Their daughter, Anmar el-Zien, 27, also was stabbed and was taken to Rolling Hill Hospital, where she was reported in critical but stable condition. Two of the al Faruqis' five children were found unharmed, hiding in a closet.
Friends of the family reacted with shock and deep sadness.
"Such brilliant, lovely people," Malik said when told of the al Faruqis' deaths. "Who could do this terrible thing?"
According to Malik and others who knew al Faruqi, he was a deeply religious man who not only taught Islamic thought and religion but also founded a
college for Islamic study in Chicago and led a congregation in worship at the Clara Muhammad Elementary School, Wyalusing Avenue near 46th Street.
"Faruqi was a very noted international scholar of Islam, and his reputation was known all over the world," said Malik.
"Locally, he led prayers every religious occasion and he had a very large following. His loss is a fantastic loss and is something that will cause his friends and followers to ask questions."
Before moving to the United States, al Faruqi had been the mayor of Nazareth when it was under Arab rule. Though al Faruqi became a U.S. citizen, his family settled and lives in southern Lebanon.
His friends did not consider al Faruqi a political person, although he frequently entertained visiting dignitaries and traveled throughout the Middle East.
Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American League, said of al Faruqi, ''He was a Palestinian and he lost his land in Palestine. He was a Palestinian and he was not afraid to let anyone know what his feelings were, but he was not a political person.
"He was like any Palestinian, hurt over the loss of his land and distressed over what was happening to Palestinians there. But he did not make his life propagating Palestine," said Zogby, who studied under al Faruqi for six years at Temple.
"He wasn't into Arab politics. He didn't see himself as an Arab political person. He saw himself as a Muslim, and he was more concerned with religion."
According to Temple University, al Faruqi had been a professor of religion since 1968. He was described as "one of the world's leading Islamic scholars."
He wrote several books about Islam and also translated several Islamic books into English. Another book is due to be published within the next month or so.
He was born in Jaffa, which used to be part of Palestine.
He received his bachelor of arts degree from the American University in Beirut, master's degrees from Indiana University and Harvard University and his doctorate from Indiana in 1952. He also was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow. He taught around the world, including at Syracuse University, the Central Institution of Islamic Research in Pakistan, the University of Cairo and McGill University in Montreal.
Before coming to Temple, he was an associate professor of religion at Syracuse University.
He also served on the editorial boards of seven scholarly journals. He was president of the Muslim Community of Greater Montreal and of the National Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
Gerard Sloyan, chairman of Temple's Religion Department, said he had known al Faruqi since he joined Temple's faculty. al Faruqi was not a controversial professor at Temple, Sloyan said.
"I can say in complete candor that he was not that kind. He was intelligent, a good friend, loyal to his students."
Sloyan said al Faruqi always gave special attention to Muslim students who had come to Temple from abroad. Sloyan said that at any given time al Faruqi ''oversaw the careers of 30 to 35 graduate students from around the Muslim world."
