Science and religion

Science and religion

Is there a conflict between science and religion? Or do they converge in the explanation of the universe?
There were at least two major disputes between science and religion that had a lasting impact on both disciplines.

• The conflict between Galileo and the Pope over the church's belief that the earth was the center of the universe. 
• The conflict between Charles Darwin and religion about the origin of the different species of animals, including humankind. 

Presentation between science and religion

Science And Religion from nicole bonar

Presentation about religion

Religion

A spresentation by Tom Darling on slideshare.net The presentation includes a basic description of religion and faith, with a focus on western religion. Tom Darling says that this is not specific to one religion, but the basic wikipedia definition of religion with visuals. 

Religion from Tom Darling

Meaning of Sunnah in Islam

What is Sunnah

Liguistically Sunnah refers to the path or way. In fact the root of the word is [sanna] which means literally smooth and easy flow. In Islam Sunnah refers to the way of life prescribed as normative for Muslims on the basis of the teachings and practices of Muhammad and interpretations of the Quran. It has been institutionalized as one of the sources of sharī‘ah, the other source being the Quran. In other words Sunnah denotes the practices of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar.

What does Sunnah include?

According to Muslims, Sunnah includes everything the Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, did in his way of life. This includes his specific words, habits, practices,and silent approvals. The significance of this relies on the importance Sunnah tells us about how the Prophet of Allah addresses the different incidents that occurred in his life. How he dealt with friends, family and government. These are considered as teachings that Muslims must adhere to. The term "Sunni" denotes those who claim to practice these usages, as part of the Umma

What is Taoism?

Taoism  is a philosophical and religious tradition. Taoism was several times nominated as state religion in the historey of China. It was suppressed in the first decades of the communist era but continued to be practised in Taiwan. Taoisim is also called Daoism. The term Tao means the way, the path or the principle.Tao is difficult to explain. It is believed that everything is connected and unified with Tao.

Tao

Tao can be be interpreted as road, channel, path, doctrine, or line. According to the tradition, Tao is indescribable. It refers to something nameless, natural, eternal and spontaneous.  It has variously been denoted as the flow of the universe", a conceptually necessary ontological ground, or a demonstration of nature. The Tao also is something that individuals can find immanent in themselves.

Wu-wei

Taoist philosophy proposes that the universe works harmoniously according to its own ways. When someone exerts their will against the world, they disrupt that harmony. Taoism does not identify one's will as the root problem. Rather, it asserts that one must place their will in harmony with the natural universe. Thus, a potentially harmful interference is to be avoided, and in this way, goals can be achieved effortlessly.

Naturalness

The primordial state. The one an individual must identify with. To attain naturalness, one has to free oneself from selfishness and desire, and appreciate simplicity.

The Three Trasures

The Three Treasures (also called Three Jewels) are basic virtues in Taoism comprising Compassion, Moderation, and Humility. They are also translated as kindness, simplicity (or the absence of excess), and modesty.

Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces, such as action and non-action, light and dark, hot and cold, and so on,  are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world; and, how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

The Bahá'í Faith is one of the latest world's major religions. Here are some fects about this religion.

• It is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century in Persia.
• The religion emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. That is to say the faith acceptsall religions as having true and valid origins
• There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.
• In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers such as Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people
• For Baha'is, the most recent messengers are the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow.
• Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale

Religions of the world (video)

Religions of the world (video)

This is an introduction to World Religions

Hallowmas or Triduum of All Saints

Hallowmas is a three day celebration. It includes the Western Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve (Hallowe'en), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Soul's Day. It lasts from October 31 to November 2 every year.
The word Hallowmas come the Old English word halig, meaning saint, and the word mass. This celebration is also known as the Triduum of All Hallows or Triduum of All Saints.

All Hallows' Eve

The first day of Hallowmas is called all Hallows' Eve. It is often shortened as Hallowe'en. It is the eve of All Saints' Day. It is said that, on this occasion, the veil between the material world and the afterlife thinned. In order not to be recognized by souls,people would wear masks or costumes to disguise their identities.

All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day occurs on November first and is a principal feast of the church year. It is the second day of Hallowmas. It is also one of the four days recommended for the administration of baptism. The occasion is considered to be a holy day to honor all the saints and martyrs, both known and unknown.

