Mohamed Siruhan

Dr. Bilal Philip’s Islamic Online University (IOU) launched the world’s first tuition-free, Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies in English completely online in April 2010 – a major new step towards helping Muslims across the globe fulfill the Prophet’s command to seek knowledge of the religion. Since then thousands of Muslims have registered to the course. After successfully running a collection of 20 free short courses since 2007 in which more than 26,000 students are currently registered from more than 177 different countries, Dr. Bilal has taken the bold step of offering a BA along similar lines. This path-breaking initiative utilizes the worldwide presence of the internet and advanced open source online learning technology to bring tuition-free university level Islamic education within reach of virtually anyone on the planet who has access to a computer and the internet. The program has recorded video lectures and weekly live tutorial classes in a virtual classroom setting on the n...

JEDDAH: A Saudi scholar has slammed intellectuals who misinterpret religious texts for the promotion of extremist ideologies. Abdul Aziz Al-Humaidi, who was a guest on the “Humumuna (Our Worries)” program, was discussing the ideological traps Muslim youths, particularly in the Kingdom, could fall into if they were influenced by incorrect interpretations of the Holy Qur’an and hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him) Al-Humaidi, who is also an assistant professor specializing in the fundamental principles of Islam at Umm Al-Qura University, singled out scholars who promote extremism for criticism, Al-Watan daily reported. In a series of discussions on the program, which started on the first Friday of Ramadan, Al-Humaidi aims to lay bare the fallacious foundations of extremist ideologies attributed to Islam. He has already attacked the book “Millat Ibrahim (The Ibrahimi Creed)” by Abu Muhammad Al-Muqaddisi. “The book reflects the narrow vision of the advocates of extremist ideology. On...

BERLIN — German prosecutors say a Roman Catholic priest has been charged with twice raping a 14-year-old girl 20 years ago. Osnabrueck prosecution spokesman Alexander Retemeyer said on Tuesday the 50-year old man, then a chaplain, used force to coerce the girl into having sex with him and also threatened her with punishment by God. Prosecutors say the priest, who has been relieved of his duties by the church, has admitted sexual contacts with the girl. The complainant said she had a sexual relationship marked by violence with the chaplain over three years. But Retemeyer said only two incidents were sufficiently substantiated for charges to be filed. The woman contacted the diocese of Osnabrueck earlier this year amid a widening abuse scandal in Germany.( www.huffingtonpost.com )

Reuters Photo BACOLOD, Philippines (Reuters) - A 32-year-old Filipino farmer who believed his penis was driving him to sin sliced it off with a machete in a fit of religious fervor, family members and doctors said on Friday. Relatives said they found the former security guard lying on the floor, covered in blood and with a portion of his penis missing when they went to his hut on Negros island in the southern Philippines on Monday. ``He is a good son, and one of seven children, He indulged himself by reading the Bible,'' his mother told reporters in Bacolod City 300 miles south of Manila, where the man is now in hospital. ``His act was probably triggered by the book of Matthew 18:8,'' she said. The verse, from the New Testament, reads ``If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.'' Family members said they rushe...

"Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus."- Thomas Jefferson - "Paul created a theology of which none but the vaguest warrants can be found in the words of Christ." "Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ."- Wil Durant (Philosopher)- "No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus." - George Bernard Shaw - "The new testament was less a Christiad than a Pauliad."- Thomas Hardy - "If Christianity needed an Anti-Christ, they needed look no farther than Paul."- Jeremy Bentham (English Philosopher)- "Paul hardly ever allows the real Jesus of Nazareth to get a word in." (U.S. News and World Report, April 22, 1991, p. 55) - Carl Jung (Psychologist)- "Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul- a vast difference." (Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, p. 104, Harper San Francisco, 1...

Nowadays we hear that many doctors denounce the circumcision of girls, and say that it harms them physically and psychologically, and that circumcision is an inherited custom that has no basis is Islam . Firstly: Circumcision is not an inherited custom as some people claim, rather it is prescribed in Islam and the scholars are unanimously agreed that it is prescribed. Not a single Muslim scholar – as far as we know – has said that circumcision is not prescribed. Their evidence is to be found in the saheeh ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), which prove that it is prescribed, for example: 1- The hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (5889) and Muslim (257) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, cutting the nails, plucking the armpit hairs, and trimming the moustache." Th...

Tom Burns of the Columbia School of Journalism says: I regard fasting as an experience which is deeply spiritual more than physical. Despite the fact that I started to fast with the aim of losing excess weight, I realized that fasting is very beneficial for the mind. It helps me to see with greater clarity and to develop new thoughts and to focus my feelings. Within only a few days of starting my fast in the spa I began to feel that I was passing through a very spiritual experience. In the twentieth century a number of books appeared in America and Europe which spoke of the medical benefits of fasting. There was Treating sickness by fasting by Shelton; Medical Fasting: The Ideal Nutritional System by Alan Coutt; Fasting, the Elixir of Life by Enrique Tanner; Return to a Healthy Life through Medical Fasting by Watzener. The Swiss doctor Barcellus wrote: The benefit of hunger as a remedy is many times better than using medicines. Doctor Helb used to forbid his patients to eat for several...

MAKKAH: More than 1,300 foreigners have embraced Islam thanks to the Cooperative Office for Dawa, Guidance and Enlightenment of Foreign Communities in Makkah since its establishment 19 years ago, according to the office’s chairman. Dr. Sulaiman Al-Salloumi told Arab News on Wednesday that the office has three branches all located outside the boundaries of Makkah. "Our office in Al-Sharaie district is mainly concerned with spreading Islam among the Chinese who work on the Makkah Metro project," he added. Al-Salloumi said their office in Al-Taneem, which is also outside the boundaries of the holy city, is focusing on three local hospitals, which are mainly staffed by non-Muslim doctors, nurses and technicians. "The area has many factories where non-Muslim foreigners work. We target these workers and ask them to consider embracing Islam," he said. Al-Salloumi said the first thing the office does for new Muslims is teach them Arabic through intensive study courses. ...