Category Archives: Commentary/Opinion

The Common Word among the Three Major Faiths in the World: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

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By Salama Abdelhady, Prof. of Energy Systems, Aswan University (with footnotes by a member of the MuslimAnswers team)

(Note: I was urged to publish this piece by the author. I do think that the piece has a number of oversights, slips, and oversimplifies some crucial matters of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and their interrelationship, and moreover the ending of this piece seems to be somewhat sudden, but I am nevertheless presenting this article while adding footnotes as appropriate)

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three great monotheistic religions, adopted by more than 70% of the world’s population[1]. The source of these religions is God who chose human messengers to call people to these religions. So, they are actually one religion[2] which has the same core or belief in one God, as the Creator of the living universe, and in the Day of Resurrection or the Day in which our deeds will be reckoned. They trace their commandments to two Holy Books sent or revealed from God, the Bible and the Quran[3], and to one grandfather of the messengers or carriers of these three religions from God to humanity, Abraham (peace and blessings be upon him). That is why they are called Abrahamic Monotheistic Religions – and these are sealed by Islam. Continue reading →

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Pebbles thrown in the water: Rise of extremist views and lessons for our time

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By Shaykh Hafiz Mahmut, slightly edited by the MuslimAnswers.net Team

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

In the year 212 A.H., Khalifah al-Ma’mun announced that the view of the Qur’an being Makhlooq (a created entity) was to be imposed as the I’tiqad (creed) of the state. He was affected in his Aqeedah by the intellectuals and scholars of the Mutazilite ideology. However, he was opposed by many Muslims and as a result he had to withdraw his statement. Continue reading →

Objection: ‘Why are you taking from brother Hamza Tzortzis on the one hand, while criticizing him on the other?’

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

Yesterday, I uploaded a criticism by Shaykh Mahmud related to brother Hamza Tzortzis’ article ‘Does the Qur’an Contain Scientific Miracles? A New Approach on how to Reconcile and Discuss Science in the Qur’an’. There are some people who may ask why I have accepted a criticism of his work to be posted on the one hand, while there are other articles on this very site, especially in the ‘Notes on Islamic Works’ section, that are based on the writings of this very same brother. Continue reading →

A few initial thoughts on young Muslim men, reports of sexual assaults on women, and the state of the Ummah

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِي

I am going to write about some thoughts about a topic more controversial than my normal topics, in the hope that Insha Allah the insights in here will be beneficial for me and for others as well. I am sure that if from those who read this, they may brush off the suggestions as irrelevant and unnecessary, but I still hope that the piece hereunder will be of benefit for many people. Continue reading →

When “democracy” is used as a basis for everything

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 بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

A while back I was discussing with an agnostic concerning the subject of Islam, and I said that Islam was the only religion that consistently says that the human being is ontologically distinct from Creator. One way or the other, he understood that this was unlike what one has in Christianity (where it is proclaimed that Jesus Christ is a “unitary point” between humans and God) or in Hinduism (where there is a unity of all existence in an underlying Divinity.) Continue reading →

On the statement: “But I am under too much stress to fast!”

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

I know it might be considered somewhat late to talk about the obligatory nature of fasting, given that we are now in the last week of Ramadhan, but I simply could not keep myself from writing something when I heard a certain person saying something along the lines that her job was too pressure-filled, the stress in her position too much, and that it would be unthinkable for her to keep fasts while maintaining the performance required in her position. Continue reading →

On small children in elevators, and the need to obey Allah fully

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

I live in an apartment block, and as we know, there are elevators operating in such buildings. One thing I have always noticed is the tremendous difficulty parents have in keeping their very small children from getting out of the elevator on the wrong floor. This is something I have noticed with many parents, and if there are multiple small children that the parent has to take care of, the matter is even much more stressful for the father or mother; in all cases, they really have to keep an eye on their child, and cannot leave them unattended any time the elevator opens before they get to the correct floor. I am sure many parents and other adults taking care of very small children can attest to this fact. Continue reading →

Defiance of Allah presented as an act of bravery

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

I happened to see a news story about two Pakistani lesbians in the United Kingdom who, as per the news reports, became the “first Muslim gay couple to wed in the UK”.

As per the usual portrayal against traditional formal Islam, the article makes a big show of the supposed intolerance of Pakistani Muslim society versus the supposedly “enlightened” attitude in the United Kingdom towards personal “life choices”. Continue reading →

On the two-child limit instituted against some Burmese Muslims

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بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

I happened to chance upon the article “Burmese Muslims given two-child limit”, which, for me, contained the following salient points:

o    The Muslims in two mainly Muslim provinces have been given a two-child limit

o    There will also be a ban on polygamy Continue reading →