2020 has been an incredibly difficult year for a lot people professionally, financially, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, and socially. However, while 2020 has been a difficult year with the political, climate and public health turmoil. I hope to share some of my reflections on the quarantine and Covid-19 to help us to take some lessons from this difficult time and make it a time of growth for all of us: Blessing of Time Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we were relegated... Read more
I typically steer clear of online debates and commentary, but felt this required a bit more of a discussion and could be a teachable moment for all of us. I also wanted to highlight a couple of things that we need to reflect upon as a community. I hope this provides some clarity and healing for all of us and pray we all can help become better from this. Our Scholars are Not Infallible…and that’s OKAY Our religious scholars... Read more
Donating and generosity are high virtues in Islam. Giving generously is highly praised in Islam. This we know and are reminded of in every…single….fundraiser. We’ve all been to countless fundraisers, fundraising dinners, fundraising appeals, or gotten a barrage of fundraising emails asking us to donate to various causes and organizations. Some of them are extremely noble causes and other worthy of our donations,but others not as noble (or efficient) in their intentions. In our community we have a dilemma of... Read more
“Verily, by Allah, we do not appoint anyone to this position who asks for it or is anxious for it.” – The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) Source: Sahih Muslim 1733 Recently a Syrian imam from Orlando, Florida was interviewed about his thoughts about Black History Month. The video was labeled “The Islamic Perspective on Black History Month.” The interviewer was a non-Muslim who asked the imam what his thoughts were on Black History Month. The imam replied that... Read more
For many single Muslims the process of finding a spouse can be a long, painful, awkward, arduous, and often frustrating process. Many have tried the traditional methods, others have tried dating, dating apps, dating websites and even attended speed dating events and programs. According to the latest data and research by the Pew Forum on the Muslim community the Muslim American community has a largely growing young demographic of 18-29 year olds (35%) and is larger than the overall US... Read more
So a disclaimer: I don’t claim to be a marriage or relationship expert, but this is based on experience and observations. Hope it helps those singe Muslim folks out there! I’m open for a discussion based on the below and open to learning. With that said, let’s begin! A lot of folks who’re single may find it frustrating to find “The One.” Numerous attempts to get to know someone for the sake of marriage may have ended in failure, heartbreak,... Read more
So I recently read an article entitled It’s Time to Boycott Saudi Arabia. In it the author proposes Muslims boycott Hajj and Umrah.The below is the core of the text of the blog post: “It is time to boycott Saudi Arabia. Stop visiting the country for umrah (optional pilgrimage) and hajj (obligatory pilgrimage). Such a call is indeed draconian and may even sound like contravening fundamental religious obligations. But the Quranic ideal of justice commands Muslims to take a stand, even at great... Read more
In recent times we’ve seen unfortunate stories of major religious figures in our community accused of heinous crimes of spiritual, sexual, mental and psychological abuse. This isn’t to say this is something we should think our community is immune to, but it’s to say that we too as a community have inner demons we need to cleanse. As someone who is a community builder and organizational strategist I observe these phenomena through the lens of community and organizational efficiency.... Read more
Typically when we think of leadership of the Muslim community we may think first of an imam or religious scholar in charge of a community, however there are different types of leaders in our community and pseudo-leaders as well. It’s important for us as a community to truly understand what leadership is and who our leaders are in our community and more importantly make important distinctions between pseudo-leaders and legitimate leaders. Leadership in Islam First, let’s discuss what it means... Read more
“God is with the broken-hearted. When your heart breaks, it’s a good thing – the breaking of the heart is what opens it up to the light of Allah. The dunya is designed to break your heart, to crush it.” -Shaykh Hamza Yusuf We’ve all been there. Heartbreak can be a crippling emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual storm. These storms can come in many forms from losing a loved one, losing your job, losing wealth, losing health, betrayal by a... Read more
Sabr and Shukr
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