THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN ISLAMAn Interview with Ms Fahmida Khan MS FAHMIDA KHAN (b. 1964) is a senior CPS member. She conducts weekly online lectures in Urdu. Her lectures are focussed on the learnings from

From a homemaker busy in mundane affairs to a life of a missionary spreading the peaceful message of Islam, her journey has been truly inspiring. She lives in Faizabad. Dr Safeena Tabassum interviewed her

that was started by Fahmida Aapa. Let’s start with your childhood. What was the environment in which you were brought up? I mean what role women were expected to play in the family or society? There was

ASK MAULANAYour Questions Answered Why should I respect Islam and its adherents? Suicide bombers, cruelty towards ‘sinners’, patronising towards women, conservative medieval social norms, sanctimonious

smoke… You are under no compulsion to respect Islam and its adherents. However, you must certainly analyze what you hold in contempt. The very word ‘Islam’ (from the Arabic silm) connotes peace. According

to a teaching of the Prophet, “Peace is Islam.” (Al-Bukhari, the most authentic book after the Quran) This means that peace is one of the prerequisites of Islam. The Prophet once stated: “A Muslim is one

THE EDITORIAL DIRECTORDr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple Guide to Sufism are two

two of the books amongst others, of which she is the author. She has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality

extremism and conflict resolution. SPIRIT OF ISLAM DURING a seminar about ‘Understanding Religion from its Original Sources’ I said, “If you want to understand Islam in its original form you have to accept

Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Sufism’ and ‘A Study of World’s

address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES LIFE: According to Islam life is a creation of God. God desired to create life and there was life. Creation

categories— inanimate matter, plants, animals, and human beings. No category has evolved from any other. Islam states that all four have been produced as a separate creation. Similarly, of living things, there

person in our family who had never taken any medication in her life. In fact, she did not even know what a headache was. She passed away after an illness of nine months in which we tried every treatment

that there had to be more to life. Then I fervently started looking for answers pertaining to life. What did you think of religion before you met Maulana Wahiduddin Khan? I was never spiritual as I never

scholars. After interacting with them I found their answers to be unconvincing. I also found out that what they spoke and how they acted did not match. So, I told Naghma that from now onwards I will never

peace formula may be evolved. An in-depth study of this problem from the historical as well as the Islamic perspective reveals two viewpoints in this matter: the concept of peace as defined by social scientists

are obsessed with the idealistic concept of peace. But one has to differentiate between what is possible and what is impossible. There is no other alternative. One has to be practical rather than idealistic

justice in terms of his own personal criteria. It is situations and circumstances which will dictate to what extent we can achieve these goals. In fact, in this world of competition, it is not possible for anyone

Makkah was the central township of this land. It was in this “uncultivable valley” that the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may peace be upon him, was born. His father, Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib, died a few months

difficult stage of his life, was left without a guardian. In a short period of twenty-three-years, the Islamic revolution under the Prophet’s guidance not only assured itself a permanent place in human history;

the world, Islam annexed the territory extending from Iran and Iraq to Bukhara in the east, while in the west, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and then the whole of North Africa, were conquered by Islam. And the

UPRIGHT SYSTEM OR UPRIGHT INDIVIDUALTrue Islamic Ideal AT the end of the nineteenth century, the communist outlook spread. The first Communist system was established in the Soviet Union in 1917. Then,

Influenced by this environment, Maulana Abul ‘Ala Maududi began to describe Islam in terms of a socio-political system. He claimed that Islam is a complete socio-political system, and that it is the solemn duty

jihad was to defeat man-made socio-political systems and replace them with the superior system of Islam. The commandments given in the Quran are mostly individual in nature, not only in the matter of

ASK MAULANAYour Questions Answered What is the greater significance of Hajj? The Prophet was once asked by his Companions about the animal sacrifice performed during Hajj. The Prophet replied: “This was

and do jihad and follow the footsteps of Abraham. God has chosen the believers for this task. But what kind of jihad did Abraham undertake? There is no proof whatsoever to establish that Abraham used sword

the Prophet Abraham in the sense of his utmost devotion to the task of dawah. What is Hajj-e-badal? According to an Islamic teaching, when a person dies, he is completely cut off from this world; the only

longer preserved in its pristine form owing to human additions and interpolations. The Prophet of Islam, who came in the 7th century, did not bring a new religion. His mission in fact was aimed at sifting

automatically vanishes. Since Islam is free from additions, there is no possibility of Islam being irrelevant at any time or in any situation. In fact the commands given in Islam are totally timeless in character

circumstances. If we look at the teachings of Islam from this angle, we shall find that there is no conflict between these teachings and the demands of modern times and that Islam is practicable in the modern age in