AL GAZEL (Al-Ghazali)

al-Ghazali

al-Ghazali is one of the greatest Islamic Jurists, theologians and mystical thinkers. He learned various branches of traditional Islamic religious sciences in his home town of Tus, Gurgan and Nishapur in the northern part of Iran. He was also involved in Sufi practices from an early age. Being recognized by Nizam al-Mulk, the vizir of the Seljuq sultans, he was appointed head of the Nizamiyyah College at Baghdad in AH 484/AD 1091. As the intellectual head of the Islamic community, he was busy lecturing on Islamic jurisprudence at the College, and also refuting heresies and responding to questions from all segments of the community. Four years later, however, al-Ghazali fell into a serious spiritual crisis and finally left Baghdad, renouncing his career and the world After wandering in Syria and Palestine for about two years and finishing the pilgrimage to Mecca, he returned to Tus, where he was engaged in writing, Sufi practices and teaching his disciples until his death. In the meantime he resumed teaching for a few years at the Nizamiyyah College in Nishapur.

Al-Ghazali explained in his autobiography why he renounced his brilliant career and turned to Sufism. It was, he says, due to his realization that there was no way to certain knowledge or the conviction of revelatory truth except through Sufism. (This means that the traditional form of Islamic faith was in a very critical condition at the time.) This realization is possibly related to his criticism of Islamic philosophy. In fact, his refutation of philosophy is not a mere criticism from a certain (orthodox) theological viewpoint. First of all, his attitude towards philosophy was ambivalent; it was both an object and criticism and an object of learning (for example, logic and the natural sciences). He mastered philosophy and then criticized it in order to Islamicize it. The importance of his criticism lies in his philosophical demonstration that the philosophers’ metaphysical arguments cannot stand the test of reason. However, he was also forced to admit that the certainty, of revelatory truth, for which he was so desperately searching, cannot be obtained by reason. It was only later that he finally attained to that truth in the ecstatic state (fana’) of the Sufi. Through his own religious experience, he worked to revive the faith of Islam by reconstructing the religious sciences upon the basis of Sufsm, and to give a theoretical foundation to the latter under the influence of philosophy. Thus Sufism came to be generally recognized in the Islamic community. Though Islamic philosophy did not long survive al-Ghazali’s criticism, he contributed greatly to the subsequent philosophization of Islamic theology and Sufism.

The eventful life of Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (or al-Ghazzali) can be divided into three major periods. The first is the period of learning, first in his home town of Tus in Persia, then in Gurgan and finally in Nishapur. After the death of his teacher, Imam al-Haramayn AL-JUWAYNI, Ghazali moved to the court of Nizam al-Mulk, the powerful vizir of the Seljuq Sultans, who eventually appointed him head of the Nizamiyyah College at Baghdad in AH 484/AD 1091.  The second period of al-Ghazali’s life was his brilliant career as the highest-ranking orthodox ‘doctor’ of the Islamic community in Baghdad (AH 484-8/AD 1091-5). This period was short but significant. During this time, as well as lecturing on Islamic jurisprudence at the College, he was also busy refuting heresies and responding to questions from all segments of the community. In the political confusion following the assassination of Nizam al-Mulk and the subsequent violent death of Sultan Malikshah, al-Ghazali himself fell into a serious spiritual crisis and finally left Baghdad, renouncing his career and the world.

This event marks the beginning of the third period of his life, that of retirement (AH 488-505/AD 1095-1111), but which also included a short period of teaching at the Nizamiyyah College in Nishapur. After leaving Baghdad, he wandered as a Sufi in Syria and Palestine before returning to Tus, where he was engaged in writing, Sufi practices and teaching his disciples until his death.
The inner development leading to his conversion is explained in his autobiography, al-Munqidh min al-dalal (The Deliverer from Error), written late in his life. It was his habit from an early age, he says, to search for the true reality of things. In the process he came to doubt the senses and even reason itself as the means to ‘certain knowledge’, and fell into a deep scepticism. However, he was eventually delivered from this with the aid of the divine light, and thus recovered his trust in reason. Using reason, he then set out to examine the teachings of ‘the seekers after truth’: the theologians, philosophers, Isma‘ilis and Sufis. As a result of these studies, he came to the realization that there was no way to certain knowledge except through Sufism. In order to reach this ultimate truth of the Sufis, however, it is first necessary to renounce the world and to devote oneself to mystical practice. Al-Ghazali came to this realization through an agonising process of decision, which led to a nervous breakdown and finally to his departure from Baghdad.

