Posts About Muslim
A Crisis of Interpretation
There is a crisis of interpretation in Islamic religious sciences. This crisis is the result of a self-cultivated dislocation between theology, ethics, and law in Islamic tradition. Unless the doctrinal and ethical presuppositions of the early juridical tradition are investigated and expounded afresh, the crisis will continue to produce apologetic, intellectually impoverished, and most importantly, ethically insensitive Islamic scholarship. Moral sensibilities and demands of Islamic revealed texts can work together to resolve the epistemological crisis. Lack of historicism in analyzing the primary materials with sharp ethical tools has led to devaluation of human life caught in the crossfire of political...
Events highlight book’s message of hope, friendship and dialogue
I want to share some very exciting news about my book, Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization. Some friends have organized a book launch at the National Cathedral and the Brookings Institution, both in Washington DC. I believe the book’s message of hope, friendship and dialogue should be widely shared. This message is based on my travels last year to the Muslim world with a group of remarkable young Americans to the Middle East, South Asia, and Far East Asia. We interviewed a whole range of people from presidents and prime ministers to imams, sheiks and students. We visited...
Islam and Women
There is a correlation between strong and confident Muslim societies and full rights to women, and weak and decaying societies and the subjugation of women.
Jesus as a Unifying Force
Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than the Prophet Muhammad.
Test of a Christian Nation Is Its Capacity For Compassion
India, the world’s most populous democracy, is also a self-consciously “secular” nation, but one with lessons for the United States
The Muslim World's Embattled Secularists
We hear a great deal in the West about the need for freedom of religion in the Muslim world. What about freedom of non-religion?
The Power of Poetry
For most of us the sound of spoken Latin may be so alien that the poetry in it is difficult to hear.
Dreams of Heaven and Hell
The link between our unconscious and our visions of heaven and hell is one of the most fascinating and troubling areas to explore in the realm of faith.
Love: Falling and Flying Into Freedom
The way of love is not a subtle argument.
Salam Alaykum, Pope Benedict
He is not my spiritual leader, but I welcome the sacred gifts this Pope brings.
American Muslim Leaders: Past, Present and Future
Eboo Patel | Thanks to pioneers like Maher Hathout, our generation is working to build a coherent, relevant American Muslim identity.
An American Hajj
Eboo Patel | My wife's parents are making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Their journey reminds me of the best in both Muslim and American history.
Muslim Civil Rights
Here is the question for Muslims as they become a broadly politically active community: are they interested in the American promise only for themselves, or will they seek to expand it for everyone?
Why I Try to Serve God and Others
The message is simple, the path is plain: serve others. It is what we were created for.
The Hindu on Capital Hill
Ben Franklin and Senator Bob Casey would have disagreed on a lot of things concerning religion . . . but they would have had the same opinion about what recently took place in the U.S. Senate.
People Build the Steeple
The solution is not denigration of religion a la Hitchens, but new religious leadership that acts on dimensions of faith that are life-affirming instead of suffocating.
Living Every Minute of It
I cannot explain why I don’t spend every breath thanking God for the opportunity to be alive.
Reality Check: Lives in the Balance
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination has seemingly gripped the nation. We have heard over and over again how important certain primaries were, and yet, despite many proclaimed do-or-die scenarios, each campaign rages on. Last night, both Senators Clinton and Obama looked tired in their speeches capping Super Tuesday Deux (Senator McCain always looks tired). While this race is rightfully captivating, I find myself also needing a breather from the rhetoric every few weeks to regain perspective....
Aga Khan a Man of Vision, Inspiration
The Aga Khan has emphasized that his work for mercy, compassion and dignity emerge directly from his commitment to Islam.
Spitzer Symptomatic of Culture's Affliction
If we’re going to pay so much attention to one man’s illicit sexual behavior, let’s look at our society’s encouragement of deviant practices by how women’s bodies are exploited, commodified and objectified in film, music and the marketing industry.
Put "Christ" Back in Christmas
The essence of religious pluralism is to want others to enjoy the freedoms that you wish for yourself.
