Issue 50 (April - June 2005)

Life” incites our feeling of awe. We are unable to expound or arrive at a comprehensive interpretation of the cosmos in which we come across this phenomenon of “life.” Every new thing that we meet and all the details that enwrap us inculcate thousands of questions within our minds. We are filled wi…

A mother is a blessed saintly being in her own world. The Ka‘ba is the spirit, meaning, essence, and atlas of the entire reality of the universe; Makka is the same for all places, and the mind for the entire body; so too a mother is the spirit, meaning, essence, and atlas for the smallest unit of a…

A superficial understanding of science and religion perceives these two fields as being disciplines of different realms. Such a perspective sees science as an objective pursuit of knowledge based on observation and logic, and religion as a set of dogmatic assertions. Finally, some view “questioning…

In our world of knowledge and wisdom, there are two meanings for the word “heart”; as an emotion that is open to the spiritual realms and an important power plant for the biological structure. Our Lord, Who has created everything in pairs, has created the heart as a dual structure too, as both the…

The relationship between good and evil has always intrigued people, and it is one of the central principles upon which religious doctrine and belief systems are built. Religion plays a central role in shedding light onto these abstract concepts, and Islam is no exception. In fact, Islam offers a co…

One of the most controversial topics in modern bioethics, science, and philosophy is to try to pinpoint the beginning of an individual human life. The consequences of this discussion are vitally important, as they may help to articulate more adequate arguments on some bioethical issues, like the de…

The recent tsunami and the devastation that it caused-the deaths of more than 300,000 people and the creation of millions of homeless-have raised the question: How could a loving and benevolent God allow such evil things to happen? In other words, the recent tsunami has raised the question of theod…

Although globalization is a helpful category, there is considerable disagreement about its precise meaning. Many commentators, while conceding an economic aspect, want to see it defined much more broadly. For example, Roland Robertson writes: “For present purposes, globalization may be defined simp…

Civic commitment has been a major emphasis of education around the world since ancient times. Public education was founded on the notion that people need to be trained in basic skills in order to serve their communities as effective citizens and leaders. Service-learning activities help build socia…

The first interaction between Prophet Muhammad and Christians took place when he was traveling to Syria with his uncle Abu Talib. Later, the Prophet had meetings and dealings with several Christians and Christian groups, including Waraqa ibn Nawfal and the Najran Christians. The agreement on the pa…

Did you know that the only place human beings are not exposed to germs, such as bacteria or fungi, is in their mothers’ uterus? Yes, from the moment human beings are born into this world they are exposed to millions of germs. What kind of a system of protection are babies equipped with that, despit…

George Eastman, the founder of the Kodak Company, took close-up photographs of wild animals in Africa with a simple camera in 1935, which he then showed to his friends. Surprised at seeing how close he had been able to take them, one of his friends asked “How did you manage this?” Eastman replied…

The following Hadith on repentance is narrated in the Hadith collections of both Bukhari and Muslim: Once there was a man, a long time before, who killed ninety-nine people. One day he began to feel remorse for his actions, and he began to search for the most renowned scholar of the area. He was t…

Frankly, I was happy to accept the request to prepare a foreword for the readers of the present collection of articles, Terror and Suicide Attacks: An Islamic Perspective, which had been extended to me by the Turkish publishers and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the RAEN Department of Pro…

Balance holds a very significant place in every phase of life. Balanced action is necessary over the spectrum which covers the essentials of belief and worship, as well as those of eating and social conduct with people, both far and near. “Your Lord enjoys rights over you; your self and your family…