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raushan
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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 Topic initiated on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 8:35 AM 
christian's allowed to pray inside mosque
Prophet of Islam setting the example that there is freedom of worship in Islam for all who believe in God
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..The Christians of Najran were unhappy because of the rapid spread of Islam in the land of Arabs. They wished to discuss this matter with the Prophet and arrived in Madina. Few learned scholars were selected by the Christians who had a continuous dialogue with the Prophet for three days. It started on Saturday, when Sunday arrived and they asked to leave to go outside the city to pray the Prophet told them to stay and pray inside the Mosque of the Prophet which they did to their surprise. Prophet of Islam was setting the example that there is freedom of worship in Islam for all who believe in God. After their Sunday service their discussion continued...
http://tinyurl.co.uk/zlkn
what lessons do we learn? |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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 Posted - Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 1:45 PM 
thnx raushan
v. imp in today's time and age when we all need to come together for peace and harmony
we as faith partnership members hv been visiting eachothers' worship places here and it has always been a source of mutual understanding and tolerance.
none of us obviously is out there to convert eachother; should not be however. our main purpose is and should be to bring people to mutual beliefs among faiths i.e. belief in god, in accountability and in doing good. for the details, knowledge should be made available on general level and then we must trust others and their brains and their relationship with their Creator that He would not leave them wondering if they are looking for the right path. |
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raushan
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Posted - Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 7:45 AM
http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SM_tsn/ch7s7.html
Najran’s Delegation: Najran is rather a big area of land. It was at a distance of seven trip stages southwards of Makkah towards Yemen. It included seventy three villages. It took a fast-rider one day ride to get there. [Fath Al-Bari 8/94] Its military forces consisted of a hundred thousand fighters.
Their arrival was in the year 9 A.H. The delegation comprised sixty men. Twenty-four of them were of noble families. Three out of twenty-four were at one time leaders of Najran. Al-‘Aqib, i.e. who was in charge of princehood and government affairs. His name was ‘Abdul Maseeh. The second was As-Saiyid (the Master) under whose supervision were the educational and political affairs; his name was Al-Aiham or Sharhabeel. Abu Haritha bin ‘Alqamah was the third. He was a bishop to whom all religious presidency and spiritual leadership belonged and were his charge.
When that group of delegates arrived in Madinah, they met the Prophet [pbuh], exchanged inquiries with him; but when he called them to Islam and recited the Qur’⮠to them, they refused. They asked him what he thought about ‘Isa (i.e. Jesus), [AWS], he [pbuh] tarried a whole day till the following Qur’⮩c reply was revealed to him:
"Verily, the likeness of Jesus before All⨠is the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then (He) said to him: ‘Be!’ — and he was. (This is) the truth from your Lord, so be not of those who doubt. Then whoever disputes with you concerning him (Jesus) after (all this) knowledge that has come to you, (i.e. Jesus being a slave of All⨬ and having no share in Divinity) say: (O Muhammad [pbuh]) ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves — then we pray and invoke (sincerely) the Curse of All⨠upon those who lie." [Al-Qur'an 3:59-61]
When it was morning, the Messenger of All⨍ [pbuh] told them what ‘Iesa (Jesus) was in the light of the recently revealed verses. He left them a whole day to consult and think it over. So when it was next morning and they still showed disapproval to admit All⨦#146;s Words about ‘Isa or to embrace Islam, the Prophet suggested Al-Mubahala that is each party should supplicate and implore All⨠to send His Curse upon him or them if they were telling lies. After that suggestion of his, the Prophet [pbuh] came forward wrapping Al-Hasan and Al-Husain under his garment whereas Fatimah was walking at his back. Seeing that the Prophet [pbuh] was serious and prepared to face them firmly, they went aside and started consulting. Al-‘Aqib and As-Saiyid (i.e. the Master) said to each other: "We shall not supplicate. For, I swear by All⨬ if he is really a Prophet and exchanges curses with us, we will never prosper nor will the descendants of ours. Consequently neither us nor our animals will survive it." Finally they made their mind to resort to the Messenger of All⨦#146;s judgement about their cause. They came to him and said: "We grant you what you have demanded." The Messenger of All⨠[pbuh] then admitted that agreement and ordered them to pay Al-Jizya (i.e. tribute) and he made peace with them for the provision of two thousand garments, one thousand of them to be delivered in Rajab, the other thousand ones in Safar. With every garment they had to pay an ounce (of gold). In return they will have the covenant of All⨠and His Messenger. He gave them a covenant that provides for practicing their religious affairs freely. They asked the Prophet [pbuh] to appoint a trustworthy man to receive the money agreed on for peace, so he sent them the trustworthy man of this nation Abu ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah to receive the amounts of money agreed on in the peace treaty.
