Articles

Compassion in Islam - Ameer Mustapha Elturk
Compassion in Islam
Ameer Mustapha Elturk
11-18-08
All praise and thanks are due to God almighty, and may His peace and blessings be upon His apostles, prophets and messengers starting with Adam, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and ending with Muhammad.
Compassion is a trait inherent in man and is granted to him by his creator, the most compassionate, the most merciful God.
The word compassion in Arabic is Rahmah. It is one of God's attributes used repeatedly in the Qur'an, the Muslim's Holy Scripture. The Book begins with, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” Some scholars translate the words Rahman and Raheem, two adjectives derived from the same root word that means mercy and according to their pattern of exaggerated attributes, as the most compassionate, the ever merciful. This word, Rahmah, (mercy, compassion) and its various derivatives have been used more than... Read More...
Struggle Between Reason and Revelation - Dr. Israr Ahmad
Struggle Between Reason and Revelation in Islam
Dr. Israr Ahmad
This essay is excerpted from an article by Dr. Israr Ahmad. It was originally published in Urdu, in the October 1968 issue of “Mithaq.”  The struggle between 'aql and naql has been going on in Muslim history almost since the very beginning.  The fact is that “religion,” in its essence, is a form of naql, for it was first transmitted from God to the Angel of Revelation to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and then from the exalted personality of the Prophet to his Companions and subsequently from one generation of Muslims to the next till it reached us.  Thus, the foundation of religion is naql — and not 'aql.  However, it is obvious that religion is addressed to human beings! The fact of the matter is that human beings—even if all of them may not be “rational”—do indeed follow a small minority of people who are “rational.”  Consequently, it is not altogether wrong to call the human being as such a “rational animal.”  Read More...
Caliphate is the New Jihad - Omer M. Mozaffar
Caliphate is the New Jihad
Omer M. Mozaffar
03-06-08
The reader is surely familiar with the phrase "Islam means peace", a response to the linkages of Islam with vio-lence. Similarly, perhaps the most common statement from Muslims since September 11, 2001 is "jihad does not mean holy war, but struggle." Now Muslim apologists in the United States have found a new term to correct. Speaking of al-Qa'ida and "violent Sunni extremists" in September of 2006, President Bush stated, "They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call a "Caliphate" – where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology." Some months later, in a May 2007 press conference, the President said of al-Qa'ida, "Their strategy is to drive us out of the Middle East. They have made it abundantly clear what they want. They want to establish a caliphate. They want to spread their ideology. They want safe haven from which to launch attacks." While the accuracy or inaccuracy, methods, and ambitions of the President's claims are the subject of a separate discussion for a different forum, his use of the term "caliphate", which obliged im-mediate response from many a Muslim speaker and activist, deserves comment.  Read More...
Read. Don't Burn. - Dr. Ahmed Afzaal
Read. Don’t Burn.
Out of Darkness Comes Light
Dr. Ahmed Afzaal
Last year, a small crisis was created by Mr. Terry Jones, pastor of a nondenominational church in Gainesville, FL, when he announced his plans to burn a copy of the Qur’an on the anniversary of September 11, 2001. Public outcry, not to mention the disapproval of General David Petraeus, eventually persuaded Mr. Jones to abandon his plan. Those of us who thought that the story had reached its conclusion have just been proven wrong, as Mr. Jones has once again found his way back into the news after he actually carried out what he had threatened to do last fall.  This time around, the pastor conducted a mock trial of the Qur’an in which the jury, consisting of twelve members of his church, found the Islamic scripture guilty of “crimes against humanity,” including the promotion of terrorism.  Read More...

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