Friday Sermon By Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, delivered on 14th January, 2005 O ye men, worship your Lord Who created you and those who were before you, that you may become righteous. (Al Surah Al-Baqarah 2:22) He stressed the importance of different worships especially Salat and he went onto quoting an […]
Category archives for Islam
Source / Courtesy: China Daily KUALA LUMPUR – About 5,000 Malaysian Muslims rallied at a stadium near Kuala Lumpur on Saturday in a move to defend their religion and protest against what they saw as a trend of proselytization among Muslims in the country. They were also pressing for new laws to penalize those who try to convert […]
Until recently I thought that only Christianity had a big problem with enlightenment and science and that I have examined in many of my Google-knols, but, now I am becoming increasingly aware that the medieval Muslim scholars do not fair any better. What do I mean? Firstly, let me address the issue with Christianity by […]
A Punjabi poet highlights the importance of spirituality in these words: پڑھ پڑھ کتاباں علم دیاں توں نام رکھ لیا قاضی ہتھ وچ پھڑ کے تلوار توں نام رکھ لیا غاذی مکہ مدینہ گهوم آیا تے نام رکھ لیا حاجی بلهے شاہ کی حاصل کیتا جےیار نہ کیتا راضی
So said Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Have you any notion what was the strange event that occurred in the desert country of Arabia when hundreds of thousands of the dead were revived within a brief period and those who had been misguided through generations put on Divine color, and those who were […]
Source / Courtesy: BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NSRA_Lpy1U This is an hour and a half movie or documentary about Saladin and Richard the Lionheart by BBC. If the movie inspires you in some ways, remember that the Latter Days, which is our times, are an era of Jihad with pen and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on […]
Since my visits to Hawaii islands and Bermuda, starting in 2004, I have become a staunch believer in evolution, by which I mean common descent of all living beings on the planet earth.
The two main proofs for the theory of evolution are molecular biology and biogeography. We do not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate biogeography, if we look through the smoke screens and bragging rights, the arguments are fairly straight forward. Bigeography basically means studying which animals and plants are native to which areas, especially islands. Sir Charles Darwin wrote in his famous book about biogeography and Bermuda:
“Though terrestrial mammals do not occur on oceanic islands, aërial mammals do occur on almost every island. New Zealand possesses two bats found nowhere else in the world: Norfolk Island, the Viti Archipelago, the Bonin Islands, the Caroline and Marianne Archipelagoes, and Mauritius, all possess their peculiar bats. Why, it may be asked, has the supposed creative force produced bats and no other mammals on remote islands? On my view this question can easily be answered; for no terrestrial mammal can be transported across a wide space of sea, but bats can fly across. Bats have been seen wandering by day far over the Atlantic Ocean; and two North American species either regularly or occasionally visit Bermuda, at the distance of 600 miles from the mainland. I hear from Mr. Tomes, who has specially studied this family, that many of the same species have enormous ranges, and are found on continents and on far distant islands. Hence we have only to suppose that such wandering species have been modified through natural selection in their new homes in relation to their new position, and we can understand the presence of endemic bats on islands, with the absence of all terrestrial mammals.”
These observations by Darwin alone prove the common descent. However, the theory of evolution should be understood as three different issues. Firstly, the common heritage of all animals and plants, secondly, the mechanisms for evolution and thirdly whether evolution is completely blind or guided in some sense. The truth of some facts in evolution does not imply the truth of every thing under the umbrella of evolution. One needs to have a nuance position about evolution to be perfectly enlightened.
Incidentally, evolution also exposes the vulnerabilities of Christianity. Every time you visit an island it cries out to you to move to better theology, only if you will listen! If common lineage of all animals and plants is true, then Adam and Eve are not the first human couple and the doctrine of Original Sin is nothing but hocus pocus, which Christian apologists keep evolving to keep the masses brain washed!
For other details about theory of evolution and how it influences Christianity, see my comments below and other knols and articles on molecular biology and Original Sin.
The international leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (Hudhur) said that although the community in Holland is small, it should realise its responsibility. The objective is not fulfilled by a few people doing the work. The unfortunate person who has been using unrestrained, brazen stance against Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be […]
Revelation has had a very large role to play in human history. The evidence not only comes from religion but also science. This article was originally published in June, 2007 volume of Ahmadiyya Gazette USA:
http://www.alislam.org/library/periodicals/index.php
Let me first introduce the subject of revelation in language and examples that are more familiar to my Western readers.
“Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Prof. Mark W Muesse, in his lecture series Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, describes the phenomenon of revelation or what others may prefer to call inspiration. He writes:
“I mentioned Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc, in which she claims to hear voices from god. Later in the play, as Joan is being interrogated for suspicion of heresy, she is asked by King Charles, ‘Why don’t the voices come to me? I am king, not you.’ Joan tells him:
‘They do come to you; but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field in the evening listening for them. When the angelus rings you cross yourself and have done with it; but if you prayed from your heart, and listened to the thrilling of the bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I do.’
As Joan suggests, there is nothing extraordinary about hearing the voice of God, but one needs to make the effort to listen.
Whether we call what we hear the voice of god or of conscience, the sound of silence or the rhythms of the breath, the lives of our four sages remind us of the necessity to stop and pay attention to our lives. Taking time to be quiet and attending to our lives need not result in some intense, enlightening religious experience. Indeed, such intense moments are rare. But it must be a regular practice, just as Muhammad stopped to pray five times a day and the Buddha meditated in the quiet of each night. It is simply a way to remind ourselves of what is really important, because we forget.”
(Prof. Mark W Muesse. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. The Great Courses transcript book, 2010. Pages 456-457.)
This treaty, signed by the Holy Propohet (Pbuh) in the sixth year after the migration to Medina, reveals that he was a peace maker; the wars had only been forced on him. At every opportunity he showed his statesmanship, diplomacy and peaceful intent. The Holy Quran describes the treaty in the following words: “Indeed, we have granted thee a clear victory, That Allah may cover up for thee thy shortcomings, past and future, and that He may complete His favor upon thee, and may guide thee on a right path; And Allah may help thee with a mighty help” (Al Quran 48:2-4). Several good biographies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad are available online, for example, one by Sir Zafulla Khan is online on Alislam.org. So, I do not intend this knol to be too detailed. I only want to collect some excerpts by different authors to bring out the statesmanship and diplomacy of the Holy Prophet.
Source / Courtesy: Yahoo — I have changed the title Focusing too heavily on the “for richer” part of the nuptial vows could spell disaster for a marriage, according to research published today by Brigham Young University. In a survey of 1,700 married couples, researchers found that couples in which one or both partners placed […]
Presenting from the blog of Bashir Ahmad Rafiq, formerly the Imam of the London Mosque Held at the Commonwealth Institute Kensington High Street, Kensington, London On June 2nd through 4th, 1978 The First International Conference on the Deliverance of Jesus Christ from the Cross attracted more than 1,500 researchers from all over the world. This Conference was […]
By Qasim Yousafzai For CentralAsiaOnline.com Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of slain Pakistani Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, spoke at a panel discussion at UN European headquarters in Geneva WASHINGTON, D.C. – Islam’s greatest threat comes from those who claim to be serving it – extremist militants, Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, said June 27. Shehrbano said that militants, […]
The Book, bestowed by the Almighty for the whole of mankind; the Holy Quran, the word of Gracious God revealed to Prophet Mohammad, the Champion of Peace (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It is a manifestation of Divine Grace. It establishes peace, teaches love and promotes brotherhood. It is a means to recognize […]
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his “700 Club” viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is justifiable because the disease is “a kind of death.” During the portion of the show where the one-time Republican presidential candidate takes questions from viewers, Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing […]
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN Showing that modernity might, just might, find its place even in a world predisposed to the most traditional of customs, in walks FaceGlat: an ultra-Orthodox Jewish answer, at least for some, to Facebook. Among the most conservative of Orthodox Jews, often referred to as Haredi Jews, modesty reigns. Women wear long sleeves and […]
The Christian apologists often accuse that the Holy Quran is borrowed from the Bible. How can they be disabused of this self indulgence? This article or thread is dedicated to this issue.
The title of this thread is a book by a French surgeon Dr. Maurcie Bucaille and could be described as a commentary of these verses of the Holy Quran:
“The disbelievers say: This Quran is naught but a lie that Muhammad has fabricated, and other people have helped him with it. They have, thereby, perpetrated an injustice and an untruth. They also say: These are fables of the ancients which he has got someone to write down for him and they are recited to him morning and evening. Say to them: The Quran has been revealed by Him Who knows every secret that is in the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful.” (Al Surah Al-Furqan 25:5-7)
He examined the Holy Quran in the light of modern science and found that ‘The Quran has been revealed by Allah Who knows every secret that is in the heavens and the earth.’
Jews were not expecting a suffering Messiah or one who will die on a cross, as Deuteronomy said, “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:, His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) The Pope Benedict XVI has acknowledged this in his recent book about Jesus of Nazareth.
For Christians, To be Born Again in Islam! 