Editor’s letter from the January-March 2012 print issue Boundless thanks to Almighty and All-Merciful Allah for granting us the ability to communicate with each other again through the13th issue of The Pen magazine. Despite all its hardships, life presents us with opportunities to submit our grateful feelings to the Creator and indeed this is what makes life worth living. We decided to address the general perception of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) as the cover topic of this issue, a highly controversial topic these days. Even…
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Are you afraid of Death?
This question comes to everybody. No matter who we are or how we live or in which position we act the reality of death never changes. In a certain time and place, in one way or another it will come and we will leave this world with the visit of Azrael, the angel of death. Death is not annihilation and absolute non-existence; it is rather an act, a change of abode, and the spirit’s liberation from its place of confinement. (Signs of Miraculousness-From the Risale-i Nur Collection) It is all…
Read MoreTruth, to be told
As I was still a little kid, just after acquiring the ability to read, I started devouring many many books, as they were whole new worlds to be discovered. It happens that; just around this time, as I was realizing many alien-then things, an image both standing out and outstanding would be with me, guiding, for many years to come: After his elevation by revelations, he then would step on a physical one to call out to the people whom he knew all his life. He would then ask them;…
Read MoreThe Prophetic Governance : Justice and Mercy
Since the beginning of human history to the modern times, in the places where a few people gathered there had always been kings, lords, khans, sultans, shahs, pashas, ameers and any kind of authorities with their ideology, belief, system and hierarchy to govern the rest of the people. Sovereignty and power struggles had been going on among rival groups in the communities and when a group grabbed the power and authority what they did first was to eliminate their rivals. On the other hand these sovereignties in the history, eastern…
Read MoreHoly Birth celebrations in Turkey: Understanding Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Muslims in Turkey celebrate the birth of our beloved prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in April every year. Seminars, panels, and various programmes are held for weeks. Scholars, writers and educators give speech about the life, moral (akhlaq) and personality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Celebrating this holy birth brings benefit to us. Society has got the opportunity to attend many lectures about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). University graduates, high school students, people who even have not studied at high school participate in these programmes. This is not something remarkable that the education of…
Read MoreParaclete
How Will We Know that “Paraclete” Mentioned in the Bible Refers to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)? Prophet Jesus (pbuh) talked in Hebrew (Aramaic) not in Latin. Therefore the Bible was in Aramaic. Later it was translated into Greek and Latin. The most important distortions happened during these translations. As it did with the word Paraclete… The meaning of Paraclete in Greek is “a comforter” and another meaning is “someone who is pleaded to”. With the later meaning the word “Paraclytos” cannot be used as a name to describe anyone. It is…
Read MoreHumane Perfection of Prophet Muhammad
Say thou: “I am but a man like you: It is revealed to me by Inspiration, that your Allah is one Allah.” (Al Fussialat, 6) Two basic characteristics of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have been mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an which is the obvious and certain endorsement of the Qur’an and also called as nass. One is his Prophethood and the other is his humane aspect. A poet has said: محمد بشر لا كالبشر بل هو كالياقوت بين الحجر Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a human, but not like others. Whatever the…
Read MoreA Generation Knowing Their Prophet
Man reaches maturity by imitating: he imitates his parents, his teacher, and older ones; shortly man imitates his loved ones. He resembles his loved ones and gets the colour of his loved ones. Does knowing the life of Prophet (PBUH) mean really knowing Him? Not in my opinion! To know your Messenger is not just about knowing who he is or his life story. In this context, I probably would not be wrong to say that the current biographies of Prophet are insufficient in some aspect. Bediuzzaman’s explanation of the…
Read MoreThe Existence of Allah necessitates the Existence of Prophets
Each and every one of the pillars of Islamic faith is like a sun that cannot be extinguished or denied by anyone. Whoever closes his/her eyes makes it dark for himself/herself, because the sun is out there, bright as ever. All the pillars of faith have such strong and inter-dependent proofs that they cannot be destroyed. Unbelievers deny Islam and its truths completely, whereas, there are others who believe in Allah or the existence of a god, but do not believe in the other fundamentals of religion, such as prophethood,…
Read MoreThe Qissas In The Qur’an and The Meaning Which They Give Into Life
Al-qissa is the news about the historical figures and events in the Qur’an and it is the knowledge of all these news included in the Qur’an. In the dictionary it is explained as “to trace somebody and follow him/her; to inform somebody about a news or speech”. As a term it comprises every sort of event such as stories as narration or the fact or imaginary events that can be told about. That is why they do not use the word “story” for the qissas in the Qur’an. Then, the…
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