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

Aristotle’s influence on Muslim Philosophy and Al-Ghazali's flight to Sufism By MASARRAT HUSAIN ZUBERI, Books and Documents, NewAgeIslam.com

Books and Documents

Aristotle’s influence on Muslim Philosophy and Al-Ghazali's flight to Sufism By MASARRAT HUSAIN ZUBERI

ARISTOTLE 384-322 BC AND AL GHAZALI 1058-1111 AD

By MASARRAT HUSAIN ZUBERI

The general 'theme of such accusation is that in his enthusiastic defence of religion, Al-Ghazali, unintentionally, shut the door to scientific enquiry. "The mystic way of the Sufi prescribed is incompatible with rational methods of science" and the accusation takes another form that "the Muslims, unfortunately, followed Al-Ghazali, and neglected, little by little, the study of sciences. Their once great civilization faded. On the other hand Ibn Rushd defended sciences and medieval Europe followed the way prescribed by him to attain it. This is the true spirit of Latin Averroeism which led to the rise of European Science.[1]

This calumny first propagated in the West has, unfortunately, been taken up as a refrain by Muslim scholars of the present [2] day as well.

I have, in all humility, attempted putting him in his correct historical perspective to defend Al-Ghazali against this persistent Calumny.

Though Averroeism became a symbol of intellectual revolt in the 13th-14th Century Europe, Al-Ghazali's own [3] influence cannot be ignored or belittled.

http://newageislam.com/aristotle%E2%80%99s-influence-on-muslim-philosophy-and-al-ghazali-s-flight-to-sufism-by-masarrat-husain-zuberi--/books-and-documents/d/943