology is the body of myths associated with Islam and the Quran. Islam is a religion that is more concerned with social order and law than with religious myths. The Oxford Companion to World Mythology identifies a number of traditional narratives as “Islamic myths“. These include a creation myth and a vision of afterlife, which Islam shares to some extent...
Islamic Schools and Branches This article summarizes the different branches and schools in Islam. The best known split, into Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, and Kharijites, was mainly political at first but eventually acquired theological and jurisprudential dimensions. There are three traditional types of schools in Islam: schools of jurisprudence, Sufi orders and schools of theology. The...
Women in Islam versus Judaeo-Christian Tradition the Myth & the Reality Introduction Five years ago, I read in the Toronto Star issue of July 3, 1990 an article titled “Islam is not alone in patriarchal doctrines”, by Gwynne Dyer. The article described the furious reactions of the participants of a...
Women in Islam The experiences of Muslim women (مسلمات Muslimāt, singular مسلمة Muslima) vary widely between and within different societies. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural,...
What Is Sharia? Sharia, Sharia law, or Islamic law (شريعة) is a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition.[1] It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God’s immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its human scholarly interpretations.[2][3][4] It has been described as “one of the major intellectual...
Criticism of Islamism The ideas and practices of the leaders, preachers, and movements of the Islamic revival movement known as Islamism (also referred to as Political Islam) have been criticized by Muslims (often Islamic modernists and liberals) and non-Muslims. Among those authors and scholars who have criticized Islamism, or some element of it, include Maajid Nawaz,...
Jihad with Different Aspects Jihad literally means striving or doing one’s best to achieve something, and its practitioners (mujahidin) are those who devote themselves fully to obtaining God’s good pleasure by opposing those forces that seek to defeat His religion and the upholding of His word. It is far more...
Islam and Secularism Secularism has been a controversial concept in Islamic political thought, owing in part to historical factors and in part to the ambiguity of the concept itself. In the Muslim world, the notion has acquired strong negative connotations due to its association with removal of Islamic influences from the...
Jihad Jihad (جهاد jihād) is an Arabic word which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God’s guidance, such as struggle against one’s evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the ummah, though it...
What is Munkar and Nakir? Munkar and Nakir (منكر ونكير) (English translation: “The Denied and The Denier”) in Islamic eschatology, are angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves.[1] Description These angels are described as having solid black eyes, having a shoulder span measured in miles, and carrying hammers “so...
![A 1st- to 2nd–century CE water tank relief panel showing two ardhaphalaka Jain monks carrying colapatta cloth on their left hand found in the ruins of Mathura (Brooklyn Museum 87.188.5).[7] This cloth carrying tradition to cover genitalia by ancient Jain monks in principle resembles the beliefs of the Svetambara and now extinct Yapaniya subtradition.](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/Jain_Narrative_Relief_Panel_mid_2nd_century_BCE.-1st_century_CE_18.4_x_61.6_cm_Brooklyn_Museum_87.188.5-80x80.jpg)