By the time Islam started to spread in Najran, naturally, they did not have to pay Al-Jizya that usually non-Muslims paid. Whatever the case was, it was said that Al-Aqib and As-Saiyid embraced Islam as soon as they reached Najran on their journey back home. It is also said that the Prophet [pbuh] sent to them ‘Ali too, for the collection of charities and tribute. [Fath Al-Bari 8/94, 95; Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/38-40] |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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 Posted - Thursday, October 12, 2006 - 10:55 AM
thnx raushan. however in all such affairs and incidents we must keep in mind the position of the rasool/the messenger/the prophet pbuh. his only purpose of coming into the world was to uphold islam and complete it as a religion after cleansing it from the impurities that entered into it over the period of time since Abraham pbuh, who had cleansed it in his time.
after the last prophet none of us is or ever will be in this position.
what we are reqd to do is to keep the knowledge about islam available in all modern and prevailing media and also through our individual, and ideally, collective practice; most of all with our "akhlaq" manners as Qura'n and all the prophets' including Muhammad's sws teachings lay a lot of stress on them as well as history itself is witness to the fact that most people came to the light of islam by the manners of those who practiced it.
thence we hv to trust people's minds and hearts for their guidance and God Himself who does not leave those alone who are in search of Truth. |
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raushan
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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Posted - Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 12:38 PM
Religious Harmony
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
What the world needs today—perhaps more than anything else—is an acceptable formula for the attainment of religious harmony. This being currently one of the most important topics under discussion, I shall attempt to present here, in brief, the Islamic viewpoint.
Let us begin with a verse of the Qur’an which reads:
He that chooses a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him, and in the world to come he will be one of the lost (3:85).
In the opinion of certain interpreters, this verse implies that salvation according to Islam is destined exclusively for Muslims. Islam thus appears to uphold the superiority of the Muslim community. But this is an out-of-context interpretation and is certainly not correct.
Let us take another verse of the Qur’an which serves as an explanation of the above-quoted verse. It states that:
Believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabeans—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does what is right—shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear or to regret (2:62).
This verse rules out the concept of community superiority for any given group: even Muslims have been bracketed here along with other religious groups. The content of this verse makes it very clear that salvation, by Islamic standards, depends upon the individual’s own actions, and that it is not the prerogative of any group. No man or woman can earn his or her salvation by the mere fact of associating with a particular group. Salvation will be achievable only by a person who truly believes in God and the world hereafter, and who has given genuine proof in this life of having lived a life of right action.
Another important aspect of Islam is that it does not advocate belief in the manyness of reality; on the contrary, it stresses reality’s oneness. That is, according to Islam, reality is one, not many. That is why, in describing monotheism, the Qur’an states:
Such is God, your rightful Lord. That which is not true must need be false. How then can you turn away from Him? (10:32)
This verse makes it clear that monotheism (i.e. one Lord being the Creator, Sustainer and object of worship) is the only truth. All other paths lead one away from, rather than towards the truth. The fact that certain religious thinkers believe in the manyness of reality is of no concern to Islam. With oneness as its ideal, it cannot accept manyness even as a hypothesis.
Both of the above points—(a) the oneness of Absolute Reality, and (b) Salvation as the prerogative of the true believer in this oneness—form a major part of Islamic ideal. Just being born into a certain group or community, or associating oneself with others of similar persuasions, does not entitle one to salvation, be one a Muslim or a non-Muslim.
