Ummah

Terrorist attacks forefront American media and grab the World’s attention because they amount to a large number of casualties. A vast sum of the attacks are committed by groups that attribute their actions to a fight in the name of Allah, god. Because the terror attacks are carried out by Islamic terror groups, the Muslim population developed a negative reputation as they commonly are associated with the violence. The entirety of Islam followers is lambasted by others for the actions of a few…

The Principle of Intention (Niya) The divine-human relationship connected faith to action where individuals demosntrate faith through action, including action to fullfill divine commands. The action of individuals will be judged based on their adherence to the legal value of the action, the efforts spent in fullfilling the action, and the intentions behind the action: apparent and hidden. The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said: "Actions are judged according to the intention behind them, and for…

According to The Quran, Islam means to submit to The Will of The One and Only God (Allah). This submission should come from within, from sound belief in and conviction to Allah, with any doubt. It should also come from love and trust. Allah according to the Quran is not a special God but the God of Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe in “Tawheed” the oneness of God in which many Muslims believe that Allah does not share this divinity or his rule. Muslims also believe that Allah (God)…

Modern Paganisms such as Wicca serve primarily to fulfil the spiritual needs of believers in a manner supporting their pre-existing ideological convictions; as is shown by the diversity of opinion regarding the sacred within this spectrum of New Religious Movements. There are a multitude of sects within Modern Paganism, all claiming roots in the primordial past. In reaction to the growth of secularism throughout the 20th Century, various groups self-organized based upon a revived ‘natural…

A major religion takes over. Islam spreading like wildfire. The people of the Mediterranean could never have expected just how fast Islam would take charge of the ancient world. During the early centuries of the common era Islam was just another religion that was practiced by Muslims in a few select countries and cities. However, Islamic ideas began to spread and take over the world. The people of Islam wanted more and more people to join them in their practices, and they were extremely…

The world we live in today can be best described as the “age of modernity”. Technology has come to define the smallest aspects of our lives. We are able to interact with millions of other people through social media networks – regardless of gender and age. What we seek and desire is “MODERNITY” – in the way we dress, the way we work, the way we live in this society - and in this process, religion becomes the first casualty to criticism. Misconceptions about Islam usually center on Sharia – the…

Introduction Imam Taymiyya was at the receiving end of the animosity and skepticism of many of his contemporaries and thinkers who succeeded him. Despite this, the one thing that can unanimously be agreed on is that if nothing else Imam Taymiyya's political thought was indubitably powerful and potent. Imam Taymiyya lived in times that were tumultuous for Muslims as a result of the Mongol invasion and their brutal annihilation of Baghdad, followed by Hulagu Khan putting to death the final…

Other challenges facing the KRG until recently were inflicted by internal conflict along tribal, geographic, political, linguistic and ideological divisions that led to a weaker sense of nationalism compared to their surrounding enemies, the pendulum has started to swing in the favor of the KRG recently however. (Gunter, 2008) Within the last several years the Kurdish state has been recognized as one of the most stable well governed areas in the region despite all the conflict and corruption.…

A common household name which remains to this day is Albert Einstein, an individual not only known for his scientific discoveries but also for sharing his contemplated thoughts on the universe. These thoughts consisted of intense religious as well as scientific beliefs, in fact a very famous Einstein quote is “Science without religion is lame, and Religion without Science is blind” and it is no surprise as Einstein himself was a Jew and having this strong religious background still…

In the last few decades, Muslims have come to constitute a significant immigrant group in the United States. As a result of this relatively recent arrival, the second generation, defined as children born in the United States to immigrant-origin parents, are the first generation being raised in America and are starting to reach maturity. Their unique perspective on the United States, thoroughly unlike that of their parents, forces the second generation to confront issues that their parents and…