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In the name of the merciful
and compassionate Lord.
0 thou who art
enwrapped!
Rise by
night except a little the half, or deduct there from a little, and chant the
sacred text.
Verily, we will cast on thee a heavy speech.
Verily,
the early part of the night is stronger in impressions and more upright in
speech!
Verily, thou hast by day a long employment; but mention the name
of thy Lord,
Devote thyself thoroughly to Him; there is no Allah but He;
then take Him for a guardian!
And endure patiently what they say, and flee
from them with a decorous flight.
And leave those who say it is a lie,
who are possessed of comfort; and let them bide for a while.
Those who
bear the throne and those around it celebrate the praise of their Lord,
Believe in Him, and ask pardon for those who believe.
'Our Lord,
thou dost embrace all things in mercy and knowledge, then pardon those who turn
repentant and follow thy way, and guard them from the torment of
hell!'
'Our Lord make them enter into the
Garden of Paradise which
thou hast promised to them, and to
those who do well of their fathers, and their wives, and their seed; verily,
thou art the mighty, the wise.
Guard them from evil deeds, for he whom
thou shalt guard from evil deeds on that day, thou wilt have had mercy on, and
that is mighty bliss!
IN the name of the
merciful and
compassionate Allah.
By the
night when it veils!
And the day when it is displayed!
And by what
forged male and female!
Verily, your efforts are diverse!
As for him
who gives resources
and
stands in awe of Allah,
And believes in
the best,
We will send him easily to ease!
As for him who is
closefisted,
And longs for wealth,
And calls the good a lie,
We
will send him easily to difficulty!
And
his wealth shall not avail
him!
Verily, in the creation
of the heavens and the
Earth, and in the succession of
night and day, are signs to those possessed of minds;
who remember Allah
standing and sitting or lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation
of the heavens and the Earth.
'0 Lord! Thou hast not forged it all in
vain.
We celebrate you
Lord!
 
The color green has a number
of traditional associations in Islam.
Green is used in several national
flags as a symbol of Islam.
These include: Afghanistan, Algeria,
Azerbaijan, Comoros, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sri
Lanka.
The language of the Qur'an has been described
as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry
and prose; however, this description runs the risk of failing to convey the
rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is more poetic in some parts and
more prose-like in others.
Cutural excellence revolved exclusively
around eloquent speech and the composition of beautiful and attractive poetry
and literary excellence.
Muhammad found attentive ears among his
contemporaries, who not only were articulate users of the language but held
those skilled in the arts of linguistic composition in high
esteem.
Before the rise of Islam, Arabic was mainly a spoken language
with an oral literature of elaborate poetry and, to a lesser extent, prose.
Writing had not yet fully
developed and memorization was the most common means of preserving the
literature.
Prophet Musa had
the power to divide the sea with his
hand and rod, and to let the rock burst forth with water in the desert, and
all his other signs in a time of
magic.
Prophet Isa had the power to bring the
dead back to life, to make birds out of clay, to cure those who had been blind
from birth and the leprous, and all his other signs
in a time of medicine.
Prophet Muhammad had the book and his other signs in
a time of
eloquence.
Sharia, Shari-'ah, Shari'a, Shariah,
Syariah,
Islamic law or the Law of
Allah
Shariah controls, rules and
regulates all public and private behavior.
Shariah has regulations for personal hygiene, diet,
sexual conduct, and elements of child
rearing.
Mainstream Islam distinguishes between fiqh, which means '
understanding of details' and refers to the inferences drawn by scholars, and
sharia, which refers to the principles that lie behind the fiqh.
Scholars hope that fiqh and sharia are in
harmony in any given case, but
they cannot be sure.
Sharia has certain laws which are regarded as
divinely ordained, concrete and timeless
for all relevant situations (for example, the ban against drinking liquor as an
intoxicant).
Sharia also has certain laws which are extracted based on
principles established by Islamic lawyers and judges (Mujtahidun).
The
sharia as interpreted by Islamic
lawmakers is believed by Muslims to be merely a human approximation of the true
Sharia, which is understood as the
divine and eternal correct path.
In deriving Sharia law, Islamic
lawmakers are not, therefore, actually creating divinely correct or
incorrect actions beyond question,
but rather attempting to interpret divine principles.
Sharia in general
is considered divine, but a lawyer's or judge's extraction or opinion on a
given matter is not.
Again the process and intention of refering to the
Law of Allah is divinely
sanctioned.
An Islamic lawyer or judge's attempts to rule according to
Sharia, can be described as 'ruling by Sharia', but this ruling is not beyond
question.
