Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims observe a month-long fast from dawn to sunset. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam that provides numerous spiritual, physical and social benefits.Spiritual BenefitsRamadan is a time for spiritual reflection, worship and drawing closer to Allah. By practicing self-control through abstaining from food,...

Tipu Sultan Contributed by Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, PhD The year 1799 marks a watershed on the Islamic calendar. It was the year that Napoleon landed his troops in Egypt. It was also the year that the British stormed the Fort of Srirangapatam, and the curtain fell on Islamic rule in India. The first event, the landing of French troops in Ottoman Egypt, confirmed the superiority of...

The triumphant advance of Muslim armies across the inter-connecting landmass of Asia, Europe and Africa brought into the Islamic Empire large masses of people who were previously Christian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist or Hindu. Conversion to the new faith was slow. The conquering Muslims left the people of the territories alone as long as they paid the protective tax, jizya and did not interfere with...

Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, (780 – 850 CE), was the grandfather of computer science and the father of Algebra. He was the popularizer of Arabic numerals, adopter of zero (the symbol, that is) and the decimal system, astronomer, cartographer, in briefs an encyclopedic scholar. BAYT Al-HIKMA (House of Wisdom) In the year 832, Caliph Al Ma’mun [b. Baghdad, 786,...