America’s Founding Fathers and Islam by James Hutson

2 December 2012

The US Library of Congress contains the papers of 23 presidents, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. Manuscript Division Chief James Hutson draws upon the papers of Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other primary documents to discuss the relationship of Islam to the new nation.

Please click: America’s Founding Fathers and Islam: A Brief Discussion Based on Documents at the Library of Congress

George Washington’s 1785 letter wherein he declared that he would welcome “Mohometans” to Mount Vernon if they were “good workmen.” Image credit: Library of Congress. Please click for article

The Hajj by Naser-e Khosraw, from Michael Wolfe’s “One Thousand Roads to Mecca”

23 October 2012

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IN PART III OF NASER-E KHOSRAW’S TRAVELS

“….The tallest mountain near Mecca is Abu Qubays, which is round like a dome, so that if you shoot an arrow from the foot of the mountain it reaches its top.…Having come into the city, you enter the Haram Mosque, approach the Ka’ba, and circumambulate….. always keeping the Ka‘ba to your left [shoulder]. Then you go to the corner containing the Black Stone, kiss it, and pass on….”

Naser-e Khosraw’s Pilgrimages to Mecca

A bird’s-eye view of the Ka’ba crowded with pilgrims. The photo is from the archives of the US Library of Congress and was created by American Colony (Jerusalem), Photo Dept., in 1910. Please click for article by Naser-e Khosraw.

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Previous posts in the four-part series (the above is Part III):

Naser-e Khosraw’s Pilgrimages to Mecca: From “One Thousand Roads to Mecca” Edited by Michael Wolfe (Part I)
Naser-e Khosraw in Fatimid Cairo: From “One Thousand Roads to Mecca” Edited by Michael Wolfe (Part II

A Story from ‘Pyara Imam ni Pyari Wato’: Historical Memories by Sairab Abuturabi and Jaferali Bhalwani

1 September 2012

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Loving Tales of our Beloved Imams: (I) Farazdaq’s Praise and Support of Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.)

“…This tale belongs to ages past. It goes back to the era of Hazrat Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.), our third Imam, from whose veins was to ensue the Divine Line of the Imams. He was the Imam who, on the battlefield of Karbala, received the nass of Imamat from his father, Hazrat Imam Hussain (a.s.) with the blessing: “Through you the line of Imamat will continue till the Day of Judgment…”