Archives for October 2009

The doctrine of Salvation or Soteriology is our focus for this comparative study. More specifically how Muslims (followers of Islam) and Christians (followers of Christianity), view Salvation and its inherent requirements. The word Salvation can have many different definitions to various people and religions.

The definition for salvation we will be using comes from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ;

1. Preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.
2. Deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption.

In plain English, we will define salvation as what it takes to get into Heaven or Paradise.

We will investigate the following questions.

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U.S. Courts do not apply Islamic Shari'a law because it violates the Establishment Clause set in the United States Constitution; they apply foreign law when necessary. American Courts do apply foreign law in certain cases involving international principle known as "conflict of Laws," or "Private International Law." This is referred to in U.S. courts as "the doctrine of comity".

In the area of Private International Law, Comity is a courtesy, amity, and reciprocity by U.S. courts towards court decision issued in other nations. Such a consideration by U.S. courts does not entail an obligation to agree with the rulings of foreign judgments. There is therefore a distinction between the doctrine of comity and law.

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Islam is a divine message from Allah Almighty for the entire humankind. The structures (Pillars) that would support the building of Islam would have to be strong, purposeful, powerful and pragmatic. This is because that Islam is not a dogma, but imaging for how long? How long will we continue to follow the paths that have leaded us collectively to absolutely nowhere? Except to immobility, stagnation, divisions, fragmentation, fighting amongst ourselves and to the absolute ruin of generations of the people that Allah Almighty created to lead Mankind to the promised land.

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From times immemorial it has been a standard practice in Hinduism to accept the existence of Avatar. But who is an Avatar... is Avatar manifest God himself or a human being who assumes significant spiritual powers that the humanity starts considering one an Avatar. In the present Kali Yuga everyone is awaiting with abated breath the advent of the Avatar of the era... the coming of Bhagwan Kalki. It is considered that in the present metal age Bhagwan Kalki... the Avatar of the era shall deliver the mankind from the ills existing in the society. Who shall be this Avatar? Shall this Avatar descend from the heaven as is expected by many or shall he be a normal human being with supernatural powers? Lord Krishna was an Avatar and so is Bhagwan Kalki expected to be an Avatar. Before elaborating further on the topic of Avatar... we need to understand why the need for an Avatar exists at all. Why the mankind at a certain phase in the cosmic cycle needs an Avatar? Can we really not manage without an Avatar? If the coming of an Avatar is so important then why is it not so that we have the coming of Avatar very often! Lord Krishna considered an Avatar came about 3600 years before and now we await the coming of Bhagwan Kalki... An Avatar! What necessitated for such a long gap of 3600 years before another Avatar dropped in! Explaining the concept of Avatar in detail... one thing needs to be remembered clearly and that is... with the onset of every new Yuga... there is an Avatar! No new Yuga can start without an Avatar. This is a confirmed fact. Why? Let us take the example of a tennis ball... if we throw this tennis ball on a flat ground then at a certain stage it shall strike the ground and again bounce back... travel a certain distance and again strike the ground and bounce back. This keeps on repeating until the ball has no energy left for it to bounce or travel any further. It comes to a rest.

Exactly in the same manner every Yuga needs an Avatar to announce the start of the journey. Without an Avatar the ball shall never bounce and shall remain where it is. It is the Augustus presence of an Avatar that announces the start of the Sat Yuga. It is the time when the clock rings 12 p.m. The period when the sun is in its full zenith! It is only an Avatar who signifies that human life is worth living... his teachings and sayings give the humanity that vital ingredient which is absolutely necessary for the humanity to survive as a flock. As the clock turns 3 p.m. the human values start their decay... as the clock approaches 6 p.m. the values in the society have deteriorated further. The Avatar may have come and departed but his teachings and values form the core of the society... the society from now onwards survives on the basis of the teachings rendered by the Avatar who was instrumental in start of the Yuga (primarily the Sat Yuga).

