From: Seif-Eddeen K Fateen <sfateen@amanzi.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: Details for MITAAH event panel
To: Matthew K Gray <mkgray@MIT.EDU>
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 18:30:28 -0400
Organization: MIT
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Hi,
Here is the information you requested. Best wishes.

Seif


Name: Abdullah Taalib Faruuq
Title: Imam of Masjid Lilhamdulellah
Bio:
Since his conversion to Islam in 1980, Imam Taalib has been active within
the Muslim community in the Boston Area.  Currently, he is the the Imam of
Masjid Lilhamdulellah and the Muslim Chaplain of both Northeastern
University and Bridgewater Correctional Facility.

Answers to Questions:

What are the basic tenets of the Islamic faith?
-----------------------------------------------
The first tenet of Islam is the belief in the existance of one and 
only one God (Allah) who has no partner, parents or children.  He is 
the creator of everything and He was not created.  He is all 
powerful, and He is absolutely just.  There is no entity in the 
entire universe worthy of worship besides Him.  He is Eternal, 
Living, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing Creator 
and Sustainer of the Universe.

The second tenet is the belief in Allah's messengers.  Allah has 
sent messengers to guide all of mankind.  These messengers include 
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them).  All messengers were 
sent to confirm the belief in one God and Muhammad is the last 
messanger for all mankind.

The third tenet is the belief in Allah's books which were revealed 
to the messangers.  Allah's last book is the Qur'an, which is His 
own words and is the only authentic revealed book in the world that 
has been kept without change.

The fourth tenet is the belief in the day of judgement in which 
every single soul will be held accoutable for his or her beliefs and 
actions.  Righteous people will enter paradise where they will dwell 
forever whereas those who went astray will enter hell where they 
will have eternal punishment.

For more information, visit:
http://www.introductiontoislam.com/

History of Islam.
-----------------
Because "Religion with Allah is Islam" (Quran 3.19), Islam started 
with the first human being, Adam, who taught his offspring how to 
worship Allah.  With time, generations started to deviate from the 
straight path.  Hence, Allah sent many messengers to the people to 
guide them to Islam.  Here are some of the quranic verses that talks 
about different messengers:

Abraham and his son asked Allah: "Our Lord, make of us MUSLIMS, 
bowing to Thy (Will), and of our offspring a nation MUSLIM, bowing 
to Thy (will)" (Quran 2.128).  

"Moses said: "O my people! If ye do (really) believe in Allah, then 
in Him put your trust if ye are MUSLIMS" (Quran 10.84).

"When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My 
helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the disciples: "We are Allah's 
helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are 
MUSLIMS" (Quran 3.52)

At the time of Muhammad (pbuh), the earth was full of corruption and 
idols worshipping.  Very few people were following the true message 
of Islam conveyed by the previous messenger Jesus (pbuh).  After the 
revelation came to Muhammad (pbuh) at the age of 40, he spent 13 
years in Mecca trying to invite his people to Islam but very few 
accepted it.  He left to Madina to escape prosecution and to start a 
new islamic community.  In about 80 years, Islam propagated from 
Madina to cover the whole civilized world at that time, from China 
in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West.

Now Islam is the fastest growing religion in the US and the world 
with 1.2 billion followers around the globe.

For more information about the life of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), 
check out: 
http://www.erols.com/ibrahimshafi/

What is the purpose of life?
----------------------------
"Blessed is He in Whose hand is the kingdom, and He has power over 
all things, Who created death and life that He may try you-- which 
of you is best in deeds; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving." 
(Quran 67:1-2).  This life is a place of test and the hereafter is a 
place of reward.  "Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an 
embellishment for it, so that We may try them (as to) which of them 
is best in works." (Quran 18:7)

What happens to us after death?
-------------------------------
Death is the transfer from the phase of test to the phase of 
judgment.  "Every soul shall taste of death, and you shall only be 
paid fully your reward on the resurrection day; then whoever is 
removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the garden he 
indeed has attained the object; and the life of this world is 
nothing but a provision of vanities." (Quran 3.185)

What is the origin of man? 
--------------------------
God created man from clay and water.  Adam was the first man and he 
descended from Heaven to the earth as a consequence of his disobedience.  

The creation of each individual in the womb of his or her mother is 
mentioned in many verses of the Quran, e.g. " Then We made the seed 
a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made (in) the 
lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We 
caused it to grow into another creation, so blessed be Allah, the 
best of the creators." (Quran 23:14) 

What is the origin of the universe?
-----------------------------------
God created the universe.  "Do not the Unbelievers see that the 
heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of 
creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every 
living thing. Will they not then believe?" (Quran 21:30)

The origin of the universe was smoke. "Then turned He to the heaven 
when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of 
you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient." (Quran 41:11)

The universe is expanding. "And the heaven, We built it with might, 
and most surely We are making expansions" (Quran 51:47) 

For more information about science in the quran, check out:
http://www.it-is-truth.org/

Where does morality come from?  How do we know what is right?
------------------------------------------------------------- 
Allah is the only source of information regarding what is right and
what is wrong.  Allah created us from nothing; His vast knowledge,
wisdom and power can not be matched by those of humans, and He is the
best to know what is good and what is bad for His creation.  Thus, in
defining what is right and what is wrong, Muslims follow the general
guidelines they learn from the Quran and the words and actions of the
prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which are called Sunnah.  Quran and Sunnah
provide a significant level of details as to how Muslims conduct
their lives and perceive the world around them.  Muslims also have the
responsibility of working their minds in understanding the Quran and
Sunnah and extending that understanding to face new challenges.
Nevertheless, Muslims realize that the basic guidelines of morality,
as defined by Allah, are absolute regardless of time and place.  Every
action is classified as right or wrong within the framework of Quran and
Sunnah.