The schematic presentation of al-Munqidh has allowed various interpretations, but it is irrelevant to question the main line of the story. Though certain knowledge is explained in al-Munqidh as something logically necessary, it is also religious conviction (yaqin) as mentioned in the Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences). Thus when he says that the traditional teachings did not grip him in his adolescence, he means to say that he lost his conviction of their truth, which he only later regained through his Sufi mystical experiences. He worked to generalize this experience to cure `the disease' of his time.

The life of al-Ghazali has been thus far examined mostly as the development of his individual personality. However, since the 1950s there have appeared some new attempts to understand his life in its wider political and historical context (Watt 1963). If we accept his religious confession as sincere, then we should be careful not to reduce his thought and work entirely to non-religious factors. It may well be that al-Ghazali’s conversion from the life of an orthodox doctor to Sufism was not merely the outcome of his personal development but also a manifestation of a new stage in the understanding of faith in the historical development of Islam, from the traditional form of faith expressed in the effort to establish the kingdom of God on Earth through the shari‘a to a faith expressed as direct communion with God in Sufi mystical experience. This may be a reflection of a development in which the former type of faith had lost its relevance and become a mere formality due to the political and social confusion of the community. Al-Ghazali experienced this change during his life, and tried to revive the entire structure of the religious sciences on the basis of Sufism, while at the same time arguing for the official recognition of the latter and providing it with solid philosophical foundations.

What is Islam?

What is Islam?

The word 'Islam', in Arabic, means submission and peace. As a term, 'Islam' refers to the message that was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Allah, the One Creator. A 'Muslim' is the one who believes in Allah as the only God and Muhammad (peace be upon him/p.b.u.h) as the last and final prophet and Messenger of Allah. Consequently, a Muslim believes in Islam in its entirety.

The Islamic idea itself is composed of two essential components: the creed or doctrine (aqeedah), and a system of rules and regulations founded on this creed (shari'a). The creed of Islam provides comprehensive answers to the fundamental questions regarding humanity's existence and that of the universe. It addresses the issue of human being's purpose in life, and links it with what precedes life and what comes after it, thereby addressing the humanity's core problems and providing the basis for systems and rules to properly organize human affairs.

The Islamic system provides a comprehensive law governing the affairs of human beings. It correctly establishes:
1) the relationship between human beings and the Creator.
2) the personal affairs of individuals.
3) and the various relationship (social, political, economic, and international) that exist in the society.
Islam constitutes a creed, a system, and a method. Thus, Islam is not only a religion, but also an ideology. What distinguishes Islam from the ideologies of Capitalism and Communism is that Islam attempts to address the deep questions relating to the meaning of life in ways that other ideologies do not.

Since Islam establishes the correct understanding of life and places humanity in the correct context, the systems and culture emanating from the Islamic creed would correctly address the human nature and provide the correct solutions. Islam does not ignore a human being's instincts or desires, but organizes them. In this context, Islam is compatible with the human being.

Ibn Rusyd or Averroes

IBN RUSHD

IBN RUSHD, Abu 'l-Walid Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Rushd, al-Hafid (the grandson), the 'Commentator of Aristotle', famous in the Mediaeval West under the name of Averroes, scholar of the Qur'anic sciences and the natural sciences (physics, medicine, biology, astronomy), theologian and philosopher.

He was born at Cordova in 520/1126 and died at Marrakush in 595/1198. The Arabic biographical sources are: Ibn al-Abbar, Takmila, BAH, vi, no. 853; Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, 'Uyun; al-Ansari, supplement to the dictionaries of Ibn Bashkuwal and of Ibn al-Abbar (notice published in the complete works of Renan, iii, 329); al-Dhahabi, Annales (ibid., 345); 'Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi, Mu'dhib.

Ibn Rushd belonged to an important Andulusian family. His grandfather (d. 520/1126), a Maliki jurisconsult, had been qadi and imam of the Great Mosque of Cordova. His father was also a qadi. The biographers stress the excellent juridical education of the future Commentator; his teacher was al-Hafií Abu Muhammad ibn Rizq and he became very competent in the science of khilaf (controversies and contradictions in the legal sciences). He learned by heart the Muwatta'. Ibn al-Abbar mentions that he studied 'a little' with Ibn Bashkuwal, which implies that he touched on the science of the traditions of the Prophet; but the same author says that the science of law and of the principles (usul), diraya, interested him more than the science of traditions, riwaya. He worked also on Ash'ari kalam which he was later to criticize. In medicine, he was the pupil of Abu Dha'far Harun al-Tadhali (of Trujillo), who was in addition a teacher of hadith (cf. 'Uyun). Ibn al-Abbar mentions another of his teachers, Abu Marwan ibn Dhurrayul (notice no. 1714), who (he says) was one of the foremost practitioners of his art. The biographers do not mention philosophic studies. Ibn Abi Usaybi'a limits himself to reporting, following al-Badhi, that Averroes studied 'philosophical sciences' (al-'ulum al-hikmiyya) with the physician Abu
Dha'far. Ibn al-Abbar mentions in passing that he 'inclined towards the sciences of the Ancients ('ulum al-awa'il)', probably an allusion to his knowledge of Greek thought.