Politics Fuels Despair, Resentment
People in the Middle East want to live a life of dignity, away from the security checkpoints, curfews and daily humiliations that comprise their everyday existence.
Meeting God with a Sound Heart
The Quranic verse that best defines my faith is the one where God rhetorically asks, “Did you really think that we created you in vain and that you would not return to Us?” (23:115). "أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ"...
My Hijab is for Me and for God
For Muslim women, the hijab is a form of modesty, security and protection.
No One is Guaranteed a Free Pass into Heaven
My unwavering belief in humanity’s ultimate accountability before God is the driving force of my everyday existence. The importance of believing in an afterlife, for me, is not about assuming – rather foolishly – that one group of people have some exclusive monopoly over heaven because of the religion to which they belonged, regardless of their inner faith or works. Nor is it about naively thinking that I am “saved” because of a certain proclamation I’ve made at some point in my life regardless of my behavior. The importance of believing in an afterlife, for me, is about understanding that...
A World of Challenges
World events have given me not only a profession but also a vocation and mission.
Religious Leaders Should Assail Hypocritical Views on Environment
In religions which profess faith in God the Creator there should be special concern by "co-Creators," earthlings, to be good "stewards" of creation.
Occupation Must End for Order to be Restored
The presence of foreign occupants, not only does not foster security, but is in and of itself one of the causes of insecurity.
Hillary, Barack and Gary Hart
Much of the apathy of the American voter can be laid at the feet of dishonest politicking. Many a non-voter has said to me "Why bother? They say what they think you want to hear during the campaign, and do what they like when they get in office."
McCain, Parsley, Islamophobia and Politics
With increasing numbers of Muslims living in Western countries, Islam is no longer something that happens "over there" but a phenomenon that these preachers must cope with in their own backyards.
Spiritual Guidance
I am glad that Barak Obama took a bold stand in support of his pastor and has used the opportunity to raise issues about race relations in our country, issues that are far too often swept under the rug.
E-mail Morality
It seems that many people say things in E-mail they would never hand write or say to someone face to face, largely due to this anonymity.
The Glory of Individual Empowerment
When people ask me, how can you be American and Muslim, I can truthfully answer that my Muslim identity profoundly affirms the values that I grew up with as an American.
One Land, One Law
The communities that push for religious law, generally speaking, offer far fewer protections and rights to women than we enjoy under secular American law. Are we willing to accept second class status for some American women?
Another Travesty in the Name of Islam
There is much wrong with what happened to this young man, not just in terms of basic human and civil rights, but also in terms of blatant violations of Islamic morality and legal codes. Even if Sayed had energetically propounded the opinions expressed in the article, that is no sin.
When Leaders Fail Us
A failure in Muslim leadership has resulted in horrific violence and atrocious living conditions for millions and millions of Muslims around the globe, and is also responsible for much of the rising tide of Islamophobia that plagues certain groups in the West.
Pride and Other All-Consuming Sins
Americans in particular consume excessively (both in terms of gluttony and lust, and in terms of electricity, gas, and other natural resources) while giving only a pittance to the poor of the world.
Life as a Minority Isn't What it Used to Be
We have Iftars at the White House, a congressman who is Muslim, and a presidential candidate who is not only black but also attended madrassa as a child.
Faith is One Door to Good Works
I wish people who get hysterical about teddy bears or cartoons would put their energy into good works that help people.
Public Sins and Private Sins
The Prophet was quite clear that there is no sin so grave that it is unforgivable, with the sole exception of idolatry
Forgive as You Would Like to be Forgiven
This simple request for forgiveness has always touched me as a great act of humility and a beautiful expression of a core Islamic value. That of humility.
First Parents, Then Community
It is mind-boggling that Hollywood starlets can boost their busts and erase their wrinkles while thousands of children can see medical professionals only in emergency situations
Science Educates, Religion Motivates
Science equips us with the knowledge of what is wrong, and how to fix it. Religion, hopefully, gives us even greater motivation to fix it.
Only Part of the Story
Religion can indeed be, "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children." It does not, however, have to be.
Smear Tactics
How we can work toward a world that doesn't need pejorative labels for people who hold slightly different beliefs.
Re-Examine Your Faith
Muslim terrorists and modern day jihadists need realize they have become an evil festering in Islam and in the world at large.
Doubt Goes Hand in Hand with Faith
The apparent abandonment by God of the poor and the helpless would be enough to shake the faith of anyone.
Ar-Rahman, the All Merciful
Scripture, it seems to me, ought to reflect the beauty of God's love and grace as much as nature.
Balance of Rights
Patients should not be required to accept treatments that they consider immoral.
Implementing the First Amendment
In the case of prayers at public, governmental gatherings, I believe religion really has no place.
Daily Life is a Jihad
1. WHAT IS JIHAD? UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS DOES ISLAM SANCTION THE USE OF VIOLENCE? WHAT WOULD YOU TELL SUICIDE BOMBERS WHO INVOKE ISLAM TO JUSTIFY THEIR ACTIONS? The term jihad literally means "struggle" and is understood in the Qur'an to mean struggle for the good -- whether that be an inner struggle for righteousness, or an external struggle for justice. The greatest jihad, according to the Prophet, is the struggle to control one's baser desires. He described the strong man as one who could control his temper, not one who could beat others in a fight. Accordingly, you will hear...
The Sacred Cow of Liturgy
Suggesting we change a line in the liturgy would be considered heretical -- and not just mildly heretical but wildly so -- in the eyes of many Muslims
Moral and Political Morass
Really, we are between a rock and a hard place. Stay and people die, leave and people die. Truly, we have created a mess!
Questioning is Part of Life
This call to free-thinking was another of the fundamental aspects of Islam that appealed to me greatly.
Don't Ask Why, But What Can I Do?
The real question ought to be how can we keep faith in face of natural disasters and human brutality towards other humans?
Religion is Negotiated by Each Individual
Religion (or lack thereof) is created anew by each individual as s/he navigates her or his own faith course.
Blessed Personally, Professionally and Spiritually
There are many ways in which life can be good, and I have been blessed with quite a few of them
Falwell's legacy
It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, I have to say that Jerry Falwell was one of the pivotal figures in what I consider a terrible turn in American politics.
Don't Second Guess God
It's only natural to ask questions like why would God, especially a merciful, loving God, allow this or that horrible thing to happen. The problem with the answers we usually arrive at is that we really cannot know; and, indeed, it may well be that such questions make no sense from the point of view of God....
"O Mankind, God Created You . . ."
As a musician I've always been fascinated by the creative process and how it relates to music, God and the Universe. Innate talent, hard work and intuition seem to guide this magical, mysterious and musical manifestation of our thoughts and feelings. John Lennon made the observation after writing his magnum opus "Imagine" that he felt like a channel through which the Universe was filtering its thoughts. Other artists, writers and poets from all belief and unbelief systems have also been humbled into similar confessions. As a Muslim I can relate to that because Islam gives mankind the title of 'Ashraf-ul-makhlooqat'...
Emphasize the Inner Jihad
JIHAD Prophet Muhammad described armed struggle against tyranny and oppression as a LESSER JIHAD. He also warned against the dark whisperings of the Nafs(ego) and called the fight against the lower self, the Greater Jihad. Ever since I can remember I've been fighting an inner Jihad against the "I" of my ego. Being a believer and a rock musician means having to navigate between the parallel and sometimes intersecting streams of creating and performing passionate, soul stirring music and the magnetic impulses of rock and roll excess and all that it entails. It's not a battle for the fainthearted: I've...
Seeking Truth in Freedom
The Muslim affirmation of faith is: "THERE IS NO GOD.... BUT GOD, (AND MUHAMMAD IS HIS PROPHET) The affirmation suggests that you move gradually towards faith with the sincere intention of seeking Truth with all the lights turned on. From my reading of it, within the Quran there is an inherent openness to explore all questions relating to Truth and of those which Cover the Truth (Kufr). The sacred and the profane realms all give out powerful clues to where Truth truly resides. Then for those whose journey has exhausted all avenues of seeking the ONE, and still feel they...
