The Tradition of Memorizing the Quran

It is a tradition in the Muslim world that some people memorize the Quran by heart. A person’s becoming a hafiz is considered to be a sign of deep devotion to the holy book, deserving of admiration by people and rewards by God. Because the text is sacred it has to be recalled by the … Read more

Tranquility

Sura 13 Aya 28 Those who have faith, their hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of God, for undoubtedly, hearts do find tranquility in the remembrance of God. No matter who you are, where you live, and what you do, life brings you problems every day. You can be a surgeon, a farmer, an office … Read more

Expansion of Time

And what will explain to you what the night of power is? The night of power is greater than a thousand months. Sura 97: 2-4 These verses are about the first experience of revelation by Prophet Muhammad.. What the Prophet experienced that night was so momentous it could not have otherwise happened in thousands of … Read more

Interpreting the Quran

Preamble: Communication is interaction. When you read a text there is an interaction between the words on the page and your own inner script. The reader’s script is composed of his or her prior store of information, motivations and world-view. Thus when you read a translation or a commentary (tafsir) of the Quran you are … Read more

Islamic Concepts of Heaven and Hell

by Muhammad Iqbal Heaven and Hell are states, not localities. Their descriptions in the Quran are visual representations of an inner fact, i.e. character. Hell, in the words of the Quran, is ‘God’s kindled fire which mounts above the hearts’ (104:6-7)—the painful realization of one’s failure as a human being. Heaven is the joy of … Read more

Manifesto

As human society has evolved over the centuries with expansion of knowledge and interactions between cultures, there is a need to restate the teachings of Islam in terms that are relevant to the contemporary world. We make the following statement of principles for reforming Muslim life. We present them not as a fixed system of … Read more