Eight hundred years ago, in 1219, Francis of Assisi made the journey to Egypt and had an historic encounter with the leader of the Muslim forces arrayed against the crusaders, Sultan Malik al-Kamil. This had an impact on the rest of his life and his legacy. Read about the meeting here
Tag Archives: Islam
A paradigm shift in understanding Christianity and Islam
Both Christianity and Islam operate within certain conceptual models or paradigms. All too often, when someone from one faith seeks to understand the other, they try to make that faith fit their own paradigm instead of entering into the paradigm of the other, which is the only way for there to be real understanding. This emphasises ‘The importance of a paradigm shift in understanding Christianity and Islam’.
Badshah Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan – ‘The Muslim Gandhi’
The name of Badshah Khan Abdul Ghaffar Kahn is little known today, but any man who can lead one hundred thousand Pashtun warriors as a disciplined army committed to the nonviolent struggle for the liberation of India from British rule is worthy of notice when the linkage between Muslims and violence is so often in the news.
New video materials for GCSE RS: Islam
A battery of video clips has been added to the GCSE Religious Studies: Islam section of the website. They are extracts from a distance learning course on which I worked a few years ago together with four leading Muslim scholars, from both Sunni and Shi’a schools, who approved the materials and appear periodically giving in-depth insights into some aspects of the beliefs and practices of Islam. The material is all loaded onto a YouTube channel and available for use in the normal way. It is suitable for classroom use at the discretion of the teacher. Each extract is accompanied by a full transcript, which contains not only references from the Qur’an and Hadith but also those references as footnotes in full in a translation especially made for accuracy and comprehensibility by the four scholars involved. These transcripts can be downloaded as pdf files.
Due to a technical problem, the visual quality of the extracts on prayer, fasting and pilgrimage is not as good as for the others; it is hoped to remedy this as soon as possible.
Please pass on this information to any teachers and others who might benefit from it.
Sunni and Shi’a paradigms of Islam
As part of the GCSE Religious Studies: Islam resource (see the button above), two new articles have been added: A Sunni paradigm of Islam and The Shi’a perspective on Islam.
Religious minorities in Muslim lands: the Marrakesh Declaration 27 January 2016
Hundreds of Muslim scholars from 120 countries gathered in Morocco and drew up a formal statement on the rights of religious minorities in Muslim lands.
What do Muslim leaders think about terrorism?
Have you read the “Amman Message”? Developed by Muslim scholars in 2004/5 and signed by Heads of State from Muslim countries around the world and the most senior Islamic scholars from each country. Click on the link below: