Skip to main content
Home
Science
Environment
Health & Medicine
Matter and beyond
Science square
Science world
See, think, believe
Belief
Believing
Sufism
Lead Article
Religion
Questions and Answers
Spirituality
Dialogue
Humanities
A Moment for Reflection
Book Review
Culture & Society
Education
History
Literature & Languages
Psychology
Archives
Blog
Videos
Talks
Subscribe
Home
Science
Environment
Health & Medicine
Matter and beyond
Science square
Science world
See, think, believe
Belief
Believing
Sufism
Lead Article
Religion
Questions and Answers
Spirituality
Dialogue
Humanities
A Moment for Reflection
Book Review
Culture & Society
Education
History
Literature & Languages
Psychology
Archives
Blog
Videos
Talks
Subscribe
Religion
Below are the articles under the tag Religion.
Articles
Submission
30 April 2024 | Serdar Kilic | Issue 159 (May - Jun 2024)
Among the plethora of events and miracles in the life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, there is one that was particularly unique. Around a yea…
The Three Shirts of Joseph
29 February 2024 | Joseph Chitwara M.Afr. | Issue 158 (Mar - Apr 2024)
One of the Jewish prayers says: “Ah, what is man that you should keep him in mind, the son of man that you care for him. Yet you have made him little…
Interpreting With Wisdom
30 June 2023 | Selcuk Camci | Issue 154 (Jul - Aug 2023)
Scientific positivism assumes history and social events to follow a straight line. In this view, divine revelation and the virtuous life it prescribe…
Key to the World’s Greatest Treasure
28 February 2023 | Sana Khan | Issue 152 (Mar - Apr 2023)
Consider this scenario. A 60-year-old Muslim patient with diabetes makes an appointment with his physician to come up with a plan for adjustment to…
War and Peace in the Qur’an
28 February 2022 | Nazia Nazar | Issue 146 (Mar - Apr 2022)
One of the reasons for widespread Islamophobia is the wrong understanding of the Qur’an, Islam’s Holy Book. There is a general perception that the Qu…
The Theological Dimension of the Thought of M. Fethullah Gülen (Part 3)
30 June 2021 | Thomas Michel | Issue 142 (Jul - Aug 2021)
The terms translated in English as “worship,” “servanthood,” and “devotion” are taken from Arabic and possess a long history in the Islamic tradition…
Why Do Pious People Suffer?
01 May 2021 | Allen S. Maller | Issue 141 (May - Jun 2021)
For many people, especially in today's world, it is very hard to reconcile the personal, sometimes seemingly intolerable, suffering of admirable and…
8 Shared Values of Science and Faith
01 March 2021 | Cemal Ozgur | Issue 140 (Mar - Apr 2021)
Book Review Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values That Move Us Beyond Fear By Elaine Howard Ecklund 978-1587434365 Brazos Pre…
The Theological Dimension of the Thought of M. Fethullah Gülen (Part 1)
01 March 2021 | Thomas Michel | Issue 140 (Mar - Apr 2021)
Gülen as Spiritual Master In recent years, much has been written about the thought of Fethullah Gülen and the activities of the “Gülen community” [1…
Atheists
01 March 2021 | Lawrence Brazier | Issue 140 (Mar - Apr 2021)
Your correspondent was musing just the other day. Enter one’s wife. “Are you thinking, dear?” she asked. “I am reflecting, receiving,” I replied…
The Existence of God
01 November 2020 | Hasna Iman Qureshi | Issue 138 (Nov - Dec 2020)
Kalam Cosmological Arguments of Huduth and Imkan in light of Modern Scientific Discoveries Humankind has grappled with the questions surrounding God…
Freedom of Religion and Apostasy: Addressing Tensions Between Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Islam
01 July 2020 | Ahmet Kurucan | Issue 136 (Jul - Aug 2020)
Addressing Tensions Between Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Islam The way we understand the state, religion, individual, and how they are related…
Sakinah and Shekinah: A Word Alive with God’s Presence
01 July 2020 | Rabbi Allen S. Maller | Issue 136 (Jul - Aug 2020)
Sakinah is an important word and a very important concept in both Islamic and Jewish thought. In Islamic thought, it refers to the tranquility, sere…
Jihad in Islam and Christianity
01 July 2019 | Craig Considine | Issue 130 (July - Aug 2019)
Politicians and anti-Muslim activists frequently take to audiences and websites to criticize the term jihad as a form of Islamic supremacism, oppress…
Dialogue with the Qur’an: Understanding the Divine Message in Its Context and Beyond
01 May 2019 | Ahmet Kurucan | Issue 129 (May - Jun 2019)
The message of the Holy Qur’an is believed to be relevant for all Muslims, including those who lived when it was first revealed (between 610 and 632)…
Religion: More Than Life or Life Itself?
