Displaying items by tag: Faith

Monday, 30 May 2016 10:06

Consciousness creates the Material Universe, not the Other Way Round

My brain nearly shut down after my last article on life after death in which I was connecting dots between science and medicine, the scriptures, mysticism and what have you. And I didn’t get the mental rest I needed. I think I should ask Arif Nizami my editor to give me four weeks leave to recuperate before there is a complete shutdown, both mental and physical. Or maybe I can write every fortnight until I descend back into the depths of the stupidity, cruelty and avarice of this world’s politics, economics, legal systems and every other systems, doctrines, social and political constructs and yes, religions, by which humankind or Homo sapiens specifically, for all ‘homo’ species are human. The jewel of God’s creation, as He calls........... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Science, Technology, Environment & Ethics

Tagged under

Wednesday, 12 June 2013 00:00

Meet four of the 5,000 Brits who become Muslims each year

women praying

EVERY year, more than 5,000 Brits convert to Islam. More than half of those who make the switch are white – and 75 per cent are women. But what would make someone want to change their lifestyle so dramatically? Police Community Support Officer Jayne Kemp left her Catholic roots behind after “falling in love” with Islam while helping victims of so-called honour violence. Here EMILY FOSTER, JENNA SLOAN and EMILY FAIRBAIRN speak to Jayne and three other women about why they decided to become Muslim........... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Civilisation, Interfaith, Peace & Security

Tagged under

Tuesday, 26 March 2013 15:55

Saudi Youth 'question' Wahabism

Beneath its cumbersome title — “Statement of Saudi Youth Regarding the Guarantee of Freedoms and Ethics of Diversity” — it challenged a central tenet of the kingdom’s ultraconservative religious establishment: That it has the right to impose its strict interpretation of Islam on all Saudis. “No one can claim monopoly of truth or righteousness in the name of Islamic law (Shariah),” declared the statement, many of whose 2,600 signatories were in their 20s............Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Media Articles

Tagged under

Monday, 11 March 2013 12:04

Muslims must 'grow up' amid growing threat of sectarianism

Muslim scholars who appear to get easily 'hurt' by opinions and interpretations of Islam outside their own schools of thought have been told to be more realistic.

"My message to them is 'grow up'," said Dr Syed Farid Alatas, the prominent Malaysian professor who heads the Department of Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore.

Alatas was responding to a question posed by a participant during a seminar yesterday on the growing threat of sectarianism among Muslims, organised by three local Islamic organisations.

Besides him, other speakers at the seminar, themed "Islam Without Sectarianism" and moderated by well-known writer and social critic Dr Farish Noor, were Prof Karim Crow from the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), Dr Haidar Bagir from Indonesia's Paramadina University, and Dr Mohamad Hashim Kamali, chairman of IAIS who delivered the inaugural speech......... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Civilisation, Interfaith, Peace & Security

Tagged under

Monday, 25 June 2012 11:38

Maqasid (Higher Objectives) of Shariah

Adl or qist (justice) is, indeed, a manifestation of God’s Mercy, but may also be seen as a principal objective of the Shari’ah in its own right. Certainly, the Qur’an sees it as such when it states: “We sent Our Messengers and revealed through them the Book and the Balance so that Justice may be established amongst mankind” (Qur’an 57:25). Justice as a value or primary objective of the Shari’ah is mentioned in the Qur’an fifty-three times.)........ Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Shariah, Law, Governance & Halal

Tagged under

Monday, 21 May 2012 11:00

Maqasid made simple

Al-Maqasid al-Shari’ah, or the higher objectives of Shari’ah, is a manifestly important and yet somewhat neglected discipline of the Shari’ah. The Shari’ah generally is predicated on benefits to the individual and the community, and its laws are designed to protect these benefits and to facilitate the improvement and perfection of the conditions of human life. The Qur’an is expressive of this when it points to the main purpose of the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW): “We have not sent you but as a Mercy to the worlds” (Qur’an 21:107). This can also be seen in the Qur’an’s characterization of itself as “a healing to the (spiritual) ailments of the hearts” and “a Guidance and Mercy” for the believers and mankind (Qur’an 10:57). The objectives of rahmah (mercy or compassion) mentioned in these two verses are further substantiated by other provisions in the Qur’an and Sunnah (the Traditions of the Prophet) that seek to establish justice, eliminate prejudice, and alleviate hardship. The laws of the Qur’an and Sunnah also seek to promote cooperation and support within the family and the society at large.)........ Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Shariah, Law, Governance & Halal

