Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Alhassanain (p) Network for Islamic Heritage and Thought

Seeking the Straight Path: Reflections of a New Muslim

Common challenges and issues faced byconverts,the reasoning behind conversion, analysis from a Western view of many controversial or misunderstood topics in Islam, and basic information needed by new converts. Spanish translation is also available.

Author(s): DianaMasooma Beatty

Publisher(s): World Islamic Network (WIN)

www.alhassanain.org/english

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

How Could Everyone I Have Ever Known Be Wrong? 5

Is It Good To Be A Muslim? 16

The One Who Sticks Around is a Blessing 22

How Can You Believe In That? 26

Marriage 26

Women in Marriage 26

Finding a Mate 27

Polygamy 29

Temporary Marriage 30

The Sexes 36

Islamic Modest Dress 37

Mixing of the Sexes 39

Treating Women Differently in the Law 41

Division Among Muslims 44

Jihad 50

Ritualism 51

Conclusion 53

A Brief Prayer 54

A Short Reading List 55

Appendix: If You Decide To Convert 56

Prayer 57

Fasting 60

Pilgrimage 60

Zakat and Khums 60

Jihad 61

Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil 61

Tawalla and Tabarra 61

A Brief Glossary 63

Introduction

It is a long time now that I have wanted to write regarding my conversion to Islam. My problem has been that I did not know what to write or how to write it. One of my main concerns now is that I want to write something that is of value to someone other than me.

I can remember a few times when I was asked to speak at amasjid and I was a little bit horrified, because I had come to learn from the people there and, in turn, they wanted to learn from me. What could I say that they didn’t already know or that would be of use to them? Whenever I’ve asked myself that, the answer has always been that I could speak only of my own experiences. Well, it seems arrogant to think that other people would want to listen to me talk about myself. But, perhaps there is some value in the tale of the experience of someone who chose to become Muslim.

In the past, I have written a few very brief accounts of how I came to be Muslim and I got tremendous feedback. People wrote to me who were investigating Islam and could relate to my story or wanted information. Other people who wrote to me were born Muslim and had found inspiration in the stories of converts. I have really enjoyed meeting so many people through those brief accounts. It made me realize that something in my story must be of value to other people, so that by telling my story I may be able to improve someone’s situation.

Therefore, I begin this work in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and I ask His help in making this a work that has value and that will benefit others.

Diana (Masooma ) Beatty

Note: Throughout the text, “swt ” is written to meansubhanahu wa ta’aala , which in the way I have remembered means “Most Glorious Most High”, and is written whenever the name of God appears. Also, “saw” is written to mean “Peacebe upon him and his family”, and appears always after the mention of the Prophet of Islam. Lastly, “as” or “sa ” is written to mean “Peace be upon him/her/them”. To a non-Muslim reader this may seem strange, but it is not meant to be a mystical thing. It is something like Islamic etiquette to use them, and many Muslims believe it is obligatory. I use both the words God and Allah in this text. “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for the One God, and it is used by all Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews.

The translations of Qur’an used are byPickthall and Yusuf Ali, and the version of the Bible used is NIV.

I humbly dedicate whatever is good in this work to Imam-e-Zamana (as), may Allah (swt ) hasten his reappearance.

How Could Everyone I Have Ever Known Be Wrong?

As a child growing up in America, my education about Islam was very poor. There were one or two times when Islam was presented briefly in a history book at school. What I remember from those readings is that Muslims had a god called Allah and a warlike prophet named Muhammad and that they prayed and dressed strangely and, finally, that Islam was an Arab religion.

I guess that the rest of my education about Islam came from the media. Islam was exotic, backward and evil. Muslims were uneducated, led by tyrant rulers, and were cruel. Some of them thought it were good to blow up babies on airplanes and to beat women and treat them like property.

I did not understand that there was any relationship between Islam and Christianity or Judaism. As far as I knew, Christianity and Judaism were the only two religions that dealt with the One God, the God of Moses and Abraham (as). Islam was bunched with all the other religions like Buddhism and Hinduism.

There was not much out there to make me want to learn about Islam. I was sure that Christianity held the Truth, and had no inclination to look at other religions, especially not one that was so obviously evil. In those days, I could actually believe that an entire nation of people was evil at heart, and that we (meaning the West, or America) were surely the good guys. After all, how could everyone I had ever known be wrong?

An obvious question, then, is what made me finally look at Islam. In order to answer that fairly, it is necessary to first briefly explain my religious life prior to that point. Mostly everyone I knew believed in God and that Jesus (as) had died for our sins. Often, it didn’t go much beyond that. People I knew had religious belief and tried to be moral people, but they did not associate with a particular church or do anything outlandishly different in their lives that marked them as religious. Spirituality and religion were not the stuff of conversations. God was not talked about at home or at school. Religion was a private thing between the individual and God.

When I was little I was sent to a few Sunday Schools to gain a basic acquaintance with religion. My parents very rarely went to church but rather dropped my brother andI off at the Sunday School and then picked us up when it was over. By the time I was in second or third grade our religious training was over.

That was enough for me until I got to junior high school. Perhaps it was then that I began to realize that the world was not a fair place and question what was going on around me. I went through periods of depression and low self-esteem. During this time, I began to question religion. Where was the scientific proof of God? If He existed, why was He hidden from us? Why did He allow bad things to happen? What made somethingright, and another thing wrong? Did the universe and life on Earth come about as a course of purely random events without a Creator? Why did I exist?

For awhile I nearly convinced myself that God did not exist, but rather that He was a fantasy created by humans. However, when I got into high school I was searching for God again. I became very serious about Christianity. I joined the Fellowship for Christian Athletes and I read the Bible regularly. I found a magazine called The Plain Truth advertised on a religious TV show and published by the Worldwide Church of God, and I became interested in that particular church.

This group took the Bible literally. They did not celebrate Christmas because it was not in the Bible. They did not celebrate birthdays, they did not eat pork, and they observed the same holidays that Jesus (as) was recorded as observing in the Bible. They kept the Sabbath on Saturday based on what was written in the Bible. I was strongly attracted to this group because it took God seriously, and it took the Bible seriously. It did not regard religion as just a feel-good thing like so many groups seemed to be doing. They seemed more logical than other groups, and they were making religion a daily part of life instead of an occasional one. The idea of religion as a way of life appealed to me. I knew that God had something in mind when He made us, and I believed that there ought to be a best way, or a most-correct way of doing everything. So when I found this church, I was attracted. Yet, I never went to their meetings because I thought my family would not approve of me getting involved with such a radical group (one that I later learned is often considered a cult) especially while I was in high school. I put it in my mind that when I got older I would investigate the group more closely.

