the true muslim essay

The Definition of a True Muslim

Raziullah Noman – Canada

With many Muslim scholars declaring other Muslims as non-Muslims in this day and age, it can be difficult to ascertain as to who is a true Muslim. Firstly, we should turn to the Holy Qur’an and see the Words of Allah. Allah the Almighty states about the Arab bedouins:

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَإِنْ تُطِيعُوا اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُمْ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَه غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْتَابُوا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الصَّادِقُونَ

The Arabs of the desert say, ‘We believe.’ Say, “You have not believed yet; but rather say, ‘We have accepted Islam,’ for the true belief has not yet entered into your hearts.” But if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not detract anything from your deeds Surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful. The believers are only those who truly believe in Allah and His Messenger, and then doubt not, but strive with their possessions and their persons in the cause of Allah. It is they who are truthful. [i]

The Arabs of the desert would say they believe but, they were not yet true believers. For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad (sa) was told to say that you are Muslims but faith has not yet entered into your hearts. This shows that anyone who believes in Islam, is entitled to call themselves Muslims. The Qur’an does not allow anyone to declare another person a disbeliever if he recites the kalima (declaration of faith).

Then the question arises – what was the definition given by the Prophet Muhammad (sa)? When we turn to the ahadith (narrations of the Holy Prophet (sa)), we see that there are three main definitions of a Muslim.

The Prophet Muhammad (sa) stated:

اكْتُبُوا لِي مَنْ تَلَفَّظَ بِالإِسْلاَمِ مِنَ النَّاسِ

‘List the names of those people who have announced that they are Muslims’ [ii]

This was said by the Prophet Muhammad (sa) when the population of Muslims was needed for a census in Madinah. At that time this was the only criteria. Anyone who declared that they were Muslims, were counted as Muslims in the eyes of the founder of Islam.

The second definition mentioned some of the practices of Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad (sa) stated:

مَنْ صَلَّى صَلاَتَنَا، وَاسْتَقْبَلَ قِبْلَتَنَا، وَأَكَلَ ذَبِيحَتَنَا، فَذَلِكَ الْمُسْلِمُ الَّذِي لَهُ ذِمَّةُ اللَّهِ وَذِمَّةُ رَسُولِهِ، فَلاَ تُخْفِرُوا اللهَ فِي ذِمَّتِهِ

‘Whoever prays like us and faces our Qibla and eats our slaughtered animals is a Muslim and is under Allah’s and His Apostle’s protection. So do not betray Allah by betraying those who are in His protection.’ [iii]

In this hadith , the Prophet Muhammad (sa) has given a warning to the Muslims. He knew that in the future some extremist Muslims would persecute other Muslims over their differences. He warned such extremists that by persecuting such innocent Muslims, they would be betraying Allah.

In the third hadith , the Prophet Muhammad (sa) stated:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو خَالِدٍ الأَحْمَرُ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ أَبِي مُعَاوِيَةَ، كِلاَهُمَا عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي ظِبْيَانَ، عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، وَهَذَا، حَدِيثُ ابْنِ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ قَالَ بَعَثَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي سَرِيَّةٍ فَصَبَّحْنَا الْحُرَقَاتِ مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ فَأَدْرَكْتُ رَجُلاً فَقَالَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ ‏.‏ فَطَعَنْتُهُ فَوَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَذَكَرْتُهُ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ أَقَالَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَقَتَلْتَهُ “‏‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ إِنَّمَا قَالَهَا خَوْفًا مِنَ السِّلاَحِ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ أَفَلاَ شَقَقْتَ عَنْ قَلْبِهِ حَتَّى تَعْلَمَ أَقَالَهَا أَمْ لاَ ‏“‏ ‏.‏ فَمَازَالَ يُكَرِّرُهَا عَلَىَّ حَتَّى تَمَنَّيْتُ أَنِّي أَسْلَمْتُ يَوْمَئِذٍ ‏.‏ قَالَ فَقَالَ سَعْدٌ وَأَنَا وَاللهِ لاَ أَقْتُلُ مُسْلِمًا حَتَّى يَقْتُلَهُ ذُو الْبُطَيْنِ ‏.‏ يَعْنِي أُسَامَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَجُلٌ أَلَمْ يَقُلِ اللهُ ‏ } ‏وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لاَ تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ كُلُّهُ لِلهِ‏{‏ فَقَالَ سَعْدٌ قَدْ قَاتَلْنَا حَتَّى لاَ تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنْتَ وَأَصْحَابُكَ تُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تُقَاتِلُوا حَتَّى تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ

It is narrated on the authority of Usama b. Zaid that ‘the Messenger of Allah (sa) sent us on an expedition. We raided Huraqat of Juhaina in the morning. I caught hold of a man and he said:“There is no god but Allah”, I attacked him with a spear. It once occurred to me and I talked about it to the Apostle (sa). The Messenger of Allah (sa) said: ‘Did he profess “There is no god but Allah,” and even then you killed him?’ I said: ‘Messenger of Allah, he made a profession of it out of the fear of the weapon.’ He observed: ‘Did you tear his heart in order to find out whether it had professed or not?’ And he went on repeating it to me till I wished I had embraced Islam that day. Sa’d said: ‘By Allah, I would never kill any Muslim so long as a person with a heavy belly, i.e., Usama, would not kill.’ Upon this a person remarked: ‘Did Allah not say: And fight them until there is no more mischief and religion is wholly for Allah?’ Sa’d said: ‘We fought so that there should be no mischief, but you and your companions wish to fight so that there should be mischief.’ [iv]

The definitions given today by some Muslims are completely opposite to the words of the Prophet Muhammad (sa). Ahmadi Muslims believe all those who recite the kalima to be Muslims. Anything else spread in the media is either out of context or propaganda.

The Fifth Caliph and current worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) stated:

‘The Ahmadiyya Community, according to the instructions of Allah and His Messenger (sa) believes everyone who recites the kalima is a Muslim. For someone to be a Muslim, it is enough for him to simply declare:

لَآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّااللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ الله ‎

And this is exactly what is proven from the ahadith’ [v]

Speaking about the fact that some non-Ahmadi clerics have deemed Ahmadi Muslims to be non-Muslim, His Holiness (aba) said:

‘The Holy Prophet (sa) taught that no one has the right to call any person who utters the kalima to be a non-Muslim. The truth is that no human being or power has the right to deny what is in the heart of another person.’ [vi]

Despite having been labelled by most of the Muslim world as non-Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims do not seek out the approval or attestation of others; rather Ahmadi Muslims are content so long as they fulfill the criteria establish by God and His Messenger (sa), as His Holiness (aba) states:

‘As far as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is concerned, neither have we ever asked a foreign power to grant us the status of ‘Muslims’ before the law and the constitution, nor have we ever begged any Pakistani government for this. We do not require a certificate from any assembly or government in order to be called Muslims. We call ourselves Muslims. We call ourselves Muslims because we are Muslims. Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (sa) have declared us to be Muslims. We pronounce the kalima [declaration of faith]: [ there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad (sa) is His messenger ]. We believe in every pillar of Islam and article of faith. We have faith in the Holy Qur’an and believe the Holy Prophet (sa) to be Khatam-un-Nabiyeen [Seal of the Prophets] as Allah the Exalted has stated in the Holy Qur’an and as I have just recited. We have firm conviction that the Holy Prophet (sa) is Khatam-un-Nabiyeen .’ [vii]

[i] The Holy Qur’an Chapter 49 Verses 15-16

[ii] Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3060

[iii] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith 391

[iv] Sahih Muslim, Hadith 96 a

[v] Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba), Friday Sermon, 2 nd December 2011

[vi] Question and Answer Session with Indonesian Guests, 28 th September 2013 – https://www.alislam.org/press-release/true-khilafat-compatible-with-democracy-head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-jamaat/

[vii] Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba), Friday Sermon, October 13 th 2017

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Course: ap®︎/college art history > unit 2, introduction to islam.