Tagged under

Sunday, 27 November 2011 15:55

The Quest Continues

Some would have Hamlet a schizophrenic – “To be or not to be…” Schizophrenia is a mental illness caused by a split or bipolar – and sometimes multipolar – personality that has to do with chemical imbalance in the brain. Anyone caught in wonderment about ‘being’ and separation between Man and God – since our souls come from His spirit – are very intelligent and sensitive people. If I too were the contemptuous kind as those ‘knowalls’ so arrogantly sure of themselves, I would venture that those who don’t wonder are actually the unfortunate ones, for they are limited........... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Science, Technology, Environment & Ethics

Tagged under

Friday, 24 February 2012 17:23

Recovering TAWHIDI Integration of Science & Faith

Islam enshrines both a profound Faith and a unitive Epistemology manifested in its historical civilisation embracing a great variety of religious and spiritual activities integrated with rational and scientific disciplines. Unitary spiritual awareness was intimately joined with rational knowledge-disciplines linking the spectrum of intellectual, ethical and aesthetic domains. This integrative .......... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Published in Science, Technology, Environment & Ethics

Tagged under

Sadly, not a day passes that we do not hear of acts of violence, conflict, kidnapping, terrorist attacks, killings and destruction, it is horrible that at times, to justify such barbarism, the name of a religion or the name of God himself is invoked. – Pope Francis addressed the representatives of different religions at Vatican City, November 2016

The sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When the task is accomplished and things have been completed, all the people say, "We ourselves have achieved it!" – Chinese Text, Tao Te Jing

Food is the chief of all medicines. – Indian Text, Upanishads

One on tip-toe cannot stand. One who parades his own success will not endure. – Chinese Text, Tao Te Jing

It is the fate of every truth to be the object of ridicule when it is first acclaimed. It was once considered foolish to suppose that black men were really human beings and ought to be treated as such. – Albert Schweitzer

I asked the tree to speak to me about God, and it blossomed. – Rabindranath Tagore

There is a variety of gifts, but it is always the same Spirit. There are all sorts of services to be done, but always to the same Lord, working in all sorts of different ways in different people. It is the same God working in all of them. – Paul in 1 Corinthians (12:4-6)

The Native American Cree people say, "Only when the last tree has been cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish caught, only then will you realize that one cannot eat money. – Thomas Menamparampil

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. – Albert Einstein (d. 1955)

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. – Xenocrates (d. 314 BC)

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Sir Winston Churchill (d. 1965)

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. - Thomas Aquinas

He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals. - Benjamin Franklin

The test of a man or woman’s breeding is how they behave in a quarrel. - George Bernard Shaw

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. - William Shakespeare

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. – Dao de Ching by Lao Tzu

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. – Dao de Ching by Lao Tzu

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained. – Dao de Ching by Lao Tzu

People are qualified for civil liberty, in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters. – Edmund Burke

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. – Jawaharlal Nehru (d. 1964)

Religion is never more tested than when our emotions are ablaze. At such a time, the timeless grandeur of the Law and its ethics stand at our mercy.– Timothy J. Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad)

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. – Mother Theresa

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Do not resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. – Lao Tzu

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. – George Bernard Shaw

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. – Martin Luther King Jr. (d. 1968)

You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. – Ayn Rand, Russian novelist (d. 1982)

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. – Samuel Johnson, English writer (d. 1784)

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. – Dwight D. Eisenhower (d. 1969)

Justice, mercy, wisdom, righteousness and common good are the basics of Islam. Whatever gets out of justice to injustice is not from Islam. Whatever gets out of mercy to violence is not from Islam. Whatever deviates from common good to harm is not from Islam, and whatever dissents from wisdom to imprudence is not from Islam. – Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

It is reported that Imam Abu Hanifah was passing through the bazar and a small amount of mud fell on his clothes. He went to the local river and washed it. Someone asked him, "O Imam, you say a certain amount of dirt is exonerated and yet you are washing a little mud!" The imam replied, "Yes that was fatwa and this is taqwa." – Fariduddin Attar

For every sin but the killing of Time there is forgiveness. – Essential Sufism

Enlightenment must come little by little, otherwise it would overwhelm. – Idries Shah

To let go of attachments and belongings doesn’t mean you should own nothing. It means nothing should own you. – Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

Hearts are vessels of God on earth. And the most beloved heart to Him is the one most clean, pure and pristine. – Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Knowledge is not what is memorised. Knowledge is what benefits. – Imam Shafi’i

Learn to be quiet just as you learn to talk, because if talking guides you, being quiet protects you. By being quiet, you attain two characteristics: you are able to take knowledge from those more knowledgeable than you and you are able to repel the ignorance of those more ignorant than you. – Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

If words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart, but if they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears. – Al-Suhrawardi (Essential Sufism)

Shall I tell you who is kept away from Hell?...Everyone who is gentle and kindly, approachable and of an easy disposition. – Hadith

