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Table of Contents The Nez Percé People Catholic Teachings on Angels The Spirit, Weyekin in Nez Percé Tribe This writing is to briefly identify and recognize some cultural values of the Nez Percé tribe, especially their belief in Weyekin, often described as a personal guiding angel. The concept of a guiding angel provokes Catholic teachings about angels and comparison with the Nez Percé Weyekin, as the guiding spirit. But that will be a new piece of writing for the future. There can be a cross-cultural gleaning of ideas from nature, beliefs, and interactions.     The Nez Percé People The term Nez Percé, meaning “pierced nose” is the French coinage to describe the Nimiipuu tribe. The term Nimiipuu, meaning “we, the people” is a name the tribe used for themselves and their language, a part of the Sahaptin family. Early contacts with the Europeans, especially French explorers made the name Nez Percé popular because they unfairly adopted the name Nez Percé and used it for the Nimiipuu and n

Table of Contents From the Qur’an The Being of God Himself The Polemics against the Trinity The Influence of Kalam Conclusion The Muslims’ perceptions of Christianity have always been based on the fundamental principle of Islam, that is, there is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God. Every argument takes bearing from the fundamental belief of the indivisibility of God. Below is a brief description of how Muslims perceive Christianity. From the Qur’an The Qur’an objects to the idea of God being one but in three persons – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. It does not acknowledge the Trinity, and it extends to Christianity’s doctrine of the Incarnation and as such, the authenticity of the Bible. As described elsewhere in this blog about the nature of Jesus, the Islamic theological and scriptural understanding of the nature of Jesus are unique when compared to Christianity. The Muslim polemics about the oneness of God, the Sonship of Jesus and the authenticity of the Bibl

Table of Contents Oneness of the Lordship of Allah ( Tawhid-ar-Rububiyyah ) Oneness of the Worship of Allah ( Tawhid-al-Uluhiyyah ) Divine Names and Attributes of Allah ( Tawhid-al-Asma was-Sifat ) God - Unique and Unchangeable Conclusion In the recent past, there have been confrontations and demonstrations when some individuals through ignorance tended to teach students about Islam and got themselves into trouble by making paintings of the Prophet. I call it ignorance because if they had learned the Qur’an or been informed about the Shahadah, they would not have done that. This writing will briefly introduce to the reader the importance of the Shahadah in the Islamic religion.   In Islam, the concept of Tawhid invokes three aspects of monotheism, which the Shahadah   (the profession of faith) embodies. The Shahadah is made up of two declarations: “There is no god but God” and “Muhammad is the Messenger of God” ( La ilaha illallah, Muhammad-ur-Rasul-Allah ). The former signifies the T

Table of Contents Cautionary Surahs and Ayat Adversarial Surahs and Ayat Tolerant Surahs and Ayat Neutral Surahs and Ayat The ‘Covenant of ‘Umar’ The reason for the inclusion of Christians, Jews and Sabians as People of the Book, not only depends on having a sacred book but is also based on monotheism. Another fact was that the Qur’an calls on Prophet Muhammad to: “Set you (O Muhammad...) your face towards the religion (of pure Islamic Monotheism) …. Allah’s Fitrah (i.e. Allah’s Islamic Monotheism) with which He has created mankind” (Al-Rum 30:30). Strictly speaking, monotheism is another criterion and followed by the fact that the three religions considered Abraham as their father; “it is the religion of your father Ibrahim (Abraham), Islamic Monotheism” (Al-Hajj 22:78).   Another criterion can be found in terms like Al-Muttaqun ( Al-Baqarah 2:2). The term Al-Muttaqun means to profess faith in one God as a revelation given and written down in the form of scripture. This definiti

Table of Contents The Pathis The Panchappathis Social and Mystical Teachings Ayyavazhi is a sect in the Hindu religion a string of a dharmic belief system that was founded based on the life and teachings of Ayya Vaikundar. Principally, it is noted that the pathis (places where God is) and panchappathis (five abodes of God) play central roles in the lives of its followers. The general characteristics of this Hindu religious sect include: Monotheism Concepts of good, evil and dharma. The poorest of the poor are its major adherents. For monotheism – Ayyavazhi has a strong belief in the concept of one God known as Bhagavan Vishnu who has the capability to appear in human likenesses, such as in names and forms which suggests that there are other lesser godheads. But it also teaches that God is the most supreme of all deities, who is formless, transcendental, infinite, and eternal. As a religion, its symbol is a lotus carrying a flamelike white Naman which could mean in the Hindu languag

Table of Contents God/god Explained Same or Unique? Trinity and Tawhid: Synonyms and Polysemy Conclusion The concept of monotheism is the belief that there is only one God. It is a concept of theism that specifies itself as distinct from other theisms, such as polytheism, ditheism, or tritheism. The concept of monotheism is distinctive and accepts indivisibility while maintaining the uniqueness of God. The question that comes to mind is: who is this God? What about Him? The Christians, with a few exceptions, agree that “there are three persons in one God, God the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, Christians profess that God is a Trinity, which is the focal point of the Christian concept of monotheism. When compared to Islam, it is completely a different understanding. For Muslims, “there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God.” This is normally put in this way: “ašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾilla -llāhu, wa-ʾašhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlu -llāh,” that i