01 March 2019 | Richard Shields | Issue 128 (Mar - Apr 2019)
Respect for life is more than a religious value; it is a constituent dimension of faith found in every major religion of the world. One cannot have f…
Ramadan and Yom Kippur: Why Afflict Ourselves By Fasting?
15 October 2018 | Allen S. Maller | Issue 125 (Sep - Oct 2018)
Jalal al-Din al-Rumi taught, “Ritual prayer can be different in every religion, but belief never changes” (Fihi Mafih). In the light of this insight…
Jesus & Muhammad: Commonalities of Two Great Religions
31 December 2017 | Lawrence Brazier | Issue 121 (January - February 2018)
A pleasing coincidence of mutual thought has occurred because some years ago your correspondent was asked why he had not embraced Islam. My reply was…
Fethullah Gülen Is One of the Most Distinguished Islamic Scholars of Our Century
31 October 2017 | Shaykh Muhammad Fathi Hijazi | Special Issue 2017
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, “Scholars are heirs of the prophets.” The Islamic intellectual, the honorable Fethullah Gülen, is one…
Water Management and the Qur’an
31 October 2017 | Harun Avci | Issue 120 (November - December 2017)
Water is a unique blessing, given to all living beings. It needs to be used with balance, harmony, economy, and justice. Agriculture, industry, and e…
Ethics: A Principle in Islamic Epistemology
31 October 2017 | Ali Gomaa | Issue 120 (November - December 2017)
Islam has been ordained for higher objectives designed to refine the conduct of those who endeavor to follow its guidance. The hope is to yield benef…
Ghayba (Absence)
31 October 2017 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 120 (November - December 2017)
Literally meaning disappearance and no longer being existent, ghayba (absence) denotes that the heart has cut its relationship with the corporeal wor…
Minorities Opposing Oppression: Hanukah and Jihad
30 June 2017 | Allen S. Maller | Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
In Arabic, the word Jihad is a noun meaning the activity of "striving and/or persevering.” According to Prophet Muhammad there are two types of Jihad…
Religious Values and Public Service
30 April 2017 | Daniel Hummel | Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Religion has been an important part of human civilization. Anthropologists have theorized that after hunter-gatherers settled down and began farming…
Nobody Can Be Religious for Another Person - I Had to Affirm That for Myself
28 February 2017 | Ismail Tavaci | Issue 116 (March - April 2017)
Religion today is not perceived as it was in the past. This is true throughout the world, but particularly in the Western world. But despite changing…
Walaya (Sainthood)
31 December 2016 | The Fountain | Issue 115 (January-February 2017)
Literally meaning a person, a community, or a country that is under the direction and rule of another, walaya (sainthood) denotes annihilation with…
We Are Not Spectators: A Christian Perspective
31 December 2016 | Richard Shields | Issue 115 (January-February 2017)
In a letter to G-20 leaders in 2013 Pope Francis stated, “It is regrettable that, from the very beginning of the conflict in Syria, one-sided int…
Ghayra (Endeavor)
31 October 2016 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 114 (November - December 2016)
Endeavor (ghayra) literally means making every effort of concern, and being alert in striving to preserve chastity, honor, and esteem. It signifies b…
Qalaq (Passion)
31 August 2016 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 113 (September - October 2016)
Literally meaning boredom with the place where one is and with the surrounding conditions, feeling discomfort as if in imprisonment or captivity, qal…
Counting Your Blessings
31 August 2016 | Yusuf Ziya Gurtas | Issue 113 (September - October 2016)
How many integers are there from 1 to 9 inclusive? Well, even if you are one of those who admit “not to be good in math” you can relax and confidentl…
Zawq and ‘Atash (Pleasure and Thirst)
30 June 2016 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 112 (July - August 2016)
