Muslims 'R' Us

World renowned speaker Lesley Hazleton speaking at the Young Muslim Association's annual Birth of the Holy Prophet [s] Celebration. She covers a range of topics focusing around Islam and Muslims in this age, including history and beliefs, media perceptions, to radicalization, and even insight into human nature. A must see!

Lesley Hazleton, a self-described agnostic Jew, sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found -- as a non-Muslim, a self-identified "tourist" in the Islamic holy book -- wasn't what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk from TEDxRainier

One of the five pillars of Islam is that each believer is called, at least once in their lives, to make the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that starts and ends in the holy city of Mecca located in today's Saudi Arabia. The journey recreates Muhammad's own path as the native son returned to his tribal home as the leader of a vibrant new religion. Unlike other sacred sites, Mecca is closed off to believers of other faiths: only Muslims are permitted on the Hajj.

See more about this at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sacredjourneys/content/the-hajj/

The making of a PBS Documentary by Robert Gardner, Producer

The production of Islam: Empire of Faith was a big challenge from the beginning, simply because it covered more than a thousand years of history and culture, and a very large part of the world.

But we really wanted to push beyond the conventional form of historical documentaries, which have depended on pans and tilts of still pictures, supplemented with landscapes and interviews. We wanted to find a way to use the visual techniques usually reserved for fiction motion pictures to tell a story of great scope that took place in pre-photographic history. This meant the project would require very large scale costumed re-enactments and equipment far beyond the ordinary documentary production package of camera, zoom lens, tripod and small light-kit.

We knew that we had to find a way to present images of cultural history — both re-enacted scenes and contemporary scenes of Islamic architecture and city life — in a way that would evoke the past, but maintain a sense of authenticity. The scenes would be dream-like and impressionistic but would still give viewers a sense that what they were seeing was accurate in historical terms.

The film took 18 months to edit, and is supported by an original score by Leonard Lionnet.

Science and Islam is a three-part BBC documentary about the history of science in medieval Islamic civilization presented by Jim Al-Khalili. The series is accompanied by the book Science and Islam: A History written by Ehsan Masood.

Muhammad the Prophet of Islam was born 1400 years ago in one of the world's most inhospitable regions.  During his time hundreds of tribes and clans were fighting for domination.  His father died when he was 6 years old.  He spent his early years as a cattle herder and then became a trader.  At the age of 40 he received a revelation from Allah (god) via the Angel Gabriel, telling him to read.  Subsequently, he started to receive many revelations that he memorized and communicated to his followers.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) faced significant opposition when he first shared the message of a single god and that a true believer must abstain from alcohol, pork and not to engage in fornication.  His character and integrity won him a lot of converts and over the years, Islam took hold in Saudi Arabia and the neighboring countries.  Today it is followed by over 1.6 Billion Muslims around the world.

The Azan is uttered in a loud, albeit sweet melodious, voice to announce to the faithful that it is time for the Obligatory Prayer and to invite them to offer the prayers. Those who perform Azan are known as 'Muezzin.' The honour of being the first Muezzin goes to Hazrat Bilal(R.A.), a black slave who converted to Islam. He had a very sweet, resonant and musical voice. He was appointed as Muezzin by the Prophet(peace be upon him) of Islam. The appointment of a black slave as the first person to call Muslims for prayers, shows that in Islam all human beings are treated as equals. Rich or poor, black or white, short or tall - all are equal in the eyes of Allah. It is the piety of each individual that makes the difference.

The Islamic Golden Age is a historical period lasting from c. 750 CE to c. 1257 CE, during which philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world are credited with a period of contribution to scientific knowledge, cultural arts, civilisation and architecture, both by developing earlier traditions and by a period of relatively rapid and marked innovation. A substantial degree of historic Islamic intellectual innovation occurred in the Islamic Golden age, and it was this which helped to bring Europe out of the dark ages and brought about the resonance (rebirth) of Europe, Islam brought the light back into a world of darkness.

The Glories of Islamic Art is a four-part television series presented by scholar Dr Akbar Ahmed.  In January 2007,  the film was exhibited at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  Joining Dr Ahmed’s panel discussion was Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani of Pakistan, Ambassador and current Professor at Georgetown University Cynthia Schneider, and Hady Amr, a fellow of the Brookings Institute.  These people all made insightful comments and shared their understanding of the documentary with the audience.  The Glories of Islamic Art.  According to The London News, the film gives ‘us something refreshingly different… The series moves at a fast pace… whetting ones appetite to pack up at once and head for Muslim lands’.