The House of Islam : a global history by Ed Husain

A fascinating and revelatory exploration of the intricacies of Islam and the inner psyche of the Muslim world from the bestselling author of The Islamist

'Islam began as a stranger,' said the Prophet Mohammed, 'and one day, it will again return to being a stranger.'

The gulf between Islam and the West is widening. A faith rich with strong values and traditions, observed by nearly two billion people across the world, is seen by the West as something to be feared rather than understood. Sensational headlines and hard-line policies spark enmity, while ignoring the feelings, narratives and perceptions that preoccupy Muslims today. 

Wise and authoritative, The House of Islam seeks to provide entry to the minds and hearts of Muslims the world over. It introduces us to the fairness, kindness and mercy of Mohammed; the aims of sharia law, through commentary on scripture, to provide an ethical basis to life; the beauty of Islamic art and the permeation of the divine in public spaces; and the tension between mysticism and literalism that still threatens the House of Islam. 

The decline of the Muslim world and the current crises of leadership mean that a glorious past, full of intellectual nobility and purpose, is now exploited by extremists and channelled into acts of terror. How can Muslims confront the issues that are destroying Islam from within, and what can the West do to help work towards that end?

Ed Husain expertly and compassionately guides us through the nuances of Islam and its people, contending that the Muslim world need not be a stranger to the West, nor its enemy, but a peaceable ally.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ed Husain is the author of The Islamist, a memoir of his time inside radical Islamism. Having rejected extremism, he now advises governments and political leaders on Islam. He is a senior fellow at Civitas, Institute for the Study of Civil Society in London and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre in Washington DC. He was a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York for five years and co-founded Quilliam, the world's first counter-extremism think-tank in Britain. He has written for the New York Times, the Telegraph, the Financial Times and appeared on CNN, BBC, and others. He lives in London.

@Ed_Husain

Proving the case that today's Hindus are direct descendants of India's first inhabitants

A huge statue of Hanuman looms over a Delhi railway station.

Delhi: During the first week of January last year, a group of Indian scholars gathered in a white bungalow on a leafy boulevard in central Delhi. The focus of their discussion: how to rewrite the history of the nation.

By Rupam Jain & Tom Lasseter

9 March 2018 — 1:13pm

Taken from the Sydney Morning Herald

The government of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quietly appointed the committee of scholars about six months earlier. Details of its existence are reported here for the first time.

Minutes of the meeting and interviews with committee members set out its aims: to use evidence such as archaeological finds and DNA to prove that today's Hindus are directly descended from the land's first inhabitants many thousands of years ago, and make the case that ancient Hindu scriptures are fact not myth.

The ambitions of Hindu nationalists now, it seems, extend beyond holding political power in this nation of 1.3 billion people with a kaleidoscope of religions. They want ultimately to reshape the national identity to match their religious views, that India is a nation of and for Hindus.

In doing so, they are challenging a more multicultural narrative that has dominated since the time of British rule, that India is a tapestry born of migrations, invasions and conversions. That view is rooted in demographic, archaeological and linguistic fact. While most Indians are Hindus, Muslims and people of other faiths account for some 240 million, or a fifth, of the populace.

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Pilgrimage: 25 years of the Christus Rex Pilgrimage from #Ballarat to #Bendigo

Apologies from the Editor of Beside The Creek. 

 I have never heard of this practice until to-day.

You can read more about it below.

The material comes from here.

The Christus Rex Pilgrimage is a 3 day walk from Ballarat to Bendigo,covering over 90 kilometres. This route takes us from one great cathedral – St. Patricks, Ballarat – to another splendid cathedral – Sacred Heart, Bendigo. Over the 3 days we walk through the picturesque and serene countryside and forests of Victoria, through the towns of Creswick, Smeaton, Newstead and Lockwood. Along the route we engage in prayers and song – rosaries, litanies, hymns and medieval pilgrim songs that unite all in fellowship. Daily Mass in the extraordinary form (1962) is celebrated every day in local churches, except on the Saturday where Solemn Mass is celebrated in the woodlands of Campbelltown at a woodlands site; sacred polyphony and Gregorian chant are a part of each Mass. There are many opportunities for confession and spiritual guidance from the priests who join us on the pilgrimage.

T

The passing years have seen the pilgrimage attract Catholics from all over Australia of all ages, bringing them together to walk the route in honour of Christ the King and showing forth the communal body of the Catholic Church. The pilgrimage numbers have increased every year and have reached 450 in the past.

Christus Rex Society Inc. 

is run by a committee of members 

who organise the Pilgrimage every year,

from different regions around Australia.

The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne : Steve Cannane in conversation with Tony Ortega re Scientology

Scientology: Fair Game?

Sunday 25 October 2015, 3.00pm-4.00pm

at The Wheeler Centre

Book your tickets

Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, once defined the religion as being in service of ‘a civilisation without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights’.

Almost 60 years since its foundation, though, Scientology has become a uniquely contentious phenomenon – with many questioning its status as a religion, cult or business, and with a reputation for fiercely defensive, litigious and coercive reactions to criticism. One of the first to feel the Church’s wrath was Paulette Cooper – whose 1971 book, The Scandal of Scientology, saw her become the target of an elaborate plot which set out to destroy her credibility, frame her and land her with a 15 year prison sentence. Codenamed ‘Miss Lovely’ by Church operatives, Cooper is now the subject of investigative journalist Tony Ortega’s book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.

Ortega is a long-time chronicler of Scientology, and one of its leading scrutineers. Featured in Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary Going Clear, he’s the executive editor of TheLipTV and former editor-in-chief of The Village Voice. He visits Melbourne – where the world’s first inquiry into Scientology was held in1963, and Scientology was first banned in 1965 – for a chat with SteveCannane, who’s currently writing a book on Scientology’s history in Australia.