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The question before us is "What is Islamic Ideology"? To me Ideology is a philosophical term meaning the ‘Science of Ideas’. Idea is again a subtle and very comprehensive term. It is unnecessary for our present purpose to go into the details of the term. But generally this means a basic concept or the basic concepts on which any ‘system’ is built constitutes its ‘Ideology’. Since Ideology pre supposes the existence of a system, the question arises whether Islam is a system?

Yes, Islam is a system. Islam is not like other conventional religions, in other words Religion is the English equivalent for the Arabic word Mazhah which does not occur even once in the whole of the Holy Quran. The Quran has used the word Ad deen for Islam which means a particular way of life. The Holy Quran points to this aspect in its own inimitable way.

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With nearly two billion professed adherents worldwide, Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It has dominated western culture for centuries and remains the majority religion of Europe and the Americas. Christian belief centers on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, a teacher and healer of first-century Palestine.

The primary source of information about the life of Jesus is the set of "Gospels," which were written between 30 and 100 years after Jesus' death and later became the first four books of the New Testament.

The Gospels describe a three-year teaching and healing ministry during which Jesus attracted 12 close disciples and other followers who believed him to be the Messiah. This is the basis of the title "Christ," which comes from the Greek word for "Messiah.

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AS KNOWN TO MODERN WORLD As far the common understanding about ‘Sati’ goes, it goes as about burning of a widow. The hype of burning women goes with an explanation like this: if the husband dies in an unnatural manner, the widow is forced to be burnt in the funeral if she herself does not accept it. The reasons behind this act as known are also many. One view known is that the woman and man are two bodies but one soul and hence death of one should be result in death of another, which would bring fame to the women for her faithfulness. Another view is that the widow may induce notorious people to go wrong against her. And at many times, it is simply accepted as a part of Hinduism as a traditional practice. I believe that the variance in views exists and signifies that it has nothing to do with religion. And there is a sound reason why I believe so – No where in any authenticated Hindu literature did I find such a rule. I agree, that there had been few occasional instances of such event, but then how did it come on the whole Hindu community – is a questionable point. Such instances of burning widows alive in the name of ‘Sati’ had been sometimes under news coverage too. Though, authenticity of such news as a religious practice or criminal causes was never traced after trial from criminal courts.

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Islamic Imperialism is spreading rapidly throughout the world. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and is second only to Christianity when it comes to those who practice this religion. Islamic Imperialism teaches that those who do not follow Islam deserve death. Despite the fact that this is known to those in the west, most will not believe that Islam is Fascist.

Islam is Fascist. It is the second coming of Nazi Germany only it is not confined to one part of the world. It is a rapidly growing movement that is helped along by those like US President Obama who, in his quest to be liked by the world, is ignoring the very real threat of Islamic Imperialism.

People do not want to believe that Islam is Fascist. Gross human rights abuses that occur in countries like Saudi Arabia are either ignored by the press or given very little play. Those who point out those abuses are labeled as racist by mainstream media. Western civilization is rapidly on the decline as the influx of Islamists continues to grow in every western nation. As western nations bend over backwards trying to accommodate Islamic Imperialism, they do not see it as a problem but merely a religion, the trend continues to grow.

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Today is Deepvali, the beginning of Diwali. And if you have no clue what that means, this article's for you.

Deepvali is a Hindu holiday. It's a lot like Halloween only better. It is a day of "sweetness and light" when Hindus celebrate the presence of God in the world by eating treats and setting off fireworks. Hindu children love the day. Lanterns are often hung around homes. Candy is plentiful.

Deepvali showcases the deepest sentiments of Hinduism. Of the five major world religions Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Islam and Hindu Hinduism is likely the least understood by Westerners. People see aspects of it the bathing in the Ganges River, Yogis in meditation, the Hare Krishnas but they seem like so many random puzzle pieces.

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The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about Islam is what the word "Islam" itself means. The religion of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the true religion of "Allah" and as such, its name represents the central principle of Allah's "God's" religion; the total submission to the will of Allah "God". The Arabic word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the only true god worthy of worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a "Muslim", The word also implies "peace" which is the natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allah. Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) I in Arabia in the seventh century, but only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form.

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