Seen as the spiritual head of the Hezbollah, Sayed Fadlallah-a leading political figure in the Lebanese Islamic Movement-gives his views of Jihad or Holy War, its rules, its origins, and the role of terror in such a war. The program also examines how Muslim thinkers see the role of war and violence in the contemporary world, and why some feel the need to wage a Holy War.

Islamic movements throughout the Muslim world are demanding an Islamic state. What is an Islamic state? What is its relationship to the people, and how democratic can it be? In this program, Dr. Hassan Turabi, widely regarded as the architect of the Sudanese Islamic state, describes the ideal Islamic state and its ideology; he also discusses the issues of human rights, women's rights, and the position of minorities in the Sudan.

A meaningful understanding of Islam begins when its principles are discussed with an open mind. In this program, Amina Wadud, of Virginia Commonwealth University; Ibrahim Kalin, of the College of the Holy Cross; and Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School, join together to examine the meaning of Islam-both within a Muslim context and in relation to the Christian and Jewish traditions of Abrahamic monotheism-and to explain Islam's Five...

What is a fatwa? Who is qualified to issue one? What is the role of traditional scholars in the Muslim world today? Egypt today is a battleground between liberal and radical Muslims, as the secular state and traditional scholars are being challenged by more militant forces. In this program, Sheikh Syed Tautavi, Mufti of Egypt, explores these and other vital questions that underlie current developments in Egypt and elsewhere in the Islamic world.

Rising above the myths and misinformation surrounding Islam, one fact is clear: the Muslim religion is growing as never before. This program surveys the sociopolitical landscape of Islamic hotspots in the Middle East, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan, and elsewhere. Featuring commentary by General Pervez Musharraf, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Dr. Hasan al-Turabi, and other key figures, the balanced documentary provides background on the world's second-largest religion,...

The popular uprisings of the Arab Spring that spread across the Middle East in early 2011 have left a leadership void that Islamist parties have been quick to fill. A longtime supporter of former autocrats like Tunisia's Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, the United States now faces the uncomfortable result of Arab democracy-the rise of Islamist parties that are less amenable to the West than their dictatorial predecessors. Will the...

The world of Islam is shared by some 800 million people of all colors, economic levels, and social strata. What they share is a faith which is today what it was from the beginning, the same in the Moroccan king’s palace and a Filipino hovel. The essential principles on which Islam rests—its five pillars—are discussed, described, and put into historical context in this program. The program introduces the huge international mosaic of Moslem believers,...

From the very start, Islam has been a force to contend with in the West. It motivated European Christians to undertake the Crusades; strongly influenced the cultures of Spain, Sicily, and southern France; gave us, among many others, the concepts of chivalry and courtly love; and took, in turn, primarily the Western style of military architecture. (30 minutes)

Oil is, of course, the impetus that brought Islam into the late 20th century. The conflicts between traditional values and modern lifestyles, between vast wealth and indigenous poverty, between the civilization once believed eternally monolithic and the thousands of voices each demanding satisfaction on a different level-these are the seismic fracture points of the Islamic scene today. (30 minutes)

Nearly 2 million Muslim pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca. The hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are called to perform it at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able to do so. We visited the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, where children were led through a mock Hajj while Imam Johari Abdul-Malik explained the journey and the various...