In my freshman year of college I joined a Bible study group sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. And, I finally went to the Church of God after meeting someone at school who belonged to the church. They were very nice people and very welcoming. However, after one visit I knew that church was not what I was looking for. My host was telling me how the church was in a state of chaos because of a major division among the national leaders. It was splitting into two churches; one group cleaving off because they felt the original church had become corrupted. This man and his family were at odds to decide which side of the fence they were on. Which of the two factions held the Truth?

After hearing himspeak , I was disappointed. I felt this group was closer to the Truth that I was looking for, but probably neither of the two factions had it right. After all, they all were just humans and were not gifted with perfect judgment. I wanted whatever it was that God had originally sent and that was truly intended for us; not something concocted by men. Not even by men with good intentions. So, I never went back.

I had resigned myself to being one of those many religious people without a church because I was convinced that all churches were flawed. After all, they were all man-made. In my Bible study group, I often felt uncomfortable. The other members seemed to have much greater joy in their faith. When we would study a Bible verse, they had so many different interpretations and they always seemed to see the verses differently than me. I wondered what I was doing wrong and why things did not make sense to me like it did to everyone else, but I was still very devout. My friends talked about inviting Jesus (as) to live in theirhearts, and that when they did, he came in and their lives were changed forever. I had made that invitation many times, but my life never changed forever. I had done it when I had gone to church with friends, I had done it when I watched the preachers on TV, and I had done it on my own time. What did they mean by saying that he lived in their hearts? Were they really changed so much by the experience, and if so, why hadn’t I been? It wasn’t due to lack of sincerity, at least.

As I pondered these questions, my life began to change around me. That year, I met a Muslim. When I met him, I didn’t know he was Muslim or even that he was an Arab. In time, we became acquainted, and I learned that he was a Muslim; I didn’t really know what that meant but it made me worried about him because I had been taught that unless he believed Jesus (as) died for his sins, he would go to hell. At least that is what everyone in my Bible study said.

Could it be true that this guy would go to hell simply for not believing Jesus (as) died for his sins, when in every other way he was more pious and more humble before God than anyone I’d ever met? It did not seem right. I told him about my fears and he was very concerned for me instead of for himself. I even talked him into going to one of the Campus Crusade meetings with me. That amazes me more today than it did then because now I think of the name of the group – Campus Crusade – and realize how offensive it really is. However, the meetings were not so bad; we sang or listened to religious songs, had a guest speaker and met with my Bible study leader.

I was hoping to save my friend, and at the same time I wanted the Bible study leader to meet him because I really needed help to clear my confusion. I had questions after I’d picked up a translation of the Qur’an and was surprised by what I read. It talked about the very same God of the Bible, the Onewhose Truth I was seeking. It talked about the prophets (sa ) I already knew, but it did not describe them as adulterers and those who commit incest and other lewdness like the Bible did.

“We believe in Allah (the One True God) and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them.” (Qur’an, 2:136)

The only major thing that really bothered me about the Qur’an was what it said about Jesus (as).But why? How did I know what I knew about him -- that Jesus was in a three-part God and that he died for our sins? I went back to the Bible and looked for those beliefs that were so important to Christianity. I knew I had read them a hundred times so they ought to have been easy to find, but they weren’t! I could find verses that seemed to say those things, but they weren’t very clear. And other verses seemed to say the opposite. Why, I pondered, if this belief that Jesus is God and that he died for our sins -- why if it is the most essential thing to believe, is it not absolutely clear?

I asked my Bible study friends, “Where does it say this?” They would direct me to a verse and I would read it and I found that most of the time it did not clearly say what I had asked for, but was open to interpretation. Mark 10:18 reads,“ Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered, “No one is good – except God alone.” That verse clearly seemed to indicate that Jesus was not God. Other verses were interpreted by my friends to indicate that he was God, although he never came right out and said, “I am God.”

Some Christians would say that while Jesus was on Earth, he lived as a man but was still God or a part or form thereof, yet being in the flesh made him fully human, facing all the trials and temptations of human life. I didn’t get it. I’d never really gotten it before, either, but I had taken for granted that it was true anyway. I could not explain to myself, nor could anyone else explain to me, how God could be a single God and yet have three independent parts or forms. I could not understand why the death of a sinless individual was necessary for forgiveness of sins. Is not God all-powerful?

Many Christians say that God is beyond our comprehension. He does not have to make sense. I ultimately decided that I couldn’t accept that, because then religion becomes purely a matter of faith without any room for reason. A book claiming to be the Word of God could say absolutely anything about Him, and no matter how ludicrous it was we could not reject it if God doesn’t have to make sense. No, I realized, in order for us to be able to tell right guidance from falsehood, God must make sense in terms of human reason.

I approached my Bible study leader to talk about my questions. I had learned that he had worked as a missionary to Muslims in Algeria. So, I figured he would be able to help me understand the Qur’an, the Bible and the fate of my Muslim friend. When I questioned him, he told me straight away that my friend would go to hell. He told me that the Qur’an was similar to the Bible because it was Satan’s trickery, and something which appears close to the Bible is a better trick! Then, when I tried to ask him a specific question about what the Qur’an said about Jesus (as), he told me he had never read the Qur’an because when he tried it made him ill. When he said that last thing, I was astounded, in tears, and got out of that room as fast as I could.

How could he sit there and tell me the Qur’an was Satan’s trickery when he himself had not read it? What kind of person does missionary work to Muslims and does not bother to read the book of the Muslims? A voice in my head screamed “He could not know! He cannot be trusted!” I believed that God would not deceive those who read the book of another religion, as long as they were seeking Truth. But he apparently believed differently than me. My Bible study leader was only repeating what he had been told, or else he was making it up as he went along. I was so angry then, at him, and at all the church leaders who had treated Islam as an absolute evil and yet they were more ignorant of Islam than a college girl who’d picked up a Qur’an translation at the corner bookstore.

