Islam’s emphasis on equal respect to all prophets and all religions, Letter to the Editor, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Spiritualism

Islam’s emphasis on equal respect to all prophets and all religions

By Asma Uddin

February 19, 2010

Scholar and author Omid Safi is best known to many Muslim Americans as being at the forefront of the Progressive Muslims movement, which finds in Islamic spirituality a powerful voice for social justice and pluralism. In his latest book, "Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters" (Harper Collins), Safi explores the origins of that spirituality: the character and being of the Prophet Muhammad.

For Muslims, the book is a refreshing call to return to our spiritual roots, an element of faith that these days seems to be lost in the constant social commentary we are forced to engage in about Islam. For non-Muslims, Safi's explanation of Muhammad as the bridge between humanity and the Divine, insofar as emulating him brings one closer to God, helps explain the connection Muslims have to their Prophet. It helps others feel as devout Muslims feel. In a time when the Prophet is so deeply misunderstood, such an emotional bond can go a long way in healing inter-religious wounds.

What makes Safi's prose ingenious - indeed, what makes it especially relevant - is the way it moves back and forth between biographical details of the Prophet to the ways these historical points have been interpreted and emulated by Muslims. For instance, the Prophet's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his journey from Jerusalem to the Heavens to meet his Maker - considered by some to be a physical journey in one night and others to be a dream or vision - signifies first his connection to Jesus' and Moses' message and then his ultimate communion with the Divine.

The first part of this journey, along with the Prophet's meeting with Adam, Jesus, John the Baptist, Joseph, Enoch, Aaron, Moses and Abraham during the latter part, underscores the commonality of the Abrahamic faiths and the sanctity of each. Some Muslims reject this reading of Scripture, choosing instead to believe that the Qur'an supersedes rather than affirms previous revelations. While it may be true that there are theological details that the three monotheistic faiths cannot ever agree on, there is ample Qur'anic proof of the essential connection among Islam, Judaism, Christianity and a wide scope of spiritual traditions.

http://newageislam.com/islam%E2%80%99s-emphasis-on-equal-respect-to-all-prophets-and-all-religions/islam-and-spiritualism/d/2494

Jihad in the Gita and the Quran, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Jihad in the Gita and the Quran

War and Peace, It’s in The Mind

26 Sep 2009

The Prophet of Islam has said: “Do jihad against your own desires.” That is, doing jihad against yourself. So jihad means to control your desires. Jihad is to discipline your own behaviour. The Qur’an says: “Do jihad with the help of the Qur’an” (25:52). The Qur’an is a book of ideology; it is not a weapon. So doing jihad with the help of the Qur’an means to try to achieve one’s goals through an ideological struggle.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: The perpetual enemy of an enlightened person is agyaan or ignorance and desires. The shatru or enemy is desire. Our own mind behaves as both friend and enemy. When you have control over your mind it is your friend; when you don't have control, the mind is your enemy. The mind is the cause of your bondage and liberation. The mind you have no control over is frustrated and so is self-destructive. That is the mind you need to wage war with before dealing with outer war.

Before getting into outer war Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: There is Daivi Sampath and Asuri Sampath — those that take you to higher evolution and those that take you down — the divine versus the demonic aspects in you.

MWK: You’re right. According to the Qur’an every individual must inculcate spirituality in himself to control his desires. You have to win over yourself by seeking guidance in divine knowledge enshrined in the Qur’an. To control one's desires with the help of spirituality is the gist of all religions.

http://newageislam.com/jihad-in-the-gita-and-the-quran/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1815

Shias, Sunnis celebrate Eid together in Lucknow, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism

Shias, Sunnis celebrate Eid together in Lucknow

By Kamal Khan, Anant Zanane

October 02, 2008, (Lucknow)

Personally, I see myself as in between these two extremes. I feel that our survival depends critically on excellence in modern education. But I also stress the importance of religious knowledge. Through science and technology you can control the world, but true religion means control over oneself, one's soul. And so you find big scientists spending their lives inventing machines to destroy human beings because they have no faith in God. So, I keep stressing, what we need is both 'modern' as well as religious education.

The Sachar Commission report has brought out the fact that Muslims are behind even Dalits in terms of education and in many other fields. Hence, my appeal to Muslims is, for God's sake, open your eyes. This time is not for building palatial mosques, but, instead, for using our resources for setting up schools, colleges, polytechnics and research institutes. I also say that much of what is being taught in the name of religion has nothing top do with true religion or spirituality. True religion inheres in values, not just rituals. But, unfortunately, much of what is imparted in the name of religious education is ritualism, without the foundational values of true religion.

http://newageislam.com/shias,-sunnis-celebrate-eid-together-in-lucknow/islam-and-pluralism/d/843

INDEX: The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam By Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Books and Documents, NewAgeIslam.com

Books and Documents

INDEX: The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam By Dr. Muhammad Iqbal

Abbasids, 135, 149

‘Abd al-Malik (80-150/699-767), collection of traditions by, 155

‘Abd al-Mu’min, 174

‘Abd al-Quddus of Gangoh (d. 945/1538), 112 (V 1)

Absolute Ego, 52, 54

Abu Hanifah (c. 80-150/c. 699-767), 159-60; introduced the principle of Istihsan, 155; made practically no use of traditions, 155-56; modern Hanafi legists have eternalized the interpretations of, 160: school of, possesses much greater power of creative adaptation, 160

Abu Hashim (d. 321/933), 61-62 (III 10)

Abu Hurairah (d. c. 58/678), declared by Nazzam, an untrustworthy reporter, 135 (VI 10)

accident, doctrine of, see Ash’arites

act, profanity and spirituality of, determined by the invisible mental background, 139 (VI 21)

activity, all, a kind of limitation even in the case of God as a concrete operative Ego, 73: while enjoying his creative, man has a feeling of uneasiness in the presence of his unfoldment, 150

Adam, endowed with the faculty of naming things, 12; first act of disobedience of, also the first act of free choice, 77; forbidden the fruit of occult knowledge, 78 (III 66); God’s Vicegerent on earth, 75 (III 48); is ‘hasty’, 78 (III 66); painful physical environment best suited to the unfolding of the intellectual faculties of, 78; the chosen of God, 86

Afaq, 114 (V 5)

http://newageislam.com/index--the-reconstruction-of-religious-thought-in-islam-by-dr.-muhammad-iqbal/books-and-documents/d/213