Dear Sister Jabou, Thank you ever so much for your detailed explanation.I am very happy and satisfied that you are doing it for the love and sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and not for any other motive,in that case, rest assured of my full support and coperation.Please permit me to quote from the Holy Quran:- 1.".....co-operate with one another for virtue and piety and do not co-operate with one another for sin and transgression..."(5.2). 2."Cling firmly together by Allah's rope(Islam) and do not be divided."(3:103). 3." And the believers-men and women are friends of one another,they command for the right and forbid the wrong,establish Salah and pay zakah and obey Allah and His messenger..."(9:71). Now a quote from hadith: 1." the best of you is he who has learnt the Quran and taught it"(Bukhari). 2." the seeking of knowledge is a must for every muslim man and woman"(Miskat). As a muslim like you i was thought at an early age to ask questions of any thing I was not sure of,that was the reason of questioning your motive. Maulana Maududi was a prolific writer i would strongly suggest that you read his other works especially his Tafsir of the HolY Quran,this is now available in English. Yes.I would agree with you that we should follow one man and one man only-That is Muhammad Ibn Abdullah-our beloved prophet(on whom be the peace and blessing of Allah),he is our exemplar and should be our role model,What he did,we copy in our life,what he did not do,we do not attempt to do.That is the whole idea of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet. This is where education and the work of Dawah is so important for us.Your present effort(what is Islam series)is therefore commendable. There are different "brands of Islam" brought about by differences in the interpretation of the Holy Quran.The present debate that has been raging on now close to three weeks,is due purely to differences of interpretaton of the Quran and Sunnah of the prophet.On the one hand, you have those that preach and practice puritanical form of Islam(I have dubbed this group:-Wahhabi interpretation of the Quran.Thia is a sect that was started in Saudi Arabia by a man called Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahah(1708-1787).They preach Whiter than white form of islam that lack tolerance.After the Iran Revolution that brought Ayotallah Khomenie to power,the Saudi Arabia Authorities through the dawah agency started spending colossal sum of money to propagate their brand of islam all over the world.There is therefore Wahhabi influence all over the world now. On the other hand,in the debate before us,there is also a liberal group that believe in the liberal interpretation of the quran.This group believe in tolerance,respect for other people's belief(especially People of the Book)and others provided that it does not conflict with the doctrine,Ritual and ethics of islam.The liberal believe that in living their Islam,in demonstrating their islam,in preaching their Islam,righteous should speak for itself.In my view,this is the brand of islam practisd in the Gambia and Sierra leone.It is not perfect but it has stood the test of time.I now want to give you two examples from hadith.When our prophet(PBUH) migrated to Medina,he notice that the jews of his day were fasting on the 10th Muharram,when he made enquiries,he was told that they(jews) were fasting as sign of gratitude to Allah having deliver syedina Musa from the hands of Pharaoh,Upon hearing this,our prophet told them that We(muslims)have a better claim on Musa,so he fasted with them.The Jews on hearing this,started taunting the muslims,that the day would come when muslims would follow them on other things.The muslims in Medina brought this to the notice of the prophet(PBUH),The prophet therefore stipulated that to distinguish ourselves from them(jews) we should fast on the 9th,10th 11th of Muharram.That is how this tradition came to be established up to this day.Muslims all over the world who take their religion seriously fast the three days during the month of muharram.Another example,a delegation of jews visited the prophet in medina,he(prophet) accomodated them in the mosque he had built with his prophetic hands together with his band of early followers,Infact he built the mosque before building his private quaters.not only that he(Rasul) allowed them to say their prayers in the mosque.Now,now Now,compare that behaviour with the behaviour of our present day religious leaders.Now brothers and sisters let us dont waste valuable time debating an issue that can be interpreted differently depending on one's knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah of the prophet.So you see my dear sister there is different brand of islam depending on your knowledge and understanding.I will be sending an article on the subject by the end of the week.When all is said and done, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala knows best. I wish you every success with the series,that is my last input on the subject.Thank you for time and understanding. With the very best of good wishes, Musa Amadu Pembo Glasgow, Scotland UK. [log in to unmask] Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about Islam and we should do our best to give the right message. May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise .. Ameen _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>