And now I was deathly afraid. I was afraid because I could not trust those people anymore. It was up to me, and only me, to decide what I found to be true and what I found to be falsehood. No one could help me. I felt a tremendous burden on my shoulders. And I was terrified of making the wrong choice and spending eternity in hell because of it. I pleaded with God to be a God who does not misguide one who seeks the Truth, to be a God who could forgive one who has doubts and looks around for the answers, and to be a God who would protect me from making the wrong choice.

I didn’t know where to begin, so I began with the Bible and Qur’an, and a few books of early Christian history. I learned much in reading the early Christian history books and wondered why I’d never heard any of it before. The beginnings of the religion were anything but unified and clear. Some early Christians believed Jesus (as) was God, others did not. Their practices and beliefs varied much more greatly than those of Christians today.

The New Testament was not written until at least a generation after Jesus’ (as) apparent death, and was written by many people. Their stories often conflicted with each other, and there were hundreds of gospels out there. It was only at the Council of Nicaea, more than three centuries after the time of Christ that the New Testament as we know it today began to take shape. The Council picked four out of the hundreds of gospels that coincided with the Roman Emperor’s belief and made them the official belief. The others were burned and destroyed, and those who were found in possession of them were killed. Since then, most of the other gospels have disappeared and the four official gospels have modestly changed from time to time. Some versions of the gospels contain verses that others do not, and of course some Bibles have entire books that others do not. There is no “original” Bible in order to verify there have not been changes. There are old manuscripts, but no definitive “real” Bible.

To some people that is not a problem, but for me it was fast becoming a problem. The modern Christian belief seemed to me to be comprised of something of God’s message but also a lot of conjecture or interpretation of phrases that are not totally clear. And it seemed to be the conjecture parts that determined whether or not one went to hell! Where does clearly Jesus (as) say that he will die for our sins and that belief in that is compulsory? It is mere conjecture that the phrase “Son of God” that is used so often in the Bible attests to Jesus’ (as) divinity. In fact, the people who lived at the time of Jesus (as) did not take it to mean that at all. According to leading Biblical historians, the phrase “Son of God” did not mean something divine to the writers of the Bible or those who witnessed Jesus (as). It indicated a fully human being and was regularly used as a title for Jewish holy men.

King David is referred to as a son of God in 2 Samuel 7:14:

“I [God] will be his father and he [David] will be my son.”

Job 1:6 and 2:7 in the NIV version of the Bible mention angels, with a footnote that the Hebrew word translated as angels actually means “sons of God”.

“One day the angels [sons of God in footnote] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan [accuser in footnote] also came with them.”

“On another day the angels [sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.”

In Hosea 11:1, God calls all of Israel His son

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

The use of capitals when calling Jesus (as) by that title is a choice of the translators and is not indicated in the original Greek or Hebrew.

It is also conjecture that Jesus (as) was the only Messiah, or that the title “Messiah” has something to do with a return at the end time or status as a savior. Messiah and Christ both mean, “anointed one”. Anointed ones were the leaders of Israel, anointed in an ancient version of an inauguration ceremony. In 1 Samuel 10:1 it says,

“Then Samuel took a flask of oil and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed your leader over his inheritance?”

The Hebrew root for anointed here is the very same that is translated as Christ and Messiah in the New Testament.

In truth, Jesus (as) never asked or commanded people to pray to him or to worship him. He told people to pray to God and to worship God. Yet, how many Christians today pray to and worship God by name? It is far more common that their prayer begins, “Dear Jesus” than “Dear God”. A sincere Christian would do well to obey Jesus (as) and change his/her prayers to be directed at “God” rather than “Jesus”.

Some things that are commonplace in Christian belief and practice today do not have their origins in Jesus’ (as) teachings, but rather in a vote by church authorities or papal decree. This of course includes the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, as well as definition of the Trinity, and permission to pray to the Mother of Jesus, Mary. The word “trinity” does not exist in the Bible and yet it is an essential belief of Christians. The trinity concept was invented by church leaders to explain their beliefs; and even today the church leaders have votes and decrees over the natures and functions of the different parts of their Godhead. The faithful Christians trust that their leaders are God-inspired and that the authors of the Bible were as well.

Most of the faithful believe that if they find the Bible unclear it is because they, being human, possess limited understanding. God, they say again, does not need to make sense. Or, if they find an apparent contradiction in the Bible, it is because it is not the details that matter, but the overall message of what is written. There are thousands of examples of apparent contradiction within the Bible. Many of those involve records of how many people were at a place or who exactly was there. If one account of an event says that there were 100 men there, and another says that there was 1000, the faithful Christians say that this does not change the overall meaning of the passage. That may be true, but why do the passages not agree? God surely knows what happened, so why couldn’t the Bible get it right if it is indeed His book? Maybe a monk or priest when transcribing the Bible made a mistake that stuck. Or maybe he thought he was correcting a mistake that a previous transcriber had made. Or maybe he thought a larger number made a better story.

In my experience, many Christians believe that either these errors are not errors but only seem to be to our limited faculties, or else they are errors but are very minor and that God has protected the “important” part of His message in the Bible. However, I contend that any contradiction or error is important because it indicates the work of men rather than the work of God. When one mistake is found, how can we be confident that another mistake that does indeed change the meaning of the text has not occurred? For Christians, that is simply a matter of faith. But should it be?

As an example of what I’ve been talking about, I provide the NIV translation of the story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus (as), as it is recorded in three of the gospels:

Matthew 28:1-7

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. Butgo, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as I told you.’”

Luke 24:1-12

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee. ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

These are three accounts of the same event, obviously. This event is very important to the belief that Jesus (as) was crucified and raised to life after having died for the sins of all mankind. It establishes witnesses to the absence of Jesus’ (as) body after an appointed time, and holds testimony that he had come back to life as promised. But these accounts differ considerably in the details as to what actually happened. Take a minute to examine the three passages and try to answer the following questions: Who went to the tomb with Mary Magdalene? How many went altogether? Were the guards there or not? How many beings did the women encounter at the tomb, and were they men or angels? Did Peter go to the tomb or not? What did the being(s) say to the women? Did the women prostrate themselves before the being(s) or not? Where were the being(s), and did they come as the women watched or were they already there? Was the stone rolled away as they watched, or was it already rolled away when they arrived?

