Learning

Core Curriculum

Section 1 - God, Religion and Islam: An Introduction

Topic 1.1 - God, Allah and Religion
Topic 1.2 - What is “Religion” and What’s the Point of it Anyways?
Topic 1.3 - Introduction to Islam
Topic 1.4 - A Brief Introduction to the Prophet Muhammad (s), the Prophet of Islam

Section 2 - Foundations of Islam - Theology

Topic 2.1 - Satan, Jinns and Angels: Their Influence in the World
Topic 2.2 - The Islamic Concept of the Nafs: Battling the Human Ego
Topic 2.3 - The Sharīʿa: Purpose and Practice
Topic 2.4 - Nubuwwa: The Purpose of Prophethood in Islam
Topic 2.5 - Tawhīd: The Unity and Oneness of God in Islam
Topic 2.6 - The Usūl al-Dīn: The Fundamental Beliefs of Islam
Topic 2.7 - Adala: Divine Justice in Islam
Topic 2.8 - Entering Islam: The Shahada
Topic 2.9 - Maʿād: The Day of Judgment in Islam
Topic 2.10 - Imāmah or divinely guided leadership in Islam after the Prophet Muhammad.

Section 3 - Foundations of Islam - Obligatory Acts

Topic 3.1 - Accepting Islam: Putting Faith into Action
Topic 3.2 - The Furūʿ al-Dīn: The Fundamental Practices of Islam
Topic 3.3 - Salāt: Obligatory Ritual Prayers in Islam
Topic 3.4 - Fasting in Islam, its Purpose, Dos and Don’ts
Topic 3.5 - The Hajj Pilgrimage
Topic 3.6 - The Purpose of Zakat and Khums in Islamic Law
Topic 3.7 - Jihād in Islamic Law and Spirituality
Topic 3.8 - Commanding the Good and Forbidding Evil in Islam
Topic 3.9 - Tawalla and Tabarra, its Basics and Purpose
Topic 3.10 - The Five Categories of Islamic Law
Topic 3.11 - Niyya: Religious Intention as the Foundation of Islamic Practice
Topic 3.12 - Ritual Purity in Islamic Law: Understanding Tahāra and Najāsa
Topic 3.13 - Other Obligatory and Forbidden Acts in Islam

Section 4 - Prophethood in Islam

Topic 4.1 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Childhood (PART I of III)
Topic 4.2 - Bio: The Prophet Muhammad as a Prophet of God (PART II of III)
Topic 4.3 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Character (PART III of III)
Topic 4.4 - The Prophet Muhammad (s) as Messenger and Teacher
Topic 4.5 - The Prophet and his Relationships
Topic 4.6 - The Prophet’s Sunnah and Hadith
Topic 4.7 - Ghadīr and Arafah: The Two Last Sermons of the Prophet
Topic 4.8 - Jesus and Mary in Islam

Section 5 - The Qur'an and Hadith

Topic 5.1 - Islam and Other Religions
Topic 5.2 - What is the Qur’an? A Short Introduction to Islam’s Holy Book
Topic 5.3 - The Structure of the Holy Qur’an
Topic 5.4 - The Quran and Islamic law
Topic 5.5 - The Qur’an, Allah and Humankind
Topic 5.6 - Hadith and Sunnah, difference and variations
Topic 5.7 - The Reliability of Hadiths
Topic 5.8 - A Reflection on Verses of the Holy Qur’an
Topic 5.9 - Hadith al-Thaqalayn
Topic 5.10 - Imam Ali (as) and Nahj al-Balagha.
Topic 5.11 - Taqlid and Tawḍih Al Masail Genre of Literature

