Yesterday’s Jumah khutba (sermon) was once again a reminder of how some of the inventions have crept into Muslim minds. The Imam quoted a hadith from Prophet Muhammad, spending nearly all of the khutba on the importance of fasting on Ashura- the 10th of Muharram, and didn’t mention the tragic events of Karbala in 61 AH, when the beloved grandson of Prophet Muhammad, Imam Hussain, was brutally butchered, and marks a turning point in Islamic history. (OK, he actually spent... Read more
There is an outrage in the Muslim world over the burning of Quran in Sweden in front of a mosque on the occasion of Eid-Al-Adha, at the peak of Hajj and commemorating the sacrifice of his son by patriarch Abraham. The Swedish government was complicit in allowing this “protest’” to occur in the first place, and even worse later defending this as “legal but inappropriate”. Even the US representative called this as part of freedom of expression. Can you imagine... Read more
Shame on you, Joe Biden for rolling out the red carpet for the Gujrat butcher, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the US congress for giving him the platform to address them. You are all ignoring the international human rights groups calls to not welcome a well known extremist who has transformed secular India into a hate-filled, Hindu extremist/nationalist nation where the minorities rights are systematically abolished. What happened to standing up for international human rights? On the occasion of... Read more
This is probably one of my most “fun” posts. NBA is one of the four major sports leagues in America and second most popular behind NFL. Like so many other fields, Muslims are key contributors to the success and popularity of NBA. I can list the Muslim NBA players in various categories: current vs past, position by position, born Muslim vs converted, outwardly Muslims vs “quietly Muslim”, starters vs bench players, or by teams. I will combine these categories in... Read more
To mark the National Day of Prayer on May 4, Skylight, a sister organization of Patheos, compiled a comprehensive survey of Americans aged 18-64 last month on prayer, providing an interesting insight on this subject. There are a large number of charts and graphics on the response to various questions. I am going to provide my perspective here from an Islamic viewpoint on a selected set of questions and responses. Before I dive into the specifics, it would be prudent... Read more
I am about to do my Iftar and then fly out of town for the weekend but felt like I need to express my gratitude for this rather rare intersection of the holy week(month in the case of Muslims) for the people of the three major Abrahamic faiths. The Passover and Easter week generally coincide during each spring. For the past year and the next couple of years, the month of Ramadan is also falling and crosses over the passover... Read more
I am not a Christian but this is some sort of a confession that my spirituality had waned lately. I was still firmly rooted in my faith in One true God and the articles of faith in Islam, but the soul was restless and I lacked peace of mind. I was still searching for that alluded internal peace. I was distracted by the rat race and the mechanical aspects of our fast paced life. I was too busy at work.... Read more
Ramadan Kareem/Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. I love the spring, the summer time and the winter holidays but the Ramadan trumps them all as I will explain below. And most of all, the month of Ramadan can fall during any of these times of the year because the Islamic lunar year has 354 or 355 days and every year it falls back about 10 days on the Gregorian calendar. As you know, Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims around... Read more
Year 2022 is in the rearview. At the time of this writing, some parts of the world have already said goodbye to 2022. The year 2022 was a year of turmoil and triumph, both from a global and Muslim perspective. The war in Ukraine and Iranian protests took the center stage. Rise of Islamophobia, especially in India and France continued. I will share the highlights and the lowlights from a Muslim perspective, and will also share some personal and family... Read more
A Sunni Muslim man was arrested this week and charged with murdering Aftab Hussein on July 26, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on Aug. 1. He is also suspected of killing two other Muslim men, Naeem Hussain on August 5 and Mohammed Zaher Ahmadi on November 7 last year. What is most troubling is that these murders are linked to anti-Shia hatred and may signal the arrival of target killings in America. There has been an outpouring of support (and the... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In