Meaning the feeling of happiness and satisfaction, and enjoyment and amusement, zawq (pleasure) in Sufi terminology is one of the first breezes of Di…
The Role of Myth and Ritual in Religion
30 April 2016 | Mustafa Ismet Uzun | Issue 111 (May - June 2016)
Throughout history, religion and its diverse aspects, such as myth and ritual, have been of great significance for the social, economic, and cultural…
The Existence of God - According to Muslim Theologians and Thinkers
30 April 2016 | Mathew Walles | Issue 111 (May - June 2016)
Proving the existence of God is a venture that numerous Muslim philosophers, theologians, and thinkers have been attempting for many centuries. This…
Dahsha and Hayman (Amazement and Stupor)
29 February 2016 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 110 (March - April 2016)
While discussing ecstasy and willful rapture, we have mentioned the states of dahsha (utmost astonishment) and hayman (stupor). A few words will be s…
Isa, Alayhi Al-Salam
29 February 2016 | Dr. Zeki Saritoprak | Issue 110 (March - April 2016)
Who was Jesus? For Muslims, Jesus is one of the five elite prophets, and he will come again at the end of time to bring peace. Although Muslims and…
Science and Religion in a World of Religious Pluralism
31 December 2015 | Philip Clayton | Issue 109 (January -February 2016)
We live in a time of deep division: Will the coming years reveal an increasing number of partnerships between science and religion, or will we see a…
Does Islam Promote Violence?
31 October 2015 | Aydogan Vatandas | Issue 108 (November - December 2015)
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a huge number of books and articles have been published investigating the link between some certain interpretat…
Prayer - A Hotline to God?
31 October 2015 | Metin Aysel | Issue 108 (November - December 2015)
As newborn children, we are not able, for example, to shoo away even a fly that lands on our nose, or reach out on our own to our mother's delicious…
Jihad and Qital: Two Concepts Where Confusion About Islam Starts
31 October 2015 | Suat Yildirim | Issue 108 (November - December 2015)
In this article, I will try to summarize the concept of jihad and war according to the Qur'an, and analyze their practices during the time of the Pro…
Numerical Codes and Gematrical Mysteries in the Qur'an
30 April 2015 | Sefik Hikmet Toprak | Issue 105 (May - June 2015)
Just as there is a perfect order that allows life to exist and function, there are incredible numerical symmetries and orders within the Qur’an. Ex…
Religion and Social Change
28 February 2015 | Mustafa Ismet Uzun | Issue 104 (March - April 2015)
he debate over religion’s role in social change has been raging for centuries. The interpretation and perception of even just a single social ac…
The Prophet of Islam and His Universal Message
31 December 2014 | Dr. Zeki Saritoprak | Issue 103 (January - February 2015)
Theologically speaking, the universality of Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message comes from the concept of one God who is the God of…
Parents: The First Teachers in the School of Humanity
31 August 2014 | Fatih Harpci | Issue 101 (September - October 2014)
It is very interesting to note the importance that God places on children respecting and honoring parents. The fifth through the tenth commandments i…
Perspectives on Identity and Religion
30 June 2014 | Alptekin Kavi | Issue 100 (July - August 2014)
What is identity? What is its relationship to religion and culture? How does it relate to modernization? What role does religious identity play in ex…
The Hajj: Its Spiritual Meaning and Aspects of Worship
31 October 2013 | Mehmet Ozalp | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)
As one of the most spectacular religious assemblies in the world, the annual Muslim hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca is more than just visiting holy lands…
The Qur'an: An Eternal Journey
31 August 2013 | Nihal Balci | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)
