By AY Mol on 21-8-2009 14:11

Ik hoop dat dit ook verplicht gaat worden in Nederland zodat Moslim leiders beter het debat kunnen voeren en meer connectie hebben met de Moslim jeugd.

 

College Training for Muslim Imams in Germany A Laborious Process One German state is hoping to improve the integration of its Muslim community by offering imam training programs at university. Michael Hollenbach reports In future, the man reading the text may be able to translate it into good German In most mosques in Germany, prayers are said in Arabic and the sermon is usually given in Turkish. German is rarely heard. "We have 2,600 mosques in Germany and I don't know a single imam who has a European education," said political scientist Bassam Tibi, a professing Muslim. "How can they show the Muslims who live here how to live? These imams would probably tell me I shouldn't integrate." Bulent Ucar, professor for Islamic studies...

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By AY Mol on 12-7-2009 12:54

In the understanding of Grand Mufti Alim Muhamed Abduh, Mufti of Al-Azhar University, till his death in 1905:

“ 1. The primary purpose of the Qur’an is to affirm the Tawhid, the unicity of God, and all other subsequent doctrines that affirm God’s action of revelation, the sending of prophets, and the reality of resurrection and human recompense.

2. The Qur’an is a complete and comprehensive revelation; believers cannot be selective in what portions they choose to adhere to.

3. The Qur’an is the primary source for legislation for a righteous society. (While Abduh endorsed the use of reason and science in understanding the text he insisted that social life is to be organized according to the teachings of the Qur’an.)

4. Muslims should not imitate their forebears in interpreting the Qur’an, but must be authentic and true to their own understanding.

5. Reason and reflection should be utilized in interpreting the Qur’an. (Abduh saw the Qur’an as urging people to search and...

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By AY Mol on 14-6-2009 22:06

 

 

 

I have ordered this promising book, which discusses a very important topic; the influence of the Qur'an on the creation of the modern free and tolerant world.

 

 

Nowadays it is thought that the Qur'an represents the total opposite of what the free world stands for, but this was not the idea of early Enlightenment thinkers. The contribution of the Islamic culture and the Qur'an for the creation of the Renaissance, Enlightenment and today's modern free world, is enormous. But sadly due to the economical and intellectual decline in the Muslim world after 1500 caused by bad leadership, which caused a wrong direction of Muslim interpretation and thought, and the non-acknowledgement of Western thought of their debt ot Islam; the idea of Islam being the source of the modern world is a strange idea.

 

 

But modern academics are starting to acknowledge...

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By AY Mol on 4-6-2009 21:12

By GA Parwez

 

Rough translation from the dictionary/tafir Lughat ul-Qur'an (Language of the Qur'an):

 

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Sad, laam, waw (yeh)



Since salaat is an important part of Deen, we will deliberate on it in detail:

1) As sala: the middle of the back: the place where an animal’s tail grows or the

begining of the slope of the hip: both sides of the tail are called salawaan: the

plural is salawaat or aslaa: * sala: yaslu: salwa: means to strike the sala(as

mentioned above): salautuhu:I struck him on the sala.



2) Sallal farasa tasliah is said when the number two horse in a race is running very

close to the number one horse: the horse in front is called saabiq: and the one in

second position is called almusalli:

*Taj

page 1035

thus salla means to follow behind almost touching the one in front: one of Hazrat Ali’s

tale says: sabaqa rasulul laahi...

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By AY Mol on 31-5-2009 12:09

What has happened in modern bureaucratic societies, that parade as democracies (like the USA), is that the chance to reason and the ability to be free has been lost (see http://robots.asadi.org) that is the nature of a bureaucratic society: a society where standardization is the norm and the person is surrounded by rules that govern behavior from birth to death. Such "democracies" exists in form only and not in essence, here choices are not formulated by a "public" but rather insinuated upon a highly propagandized "mass society" that knows next to nothing regarding public issues. This is achieved by control of the "cultural apparatus" by a small aristocracy, the Power Elite. The "cultural apparatus"- language, education, status and technology- with the media and the formal educational institutions playing a dominant role, thus ensures that this elite achieves cultural hegemony. The person thinks he or she is free and living under a "democracy" but the reality of the situation...