The Five Pillars of Islam
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Origins and the Life of Muhammad the Prophet

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Mystical Meditations and Other Miscellaneous Musings

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Introductory Essay

Before taking this course, my knowledge of Islam had primarily been informed by the mainstream media. Unfortunately for the probable thousands of Americans who shared this in common with me, there are so many misconceived notions of Islam depicted by these media outlets that may never be rectified unless an active search for truth is realized. Much of what the younger generations have seen in their lifetimes regarding Islam has been shrouded by dialogues of terrorism, war, and fear. It is a very instinctually human phenomenon to form an opinion and stick to it for pride or vanity’s sake. These opinions once formed are rarely able to be transformed, unless genuine open-mindedness and empathy are present. But fortunately for me, I came into Harvard almost entirely set on concentrating in the Comparative Study of Religion. Coming from a tremendously devout Catholic family, I had attended parochial school my whole life. Though I fell in love with my Catholic faith from a young age, I knew that reserving my religious studies to Catholic theology alone was detrimental not only to my conception of Catholicism, but to my conception of religion as a whole. Taking a class on Islam was a top priority on my list as I was aware of my own ignorance of both the religion and the culture. But people are not stringently bound by their ignorance that perpetuates destructive stereotypes. Misconceptions and misunderstandings can be easily cured with knowledge. And that is something I learned this semester.

In his book Infidel of Love, Professor Asani says: “It is one of the great ironies of our times that peoples from different religious, cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds are in closer contact with each other than ever before, yet this closeness has not resulted in better understanding and appreciation for difference. Rather, our world is marked with greater misunderstandings and misconceptions, resulting in ever-escalating levels of tensions between cultures and nations.” (page 1) These tensions that arise between cultures hardly exist on account of reasons other than ignorance. Nobody could ever come to truly know or appreciate another person, community, or culture without truly understanding that person, community, or culture. Learning about Islam therefore becomes an undertaking that requires the study of the historic, social, and political contexts that envelop the religion, before diving into the study of the modern-day conflicts existing within and surrounding some Muslim nations. Throughout this class, not only did we look at these political and historical contexts, but we also, more uniquely, examined Islam through the lenses of art, literature, poetry, and music. Peering into our subject through these aesthetic lenses provided an experience unlike any other approach to learning I’ve yet encountered. I hope the viewer will catch a glimpse of this from my blog posts.

In this blog, I present my own personal interpretations of and responses to Islamic art, literature, poetry, architecture, music, and culture. Each entry presents a reflection of the corresponding lecture material or weekly readings beginning with Week Two’s “Constructions of Islam” and ending with Week Twelve’s reading of Persepolis and Sultana’s Dream. As I mention in some of my blog posts, my spiritual life was fairly established before taking this class; but with each coming week and its accompanying lectures, my eyes were opened to so many new possibilities of approaching faith and life as a whole. Though I came to this class with a limited knowledge of Islam and, moreover, a mistaken belief that the religion along with all it promoted had no place alongside my own convictions, I am now ending the semester, delighted to have been proven wrong. My deepest hope is that someone stumbling upon this assortment of “mystical meditations and other miscellaneous musings” might recognize the collective revelations that have allowed me modest glimpses into enlightenment over these past 13 weeks, and even better, might also be inspired to think differently themselves.

In my first blog post, “Constructions of Islam,” I focus on the distinction between the terms “Muslim” and “muslim.” This was perhaps one of my favorite units in the semester because it set the stage so perfectly for all of the other misconceptions I was subconsciously harboring that would be broken throughout the rest of the course. I think that the aforementioned villainization of Muslims that has been presented in the media post 9/11 has created a false notion that at the core of Islam, exists a claim to salvation that precludes any non-Muslim from God’s mercy. But, something I learned in week two, primarily through Professor Asani’s second chapter of Infidel of Love, is that True Islam values all human life and recognizes the fact that fundamental human rights are not only universal, but that belief in this is a principal tenet of the religion. Contrary to the misconception, True Islam emphasizes that inherent dignity of humanity is derived from the same creator and therefore, rejects any possibility of ethnic, racial, or religious supremacy. As a recently declared concentrator in the study of comparative religion, I find this pluralistic message all the more critical for the development and fostering of understanding. I am a firm believer that we should not be content with the end-goal of tolerance. Tolerance implies a certain degree of complacency towards a subject, when what we should be striving for is appreciation for difference, and an eagerness to learn more about viewpoints countering our own.

My second blog post turns towards a more aesthetic side of Islam. In week six, we discussed mosque architecture and heard from two guest lecturers who spoke about the fluidity and multidimensional nature of Islamic art. In Ismail R. Al-Faruqi’s Misconceptions on the Nature of Islamic Art, he prefaces the text by noting that “the Western scholars of Islamic art…have failed in the supreme effort of understanding the spirit of that art, of discerning and analyzing its Islamicness…they sought to bend Islamic art to its categories.” (page 29) This recurring phenomenon of Western societies misappropriating cultures outside of their own is one of, if not the singular, leading cause of the culture clash that Professor Asani references in the first excerpt from Infidel of Love. Not only are misrepresentations of these cultures counterproductive to the quest for understanding, they are simply erroneous and lazy assessments in which these Western scholars attempt to fit every other culture and society into the confines of their own constructed conventions. What I found so beautiful and unique about Islamic art is that despite the wildly varied modes of interpretation and expression, all “derive their theological aesthetic from the same principle, namely, tawhid, the acknowledgement and assertion of God’s uncompromised unity and transcendence.” (Rendard, Seven Doors to Islam , page 128) The artistic liberty afforded by this principle combined with the lack of a rigid architectural template for masjids leads to endless creative possibilities. I chose to follow up Week Two’s blog with Week Six because I think the plurality message tied into the first blog also comes through in this visual project. The incorporation of three cultures into the Spanish mosque architecture is a prime example of the productive relationship that can exist between nations, and the beauty that arises as a result of their cooperative effort.

The blog inspired by Week Five deals with the importance of historical contexts and the role history plays in shaping a culture. The relationship between the father, the son, and the grandfather in Elie Wiesel’s quote is one that helped me understand the importance of the Ta’ziyeh much more clearly. So much of history relies on story-telling and the passing on of customs, but many people undervalue the importance of preserving tradition. And yet, tradition is what so often lies at the heart of religion and group identity as a whole. Without tradition and a rich history, meaning can be entirely dissolved from a culture. I have seen firsthand the essentiality of this preservation within my own faith. It’s easy to question the Truths within your religion when you realize that you only subscribe to it because of your parents, and their parents, and their parents’ parents. But once you realize the weight of tradition, you grow to appreciate the history behind your own roots, and suddenly, there is so much more meaning underlying your convictions.

