Q&A with Afreen Fatima about the rising injustices against Muslims in India and the hijab ban protests in Karnataka. Continue reading Islamophobia and the Hijab Ban in India: Q&A with Afreen Fatima
In a previous article, I outlined some issues ‘ulema have discussed with cultured (also known as lab-grown) meat. One is the impossibility of a blanket replacement of meat with lab-grown meat in light of religious obligations and recommendations of slaughter on certain occasions. The American Fiqh Academy’s fatwa (ruling) from Mufti Abdullah Nana, Abrar Mirza, and Sohail Bengali also note the current procedure’s use of impermissible animal products (mainly Fetal Bovine Serum [FBS]) and the source cells (derived from living animals), which constitutes maytah (carrion) and is haram for consumption. Continue reading Religion and Pork: Issues With Alternative Meats
To characterize this as a book review would be unbecoming of the nature of the content. Rather, Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi’s commentary on 67 select ahadith in “Sacrifice: The Legacy of Our Beloved Prophet ﷺ” necessitates reflection, especially so in this month of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the month in which Allah ﷻ sent the Prophet ﷺ as a favor for mankind: Continue reading A Reflection on Sacrifice
In recent years, this has been another rung of debate in Muslim women’s related issues – and events to talk about women’s spirituality whilst menstruating are plentiful especially in Ramadan. I was a panelist among other wonderful women this Ramadan for an event tackling the topic from multiple angles: fiqh (jurisprudence), a lack of proper understanding of ritual impurity away from negative cultural baggage, jahil (ignorant, foolish) behavior towards menstruating women, imposing secular notions of gender equality onto worship, separating the form of rituals from the spiritual, and the metaphysical from the physical. I want to offer my brief reflections on them one by one prior to circling back to the question posed above. Continue reading Menstruation and Worship
Vegetarianism and veganism do not preclude one from the incorrect and unethical, nor does meat-eating preclude one from discussions about ethical animal treatment. Continue reading Eid and Veganism: To Meat or Not to Meat?
El ritmo al que crece la tecnología, una especie de situación de carrera de la Reina Roja en la que los demás corremos para quedarnos en el sitio, nos obliga a pensar críticamente en el futuro de la biotecnología en lugar de observar pasivamente. Continue reading Clonación humana: Nuevos horizontes de la biotecnología
The pace at which technology is growing, a sort of Red Queen’s race situation where the rest of us are running to simply stay in place, behooves us to critically think about the future of biotechnology instead of passively observing. Continue reading Human Cloning: New Horizons in Biotechnology
Bill Gates, in an interview with MIT Technology Review this past February, declared that “all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef.” People in rich countries consume more meat, and there is growing concern about how this affects their health and the environment. Continue reading Mass Consumption: Islam and Lab-Grown Meat
The recent debates around religion and representation shed light on the following quandary: whatever good is in mainstream media must eventually submit to the demands of entertainment. This is the argument of Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Continue reading Neil Postman and the Internet Age
Journalist Rana Ayyub’s investigation into the Gujarat riots has yet to be considered seriously, while what is now a nightmare in India could become a permanent cataclysm. Continue reading A Book Review of Rana Ayyub’s “Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up”