We are at the table together for dinner, having a good time. My husband is eating a beef dish and liking it very much. My younger daughter, who hates…
Contemplative Practices: A Comparative Perspective On Different Faith Traditions
30 April 2013 | Mary Lahaj | Issue 93 (May - June 2013)
The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in nature that is ours; We have given ou…
USA: A panel discussion on "Science and/vs Religion" at SMU
31 January 2013 | The Fountain | Fountain Talks
On Jan 31st, 2013, Institute of Interfaith Dialogue organized a panel discussion at SMU titled "Science and/vs Religion". The event attracted great a…
Fasting in Abrahamic Faiths
31 December 2012 | Joseph Clay | Issue 91 (January - February 2013)
“O you who believe! Prescribed for you is the Fast, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may deserve God’s protection and attain…
The Messenger of Mercy
31 October 2012 | Erkan Kurt | Issue 90 (November - December 2012)
I was invited a while ago to a meeting in Little Rock which was held on the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. The audience watched a…
Faith, Worship, and Social Responsibility: The Ideal Person in the Qur'an
30 April 2012 | Halim Calis | Issue 87 (May - June 2012)
As with other sacred texts, one of the most important subjects regarding the Qur'an concerns its interpretation or tafsir. As a matter of fact, its l…
Liberating Theology from Alphabetic Writing's Reductionistic Reign
29 February 2012 | Jonathan Camery-hoggatt | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)
The words on this page are squiggly black ink pressed onto white paper. You could run your fingertips across these letters and feel their slick textu…
A Climate of Tolerance in Rwanda after Genocide
31 August 2009 | Bagasra Omar- Pace D.gene | Issue 71 (September - October 2009)
Since the beginning of civilization, humankind has engaged in various conflicts all over the world. History offers many examples of internal conflict…
Beware of ''Others''
31 December 2007 | Sophia Gallant | Issue 61 (January - February 2008)
In My Fair Lady, a satirical movie based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Henry Higgins makes a wager with his friend that within six months he ca…
Rhetoric-An Eloquent Invention: Two Examples from the Present Time
30 June 2007 | Kursat Oz | Issue 59 (July - September 2007)
Rhetoric is traditionally defined in literature as the “verbal art” of speaking and writing effectively. In our daily life people perceive a rhetoric…
Has "the Clash of Civilizations" Found Empirical Support?
30 September 2006 | Galymzhan Kirbassov | Issue 56 (October - December 2006)
Samuel Huntington first published his article “The Clash of Civilizations?” in 1993. Later, in 1996 he published “The Clash of Civilizations and the…
A Rationale for the Collapse of Civilizations
31 December 2005 | Firat Kocol | Issue 53 (January - March 2006)
Any observant individual walking among the ruins of an ancient city is immediately faced with the following question: “How did the once magnificent c…
Modern Slavery: Global Trafficking in Human Beings
30 June 2005 | Ali Seyyar | Issue 51 (July - September 2005)
Each year thousands of people (men, women, and children) fall victim to the vicious and organized trafficking of humans (TH). Particularly after the…
Master and Disciple: An Essay on Joachim Wach
30 June 2005 | Suleyman Eris | Issue 51 (July - September 2005)
“Master and Disciple: Two Religio-Sociological Studies” is a paper written by Joachim Wach. At the beginning of the paper, Wach makes a comparison be…
Fields of Certainty as a Unifying Paradigm for Science and Religion
31 March 2005 | Alphonse Dougan | Issue 50 (April - June 2005)
A superficial understanding of science and religion perceives these two fields as being disciplines of different realms. Such a perspective sees scie…
Rethinking Globalization
31 March 2005 | Ian Markham | Issue 50 (April - June 2005)
Although globalization is a helpful category, there is considerable disagreement about its precise meaning. Many commentators, while conceding an eco…
Are Religion and Science Compatible?
