Author Archive
Out of Darkness, Hope
Originally posted on the OC Register. Resilience and the Beauty of the Human Spirit The day after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, Muslim faith leader Jamaal Diwan wrote this response to the tragic events: I often find myself reflecting on how crazy life is. My primary reason for doing so these days is the expected [...]
Stamp Out Hunger
Amongst the most basic needs of human existence is sustenance. God talks about this in different places in the Qur’an emphasizing that all people must eat and drink and that even the Messengers who were sent to mankind ate and drank (Qur’an 5:75). He also mentions in various places in the Qur’an that He has [...]
Heirs of the Prophets
The Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) said, “Knowledge is to be carried in every generation by the upright and just. They repel from it the distortions of the over-zealous, the forgeries of the fabricators, and the misinterpretations of the ignorant.” There are many relevant points to be taken from this hadith (record of the [...]
The Complete Muslim Personality
It is well known and understood that Islam is a holistic system that impacts all areas of a person’s life. We hear this a lot but many times it is difficult to know exactly what it means and how it plays out in our lives. On this topic Imam Hasan al-Banna has a beautiful, terse, [...]
Calling Someone a “Martyr”
Adapted from an article by Dr. Ahmad al-Raysūnī on the topic from his website. Often times we refer to so-and-so as a “shahīd” or martyr when referring to Muslims who have died while standing up for truth and justice. We might say al-Shahīd (the martyr) Malcolm X or al-Shahīd Hasan al-Banna. When some people hear [...]
Objectives of Fasting and Ramadan
Discussing the objectives of our actions is an important thing because to do so is to discuss the actions in a true and deep way. It is possible that if we do not know why we are doing certain things, we could miss the entire point behind the action itself. The Prophet ﷺ said about [...]
The Prophet and Food
One of the sunnahs (traditions and practices) of the Prophet ﷺ (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that we often overlook is his guidance and example in regards to food. It is important for us to look again at the Prophetic example, especially in a time when many Americans and other [...]
The Importance of Good Manners
A brother approached me recently looking for advice. He said that he had gone through several phases in his development and in each stage he would add more acts of worship to his daily life. He started by getting his five prayers down, then their sunnahs, then adding the forenoon prayer (ḍuḥā), then trying to [...]
Pharaoh’s Traits in the Qur’an
In recent weeks we have seen a modern-day Pharaoh brought to his knees. This is not the first time this has happened in history, nor will it be the last. When we read the Qur’an we find that the most-mentioned prophet is Moses (as). A core element of the story of Musa (as) is his confrontation [...]
Ignorance, Perceptions & Mis-perceptions
What We Can Learn from the Islamic Science of Hadith Criticism Many times when speaking with people I am shocked at the things they think they know. “Facts” are often repeated and stated with the utmost certainty. However, to someone who has studied the field of those “facts,” these statements are often absurd. Yet, this [...]
Human Encounters, Perception and the Muslim Response
Several years ago my wife had a series of phone conversations with a reporter from a local news agency. They had a couple of nice conversations and agreed on a time to meet and do an interview for the TV station. We drove to the station and when we arrived the receptionist looked surprised that [...]
Gems From the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
In his book, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Shaykh Abū’l-Ḥasan al-Nadwī says about the Prophet ﷺ: “He was the most open, easy-going, and generous of people. He would joke with his companions, interact and talk with them, play with their children and sit them on his lap. He would answer the call of the free and the slave, the [...]
20,000 Dead in Unnatural Disaster Yesterday
If you attend a large mosque in America maybe two thousand people come to Friday prayer. 20,000 are dead. The unbelievable thing is that all those deaths were preventable. All of them. Sometimes just one person’s death can cause an entire war (remember Archduke Franz Ferdinand?) Other times, millions of people can die and we [...]
Muhammad ‘Abdu’s Advice for Educational Reform in the Ottoman Empire
This is an excerpt from a letter written by Imam Muhammad ‘Abdu to the leaders of the Ottoman Empire when he learned of their plans to enact educational reforms. His letter begins with the importance of education, particularly for the development of a strong Islamic nation. He then recommends approaching religious education at three levels, [...]
Understanding Priorities
In his autobiography, Imam Hasan al-Banna narrates the following incident, which occurred shortly after he began giving regular lessons in a small, local masjid. One of these nights I felt a strange feeling, a feeling of disarray. I saw that the listeners were separated between themselves, even in their seating, and I had barely started [...]
Naming the World
Paulo Freire wrote in Pedagogy of the Oppressed: As we attempt to analyze dialogue as a human phenomenon, we discover something which is the essence of dialogue itself: the word. But the word is more than just an instrument which makes dialogue possible; accordingly, we must seek its constitutive elements. Within the word we find [...]
The Islamic Framework for Life: Reflections on Healthy Living
The insightful person is in a constant state of asking themselves, “Why am I doing what I am doing?” This is a direct application of the prophetic injunction, “Verily actions are only by their intentions.” (Nawawi) So as Muslims, and as human beings, we must ask ourselves – “What is the purpose of the [...]
On the Misappropriation of Culture & the Centrality of Revelation
I had a reflection concerning the ‘urf discussion. Why do we spend so much time discussing ‘urf, which is secondary, when actually priorities dictate that we first focus on the universal manners and attitudes that are established by the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh)? Sure Islam leaves a certain level of leeway for various cultural [...]
Glimpses from the Guiding Principles of Dawah
“For Allah to guide someone to Islam by you is better than red camels.” This principle is an authentic hadith of the Prophet PBUH. Some lessons are: First: The importance of eloquence. To make the meaning closer to the hearts and minds of his companions the Prophet PBUH mentioned red camels as his reference point. [...]
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