Extremist and Jihadist groups suffer of a chronic problem that causes a great rift between their ideology and to what extent does that doctrine concord with the true teachings of the Islamic religion. This ideological and historical dilemma stems from the fact that most leaders and ideologues in such movements are non-specialists in Sharia and Islamic studies, and don’t in the first place possess sufficiently extensive knowledge in the studies of the Quran and Sunnah which they are supposed to base their fatwas of legalizing bloodshed on. What troubles me is always wondering about why didn’t any senior scholars of ... Read More

The terrorist groups have accustomed us to killing and bombing in the holy month of Ramadan. With the arrival of the holy month, Daesh has been quick to remind us of its despicable atrocities by the suicide bombing of all the members of three families, young and old, in churches of the city of Surabaya, Indonesia. We have not forgotten the extent of Daesh’s madness when it targeted the Great Mosque of Mecca in Ramadan 2017, and its failed attempt to target the fasting Muslims in the Haram Al-Madinah in Ramadan in 2016. Since Daesh, Muslims have witnessed countless bloody ... Read More

There is no doubt the meeting between King Salman and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in Riyadh last week was historic. Although the late King Abdullah held a groundbreaking meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 — the first time a Saudi ruler had met with a pope in the Vatican — the official visit of Cardinal Tauran was the first to Saudi Arabia by a senior Catholic figure. The meeting emphasized the importance of the role of followers of religions in renouncing violence and achieving stability, which was also the message stressed during ... Read More

Statistics indicate that three-quarters of the conflicts that have erupted among people are of intellectual and cultural origins, which arose due to linguistic, religious, cultural or ethnic differences among human groups. These conflicts also erupted due to sensitivities and fanaticism that led to frequent clashes that characterized the history of man on the planet, prompting some pessimistic historians to describe the history of man as merely a history of wars. Lawrence H. Keeley, mentions in his book “War Before Civilization”, that nearly 90-95% of societies known throughout history have participated at least in one war, and that most people have ... Read More

Islamic heritage books is full of stories and debates which were held by early Kharijites, who appeared during the first century of Islam. Among the most famous debates were the ones held by Abdullah Bin Abbas and Omar Bin Abdulaziz. These two debates were the most famous to the extent they over shadowed other debates, in which scholars sat approaches based on the teachings of Al-Quran, to debunk the claims of Kharijites. One of these debates was between Wahb Ibn Munabbih and a man called Zu Khawlan from Yemen, who showed sympathy with the Kharijites, paying them their compulsory annual ... Read More