Karbala Martyrs Remembered Here in Istanbul For Centuries
Muharram is a month which holds unique meaning for the world of Islam and Muslims due to the fact that it is first month of the Hijri (Lunar) year and its 10th day being the day of Ashura. The day of Ashura had signified different meanings for different religions throughout history. However, it would come to be remembered as a day wherein a painful memory would become etched into the minds of...

Imam Zaid Shakir: Prominent American Muslim Leader speaks to Las
Imam Zaid Shakir, one of the imams from the Zaytuna Institute, renowned for its important Islamic educational programs and activities in America, spoke with Lastprophet.info. One of the most influential imams known in the West, Imam Zaid starts from the example of the programs prepared by the Zaytuna Institute that are directed towards young people, and tells us how an atmosphere of communication...

From Texas to Truth
Childhood days on a farm in Texas, a family with roots in England, Germany, Scotland and among the Native Americans, the first questioning of the Church, a search for the truth, a book picked up in the university library one evening that gives the "forty essential questions"... This is how, reared on Christian doctrines, Najla Tammy Ilhan's "Journey to Truth" finally brou...

Another first: The Mi'raj Hilya by Calligrapher Ali Hüsrevoğlu
Ali Husrevoglu, one of the leading figures in Islamic calligraphy who has made a unique name for himself with his 30 different hilya (an elaborate work describing an event or person through calligraphy) works, shared his incredible work, "Mirac Hilyesi" (The Mi'raj Hilye) with Sonpeygamber.info readers on the occasion of the rememberance of the Night of the Mi'raj. The work is a...

Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock
The Al-Aqsa Mosque... the home of prophets, the first kiblah of Muslims and the symbolic stopover of the Miraj journey that is a place of worship...This place of worship which is one of the lasting symbols in our minds has unfortunately been mistaken with the Qubbat-us Sakhra (The Mosque of Omar) which is located right beside it.  The magnificent golden yellow dome of the Qubbat us Sakhra has...

Hadith in the pages of the Mathnawi
Listen to the reed flute, its song of separation:   Mawlana Mawlana's Mathnawi shares the internal journey of man and his spiritual evolution through verses from the Holy Qur'an and hadith through various talmih (referencing) involving stories and tales. Talmih is the art of stating one's point in a suggestive fashion, between words and by not revealing it clearly. It recall...

Abdal Hakim Murad on Ramadan and Eid in England
Interview with Abdal Hakim Murad (Tim Winter) What are your observations about Ramadan in England? In some British towns Ramadan is very noticeable. In cities like Leeds and Leicester, Muslims are over a quarter of the population, and everyone knows about the fast. I live in Cambridge, where the community is smaller, although we still have around six hundred people attending Tarawih prayers at ou...

Online Islamic Education Opportunities
The Internet has transformed the nature of mass education in the modern world by expanding access to all segments of society. The transmission of knowledge has probably never been wider, as the intellectualized, legalist Islam of the ulama (Islamic scholars) comes to meet the popular, as well as the middle-of-the-road Islam in an arena that has no limits. Islamic websites that specifically focus ...

Islam and the Media
digg_title = "Islam and the Media"; var sburl6099 = window.location.href; var sbtitle6099 = document.title; There is one of three motives behind use of the media by Islamic groups: to offer an alternative to those who have already dominated the international or national media, to propagate the Islamic discourse and to defend against the prejudices, assaults a...

The Dynamic Face of Islamic Media
  Journals and magazines are among the most obvious forms of the media. In the world of media, no other organ is richer in subjects or cheaper in costs than the magazine. It is for this reason that we can see hundreds of magazines on the shelves, magazines aimed at young people, magazines about politics, literature, science, the economy, astronomy, design, fashion, music, and so much more. Magazi...

A Perfect Example of the Influence of the Media: The Cartoon Cri
It was September, 30th in 2005 when Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, published the cartoons which were to create a huge wave of indignation among Muslims all over the world. The assaults against Islam and Prophet Muhammad in the media were probably not a new phenomenon, but the twelve cartoons depicting and denigrating Prophet Muhammad can be accepted as the turning point in the confrontatio...

Mawlid in the Middle East
The Mawlid celebrations in the Middle East have a lot in common. As much of the Muslim population in Europe consists of immigrants from the Middle East, the origins of the celebrations in Europe originally come from the Middle East, where the Mawlid is celebrated with great enthusiasm. For instance in Egypt, the Mawlid is like a festival and a ceremony combined, and is the center of Egyptian a...