In 548/1153, Averroes was at Marrakush. Renan supposes that he was occupied there in carrying out the intentions of the Almohad 'Abd al-Mu'min 'in the building of colleges which he was founding at this time'. It is known, through the Commentary of the De Caelo, that he was engaged there in astronomical observations. It is perhaps to this period of his life that he is referring in the Commentary of book L of the Metaphysics, when he speaks of the researches which must be done on the movements of the planets in order to found an astronomy which would be physical and not only mathematical: 'I hoped in my youth that it would be possible for me to carry out this research successfully; but now that I am old, I have lost this hope ...'. It is possible that he met at this time Ibn Tufayl, who was to play an important part in his career as a philosopher by presenting him to Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, the successor of 'Abd al-Mu'min. Al-Marrakushi (Mu'dhib, ed. Dozy, 174-5) obtained the account of this interview from a pupil of Ibn Rushd, who reported the actual words of his teacher. The prince questioned Averroes on the sky: is it a substance which has existed from all eternity, or did it have a beginning? (It is known that, ever since Plato's Timaeus and the De Caelo and the Metaphysics of Aristotle down to Proclus and Johannes Philoponus (Yahya al-Nahwi), this problem had been fiercely debated). Ibn Rushd was worried by this dangerous question, but Yusuf understood this and began a discussion with Ibn Tufayl, displaying a wide knowledge of the ancient philosophers and of the theologians. Put thus at ease, Ibn Rushd in his turn began to speak and was able to show the extent of his learning. He received rewards and thenceforth enjoyed the prince's favour. This event may be dated to 1169 or slightly earlier. Al-Marrakushi also tells us that the Commander of the Faithful complained to Ibn Tufayl of the obscurity of the texts of Aristotle and of their translations. He wished them to be clearly explained. It issaid that Ibn Tufayl, considering himself to be too old and too busy, asked Averroes to undertake the work.

Averroes remained in favour throughout the reign of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf (558-80/1163-84). In 565/1169, he was qadi of Seville (Mu'dhib, 222). In a passage in the fourth book of the De partibus animalium, completed in that year, he points out the duties of his post, and the fact that he was separated from his books which remained in Cordova, all thingsQwhich made difficult the writing of his paraphrase (Munk, 422). In 567/1171, he was back at Cordova, still as qadi. During this period he increased his rate of production of commentaries in spite of his numerous obligations: he travelled to various towns of the Almohad empire, in particular to Seville, from which he dates several of his works between 1169 and 1179.

In 578/1182, at Marrakush, he succeeded Ibn Tufayl as chief physician to Abu Ya'qub Yusuf (Tornberg, Annales Regum Mauritaniae, 182). Then he received the office of chief qadi of Cordova.

During the reign of Ya'qub al-Mansur (580-95/1184-99), Ibn Rushd still enjoyed the prince's favour. It was only during the last years (from 1195) that he fell into disgrace. Several stories exist on this matter. It seems that the caliph, at that time engaged in Spain in a war against the Christians, thought it advisable to gain the support of the fuqaha', who had long imposed on the people their rigorous orthodoxy (cf. D. Macdonald, Development of Muslim theology, New York 1903, 255). Indeed, not only was Averroes banished to Lucena, near Cordova, and his doctrine pronounced anathema following his
appearance before a tribunal consisting of the chief men of Cordova, but edicts were issued ordering that philosophical works be burned and forbidding these studies, which were considered dangerous to religion. Those who were jealous of Ibn Rushd or doctrinally opposed to him took advantage of the occasion to criticize him in vulgar epigrams, which have been published and translated by Munk (427-8 and 517).

But once he had returned to Marrakush, to a Berber milieu which was less sensitive on matters of doctrine, the caliph repealed all these edicts and summoned the philosopher again to his court. Ibn Rushd did not have long to enjoy this return to favour, since he died in Marrakush on 9 ‘afar 595/11 December 1198. He was buried there outside the gate of Taÿhzut. Later his body was taken to Cordova, where the mystic Ibn al-'Arabi, still a young man, was present at his funeral (cf. H. Corbin, L'imagination creatrice dans le soufisme d'Ibn 'Arabi, 32-8).

