This book is a compilation of articles on various issues relating to the Islamic spirituality and civilization. The articles are written in essay forms and are meant to be as educating and enriching, as thought-provoking and challenging. They span a wide range of topics from the Islamic belief system, values, ethics, worldview, society, history, ep

The Qur'an was revealed by Almighty Allah through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to mankind to bring them out of the disorienting and debilitating darkness of falsehood, ignorance and superstitions to the light and radiance of truth, guidance and proper erudition. The Qur'an is the only means available to man by which he can communicate directly w

Almighty Allah as the Creator communicates with His creation. He does so in various ways most of which are unknown to man. He informs us through His revealed Word, the Holy Qur’an, for example, that He communicates with the heavens, the earth, mountains, the fire, hellfire, animals, etc. Allah communicates with man, His vicegerent on earth, too.

As yet another blessed month of Ramadan unfolds, the perennial, and somewhat disturbing, truth re-emerges. That truth is that a great many Muslims fast. In many countries, overwhelming majorities – perhaps all -- do so. In some countries, it is an anomaly to see or discover that any Muslim, from any societal stratum, does not fast, even for legit

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) established the doctrines that Allah is beautiful and loves beauty (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 131), that He is good and accepts only that which is good (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 1686), and that He loves to see the effects of His blessings and favors on people (Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2963).

Once while describing an aspect of man’s fundamental nature, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said that the son of Adam becomes old with senility, but yet two things remain with him intact: greed and hope (Sahih al-Bukhari). The Prophet (pbuh) also taught that when the latter two become unrestrained, taking over a person’s total being, he with his actio

Life is all about relationships. Man is created as a social being inclined towards knowing and forging bonds and friendships with others. Hence, the Arabic word “insan”, which means “human being, person and man”, is derived from the verb “anisa” which means to be “affable”, “sociable” and “friendly”. Moreover, man is created

People are both the creators and demolishers of civilizational accomplishments. They are the only beneficiaries of every great civilizational output. Similarly, people are the conceivers, creators and users of architecture -- a physical locus of civilizations. They create architecture and then use and interact with it. They do so either commendably

Life is an endless and multi-tiered confrontation between good and evil. It is a battleground in every sense of the word. Almighty Allah says that He created life and death “to put you to the test and see which of you is most virtuous in your deeds” (al-Mulk, 2). As such, this life is the only opportunity to secure the pleasure and blessings of

This article discusses the theme of the Qur’ān and Sunnah as a conceptual foundation of Islamic architecture. It concludes that Islamic architecture is the type of architecture that is inspired and guided primarily by the teachings and belief system of Islam. Islamic architecture in its capacity as a physical locus of life, which to Muslims sign