If these were from the unaltered Word of God, there should be no contradictions between these three accounts. One might leave out a detail that another has included, but there should be no disagreement as to who was there, what they saw, or what they heard. Eyewitness accounts can have conflicting results, as can stories told over and over and not written down until a generation or two later -- but not the Word of God. If we cannot accurately establish what happened, then what must one believe? It is not unlikely that something did happen that led to the existence of this story, but we simply do not have the means to determine what really happened. One of these accounts may be true while the others are false, or all may be false, and that is the full extent of what we can say about it.

I have given but one example of the difficulties in the Bible, but there are many, many more. The Bible is simply unclear and self-contradictory, and further it is in contradiction with established science. I do not wish to spend too much time on the Bible’s problems with science because they are rather commonly known and readily apparent even to a casual reader. For example it is well known that using evidence in the Bible, the Earth is less than 6000 years old. Staunch believers of the Bible hold this to be true even today and claim that scientific evidence dating human remains back at least ten thousand years and dating rock back at least 4.5 billion years is a deception of Satan.

For years, I had believed I could not understand the Bible because something was wrong with me or because it had just not been made understandable by God’swill . But after comparing it to the Qur’an, I understood that it is okay to expect logic and clarity in the Word of God. I realized that the Bible itself is flawed.

I could not satisfy myself with believing in something that relied on a flawed book. If I wanted to find God’s Truth from the Bible, how could I do it? How could I know which, if any, of the three accounts I related earlier are factual? If I could not determine which of those to trust, how could I decide about the rest of what those three authors wrote? How could I trust anything in the Bible at all when I could not determine what was man-made and what was God-made? And, now the big question, without the Bible to rely on, where does Christianity find itself?

But that is only half the story. I had concluded that Christianity was flawed, but I had not determined that Islam was not flawed also. I had to examine the Qur’an with the same scrutiny that I had applied to the Bible.

So, I asked, “Where does the Qur’an contradict itself? Where does it contradict known science?” After months of searching, I realized the answer to both questions is that it simply does not. It is superior to the Bible in this regard and thus presents itself as more trustworthy. Further, it contains scientific data that were completely unknown to man when it was revealed. The fact that bees’ honey comes from their stomachs is a modern scientific discovery, yet it is in the Qur’an (16:49) that was revealed in the 7th century CE. The manner in which a baby forms in the womb is a discovery of this century, and yet it is explained accurately in the Qur’an in several places (22:05, 23:14, 40:67, 75:38, and 96:02). I found in Qur’an the original, true religion that God sent to mankind and am to this day still wonderstruck at the Mercy and guidance of Allah (swt ).

“Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in faith, and bowed his will to God’s (which is Islam), and he joined not gods with God.” Qur’an 3:67

What objection could I have to following the religion of Abraham, the religion of submitting to the will of the One God - the God of the Jews, Christians, Muslims and Creator of the universe? I am certainly not the only Christian to have reached this conclusion. The Qur’an itself talks about Christians converting Islam with tears in their eyes upon recognizing its truth:

“And nearest among them in love to the Believers wilt thou find those who say, ‘We are Christians’ because amongst these are men devoted to learning and priests and monks, and they are not arrogant. And when they listen to the revelation received by the Apostle [Muhammad], thou wilt see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth. They pray, ‘Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses.’” (Qur’an, 5:82-83)

There are many verses in Qur’an about Jesus (as):

Birth of Mary – (3:34-40, 19:2-15)

Status of Mary in Islam – (3:41-46)

Who Was Jesus – (2:87, 6:85-87, 3:83, 33:7-8, 42:13, 5:46 )

Birth of Jesus – (19:16-36)

Miracles of Jesus – (5:110-115)

Teachings of Jesus – (3:49-52, 43:57-59, 57:27, 43:57-63, 5:111)

Jesus sent for children of Israel – (3:48, 5:72,61:6 )

Is Jesus Son of God? – (3:58, 2:116-117, 21:26-29)

Is Jesus God? – (5:117, 5:72-75)

Was Jesus Crucified? – (4:157-158, 3:54-56)

Dialogue between God and Jesus – (5:116-118)

His Last Message – (61:6)

Message to Believers – (61:14)

This is what the Qur’an has to say on the matter of Jesus’ (as) crucifixion (4:157-158):

And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger – They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! Those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain: But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.”

This saying does not deny that something happened that led to those stories we find in the Bible. It claims, however, that Christians were not given any proof that Jesus (as) was crucified, but rather made the conjecture that it had happened. In other words, Christians have based their religion upon something that is not fact, but is merely supposed.

The people who supposed it might have been well-intentioned individuals, but that is beside the point. Obviously, a Christian will be irked on reading that verse of Qur’an. My reaction on reading it the first time was to want to throw the book down. It did not agree with what I had been taught. If I believed what the Qur’an was saying, I would have to believe that my mother, my father, my teachers, my preachers, my neighbors, my political leaders, my friends, indeed, everyone I had ever known, had gotten it wrong. How could it be possible that so many people who were so sure in their belief and who seemed so favored by God living in the world’s most prosperouscountry, were wrong?

But then I had to ask myself, would not a girl living on the other side of the world immersed in another religion have a similar question? For one of us, at least, the answer indeed had to be that all that we had known was wrong. Truly, this was a terrifying concept. My whole world was crashing down around me and I was left with nothing that I could trust. I had no choice but to build my world up again, to examine everything I had ever believed all over again and create a new framework from which to view the world. In the end, the Qur’an convinced me. And the Bible convinced me, too, because I did not find in it the perfection I demanded from the Word of God. Although it is flawed, some truth remains in it and some good can be gained from reading the Bible if it is read with a critical eye. In fact, I benefited from discovering that the Bible contains likely prophecies of Muhammad’s (saw)prophethood , Deuteronomy 18:18 being among the more noted possibilities:

“I will raise up for them a prophet like you [Moses] from among their brothers; I will putMy words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”