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By AY Mol on 22-5-2009 10:53

As it is out of print, and old copies are only available at university libraries, when I got the chance to buy one, I didn't need to think twice. As it is an important study, it is now scanned in and for the first time available online. Prof. JMS Baljon, from Leiden university, has written several important studies on modern Muslim thought, including one on Syed Ahmed Khan and on Shah Wali Allah, both which I also got my hands on and will be scanned in shortly.

 

"Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation" it is a great summary of 20th century Muslim advancement in understanding the Qur'an and one of the most important Western studies on modern Muslim Qur'an interpretation covering from 1880 till 1960.  This book is one of the most quoted by scholars of the Qur'an in the West, Muslim and non-Muslim, as is Izutsu's "God and Man in the Koran".

 

Due to the large size of the scanned book, it has been split up in 6 parts:

 

    Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation v1a (PDF)   ...

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By AY Mol on 21-5-2009 16:35

An introduction and similarity between the Human Rights displayed in the Qur'an and that given by the United Nations. It is an ongoing work in progress.

 

Some examples:

 

1. Equal human dignity by birth:  ولقد كرمنا بنى ءادم 17:70 Surely, We have conferred dignity on the descendants of the human species (as a birth right, regardless of where the child is born).  قد خلقنا الانسن فى احسن تقويم 95:4 Indeed, We have created the human being (all of them) in the best design.

 

2 b. The only superiority over another is righteous conduct, not race, gender, nationality or creed:  يايها الناس انا خلقنكم من ذكر وانثى وجعلنكم شعوبا وقبائل لتعارفوا ان اكرمكم عند الله اتقىكم ان الله عليم خبير 49:13 O Mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes so that you might (affectionately) come to know one another. Surely, the most honored among you, in the sight of God, is the one who is best in conduct. God is Knower, Aware.  ولكل درجت مما عملوا وليوفيهم اعملهم وهم لا يظلمون...

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By AY Mol on 26-4-2009 12:56

Theologist and Physic professor John Polkinghorne has a discussion with atheist Physic professor Steve Weinberg, who just commented that if God existed he would impale Steve with a sword from the sky, then there would be no doubt God existed, Polkinghorne gives some very interesting answers:

 

Polkinghorne: May I just say that, God forbid, if a flaming

sword were to come and decapitate Steve before our very eyes

that would pose a very big theological problem. Because that

would be the capricious act of a magical, vengeful god and that’s

not the God of my belief. You see the problem with miracles . . .

Weinberg: . . . it is the god, however, of your religious tradition.

Polkinghorne: I wouldn’t say that the religious tradition is unsullied,

but it’s certainly not the sole strand within that belief.

The problem with miracles is the problem of divine consistency.

God is not capricious, but God is not condemned equally...

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By AY Mol on 20-4-2009 20:01

Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform: A Collection of Articles from Contemporary Thinkers on IslamThis important book is a collection of writings of more then 30 modern writers on Islam. From professional Islamic scholars to individuals writers and thinkers, this collection is groundbreaking and unique as a serious collection of 21st century Islamic thought on critical research, reform and renewal in Islamic and Qur'anic interpretation. With diverse subjects on the interpretation and message of Qur'an and its relation to human rights, freedom and wellfare. History of Islam, society and thought. Modern experience of being a Muslim, the concept of gender and needed actions for reform.To purchase the book, go to:Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform by Edip Yuksel, Arnold Yasin Mol, Farouk A Peru (Editors)Authors...

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By AY Mol on 12-4-2009 1:33

12:108 قل هذه سبيلي ادعو الي الله علي بصيرة انا ومن اتبعني وسبحان الله وما انا من المشركين     Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah resting upon reason and . I and whosoever followeth me - Glory be to Allah! - and I am not of the Mushrikeen. قل/Qul/Say: هذه سبيلي/hadihi sabilia/This is my Way ادعو/adh3ua/I call الي الله/ila Allah/to Allah علي/a3la/resting upon, based on  بصيرة/basiraht/mental perception, insight, reason, understanding, evidence based argumentation.  انا/ana/I   و من اتبعني/wa min atittab3ani/and from those that follow/pursue و سبحان الله/wa subhana Allah/ and sancrosanct, above all is Allah و ما انا من/wa ma ana min/and I am not of/from المشركين/mushrikeen/those that associate (illusions to reality)/are ensared/trapped (by superstition and wrong perception of reality). This very important verse explains that the Guidance/huda to the Way/Sabil of the Qur'an, its message and its explanation of Reality, is based on evidence based argumentation/basiraht. Basirah are things...

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