Is Hajj just a series of ritual or is more than that? Of course, Hajj is not just a series of various Islamic rituals which Muslims perform and then leave home without learning any spiritual lessons from it. One of the lessons from the Hajj is “Tolerance is the way of life”. More than two million Muslim men and women gather for Hajj and only way to absorb the experience is to have tolerance for the vast and varying ways the people around you perform the Hajj.

People may have different interpretations of what is allowed in Hajj and what is not allowed and it can be different from you own interpretations. It is the tolerance to others that will keep you going during the Hajj. Performing Hajj with more than two million other Muslims walking with you shoulder to shoulder from different culture and speaking different languages but still performing the same rites. Some people may not treat you the way you would like to be treated but you have to be tolerant of others as that is the only way for you not to indulge in something which is not allowed during the Hajj and focus on your rituals.

If you can not tolerate the people who have a different variation of your own faith, then it is impossible to tolerate people from the other believes. If you can tolerate other over two million people during the Hajj, then you have learned a very important lesson from Hajj that is “Tolerance is the Way of Life”.

It is not only tolerance, Hajj is in fact a journey of a lifetime.

Two women members of the Ottawa Christian/Muslim Dialogue, Dr. Safaa Fouda and Sister Jean Goulet, have teamed up to facilitate a course “Islam and Christianity: History, Relations, Issues, and Perspectives“.   The course will feature commonalities as well as differences and challenges, both theological and practical – such as social justice, war, jihad, terrorism, pluralism, human rights, role of women, and more. One session will focus on Muslims in Canada.  The course will conclude with a look at the prospects ahead.

Among the well known speakers from both Muslim and Christian faiths are Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr and Dr. Kevin Coyle, Dr. Adnan Husain and Dr. John Jillions, Dr. Farhang Rajaee and Father Dr. William Ryan.

Ottawa Lay School of Theology (OLST), Canada is presenting this two-hour course in its 2008 Winter Term, on Monday evenings (7.30-9.30 p.m.) from January 7  to March 10. More information about the course can be gathered from Ottawa Lay School of Theology.

I believe that this course will initiate a constructive dialogue between the two faiths. It will also be an activity that will help bridge ever increase gap between Muslims and Christians.  All the best Ottawa Christian/Muslim Dialogue

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There is nothing to defend such a brutal killing of human being in Islam.  I beleive there is nothing in Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s entire life which will remotely suggest such act as legitimate or ‘allowed’.  However, looking at the discussion boards and other sources, majority of the comments have suggested that Islam is the cause and this isolated incident is blown way out of proportionality.  People who don’t even know a single muslim in their own lives have labeled all the muslims brutal, and savages. However, if they simply ask a question by themselves, how many such incidents occured during the last one month where a muslim was involved in killing and how many killers were non-muslims?  Does that kind of behavour not extermism as well? Why is it different from any other incidents of domestic voilance across the country?

I my opinion, the killing of any human being regardless of the religion is a highly condemnable act and should not be tolerated in any case. The culprit should be punished with maximum sentence and so should Parvez should also be. 

(Photo source: Financial Post)

This letter from the ruler of a vast empire to the officials of his government — shall we call it Executive Order? — gives us a lot to reflect upon. For salat is among the most emphasized commands in Shariah. Unfortunately it is also a grossly neglected obligation in our life today.
This closeness of the beleiver and Allah during the salat (prayer) is the most valuable gift for the believer. It is the source of all strength and all goodness in his life. It is the light that shows him the right from wrong in all walks of life. It is the river that bathes and cleans him of all sin and contamination. In the hardships of life, it is the source of solace and strength. It is the regulator of the Muslim life, the daily schedule of a believer being built around the five daily salats. It is a source of joy and happiness, of spiritual nourishment and purification. It is the key to all success. It is the key to paradise.

On the other hand, neglecting the salat is key to hell. Qur’an says, “Woe to the worshippers who are negligent in their salat.” Hadith says: “Salat stands between man and unbelief.” Another hadith says: “Salat is the pillar of religion. Whoever destroys it has destroyed the religion.” Even if an unfortunate Muslim were never to open the Qur’an or a hadith book in his life, he cannot not notice the call to salat that comes from every masjid throughout the world five times a day. It repeatedly reminds him: “Come to Salat. Come to Success.” The distribution of mosques in the world today is such that the call to salat can be heard round the clock in a never-ending stream as one moves around the globe. One can begin with Fajr adhan in Indonesia and follow it at small intervals in Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt etc. etc. By that time Zuhr adhan has already started in Indonesia. Twenty-four hours later when the Muezzins of Indonesia are again calling out Fajr adhan, the Muezzins in Africa are calling out the adhan for Isha. How can one plead ignorance in the presence of this massive and continuous universal call?

As people run out of excuses they sometimes try rationalizations. What good is salat if one’s mind wanders all over the place? Well our job is to try to concentrate not to achieve concentration. We are doing our job if we are simply making the effort. What good is salat if one is still involved in other sins, like the proverbial person who steals and prays? The simple answer is that our lives are combinations of good and evil. Our goal is to increase the good and reduce or eliminate the evil. And that won’t happen by putting the good on hold until we can get rid of the evil. It may also be helpful to remember that the greatest theft is that of salat itself.

Ref: Food for Thought

 I am quoting the following two verses of chapter 2 in Quran and request you to just take couple of minutes and read these and try to relate with the current situation in the world.

When it is said to them: “Make not mischief on the earth,” they say: “Why, we only want to make peace!” Of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not.  [Quran 2:10-11]

Once you have done that, then it will be interesting for everyone to know how did you co-relate to what is happening around the globe.  Furthermore, how as a Muslim we can take part actively to bring Peace in the world.