Christians generally presume this verse refers to Jesus (as), but Muslims find it more likely that it refers to the Prophet Muhammad (saw). First, Muhammad (saw) is more like Moses (as) than Jesus (as). Like Moses, Muhammad (saw) married and had a divinely appointed successor in terms of leadership of the people (Aaron for Moses and ‘Ali for Muhammad (sa )). Moses and Muhammad (saw) were both born of both mother and father and came with new religious law. On the other hand, Jesus (sa ) was apparently unmarried, was born of mother only and did not bring new law. Secondly, the verse says that the prophet will come from “their brothers”, which in context refers to the brothers of the Israelites. Jesus (as) is directly descended from Abraham’s second-born son, Isaac (sa ), just like the Israelites, and thus is an Israelite himself and not the brother of the Israelites. Muhammad (saw) is the only one with a valid claim toprophethood who is descended from Abraham’s first-born son, Ishmael (sa ), making him a brother of the Israelites and not an Israelite himself. Finally, Muhammad (saw) fits the final portion of this verse exactly, and certainly better than Jesus (sa ), as testified to in the Qur’an:

“Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired….” (53:3-4)

Muhammad (saw) is the only prophet with a scriptural record that he speaks only that which Allah (swt ) has commanded or inspired, matching the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:18.

So, that is a small sample of my study before I converted to Islam. The Qur’an stands as a true testament to what it is and what it contains. All evidence indicated that it is what it claims to be:

“This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt,a guidance unto those who ward off (evil)….” (2:1)

“And this Qur’an is not such as could ever be invented despite of Allah [swt ]; but it is a confirmation of that which was before it and an exposition of that which is decreed for mankind – Therein is no doubt – from the Lord of the Worlds.” (10:37)

I

iccha shakti: (Sanskrit) "Desire; will." See: Shakti, trishula.

icon: A sacred image, usually of God or one of the Gods. English for murti. See: aniconic, murti.

iconoclastic: Opposed to widely accepted ideas, beliefs and customs. Also [but not used as such in this text], opposed to the worship or use of religious icons, or advocating their destruction.

ida nadi: (Sanskrit) "Soothing channel." The feminine psychic current flowing along the spine. See: kundalini, nadi, odic, pingala.

illusion (illusory): A belief, opinion or observation that appears to be, but is not in accord with the facts, truth or true values, such as the illusion created by a magician. See: avidya.

illustrious: Very luminous or bright; distinguished, famous; outstanding.

immanent: Indwelling; present and operating within. Relating to God, the term immanent means present in all things and throughout the universe, not aloof or distant. Not to be confused with imminent, about to happen; emanate, to issue from; eminent, high in rank.

immature: Not ripe; not fully grown, undeveloped. Still young.--immature soul: See: atman, evolution of the soul, soul.

immemorial (from time immemorial): From a time so distant that it extends beyond history or human memory.

immutable: Never changing or varying. See: Absolute Reality, relative.

impasse: A dead end; a passage with no escape. A difficulty with no solution.

impede: To obstruct or delay something; make difficult to accomplish. (Noun form: impediment.)

impediment: "That which holds the feet." Hindrance; obstacle. Anything that inhibits or slows progress.

impending: That which is about to happen; threatening.

imperishable: That which cannot die or decay; indestructible; immortal. With capital I, imperishable refers to God--the Eternal, Beginningless and Endless.

impermanence: The quality of being temporary and nonlasting.

impersonal: Not personal; not connected to any person.

impersonal being: One's innermost nature, at the level of the soul's essence, where one is not distinguished as an individual, nor as separate from God or any part of existence. The soul's essential being--Satchidananda and Parasiva. See: atman, essence, evolution of the soul, soul.

impersonal God: God in His perfections of Pure Consciousness (Parashakti) and Absolute Reality beyond all attributes (Parasiva) wherein He is not a person. (Whereas, in His third perfection, Parameshvara, Siva is someone, has a body and performs actions, has will, dances, etc.)

impetus: Anything that stimulates activity. Driving force; motive, incentive.

implore: To ask, beg, beseech or entreat earnestly or pathetically.

impoverished: Poor; reduced to a condition of severe deprivation.

inanimate: See: animate-inanimate.

inauspicious: Not favorable. Not a good time to perform certain actions or undertake projects. Ill-omened. See: auspiciousness, muhurta.

incandescent: Glowing with heat; white-hot. Radiant; luminous; very bright.

incantation: Mantraprayoga. The chanting of prayers, verses or formulas for magical or mystical purposes. Also refers to such chants (mantra). Vashakriya is the subduing or bewitching by charms, incantation or drugs. Incantation for malevolent purposes (black magic) is called abhichara. See: mantra.

incarnation: From incarnate, "to be made flesh." The soul's taking on a human body.--divine incarnation: The concept of avatara. The Supreme Being's (or other Mahadeva's) taking of human birth, generally to reestablish dharma. This doctrine is important to several Hindu sects, notably Vaishnavism, but not held by most Saivites. See: avatara, Vaishnavism.

incense: Dhupa. Substance that gives off pleasant aromas when burned, usually made from natural derivatives such as tree resin. A central element in Hindu worship rites, waved gently before the Deity as an offering, especially after ablution. Hindi terms include sugandhi and lobana. A popular term for stick incense is agarbatti (Gujarati). See: puja.

incisive: "Cutting into." Sharp or keen, such as a penetrating and discriminating mind. See: discrimination.

incognito: Without being recognized; keeping one's true identity unrevealed or disguised.

increment: An amount of increase, usually small and followed by others; a measure of growth or change.

individual soul: A term used to describe the soul's nature as a unique entity, emanated by God Siva (the Primal Soul), as a being which is evolving and not yet one with God. See: atman, essence, kosha, Parameshvara, soul.

individuality: Quality that makes one person or soul other than, or different from, another. See: ahamkara, ego, anava, soul.

indomitable: Not easily discouraged, defeated or subdued. Unconquerable.

Indra: (Sanskrit) "Ruler." Vedic God of rain and thunder, warrior king of the devas.

indriya: (Sanskrit) "Agent, sense organ." The five agents of perception (jnanendriyas), hearing (shrotra), touch (tvak), sight (chakshus), taste (rasana) and smell (ghrana); and the five agents of action (karmendriyas), speech (vak), grasping, by means of the hands (pani), movement (pada), excretion (payu) and generation (upastha). See: kosha, soul, tattva.

induce: To bring about, cause, persuade.

