King Henry’s Wives and Family Values: Catherine of Aragon

Follow us in Twitter | The Muslim Times | Alislam |  Subscribe King Henry's Wives and Family Values: Catherine of Aragon Epigraph: "O ye people! fear your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and created therefrom its mate, and from them twain spread many men and women; and fear Allah, in Whose name you appeal to one another, and fear Him particularly respecting ties of relationship. Indeed, Allah watches over you." (Al Quran 4:2) Catherine pleading her case against divorce from Henry. Painting by Henry Nelson O'Neil Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD Queen Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Queen Isabella of Spain and the first wife of King Henry VIII. What does she or her biography have to teach us about the family values, especially the contrast of Christianity and Islam or the Bible and the Quran? Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile of their Muslim and Jewish subjects and in supporting and financing Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the "New World." Isabella was granted the title Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974. On 2 January 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand entered Granada to receive the keys of the city and the principal mosque was reconsecrated as a church.[83] The Treaty of Granada was signed later that year, and in it Ferdinand and Isabella gave their word to allow the Muslims and Jews of Granada to live in peace. However they broke their promise soon after, and then began the Inquisition. Isabella and Ferdinand had seven children. Five survived infancy and lived to adulthood.  Queen Catherine of Aragon was the youngest. She was the first of the six wives of King Henry VIII, whom he married one after another. His six wives are six opportunities to contrast the teachings of Islam and Christianity about Family Values. The six women to hold the title "queen consort" of King Henry VIII, between 1509 and 1547, were: Catherine of Aragon (marriage annulled; died while detained under guard at Kimbolton Castle); Anne Boleyn (executed); Jane Seymour (died days after giving birth, widely believed to be following birth complications); Anne of Cleves (marriage annulled); Catherine Howard (executed); Catherine Parr (widowed). A common mnemonic device to remember the fates of Henry's consorts is: 'Divorced Beheaded Died; Divorced Beheaded Survived.' There is also a rhyme: King Henry the Eighth, to six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded. However, Henry did not "divorce" two wives; he had the marriages annulled. This article is about his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She has two lessons to teach us in our comparison of Islam and Christianity, regarding family values, as will become apparent during the reading of this article. She was the youngest surviving child of Ferdinand and Isabella, the joint rulers of Spain, who successfully defeated and pushed out the last of the Muslims or the Moors from Spain.  As was common for princesses of the day, her parents almost immediately began looking for a political match for her. When she was three year old, she was betrothed to Arthur, the son of Henry VII of England. Arthur was not even quite two at the time. When she was almost 16, in 1501, Catherine made the journey to England. It took her three months, and her ships weathered several storms, but she safely made landfall at Plymouth on October 2, 1501. Catherine and Arthur were married on 14 November 1501 in Old St. Paul's Cathedral, London. After the wedding and celebrations, the young couple moved to Ludlow Castle on the Welsh border. Less than six months later, Arthur was dead, possibly of the 'sweating sickness.'  She insisted all her life that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated. She had to do that to justify her marriage to Arthur's younger brother, King Henry the VIII, as there was a prohibition in the Old Testament, against marrying a brother's widow: If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless. (Leviticus 20:21)

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'One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshipers': Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace

The Muslim Times | Contact us | Alislam |  Subscribe  World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace Epigraph "And let not the enmity of a people, that they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque, incite you to transgress.  And help one another in righteousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah; surely, Allah is severe in punishment." (Al Quran 5:3) Author:  His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih V  Source: Alislam.org Table of Contents of the Book About the Author ……………………………………………………………………ix Publishers' Note ………………………………………………………………………xi Foreword ……………………………………………………………………………….xv Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. xvii Speeches Islamic Perspective on the Global Crisis …………………………………… 3 Islam's Teachings of Loyalty and Love for One's Nation ………… 23 The Devastating Consequences of a Nuclear War and the Critical Need For Absolute Justice ………………………………………….. 39 The Path to Peace—Just Relations Between Nations ………………63 Letters to the World Leaders Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict the XVI ……………………….95 Letter to the Prime Minister of Israel …………………………………….101 Letter to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran ………….105 Letter to the President of the United States of America ………..109 Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada …………………………………113 Letter to the Custodian of the Two Holy Places the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ……………………………………………117 Letter to the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China …………………………………………………………………..121 Letter to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom …………..127 Letter to the Chancellor of Germany …………………………………….131 Letter to the President of the French Republic ……………………..135 Letter to Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms ………………………………………………….141 Letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran …………………………………………………………………………………….147 Read the book online in Alislam.org  Part of the Introduction is reproduced here: The world is passing through very turbulent times. The global economic crisis continues to manifest newer and graver dangers almost every week. The similarities to the period just before the Second World War continue to be cited and it seems clear that events are moving the world at an unprecedented pace towards a horrific third world war. There is an overwhelming sense that things are quickly getting out of control and the people are looking for someone to step on to the stage to offer concrete, solid, guidance in which they can have confidence and that speaks to their heart and mind alike and gives them hope that there is a path that can lead to peace. The consequences of a nuclear war are so catastrophic that none dare even think about them. Here, in this book, we have gathered the guidance put forth by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Over the past several years, as events have unfolded, he has been fearless in announcing to the world where things are heading—not to create alarm but to prepare them to think about how the world has arrived in this state of being and how it can avert disaster and chart a course to peace and security for all the people that inhabit this global village. He has forthrightly proclaimed that the only way to insure peace is for the world to adopt the ways of humility and justice and to humbly, submissively, turn to God; for man to become humane; for the strong to treat the weak with dignity and respect and justice and for the weak and poor to also to show gratitude and adopt the ways of truth and righteousness and for all to turn to their Creator in utter humility and total sincerity. Again and again he has reminded one and all that the way back from the brink of disaster is for nations to make justice an absolute requirement of their dealings with each other. Even if there is enmity between them they need to still observe justice because history has taught us that this is the only way to eliminate all traces of future hatreds and thus build a lasting peace.  This is the teaching of the Holy Quran that he has emphasized in his letters to the leaders of the world: And let not the enmity of a people, that they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque, incite you to transgress.  And help one another in righteousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah; surely, Allah is severe in punishment. (ch. 5: v. 3) In his letter to the Prime Minister of Israel, he wrote: Hence, it is my request to you that instead of leading the world into the grip of a World War, make maximum efforts to save the world from a global catastrophe. Instead of resolving disputes with force, you should try to resolve them through dialogue, so that we can gift our future generations with a bright future rather than 'gift' them with disability and defects. To the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he admonished: There is currently great agitation and restlessness in the world. In some areas small-scale wars have broken out, while in other places the superpowers act on the pretext of trying to bring about peace. Each country is engaged in activities to either help or oppose other countries, but the requirements of justice are not being fulfilled. It is with regret that if we now observe the current circumstances of the world, we find that the foundation for another world war has already been laid. To President Obama, he stated: As we are all aware, the main causes that led to the Second World War were the failure of League of Nations and the economic crisis, which began in 1932. Today, leading economists state that there are numerous  parallels between the current economic crisis and that of 1932. We observe that political and economic problems have once again led to wars between smaller nations, and to internal discord and discontentment becoming rife within these countries. This will ultimately result in certain powers emerging to the helm of government, who will lead us to a world war. If in the smaller countries conflicts cannot be resolved through politics or diplomacy, it will lead to new blocs and groupings to form in the world. This will be the precursor for the outbreak of a Third World War. Hence, I believe that now, rather than focusing on the progress of the world, it is more important and indeed essential, that we urgently increase our efforts to save the world from this destruction.  There is an urgent need for mankind to recognise its One God, Who is our Creator, as this is the only guarantor for the survival of humanity; otherwise, the world will continue to rapidly head towards self-destruction. Read the book online in Alislam.org  Read in the Muslim Times

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Kenya Power - why the mirth?

Only yesterday we had a day without an outage or fluctuation.

Since early this morning, we have been having low voltage countless numbers due to which many of our electrical appliances which are on sollatek devices were switched off! The result being similar to having no power.

When I called engineer Musau regarding this, the person who answered his phone found this state of affairs highly funny and I could hear a whole lot of others (he must have activated the speaker where others in the room [KPLC employees?], could hear me), laughing with him!

