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...
Islamic Marriage Contract An Islamic marriage contract is considered an integral part of an Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride or other parties involved in marriage proceedings under Sharia. Whether it is considered a formal, binding contract depends on the jurisdiction. Islamic faith marriage contracts are...
Divorce In Islam Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are talaq (repudiation), khulʿ (mutual divorce), judicial divorce and oaths. The theory and practice of divorce in the Islamic world have varied according...
Marriage In Islam Marriage in Islam is a legal contract between a man and a woman. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic...
Tadabbur Tadabbur (contemplation) is an Arabic word which means -To ponder, reflect and think. Linguistic meaning Literally (Tadabbur), it means to look into the consequence or the end result of the matters, e. g. if we did that what would happen to us. Islamic meaning Tadabbur, means pondering over the...
Benefits Of Fasting What are the benefits of fasting? Fasting has many purposes relating both to the Lordship of God and thanksgiving for His bounties, and to man’s individual and collective life, as well as to his self-training and self-discipline. One of the multiple purposes of fasting connected with the...
Kalam Cosmological Argument The Kalam cosmological argument is a modern formulation of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. It is named after the kalam (medieval Islamic scholasticism) from which its key ideas originated. It was popularized in the western world by William Lane Craig in his book, The Kalām Cosmological Argument (1979). The argument’s key underpinning idea is the metaphysical impossibility...
God The Sustainer God the Sustainer is the conception of God who sustains and upholds everything in existence. Ar-Razzāq (The Provider, The Providence, The Supplier, The Bestower of Sustenance), The One who creates all means of nourishment and subsistence. The One who is the giver of all things beneficial, both physical and spiritual....
Amen Amen is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic worship, as a concluding word, or as a response to a prayer. Amen is a declaration of affirmation first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently in the New Testament. Common English translations of the word amen include “verily”, “truly”, and “so...
Islamic Theology Islamic theology is derived from the expression “Word of God” (Kalām Allāh) found in the Qur’an. The Arabic term Kalām means “speech, word, utterance” among other things. Ilm al-Kalam (عِلْم الكَلام, literally “science of discourse”), usually foreshortened to Kalam and sometimes called “Islamic scholastic theology”, is the study of Islamic doctrine (‘aqa’id). It...
Cultural Muslim As Kia Abdullah quotes journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s example may be a cultural Muslim does not fast but still keeps attachment to Islamic values, and the term ‘cultural Muslim‘ provides space and identity to them. Cultural Muslims are religiously unobservant individuals who still identify with the religion due to...
Islamic Poetry Islamic poetry is poetry written by Muslims. Islamic poetry has been written in many languages. Poetry is the voice, wording, and expression of the truth and essence of humankind, their love, excitement, trouble, grief, and joys, the expression of their sensing and evaluation of existence and the beyond, through the...
Blasphemy Blasphemy, as defined in some religions or religion-based laws, is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect, or lack of reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religious crime. As of 2012, anti-blasphemy laws existed in 32 countries, while 87 nations had hate-speech laws that covered defamation of...