Women in Islam

Women in islam

In islam, womwn are allowed to work. by islamic law, their salaries belong to them and their husbands are still obligated to support them. The participation of women in islamic society cannot be put down. Throughout history, many muslim women have had their active roles in developing the islamic civilization.

In the early days of islam, women went out to work, and participated in all social and cultural activities. A famous case is Shifa bint Abdallah who became a chief inspector of Market in Madina in the era of Caliph Omar bin Khattab. In medieval times, muslim women were frequently merchants or physicians. Numerous fascinating biographies exist of countless women who became religious scholars and thaught in the masjids and colleges. For instance, in central Asia, Karima al-Marwaziyya (d.1070) as well as Shuhda the scribe (d.1178) became very famous scholars who thaught in islamic colleges. Fatima bint Al-Hasan was known as a hadith scholar as well as a calligrapher in islam. In Damascus, the female scholars whose students became leading scholars, included Ibn Battuta who was popular in Java as a traveling Mauna, were Ajiba bint Abu Bakr (d.1339) and her student, Bint al-Kamaal (d.1339).

There are also many other woman scholars who gave a great contribution to literature and arts in the later era. Umm Hani (d.1466) was another distinguished scholar. She memorized the Quran while still a child and mastered some academic disciplines like theology, law, history, grammar and poetry. She was also skillful in writing poetry and had a deep religiosity that impelled her to perform the hajj pilgrimage to Makkah no fewer than thirteen times. Moreover, in the field of literature is found Wallada of Cordova with her Fitnet of Istanbul (d.1780) and Queen Nadira (d.1842) with her Kokand in Central Asia. These enriched the Arabic, Persian and Turkish languages and literature.

Muslim women have also played a significant role in military affairs. In the early Islamic period, women were often called upon to provide nursing and other ancillary services, and even to bear arms alongside the Muslim men. This is because when a muslim community is invaded, taking arms to repel the enemy might become a religious duty for men as well as women.

Today, in some Muslim countries the roles of women are becoming more important. They can be engineers, physicians, professors, deans, company directresses, and so on. Their active participation can be seen in many Islamic societies.

In conclusion, Muslim women have shown a great participation in the development of islamic life in addition to their contribution to their main duties as mothers and wives.

ibnu sina or Avicena

Ibn Sina

Ibn Sina was born in 980 C.E. in the village of Afshana near Bukhara which today is located in the far south of Russia. His father, Abdullah, an adherent of the Ismaili sect, was from Balkh and his mother from a village near Bukhara.

In any age Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, would have been a giant among giants. He displayed exceptional intellectual prowess as a child and at the age of ten was already proficient in the Qur'an and the Arabic classics. During the next six years he devoted himself to Muslim Jurisprudence, Philosophy and Natural Science and studied Logic, Euclid, and the Almeagest.

He turned his attention to Medicine at the age of 17 years and found it, in his own words, "not difficult". However he was greatly troubled by metaphysical problems and in particular the works of Aristotle. By chance, he obtained a manual on this subject by the celebrated philosopher al-Farabi which solved his difficulties.

By the age of 18 he had built up a reputation as a physician and was summoned to attend the Samani ruler Nuh ibn Mansur (reigned 976-997 C.E.), who, in gratitude for Ibn Sina's services, allowed him to make free use of the royal library, which contained many rare and even unique books. Endowed with great powers of absorbing and retaining knowledge, this Muslim scholar devoured the contents of the library and at the age of 21 was in a position to compose his first book.

At about the same time he lost his father and soon afterwards left Bukhara and wandered westwards. He entered the services of Ali ibn Ma'mun, the ruler of Khiva, for a while, but ultimately fled to avoid being kidnapped by the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna. After many wanderings he came to Jurjan, near the Caspian Sea, attracted by the fame of its ruler, Qabus, as a patron of learning. Unfortunately Ibn Sina's arrival almost coincided with the deposition and murder of this ruler. At Jurjan, Ibn Sina lectured on logic and astronomy and wrote the first part of the Qanun, his greatest work.
He then moved to Ray, near modern Teheran and established a busy medical practice. When Ray was besieged, Ibn Sina fled to Hamadan where he cured Amir Shamsud-Dawala of colic and was made Prime Minister. A mutiny of soldiers against him caused his dismissal and imprisonment, but subsequently the Amir, being again attacked by the colic, summoned him back, apologised and reinstated him! His life at this time was very strenuous: during the day he was busy with the Amir's services, while a great deal of the night was passed in lecturing and dictating notes for his books. Students would gather in his home and read parts of his two great books, the Shifa and the Qanun, already composed.