Dating of an ancient Quranic manuscript raises dating questions

This article first appeared on HuffPost UK. 

In what could prove something of a pot hole for current readings of Islamic history, a carbon test carried out on a Quranic manuscript recently discovered in England reveals the book is likely older than Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic faith.

The test used a piece of the ancient parchment, which was discovered in Birmingham University Library in July, with scientists dating the tome from between 568 and 645AD.

Islamic scholars believe Muhammad lived between 570 and 632AD, meaning the text was compiled either before the Prophet’s birth or during his childhood.

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Islam in Australia - our oldest mosque

The oldest surviving mosque in Australia, although we know that some Australian Muslims have ancestors who were here...

Posted by Aussies Supporting Muslims on Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Baha'i chronicles, history, blog.

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Baha’i Chronicles – A New Site Chronicling the History of the Baha’i Faith by Naysan, in History, Resources

Here at Baha’i Blog we’re passionate about Baha’i history, and so we’re super excited to share with everyone a wonderful new site called Baha’i Chronicles, which aims to document the stories of the heroes and heroines of the Baha’i Faith, both past and present. Baha’i Chronicles (BahaiChronicles.org) is the brainchild of Neda Nassir Najibi and ...

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Latest Video

The King and the Dervish by Naysan, in Arts & Crafts, Storytelling

An animated version of the story of The King and the Dervish, reportedly one of Abdu’l-Baha’s favorites stories, about the nature of detachment.

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Latest Audio

“Shine Ye” by Devina & Raneesha Saberi by Naysan, in Music

Baha’i Blog’s “Studio Sessions” is an initiative where we invite Baha’is from around the world to share the Baha’i Writings put to music. In this Baha’i Blog Studio Session, sisters Devina and Raneesha Saberi sing “Shine Ye”, based on an excerpt from a tablet by Abdu’l-Baha. You can also watch the video of the recording ...

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Quaker Bonnets & The Historic Peace Testimony versus Modern Military Warfare

Not a lot is known, up close and personal, in Australia about the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia.  The main cause of this is that there aren't many of them/us. About 3000 people identified as Quakers at the last census.  This came as a bit of surprise - because the most knowledgable Friends (as Quakers prefer to be called), as well as the records of Friends, could only account for somewhat over 1,000.  For those who know about Quakers, there is usually one stand-out factor - they are pacifists and active campaigners for peace.  Please go here to learn more of The Quaker Peace Testimony.  Quakers also keenly maintain their history with women in many places taking to needle and thread in preservation of the Quaker story.  The Editor of Beside The Creek can testify personally to the needlework and design skills of Tessa.  The event to which Helen refers is the Shoalwater Bay Peace Convergence 2015 which coincides with and is a protest against Exercise Talisman Saber 2015.

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Helen Bayes

Shared publicly  -  10:23

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with my dear Friend Tessa Spratt mending our Quaker bonnets in preparation for the quakergrannies4peace witness at Shoalwater Bay, next month. Tessa's bonnet has a note inside the brim that it was made in 1860 and it is all hand-stitched. Mine is machine chainstitched and probably dates around 1880s. You can be sure they will be worn with joy at actions in Rockhampton and Shoalwater Bay.

2015-06-23

2 photos

The 160th Anniversary of Eureka will be celebrated at historic St Paul's on Bakery Hill - details below.

 

Father Constantine Osuchukwu is pleased to welcome you

to a very different celebration of Eureka

- at St Paul's we are celebrating humanity:

the international people of Ballarat 160 years ago

and the multicultural city that Ballarat is to-day.

There will be music, poetry, spirituality - and supper.

PS: Father Constantine is a member of Ballarat Interfaith Network 

and is the Interfaith Officer for the 

Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council

This week - on Wednesday December 3 - 

the 160th Anniversary of the Eureka Rebellion

will be commemorated and celebrated in Ballarat.  

Please go here to see all that is happening at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka.

and there is

Commemorating Radical Eureka Events

And this year there is a new - and somewhat different - event 

on the Eureka Calendar - at St Paul's Bakery Hill in Ballarat.
St Paul's is the site of the establishment of the Ballarat Reform League.

A history of the Jehovah's Witnesses

As readers of Beside The Creek will have discovered,

the New Year of 2014 has opened with a series of history videos 

on the great religions of the world.

It has not been the intention of this series to get into topics 

such as different sects or denominations within a particular religion.

An exception has been made, however, for two Christian denominations 

simply because their representatives might knock on your front door at any time.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is one of these.

The Latter Day Saints are nothing if not well organised.

They do not close themselves off and,

as the interfaith movement has burgeoned in the late 20th century,

it is not unusual to find them participating in local interfaith networks.

There has been no difficulty in finding an appropriate video

to allow readers to get to know something of their history.

Picture from here

The same does not hold true of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

It seems to this blogger - and I mean no offence -

that the Witnesses might not be handling their own on-line presence, 

particularly concerning their history, as well as they might.

Most of the video material I have encountered in my web searches has been from

Christian denominations intent on 'answering' the Witnesses.

There is a lot happening in our 21st Century world

and it seems necessary to ask if this is the best way of spending one's time -

or is this a competition for obtaining and retaining members?

However, dear readers, we do want to provide some information -

so please follow the link below.

This is to a Wikipedia article -

but it is the best attempt of this blogger to obtain information 

which (she hopes) is impartial.

A sad state of affairs -

and there is nothing sadder than quarrelsome religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses

A history of the Mormons - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

A history of Jainism

A history of Zoroastrianism

A history of the Bahai faith

A history of Sikhism

A history of Buddhism

A history of Hinduism

A history of the Jews

A history of Islam - videos

A history of Christianity - video

Want to know more of the history of Christianity?

Please go here