Wahdat-al-Wujud and the politics of polytheism
Wahdat-al-wujud was an idea developed by the inestimable twelfth-century scholar, Ibn Arabi. Translated literally, wahdat-al-wujud means unity of being, but it can also mean unity of finding. The object of this ‘finding’ is God, and the finder seeks to remove the veils that stand between himself and God so that the perfect level of certainty [...]
The Amman Message in light of Imam al-Ghazali’s Clear Criterion
By all accounts, the Jordan Initiative was a remarkable achievement- a shining moment in this otherwise troubled age. In 2005, King Abdullah, the latest monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, invited leaders of all Muslim communities to Amman and placed before them a short document. By the end of that conference, those leaders had [...]
What’s that Hadith doing in my computer?
All religions revolve around a source, and for Islam, the sources are the Quran, which is a divine revelation, and the Sunna, which is defined as the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. However, it would be foolhardy to compare the contents and nature of the Quran with the Christian Gospels. The verses in [...]
Why we remain but don’t wear rags on our heads
One should not live under the impression that American designs on Iraq are entirely benign. Their stated goal is to establish a viable democracy in the once-Baathist regime. To use the neo-conservative lingo; Iraq would be a bastion of transparent and equitable government in a sea of Arab despots. God willing, and this is Bush [...]
Something’s afoot in Perlis
It’s no secret that Muslim extremists have a binary view of the world. There are the good people and there are the bad people. Obviously, these Muslim extremists, or Islamists, would claim that they belong to the first group. That’s the staging ground for a grander agenda. Their special-ness extends to within the Muslim community [...]
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