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Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with approximately 2.3 billion and 1.8 billion adherents, respectively. Both religions are Abrahamic and monotheistic, having originated in the Middle East.
Liberalism and progressivism within Islam involve professed Muslims who have created a considerable body of progressive thought about Islamic understanding and practice. Their work is sometimes characterized as "progressive Islam". Some scholars, such as Omid Safi, differentiate between "progressive Muslims" versus "liberal advocates of Islam". Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th–19th centuries. Liberal and progressive ideas within Islam are considered controversial by some traditional Muslims, who criticize liberal Muslims on the grounds of being too Western and/or rationalistic.
Arab Christians are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic speakers, who follow Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, but are concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant and Egypt, with smaller communities present throughout the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
Over the centuries of Islamic history, Muslim rulers, Islamic scholars, and ordinary Muslims have held many different attitudes towards other religions. Attitudes have varied according to time, place and circumstance.
In Islam, the terms ḥanīf and ḥunafā' are primarily used to refer to pre-Islamic Arabians who were Abrahamic monotheists. These people are regarded in a favourable light for shunning Arabian polytheism and solely worshipping the God of Abraham, thus setting themselves apart from what is known as jahiliyyah. However, it is emphasized that they were not associated with Judaism or Christianity—and instead adhered to a unique monotheistic faith that exemplified the unaltered beliefs and morals of Abraham. The word is found twelve times in the Quran: ten times in the singular form and twice in the plural form. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a ḥanīf and a direct descendant of Abraham's eldest son Ishmael. Likewise, all Islamic prophets and messengers before Muhammad—that is, those affiliated with Judaism and/or Christianity, such as Moses and Jesus—are classified as ḥunafā' to underscore their God-given infallibility.
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion, but also blasphemy or heresy by those who consider themselves Muslims, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam. An apostate from Islam is known as a murtadd (مرتدّ).
Criticism of Islam is questioning or challenging the beliefs, practices, and doctrines of Islam. Criticism of Islam can take many forms, including academic critiques, political criticism, and personal opinions.
Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census, religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.
Religion in Iraq dates back to Ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 3500 BC and 400 AD, after which they largely gave way to Judaism, followed by Syriac Christianity and later to Islam. Iraq consists of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-sectarian population, all living together in one geographical area. The Iraqi civilization was built by peoples and nations, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Persians, Turks, Arabs, and Babylonians. Religious and cultural circumstances have helped Arabs to become the majority of Iraq’s population today, followed by Kurds, Turkmen, and other nationalities.
Muslim scholars have developed a spectrum of viewpoints on science within the context of Islam. Scientists of medieval Muslim civilization contributed to the new discoveries in science. From the eighth to fifteenth century, Muslim mathematicians and astronomers furthered the development of mathematics. Concerns have been raised about the lack of scientific literacy in parts of the modern Muslim world.
Islam is the largest religion in Morocco, with more than 99% of the population adhering to it. The largest subset of Muslims in Morocco are Maliki Sunni; other numerous groups include practitioners of Zahirism and non-denominational Muslims. Islam is the nation's state religion. Blasphemy against Islam is a punishable offense.
The ideas and practices of the leaders, preachers, and movements of the Islamic revival movement known as Islamism have been criticized by non-Muslims and Muslims.
Alhayat TV, also known as Life TV, is an evangelical Christian Arabic-language television channel that airs in countries in North Africa, West Asia, the Middle East, America, Canada, Australia and some of Europe.
The main religion in Morocco is Sunni Islam, which is also the state religion of the country. Officially, 99% of the population are Muslim, and virtually all of those are Sunni. The second-largest religion in the country is Christianity, but most Christians in Morocco are foreigners. There is a community of the Baháʼí Faith. Only a fraction of the former number of Maghrebi Jews have remained in the country, many having moved to Israel.
Ishmael is regarded by Muslims as an Islamic prophet. Born to Abraham and Hagar, he is the namesake of the Ishmaelites, who were descended from him. In Islam, he is associated with Mecca and the construction of the Kaaba within today's Masjid al-Haram, which is the holiest Islamic site. Muslims also consider him to be a direct ancestor to Muhammad. His paternal half-brother was Isaac, the forefather of the Israelites.
Ex-Muslims are individuals who were raised as Muslims or converted to Islam and later chose to leave the religion. These individuals may encounter challenges related to the conditions and history of Islam, Islamic culture and jurisprudence, as well as local Muslim culture. In response, ex-Muslims have formed literary and social movements, as well as mutual support networks and organizations, to address the difficulties associated with leaving Islam and to raise awareness of human rights issues they may face.
The situation for apostates from Islam varies markedly between Muslim-minority and Muslim-majority regions. In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". But in some Muslim-majority countries, religious violence is "institutionalised", and "hundreds and thousands of closet apostates" live in fear of violence and are compelled to live lives of "extreme duplicity and mental stress."
Hicham Nostik born in 1976 in Taza, Morocco, is a Moroccan writer, podcaster and YouTuber, living in Canada, most known for his outspoken stance against Islam and religion in general, expressed through his books, podcasts and comedy videos, in Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic.
References
- ↑ اعلامي مغربي معتنق “المسيحيّة” يثير جدلاً واسعاً: ليس للوضوء أي سبب معقول
- ↑ Le Desk: "Le coming out des Marocains protestants" by Hicham Oulmouddane July 14, 2016
- 1 2 "Arab broadcast ridicules boycott of Jewish products" By Aryeh Savir, San Diego Jewish World, March 10, 2014
- 1 2 3 4 Morocco World News: "Moroccan Converts to Christianity told their stories" 10 February 2013
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ministries Network - Our Hosts: "Brother Rachid" Archived 2017-02-23 at the Wayback Machine retrieved September 4, 2014
- ↑ CBN: "Former Muslim Says Obama is Wrong About Islam" by Dale Hurd February 5, 2016
- ↑ Christian Aid Mission: "Facing Islamic Hostility with Gentleness" Archived 2016-07-24 at the Wayback Machine July 21, 2016
- ↑ Gospel Herald: "Christian Man Once Persecuted by Muslims Risks Life to Share Gospel; Converts Thousands" by LEAH MARIE ANN KLETT July 25, 2016
- ↑ Al Hayat Ministries, Our Supporters Archived 2015-04-05 at the Wayback Machine , Official Website, USA, retrieved August 1, 2017
- ↑ Naomi Sakr, Arab Television Today, I.B.Tauris, UK, 2007, p. 152
- ↑ Omar Abdel-Razak, bbc.co.uk, Conversion Wars, UK, August 9, 2010
- 1 2 3 Western Journalism: "Watch: This Former Muslim Just Sent Obama A Wake Up Call On ISIS That Is An Absolute Must-See" by Tom Hinchey Archived 2014-09-05 at the Wayback Machine September 4, 2014
- ↑ New York Times: "How ISIS Drives Muslims From Islam" by THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN December 6, 2014
- ↑ Charisma News: "With So Many Muslims Finding Christ, Could Islam Fall?" by Dale Hurd June 1, 2015
- ↑ Christian Today: "More Egyptians, Saudis becoming atheists after finding out what Islam really is, says Christian convert" by Hazel Torres 28 July 2016
- ↑ CBN News: "Accepting Muslim Refugees: American Charity over National Safety?" by Dale Hurd January 7, 2016