31 December 2004 | Murat Erdin | Issue 49 (January - March 2005)
The heated debate about whether religion and science are complimentary or not has been raging for years. Several theologians, philosophers, and scien…
Nonprofit Organizations in Modern Societies
30 September 2004 | Dr. Naim F. Erdem | Issue 48 (October - December 2004)
Nonprofit organizations (henceforward “nonprofits”) are those agencies that are nongovernmental entities incorporated under state laws as charitable…
Revelation: A Panacea for Social Problems
30 June 2004 | Imran Sabir | Issue 47 (July - September 2004)
This world is the abode of the human being, and it is a place in which we face many problems throughout our life. The problems that we face may be of…
Satanism and Youth's Quest For Identity
31 December 2003 | Ahmet Guc | Issue 45 (January - March 2004)
Briefly defined as the worship of Satan as if he were God, Satanism is the name given to a reaction that basically started in the 1880s in such count…
A Rationale For Tolerance
30 September 2003 | Firat Kocol | Issue 44 (October - December 2003)
My dearest friend, This time, with your permission, I won't be talking about the last two weeks that I have spent in this alien city, as I usually d…
Thanksgiving: Now And Then
30 September 2003 | Selma Dagtas | Issue 44 (October - December 2003)
Among many holidays observed annually in the United States, Thanksgiving has a special place due to its uniqueness to American culture and its emphas…
Social Capital: An Important Power Resource For National Progress
30 June 2003 | Dr. Selim Aydin | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)
Each nation or community has the desire and potential to establish a civilization on its own land, one that suits its worldview and displays this to…
Spiritual Absence and Suicide
30 June 2003 | Dr. Besir Altun | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)
My heart misses a beat every time an ambulance pulls up in front of our hospital, tearing the silence of the night. When I see a young person lying s…
Six Degrees of Separation or Small World
31 March 2003 | Hasan Guclu | Issue 42 (April - June 2003)
Introduction In his Models of My Life, social scientist Herbert Simon stated that science's purpose is to find meaningful simplicity in the midst of…
Sharing Responsibility in Communities
31 December 2002 | Dr. Naim F. Erdem | Issue 41 (January - March 2003)
Does community membership affect its members' responsibility? Can people be responsible for their attitudes even when those attitudes might not be fu…
Indigenous Culture and the Western Concept of Development
30 September 2002 | Imran Sabir | Issue 40 (October - December 2002)
The term development is frequently used in third world countries as a normative concept to imply improvement. But who defines improvement? A spontane…
Freedom, Liberty and Independence
30 June 2002 | Esen E. Celik | Issue 39 (July - September 2002)
People have sought for freedom ever since humanity was created. This search was pursued by perceiving their willpower and trying to realize it fully…
The Japanese Path to National Development
31 March 2002 | Jay Willoughby | Issue 38 (April - June 2002)
The twentieth century was marked by failed utopias: Maoist China, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, and various fascist an…
State - Nonprofit Partnership For Social Capital
31 March 2002 | Dr. Naim F. Erdem | Issue 38 (April - June 2002)
Evaluating the research on social capital Social capital has a long intellectual history in the social sciences. In this paper, social capital refer…
A Plumber's Wisdom: The Weakening of America
31 March 2002 | Steven Krauss | Issue 38 (April - June 2002)
These days, you never can tell what source wisdom will come. God is constantly humbling us by manifesting truth in all sorts of ways and from all typ…
Democratic Peace: Perpetual Peace is Possible
31 March 2002 | Sezai Sadik | Issue 38 (April - June 2002)
The twentieth century was the bloodiest century in human history. From 1900-96, approximately 110 million people died during 250 wars. Wars after 194…
The Solution to Suicide
31 December 2000 | Dr. Bedri Katipoglu | Issue 33 (January - March 2001)
Why does humanity remain unhappy despite recent scientific and technological advances and the spread of modern services? Technology makes life easier…
Childen's Safety on The Internet
30 September 2000 | Antony P. O'Connell | Issue 32 (October - December 2000)
The Internet is often termed the information highway because it connects countless computers and users all over the world. We use it for so many thin…
