Photo reblogged from Dweller in the Library with 314 notes
Sculpture Representing Al-Burāq
Source: Flickr / kotomi-jewelry
Post reblogged from terrible angels with 8 notes
The Archangel Gabriel
In Christian scripture, Gabriel is a harbinger, a messenger from God. Most importantly he brings the news of her Immaculate Conception by the Holy Spirit to the Virgin Mary. He appears to Daniel in Babylon
In art, Gabriel is almost always instantly recognisable by the situation he is most commonly portrayed in; namely, the Annunciation. The Annunciation is almost as popular a subject as the Crucifixion itself, with many versions exisiting, painted by many different artists over hundreds of years. Gabriel is almost always portrayed as a flawlessly beautiful figure and often looks androgynous, as many angels do in Christian art. He often has blonde hair and beautiful garb. The symbols associated visually with Gabriel include the Lily, alluding to the pure Virgin Mary in the Annunciation and the trumpet (in Revelations he supposedly sounds a trumpet to herald the end-times, Gabriel being a bringer of messages from God.)
In Roman Catholicism, Gabriel, along with Michael and Raphael, are considered to be saints. According to the theology of the Latterday Saints, Gabriel was the heavenly name of the prophet Noah.
In Islam, Gabriel is known as the angel Jibril, who revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad. In the Hadith of Gabriel, he comes to Muhammad and quizzes him on his faith, providing a clear summary of the 5 Pillars and 6 Articles of Faith. He is revered as chief among the four archangels and is mentioned numerous times in the Qur’an.
In Enochian vision magick, Gabriel is one of the main seven archangels referenced in the ceremonies and presides over the moon.
Source: malachim
Photo reblogged from رندان with 145 notes
Elisabeth Puin: Islamische Plakate, Kalligraphie und Malerei im Dienste des Glauben
The Buraq (I think)
this is literally a picture of me
Source: borntoulouse
Photo reblogged from that's how you get deathless with 10,462 notes
“I created this series of photos in response to Iran’s president Ahmadinejad’s naive comments that we do not have homosexuality in Iran. I wanted to say that we do have homosexuals and we have lots of them. My hope was to give solace to Muslims who feel they cannot be Muslims and homosexuals at the same time. I wanted to say that your love for God or belief in good for humanity should not determine who you’re choosing to love. My hope is that more people come to see that we should leave people to make their own choices, regarding who they want to love. I think the message of love from all of the prophets was lost, in all the noise from the later organizers of religions and their followers. I wish to remind people of that original intention of our belief in a higher good.” -
This makes me happy beyond belief.
Source: elfrankenstein
Photo reblogged from Historical Slut with 2,206 notes
The architects and artists who worked in the service of early Islam were likewise driven by the wish to create a physical backdrop which would bolster the claims of their religion. Holding that God was the source of all understanding, Islam placed particular emphasis on the divine qualities of mathematics. Muslim artisans covered the walls of houses and mosques with repeating sequences of delicate and complicated geometries, through which the infinite wisdom of God might be intimated. This ornamentation, so pleasingly intricate on a rug or a cup, was nothing less than hallucinatory when applied to an entire hall. Eyes accustomed to seeing only the practical and humdrum objects of daily life could, inside such a room, survey a world shorn of all associations with the everyday.
—- Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
Source: toobaa
Photo reblogged from terrible angels with 170 notes
Kiraman Katibin (Arabic: كراماً كاتبين), or “honourable recorders”, are two angels, believed by many Muslims, who record a person’s good and bad deeds. These angels sit on a person’s right and left shoulders respectively. Whether one is sent to the Jannah (heaven) or the Jahannam (hell) is not, however, dependent on whether one’s good deeds outweigh one’s bad deeds; it is ultimately up to Allah’s mercy upon a believer. The Holy Quran refers to them in two places, in 50:16-18 and by name as ‘Noble Recorders’ in 82:10-12.
The only job of the Kiraman Katibin is to write down and record every action, thought, or feeling a person has each day. One angel figuratively sits on the right shoulder and records all good deeds, while another sits on the left shoulder and records all bad deeds.
The book in which the angels are writing is the cumulative record of a given person’s deeds. After that person’s death, it is said that on the Day of Judgement each person will be confronted with this record, and the two angels will be present to tell God of what the person did.
These angels must not be confused with the concept of guardian angels, called in Islam mu’aqqibat, and which are referred to in surah Ra’d, verse 10-11. According to many Muslims, each human has two guardian angels, in front and behind him, while the deed recorders are located right and left.
Source: princessgiraffe
Photo reblogged from Cave to Canvas with 838 notes
Detail of a shamsa frontispiece from a 16th century Afghani (possibly Indian) Qur’an.
