What comes to your mind when you think of a Muslim woman? A mysterious, veiled victim of male oppression, awaiting Western liberation? A slogan-shouting terrorist? An uneducated foreigner with whom you have little or nothing in common? Unless your social circle includes Muslim friends and acquaintances, the chances are that your impressions of Muslim women have largely been formed by negative media stereotypes – images that usually have little to do with real life, and may have been designed to attract more viewers, sell more products, or gain support for someone’s political agenda.
Prof. Abdur Rahman I. Doi Professor and Director, Center for Islamic Legal Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira, Nigeria.
In Islam there is absolutely no difference between men and women as far as their relationship to Allah is concerned, as both are promised the same reward for good conduct and the same punishment for evil conduct. The Qur’an says: And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women. (2:226)
Ms.Naheed Mustafa
“My body is my own business.”
MULTICULTURAL VOICES
A Canadian-born Muslim woman has taken to wearing the traditional hijab scarf. It tends to make people see her as either a terrorist or a symbol of oppressed womanhood, but she finds the experience liberating.
By: Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
All I have to say is all what you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as given by God – the Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is created to be God’s deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur’an Majeed that when man is brought to account, he will say,
“O Lord, send us back and give us another chance.” The Lord will say, “If I send you back you will do the same.”
Allah says, ” so whoever Allah wants to guide, he expands his breast to ( contain ) Islam; and however he wants to misguide-he makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky …” (al-anaam 125 )
Giovanni Ferrotti is the ex-name of Muhammad Ferroti, the reputed Italian painter, who painted scenery for long years but could not understand what they meant until he embraced Islam. He said: “When I embraced Islam and learned the rules of Islam, I knew why I was living and the purpose of this life. I learned that the whole universe is AIIah’s and that he ordered us to deliberate on this great creation.
BY MICHELLE AL-NASR
The submission of man to his Creator is the essence of Islam. The word “Islam literally means, “to submit or to surrender. The real question one should ask is: “submit and surrender to whom? Muslims submit and surrender their will and desires to the will and the laws of the Creator. This is what “Islam truly means. By referring to, “The Creator, Muslims are talking about “Allah”.
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful
The Islam that was revealed to Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), is the continuation and culmination of all the preceding revealed religious and hence it is for all times and all people. This status of Islam is sustained by glaring facts.
Firstly, there is no other revealed book extant in the same form and content as it was revealed. Secondly, no other revealed religion has any convincing claim to provide guidance in all walks of human life for all times. But Islam addresses humanity at large and offers basic guidance regarding all human problems.
1- What is Islam?
Islam is not a new religion, but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world’s population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith.
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Merciful
The question whether there is a life after death does not fall under the jurisdiction of science as science is concerned only with classification and analysis of sense data. Moreover, man has been busy with scientific Enquirer and research, in the modern sense of the term, only for the last few centuries, while he has been familiar with the concept of life after death since times immemorial.
In the name of Almighty God the Merciful, the compassionate
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS
The Arabic word Islam means peace, submission and obedience. The religion of Islam is the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
A Muslim is one who believes in God and strives for total reorganization of his life according to His revealed guidance and the sayings of the Prophet. He also works for building human society on the same basis. “Muhammadanism” is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit.
The word ‘Allah’ is the proper name of God in Arabic. It is a unique term because it has no plural or feminine gender.