It would seem that my last email regarding Kenya Power and their useless 'service', etc., had scant effect on these creatures.

It just goes to show the kind of people Kenya Power employs.

Therefore, this is even more reason for them to stand aside and give the responsibility of powering the country to others unlike them.

KPLC seems to be under the impression that they hold a monopoly of supplying power and hence this kind of behaviour. It's high time they had competition.

Close shop, KENYA POWER (KPLC)!

Kenyans have, I think, reached saturation point with the so-called 'services' of the above power company and we have a suggestion for them - quit your supposed 'service' of providing power to the country and let another more competent, transparent, professional and accountable company take your place. We no longer find you competent, transparent, professional and accountable. You've become a thuggish company out to squeeze the last drop of blood from your 'consumers' any which way you can.

Of late, you have decided to simplify YOUR life by imposing the prepaid system into every home. Why?

We don't want this and some of us have found that in the process we have ended up paying more for your questionable power supply than when it was post-paid. Why?

From the consumer's point of view this is very inconvenient. Also, everytime we lose power, your defense will be - top up your credit! That is IF your 3rd class answering 'service' will even answer. If our various electrical equipment goes on the blink, your defense will be for us to prove that KPLC is the one who is really to blame and NOT our lack of topping up our meters. I can think of countless reasons that your pre-paid system is going to cause for us. 

The reason, I'm accusing you of and asking you to leave provision of power to other more competent people is because, you do not seem to have the foggiest idea about the damage, chaos and inconveniences that your frequent, unexplained and without remorse your present 'services', are.

We have examples galore regarding your 3rd class 'service'. Take for example the case of yesterday (Sunday), evening at around 5.15 pm. Many of us were at home watching t.v., but for the ones living in Nyali, suddenly found the lights dimming and all electrical appliances which were connected to power via sollatek devices, were switched off because of the fluctuation and low voltage. Then we found that over the HOURS and up till this morning, it kept coming on and off every few minutes. Trying to get through to KPLC after the initial alert was an exercise in futility. When I finally got through to their senior engineer this morning at 7.05 am, he had the temerity to accuse me of not letting him know earlier about the over 14 hours of on/off low voltage! Fortunately, after about half an hour it finally became normal. 

Of course, this did not last for long as at 9.15 am, we were plunged into the 'dark ages' once again. I called the same engineer who mercifully answered and he told me to give them 10 minutes and it would be restored. No explanation, of course. Well, they are liars among other things because power was not restored till just before 1.00 pm.

Will we as a country ever progress with such a power company in charge of supplying it? I do not think so. In fact, we will be and are regressing instead of progressing.

So, Kenya Power give the job of powering this country to another more competent and accountable company and LEAVE!!!! Don't even bother to rename yourselves like you did the last time, because while the name might be different the people populating the company are the same. Therefore, NO CHANGE!!!!

This one is ahead of tamarind. Looks shody!

'Morning!

We had another hours long outage last night. The reason given this time was a very 'tired and overused', broken wire.

If you look at the picture attached with this email, is it any wonder? That trucks hit poles, signboards that are being put up short-circuit wires and where a whole neighbourhoods will be cut off from civilization as we know it for hours and sometimes for days on end?

With Town planners who are not really working and very few buildings which are built 'legally', our power company should apply it's common sense and refuse to connect questionable buildings, which are built too close to others, are on road reserves, etc. When they do on the say so of our Council (that's the defence they have for connecting), they should then not complain and moan and groan when they have a disaster on their hands like burning transformers, etc. They are the ones who allow such things to happen by giving power to such buildings in the first place.

So, KPLC - get your act together and provide us with a consistent and efficient supply.

Raziya

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Hussein A Abbas Al Hussein
Date: Thu, May 9, 2013 at 11:02 PM
Subject: This one is ahead of tamarind. Looks shody!

Dear All ,

Can any one help us as to avoid , GOD
FORBID Disaster .

Thanks and Rgds

Hussein Abbas
Mombasa County
Resident .

Art...

This is beautiful! Our imagination knows no bounds...

Raziya

بازی با تراشه مداد