God is merciful to those who show mercy to others. – Hadith

A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves a thousand moments of regrets. – Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

Lead such a life that, when you die, the people may mourn you, and while you are alive they long for your company. – Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. – Jalaluddin Rumi

Power consists not in being able to strike another, but in being able to control oneself when anger arises. - Hadith

The highest status amongst the forgiving is of that person who has all the power to avenge, yet chooses to forgive. – Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib

Hearts are vessels of God on earth. And the most beloved heart to Him is the one most clean, pure and pristine. – Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

To get what you love, you must first be patient with what you hate. – Imam al-Ghazali

To be humble is to accept the truth and submit to it even when you heard it from the tongue of a child, an educated one, or an ignorant person. – Fudhayl ibn Iyadh

Some people have passed away but their characters keep them alive. Others are alive but their character have killed them. – Imam Shafi’i

And still, after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "Earth! You owe me". Look at the love like that. It illuminates the whole sky. – Hafez

As the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake, we Muslims and Christians should let the unpleasantness between us become a thing of the past. - The Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb's speech in Abu Dhabi

Declare your jihad on twelve enemies you cannot see _ egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see. – Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you will become happy. And if you get a bad one, you will become a philosopher. – Socrates

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. – Wernher Von Braun (d. 1977)

Buzi, a native of Zhengxian, asked his wife to make him a new pair of trousers. When asked the style of the new trousers, Buzi said: “Just like my old trousers.” His wife put a few holes in them so they would resemble the old pair.

A man was trapped by a tiger. In an attempt to save him, the man’s son took a cutlass and rushed towards the wild beast. At this juncture, the man shouted at the top of his lungs, “My dear son! My dear son! Attack its feet, not its skin, which is worth its weight in silver!”

At an art gallery, a woman and her ten-year-old son were having a tough time choosing between one of my paintings and another artist's work. They finally went with mine. "I guess you decided you prefer an autumn scene to a floral, " I said. "No," said the boy. "Your painting is wider, so it'll cover three holes in our wall."

I once gave my husband the silent treatment for an entire week, at the end of which he declared, “Hey, we’re getting along pretty great lately!”

They say we learn from our mistakes. That’s why I am making as many as possible. I will soon be a genius!

A men fell on the ground, and soon after fell down again. He said to himself: "Had I known I was going to fall a second time, I would have not gotten up so soon."

A government office issued an urgent document to be distributed among its subsidiaries. To ensure that it would be delivered in time, the messenger was provided with a horse. Running behing the horse, the messenger whipped the horse until it was galloping at full speed. Someone asked him in amazement: "If it's such an urgent mission why don't you ride the horse?" The messenger asnwered: "Running on six legs is certainly quicker than on four, isn't it?"

Hija purchased a sack of flour and hired a labourer to carry it. The labourer ran off with the whole sack. On seeing the labourer after a few days, Hija hid from him. "Why are you hiding from him?" the people asked. He replied, "I fear that he may ask for his wage."

The Ameer of the town appealed for funds to build a wall around the graveyard. Mulla Nasruddin, who was also present, got up and responded: "There is absolutely no need for any wall around the graveyard!"

A Mullah's friend asked the mulla how old are you? Forty replied the mullah. The friend said but you said the same thing two years ago! Yes, replied the mullah, I always stand by my word.

Young man: Ya Shaykh, I have repented, Alhamdulillah, but I cannot forget the woman I love. Shaykh: Pray to Allah using various supplications Young man: Please tell me some that I may use Shaykh: Oh Allah, put Iman in my heart, in my hearing, in my sight and in my path The young man interrupted and said, "Ya Shaykh, the woman that I love is called Iman."

Three people were praying salat in congregation. A man walks by and without knowing they are in salat says, "Assalamu Alaykum". One man in salat says "Waalaykum Assalam". The second person angrily says, "Astaghfirullah, you are not supposed to talk in salat." The third person praying says "Alhamdulillah, I didn't talk."

Here is the story of an Imam who got up after Friday prayers and announced to the people: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building programme. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets".

During a Q&A session, a scholar was asked, "Will we get cigarettes in Jannah?" to which he replied, "Maybe, but you'd have to go to Jahannam to light it".

A man who was an adherent of the Magian religion died and left behind a huge debt. Some of his creditors said to his son, "Sell the house and pay off your father's debt." The son said, "If I sell the house and pay off his debt, will he enter paradise?" They said, "No". He said, "Then leave him wherever he is and leave me in the house."

Hasan bin Sahl asked Dinar bin 'Abdullah,: "What is your religion?" He said, "I never thought that anyone alive would have to answer this question, for it is the question the angels of death, Nakir and Munkar, ask the dead."

Breadcrumbs

Displaying items by tag: Faith