All Soul's Day

All Souls' Day is the last day of Hallowmas. It focuses on honoring all faithful Christians. The celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass.
 Source: Wikipedia

The Narrative of Alexander the Great in the Quran

Alexander the Great or Dhul-Qarnayn

Muslim scholars have linked the narrative of  Dhul-Qarnayn in the Quran with the story of Alexander the Great. The first to have identified this link is the Muslim hagiographer Ibn Hisham (?-833 AD) in the Sira literature.

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn

Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in only one place in the Qur'an, specifically in Surah Al-Kahf. The Qur'anic story tells about a man called Dhul-Qarnayn, the translation of which is literally "the Two-Horned". It is said that the legend of the man was known to the people of the region. In the Qur'an, Dhul-Qarnayn who was given great power by Allah, traveled to the rising place and setting place of the sun. There, he found the sun setting in a murky (or boiling) sea. He built a wall in order to enclose the nations of Gog and Magog. It is thought that Gog and Magog will breach Dhul-Qarnayn's wall before Yaum al-Qiyāmah (the Day of Judgement) and will wreak havoc in the world.

Verses

They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story."
18:83

Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.
18:84

One (such) way he followed,
18:85

Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: near it he found a people: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority), either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."
18:86

He said: "Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before).
18:87

"But whoever believes, and works righteousness, he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task as we order it by our command."
18:88

Then followed he (another) way.
18:89

Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.
18:90

(He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him.
18:91

Then followed he (another) way.
18:92

Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word.
18:93

They said: "O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog (people) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier [wall] between us and them?"
18:94

He said: "(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute): help me therefore with strength (and labour): I will erect a strong barrier [wall] between you and them:
18:95

"Bring me blocks of iron." At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain sides, he said, "Blow (with your bellows)" then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead."
18:96

Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.
18:97

He said: "This is a mercy from my Lord: but when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it into dust; and the promise of my Lord is true."
18:98

On that day We shall leave them [Gog and Magog] to surge like waves on one another: the trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together.
18:99

Source: Wikipedia

Ten minutes meditation

This is a great talk about meditation and its benefits by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk. He co-founded Headspace, a project to make meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. Puddicombe also writes prolifically for the Huffington Post and the Guardian, on the benefits of mindful thinking for healthy living.
In this video Andy Puddicombe wants to make the point that meditation can be accessible to everybody and that a ten minutes meditation a day can have a great impact on one's life in terms of  happiness and health.

Who is a jew?

One of the special things about Judaism is the label of being a Jew. Can anyone be a jew? Or is it enough for me to convert to Judaism to be a jew?
Jews believe that a Jew is someone who is the child of a Jewish mother. Some groups also accept children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. A Jew traditionally can't lose the status of being a Jew by adopting another faith, but they do lose the religious element of their Jewish identity. It is also possible for someone who isn't born a Jew can convert to Judaism, but it is very difficult to do so.

Evolution of Morality & Survival of the Fittest

Discovering Religion: Ep 24 - Evolution of Morality & Survival of the Fittest

Islamophobia

What is Islamophobia?

Simply put, Islamophobia is prejudice against, hatred towards, or irrational fear of Muslims. This definition involves many things:

• Dread or hatred of Islam undoubtedly leads to fear and dislike of all Muslims 
• Fear results in discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life.
• The defintion leads to the adoption of opinions that Islam has no values in common with other cultures.
• The definition also underestimates the value of Islam and considers it inferior to the West.
• The definition suggests that all that Islam is about is what Muslims show in their behavior and that those Muslims represent the true nature of Islam. 
• Islam is considered by some non-Muslims as problematic to a multicultural society. 
• The term "phobia" implies that the fear of Muslims, Islam, or Islamism, is entirely irrational.

 Causes of Islamophobia
 the underlying concept of the term islamophobia have been criticized. Islam has long been stereotyped unjustly negatively and the emergence of the concept has many causes.

• Islam is considered by many Westerners as a violent political ideology rather than a religion.
• The shameful deeds of some fanatics have had a detrimental consequence on the image of Islam worldwide.
•  Luck of understanding of the true values of Islam.
• The term may have appeared because of racist reasons away from any objective knowledge of Islam.

