I was asked by ISNA to produce a short guide to Islamic Banking and Finance for the Muslims of North America. To keep this guide short, we had to define our target audience rather carefully. This introductory guide is meant to address the Muslim who is familiar with the fundamental tenets and sources of legislation in Islam. The reader is not assumed to have elaborate prior knowledge of Islamic...

The CECA Approach to teaching religion, unlike other approaches, is not specifically related to content but rather to the way students are invited to take part in the process of learning through critical engagement with the arts. The proposed CECA Approach comprises three movements, an Inquiry movement, an Investigation movement, and an Appraisal and Demonstration movement. It begins with namin...

in this paper the practice of medicine in ancient iran is studied. mythology of ancient iran has many references to how diseases were treated and medicine dispensed. there is even a mention of surgery; presumably the rst caesarian section in the history of medicine is performed for the birth of mythological persian hero, rostam. this study looks at mythology, ancient persian religious texts an...

The negative assessment of lesbian/gay relationships in Catholic circles is most often based on scanty information gathered from folklore, the commercial media, and a narrow, literal reading of Biblical texts. Assumptions are made about the personal adjustment of individual gay/lesbian persons and the quality of their relationships without recourse to actual lived experience. This survey of 263...

The article examines Cate Tiernan’s ‘Wicca’ series. This series and the ‘Circle of Three’ books by Isobel Bird explore the experiences of teenage girls who embrace the pagan religion, Wicca. The texts reflect the growing interest in spirituality expressed by many young people and extend the literary representation of witchcraft. Tiernan produces stories of spiritual growth entwined with fantasy...

Mustard is a condiment that has been used for culinary, religious and cultural purposes by humanity since time immemorial. Mustard has figured prominently in the Indian tradition and its medicinal properties have been systematically evaluated and documented in the classical Ayurvedic texts. The paper attempts to carefully review the ancient and contemporary uses of mustard as food and medicine ...

The Life of St Columba offers an account of events in the life of the sixth century saint who founded an influential monastic community with strong connections to the peoples of Ireland and Scotland. The text’s relationship to the categories of ‘Celtic Christianity’ and ‘Celtic spirituality’ is critically examined. It is deemed justifiable to locate the Life within these categories because it m...

The above approaches certainly have their place but also have their limitations. The repeated invocation of archival material tends to create an impression that ethical edicts are merely of historical significance and are irrelevant today. Some of the historical texts on medical ethics are based on morality, at times even bordering on the spiritual or the religious. This could be a hindrance to...

The article examines the reasons for emergence of interest in ancient Indian religious and philosophical texts Russian cultural sphere, as well ways which entered literature. aim this is to show how first translations most influential works, such Bhagavadgita or Shakuntala, caused appearance a large number works literature that one way another refer texts. also shows writers referred their usin...