One God, Many Views
We start creating our own reality about God.
Faith Won't Heal a Divided World
If there is common ground to be found through interfaith dialogue, it will only be found by people who are willing to keep their eyes averted from the chasm that divides their faith from all others.
Agree or Disagree: Let's Try to Understand
These questions are topical and pointed. They are also, however, hegemonic, in that they proceed on the apparent assumption that Western norms (presumed to be uncontested among Westerners themselves) are both the proper point of reference and the most ideal manifestation of the values under consideration. As I have stated in previous posts, this has the effect of forcing Muslims out of an explanatory posture and into an apologetic one, where the aim shifts from simply speaking about Islam to attempting to assuage Western fears, prejudices and misunderstandings. In such a context, the very fact of a Muslim response can,...
Which Salvation? Secular or Religious?
“Secular salvation” is a modern reality.
Critique of Religion Far More Man-Made
As I read it, this question seems to imply that to the extent that religion is "man-made" it is false and has no rightful claim on intelligent people. If I am correct, this would seem to put religion in a pretty unenviable position: If humans have no role in determining its substance, it is oppressive and alienating; to the extent that humans have any role in determining its substance, religion must be false....
My Memories of the Day, the Man
In responding to the question about my memories on the day Dr. Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, I have several things to say. It was a morose day, a day of anger, shame and fear about his efforts to change American society. It was a day I will continue to describe as a moment when clouds of frustration, fear and anger had taken over the sky and limited the hopes and dreams of many riding on the same train as the Man from Georgia.I was then a junior at Hampton Institute which is now called Hampton University....
Faith at Home in America
The U.S. Constitution has turned out to be the great peacemaker between the believers in this world and the believers in a metaphysical world beyond the grave.
As in Islam, Holy Days a Balancing Act
Those who are concerned about the rivalry between Santa Claus or Father Christmas, on the one hand, and Jesus on the other, must find a way of balancing the two theaters of human emotion and energy.
Thankful for Land of Opportunity
All those who traveled from elsewhere and landed in this country have come to appreciate the affluence and the natural beauty that awaits the visitor.
Faith in a Fruitful Conversation
Science and religion have singular and collective interest in their definitions and understandings of the world we live in.
No Religion is an Island
Love has to be the common thread that unites and links all of us together.
What Near Death Taught Me About Life
Although I believe in a Creator and a life beyond the grave, my own encounter with death reaffirmed this faith.
Politics of the Belly, Head and Soul
The first source of difficulty about the Middle East problem is the name itself. The geopolitical name for the people of this region was an American invention.
Faith and Doubt Fellow Travelers
Faith and doubt are twin brothers or sisters in the human condition. The Qur'an recognizes the capacity of the human being to believe or not to believe. Believing in the visible and the tangible is more widely acknowledged by most people when they are confined within their own mental estate. When they venture beyond their own world into the wide world of others where language and concepts rule, chances are one may claim belief when in actual fact belief is not the thing in place, social solidarity has become the mother of all faiths. This is true of religious belief...
Equal Rights, but not Equally Fit
Pagan rights can be a subject of dispute only when the state and society are not in sync with respect to the standing of the Pagans as members of society and to the public acknowledgment of their status as fellow citizens. There are three points to remember about this matter. The first is the question of citizenship and the right of the Pagan to live and let live with Pagan or non-Pagan members of American society. Because the state allows Americans to believe or not to believe in a Deity (monotheism as in the case of the Abrahamic religions), secularism,...
Will and Whims of the People
When we listen to the Democratic or Republican presidential candidates we should take many things into account when matters on religion are discussed. In the interest of time and space let me identify a few points to remember when one looks at a candidate for the presidency. The first and most important question to me is the candidate's vision of the country. This is to say, one must pay attention to how the human condition is looked at in light of the historical and sociological map of the candidate and the manner in which he defines and perceives American life....
Happy to be of Service
I thank the Almighty God for sparing my life when many I knew felt to the blows of death at younger age.