Now let us deal with the fact that; in practice, different kinds of religious groups do exist. Then, given the various kinds of differences separating them, let us consider, how to bring about harmony between them.
One solution commonly advocated is to spread the conviction that all religions are essentially one: that they are simply diverse paths leading to a common destination. Islam, however, does not accept this view and, in any case, experience has shown that repeated attempts to bring about harmony on this basis have been a failure. The Emperor Akbar attempted to achieve harmony by state enforcement of his newly formed religion, ‘Din-e-Ilahi;’ Dr Bhagwan Das spent the best part of his life producing a one-thousand page book titled Essential Unity of All Religions; Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) attempted to spread this ideal at the national level by a countrywide movement whose slogan was ‘Ram Rahim ek hai,’ meaning Ram and Rahim were one and the same. But events have shown us that all failed in their attempts to achieve the goal of religious harmony.
Islam’s approach to the entire problem is much more realistic in that it accepts ideological differences. Once having accepted these differences, it then advocates the policy of tolerance and respect for one another in everyday dealings. This is on a parallel with the principle expressed in the English saying. ‘Let’s agree to disagree.’
In this connection, one of the commands of the Qur’an is that, in principle, ‘there shall be no compulsion in religion’ (2:256). At another place it declares that ‘you have your religion and I have mine’ (109:6). It was as a result of this commandment that, when the Prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina, he issued a declaration reaffirming his acceptance of the religion of Muslims for the Muslims and the religion of Jews for the Jews.’ In order to perpetuate the atmosphere of mutual harmony, the Qur’an commands the Muslims in their dealings with unbelievers not to ‘revile (the idols) which they invoke besides Allah, lest in their ignorance they should spitefully revile Allah.’
This principle formulated by Islam is best described not as religious harmony, but as harmony among religious people. This is a principle whose utility is a matter of historical record. It is evident that in the past as well as in the present, wherever religious harmony has existed, it has been based on unity despite differences, rather than on unity without differences. It is not based on agreeing to agree, but on agreeing to disagree.
One extremely revolutionary example of this principle is to be found in the life of the Prophet Muhammad. It concerns the conference of three religions which was held in the Prophet’s own mosque in Medina. This conference is described by Muhammad Husain Haykal in his book, The Life of Muhammad:The three scriptural religions thus confronted one another in Madinah. The delegation entered with the Prophet into public debate and these were soon joined by the Jews, thus resulting in a tripartite dialogue between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This was a truly great congress which the city of Yathrib had witnessed. In it, the three religions which today dominate the world and determine its destiny had met, and they did so for the greatest idea and the noblest purpose. Although Islam believes, in the oneness of reality it lays equal stress on the practice of tolerance in everyday dealings, even if it means going to the extent of permitting non-Muslims to come to an Islamic place of worship for religious discussion, and if it is time for their prayers letting them feel free to perform their worship according to their own ways in the mosque itself.
Tolerance has been the rule throughout the history of Islam. It has, in fact, been one of the main underlying causes of its successful dissemination. Here I quote from the Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Islam achieved astonishing success in its first phase. Within a century after the Prophet’s death in 632 a.d.(the early generations of Muslims) it had brought a large part of the globe—from Spain across central Asia to India—under a new Arab Muslim empire.
And this is the part which I wish particularly to stress:
Despite these astonishing achievements other religious groups enjoyed full religious autonomy (9/912).
Now the complicating factor is that when any religion having reached this stage of antiquity has secured a sacred place in the hearts of its believers, it becomes impossible to bring about any changes in it. Efforts to bring about a change can produce a new religion, but they can never succeed in changing the old religion. There are many examples of such failures in the past.
A very important point from the practical point of view is that although the necessity to bring about harmony among the different religions is not a newly-felt imperative, endeavors towards that end are still only in the formative stages. If progress towards that goal has been slow of attainment, it is because of the established positions which ancient religions have secured in the hearts of their followers, simply by virtue of their antiquity. Trying to bring about changes in these religions per se has never brought about harmony, because instead of old religions being brought closer together by this process, they have developed rather into new religions, a process which has either left the problem of disharmony unsolved or has further aggravated it. There are many examples of such abortive efforts in the past.