Social Impacts of the Theory of Evolution
31 December 1998 | Gamze Aras | Issue 25 (January - March 1999)
Social Darwinism refers to the attempts to utilize the evolutionary theory of Darwin to give descriptions of society or prescriptions for its best co…
The Imperatives of Marifa the Pitfalls of Modernism
31 December 1998 | Reza Shah | Issue 25 (January - March 1999)
My chief aim was to stress how precious the perspective of ma‘rifa is, not only as the dimension of realized wisdom within the Islamic tradition, but…
Social Solidarity
31 March 1998 | A. Sahin | Issue 22 (April - June 1998)
In pre-Islamic Arabia, people were divided into tribes and clans continually at war with one another. The rivalry among them was so intense that, for…
Life: The Light of Existence
31 December 1997 | Dr. S. Aksoy | Issue 21 (January - March 1998)
The universe consists of living and non-living entities which have common as well as different properties. For example, each and every entity is made…
Architectural Characteristics of The Islamic City
31 December 1997 | Abd Al-salam Ibrahim | Issue 21 (January - March 1998)
There is no firm consensus on what the term islamic city’ means. It can mean a city founded by Muslims during some particular, historical epoch. Or a…
No Discrimination of Colour and Race
31 December 1997 | A. Sahin | Issue 21 (January - March 1998)
Bilal Habashi was among the pioneers of Islam. He was a slave of Umayya ibn Khalaf, one of the leading figures of the polytheist Quraysh. Since he ac…
The Problems of Today's Young
31 December 1996 | R. Gulen | Issue 17 (January - March 1997)
When the problems of the young are talked about, some turn away with indifference, supposing that many useless things already discussed many times be…
World Wide Corruption By Scientific Materialism
31 December 1996 | Dr. Sedat Yildirim | Issue 17 (January - March 1997)
Materialism was born in the West in the middle of the 18th century. The British philosolopher Berkeley first used the term to mean an unjustified con…
Abortion: Mercy or Murder
31 December 1996 | Dr. S. Aksoy | Issue 17 (January - March 1997)
Abortion is the intentional destruction of the fetus in the womb, or any untimely delivery brought about with intend to cause the death of the fetus…
Sociological Principles of The Qur'an
31 December 1995 | Suat Yildirim | Issue 13 (January - March 1996)
Sociology is the study of events, trends and relationships in human societies. Through such study we learn the principles that societies are based up…
Overseas Students
03 January 1995 | B. Cicekli | Issue 10 (April - June 1995)
Overseas student issues have assumed greater prominence in Britain, on the educational and political level, since the introduction of full-cost fees…
The Historical Development Of The Islamic Community In The United States
03 January 1995 | M. A. Al-ahari | Issue 10 (April - June 1995)
Introduction In the following historical survey I cover some basic realities of the Muslim experience in the US. I have adopted different ways of lo…
Trusteeship In A Just World Order
31 December 1994 | K. Baslar | Issue 9 (January - March 1995)
The beginning of the 1990s brought talk of a New World Order. Expectations were raised. The world was to be rebuilt on new principles and justice was…
International Law Today
09 January 1994 | S. Zulfikar | Issue 8 (October - December 1994)
In this article, I shall consider the impact on the earliest European writes on international law of al-siyar or Islamic international law. Thereafte…
Resisting Western Images
09 January 1994 | Dr. F. Norman | Issue 8 (October - December 1994)
How is the power of Western images managed? We are often told that the West believes in freedom of expression for all. If this belief were practised…
Fighting Terrorism
31 December 1993 | I. Bal | Issue 5 (January - March 1994)
The principal players involved in terrorism and counter-terrorism are the state, the terrorists and the public. By the ‘state’ is meant the whole pol…
Crime in The West
06 January 1993 | B. Erzurumluoglu | Issue 3 (July - September 1993)
Since the Second World War there has been, in the countries of Western Europe and in the USA, an extraordinary increase in the material prosperity of…
Individualism and Solitude
03 January 1993 | M. Sabih | Issue 2 (April - June 1993)
Many of the fundamental doctrines and attributes of Western civilization are a mixture of Greek-Roman values and a distorted Christianity. They are u…
Prev
Next