Transitioning into the second half of the course, my fourth blog revolves around Week Nine’s subject of Islamic poetry. This type of faith expression and the difficulty discussed in lecture of confining a spiritual experience to fit within the parameters of language is one that I was easily able to relate to. Throughout my life, I have had innumerable encounters with areligious people that lack even the slightest trace of faith. Trying to verbalize your own faith experience is almost an impossible feat, and anyone who has been in a similar place could likely attest. When the Transcendent is so infinitely above the worldly realm that we exist in, it would be a futile task to limit an encounter with It to time or space. This poem grapples with my inner battle between constantly seeking social validation and ultimately realizing that “the one who made the stars, for my heart freely yearns.” This sense of security of self that I find within my own faith is something that people in my life who have never experienced this may never understand. My sense of self is secure because it rests in the opinion of my creator, and I have realized more and more throughout this course that I do not stand alone in this conviction. I am convinced that the bond which exists between people of faith is unlike any other interpersonal connection that human beings could share. Not only does it transcend language and time, it automatically places you on an elevated state of understanding.

This sense of unity among the community of believers is exactly why I chose to shift into Week Ten’s Conference of the Birds. In choosing seven birds and seven languages denoting “God,” I hoped to encompass this theme that, despite possessing impossible differences, no single religion holds a monopoly over salvation. Like the Buddhist parable of the blind men and the elephant, I believe all religions strive towards the same understanding of the Divine and arrive at different interpretations. These differences, far from excluding any one faith from attaining the “other-worldly,” unite believers on a common journey of enlightenment. The lessons from this search for truth illustrated in The Conference of the Birds was one of my biggest takeaways from this course. I think people do themselves such a disservice in believing that their way contains the only Gospel Truth. There are so many different routes linking this world to the next. If a believer genuinely perceives the Divine as infinite, how would this not be the case?

This multiplicity of paths to the Divine is what inspired Week Twelve’s imitation of Persepolis. Though dealing more with my own spiritual journey, the comic strip template allowed me to depict the variety of examples necessary to highlight this theme. In high school, my sophomore year theology teacher taught us about Divine Revelation and the different ways in which God unveils Himself to humanity. There are so many areas of my life in which I see proof of this divinity so plainly. I’ve spoken with non-believers who are frustrated by the fact that if God exists, why shouldn’t He come down or show Himself to us? I find it so hard to stop myself in those moments and scream, “He’s right there! He’s in you, He’s in me! He’s in everything! Don’t you see it?” But evidently, the answer is ‘no.’ If I truly believe in an infinite, omnipotent God, shouldn’t it make sense from this conception that a direct revelation would be too much for my finite mind to comprehend? This thought helps me to search for the beauty and good in everything around me and recognize it as having its roots in the Divine. Whether that be reflected through love, through kindness, through nature, or even through suffering, all of these help me to appreciate my faith and broaden my own conception of my creator on a much grander scale. This past semester has only reinforced this belief. I was challenged, enlightened, wounded, healed, distressed, and relieved all at once and I could not be more thankful for this period of tremendous growth. It is my sincere wish that readers of this blog might experience the joy and hope offered by faith at some point in their lives, or if they already have, to hold onto it for as long as they live. Life is hard and suffering does not discriminate, but with faith, our burden is made much lighter.

The True Face of Islam: Essays

Wahiduddin khan , raamish siddiqui.

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Published November 1, 2015

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Friday essay: how Western attitudes towards Islam have changed

Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland

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Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Less than a week after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 11 September 2001, US President George W. Bush gave a remarkable speech about America’s “Muslim Brothers and sisters”. “These acts of violence,” he declared, “violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.” After quoting from the Quran, he continued, “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.”

This speech is remarkable, not only for its compassion towards Muslims in the face of the attack on the US, but also because Bush was contradicting what has been, since the beginnings of Islam, the standard Western perception of this religion – namely that it is, at its core, a religion of violence.

Since its beginnings in the Arabia of the 7th century CE, the religion of Muhammad the prophet had pushed against the borders of Christendom. Within 100 years of the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, an Arabian empire extended from India and the borders of China to the south of France. Militarily, early Islam was undoubtedly successful.

Since that time, for the Christian West, regardless of the Islamic precept and practice of religious tolerance (at least as long as non-Muslims did not criticise the prophet), Islam has remained often threatening, sometimes enchanting, but ever-present. Indeed, the West created its own identity against an Islam that it saw as totally other, essentially alien, and ever likely to engulf it.

Thus, from the 8th century to the middle of the 19th, it was the virtually unanimous Western opinion that Islam was a violent religion whose success was due to the sword.

Read more: In spite of their differences, Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God

That Islam is, at its core, a violent religion is an attitude still present among some today. In the aftermath of the horrific murder of 50 Muslims in Christchurch by an Australian right wing nationalist, the conservative Australian politician Fraser Anning declared (straight out of the West’s medieval playbook), “The entire religion of Islam is simply the violent ideology of a sixth century despot masquerading as a religious leader, which justifies endless war against anyone who opposes it and calls for the murder of unbelievers and apostates.” Any violence against Muslims, he suggested, was therefore their own fault.

Anning has been roundly condemned for his statements by both sides of politics. He is clearly wildly out of step with mainstream public opinion in Australia. A change.org petition with more than 1.4 million signatures has been delivered to Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australia’s first Muslim senator.

Clearly, blaming innocent people at prayer for their deaths at the hands of a right wing zealot crossed all the boundaries. But Anning’s view of Islam does echo an historic Western emphasis on the use of force in Islam as an explanation for its success.

This was, of course, part of an argument about the relative truth of Christianity and Islam. According to this, the success of Islam was due solely to the sword. The success of Christianity, having renounced the sword, was due to divine favour. The one was godly, the other Satanic.

This Western image of a benign, peaceful Christianity against a malevolent, violent Islam was a mythical one. With few exceptions, its proponents ignored both the violence that often went along with the spread of Christianity and the religious tolerance that often accompanied the extension of Islam. But the myth did reflect the deep-seated Western horror, always potent in the collective imagination, of being literally overrun by the fanatical hordes.

Ripe for colonialism

In the 19th century, however, attitudes did begin to change. Muhammad was, on occasion, imagined not as the ambitious, profligate impostor of old but as a “silent great soul”, a hero who spoke “from Nature’s own heart”, as Thomas Carlyle called him. The Dublin University Magazine described him in 1873 as “one of the greatest ever sent on earth”.

Islam too now came to be seen more benevolently. The increasing cultural and global political power of the West rendered obsolete the traditional fear of being overwhelmed by Islam. The “religion of force” was now meeting a greater secular force, that of the imperial West. Islam no longer looked as threatening as it once had. The doctrine of Jihad (holy war), declared The Quarterly Review in 1877, “is not so dangerous or barbarous a one as is generally imagined”.