Source: touba
Photoset reblogged from terrible angels with 26 notes
Azrael, well known as Angel of Death or Archangel of Death.
He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology and Sikhism. It is an English form of the Arabic name ʿIzrāʾīl (عزرائيل) or Azra’eil (عزرایل), the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in some sects of Islam and Sikhism, as well as some Hebrew lore. The Qur’an never uses this name, referring instead to Malak al-Maut (which translates directly as angel of death). It is also spelled Izrail, Azrin, Izrael, Azriel, Azrail, Ezraeil, Azraille, Azryel, Ozryel, or Azraa-eel. Chambers English dictionary uses the spelling Azrael. The name literally means Whom God Helps., an adaptation form of Hebrew.
Azrael is the name commonly used for the angel of death in some Jewish, Christian and very few Islamic traditions. Both Arabs and Jews are known to pronounce the name as Azriel, not Azrael. The similar spelling and pronunciation may be the cause of some confusion or misunderstandings. It has been mentioned that Azriel and Azrael may be two different individuals.
Depending on the outlook and precepts of various religions in which he is a figure, Azrael may be portrayed as residing in the Third Heaven. In one of his forms, he has four faces and four thousand wings, and his whole body consists of eyes and tongues, the number of which corresponds to the number of people inhabiting the Earth. He will be the last to die, recording and erasing constantly in a large book the names of men at birth and death, respectively.
Photo reblogged from iniquity is one of the perks with 23,254 notes
EVERYONE gets niqab and burka the wrong way round in the West. And when it’s large media organisations, it’s really inexcusable.
Source: fuckyeahwomenprotesting2
Photo reblogged from the stones that pilgrims kiss with 16 notes
Miraj or Muhammad’s Ascent to Heaven, Sultan Muhammad, 1539-43.
Source: disturbthebookmites
Quote reblogged from Fuckyeahchoice with 173 notes
Such simplistic stereotypes are further perpetuated by the media’s decision to use “Islamic” as the adjective of choice: “Islamic terrorists,” “Islamic militants.” By contrast, killers, such as the “anti-abortion activists” Paul Hill and Michael Griffin, are described not merely as “Christian” but “radical Christian” or “Christian extremist” or dissociated from Christianity entirely by the use of more theologically-neutral adjectives like “anti-abortion.” The media’s willingness to acknowledge that Christianity is not inherently murderous, despite Hill’s and Griffin’s actions, shows an attention to nuance not equally applied to Muslims.
Source: swintons
Photoset reblogged from Fuckyeahchoice with 2,071 notes
Muslims To NYPD: ‘Respect Us, We Will Respect You’
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of Muslims prayed in a lower Manhattan park and marched to New York Police headquarters Friday to protest a decade of police infiltrating mosques and spying on Muslim neighborhoods.
Bundled in winter clothes, men and women knelt as the call to prayer echoed off the cold stone of government buildings.
“Being Muslim does not negate our nationality,” Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid told the crowd of about 500 gathered in Foley Square, not far from City Hall and local courthouses. “We are unapologetically Muslim and uncompromisingly American.”
The demonstration was smaller and more subdued than the Occupy Wall Street protests that led to clashes with police and made headlines worldwide. Police wore windbreakers, not riot gear, and protesters called for improved relations with police.
“We want for you to respect us,” Abdur-Rashid said, “and we will respect you.”
It was the first organized opposition to the NYPD’s intelligence tactics since an Associated Press investigation revealed widespread spying programs that documented every aspect of Muslim life in New York. Police infiltrated mosques and student groups. Plainclothes officers catalogued Middle Eastern restaurants and their clientele. Analysts built databases on Arab cab drivers and monitored Muslims who changed their names.
“Had this been happening to any other religious group, all of America would be outraged,” said Daoud Ibraheem, 73, a retired graphic artist from Brooklyn.
Following the prayer service, the Muslims — joined by about 50 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators — crowded the sidewalk for the short walk to the large police headquarters building known as One Police Plaza. They stayed only briefly, chanting for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s ouster, before returning to Foley Square.
Protesters carried signs that said “NYPD Watches Us. Who Watches NYPD?” A dozen or so uniformed police officers monitored the demonstration and followed the march, but there were no clashes between protesters and police
(Read more) Photos — GETTY/Reuters
Source: farhaaan
Photo reblogged from Cave to Canvas with 1,292 notes
Folio from a Qur’an in Maghribi script, c. 1560.
The verses are divided by motifs in gold, while the diacriticals and vocalizations are highlighted with color.
Source: touba
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