Your Lord says, “Call on Me and I will answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell abject.” (Surah Ghafir: 60)

Naima Omar, a student of University of Western Sydney says “It is funny to say the same veil worn by catholic nuns for God is despised and presented as a symbol of subjection and domination when it is worn by Muslim women for the intention to protect themselves and devoting themself to God“.

The term Islam means “submission to the will of Allah” and “peace”. Muslims believe Islam is the way of life and that is harmonious however the media portrays the opposite. Maria Moskovakis, 18, a Greek Orthodox says “yes of course Muslims are presented negatively in the news. An action by one Muslim is presented with so much bias. If one Muslim commits a crime, it is not the person but the religion presented that goes to trial. What we hear and see is all controlled.

Muslims have an obligation to fulfil which is to educate themselves, their children to gain knowledge which is ordained upon them regardless of their race, gender and marital status etc. A Hasan Hadith narrated by Ibn Majah in the Qur’an states: “Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim” and therefore gaining knowledge is regarded as an act of worship. Only knowing our religion will help us to change the misconceptions non-muslims have about muslim women.

• It is the largest annual convention of faith, where Muslims meet to know one another, study their common affairs and promote their general welfare.

• It is also the greatest regular peace conference known in the history of mankind. In the course of Hajj, peace is the dominant theme. It is peace with God, with one’s soul and with one another. It is even peace with animals, birds and insects. To disturb the peace of anyone or any creature, in any way or form, is strictly prohibited.

• It is a wholesome demonstration of the universality of Islam, where brotherhood and equality of Muslims are fulfilled. Muslims dress in the same simple way, observe the same regulations and utter the same supplications at the same time, in the same way, for the very same end. There is no royalty, but loyalty – of all – to Allah. There is no aristocracy, but humility and devotion.

• It is also to commemorate the divine rituals, observed by Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them), whom are known to have built the Ka`bah for the practicing of monotheism and worshiping of Allah – the One and Only – on earth.

Worth mentioning also is that Hajj is, in many ways, the central event of the year, perhaps of a whole lifetime. It is the act in which the unity of Muslims is most fully expressed. This is in the sense that it is an example of all kinds of travel. It is also a market for exchanging news and ideas, brought from all over the Muslim world. Last, but not least, it symbolizes the unity of so many hearts seeking the pleasure of Allah.

What happens to he faith of our young people when they leave home to enter a college campusy take faith along with other belongings and necessities of life or, do they leave faith behind at home? This is partly related to the degree and type of faith practiced at home.

In deed parents who practice their faith at home along with their children prepare them in a better way to deal with secularism at the campus. Though in the early years of life, childrens faith is more like a blind faith following the faith and tradition of their parents and older siblings. During the teen age years, they develop their own personalized faith which may be similar or somewhat different than the faith of people around them. Nevertheless, efforts at home directed toward strengthening the faith of the child, makes that child strong in character.

When one throws a diamond in the mud, it still remains a diamond. Thus the blind faith dies when young people leave home. However, some of them have a re-birth of their faith during campus life.

Many young people and their young faculty during college years take a vacation from religion because they see religion regulating their lifestyles. The new freedom includes freedom from God because without God “everything becomes possible in their desires and behavior”.

Religion is given a tertiary place in life, the primary being science, and the secondary being social pleasures. The downsizing of religion is due to the elimination of God from daily life. At campus they have new friends and they gain new experiences and adventures. They learn from older students and they have a challenge to be accepted and to belong to a particular social club. Their lives are busy and they have deadlines to meet and appointments to keep.

They are under peer pressure and “beer pressure”. Thus they have no time for God at least in the first year of campus life. This is mostly true for those who did not come through a strong religious background or affiliation at home.

How do they return to religion in the latter part of campus life? By observation and experience they realize that religion has some influence on morality and thus it has a role in shaping their future. Is it not their religious morality which keeps them out of trouble as otherwise, they might be a victim of violence, theft, drug abuse, alcohol, date rape, etc. prevalent in campus life. Sometimes even a minor encounter with the law in the state of innocent fun can ruin their record and career. Some of this fun is much below the intellectual level of decency. Recently we have had two cases of death due to alcoholic binge drinking and also a case of a scavenger hunt in one of the fraternities at Indiana University which was directed toward racism against women and minorities. Sometimes even good kids get involved in this because they do not have an alternative club of decency that they can join.

This is why I propose a Religious Social Club. This Religious Social Club whether it is Muslim, Christian or Jewish, should be more flexible in terms of gender equality, social mixing, and it should place more emphasis on morality than rituals of the religion and indoctrinization.

They must be supervised by sincere adult faculty to give then guidance and direction. In classical religious campus organizations like campus ministry or Muslin Student Association (MSA) there is more emphasis on didactic religious teaching. As a result, many young people stay away from such groups for the fear of being labeled as fundamentalists. I also propose that the faculty has a role to play in supporting such Religious Social Clubs with whatever means they have because these will be good kids who will try to have the best moral behavior and therefore, it is in the best interest of the administration and faculty to see more of these kids.

Lastly I propose that religious campus associations instead of apposing each other should join forces against secularism and have a network among themselves of an interfaith nature that they can meet together on occasion and share their faith with someone else and learn from others too. In this way, the religious forces even coming from different backgrounds will be on the same side of the fence as compared to the secular and dominant forces on campus. However, as these Religious Social Clubs and Interfaith Networks will progress, they are more likely to have a greater influence on faith life on campus.