Category Jewels of Islam

The Status of Women in Islam (P. 2-3)

Again, the Islamic conception of woman is radically different. The Qur’an clarifies that Satan was the only deceiver in the story of the Garden, while Adam and Eve receive equal blame for their disobedience. There is not the slightest hint that Eve was the first to eat the forbidden fruit or that she tempted Adam to do so. Both Adam and Eve committed a sin, asked God for His Forgiveness, and He duly bestowed it

The Last Great Caliph: Abdulhamid II

Throughout Islamic history, one of the uniting aspects of the Muslim world was the caliphate. After the death of Prophet Muhammad, his close companion, Abu Bakr, was elected as the first khalifah, or caliph, of the Muslim community. His job as leader combined political power over the Muslim state as well as spiritual guidance for Muslims. It became a hereditary position, occupied at first by the Umayyad family, and later by the Abbasids. In 1517, the caliphate was transferred to the Ottoman family, who ruled the largest and most powerful empire in the world in the 1500s.

The Status of Women in Islam (P. 3-3)

Islam granted women contractual rights, conjugal rights, the right to inherit, to initiate divorce, to independently own and control wealth and property, to set up and run businesses, to earn and receive equal pay, to retain their maiden names, etc., over 1400 years ago while the democratic West granted similar rights only in the last 50 years of the 20th century! In fact, besides casual abortion, much of what feminists still fight for had already been sanctioned by Islam.

The Importance of Education in Islam

One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and in the reckless pursuit of higher standards of material comfort. Another purpose of knowledge is to spread freedom and dignity, truth and justice. It is not to gain power and dominance for its own sake.

Imam Malik ibn Anas

Imam Malik’s mother advised him to join the first school and university in Islam, the Mosque of the Prophet in Madinah, where he started by memorizing the Glorious Qur’an and then the Hadith [traditions of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah exalt his mention)]. In the age when writing and written educational material were a rarity, students and scholars had to have a strong memory to consult and store the knowledge they gained. Imam Malik was not lacking in this special ability. We are told that when he

Teaching and Purifying

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) held the most challenging leadership positions in Islamic history, wearing many hats at the same time. As the Messenger of Allah, he was a husband to his family, a teacher to a grand myriad of students, a General of his army, amongst many more. In wearing these many hats, the Prophet faced multiple challenges in tarbiyyah (the development, teaching and training) of his followers…

Poverty in Secular and Islamic Economics (Part 1 / 2)

There are different ways of defining poverty and measuring it. One may classify those definitions into three types (Korayem, 1993): The first type includes what we may call the objective definitions of poverty. This definition specifies a specific level of income (expenditure), or index, or ratio which represents the borderline between the poor and the non-poor. The individuals who are at the borderline or below will be defined as poor whereas those above the borderline are the non-poor.

Sinan Pasha: The Architect

The sultan became aware of Sinan’s architectural work in the 1530s during his military career and named him chief court architect in 1538 CE (AH 945), following the death of predecessor Ali Acemi. As court architect, Sinan technically oversaw the construction of all public works within the Ottoman empire, though his personal involvement in projects was typically limited to those in Anatolia, especially those in his adopted home city of Istanbul. Sinan’s differential investment in building commissions due to the practicalities of distance allowed regional techniques of construction to persist within the designs of many buildings