For Sunni Muslims, the primary sources of Islamic law are the
Qur'an, the Hadith or directions of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullāh,
the unanimity of Muhammad's disciples on a
certain issue (ijma), and Qiyas (drawing
analogy from the
essence of divine principles).
Qiyas
- various forms of reasoning, including by
analogy - are used by
the law scholars (Mujtahidun) to deal with situations where the sources
provided no concrete rules.
The
consensus of the
community, public
interest, and others were also accepted as secondary sources where the
first four primary sources allow.
In Imami-Shi'i law, the sources of
law (usul al-fiqh) are the Qur'an, anecdotes of Muhammad's practices and those
of the 12 Imams, and the
intellect (aql).
The practices called Sharia today, however, also
have roots in local customs (Al-urf).
Islamic
jurisprudence is called fiqh and
is divided into two parts: the study of the sources and methodology (usul
al-fiqh - roots of the law) and the practical rules (furu' al-fiqh - branches
of the law).
The authority of Sharia is drawn from two primary sources,
as well as two secondary sources.
The first major source is the
specific guidance in the Qur'an, and the second source is the Sunnah, literally
the 'Way', i.e. the way that
Muhammad ibn
'Abdullāh lived his life.
(The compilation of all that
Muhammad ibn
'Abdullāh said, did or approved of is called the Hadith.)
A
lesser sources of authority is Qiyas, which is the extension by
analogy of
existing Sharia law to new
situations.
Finally, Sharia law can be based on ijma, or consensus.
Justification for this final approach is drawn from the Hadith where
Muhammad states; "My nation cannot agree on an error."
The role of ulema, i.e.
scholars, is critical, since they are the ones who study the Islamic law and
therefore have authority to represent it.
Sharia has largely been
codified by the schools (madhhabs) of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh).
The
comprehensive nature of Sharia law is due to the belief that the law must
provide all that is necessary for individual spiritual and physical well-being.
All possible actions of a Muslim are divided (in principle) into five
categories: obligatory, meritorious, permissible, reprehensible, and forbidden.
Fundamental to the
obligations of every
Muslim are the Five Pillars of Islam.
Sharia is the social equal to
English common law, European civil law, Socialist law, Hindu law and the
Law of Moses.
The
most striking difference between Sharia law and English common law or European
civil law is that in both English common law and European civil law lawfully
executed and valid contracts can not be revised.
Under Sharia law if
one party to a contract feels the contract is unjust he may ask the Sharia law
authority to change the terms, modify or invalidate the contract on the grounds
that fairness and justice under Sharia law requires the equal enrichment of
both participants to the contractual obligation .
Crime and Islam Sharia requires a very high level of proof for the most serious
crimes and punishments.
If proof is not as specified then the crime must be considered a lesser
crime.
A major myth is that judges in Islamic nations have fixed
punishments for all crimes.
The judge under Sharia is not bound by precedents, rules, or prior
decisions as in English common law.
Hadd crimes, the most serious crimes
in Sharia law, are murder, apostasy,
making war upon Allah and His
messengers, theft, adultery, defamation,
false accusation of adultery or fornication, robbery and consumption of
intoxicants.
These are considered crimes against
Allah.
Tazir crimes are acts which are
punished because the offender disobeys the word and
Law of Allah.
Tazir
crimes are crimes against
society.
A Qesas crime is one of retaliation.
If you commit
a Qesas crime, the victim has a right to
seek retribution and retaliation.
The concept of retribution was
found in the first statutory "Code of
Hammurabi" and in the Law of Moses in the
form of "an eye for an eye."
Muslims add to that saying "but it is better to forgive."
Contemporary common law is filled
with the assumptions of retribution.
The American justice system
has adopted a retribution model which sets fixed
punishments for each crime.
The American federal code contains "mandatory minimum" sentences for
drug dealing.
Many states have fixed
punishment for drug, violence
and the use of particular weapons.
Qesas crime is simple retribution: if
one commits a crime he knows what the
punishment will
be.
Diya has its roots in Islamic law and dates to the time of the
prophet Mohammad when there were many local families, tribes and clans.
The prophet Mohammad was able to convince several tribes to take a
monetary payment in retribution for damage to the clan or tribe.
Diya is
paid by the offender to the victim if he is alive.
If the victim is
dead, the money is paid to the victim's family or to the victim's clan or tribe.
The assumption is that
victims will be compensated for their loss.
Under English common
law, the victim or family must sue the
offender in a civil tort action for damages.
Qesas law combines the
process of criminal and civil hearings into one, just as the "civil law" is
applied in many nations on Earth.
Qesas crimes are compensated as
restitution under common law and civil law.
Qesas crimes require
compensation for each crime committed.