Section 6 - Measuring Good and Bad in Islam

Topic 6.1 - Guidance According to Islam
Topic 6.2 - Life and Death in Islam
Topic 6.3 - Heaven and Hell in Islam
Topic 6.4 - The Effects of Our Actions in this World
Topic 6.5 - The Gray Areas of Islamic Law and Morality
Topic 6.6 - Benefits of Islamic Law in this World
Topic 6.7 - Good and Bad Deeds: The Spiritual Consequences of our Choices
Topic 6.8 - The Effect of Culture and Environment in Shaping our Religious Choices
Topic 6.9 - Fate and the Consequences of our Choices in Islam
Topic 6.10 - Trivializing the Harām
Topic 6.11 - Sinning Against Others and their Delayed Punishment
Topic 6.12 - The Three Kinds of Rights in Islam
Topic 6.13 - Major Sins in Islam
Topic 6.14 - Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins in Islam
Topic 6.15 - Kufr in Islam
Topic 6.16 - Why Allah Allows People to Sin

Section 7 - The Legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (as)

Topic 7.1 - Islam and Knowledge: the Importance of Islamic Education
Topic 7.2 - The Ahl al-Kisa
Topic 7.3 - Imamah in the Qur’an
Topic 7.4 - Fatima al-Zahrah (as)
Topic 7.5 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam al-Hasan until Imam Muhammad al-Baqir)
Topic 7.6 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam Jafar al-Sadiq until Imam Hasan al-Askari)
Topic 7.7 - A Brief Look at the Life and Importance of Imam al-Mahdi (aj)
Topic 7.8 - Salawat and Atonement in Islam
Topic 7.9 - The Companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet According to the Qur’an
Topic 7.10 - Clerical Hierarchies in Muslim Communities
Topic 7.11 - Mosques in Islam
Topic 7.12 - The Philosophy of Karbala and Majalis
Topic 7.13 - A Brief Biography of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as)
Topic 7.14 - The Battle of Karbala: A Brief History

Section 8 - Islamic Relationships, Sects and Conflicts

Topic 8.1 - Islam and Rights
Topic 8.2 - Islam and Religious Conflicts
Topic 8.3 - Major Sects of Islam
Topic 8.4 - Sunnism and Shi’ism, beginnings and historical developments.
Topic 8.5 - Misconceptions about Shi’ism

Special Topics

Section 9 - Independent Topics

Topic 9.1 - Muslim Converts – Welcome to Islam!
Topic 9.2 - Basic Dos and Don’ts of Being a Muslim
Topic 9.3 - Halal Food and Zabiha
Topic 9.4 - Modesty in Islam
Topic 9.5 - Family, Parents and Marriage in Islam
Topic 9.6 - Marriage in Islam
Topic 9.7 - Islam and Sex
Topic 9.8 - Women’s Menstruation in Islam
Topic 9.9 - Music, Alcohol, Drugs and Pork in Islam
Topic 9.10 - Islam and Science
Topic 9.11 - A Reading List of Islamic Knowledge
Topic 9.12 - Islam and Sufism
Topic 9.13 - Ritual Prayers and Supplications in Islam
Topic 9.14 - Death & Burial Rituals in Islam
Topic 9.15 - The Battle of Armageddon: An Islamic View
Topic 9.16 - The Muslim Calendar
Topic 9.17 - Muslims and non-Muslims in the Shariah
Topic 9.18 - A Timeline of Major Events in Islamic History
Topic 9.19 - Introducing the Qur’an: Why it is the way it is
Topic 9.20 - The School of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
Topic 9.21 - Major Fields in Islamic Studies
Topic 9.22 - The Caliphate in Sunni and Shia Islam
Topic 9.23 - The Spread of Islam: After the Prophet until the Ottoman Empire
Topic 9.24 - Islam, Racism and Anti-Semitism

Section 10 - Islam, Religion, and Modern Controversies

Topic 10.1 - Modern Fallacies about God: where Theists and Atheists Agree
Topic 10.2 - Tawhīd: The Muslim God according to the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahl al-Bayt (as)
Topic 10.3 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Being (Wujūd)
Topic 10.4 - God’s Existence: The Kalam Cosmological Argument
Topic 10.5 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Design
Topic 10.6 - The Problem of Evil, Suffering and Pain
Topic 10.7 - Why did God Create Us? The Purpose of our Creation
Topic 10.8 - Why Humans Need Religion according to Islam
Topic 10.9 - Jahl and Spiritual Ignorance in Islam
Topic 10.10 - Faith in Islam: Belief without Evidence?
Topic 10.11 - Do Non-Muslims Go to Hell?