Islamic cultures now came to be seen as spheres of Western patronage, secular and religious. The image of a vibrant, active, progressive West against a passive, inert Islam was congenial to colonial enterprise. Ironically, the religion of aggressive action now came to be viewed as passively stagnant, decadent and degenerate, ripe for domination by an assertive West.

The inability of Western commentators in the 19th century to endorse a newly submissive Islam arose from a deep-seated Western incapacity to treat Islam on equal terms. Indeed, the greater value of the West over all those it variously characterised as backward, degenerate, or uncivilised was a central feature of most discussions of non-Western forms of life.

In short, Islam and progress were incompatible. And there was a strong tendency throughout the Victorian period to blame Islam for all the imagined ills of Oriental societies – the moral degradation of women, slavery, the physical and mental debilities of men, envy, violence and cruelty, the disquiet and misery of private life, the continual agitations, commotions, and revolutions of public life.

Contemporary times

Cut to the 21st century and a post-imperialist age, and Muslim nationalisms are again on the rise, not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but in Indonesia, India and Pakistan. The West once again feels under threat. The myth of Islam as essentially violent has re-surfaced. But, interestingly, it has done so in a different way.

On the one hand, the growth of terrorism has moved the imagined military threat of Islam from the borders of the West to its very centres – to London, Paris, New York.

On the other hand, Islam is now seen as a cultural threat as much as a military one. Even at its most benign, it is perceived as threatening Western values by virtue of the Muslims in its midst, stubbornly refusing to acquiesce to Western values. Thus the need to keep Muslims out. In December 2015, to the outrage of many Americans, then presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the US . Better the enemy kept outside the wall than the enemy within.

The refusal of the UK to allow Shamima Begum, the school girl who left London in 2015 to join ISIS, to return to England is the most recent example of the fear of home-grown terrorism and the enemy “within”. That she appears to endorse a violent Islam and is lacking in remorse has not helped her cause.

In addition, a new discourse has emerged of Islam as having failed to have a Reformation and an Enlightenment as did the West. Thus, for example, former Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott declared in December 2015 that Islam has never had its own version of the Reformation and the Enlightenment – the two events that seem to symbolise for Abbott the transition from barbarism to civilisation.

“It’s not culturally insensitive,” he declared, “to demand loyalty to Australia and respect for Western civilisation. Cultures are not all equal. We should be ready to proclaim the clear superiority of our culture to one that justifies killing people in the name of God.”

Does Islam need an Enlightenment like Europe had in the 18th century? Well yes, in the sense that European governments finally legislated freedom of religion to stop Catholics and Protestants slaughtering each other. Like Christianity in Europe in the 17th century, Islam in the 21st is as much at war with itself (especially in the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites) as it is at war with the West.

So, in the light of this history of Western attitudes to Islam, what are we to make of President Bush’s claim that Islam really is a religion of peace and that Muslim terrorists are, as a consequence, not true Muslims?

At its simplest, it is a recognition that there are vast numbers of Muslims, indeed the majority by far, both inside and outside the West, who endorse the virtues of tolerance, compassion, kindness and – simply put – just getting on with each other and with others.

It is also a recognition that multicultural and multi-religious societies thrive on unity and not divisiveness. As then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull put it in March 2017 , “What I must do, as a leader, and what all leaders should do in Australia, is emphasise our inclusivity, the fact that we are a multicultural society where all cultures, all faiths are respected and that is mutual. So, trying to demonise all Muslims is only confirming the lying, dangerous message of the terrorists.”

Many religions under one name

It is foolish to deny that there is a violent edge to Islam, as there is to Christianity and Judaism. In all these traditions, there is the tension between the idea of a God whose will is always good and a God whose will is always right.

And where God is seen as a being whose will can transcend the good (as he is in Islam, Christianity and Judaism), evil acts committed in his name can abound. Both peace and violence can equally find their justification in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish idea of God.

The willingness of the Islamic State group to accept reponsibility for the horrific bombings in Sri Lanka indicates their belief that such acts are in accord with the will of God.

That said, the question of whether Islam is essentially violent is not one that any longer makes much sense (if it ever did). The supposed fundamental oppositions between the West and Islam fail to map on to any reality.

“Islam” and “the West” are no longer helpful banners behind which any of us should enthusiastically rally. There really is no clash of civilisations here, not least because the notion of “civilisation”, Islamic or Western, really doesn’t have any purchase in a globalised world.

Moreover, we now know that it is difficult to identify the essence of any religion and futile to search for one. Any one religion is really many religions under the one name. So there are many Islams – Sunni and Shiite, but also Indonesian, Albanian, Malaysian, Moroccan, Pakistani, all culturally nuanced in quite different ways. This was evident in the many nationalities of those at prayer in the Christchurch mosques.

So too, there are many Christianities, often so different as to be hardly recognisable as parts of the same tradition – think Pentecostal snake handlers in the American south, Catholic peasants in Sicily devoted to the Virgin Mary, or cool Lutherans in Scandinavia.

The fault line in modern religion doesn’t go to a clash between civilisations or even to a clash between religions so much as to a struggle within religions and within cultures, between theologies, ethics, political ideologies, ethnicities, exclusivism and inclusivism.

It is a struggle between liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and moderates, reason and revelation. It is a battle within theologies between a God who is thought to be knowable through nature, man and history and a God who is thought to be only knowable through the revelations contained in the inerrant pages of the Torah, the New Testament or the Quran.

It is a struggle within all religions between those who believe there are “many paths to Heaven”, endorse freedom of religion, encourage tolerance and support mutual respect against those who believe there is only “one way to Paradise” and desire to impose this on everyone else, whatever it takes.

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The True Face of Islam: Essays

About this ebook.

The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge, so whoever gains knowledge has gained great good fortune.

Hadith by al-Tirmidhi, classed as Sahih by al-Albaani

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Uncovering ‘the true America’ in real conversations with a Muslim

Last december, i wrote a commentary condemning hate crimes against muslims and offering to sit down with anyone who wanted to learn about islam or meet a muslim..

Akbar Hossain

Faleeha and David are two people who met with the author. They are shown here at Harvest Restaurant in West Philadelphia. (Image courtesy of Akbar Hossain)

‘The true America’

Solidarity and hope.

The challenge ahead of us is to decipher our America. We all carry on our shoulders the scars of yesterday’s battles with fear and hatred. You and I get to write the next chapter on what we tell the next generation about this time in our country.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

The nature of islamic art.

