Shifan Yang

Islam honors all the prophets who were sent to mankind. Muslims respect all prophets in general, but Jesus in particular, because he was one of the prophets who foretold the coming of Muhammad. Muslims, too, await the second coming of Jesus. They consider him one of the greatest of Allah's prophets to mankind. A Muslim does not refer to him simply as "Jesus," but normally adds the phrase "peace be upon him" as a sign of respect. No other religion in the world respects and dignifies Jesus as Islam does. The Quran confirms his virgin birth (a chapter of the Quran is entitled "Mary"), and Mary is considered to have been one of the purest women in all creation. The Quran describes Jesus' birth as follows: "Behold!' the Angel said, God has chosen you, and purified you, and chosen you above the women of all nations. Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this ...

By   Karima Burns Ruku is very similar to the Forward Bend Position in yoga. It stretches the muscles and allows blood to be pumped down Called “one of the oldest systems of personal development encompassing body, mind and spirit” by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, yoga has become one of the fastest growing health trends today. It has been renowned for centuries for its curative powers of movement. Yoga consists of a number of “asnas,” or body positions, which one retains for a desired length of time while either reciting “mantras” or breathing in a rhythmic manner. Its benefits have been researched by many doctors who now recommend it to their patients, by many medical schools such as Harvard, and by many foundations such as the Menninger Foundation. In fact, yoga has become so popular that secretaries have developed a simplified sitting version that they can do at their desks. The elderly, pregnant women and athletes also have their own versi...

    PROPHET MUHAMMAD'S PROMISE TO CHRISTIANS    St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt                                           A Picture of Prophet Muhammad's Letter to St. Catherine's Monastery M uslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization. In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of thei...

Mohammed is now the most popular name for baby boys ahead of Jack and Harry By JACK DOYLE Mohammed has become the most popular name for newborn boys in Britain. It shot up from third the previous year, overtaking Jack, which had topped the list for the past 14 years but was relegated to third spot. Olivia topped the list for little girls for the second year in a row, behind Ruby and Chloe. A total of 7,549 newborns were given 12 variations of the Islamic prophet Mohammed’s name last year, such as Muhammad and Mohammad. Name game: Mohammed is now the most popular name for new-born boys (picture posed by model) The second most popular boy’s name, Oliver, was given to 7,364 babies. Harry and Alfie came in fourth and fifth place respectively. The official list, which covers all births in 2009 in England and Wales, has ­Mohammed at number 16 but this does not include the many different spellings, which are all ranked separately. When they are added in, Mohammed zooms all the w...

Abdullah ibn Abbaas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw a gold ring on a man’s hand. He took it off and threw it aside, saying, “Would any of you take a burning coal and hold it in his hand?” When the Messenger of Allah (Pbuh) had gone away, someone said to the man, “Take your ring and benefit from it (i.e., sell it).” He said, “No, by Allah, I will not take it after the Messenger of Allah (Pbuh) has thrown it away.” (Muslim). Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al Aas reported that the Messenger of Allah (Pbuh) said: “Whoever of my ummah wears gold and dies wearing it, Allah will deny him the gold of Paradise. Whoever of my ummah wears silk and dies wearing it, Allah will deny him the silk of Paradise.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad). This prohibition applies to men only, not to women, as Ali, (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet of Allah (Pbuh) took a piece of silk in his right hand and a pi...

Kindness to non-Muslim parents does not depend on what religion they follow. Even if they worship idols, we are supposed to be kind to them. It is true that such kindness may help win them over to Islam. This is, however, not the only reason. The parent-child relationship transcends matters of personal inclinations, desires, habits, creeds and faith. It is well known that a parent tries hard to overcome his prejudice against something if he feels that his son or daughter likes it. Islam does not like to stir trouble in every family where the parents are not Muslims. It recognizes that the parent-child tie need not be broken on account of faith. It, therefore, instructs its followers to be kind to their non-Muslim parents. Only when such parents try to persuade their Muslim son to turn away from Islam does Allah command us not to listen to them or obey them. Allah states in the Qur’an: We have enjoined upon man goodness toward his parents: his mother bore him by bearing strain upo...

Asmaa’ bint Abu Bakr was the Prophet’s sister-in-law. She was the daughter of his closest companion and the sister of Aisha, his wife. Her mother, however, did not become a Muslim for quite a long time.Asmaa’ states: “My mother came to me during the time of the Prophet (Pbuh), hoping to get something from me. I asked the Prophet (Pbuh) whether I should be kind to her. He answered: “Yes,” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others). Over the last issues we have been discussing kindness to parents as a personal duty imposed by Allah on every son and daughter. We have explained that to be a dutiful child is to ensure that one is closer to Allah. It makes it easier to win Allah’s pleasure and be eventually admitted into heaven. We have also explained that parents must be obeyed unless they order us to commit a sin. This is based on the Prophet’s (Pbuh) Hadith that “no creature may be obeyed in what constitutes disobedience to the creato...