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Islam and Religious Conflicts

Abstract

Religious conflicts are part of human civilization. People make the mistake to think that there is a single reason for them, whereas there are multiple reasons for them.

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INTRODUCTION

Bismillāhir Rahmānir Rahīm, As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh. Peace be upon you brothers and sisters.

Welcome back to the Muslim Converts Channel! Interreligious conflict is a staple of almost all religions in the world, if not all of them. Splits within religious communities usually happen right after the death of their founder.

In this lesson, we will look at some of the common reasons for religious conflict in general.

BODY OF TEXT

And We did certainly give the Children of Israel the Scripture and judgement and prophethood, and We provided them with good things and preferred them over the worlds. And We gave them clear proofs of the matter [of religion]. And they did not differ except after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. (Chapter 45, verses 16-17 of the Holy Qur’an)

Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviation]; then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over the Scripture except those who were given it - after the clear proofs came to them - out of jealous animosity among themselves. And Allah guided those who believed to the truth concerning that over which they had differed, by His permission. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path. (Chapter 2, verse 213 of the Holy Qur’an)

Conflicts Within Religious Traditions

Sectarian conflicts happen for many reasons. Here we will list a few reasons as to why:

After a religion is revealed, and especially after its founder dies, there is usually a power vacuum that comes about even if its founder designated a successor. This happens as hypocrites within the religion see the death of a founder as an opportunity to consolidate power. When there is a competing, legitimate successor, there is often jealousy involved and violence is often used to eliminate competition.

These different groups often grow into major opposing groups over the generations as each line develops its own set of doctrines and creed and hence a competition is born for not only truth, but also power.

Many people are not interested in what God has to say as it is not always in line with their desires. They create movements within the religion, distort and twist its message in order to have the religion say what they want it to say.

For example, in Islam, there are some people who do not like many of Islam’s laws as they find them restrictive and contrary to what their desires want. For example, there are movements within Islam today that try to further a reformist agenda that seeks to repel many of Islam’s fundamental laws, like the obligation of Hijab. They are not interested in what God’s ruling is per se, but more interested in making Islam say what they want it to say.

Conflicts Between Religions

Like the above, conflicts between religions happen for multiple reasons. Here are two reasons:

Political and Economic: Wars need pretexts. Often enough, religious pretexts work the best, even for people who are not religious. Wars are an opportunity to expand political and economic power. Political leaders often exploit religion to legitimize their quest for power and money.

This also happens through elections. The best way of being elected is to instill fear in the populace and convince them that you are the one who can save them from people of other religions.

Think of some European countries today where members of parliament or ministers hop on the islamophobia wagon and wag their fingers at Islam and Muslims as the new threat, just like they did against Jews not so long ago.

Sometimes conflicts come about because of real religious beliefs. Some people feel that it is God’s work they are doing when they oppress members of other religions.

These people often act as terrorists. They are a minority group in most religions, but they are loud and dangerous. They exist among Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of other faiths.

Conclusion (take a pause and take a tone where now you are speaking in general)

Remember that the lists we gave are not exhaustive by any means. Second, the reasons for inter-religious conflicts may also apply to sectarian conflicts. The point however, is to help us get think in more complex ways and understand the nuance of religious conflicts and tensions.

Until Next Time, Thank you for watching. As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh

N/A

What is the reason behind religious conflicts?

There is no one reason, there are multiple reasons and they differ from situation to situation.

What are some of the major reasons for religious conflicts?

he quest for political power, economic gain, or deviant religious views. These are some reasons out of many.

How can we stop religious conflicts?

Conflicts are part of human civilizational nature, they will end when the human race ends its life in this world.

Muslim
God
Allah
Ahl al-Bayt
salvation in Islam
Muslim Community
religious conflicts
conflicts within religious traditions
islam xenophobia
religious tensions

"Silence saves you from regret"

- Imam Ali (as) -