Animal Flask

Tiraz Textile Fragment

Bowl with Arabic Inscription

Capital with Acanthus Leaves

Spherical and Biconical Gold Beads

Bifolium from the "Nurse's Qur'an" (Mushaf al-Hadina)

Mounted Hunter with Cheetah

Mosque Lamp for the Mausoleum of Amir Aydakin al-'Ala'i al-Bunduqdar

Basin with Figural Imagery

Confronted Animal Rug

Textile Fragment

Opening Folio of the 26th Volume of the "Anonymous Baghdad Qur'an"

Ahmad ibn al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri

Pair of Minbar Doors

Architectural Tile with Partial Inscription

Stand for a Qur'an Manuscript

Zain(?) Hasan Sulaiman Isfahani

Tympanum with a Horse and Rider

Helmet with Aventail

'Star Ushak' Carpet

Velvet with Figural Imagery

recto: "Portrait of Raja Suraj Singh Rathor", verso: Page of Calligraphy. Folio from the Shah Jahan Album

Painting by Bishan Das

Tughra (Insignia) of Sultan Süleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66)

Pierced Window Screen

Fragmentary Loom Width with Wavy-Vine Pattern

Dish with Bird, Rabbit, and Quadruped Design

"Calligraphic Composition in Shape of Peacock," Folio from the Bellini Album

Fragments of a Carpet with Lattice and Blossom Pattern

Department of Islamic Art , The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2001

The term Islamic art not only describes the art created specifically in the service of the Muslim faith (for example, a mosque and its furnishings) but also characterizes the art and architecture historically produced in the lands ruled by Muslims, produced for Muslim patrons, or created by Muslim artists. As it is not only a religion but a way of life, Islam fostered the development of a distinctive culture with its own unique artistic language that is reflected in art and architecture throughout the Muslim world.

The lands newly conquered by the Muslims had their own preexisting artistic traditions and, initially at least, those artists who had worked under Byzantine or Sasanian patronage continued to work in their own indigenous styles but for Muslim patrons. The first examples of Islamic art therefore rely on earlier techniques, styles, and forms reflecting this blending of classical and Iranian decorative themes and motifs. Even religious monuments erected under Umayyad patronage that have a clearly Islamic function and meaning, such as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, demonstrate this amalgam of Greco-Roman, Byzantine, and Sasanian elements. Only gradually, under the impact of the Muslim faith and nascent Islamic state, did a uniquely Islamic art emerge. The rule of the Umayyad caliphate (661–750) is often considered to be the formative period in Islamic art. One method of classifying Islamic art, used in the Islamic galleries at the Metropolitan Museum, is according to the dynasty reigning when the work of art was produced. This type of periodization follows the general precepts of Islamic history, which is divided into and punctuated by the rule of various dynasties, beginning with the Umayyad and ‘ Abbasid dynasties that governed a vast and unified Islamic state, and concluding with the more regional, though powerful, dynasties such as the Safavids , Ottomans , and Mughals .

With its geographic spread and long history, Islamic art was inevitably subject to a wide range of regional and even national styles and influences as well as changes within the various periods of its development. It is all the more remarkable then that, even under these circumstances, Islamic art has always retained its intrinsic quality and unique identity. Just as the religion of Islam embodies a way of life and serves as a cohesive force among ethnically and culturally diverse peoples, the art produced by and for Muslim societies has basic identifying and unifying characteristics. Perhaps the most salient of these is the predilection for all-over surface decoration. The four basic components of Islamic ornament are calligraphy , vegetal patterns , geometric patterns , and figural representation .

Department of Islamic Art. “The Nature of Islamic Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orna/hd_orna.htm (October 2001)

Additional Essays by Department of Islamic Art

Department of Islamic Art. “ The Art of the Almoravid and Almohad Periods (ca. 1062–1269) .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ Turkmen Jewelry .” (August 2011)
Department of Islamic Art. “ The Art of the Umayyad Period in Spain (711–1031) .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ Vegetal Patterns in Islamic Art .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ Calligraphy in Islamic Art .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ Figural Representation in Islamic Art .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art .” (October 2001)
Department of Islamic Art. “ The Art of the Mughals before 1600 .” (October 2002)
Department of Islamic Art. “ The Art of the Nasrid Period (1232–1492) .” (October 2002)

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List of Rulers

List of Rulers of the Islamic World
List of Rulers of the Sasanian Empire
Central and North Asia, 1000–1400 A.D.
Central and North Asia, 500–1000 A.D.
The Eastern Mediterranean, 1000–1400 A.D.
The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000 A.D.
Egypt, 1000–1400 A.D.
Iberian Peninsula, 1000–1400 A.D.
Iberian Peninsula, 1400–1600 A.D.
Iberian Peninsula, 500–1000 A.D.
Iran, 1000–1400 A.D.
Iran, 500–1000 A.D.
Iraq (Mesopotamia), 500–1000 A.D.
Iraq, 1000–1400 A.D.
Italian Peninsula, 1000–1400 A.D.
Western North Africa (The Maghrib), 1000–1400 A.D.
Abbasid Art
Architecture
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Doorway / Portal
Fatimid Art
Floral Motif
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Islamic Art in the Early Period
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Plant Motif
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Artist or Maker

Mir 'Ali Haravi
Muhammad ibn Aibak ibn 'Abdallah
Zain Hasan Sulaiman Isfahani

What does Islam actually mean?

The word “Islam” is often literally translated as “submission,” but upon further linguistic analysis we see a much deeper meaning emerge. The Arabic root of Islam is s-l-m meaning “peace” (salam). Therefore, the meaning of submission in Islam is not a forceful submission. Rather, it is a peaceful, willing submission where the individual realizes a higher power and submits fully to God’s teachings and preferences or will over their own ego and vices.The vision of Islam is that this coming into harmony with divine will creates an internal and external peace for the soul and for society at large.

Is Islam more of a political ideology than a religion?

Are there general principles or maxims that are used to determine shari’ah, what does shari’ah actually mean.

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The True Face of Islam: Essays Kindle Edition

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge, so whoever gains knowledge has gained great good fortune.

Hadith by al-Tirmidhi, classed as Sahih by al-Albaani

Print length 242 pages
Language English
Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
Publisher Element India
Publication date November 1, 2015
File size 295 KB
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ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0182EZKXC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Element India; 1st edition (November 1, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 295 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
#1,701 in Muhammed in Islam
#3,630 in Religious Studies - Philosophy
#8,149 in Islam (Kindle Store)

About the author

Raamish siddiqui.

 Raamish Siddiqui is an author & a writer. He frequently writes Op-ed and Opinions for leading national dailies. His writings are focused on social and intellectual upliftment within society. His works have been published in English, Hindi and Urdu.

Raamish has regularly appeared in various televised discussions on contemporary issues in society. An active participant in inter-faith initiatives since his youth days, Raamish’s focus is on fostering inter-faith relations while promoting positive thinking among youth.

He was nominated in the year 2020 for TheMuslim500, a listing of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world, published by Jordan’s Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute of Islamic Thought. His notable works have been published by HarperCollins among others.

He has now taken a dive into the beautiful world of kids. The Short Stories are his attempt to break down simple life success formulas derived from our everyday environment for future leaders.

https://twitter.com/raamishs

https://raamishsiddiqui.com

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As the Israel-Hamas war unfolds, Muslim Americans struggle for understanding | The Excerpt

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: It's now been nearly seven months since Hamas attacked Israel, killing nearly 1200 Israelis and taking over 200 hostage. Since then, the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, have executed a devastating bombing campaign and sent in ground forces to "eradicate" Hamas. The death toll in the Palestinian enclave is staggering, with more than 34,000 killed, according to the Gaza health ministry.The majority of those killed are women and children. The health ministry says the sheer scale of the tragedy unfolding in Gaza is unprecedented. The UN estimates that more than 70% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. Food and medical supplies aren't nearly enough to meet the needs. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Islamophobia and anti-Muslim incidents have surged. Nihad Awad, co-founder and national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy nonprofit joins The Excerpt to share his thoughts. For a different perspective, please see last Sunday's episode which features Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League or ADL, a Jewish civil rights organization.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Dana Taylor:

Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Sunday, May 5th, 2024. In this episode, we are featuring an interview with Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. For a different perspective, we invite you to also listen to last Sunday's episode, which featured Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization. Now on to today's show.