In view of this historical reality, it is clear that the suggestions made by Islam as to how to produce harmony among the different religions is the only viable solution. Any alternative suggestion, however attractive it might appear, would be either impracticable or counter-productive.
Once, when discussing this point with me, a religious scholar said, ‘We have been attempting to bring about inter-religious harmony for the last one hundred years, but the results have been quite dismal. It would seem that there are insurmountable obstacles in the way.’
I replied that the goal we want to attain is certainly a proper one; it is simply that the strategy we employ is impracticable. Religious harmony is without doubt a desirable objective. But it cannot be achieved by attempting to alter people’s beliefs—a policy advocated by more than one scholar in this field. The only way to tackle the problem is to encourage people to show respect for others’ beliefs and to be humanitarian at all times in their dealings with adherents of other religions. It is vital to realize that it is quite possible to inculcate this attitude without in any way tampering with long-cherished credos. It should never be conceded that the goal of religious harmony is unattainable simply because people’s beliefs differ from each other. It is certainly a possibility provided that it is seen as a matter of practical strategy and not as a pretext for making ideological changes.
‘Practical strategy’ is something which people regularly resort to in matters of their daily existence. As such, it is a known and acceptable method of solving the problem. Since no new ground has to be broken, either for the religious scholar or for the common man, it should be a very simple matter for people to extend their everyday activity, within their own sphere of existence, to include an honest and sincere effort towards global religious harmony. It is simply a question of having the will and the foresight to do so. |
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davidsparrow
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Friday, October 20, 2006 - 3:53 PM
quote:
thnx raushan. however in all such affairs and incidents we must keep in mind the position of the rasool/the messenger/the prophet pbuh. his only purpose of coming into the world was to uphold islam and complete it as a religion after cleansing it from the impurities that entered into it over the period of time since Abraham pbuh, who had cleansed it in his time.
after the last prophet none of us is or ever will be in this position.
what we are reqd to do is to keep the knowledge about islam available in all modern and prevailing media and also through our individual, and ideally, collective practice; most of all with our "akhlaq" manners as Qura'n and all the prophets' including Muhammad's sws teachings lay a lot of stress on them as well as history itself is witness to the fact that most people came to the light of islam by the manners of those who practiced it.
thence we hv to trust people's minds and hearts for their guidance and God Himself who does not leave those alone who are in search of Truth.
How true this is, Henna. At Art Beyond Belief, we are commited to the idea, not of commonality, (although it is certainly possible to find a common thread in all faiths, and especially the Abrahamic faiths) but of acceptance despite differences. What Sir Jonathan Sacks (Cheif Rabbi of the UK) calls "The Dignity of Difference". What is, for me, a most interesting outcome from this level of acceptance is that one unwittingly joins a small, but growing number of people who find that they have more in common with like-minded believers of a different faith, than they do with the grass-roots members of their own (faith). I have no doubt at all that this is a good and noble quest...
David |
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perv1
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Friday, October 20, 2006 - 11:34 PM
Hello David
quote:
"The Dignity of Difference". What is, for me, a most interesting outcome from this level of acceptance is that one unwittingly joins a small, but growing number of people who find that they have more in common with like-minded believers of a different faith, than they do with the grass-roots members of their own (faith).
I sincerely hope that this group continues to grow-then imagine what a wonderful world this will be (I hope I have not infringed on some copyrights).
regards |
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davidsparrow
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - 10:29 AM
| Indeed, Perv1, indeed. But my experience is that most believers feel the need of belonging to a larger community, and, possibly (I make but a suggestion here) the need to be told what to do and what to think. To venture into that (lonely) area where people have different beliefs, thoughts, customs, food, and even smell different is a scarey thing to do. Of course once done, you soon realise that you gain so much more than you lose. You gain friendship, acceptance, dialogue, and love. What you lose is your fear... |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Friday, October 27, 2006 - 8:55 PM
Also there is an eid event with open invitation to public from all faiths and communities at Trafalgar square, London uk. 1pm to 5pm.
