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On April 29, 711, the armies of Tariq landed at Gibraltar (the name Gibraltar is derived from the Arabic name Jabal Tariq , which means mountain of Tariq , or the more obvious Gibr Tariq , meaning rock of Tariq ). The 17 th century Muslim historian Al Maggari wrote that upon landing, Tariq burned his ships and then made the following speech, well-known in the Muslim world, to his soldiers:“ Oh my warriors, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy. Remember that in this country you are more unfortunate than the orphan seated at the table of the avaricious master. Your enemy is before you, protected by an innumerable army; he has men in abundance, but y ou , as your only aid, have your own swords, and, as your only chance for life, such chance as you can snatch from the hands of your enemy. If the absolute want to which you are reduced is prolonged ever so little, if you delay to seize i...

Tariq Ramadan An International call for Moratorium on corporal punishment, stoning and the death penalty in the Islamic World Muslim majority societies and Muslims around the world are constantly confronted with the fundamental question of how to implement the penalties prescribed in the Islamic penal code. Evoking the notion of shari ’a, or more precisely hudud 1, the terms of the debate are defined by central questions emerging from thought provoking discussions taking place between ulama ’ (scholars) and/or Muslim masses: How to be faithful to the message of Islam in the contemporary era? How can a society truly define itself as “Islamic” beyond what is required in the daily practices of individual private life? But a critical and fruitful debate has not yet materialized. Several currents of thought exist in the Islamic world today and disagreements are numerous, deep and recurring. Among these, a small minority demands the immediate and strict application of hudud , assessing thi...

In the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Bioethics 2005, Tehran, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohamed Khatami , declared the production of Weapons of Mass Destruction ( WMDs ) unethical. “God gave me this opportunity to begin the Farsi New Year by speaking about ethics. Bioethics is a part of ethics,” commenced Khatami in the opening ceremony. Khatami continued his speech illustrating with various verses of poetry the importance of adhering to ethics, moral values and one’s religion. Khatami emphasized that the “world is seriously threatened by the production and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Despite the fact that weapons of mass destruction are manufactured by the order of politicians and military authorities, they are unfortunately developed and tested in scientists’ laboratories.” Elaborating further on the subject, the Iranian President continued by saying, “In the name of ethics and in the name of respecting the lives of people ...

by Martina Sabra Islam, gender equality and human rights are compatible – this is a basic conviction of Amina Wadud , author of several books about Islam and women. Martina Sabra interviewed the Islamic feminist at a recent conference about “Women power in Islam” in Germany Professor Wadud , in 2005 you produced a world-wide media hype because you publicly lead a gender-inclusive prayer for Muslim men and women in New York. You received hate-mails from all over the world, there were even bomb threats. Looking back, what do you think about the events today, and what are your conclusions from what happened? Amina Wadud : First of all, I wasn ’t the first Muslim woman to lead a mixed prayer. But the Sharia has determined by majority opinion that men should be the leaders of all rituals in public. I have been working in concert with more progressive Muslims, who lead mixed prayers. This is something that has been going on among the Sunnis for some 20 years – so it is maybe not very well ...

Jamal Badawi and Shaikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah Freedom of Belief & Minority Rights in Muslim Countries - Date of Reply 23/Nov/2005 -Topic Of Fatwa Muslim Belief Question of Fatwa One of my Christian friends raised the issue of why Islam dictates that converters from Islam to Christianity be killed while Christians can freely convert to Islam. Can you please comment on this so as to convince people about the Islamic point of view? Also, can you please comment about minority rights in Islamic communities such as practicing their religion and building churches? Finally, can you please comment about Christian rights to make outreach for Christianity as Muslim do outreach ( da ` wah ) for Islam? In other words, do they have the right to make an effort to spread Christianity among Muslims as Muslims are instructed to spread Islam among Christians? Thanks a lot. FATWA In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be up...

Mahir Sayar (Admin) Some would argue that "civil society" is but another face for liberalism, and they can not be separated from each other. They question whether an "ideological" society (e.g. Ummah ) could ever become a "civil" society? Muslim intellectuals ought to answer many of the questions put forward with regard to such issues. Civil society is viewed as effective social groups that alone can engender a social balance of power and counteract arbitrary centralised tyranny. Civil society is, therefore, a cluster of institutions and associations strong enough to prevent tyranny, but which are, nevertheless, entered freely rather than imposed. Whilst not preventing the state from fulfilling its role of keeper of peace and arbitrator between major interests, a strong civil society can nevertheless prevent the state from dominating and atomising the rest of society. Civil society is also seen as the opposite of despotism, a space in which social gr...

Professor Fathi Osman A contemporary Islamic thinking has to be represented in pubic life in the Western world (US and Western Europe). Muslims have a great opportunity to develop a new-trend in the Islamic thinking through words and actions, which would pioneer a contemporary Islamic trend in the entire Muslim world. American and European Muslims should not hesitate in fulfilling such a responsibility for observing certain relations with Muslim peoples in the world. A courageous and pioneering effort is needed for the benefit of the Muslim generations in the US, Europe and in the whole world. An excuse of a gradual approach may miss the opportunity and make many practical activities in these countries meet unreceptive audience among Muslims or others. Thinking should be allowed always to come out immediately at a suitable platform. The Muslim human mind cannot be required to provide another " Quran " suitable for every time and place, but it has to provide a human relativ...