It's now been nearly seven months since Hamas attacked Israel killing nearly 1200 Israelis and taking over 200 hostage. Since then, the Israeli Defense Forces or IDF have executed a devastating bombing campaign and sent in ground forces to, quote, unquote, "eradicate Hamas." The death toll in the Palestinian enclave is staggering with more than 34,000 killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The majority of those killed are women and children, the health ministry says. The sheer scale of the tragedy unfolding in Gaza is unprecedented. The UN estimates that more than 70% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. Food and medical supplies aren't nearly enough to meet the needs. Meanwhile, here at home, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim incidents have surged. I'm now joined by Nihad Awad, co-founder and national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy non-profit. Thanks for being on The Excerpt, Nihad.

Nihad Awad:

Thank you for having me, Dana.

Let's start with the pro-Palestinian protests, which are still active and growing across the country. These demonstrations have led to some Jewish students being harassed and feeling unsafe on campus. The Anti-Defamation League or ADL has come out pretty strongly against the protests. On a recent episode of Morning Joe on MSNBC, its president Jonathan Greenblatt said about them, "Iran has their military proxies like Hezbollah, and Iran has their campus proxies like these groups like SJP and JVP." SJP stands for the Students for Justice in Palestine, and JVP, the Jewish Voice for Peace. And there are two student-led groups that are key stakeholders in organizing and encouraging these campus protests. You called for MSNBC to ban Greenblatt from the network following this statement. Why do you think he made this accusation?

I think that question has to be asked to him, why did he accuse American legitimate voices who uphold the tradition of free speech and they are reviving the tradition of protests and objecting to our universities being part and parcel in the investment and perpetuating of genocide by doing business with states like the State of Israel. These students have to be applauded for awakening our society and reminding it to living up to our ideas of being fair and being respectful and protecting the rights of all people, whether here at home or around the globe. That's why people look up to America. And when we look at our history, we applaud those students. Even Columbia University itself on its website they applaud the students of the 1968 who stood up to the university itself and the administration who were supporting the Vietnam War. So those voices are critical to our mission as a society.

Protests or protest is as American as apple pie, so we have to revive this tradition because it led to important social change and important policy change from school segregation to child labor, to improved environmental standards, too many things, and it was uncomfortable. To accuse those people of being foreign agents and accusing even Jewish students of being Jewish agents to foreign countries, I think it's an insult to the intelligence of people. And people in responsible position, they have to watch those statements.

Well, emotions are running hot right now on both sides and both the ADL and CAIR have said things that the other side finds incendiary. Do you think that community leaders like yourself, like Greenblatt deserve some grace for statements made in the moment right now? How do you engage with the substance of this very important conversation without adding fuel to the fire?

Absolutely. We all have to be responsible and we all have to be genuine in not only what we say, but what we actually do. And that's leadership. Leadership is not about just saying words about taking action. And those students, let's remember why they are putting everything on the line. Their education, their safety, their prospect careers, not only them but also faculty members. And these are very diverse. They're not Palestinian or Muslim, they are Jewish, they are Christian, they are people of different backgrounds. You just look at their faces. These people put it all on the line to protest the genocide, the onslaught that's taking place in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli government supported by our government and some of our universities.

So these people are the beacon of hope that we should come around and listen to them. And all, if we are genuine in our advocacy and our personal and professional work, we have to make our society better. We have to make the world a better place. And today the world is watching what's taking place in Gaza and while the global community is up in arms supporting the Palestinians, demanding action, demanding the end of the genocide. Unfortunately, university officials like at the University of Columbia and other universities, our elected representatives including the White House, are turning not only a blind eye, they are aiding, abetting the oppressor with our tax dollar dollars and also with our war machines. I mean, this is incredibly disheartening for all of us, but especially for me.

This is personal for me. I'm an American Palestinian. I was born and raised in a refugee camp as a result of my parents being ethnically cleansed from their own town in historic Palestine just because they were not Jewish. As a result, we have been dispersed around the world, and some of our family members still live in refugee camps in Palestine. To me, it's not only personal, I feel that I have the obligation to clear not only the misunderstanding, the historic misinformation about our people who have been dehumanized, who have been blamed for their own suffering. So we all have to work together to uphold the values of justice for all.

We had a recent report released by CAIR citing a surge in complaint, citing anti-Muslim speech, Islamophobia, and other threatening incidents in 2023 with a clear surge following October 7th. Tell me what American Muslims have been saying about their experiences since October 7th, and please share what CAIR's reporting and vetting processes in these incidences.

Our organization has been fighting for social justice and for the civil rights and human rights of American Muslims ever since we started in 1994. And we started documenting and issuing an annual report, the first and only of its kind that highlights the status of Muslim civil rights in the country. And since then we have been meticulous in receiving reports and not only receiving reports, vetting them, investigating each and every single report and complaint that we receive. And this vetting process, they have been handled by professional attorneys with paralegals and case intake officers nationwide. We have 30 some offices in major cities and states, and ever since 1996 in particular, CAIR started to issue a regular report. The feeling of anti-Muslim incidents hits home to many members of our community. In fact, we've conducted numerous surveys consistently. The majority of American Muslims more than 53% believe that in their lifetime they have suffered one form of Islamophobia with either physical harm, discrimination, or any form of anti-Muslim sentiments in their professional or private lives.

In the past, last year 2023, our current report, which is the 2024 report, we cited a massive wave of increase of Islamophobia. We reported 8,061 cases, the majority of which happened between October and end of December. And that is a 56% jump over the previous year surpassed even the period following the Trump era when he imposed the Muslim ban. That increase and the 8,061 cases is the highest recorded by our organization ever since we started this process. And obviously, the categories include immigration cases, asylum cases, workplace discrimination, hate crimes, and violence. And I'm sure our media highlighted some of these very tragic cases, including the stabbing to death of a Palestinian child, six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume in the suburb of Chicago, who was stabbed about 26 times to death, and his mother was choked and stabbed by the landlord where they live.

There has also been a surge in anti-Semitism here in the U.S. since the Hamas attacks with dozens of physical assaults and hundreds of acts of vandalism. In addition, American Jews have experienced an alarming increase in hate speech that have left them feeling genuinely frightened and unsure of their place in America. Something that was brought up at the recent House committee hearing at which Columbia University President Minouche Shafik testified that is also frequently chanted at pro-Palestinian protests is the phrase, "From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free." Many Jews experience this language as an existential threat in that from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea includes land that is currently part of the State of Israel. Do you support this use of language, and if so, why?

Well, look, to me and to all of us, anti-Semitism is no different than Islamophobia. It's a form of unacceptable hate, prejudice against Jews because of who they are. Any form of prejudice, Jews, or action against any people because of their background, because of their faith, should completely be rejected and condemned by all people, period. No question there. And we have a long, long tradition of condemning anti-Semitism and being at the forefront of condemning this phenomenon and calling for the protection of our Jewish sisters and brothers in the communities. We have a long history as Jews and Christian and Muslim of coexistence in America and around the world.