Following the death of the Amir, Ibn Sina fled to Isfahan after a few brushes with the law, including a period in prison. He spent his final years in the services of the ruler of the city, Ala al-Daula whom he advised on scientific and literary matters and accompanied on military campaigns.

Friends advised him to slow down and take life in moderation, but this was not in character. "I prefer a short life with width to a narrow one with length", he would reply. Worn out by hard work and hard living, Ibn Sina died in 1036/1 at a comparatively early age of 58 years. He was buried in Hamadan where his grave is still shown.

Al-Qifti states that Ibn Sina completed 21 major and 24 minor works on philosophy, medicine, theology, geometry, astronomy and the like. Another source (Brockelmann) attributes 99 books to Ibn Sina comprising 16 on medicine, 68 on theology and metaphysics 11 on astronomy and four on verse. Most of these were in Arabic; but in his native Persian he wrote a large manual on philosophical science entitled Danish-naama-i-Alai and a small treatise on the pulse.

His most celebrated Arabic poem describes the descent of Soul into the Body from the Higher Sphere. Among his scientific works, the leading two are the Kitab al-Shifa
(Book of Healing), a philosophical encyclopaedia based
upon Aristotelian traditions and the al-Qanun al-Tibb
which represents the final categorisation of Greco-Arabian thoughts on Medicine.

Of Ibn Sina's 16 medical works, eight are versified treatises on such matter as the 25 signs indicating the fatal termination of illnesses, hygienic precepts, proved remedies, anatomical memoranda etc. Amongst his prose works, after the great Qanun, the treatise on cardiac drugs, of which the British Museum possesses several fine manuscripts, is probably the most important, but it remains unpublished.

The Qanun is, of course, by far the largest, most famous and most important of Ibn Sina's works. The work contains about one million words and like most Arabic books, is elaborately divided and subdivided. The main division is into five books, of which the first deals with general principles; the second with simple drugs arranged alphabetically; the third with diseases of particular organs and members of the body from the head to the foot; the fourth with diseases which though local in their inception spread to other parts of the body, such as fevers and the fifth with compound medicines.

The Qanun distinguishes mediastinitis from pleurisy and recognises the contagious nature of phthisis (tuberculosis of the lung) and the spread of disease by water and soil. It gives a scientific diagnosis of ankylostomiasis and attributes the condition to an intestinal worm. The Qanun points out the importance of dietetics, the influence of climate and environment on health and the surgical use of oral anaesthetics. Ibn Sina advised surgeons to treat cancer in its earliest stages, ensuring the removal of all the diseased tissue. The Qanun's materia medica considers some 760 drugs, with comments on their application and effectiveness. He recommended the testing of a new drug on animals and humans prior to general use.

Ibn Sina noted the close relationship between emotions and the physical condition and felt that music had a definite physical and psychological effect on patients. Of the many psychological disorders that he described in the Qanun, one is of unusual interest: love sickness! ibn Sina is reputed to have diagnosed this condition in a Prince in Jurjan who lay sick and whose malady had baffled local doctors. Ibn Sina noted a fluttering in the Prince's pulse when the address and name of his beloved were mentioned. The great doctor had a simple remedy: unite the sufferer with the beloved.

The Arabic text of the Qanun was published in Rome in 1593 and was therefore one of the earliest Arabic books to see print. It was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century. This 'Canon', with its encyclopaedic content, its systematic arrangement and philosophical plan, soon worked its way into a position of pre-eminence in the medical literature of the age displacing the works of Galen, al-Razi and al-Majusi, and becoming the text book for medical education in the schools of Europe. In the last 30 years of the 15th century it passed through 15 Latin editions and one Hebrew. In recent years, a partial translation into English was made. From the 12th-17th century, the Qanun served as the chief guide to Medical Science in the West and is said to have influenced Leonardo da Vinci. In the words of Dr. William Osler, the Qanun has remained "a medical bible for a longer time than any other work".

Despite such glorious tributes to his work, Ibn Sina is rarely remembered in the West today and his fundamental contributions to Medicine and the European reawakening goes largely unrecognised. However, in the museum at Bukhara, there are displays showing many of his writings, surgical instruments from the period and paintings of patients undergoing treatment. An impressive monument to the life and works of the man who became known as the 'doctor of doctors' still stands outside Bukhara museum and his portrait hangs in the Hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.

