I just wanted to share this nasheed sung by South African artist Zain Bhikha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNLIOKCMH9I A nasheed is a song with Islamic themes that is usually sung without the accompaniment of musical instruments, although a daf (a specific type of drum) is sometimes used. Zain Bhikha frequently works with Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) to record and produce English-language nasheeds. The video above includes subtitles for those who can't hear the lyrics. I have mentioned this before but would like to say again that the word Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. This is a nasheed for people of all faiths and not just Muslims. It talks about the singer's desire for a world that is free from prejudice, war and corruption.
Thanks Jordan... In the Islamic faith is there a being that would be equivalent to a Christian's Jesus Christ?? Hope it's ok to ask that in this thread otherwise we could move the question to the spiritual section.
No problem, Caroline. Thank you for asking. Muslims believe in all the prophets of Judaism and Christianity, starting with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. all the way to Jesus and then finally Muhammad, who is considered the final prophet until the end of our time here on Earth. Jesus is a very important and respected prophet in Islam, and there is a whole chapter in the Qur'an dedicated to the story of his mother and the miracle of his (virgin) birth. We believe that Jesus performed miracles, such as healing the blind, the lepers and others. He also spoke as an infant and performed other miracles. Unlike Christians, however, Muslims do not worship Jesus or believe he is either God or the son of God. The Qur'an is very clear about this last point and mentions it numerous times. Islam is very focused on monotheism and the worship of God alone. Muslims do not draw pictures of the prophets or make statues of them. They do not worship any prophet, including Muhammad, the final prophet. They also do not believe in the idea of intermediaries and pray directly to God. Muslims strive to emulate the character and morals of Prophet Muhammad as much as possible. All aspects of his life were observed by those living around him and are still studied by Muslims everywhere. If you'd like to know anything more, I'd be happy to answer to the best of my ability. Thank you to those who listened to the nasheed and took the time to comment.
Can you tell us a little about the life of Muhammad. Apart from knowing the he is very important to the Islamic faith I know nothing about him.
I really appreciate how you preface some of your comments on this site with the sameness of our beliefs. I know that there is a difference between Jewish, Christian, Islamic and other beliefs but somehow it's comforting to know that Allah means God in Arabic And although I'm not a self-professed anything in regards to a belief system, It brings us closer together somehow. Thank-you
Jordan, thanks for that post. Very interesting as always and generous of you to give your time to discuss Islam. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions: Is it the case that Islam does not have an 'official' doctrine (I think that's the word I'm looking for) in the way that Christian denominations do? And what I mean by that is that for Catholicism for example there is an 'official' priesthood, the 'headquarters' is the Vatican and the Pope has the final say on matters of doctrine (I may be wrong on that and am happy to be corrected). Second question - are the differences between Shia and Shiite Muslims roughly equivalent to say Anglicans and Catholics? Please don't feel any pressure to answer (it's a big burden being probably the only Muslim on here and I don't want to elect you as official spokesperson). But I'm interested in learning about other religions. Thanks!