Indus Valley: Region of the Indus River, now in Pakistan, where in 1924 archeologists discovered the remains of a high civilization which flourished between 5000 and 1000 bce. There, a "seal" was found with the effigy of Siva as Pashupati, "Lord of animals," seated in a yogic posture. Neither the language of these people nor their exact background is known. They related culturally and carried on an extensive trade with peoples of other civilizations, far to the West, using sturdy ships that they built themselves. For centuries they were the most advanced civilization on Earth. See: Saivism.

indwell: To dwell or be in. "The priest asks the Deity to indwell the image," or come and inhabit the murti as a temporary physical body. See: murti.

I-ness: The conceiving of oneself as an "I," or ego, which Hinduism considers a state to be transcended. See: ahamkara, anava, mind (individual).

inexhaustible: Cannot be exhausted, used up or emptied. Tireless.

inexplicable: Beyond explaining or accounting for.

inextricable: Cannot be disentangled or separated from another thing.

infatuation: The magnetic condition of being captured by a foolish or shallow love or affection.

infinitesimal: Infinitely small; too small to be measured.

inflict: To give or cause pain, wounds, etc.

infuse: To transmit a quality, idea, knowledge, etc., as if by pouring. To impart, fill or inspire.

ingest: To take food, medicine, etc., into the body by swallowing or absorbing.

inherent (to inhere in): Inborn. Existing in someone or something as an essential or inseparable quality.--inherent sin: See: sin.

inherit: To receive from an ancestor, as property, title, etc.--or to reap from our own actions: "...seed karmas we inherit from this and past lives."

initiation (to initiate): Entering into; admission as a member. In Hinduism, initiation from a qualified preceptor is considered invaluable for spiritual progress. Usually the beginning of more advance learning. See: diksha, shaktipata, sannyasa diksha.

injunction: An urging; an order or firm instruction.

inmost: Located deepest within.

innate: Naturally occurring; not acquired. That which belongs to the inherent nature or constitution of a being or thing.

inner (innermost): Located within. Of the depths of our being.--inner advancement (or unfoldment): Progress of an individual at the soul level rather than in external life.--inner bodies: The subtle bodies of man within the physical body.--inner discovery: Learning from inside oneself, experiential revelation; one of the benefits of inner life.--inner form (or nature) of the guru: The deeper levels of the guru's being that the disciple strives to attune himself to and emulate.--inner law: The principles or mechanism underlying every action or experience, often hidden. Karma is one such law.--inner life: The life we live inside ourselves, at the emotional, mental and spiritual levels, as distinguished from outer life.--inner light: A moonlight-like glow that can be seen inside the head or throughout the body when the vrittis, mental fluctuations, have been sufficiently quieted. To be able to see and bask in the inner light is a milestone on the path. See: vritti.--inner mind: The mind in its deeper, intuitive functions and capacities--the subsuperconscious and superconscious.--innermost body: The soul body.--inner planes: Inner worlds or regions of existence.--inner self: The real, deep Self; the essence of the soul, rather than the outer self with which we usually identify.--inner sky: The area of the mind which is clear inner space, free of mental images, feelings, identifications, etc. Tranquility itself. The superconscious mind, Satchidananda. See: akasha.--inner truth: Truth of a higher order.--inner universes (or worlds): The astral and causal worlds. See: kosha.

innumerable: So many as to be beyond counting.

inscrutable: That cannot be analyzed or understood. Mysterious; beyond examining.

insignia: Plural of insigne. Signs or symbols of identity, rank or office, such as a badge or emblem.

dakshina: (Sanskrit) A fee or honorarium given to a priest at the completion of any rite; also a gift given to gurus as a token of appreciation for their infinite spiritual blessings.

instinctive: "Natural or innate." From the Latin instinctus, "staff," "prick," a participle of instigere, "impelling," pricking," "instigating." The drives and impulses that order the animal world and the physical and lower astral aspects of humans--for example, self-preservation, procreation, hunger and thirst, as well as the emotions of greed, hatred, anger, fear, lust and jealousy. The first steps on the spiritual path consist in learning to harness these tendencies and impulses and transmute their energies into the higher nature. See: manas, mind (individual), mind (three phases), yama-niyama.

instinctive mind: Manas chitta. The lower mind, which controls the basic faculties of perception, movement, as well as ordinary thought and emotion. Manas chitta is of the manomaya kosha. See: manas, manomaya kosha, yama-niyama.

instrumental cause: Sahakari karana. Cosmologically, the means of implementing creation. See: cause.

intellect: The power to reason or understand; power of thought; mental acumen. See: buddhi, intellectual mind.

intellectual mind: Buddhi chitta. The faculty of reason and logical thinking. It is the source of discriminating thought, rather than the ordinary, impulsive thought processes of the lower or instinctive mind, called manas chitta. Buddhi chitta is of the manomaya kosha. See: buddhi, mind (individual).

internalize: To take something inside of oneself.

internalized worship: Yoga. Worship or contact with God and Gods via meditation and contemplation rather than through external ritual. This is the yogi's path, preceded by the charya and kriya padas. See: meditation, yoga.

interplay: Interaction between two or more things.

intervene: To come between, especially two people or parties, with the intent to effect a change between them. See: mediatrix.

interweave (interwoven): To weave together like threads into cloth. To closely interrelate; to blend.

intimacy: The state of being intimate or very close. Having a close rapport.

intrigue: Secret plotting or scheming.

intrinsic: Inward, essential; inherent. Belonging to the real nature of a being or thing.--intrinsic evil: See: evil.

intuition (to intuit): Direct understanding or cognition, which bypasses the process of reason. Intuition is a far superior source of knowing than reason, but it does not contradict reason. See: cognition, mind (five states).

invigorate: To give vigor, life or energy.

invocation (to invoke): A "calling or summoning," as to a God, saint, etc., for blessings and assistance. Also, a formal prayer or chant. See: mantra.

Iraivan: (Tamil) "Worshipful one; divine one." One of the most ancient Tamil names for God. See: San Marga Sanctuary.

Iraivan Temple: See: San Marga Sanctuary.

Isha: (Sanskrit) "Lord, master of all; superior, commanding, reigning." Isha and its derivative Ishana are very old names for God Siva found in the Rig Veda.

