ALTMUSLIM and HUFFINGTON POST Guess where in the world candidates for political office are pandering to religious conservatives, using religious imagery in political advertisement and participating in political forums in houses of worship? Where some voters are unwilling to support candidates because they do not belong to the majority faith, dismissing a candidate...

Question - I have an impression that Islam, like Judaism, is a bit legalistic.  Even though I consider myself a rationalist, I am convinced that Christianity is an emotional response to God and Christ.  Christ’s great teaching is “to love your lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and to love your neighbor as...

Question – What is the origin of polygamy in Islam? Was it a “revelation” or economic necessity or a result of Muhammad’s lifestyle? Is it common about Arab tribes? The sacred texts of Islam, Christianity and Judaism do not explicitly prohibit polygamy or polygyny (a man married to more than one woman at a time). Biblical prophets, like Muhammad, practiced...

Question – What is the difference between Islam and Muslims? Islam is a religion or faith. Muslims are the people who follow the religion or faith of Islam. As an analogy consider this – Christianity is the faith. Christians are the people who follow the religion of Christianity. Judaism is the faith. Jews are the people who follow the religion of...

Question – On what basis do today’s terrorists justify their actions as Islamic? Justifying acts of violence in the name of religion has been part of human history since the dawn of civilization. The history of Muslims is no exception. In contemporary times we find al-Qaeda, in general, and Osama bin Laden, in particular, conflating political rhetoric...

Question – What is the global distribution of Muslim population? The Pew Forum has completed an interesting study on the Muslim population worldwide. Muslims make up 1.57 billion of the 6.8 billion people worldwide. Muslims make-up 1 in 5 people in the world. More than 300 million Muslims live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. In India...