I think it’s a gud idea to just be there for eachother whilst representing various faiths; and we could do similar for other religious events like dewali, Christmas, hanuka and others |
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perv1
UNITED KINGDOM
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 Posted - Friday, October 27, 2006 - 9:27 PM
Salaam H....
I think it would be good idea to mention some dates!
regards |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Friday, October 27, 2006 - 11:18 PM
sorry i thought i did.
its tomorrow  |
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davidsparrow
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Tuesday, April 17, 2007 - 12:22 PM
| I thought I'd let you know that the six Muslim interviews in the "Faith Junction" project are now finished. This only leaves three of the (six) Hindu interviews, due next week. (Phew!) |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 6:17 PM
phew!! where to david? check the 'coming together' section here. it was to be 19th tomorrow??
anyway in case it was shown earlier than scheduled, am posting a few salient features from muslim faith/interviews. weldone for the hard work :) 'n hoping we'll find these tapes somwhere, sooner or later
After the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) is the source of faith in Islam.
It needs to be appreciated that all higher religions, in addition to their sacred texts, have a set of rites, rituals, manners, mores, etiquette and religious practices. Together with the doctrine and the conceptual content contained in the scriptures, these practices form the whole religion. Islam also has a set of such practices. These practices are not all of equal importance. Some of them are considered mandatory while the others just introduce manners or etiquette or they are symbolic in nature, signifying larger realities of faith.
Among all such practices and mores, the most dear to the Muslims are those that
• are essentially religious in nature
• were instituted by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sws), (who is the only personality in Islam having the right to declare anything religious) and
• have reached us through the reliable historical process of tawa'tur(perpetuation).
This means
1. When we say that the Sunnah has reached us to Tawa'tur we mean to say that so that such a large number of people have transmitted the Sunnah acts in each generation starting from the Companions (rta) that the Sunnah acts have bee rendered beyond any alteration in any manner).
These practices are called the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (sws).
Since Islam claims to have been the religion of all humanity since Adam (sws), and claims that Noah (sws), Abraham (sws), Moses (sws), David (sws) and Jesus (sws) were all Muslims, it immediately comes forward to lay claim on the entire heritage of these noble personalities. For Muslims, however, the personality of Abraham (sws) is of particular importance.
Abraham (sws) stands at the junction where three world religions meet. He is revered by all the three Semitic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The religious practices initiated by Abraham (sws) (of course under divine guidance) are of particular significance to Islam.
The religious rites and rituals instituted by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sws) are almost the same as those included in Abraham’s tradition of faith.
The teachings of Abraham (sws) were conveyed to his sons among whom his first-born Isma’il (sws) finally settled down in Arabia where Bani Isma#‘il (children of Isma‘il) lived and multiplied. Abraham’s younger son Isaac (sws), and Isaac’s son Yaqoob (Israel) founded the clan of Bani# Isra‘il (Children of Israel).
Abraham’s teachings and practices were inherited by both the tribes, which developed independently.
contd: |
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davidsparrow
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Thursday, April 19, 2007 - 10:05 AM
| Thanks Henna. Yes, the 19th at 5pm at SREC. Should be fun. Yes-theology can be fun. My brain's in a whirl with non-stop editing. I have been over these ten questions again and again and again, always from somebody else's perspective (of course, since I'm listening to their interview) and sometimes I think "No way, that's crazy" and sometimes I think "yes" and more often than both I think "and then what?". This past year has been an exraordinary journey for me. I am not the same person I was a year ago. I am more aware of my faults, which are many. I am more aware of what needs to be done, and I am spinning with ideas... |
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hkhan
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Sunday, May 6, 2007 - 1:26 PM
i agree...as i watch these interviews. to be honest untill i actually listened to them, even to what i said myself, i had no idea it could affect our inspiration, faith and passion to find and follow the Truth to this extent. i'm sure this 'Faith junction' has been a great experience for us all who have been a part of it one way or the other. plz keep us posted with further in this regard.
(and i hope that our next project 'faith anchor' would also bring something exciting and beneficial to the communities) |
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