Hadith in the pages of the Mathnawi
Listen to the reed flute, its song of separation:   Mawlana Mawlana's Mathnawi shares the internal journey of man and his spiritual evolution through verses from the Holy Qur'an and hadith through various talmih (referencing) involving stories and tales. Talmih is the art of stating one's point in a suggestive fashion, between words and by not revealing it clearly. It recall...

Abdal Hakim Murad on Ramadan and Eid in England
Interview with Abdal Hakim Murad (Tim Winter) What are your observations about Ramadan in England? In some British towns Ramadan is very noticeable. In cities like Leeds and Leicester, Muslims are over a quarter of the population, and everyone knows about the fast. I live in Cambridge, where the community is smaller, although we still have around six hundred people attending Tarawih prayers at ou...

Online Islamic Education Opportunities
The Internet has transformed the nature of mass education in the modern world by expanding access to all segments of society. The transmission of knowledge has probably never been wider, as the intellectualized, legalist Islam of the ulama (Islamic scholars) comes to meet the popular, as well as the middle-of-the-road Islam in an arena that has no limits. Islamic websites that specifically focus ...

Islam and the Media
digg_title = "Islam and the Media"; var sburl6099 = window.location.href; var sbtitle6099 = document.title; There is one of three motives behind use of the media by Islamic groups: to offer an alternative to those who have already dominated the international or national media, to propagate the Islamic discourse and to defend against the prejudices, assaults a...

The Dynamic Face of Islamic Media
  Journals and magazines are among the most obvious forms of the media. In the world of media, no other organ is richer in subjects or cheaper in costs than the magazine. It is for this reason that we can see hundreds of magazines on the shelves, magazines aimed at young people, magazines about politics, literature, science, the economy, astronomy, design, fashion, music, and so much more. Magazi...

A Perfect Example of the Influence of the Media: The Cartoon Cri
It was September, 30th in 2005 when Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, published the cartoons which were to create a huge wave of indignation among Muslims all over the world. The assaults against Islam and Prophet Muhammad in the media were probably not a new phenomenon, but the twelve cartoons depicting and denigrating Prophet Muhammad can be accepted as the turning point in the confrontatio...

Mawlid in the Middle East
digg_title = "Mawlid in the Middle East"; var sburl7792 = window.location.href; var sbtitle7792 = document.title; The Mawlid celebrations in the Middle East have a lot in common. As much of the Muslim population in Europe consists of immigrants from the Middle East, the origins of the celebrations in Europe originally come from the Middle East, where the Mawlid is celebr...

Mawlid in Africa
The Mawlid celebrations in Africa are quite different from those celebrated in the Middle East or Asia. Even the name of the celebrations differs according to the country or region of the continent. For instance, in Sudan the Mawlid celebrations are called Havliye, in Mali it is Donba (as "The Big Day"), in Nigeria it is Gani-gani-rite de passages, in Togo fête des couteaux. (1) In many African c...

Mawlid in Europe
Every year the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is celebrated with a variety of different activities in parts of Europe. In nearly every country of Europe, Muslim populations come together to meet on this blessed night, to pray and celebrate together. For instance, in recent years, women organizations in the UK have marked the occasion of the Mawlid. Commonly held in community centers, these p...

Mawlid in Asia
Indonesia Indonesia is one of the largest nations with a majority-Muslim population in Asia. Religion is very important in Indonesia, and this can be understood from the first principle of the state: "Pancasila", which means "belief in the one and only God." Although there are many religions that are practiced in the country, Islam has the highest percentage, with 86% of the population.1 For thi...

Mawlid all over the World
digg_title = "Mawlid All over the World"; var sburl8305 = window.location.href; var sbtitle8305 = document.title; The twelfth night of the month of Rabi al-Awwal is a night of the blessed memory of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) throughout the Islamic world. In every corner of the world countless Muslims wait for this night, praying, re-reading his biography and celebrating his...

Religion in the Virtual World
The internet has become an indispensable and necessary part of our lives. Whereas communication without the internet has become nearly impossible, encyclopedias are now almost nostalgic items in the library, with search engines have been declared king, crowned by their ability to achieve "search results" in seconds. As the internet has dominated almost every dimension of our lives, it is not poss...