Religions

Middle East Religions

A Story from the 7th Century

The old Christian man had worked hard all his life. Now he was old, ill, blind, and reduced to begging on a street corner. One day, Hazrat Ali (the cousin of Prophet Mohammad) chanced to see him. He wondered: “What misfortune has befallen this old man? Doesn’t he have a son to care for him? How sad that he has to suffer the indignity of begging in the street.”

He asked all the old man’s friends what had happened. Everyone said that the old Christian had been a hard worker but had no savings, and no family. “What a shame!” Hazrat Ali said. “As long as he was strong and able, he worked and served the society. All of us benefited from his labor, directly or indirectly. How can we forsake him now?”

And he ordered the Treasury of Muslims to pay the old man his full sustenance as long as he lived.

(Adapted from Al-Bushra, Arab Roman Catholic Community)

OUR CHOICES

Cornell University: A good overall source for learning about Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

Judaism/Jewish Resources: Excellent, extensive gateway to world Judaism.

Al-Bushra: Christians and Muslims working together.

Subject outline for this section

Comprehensive Sources

Islam

University Islamic Studies Departments

Comprehensive Sources

Cornell University This link is really about all things religious in the Middle East, from Zoroastrianism, Druze, and Bahá'í, to contemporary issues.

Islam

Council on American Islamic Relations CAIR presents an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public. It is a non-profit, grassroots membership organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Hajj Information Center Wide ranging resource on contemporary Islam, from learning about the religion, news and much, much more.

Islamic Radio Listen to teachings and Call for Prayers and much else.

Muslim News Service Ummah.com provides news for the Muslim community, as well as anyone looking for information on Islam.

Muslim Public Affairs Council The Muslim Public Affairs Council (founded 1988) is a public service agency working for the civil rights of American Muslims, for the integration of Islam into American pluralism, and for a positive, constructive relationship between American Muslims and their representatives.

Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (founded 1999) is a non-profit academic organization, based in Washington DC, dedicated to studying Islamic and democratic political thought and merging them into a modern Islamic democratic discourse.

Glossary of Islamic Terms and Concepts A quick way to look up terms that you may not be familiar with.

Islamic religion This is another reference to the Cornell site, and for good reason. Many aspects of Islam are brought together on this page.

Islamic Philosophy Online This rather anonymous and bare-bones site is full of philosophical writings, articles, and journals dealing with many aspects of Islam.

University Islamic Studies Departments

Cornell Cornell probably has a disproportionate number of links in this section, but it's because someone has spent a lot of time putting together their Middle East and Islamic Studies Collection. This is to the main page.

Dartmouth Kevin Reinhart, who teaches at Dartmouth, keeps this jumbled source of Islamic information. It's not pretty at all, but it has good content.

Rutgers Many links to good sources on Islam. Maintained by the Rutgers Religion Deparment.

University of Georgia This Islamic Studies website covers the areas of Islam, Arabic, and Religion (focusing on Western religions). It contains a non-polemical view of Islam (including Sunni Islam, Shi'ism, and Sufism) and to a lesser extent of Judaism and Christianity.

Christianity

Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Founded in 1999 by an ecumenical group of American Christians to inform American Christians of the plight of Palestinian Christians...based in Silver Springs, MD.

Come And See Come and See is from Nazareth and works to inform Christians about what is happening in the Middle East. Covers issues related to the Christian faith, the Christian presence and Human Rights Issues. In addition, it brings you up-to-date stories about local ministries and churches.

Palestinian Liberation Theology Jerusalem-based Christian-Palestinian center exploring Liberation Theology (Sabeel.org)

Christian Communities in Palestine/Israel From TravelNet (in Israel). TravelNet does country travel guides (also Jordan, Spain, Portugal, Romania).

Arab Roman Catholic Community Al-Bushra.org is from the Arab Roman Catholic Community in the US. Al-Bushra (from Arabic, means good news), was created by Rev. Labib Kobti from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jerusalem) who serves now the Arab American Roman Catholic Community in California, USA.

The Melkite Church The modern Melkite Church has Damascus as its Partriachal See and has about 450,000 followers in the Middle East, primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. It was formed in the 17th century when some members of the clergy split from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. This website really doesn't work that well but we're including it because has promise. It currently has information on Christian Churches in Lebanon.

Resources for the Study of Christian Origins This site is maintained as a personal effort by Justin Meggitt, who teaches at Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University. It pulls together a wide range of topics, including archaeology, anthropology, biographical resources, and a lot more.

Literature of the early Christian Church THE ST. PACHOMIUS LIBRARY seeks to make the literature of the early Christian Church available to all in electronic form -- for free!

History of the Christian Church This is an online rendition of an eight volume chuch history, from Jesus through the Protestant Reformation by the 19th century historian, Philip Schaaf. It's a text interface and fast, easy to use.

Judaism

Judaism and Jewish Resources Andrew Tannenbaum, who lives in Brookline MA, keeps this extensive site which lists links to the Jewish world and Israel. Well done with brief descriptions.

Judaism 101 This site is created, written and maintained by Tracey Rich who is a traditional, observant Jew who has put in a lot of research. Tracey Rich is a member of the Congregation Or Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Chester County, PA.

Judaism From Columbia University Libraries.

Other Faiths

Zoroastrianism Comprehensive site about Zoroastrianism.

Coptic Orthodox Church Coptic Orthodox Church.

Druze Faith The Druze are a clanish and secretive faith, but you can learn about them through this website. Some of the parts of this site did not work, please let us know if you find this to be the case too.

The Bahá'í Faith Jump page to Bahá'í sites around the world.

Interfaith Dialogue

Interfaith dialogue Subscribe to this traditional newsgroup for interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

Moslems & Christian Working Together Part of Al-Bushra (Arab American Roman Catholic Community).

Last Updated: 8/21/02 9:52:06 AM

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