Apostasy in Islam
In some interpretations
of an Islamic state, conversion by Muslims to other
religions is forbidden and is termed apostasy.
In Muslim
theology, apostasy resembles the crime of
treason, the betrayal of one's own country.
Penalties may include
ostracism or even execution if they live or have lived in an "Islamic State"
and are deemed enemies of the state.
By
analogy, in the age of
nation states, an individual who commits treason (turning state's secrets to a
foreign power, or spies for a foreign power, etc) is subject to severe penalty
- historically, death.
A well known example of a Muslim "apostate"
undergoing persecution is that of Salman Rushdie, whose
novel The Satanic Verses prompted
Khomeini to issue a fatwa (religious opinion) for his execution.
Even though some suspect that Khomeini issued this fatwa more
because of the lampooning of Khomeini himself it could be argued that
Khomeini's motivation for issuing the fatwa is irrelevant as Rushdie's
apostasy was the formal ground for the imposition of the death
sentence.
"Some of us are
righteous, and some are less
than righteous; we follow
various paths.
We knew full well that we can never run away from Allah
on Earth and escape.
When we heard the guidance, we believed therein.
Anyone who believes in Allah will never fear any injustice, nor any
affliction.
Among us are the submitters, and among us are
the compromisers.
As for those who submitted, they are on
the right path.
As for the
compromisers, they will be fuel for Gehenna.
If they remain on
the right path, we will bless them with abundant water.
We will surely
test them all.
As for him who disregards the message of Allah, Allah
will direct him to ever increasing retribution. "
Qur'an Jinn
72:11-17
Math
and Islam
"Mechanical methods can suggest the truth of
mathematical propositions, which
then may be rigorously proven by mathematical
methods."
Archimedes
Currently used
science and mathematics
depended upon the Arabic numeral system forged or improved by Muslims.
Algebra was first fully developed by Al Khwarism, the "father of
algebra".
Al-Tusi is the "father of trigonometry".
Al-Khashi,
from Persia,
invented decimal fractions.
Sunni Islam is the world's largest
religious denomination, followed by Catholicism.
Both Sunnism and
Shi'aism are the end products of several centuries of competition between
ideologies.
Both sects used each other to further cement their own
identities and doctrines.
The schism occurred in a debate over who were
the true adherents to the Sunnah, the prophet’s tradition.
A
caliphate is a state under the leadership of an Islamic steward considered to
be the successor to Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah.
Sunni rulers embarked on
sweeping conquests that extended the caliphate.
The last caliphate
ended with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in
World War I.
Sunnis
emphasize the all encompassing power of
Allah in the material world while
Shi'a value martyrdom
and sacrifice to turn the dark into light.
2009 Sunni Muslims constitute 90% of the world's Muslim
population. |
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is presented for educational purposes only.
This website defines a new
perspective with which to engage reality to which its author adheres. The
author feels that the falsification of reality outside personal experience has
forged a populace unable to discern propaganda from reality and that this has
been done purposefully by an international corporate cartel through their
agents who wish to foist a corrupt version of reality on the human race.
Religious intolerance occurs when any group refuses to tolerate religious
practices, religious beliefs or persons due to their religious ideology. This
web site marks the founding of a system of philosophy named The Truth of the
Way of Life - a rational gnostic mystery religion based on reason which
requires no leap of faith, accepts no tithes, has no supreme leader, no church
buildings and in which each and every individual is encouraged to develop a
personal relation with the Creator and Sustainer through the pursuit of the
knowledge of reality in the hope of curing the spiritual corruption that has
enveloped the human spirit. The tenets of The Truth of the Way of Life are
spelled out in detail on this web site by the author. Violent acts against
individuals due to their religious beliefs in America is considered a "hate
crime."
This web site in no way condones violence. To the contrary the
intent here is to reduce the violence that is already occurring due to the
international corporate cartels desire to control the human race. The
international corporate cartel already controls the world economic system,
corporate media worldwide, the global industrial military entertainment complex
and is responsible for the collapse of morals, the elevation of self-centered
behavior and the destruction of global ecosystems. Civilization is based on
cooperation. Cooperation does not occur at the
point of a gun.
American social mores and values have declined
precipitously over the last century as the corrupt international cartel has
garnered more and more power. This power rests in the ability to deceive the
populace in general through corporate media by pressing emotional buttons which
have been preprogrammed into the population through prior corporate media
psychological operations. The results have been the destruction of the family
and the destruction of social structures that do not adhere to the corrupt
international elites vision of a perfect world. Through distraction and
coercion the direction of thought of the bulk of the population has been
directed toward solutions proposed by the corrupt international elite that
further consolidates their power and which further their purposes.
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