Ishanyaguru: (Sanskrit) ite brahmin of the Kalamukha sect who Basavanna, principal founding teacher of Vira Saivism, received instruction from in his youth. See: Basavanna, Vira Saivism.

Isha Upanishad: (Sanskrit) Last of the 40 chapters of Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Yajur Veda. A short, highly mystical scripture. See: Upanishad.

Ishta Devata: (Sanskrit) "Cherished or chosen Deity." The Deity that is the object of one's special pious attention. Ishta Devata is a concept common to all Hindu sects. Vaishnavas may choose among many Divine forms, most commonly Vishnu, Balaji, Krishna, Radha, Rama, Lakshmi, Hanuman and Narasinha, as well as the aniconic shalagrama, a sacred river rock. Traditionally, Smartas choose from among six Deities: Siva, Shakti, Vishnu, Surya, Ganesha and Kumara (or any of their traditional forms). For Shaktas, the Divine is worshiped as the Goddess, Shakti, in Her many fierce forms and benign forms, invoking the furious power of Kali or Durga, or the comforting grace of Parvati, Ambika and others. Saivites direct their worship primarily to Siva as represented by the aniconic Siva Linga, and the human-like murtis, Nataraja and Ardhanarishvara. In temples and scriptural lore, Siva is venerated in a multitude of forms, including the following 23 additional anthropomorphic images: Somaskanda, Rishabarudra, Kalyanasundara, Chandrashekhara, Bhikshatana, Kamadahanamurti, Kalari, Jalandara, Tripurari, Gajari, Virabhadra, Dakshinamurti, Kiratamurti, Nilakantha, Kankala, Chakradana, Gajamukhanugraha, Chandesanugraha, Ekapada, Lingodbhava, Sukhasana, Uma Maheshvara and Haryardha. See: murti, Shakti, Siva.

Ishtalinga: (Sanskrit) "Cherished, chosen or personal mark of God." (Ishta: "sought, desired.") For Vira Saivites it is the personal Sivalinga, ceremonially given by a priest shortly after birth, and worn on a chain or cord around the neck thereafter. See: Sivalinga, Vira Saivism.

Islam: The religion founded by Prophet Muhammed in Arabia about 625 ce. Islam connotes submission to Allah, the name for God in this religion. Adherents, known as Moslems, follow the "five pillars" found in their scripture, the Koran: faith in Allah, praying five times daily facing Mecca, giving of alms, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage. One of the fastest growing religions, Islam has over one billion followers, mostly in the Middle East, Pakistan, Africa, China, Indochina, Russia and neighboring countries. See: Koran, Mohammed.

issue forth: To come out; be created. To start existing as an entity. E.g., creation issues forth from Nataraja's drum. See: emanation, Nataraja, tattva.

Ishvara: (Sanskrit) "Highest Lord." Supreme or Personal God. See: Parameshvara.

Ishvarapujana: (Sanskrit) "Worship." See: yama-niyama.

Itihasa: (Sanskrit) "So it was." Epic history, particularly the Ramayana and Mahabharata (of which the famed Bhagavad Gita is a part). This term sometimes refers to the Puranas, especially the Skanda Purana and the Bhagavata Purana (or Srimad Bhagavatam). See: Mahabharata, Ramayana, Smriti.

itinerant: Traveling from place to place, with no permanent home. Wandering. See: monk, sadhu, vairagi.

J

Jabala Upanishad: (Sanskrit) Belongs to the Atharva Veda. This short scripture teaches of knowledge attained in renunciation. See: Upanishad.

Jagadacharya: (Sanskrit) "World teacher." In 1986 the World Religious Parliament of New Delhi named five world leaders who were most active in spreading Sanatana Dharma outside India. The five are: H.H. Swami Chinmayananda of Chinmaya Missions, India; Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Saiva Siddhanta Church and Himalayan Academy, USA; Yogiraj Amrit Desai of Kripalu Yoga Center, USA; Pandit Tej Ramji Sharma of Nepali Baba, Nepal; and Swami Jagpurnadas Maharaj, Mauritius.

Jaimini: (Sanskrit) Founder of the Mimamsa Darshana. See: shad darshana.

Jaiminiya Brahmana Upanishad: (Sanskrit) A philosophical discourse of the Sama Veda dealing with death, passage to other worlds and reincarnation. See: Upanishad.

Jainism: (Jaina) (Sanskrit) An ancient non-Vedic religion of India made prominent by the teachings of Mahavira ("Great Hero"), ca 500 bce. The Jain Agamas teach reverence for all life, vegetarianism and strict renunciation for ascetics. Jains focus great emphasis on the fact that all souls may attain liberation, each by his own effort. Their great historic saints, called Tirthankaras ("Ford-Crossers"), are objects of worship, of whom Mahavira was the 24th and last. Jains number about six million today, living mostly in India. See: Mahavira.

Janaloka: (Sanskrit) "Plane of creativity, or of liberated mortals." The third highest of the seven upper worlds, realm of vishuddha chakra. See: loka.

jangama: (Sanskrit) "Moving; wanderer." A term used by Vira Saivites, originally to name their mendicant, renunciates who walked as homeless sadhus, uplifting others. Now an order of Vira Saivite teachers. See: Vira Saivism.

japa: (Sanskrit) "Incantation." Practice of concentrated repetition of a mantra, often while counting the repetitions on a mala or strand of beads. It may be done silently or aloud. Sometimes known as mantra yoga. A major sadhana in Hindu spiritual practice, from the simple utterance of a few names of God to extraordinary feats of repeating sacred syllables millions of times for years on end. It is recommended as a cure for pride and arrogance, anger and jealousy, fear and confusion. It harmonizes the doshas and quiets the vrittis. Filling the mind with divine syllables, awakening the divine essence of spiritual energies in the physical body, japa brings forth the amrita. For Saivites, Namah Sivaya in its various forms is the most treasured mantra used in japa. The mantra Hare-Rama-Hare-Krishna is among the foremost Vaishnava mantras. Japa yoga is said to be of 14 kinds: daily (nitya), circumstantial (naimittika), the japa of desired results (kamya), forbidden (nishiddha), penitential (prayashchitta), unmoving (achala), moving (chala), voiced (vachika), whispered (upanshu), bee, or murmured (bhramara), mental (manasa), uninterrupted (akhanda), nonuttered (ajapa) and circumambulatory (pradakshina). See: amrita, mantra, yama-niyama, yoga.

