Bringing Religious Intolerance Down to Earth: The Case of the Sunni-Shia Schism
Religious differences are as old as religion. There is no religion whose history is not rife with bitter disputes between its denominations. […]
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Does the Qur’an Speak About an Expanding Universe?
As the unchanged and unerring Word of God, the Qur’an has naturally been considered by Muslims as containing miracles. Many scientific claims […]
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The Speed of Light and a Paradigm Shift in Physics
Einstein’s 1905 special theory of relativity presumes that the speed of light in vacuum, which is denoted by the letter “c,” is […]
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George Galloway’s Victory and the Out-of-touch Political Establishment
George Galloway is back in town, having won the Bradford West byelection by a majority of over 10,000. And that is not […]
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Today’s British Media in the Hands of Yesterday’s Political Establishment
A London journalist wrote that “the British press is extremely centralized, and most of it is owned by wealthy men who have […]
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Just War in the Qur’an
I recently gave a seminar on Islamic Ethics at Keele University as part of an undergraduate course on Religious Ethics organized for […]
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The Iranian Syndrome and the Israeli Disease
William Hague now warns that Iran’s nuclear program could lead to a new cold war. And so a farce continues to replace […]
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The Threat of the Religious to Religion and the Nonreligious to Freedom
I welcome Baroness Warsi’s remarks that “militant secularisation” is threatening religious freedom in Britain and Europe. Fanaticism is often associated with religious […]
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Western Hypocrisy: The Massacres in Syria and Those in Palestine
The world has rightly been outraged by the crimes that the Syrian regime has been committing against its people. It is also […]
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The Difference Between “Fact” and “Assumption”
On Tuesday 31st/January/2012, I gave a seminar to a group of postgraduate students at the Department of Theology and Religion at the […]
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The Gospels’ disagreement on the time of the crucifixion
This article is adapted from The Mystery of the Crucifixion: The Attempt to Kill Jesus in the Qur’an, the New Testament, and […]
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The Meaning of “Fiqh” in the Qur’an and its Position in Islam
In Islamic sciences, the term “fiqh” has developed the strictly legal meaning of “studying Shari’a or ‘Islamic law’,” which I briefly explained […]
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“Shari’a,” “Fiqh,” and “Usul al-Fiqh” in Islamic Law
I will briefly explain three fundamental concepts of Islamic law that are at times confused with each other. These are “Shari‘a,” “Fiqh,” […]
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The Meaning of “Sunna” in the Qur’an
The term “sunna” occurs fourteen times in nine Qur’anic verses. It is used in four verses in the expression “sunnat al-awwalin” or […]
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The Meaning of “Hadith”
The term “hadith” is one of the most used Islamic terms by both Muslims and non-Muslims. But despite its importance there is […]
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