If people chant from the river to the sea, it depends on what they mean. If I hear this, I would like to see Palestine, free of discrimination, free of apartheid, free of double standards for both population. I would like to see in the same thing that happened to the South African society. When people worked and fought against apartheid, they were not calling for the destruction of the white people, they were seeking equal justice under the law. That's what I see when we would like to see the historic Palestine free of prejudice, free of oppression where Jews, Muslims, and Christians can live with equal rights, with dignity and respect for all.

Turning to Gaza, circumstances for innocent women and children there are now dire and there is a very real risk of famine, especially in the north. Meanwhile, there's also been a surge in settler violence, including some involving the IDF against Palestinians in the West Bank. Many Palestinian Americans, including yourself, have family in these places. What's your experience and what have you been hearing from others since October 7th about what is happening abroad?

It's hard to take your mind off the daily news looking at your phone to see are you going to receive messages from your family members that someone was killed, someone's house was bombed, or injured. Children have been orphaned. I am in constant contact with my family. I have family members and extended family members who live in Gaza who have been also killed, and their houses have been bombed. I have family members who live as refugees in their home like in Ramallah, West Bank, and I know many, many friends. All the friends I know from Gaza, American Palestinians, they have numerous family members who have been killed and their houses have been leveled to the ground in a massive carpet bombing that even President Biden himself accused the prime minister of Israel of indiscriminately bombing civilians. Although our administration has been supplying arms and politically defending the State of Israel, they recognize and admit that Israel has been committing war crimes and violating international humanitarian and also U.S. laws like the Leahy Law, for example.

And Israeli units have been accused of gross violation of Palestinian human rights even according to the State Department. Yet, our government continues to send arms to be used to kill people, to kill relatives of American Palestinians. And even they don't have to be relatives of us they are human beings. And I wonder why on earth our country, our government continues to fund a genocide in broad daylight when the international community is condemning this and saying, you stop it. The only person, the only government that can stop the genocide, not only Israel itself, but I believe our administration, especially President Biden. If he wants to end this genocide, he can end it as soon as he decides to, and unfortunately, he decided not to do so until now.

Nihad, as you know, some organizations here in the U.S. have called into question the number of civilian casualties being reported in Gaza. They've said among other things that if Hamas can't even determine how many Israeli hostages are still alive, how can the Hamas-run health ministry possibly keep track of tens of thousands of casualties? They've also pointed out that apart from children, because Hamas fighters don't wear uniforms, it's impossible to tell who is a civilian and who is a fighter. What's CAIR's perspective here?

Well, I would like people to Google credible international humanitarian organizations to get to the facts, and even American officials privately and publicly stated that the numbers that come from Gaza are accurate and historically have been proven to be accurate. It doesn't take a rocket scientist when you see hundreds of casualties and everybody has been saying that the majority of those who are injured and killed are women and children. These people have nothing to do with Hamas. The other number can be disputed, but we are talking about tens of thousands of people. I mean, imagine 10,000 people are not known, which means they are under the rubble. I mean, we're talking about human man-made catastrophe by the State of Israel supplied with our tax dollars and weapons manufactured mainly in the U.S. and continue to go to the State of Israel.

I would like people to have some humanity to recognize that if you're not a Palestinian, you don't have to be a Palestinian to recognize this genocide, you have to be a human and you have to have the heart and compassion. This is not about politics, it's about our conscience, what we are doing and saying when our children are watching. They are watching this generation because this is the most documented genocide in human history. People see it live, they see it on social media. And they don't see it only through the mainstream media who has over generations framed the issue and formed the opinion instead of informing the public.

I want to give you an opportunity to respond to some of the criticism against CAIR that's out there. I understand that CAIR has unequivocally condemned the Hamas attacks of October 7th. Both the U.S. and the European Union have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization and both have condemned Hamas for its use of hospitals and civilians as, quote, unquote, "human shields." Does CAIR agree that Hamas is in fact a terrorist group?

We have stated numerous times that we as Muslims and CAIR, we condemn any attack on any civilian anywhere any time. And this statement doesn't set the rule and give a clear answer where we stand on the issues then I think people have to look at their own bias. Dana, I would like you as a journalist to have asked questions to the other side or even any supporter of the State of Israel or American Jewish organization to condemn the atrocities that Israel has been committing against the Palestinians and have been condemned by the international community. When even all international and national human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and even the biggest Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem declared Israel as a system that is using apartheid to oppress the Palestinians.

The statements that came from the prime minister of Israel, the president of Israel, the ministers of Israel, key leaders of Israel, dehumanizing the Palestinians and calling for genocide of the Palestinians. Has any of these people or their representatives or their supporters in the United States, have they ever been asked to condemn the State of Israel? If yes, I haven't seen it. If not, why the double standard? Why do we ask Palestinians to condemn their people? Are there two sets of rules, one for the Palestinian and one for the Israelis?

I have one more question on this topic. CAIR has been accused over the years by federal agencies, by various branches of government, by states of having direct links to Hamas. In a 2007 case involving the Holy Land Foundation, CAIR was in fact named an unindicted co-conspirator alongside several other Muslim American organizations in what was then the biggest American terrorism money laundering case to date. Speaking plainly and directly for our audience, does CAIR currently have any ties, political, financial, or otherwise to Hamas?

CAIR is an independent American organization for the past 30 years. We since our founding, we never had any interaction with any foreign groups that are listed by the United States government as terrorist organization and the government never has and will never be able to document otherwise. What the U.S. government has done is what they have been doing to the American Muslim community, silencing their voices, smearing them in a major campaign after 9/11, and they have not been proven to be right and including they have listed about 1.9 million Muslims on the terror watchlist unjustly without any due process. So we as American Muslims, we have been at the receiving end of the illegal and unconstitutional government practices over the years, I think is just one of the biggest forms of Islamophobia that the U.S. government has been dealing with the Muslim community. And we have not seen the U.S. government cracking down on Jewish American organizations who support settler activities, who have been financing and fighting and killing innocent Palestinians using American weapons. This double standard must end.

Again to the media, the media, including USA Today, has a major, major responsibility to reframe the issue and refrain from casting the American Muslim community and American Muslim organizations in a false light. This does not help the mission of journalism and it does not help informing the public. The USA Today in this question is really forming the public, not informing the public because these questions were not asked to the ADL about its history of spying on anti-apartheid protests where the ADL offices were even raided by the FBI and hold them accountable. That history somehow has been forgotten. CAIR was never raided, CAIR was never taken to court. And if we go to court, we are looking for our day in court to clear our name. None of this happened. Pro-Israel organizations' offices have been raided by the FBI for violating people's rights. We never violated anyone's rights. We never violated any law. So I think why American Muslims and American Muslim organizations are held to another standard, but not everyone else.

Thank you for addressing that here. Final question, Nihad, if there was one thing you wanted people listening to this interview to walk away with something about the Muslim American experience at this very difficult time, what would that be?