For general information about Islam, check out the following sites:
http://www.islamic.org.uk/
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/
http://www.islamworld.net/

Questions? Don't hesitate to contact:

Abdullah Taalib Faruuq
Imam of Masjid Lilhamdulellah
442-2805

Suheil Laher
MIT Muslim Chaplain
slaher@ptechinc.com

Seif-Eddeen Fateen
President, MIT Muslim Students Association
sfateen@mit.edu
x2-1502

Matthew K Gray wrote:
> 
> > Yes.  Imam Talib, the Muslim chaplain of Northeastern University,
> > has agreed to come to this event, by the will of God.  However,
> > the Maghrib (sunset) prayer is at 7:25 pm that day.  That means that
> > we will have to either come late, may be 7:40 or leave at 7:25 and
> > return at 7:40.  Which case would fit your schedule better? My
> > suggestion is that Imam Talib can talk about Islam, leave for prayers
> > and then come back to answer any questions.  What do you think?
> 
> Wonderful!  I agree that it would work best if he would be one of the
> first to speak, and could leave for prayers and then return at 7:40.
> Please forward these details to Imam Talib and tell him we look
> forward to seeing him.
> 
> Here are the details for the MITAAH panel event I've been in contact
> with you about.  I've described our plans for the format, and if you
> have any questions, please let me know.
> 
> What: "Life, The Universe, and Everything! An Evening with the Chaplains"
> When: Tuesday, April 14th, 7-9pm
> Where: MIT Room 1-390
> Who: Panelists will be 9/10 (pending confirmation) chaplains/representatives
>         of the following religions:
>         Bahai, Humanist, Buddhist, Pagan, Muslim, Jewish, Lutheran,
>         Episcopal, Protestant, and (hopefully) Hindu
>      Attendance is open to all members of the MIT community
> 
> Format:
> 
> Attached to this message is a list of "Stock Questions", which I would
> appreciate if you would take the time to answer.  We hope to create a
> pamphlet containing the answers to this set of basic question for each
> of the religions to hand out to attendees, as a starting point. If you
> could get a few paragraph answers to these to me by Monday, I can make
> the pamphlet.
> 
> The event is expected to take place as follows:
> 
> 1) Introductions                                        (7:00-7:10)
> 2) 5 minute description of each religion                (7:10-8:00)
> 3) Moderated Q&A                                        (8:00-9:00)
> 
> For the introductions, I will need from you:
> Your name
> Your title
> A 1 or 2 sentance "bio" (eg, "<insert name> has worked with the
>         overseas missions from 1970-1990 and is a now chaplain at MIT.")
> 
> For 5 minute descriptions, I understand that this is a very short
> time, but I hope partially through the pamphlet, we can include things
> like URLs or textual references as to where people can go for more
> detail.
> 
> For the moderated Q&A, the format will be to have pieces of paper
> distributed to the audience which they can write questions on, which
> will be passed up to the moderator, who will ask the questions of the
> panelists.  We expect questions to be of the type:
> "I've heard that Buddhists often have another religion as well, how does
>         this work?"
> "What is the <insert religion here> view on
>         <abortion/evolution/euthanasia/etc.>?"
> 
> The moderator will not be filtering the questions except to remove (or
> perhaps rephrase) antagonistic or inappropriate questions.  If there
> are topics that you would prefer not to discuss, please let me know.
> 
> The "Stock Questions" follow.  Thanks very much for participating!  If
> you could arrive shortly before 7pm for setup, that would be great.
> 
>                                         ...Matthew
> 
> (where appropriate consider the question to be prepended with
> "In your faith, ")
> 
>   o  What is/are the basic tenet(s) of your faith?
>   o  Briefly summarize the history of your faith (cite references for more
>         detail)
>   o  What is the purpose of life?
>   o  What happens to us after death?
>   o  What is the origin of man?  Of the universe?
>   o  Where does morality come from?  How do we know what is right?
> 
> It is understood that for many of these question, within your faith
> the answers may cover a spectrum, and when possible indicate so (eg,
> "Most <religion>ists believe <this>, while some believe <that>")

-- 
Seif-Eddeen Fateen
Graduate Student
Department of Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Phone: 617-252-1502
Fax: 617-253-8723
email: sfateen@mit.edu

...or visit my web site:

http://web.mit.edu/sfateen/www/