Sura

God says in the Quran “I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me” (Quran, 51:57). How do we know how to serve Him? The Quran shows us the way to God. It is his miracles that establishes and strengthens our faith in Him. It assures us that this message is from god. It shows us what we need to do, and how we need to be so that we are pleasing to Him. Muslims main goal is to please Allah. Because when he is pleased with us that is when he is near to us. For Muslims that is all that there is to life. The Prophet (saw) has said in a hadith recorded by Muslim “The Quran is either an argument for you or against you”. On the Day of Judgment the Quran will be brought forward. It will stand in support of those who follow it and act upon it. And it will witness against those who abandoned it and those who opposed it (As-Saranbi). God revealed the Quran in Arabic. The Arabic language is very complex; one word can hold several meanings. To translate or recite the Quran, a person has to be able to understand the deep meanings of the Quran. It is the responsibility of ever Muslim to learn the Arabic language and the Quran. What will be written in this text is not Quran but an effort to express some of its meanings focusing on surah Ale-Imran. Surah Ale-Imran was revealed in Al-Madinah a city in modern day Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd surah (chapter) in the Holy Quran with 200 verses. This Surah consists of four discourses. The first discourse from verse 1-32…

Training has been defined by Gorden (1992,235) as the “ planned and systematic modification of behavior through learning events, activities and programs which result in the participants achieving the levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities to carry out their work effectively”. Training also can be identified as a “ learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of skills, concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviors to enhance the performance…

Two religions, Islam and Christianity, were both founded by Abraham and his sons. Even with the same family founding them they have very diverse similarities and differences. Within both passages found in the Koran, Sura 93, and the Bible, Psalms 23, similar points are expressed. Although they describe a similar praise to their God, dictions and phrases from Sura 93 expressed through rhetorical questions change the passage into something with an accusable tone. Each passage shows a similar…

This is a Medinan sura, which was revealed to Muhammad after the Hijra to Medina in 622 A.D. Medinan suras concentrate on messages on community building. Therefore, Sura 3 focuses on the contact that Muslims have with Jews and Christians, conveying the message that the “central tenet of faith is devotion to God” (Haleem, 34). One of the conflicts among the three religions was about the nature of Jesus, and in order to resolve this, Muhammad tried to unite the three faiths on the common idea that…

Haunted Stories In my culture the fear of hauntings is very strong, the idea of a spirit lingering, cursed in this world, is evident in the common epitaph RIP, or Rest in Peace. The idea of ghosts and haunted houses can be found in many books and movies. One in particular, The Amityville Horror, a book by Jay Anson, and later made into a movie, is a particularly frightening story because it is reported to be true. The story I chose to read for this week’s assignment is, Letter to Sura, by…

The Qur’an: Source of influence for women in Islam The word Quran translates to “recitation.” It is believed to have been revealed orally to Muhammad when he was 40 years old by the angel Gabriel. The Prophet Muhammad was born in the city of Makkah on the Arabian Peninsula in 570 C.E. He is known as ‘the Seal of the Prophets’. The Quran has been partitioned to 114 surahs from the longest to shortest and refers to the woman with a certain divine decree and eloquence. The Holy book demands that…

Love was regarded as a divine obligation. Unlike Christian idea, there was no restriction of choosing lovers (The Ring of Dove, page). However, there should be neither monkery nor overindulgence in sex (Mckay et al. page). Fornication was also a sin (Qur’an, “A Code of Personal Behavior”, sura 17:22-39). Even at a special time, there were still restriction and freedom coexisting. For example, In the month of Ramadan, people could not have sex during the daytime, but when the night came, they…

Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and how it changed my view on the treatment and freedoms of women in other countries, specifically those living under the laws of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is an Islamic sacred book, which is believed, by followers, to be the word of God. Muhammad is said to be the prophet to which the archangel Gabriel recited the word of God, which became the Qur’an. It dictates all aspects of their life from daily activities, to politics and religion. Under the Qur’an women…

Document analysis is a very important method in historical interpretation. In this paper I will analyze four readings and discuss the motivation, intent, and purpose of each document within a specific historical context while focusing on author bias as well as the value of the document itself. The four historical documents that will be analyzed are as followed; “Perpetua’s Diary”, “Procopius’ Secret History”, “The Women from the Suras”, and “Pact of Kumar”. The first document, “Perpetua’s…

The Quran seems to tell men that women are unclean especially during menstruation declares, “Menstruation is a painful condition, so keep away from women during it. Do not approach them until they are cleansed; when they are cleansed, you may approach them as God has directed you.” (Sura 4:43) This furthers the consideration that women are an inferior race. The Quran also goes on to say, “If you fear that you will not deal fairly with orphan girls, you may marry whichever other women seem good…