Islam has been part of this country even before its founding. The slaves who were brought against their own will, big percentage of them were Muslim and they kept the faith, the tradition of Islam. And American Muslims have fought in all the wars that led to where America is today, and also they as a minority, they have been suffering discrimination, stereotypes because of their faith. And American Muslims is now a growing and vibrant community, and American Muslims are an important part of the American fabric today. American Muslims serve in the military, they serve in Congress, they serve in schools, they serve in IT. They're cab drivers, they are your neighbors. Take advantage of getting to know an American Muslim and make America and American freedom and democracy work for all.

Thank you so much for joining me, Nihad.

Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.

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Islam is the true religion of all Prophets

Why Islam is the only true religion

Assalam Alaykum, Dear Brother, how can we say that Islam is the only true religion when there are also other religions which speak about doing good and forbidding evil?

What is meant by Islam being the true religion is that it abrogated all previous religions. After the advent of Islam, Allah will not accept a religion other than Islam.

However, this does not mean that other religions do not include some truth as the Quran confirmed the previous heavenly Revealed Books because all the revelations were from Allah, it is for this reason that the religion of all the Prophets is one, which is Islam.

Hence, there are some matters upon which all the heavenly religions agreed upon, like Tawheed [the Oneness of Allah], the prophecies and other matters of Faith. Also, all religions agreed upon encouraging the moral principles, like truthfulness, honesty and the like, and warned people against the worst evil matters, like lying, cheating and the like. Rather, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil is something upon which the rational people from various heavenly religions or other (man-made) religions agreed upon.

Hence, if we find a religion among these religions that enjoins good or forbids evil, then this does not mean that it is a true religion or that it is upon the truth.

Allah Knows best.

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The Definition of a True Muslim
The Arabs of the desert say, 'We believe.'. Say, "You have not believed yet; but rather say, 'We have accepted Islam,' for the true belief has not yet entered into your hearts.". But if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not detract anything from your deeds Surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.The believers are only ...
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Pilgrimage. Eid. Ibrahim. Call to prayer. Religion and society. Understanding Islam. Day 2 of our Understanding Islam series. There are five pillars - or basic tenets - of Islamic faith. Each ...
Introduction to Islam (article)
Muhammad was born in 570 C.E. in Mecca, and his early life was unremarkable. He married a wealthy widow named Khadija who was 15 years older and his employer. Around 610 C.E., Muhammad had his first religious experience, where he was instructed to recite by the Angel Gabriel. After a period of introspection and self-doubt, Muhammad accepted his ...
Islam
Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century ce.The Arabic term islām, literally "surrender," illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam—that the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic, Allāh: God). Allah is viewed as the sole God—creator, sustainer, and ...
Introductory Essay
Introductory Essay May 2, 2018 / ... True Islam emphasizes that inherent dignity of humanity is derived from the same creator and therefore, rejects any possibility of ethnic, racial, or religious supremacy. As a recently declared concentrator in the study of comparative religion, I find this pluralistic message all the more critical for the ...
The True Face of Islam: Essays
The True Face of Islam. : Maulana W Khan. Harper Collins, Nov 1, 2015 - Religion - 242 pages. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge, so whoever gains knowledge has gained great good fortune.
Faith and Knowledge in Islam: an Essay in Philosophy of Religion
To those who may object to relying on Western philosophy to explicate an issue in Islam the answer. is that the ball is in their court now. They have to show how the. construal of the relationship of faith to knowledge in Islam with the help. 514. of Western philosophy is a misconstrual.
The True Face of Islam: Essays by Wahiduddin Khan
311 books376 followers. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is an Islamic spiritual scholar, who has adopted peace as the mission of his life. He was born in a family of landlords in 1925 at Badharia, a village near the town of Azamgarh, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (formerly known as the Eastern United Provinces).
Friday essay: how Western attitudes towards Islam have changed
Friday essay: how Western attitudes towards Islam have changed. Less than a week after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 11 September 2001, US President George W. Bush gave a remarkable ...
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In his attempt to understand Islam in its true form, social activist and entrepreneur Raamish Siddiqui brings together the most thought-provoking works of eminent scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Through the Maulana's writing, Raamish discovers that it was Prophet Muhammad who first lay the foundations of universal secular education, that Islam ...
The True Face of Islam: Essays
The True Face of Islam: Essays - Ebook written by Maulana W Khan. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read The True Face of Islam: Essays.
Are We True Muslims
Brothers in Islam! Who are true Muslims? Let us see what the Almighty Allah and His Messenger have to say about their lives and hearts:. Allah Says (what means): {Say: My prayers and my sacrifices, and my living and my dying are for Allah Alone, the Lord of all the worlds.No partner has He. Thus I have been commanded, and I am foremost among those who surrender [themselves unto Him]} [Quran 6: ...
The Prophet Muhammad and the Origins of Islam
According to Islamic belief, Muhammad was the only person to see Heaven and Hell while still alive. After the Prophet's Death: Emergence of Shi'i and Sunni Sects of Islam. When Muhammad died in 632, he had not named a successor. One faction, the Shi'a, believed that only individuals with direct lineage to the Prophet could guide the Muslim ...
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Islam has become synonymous with global political jihad today, and Islamic spirituality is often mistaken for orthodoxy. Then how do young Muslims hold on to their faith? How do they open the door for others to appreciate the true beauty of their religion? In his attempt to understand Islam in its true form, social activist and entrepreneur Raamish Siddiqui brings together the most thought ...
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What does Islam actually mean? The word "Islam" is often literally translated as "submission," but upon further linguistic analysis we see a much deeper meaning emerge. The Arabic root of Islam is s-l-m meaning "peace" (salam). Therefore, the meaning of submission in Islam is not a forceful submission. Rather, it is a peaceful ...
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True Beauty of the Believers - I. 11078 24/03/2016. 1625. Section: Ideal Muslim. The worldly life is the abode of afflictions and is full of desires and doubtful matters, so one should be patient, as this patience proves the true love that one has for Allah The Almighty in times of afflictions and one's contentment with the decree of Allah ...
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The first and foremost internal challenge that Muslims need to overcome urgently is their disunited ummah. As we know, the mission of the prophet Muhammad was to bring peace and unity to the feuding tribes of the pre-Islamic days. However, after the prophet passed away, the Arabs returned to their feuding wars.
The True Face of Islam: Essays Kindle Edition
The True Face of Islam: Essays - Kindle edition by Khan, Maulana W, Siddiqui, Raamish. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The True Face of Islam: Essays.
No God but One: Allah or Jesus? A Former Muslim Investigates the
While the two faiths could both be false, they cannot both be true: "The central claims of Christianity are explicitly rejected by Islam. Islamic doctrine is antithetical to the core message of Christianity." (154, author's emphasis) Thus, if the central teachings of Christianity are vindicated, Islam is falsified—and vice versa.
Muslim Americans struggle for understanding
The death toll in Gaza is staggering, with over 34,000 killed, according to the Gaza health ministry. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Islamophobia has surged.
Why Islam is the only true religion
What is meant by Islam being the true religion is that it abrogated all previous religions. After the advent of Islam, Allah will not accept a religion other than Islam. However, this does not mean that other religions do not include some truth as the Quran confirmed the previous heavenly Revealed Books because all the revelations were from ...

The Definition of a True Muslim

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