Islam and culture

Islam and Culture

Literal religion and culture is two literal that constantly bundles, until understanding blame our with both. Frequent commentary that set religion pertinent component from culture, but it’s also that set culture is come of from religion. This constantly affair overset moment our bound to put bottom (Islam) religious life content days our.

Koentjaraningrat define culture for all nation and human work, that bound to indifferent by study, with all from come of budi and his work it . Koentjaraningrat also set that there is universal constituents that bottom there is all culture, is system religion, system and system population, system metafisika, language, eyes, system knack a live does, with tecnologi system and outfit.

Commentary at up, set that religion is component from culture. By such, religion (according to notion at up) is notion and human work. Even above away Koentjaraningrat set that constituents that able culture pass and religion is constituent that far and away severe for pass.

while Islam define for religion ( religi ) according to commentary at up, so Islam is come of from at all notion and human work. Islam too able too pass if brush by bottom distinct civilitation chronicle. Islam borne bottom a culture and thrive (pass) chronicle bottom. Islam is produce culture. Islam not come from firmament, bottom process he chronicle.

That has commentary beget wrong understanding with Islam. The understanding with chronicle the holly Qur’an, justification with sekulerisme ideas, and exhortation for ‘consolidate’ become Islam inclusif, that is produce from mistake that understanding.

The religion that commentary bottom at epithet Kontjaraningrat at up bound to aint able names to Islam. compulsion for bottom Islam get in that will theories produce understanding that blame. Islam necessarily given chance for construe challenge poise. Islam too bound to gives latitude for defines culture.

Buya Hamka set that accreditation to That Sublime bulky it exist has physic bottom exist poise (human). That is affair to confine bottom universal human, fitrah human. Human see natural that glorious and outer problem various banal, after give for his explain.

From at human fitrah after search knows “who that Sublime bulky?”. Human search has that beget frequent discerning and commentary that after accredited for religion. The religions this no sort of religion that declines Allah SWT to his prophet shelf, but religion that originate from contrivance doing and human notion. Religion sort of this, that accurate for into theori Kontjaraningrat at up.

But Islam that compatible by human fitrah. Buya Hamka set : the names adventure Commencement fitrah. last from Islam names adventure. That is concludes by that viz sentence, that human fitrah for search That Sublime bulky, will but eventually human yield because contrivance adequate for his understand. Islam present exposition what that can described by contrivance. That is why the named Islam religion.

“…so human recognize will debility challenge, and conscious will to volume Sublime that Exist it. so he resign by at all palate giblets. Capitulation that such arabic language bottom names is Islam.”

Above away Syed Naquib Al-Attas set:

“…so by religion ideologies understanding that into culture as that bottom understood banal west Culture Experience too nothing it able used to Islam religion contrast from that distinct that religiously is matter come of- no pure meditation or come of, no theori eminent as culture effort come of it and her daya cipta deed bottom fit challenge face estate natural environment. Islam is construction bottom religion literal that matter, the system religiously that declines by Allah that Blessed sublime again Sublime chaste by bear inspiration broker His errant that chosen, and her akidah bases books bottom named Qur'anul Karim, and its does Sunnah bottom wised His prophet that Eminent it. Gazed for any event chronicle too, so Islam that engender his spring culture Islam, and not contrarily: no culture something it who engender his spring Islam religion.”

Casual Prof. Dr. Amer Al-Roubai set:

“At Agama, West is component from culture, but at Islam, culture define by religion and there are not an problems.”

Islam is the religion that declines by Allah SWT to prophet Muhammad SAW, but culture is come of from public arts that strike for declines from come to bygone age now.

come of no islam from produk culture (as that said by Nasr Hamd abu Zaed). But Islam is raise a culture, a civilitation. Civilitation that build Al Qur'an and Sunnah prophet. That civilitation named Islam. Civilitation Islam hold worldview an live (commentary) that alien by civilitation his distinct. Fashion alive looks alien that is produce charge alien too. By because pretension, it is Islam for use bottom his alive (commentary language Al - attas: ar-Ruyatul al Islam li al-existence) for understand every where, pertinent culture.

Argument

An argument is a connected series of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to provide support, justification or evidence for the truth of another statement or proposition. Arguments consist of one or more premises and a conclusion. The premises are those statements that are taken to provide the support or evidence; the conclusion is that which the premises allegedly support. For example, the following is an argument:

The death penalty should be adopted only if it deters murder. However, it could only do this if murderers understood the consequences of their actions before acting, and since this is not so, we must reject adopting the death penalty.

