Understanding Islam

Followers of Islam make up almost a quarter of the world’s population. Islam is a major spiritual force in the world, which is often poorly understood and misrepresented, yet it has been playing a growing role in world affairs.

Podcasts and Sermons

Mark Durie - October 4, 2021

Is 'Abrahamic' a useful concept?

Islam – General

Mark discusses whether the idea of 'Abrahamic Religion' is a help or a hindrance.

 

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The plethora of reports of the Gaza Flotilla incident are confused, contested and contradictory.  This is hardly surprising, given the intensity of the feelings on each side, the traumatic nature of the events, and the reality that propaganda generators are hard at work.  It seems...

In these days, the Israel Defense Force's fatal engagement with Islamists on the Marmara has been drawing intense criticism from far and wide. However of particular interest to me was an Al-Jazeera report on the flotilla, showing interviews with an international collection of Muslim radicals on...

This article was published in the National Observer.  It is a condensation of Chapter 6 of The Third Choice, which discusses the theological and legal status of the dhimma pact, in the light of Sura 9:29 of the Quran. ============== Islam and the dhimma pact Khaybar, Khaybar ya...

I have been thinking a lot about women in Islam recently, challenged by the message of Wafa Sultan's book "The God who hates", which I recently reviewed.  Will the lot of Muslim women improve through a 'reformation' of Islam? Trying to reform Islam from Islam's own...