Biblical figures in Islam

Islam, Christianity and Judaism

It may be surprising for some Christians and jews to know that there are many Biblical figures which the Qur'an names. Those biblical figures that go unnamed in the Qur'an are referenced or referred to in the hadiths, tafsirs, literature or sira.

Biblical figures in Islam

Bible	Qur'an pronunciation
Aaron	Hārūn
Abel	Hābīl
Abraham	Ibrāhīm
Adam	Ādam
Amram	‘Imrān
Cain	Qābīl
David	Dāwūd
The Apostles	al-Ḥawariyyūn
Eber	Hūd
Elijah (Elias)	Ilyās
Elisha	al-Yasa‘
Enoch	Idrīs
Ezekiel	Dhū l-Kifl
Ezra	‘Uzayr
Gabriel	Jibrīl
Goliath	Jālūt
Haman	Hāmān
Isaac	Isḥāq
Ishmael	Ismā‘īl
Jacob	Ya‘qūb
Jethro also called Reuel	Shu‘ayb
Jesus	‘Īsā
Joachim	‘Imrān
Job	Ayyūb
John the Baptist	Yaḥyā
Jonah	Yūnus
Joseph	Yūsuf
Joseph's brothers	Yūsuf's brothers
Korah	Qārūn
Lot	Lūṭ
Lot's wife	Lūṭ's wife
Mary	Maryam
Miriam	Mūsā's sister
Michael	Mīkāl (in the Qur’an); Mikā’īl (elsewhere)
Moses	Mūsā
Noah	Nūḥ
Pharaoh	Fir‘awn
Potiphar	al-‘Azīz
Potiphar's wife	al-‘Azīz's wife; Zulaykhā
Queen of Sheba	Queen of Saba’; Bilqīs
Samuel	Ṣamū‘īl
Saul the King	Ţālūt
Satan or Devil	Iblīs or Shayṭān
Shem, Ham, and Japheth	Nūḥ's sons
Solomon	Sulaymān
Terah	Āzar
Zechariah	Zakariyyā

Prayer in Islam

Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars being the following:

1. the shahada (Islamic creed) 
2. daily prayers (salah) 
3. almsgiving (zakāt) 
4. fasting during the month of Ramadan (sawm) 
5. the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime.

Muslims observe their Prayers to show devotion and obedience to Allah. The purpose of Salah in Islam is to act as a person's communication with and remembrance of God. This  prayer is a ritualistic prayer called salah or salat in Arabic, facing the Kaaba in Mecca, five times a day. The command to pray is in the Quran in several chapters. The prophet Muhammed showed each Muslim the true method of offering prayers thus the same method is observed till date.

The five prayers

The times of the five prayers are as follows:

1. near dawn (fajr), 
2. after midday has passed and the sun starts to tilt downwards / Noon (dhuhr or ẓuhr), 
3. in the afternoon (asr), 
4. just after sunset (maghrib) 
5. and around nightfall ('isha').

How to pray

There is the "call for prayer" (adhan or azaan), where the muezzin calls for all the followers to stand together for the prayer. Then the prayer proceeds as fommows:

• The prayer consists of standing, by mentioning -àllàh o -àkbàr (God is great) 
• This is followed by recitation of the first chapter of the Quran Fatihah after which another ayah may be recited.
•  Afterwards the person bends and praises God, then prostrates and again praises God. 
• The prayer ends with the following words: "Peace and blessings be upon you".

During the prayer a Muslim cannot talk or do anything else besides praying. Once the prayer is complete, one can offer voluntary prayers or supplicate -àllàh for his needs. 

Historical account of the rise of christianity

This is a presentation by Dan Ewert. The objectives of the presentaion are listed below:

• Know the basic path of Jesus’s life. 
• For what reasons he was executed.
• Know the importance of Paul to the spread of Christianity (and what he did that was so important to the spread). 
• Know what factors helped the faith spread (both logistical, like the Pax Romana, and why the faith was appealing to people). 
• Know why Christians were persecuted for their faith. 
• Know the importance of Constantine to the rise of Christianity and the effects of what he did. 
• What were the downsides of Constantine? 

6.3 - The Rise Of Christianity from Dan Ewert

Abrahamic Religions

Abrahamic Religions

In this presentaion, you will find a description of Abrahamic religions, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Abrahamic Religions from montathomas