jatakarma: (Sanskrit) "Rite of birth." See: samskaras of birth.

jati : (Sanskrit) "Birth; genus; community or caste." See: varna dharma.

jayanti: (Sanskrit) "Birthday." See: Guru Jayanti.

jiva: (Sanskrit) "Living, existing." From jiv, "to live." The individual soul, atman, during its embodied state, bound by the three malas (anava, karma and maya). The jivanmukta is one who is "liberated while living." See: atman, evolution of the soul, jivanmukta, purusha, soul.

jivanmukta: (Sanskrit) "Liberated soul." A being who has attained nirvikalpa samadhi--the realization of the Self, Parasiva--and is liberated from rebirth while living in a human body. (Contrasted with videhamukta, one liberated at the point of death.) This attainment is the culmination of lifetimes of intense striving, sadhana and tapas, requiring total renunciation, sannyasa (death to the external world, denoted in the conducting of one's own funeral rites), in the current incarnation. While completing life in the physical body, the jivanmukta enjoys the ability to reenter nirvikalpa samadhi again and again. At this time, siddhis can be developed which are carried to the inner worlds after mahasamadhi. Such an awakened jnani benefits the population by simply being who he is. When he speaks, he does so without forethought. His wisdom is beyond reason, yet it does not conflict with reason. Nor does he arrive at what he says through the process of reason, but through the process of ajna-chakra sight. See: jivanmukti, jnana, kaivalya, moksha, Self Realization, Sivasayujya, videhamukti.

jivanmukti: (Sanskrit) "Liberation while living." The state of the jivanmukta. Contrasted with videhamukti, liberation at the point of death. See: death, jivanmukta, moksha, reincarnation, videhamukti.

jivayajna: (Sanskrit) "Self sacrifice." See: yajna.

jnana: (Sanskrit) "Knowledge; wisdom." The matured state of the soul. It is the wisdom that comes as an aftermath of the kundalini breaking through the door of Brahman into the realization of Parasiva, Absolute Reality. The repeated samadhis of Parasiva ever deepen this flow of divine knowing which establishes the knower in an extraordinary point of reference, totally different from those who have not attained this enlightenment. Jnana is the awakened, superconscious state (karana chitta) working within the ordinary experience of the world, flowing into daily life situations. It is the fruition of the progressive stages of charya, kriya and yoga in the Saiva Siddhanta system of spiritual unfoldment. Jnana is sometimes misunderstood as book knowledge, as a maturity or awakening that comes from simply understanding a complex philosophical system or systems. Those who define jnana in this way deny that the path is a progression of charya-kriya-yoga-jnana or of karma-bhakti-raja-jnana. Rather, they say that one can choose his path, and that each leads to the ultimate goal. See: God Realization, door of Brahman, Self Realization, samadhi.

Jnanamrita: (Sanskrit) A treatise of poems by Gorakshanatha on the duties of a yogi. See: Gorakshanatha.

jnana pada: (Sanskrit) "Stage of wisdom." According to the Saiva Siddhanta rishis, jnana is the last of the four successive padas (stages) of spiritual unfoldment. It is the culmination of the third stage, the yoga pada. Also names the knowledge section of each Agama. See: jnana, pada.

jnana shakti: (Sanskrit) "Power of wisdom." One of Siva's three primary shaktis. Also a name for Lord Karttikeya's vel. See: Karttikeya. shakti, trishula.

jnana yoga: (Sanskrit) "Union of knowledge." Describes the esoteric spiritual practices of the fully enlightened being, or jnani. An alternative meaning, popularized by Swami Vivekananda, is the quest for cognition through intellectual religious study, as one of four alternate paths to truth, the other three being bhakti yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga. See: jnana, yoga.

Jnaneshvari: (Sanskrit) Foremost religious treatise in the Marathi language. Written by the Natha saint Jnaneshvar (or Jnanadeva) about 1290. It is a verse-by-verse commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.

jnani: (Sanskrit) "Sage." One who possesses jnana. See: jivanmukta, jnana.

joint family: Kutumba or kula. The Hindu social unit consisting of several generations of kindred living together under the same roof or in a joining compound. Traditionally, joint families live in a large single home, but in modern times accommodations are often in individual, nuclear homes within a shared compound. The joint family includes the father and mother, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons with their spouses, as well as the daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters until they are married--thus often comprising several married couples and their children. The head of the joint family, called kutumba mukhya (also mukhya or kartri), is the father, supported by the mother, and in his absence, the elder son, guided by his mother and supported by his spouse. From an early age, the eldest son is given special training by his father to assume this future responsibility as head of the family. In the event of the father's death, sacred law does allow for the splitting of the family wealth between the sons. Division of family assets may also be necessary in cases where sons are involved in different professions and live in different towns, when there is an inability for all to get along under one roof, or when the family becomes unmanageably large.

The main characteristics of the joint family are that its members 1) share a common residence, 2) partake of food prepared in the same kitchen, 3) hold their property in common and, 4) ideally, profess the same religion, sect and sampradaya. Each individual family of husband, wife and children is under the guidance of the head of the joint family. All work together unselfishly to further the common good. Each joint family extends out from its home to include a second level of connections as an "extended family (brihatkutumba or mahakutumba)." See: extended family, grihastha dharma.

juncture: A critical point in the development of events.

jyotisha: (Sanskrit) From jyoti, "light." "The science of the lights (or stars)." Hindu astrology, the knowledge and practice of analyzing events and circumstances, delineating character and determining auspicious moments, according to the positions and movements of heavenly bodies. In calculating horoscopes, jyotisha uses the sidereal (fixed-star) system, whereas Western astrology uses the tropical (fixed-date) method.

jyotisha shastri: (Sanskrit) "Astrologer." A person well versed in the science of jyotisha. See: jyotisha.

Jyotisha Vedanga: (Sanskrit) "Veda-limb of celestial science (astronomy-astrology)." Ancient texts giving knowledge of astronomy and astrology, for understanding the cosmos and determining proper timing for Vedic rites. (Jyoti means light [of the sun, fire, etc.]) See: jyotisha, Vedanga.