Tag: Muslims
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From Darkness to Light
God gave humanity a special kind of life, unique from the attribute of life associated with the rest of His creation to test their ability to submit to His Will and act in conformance to His Command. This temporary life is punctuated by death, and then the afterlife, where one will reap what they sowed—virtue,…
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Shah Waliullah’s Sheltering of Ibn Taymiyya in Mughal India: A Perso-Arabic Letter on the Damscene Polymath
Shah Waliullah’s response-letter to the unity of virtues, Mu’īn al-Dīn al-Thattāī. Its contents include the banishment of doubts in the speech of Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ahmad bin Taymiyya al-Hanbalī, and an exposition on his virtues and his ineffable appreciation amongst the Sunnī scholars; and a refutation who of those who seek to undermine his status,…
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Glad Tidings to the Strangers
The rich history of the Muslim diaspora varies from culture to culture, but in every Western country where our children are raised, we are collectively othered. While our ethnic and racial differences may have been the first victims of bigotry, post-9/11 the West overtly turned its aggression onto our faith.
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The Palestinian Conflict is an Islamic One
A version of this article was originally published here and has been republished with the author’s permission. Language is molded by perception and ideas, forming our worldview. It is not only how we communicate with others, but also how we construct our beliefs (something the media and the movie industry know all too well.) We…
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Genocide in Palestine and Western Support
Raphael Lemkin (1900–59), a Polish-Jewish jurist, coined the term “genocide” and popularized it in a global context. International law clearly defines genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948. The stages of genocide do not necessarily have to occur step-by-step. If some of these elements…
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Vignettes on Hajj
As the dusty, weary, thirsty pilgrims approach the blessed house they fall into orbit around it, eyes full and hearts yearning, hands outstretched towards the magnetic black cube towards which they prostrate back home. This lonely brick structure in the middle of an uninviting desert, unremarkable save for its symbolism, continues to attract longing souls…
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7 Modern Deadly Sins and Misunderstandings: Clarity
Understanding and Critiquing Certain Common Sense Moralisms in Modern Society Previously, we discussed the moralism of determining when exclusivity functions and certain misjudgments we make regarding the moral weight of things. The following discussion ties into another issue in conceptualizing popular sentiments in modern ethics – namely, our severe lack of moral clarity, sincerity and…
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The Perplexing Status Quo for Muslim Fiction
In the category of young adult (YA) fiction, one can find a relatively solid number of Muslim-oriented novels, some of which are consistently championed in the Muslim novel-reading community for their positive representation of Muslims. Through mass marketing, these portrayals are lauded and viewed as authentic. Though I do not personally read young adult fiction,…
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Why I Translated al-Sulami’s ‘Futuwwa’ Into Japanese
When I give lectures on Japanese culture in Turkey, I often receive the following question: “How are the Japanese so moral when they have no religion?”
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Halal Consumption and Our Spiritual Health
We must be scrupulous in what we eat because the rest of human civilization depends on us. The actions of non-Muslims are not as important as the actions of Muslims — it is the actions of Muslims that govern the welfare of the entire planet. We are responsible for what happens in the world. Our…