Intra-faith Shi'ism

What is Shi’ism?

In the contemporary period Shi’ah is the standard short form for Shi’ah Ali, the Partisans of Ali. The Shi’ah have a history that goes back as far as the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and form one of the two main schools of thought in Islam; the other group being the Sunni, short for Ahl us-Sunnah wa Jama’ah, the People of Tradition and Consensus. The main division between these two groups relates to questions of religious authority, and who has that authority. In this post I want to give a brief outline of Shi’ah understandings of authority. Rather than cover…

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Inter-faith Intra-faith

Ramadan Mubarak and Shanah Tovah

May this season bring joy and happiness to all. It is an important holiday season for many religious traditions this month, not just the Children of Abraham. Please see Rachel’s post, and follow the Tent of Abraham link. Tonight begins Ramadan for me. For an understanding of why different Muslim communities recognize different days for the beginning of the month, see this post. Technorati Tags: inter-faith, intra-faith, Tishri, Ramadan

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Intra-faith

She is, in fact, a woman

Dr. Ingrid Mattson is the new President of the Islamic Society of North America. Mashallah. May she be granted the wisdom and strength to move the community forward as is best. I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Mattson at a conference about a year ago, and I think she’ll bring a lovely perspective to the running of ISNA, one that I believe will better reflect the organization’s constituents, Muslims in North America. This Revealer post critiques the presentation in the New York Times of such a monumental decision. I would add, that to have a picture of man in…

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Intra-faith Women

Deny the Prophet

Deny Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his teachings and his life. Such is the teaching of the Cult of Abd al-Wahhab. See Ali for more. I link to Ali because he ends so well. 1400 years of women’s presence, and a bunch of overly-hormoned men who are afraid of women wish to deny the existence of women, and take the name of Prophet Muhammad and Islam to do it. Haramzadeh ibn Shud-bewaqufi indeed. Technorati Tags: Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Women

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Intra-faith Religion

On Sufis

Here’s a wonderful piece on looking for Sufis in Central Asia. Go find some grapes. However, I think it’s important to note that Sufism is not the touchy-feely part of Islam – although it is often used to create a Good Muslim/Bad Muslim dichotomy – it is much more. Read about the politicization of a Sufi group in Iraq here. Technorati Tags: Iraq, Sufism

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