The conclusion of this argument is the final statement: "we must reject reject adopting the death penalty." The other statements are the premises; they are offered as reasons or justification for this claim. The premises of an argument are sometimes also called the "data", the "grounds" or the "backup" given for accepting the conclusion.

Because arguments are attempts to provide evidence or support for a certain claim, they often contain words such as "therefore", "thus", "hence", "consequently", or "so" before their conclusions. Similarly, words or expressions such as "because", "inasmuch as", "since", "for the reason that", etc., are often found accompanying the premises of an argument. Such "indicators" can aid in the task of identifying the conclusion of the argument, which often comes last in the series of statements making up the argument, as in the example above, but can also come first, or even in the middle, such as in these examples:

Councilwoman Radcliffe is the best person for the job. This is because she has the most legislative experience of all the candidates, and she will not place the interests of corporations above those of the people.

Callisto orbits Jupiter. Hence, it is not a planet, because something must orbit a star in order to be a planet.

In the examples above, the italicized statements are the conclusions. The other statements are offered as reasons or justifications for these claims.

In everyday life, we often use the word "argument" to mean a verbal dispute or disagreement. This is not the way this word is usually used in philosophy. However, the two uses are related. Normally, when two people verbally disagree with each other, each person attempts to convince the other that his or her viewpoint is the right one. Unless he or she merely results to name calling or threats, he or she typically presents an argument for his or her position, in the sense described above. In philosophy, "arguments" are those statements a person makes in the attempt to convince someone of something, or present reasons for accepting a given conclusion.

In normal conversation, certain important elements of an argument might be left implicit or unstated. In the last example given above, the person advancing the argument most likely takes it for granted that his or her audience understands that if something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star. This supposition is a vital part of the evidence or support that the author intends the stated premises to provide for the conclusion. Here, the statement "if something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star" is operating as an implicit or unstated premise. Therefore, the above argument is best understood as an abbreviated form of the full argument:

Callisto orbits Jupiter. Something must orbit a star in order to be a planet. If something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star. Therefore, Callisto is not a planet.

Even the conclusion of an argument can be left unstated if it is obvious enough from context that the speaker intends his or her words to provide evidence for a certain proposition. Consider, for instance:

Only children are allowed on the swingset, and Ms. Peabody, you are no child, are you?

Here, the speaker is obviously inviting Ms. Peabody to draw the conclusion that she is not allowed on the swingset.

Normally, a single statement in isolation does not constitute an argument, but simply a declaration or assertion. For example, if a teacher simply announces at the beginning of a class "Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase," she is not arguing for a given conclusion; she simply intends her students to accept her assertion on its own. However, in the right context, a single statement can abbreviate a whole argument if the other implicit pieces of the argument are clear from the context. In a discussion among conservative politicians discussing whom they'd like to see as the next candidate for Senator, where it is agreed by all participants that no one who supports increased taxes is a desirable candidate, someone might implicitly be arguing against Radcliffe's candidacy with the simple statement, "Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase." When the implicit premise and implicit conclusion are filled in, the argument in its entirety could be stated in this way:

Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase. No one who voted in favor of the tax increase is a desirable candidate. Therefore, Councilwoman Radcliffe is not a desirable candidate.

In an argument, the premises are almost always put forth or claimed to provide support for the conclusion; however, the premises do not always actually provide support. If we take as our example the following argument:

The roulette wheel has landed on red the last five spins. Therefore, since black is "due", the next spin will probably be black.

The person stating this argument probably thinks that the conclusion is justified by the premise, but he or she would be mistaken. The reasoning here is fallacious. The premise could be true without the conclusion being definitely or even probably true. However, this is still an argument, because the premise is at least intended to provide support or evidence for the conclusion, even if it does not.

Logicians study the criteria to be used in evaluating arguments, i.e., the criteria for determining under what conditions a certain set of premises actually guarantees the truth or likely truth of the conclusion.

Arguments are related to inference and reasoning: i.e., the psychological process through which a person forms a new belief on the basis other beliefs. A course of reasoning can usually be recast or reconstructed as an argument. For example, if someone already believed that all Romance languages were derived from Latin, and then learned that Rumanian was a Romance language, she or he would likely form the new belief that Rumanian was derived from Latin. If this person were to express her or his train of thought out loud or write it down, it would take the form of this argument:

All Romance Languages are derived from Latin. Rumanian is a Romance Language. Therefore, Rumanian is derived from Latin.

However, it should not be thought that the psychological process of inference or the nature of cognition are relevant to the evaluation of arguments. Regardless of whether or not the argument above corresponds to anyone's psychological process or cognitive behavior, it can be analyed by logicians as valid, because the premises do provide support for the conclusion.

