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...
God and the Truth of Divinity The sacred term Allah (God), which is also referred to as the Word of Majesty or the All-Supreme Name in the sense that it is the Chief Divine Name comprising all other Names, is the proper Name of the All-Majestic, All-Exalted Divine Being, Who...
Islamic Meditation Meditation and mindfulness are often associated with several eastern traditions such as Buddhism and Yoga, yet few know the essential position of meditative spiritual practice within Islam. In this seven week course, wSufis, Tasbih, تسبيح, Misbaha, مِسْبَحَة, Ahadith, dua, prayer beads, Meditative quiescence, khushoo, muraqaba, Tafakkur, tadabbur,Sufisme will learn...
What Is Dhikr? Dhikr (also Zikr, Zekr, Zikir, Jikir, and variants; ذِكْر, ḏikr, plural أذكار aḏkār, meaning “mentioning”) are devotional acts in Islam in which short phrases or prayers are repeatedly recited silently within the mind or aloud. It can be counted on a set of prayer beads (Misbaha, مِسْبَحَة) or through fingers of the hand. A person who recites the...
Women in the Quran and the Sunna In Islam there is absolutely no difference between men and women as far as their relationship to Allah is concerned, as both are promised the same reward for good conduct and the same punishment for evil conduct. The Qur’an says: And for women...
“Five Mysteries” Mentioned In The Qur’an It appears that the time of the coming of rain and the sex of the baby in the mother’s womb can be known in advance. Are these then no longer to be counted among the “five mysteries” mentioned in the Qur’an? The question concerns...
Science and Religion / The Holy Qur'an
by slife · Published June 28, 2019 · Last modified November 8, 2019
How Does The Qur’an Regard “Knowledge”? What are the differences between the Islamic and the modern scientific points of view on knowledge (‘ilm)? How does the Qur’an regard “knowledge”? Genuine knowledge (‘ilm) is a source of infinite light covered with truth, which leads enlightened people toward the righteous path. Modern...
Important Explanations To Understand Certain Important Truths Of Quran In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Alif Lam Ra. A Book whose verses were established and set clear, and then distinguished, from One All-Wise, All-Aware. (11:1) In order to help those who do not have enough submission and...
Science and Religion / The Holy Qur'an
by slife · Published June 28, 2019 · Last modified March 28, 2020
Does The Qur’an Allude To Scientific Developments? Before answering this question, we should point out one important fact: Considering science as opposed to religion and scientific study as separate from and independent of the Qur’an is just as mistaken as trying to reduce the Qur’an to a science textbook by...
