Issue 21 (January - March 1998)

The quest for truth has two principal branches which, if the quest is motivated by sincere love of the truth sought, are radically joined - that is, they have fundamentally the same root and goal even though the branches diverge. The two branches are the seeking represented by religion and the seek…

The universe consists of living and non-living entities which have common as well as different properties. For example, each and every entity is made up of different organic and inorganic elements so that, in terms of material composition, there is no absolute difference between a living or non-liv…

There is no firm consensus on what the term islamic city’ means. It can mean a city founded by Muslims during some particular, historical epoch. Or a city whose design, construction and expansion took place during epochs dominated by Islamic civilization. Or a city that has in it certain, specific…

Day 1 - (around May 5 of your calendar) - I am a white egg hardly bigger than the fullstop at the end of this sentence. Yet, do not despise me for I have that most precious quality-life! A few hours ago I was in another, more suffocating place, together with sixty or so sisters of mine, sisters-to…

The earth’s human population is expected to pass 6 billion people at the beginning of the next century. The consequences for adequate food supply and environmental degradation are very serious. While in many countries large numbers of people are suffering malnutrition and destroying the environment…

An eternal ‘textile’ woven with silk threads, pure as rain, cool as the shade of clouds; its colour and design address all the worlds, unstained white like the river of milk in Paradise... Not a transient hope, but peace everlasting, from which begin all roads leading souls to heaven. A sourc…

Creatures come into existence easily and, although of various kinds and species, resemble one another in many ways. They are spread out on the earth with perfect order and display a perfect proportionateness and equipment. As this demonstrates on a broad scale the necessity of an All-Wise Maker’s e…

Artificial Intelligence or Al is among the most recently advanced scientific concepts. The associated field of study has been defined as follows: ‘the study of mental faculties that encompasses computational techniques for performing tasks which apparently require intelligence when performed by hum…

In the Islamic tradition, the basis of society or its main cohesive influence is not the power of the state or other coercive authority, but the common submission of all, strong or weak, to the will of God. The word islam means peace attained through submission to the Divine will. God being the ‘em…

Part I: The Myth and the Novel The popularity of Crusoe Excepting the Gospel narrative, no story has so dominated the imagination of Europe as Robinson Crusoe. First published in London in 1719, it went through an unprecedented six editions the same year. Over the next century or so, it saw 700 e…

Contact with Jinn and the Reality of Sorcery or Magic Some people have an innate ability to go into trance and make contact with beings from the invisible realms of existence. However, it should not be forgotten that whether angels or jinn, the invisible beings have their own conditions of life, a…

Bilal Habashi was among the pioneers of Islam. He was a slave of Umayya ibn Khalaf, one of the leading figures of the polytheist Quraysh. Since he accepted Islam in its very early days, he was made to suffer unbearable tortures. They made him lie on burning sand in the desert and put very heavy sto…