Arguments must be separated off from other uses of language, such as to explain something, give an example, or tell a story. In these cases, one might find a connected series of statements, but the author or speaker does not intend it to be the case that some of them provide support or evidence in favor of one of the others. So they are not arguments. Consequently, one must distinguish arguments from reports of arguments. If a newspaper journalist includes in her article a description of an argument given by Senator Feingold in favor of campaign finance reform, the reporter is not herself arguing in favor of campaign finance reform nor anything else. She is merely making a report.

There are other uses of language that may appear at first blush to be arguments, but are not. Such is the case with explanations. Sometimes it is agreed by participants in a conversation that a certain event has taken place, or that a certain thing is true. Suppose, for example, it is agreed that Alex is late for his job. Someone might explain this fact as follows:

Alex's car broke down yesterday, and without it he cannot get to work on time. Therefore, he is late for work today.

The above may appear to be an argument. In fact, it has the same structure as an argument, and even includes the indicator "therefore". However, notice that the person speaking these words is not attempting to provide support or evidence for the truth of the claim that "Alex is late for work today": that is already accepted as true in this context by everyone involved. Properly speaking, the above example is an explanation, not an argument. However, in another context, in which it was not generally known that Alex is late for work today, these very words could be used as an argument. Consequently, it is impossible to ascertain whether or not a certain utterance is an argument without ascertaining the speaker's intentions within the given context. (For more on the relationship between arguments and explanation, see the article on "Scientific Explanation.")

Much of philosophy consists in the evaluation of particular arguments, some simple, some complicated. Descartes's famous three word saying, "cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am) represents an extremely compact argument, with a single premise, that he is thinking, to the conclusion that he exists. Other philosophical arguments are more complicated and elaborate. Consider the following argument from Plato's Apology:

Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good, for one of two things: -- either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by the sight of dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king, will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again.

Here the character Socrates argues for the conclusion that death is a good. The justification he offers for the conclusion, however, is rather elaborate; he offers quite a few premises, which, taken together, are thought to provide support for the conclusion.

Note: there is another, completely distinct, use of the word "argument", that can also be relevant to logic, specifically, to the logic of functions and relations. An argument to a function is contrasted with the value of that function. Loosely speaking, the argument is the input, the value is the output. When the square root function takes 9 "as argument", the value is 3. When it takes 16 "as argument", the value is 4. Different functions take a different number of arguments. The square root function takes a single argument; whereas addition and multiplication require two arguments to yield a value. I.e., in the equation, x + y = z, x and y are the arguments to the addition function, and z is the value. Sometimes, logicians also speak of predicates and relations as having a certain number of "argument-places". For example, the relation expression "___ is taller than ..." is said to have two argument places, because it requires completion by two terms to form a complete proposition.

How to get scholarship

Since many people asked me for some tips on how to get scholarship, I think I just write it down for everyone. Remember, this is what I think and what happened to me. This is does not mean that the content is absolute truth.

How to get scholarship:

1. Lay an eye to particular scholarship.
   
   I usually look at scholarship advertisment. If I found it interested, then I will apply. Although it is possible to find the department where you want to study first then apply the scholarship, I don`t do that because usually the nominal of scholarship is small. I am only interested to fully funding scholarship. Some scholarship, however, request you to apply officially to university and get accepted before apply the scholarship (mostly European scholarship I think)
2. Get the scholarship form and read it carefully
   
   Make sure that you are elligible to the scholarship, you are within the age range, the topic you want is included, your background is acceptable etc. Some scholarship is mainly for gov. employee, some are for age 35 and below, you fulfil the minimum language requirements etc.
   
   
3. Find the university you want to go
   
   Make sure that you know where you want to go. Only very few scholarship that just want you to write down what subject you want to do and you can choose the university later. Again, check the requirements carefully
4. Collecting the requirement
   
   Be very careful with the requirement. If it requires international TOEFL/IELTS, then do it. If it is not specified, better ask than sorry. If it asked for 2 recommendations, get two, some even specifically asked for direct supervisor, make sure you get it as well. Some scholarship request you to develop contact with the department you want to study, then try to get it.
5. Make sure that your application is "selling"
   
   Imagine yourself the person who need to select which application is acceptable, which is not. That person need to look hundreds and maybe thousands of application. Make sure that your application is neat, clear, concise, to the point and rich instead making it a flowery boring story that nobody want to finish reading it. Think, what is your strong point that makes you different from others, what is the founder agenda etc. Also make sure that when they say one page explanation, it`s one page. Try to put as much related information in the limited space
6. Pay attention to deadline