Jeddah to Mecca



As we bowed down in sajdah, a couple of cats appeared in front of us. One of them came in front of my wife. Then something unexplainable happened: as I got up from my sajdah, I saw the cat stretching its forelegs and bowing down in sajdah also! We couldn’t believe our eyes. By the time we completed our two rakats, shivering, the cats had disappeared.

The thirst has lasted too long



Raihana Yusufali The thirst has lasted too long I came upon a stream, like no other stream Clear water swirled and flowed, joined and separated intimately in an eternal dance with graceful ribbons of light - it felt like...

War Toys



I am not interested in raising a marksman, a warrior, a mujahid. By steering my son away from weapon play and by teaching him the stark reality of the purpose of weapons, I hope to raise him to be a voice of logic and peace in every conflict he encounters in life.

When the call comes: A pilgrim’s progress



By Hasan Zillur Rahim About 2.5 million Muslims from around the world - 45 percent of them women – will be congregating in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, this month to perform the hajj, the once-in-a-lifetime obligation for believers. Over 10,000...

Looking For Fati



I sent the driver to a couple of notorious places and he came back and said that there are a few teenage girls there, but none whose name is Fati. Who knows, maybe she has changed her name, maybe they have taken her to another town. The prostitution rings I hear are very well organized. They send girls even across the Persian Gulf to Bahrain, Dubai and so on. The situation here for the young orphan girls is very very desperate.

Neo-Cons and the Greatest Con of All



By Farish A. Noor There is a saying that has been attributed to Adolf Hitler: "If you want to tell a lie, then tell a big one." Granted that telling the difference between lies, half-lies, half-truths and truths deemed...

Da’wah By Any Means Necessary?



Those who would undertake da’wah need to take advantage of the full range of interpersonal skills. Not only would it be according to Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad (saws) was a master of interpersonal relations and the epitome of compassion and consideration toward other people), but it would enhance their efficacy immensely. Not to mention that it would make life a whole lot more pleasant for the rest of us!

Refugee Realities, American Realizations



However, my feelings of fear and shock turned to anger as I observed how the U.S. government was handling the situation—unlawfully detaining hundreds of people, greatly restricting refugee movement to the U.S., and invading Afghanistan, a country that supposedly harbored Bin Laden (someone who the U.S. still has yet to find). I decided that, as an American—especially as an American who now understood a little about refugee realities—that I had to take a stand against these atrocities.

Desperation and Drastic Measures: The Use and Abuse of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Israel’s Apologists



Dr. King’s expertise as a non-violent civil rights leader and visionary are unparalleled in U.S. history. However, that does not make him an informed commentator on Middle Eastern affairs or on the ideological facets of Zionism. As impressive as the references to his views on Israel may seem, this is a textbook example of Argumentum Ad Verecundiam.

Meet The New Saddam: Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan



Uzbekistan is a country where human - rights abuses are occurring on “a massive scale” - financed in part by the American taxpayer.

Green Tea With Imam of the Age



In Iran Peter practiced Islam like a Shia; “it made no sense not to,” he says. Then he tells me that in Java they used to play the adhan on drums because it traveled better through forests (“the voice is for the desert”), but the Wahhabis took over and now every mosque there has loudspeakers atop its minarets just like every mosque everywhere else in the world. But that’s how it always goes.

Western Minaret



By Kelly Crosby Has the light gone out in the Muslim world? Is it too late? Much too late to resurrect our glorious past? Or is such futile? Every people, every empire has its chance to shine And, oh,...

Bangladesh Government Bans Ahmadiyya Publications



The banning of Ahmadiayya publications is in violation of the rights of all Ahmadiyyas, and indeed of other citizens of Bangladesh who may wish to read their publications, to the rights of free of expression, freedom of religion, and the right to be treated only in accordance with law. In a democratic country and open society, individuals, religious groups, and political parities should be free to publish their viewpoints, and to practice their own religion without causing harm to others.

The Sedition: An Interview With Omar X of Rogue Nation



Muslim punk to me, rejects all the material aspirations that their Muslim community hammers into them and takes the diffrent route to become a weapon against kfr america and does whatever he can to fight the ideas of opression, capitalism, materialism and everything else that "America" (Canada included) stands for.

Lerner, Said And The Palestinians



The creation of Israel was a power play. It was born out of the contradictions of the history of European Jews, a contradiction that would be resolved by the convergence of Jewish influence and Western imperial power, combining to serve the interests of both. The cost of this project to Palestinians, to Arabs, to Muslims, was not even an issue in an era dominated by Western racism and bigotry – of the Christian, Jewish and secular variety.

The 99 Names of Allah



As-Sabur. The Patient One By Jawad Ali Hafeez is a painter and a graphic artist who lives in New York. He recently completed a series of 99 paintings depicting the names of Allah. This is his contribution to making...

Of Lost Fathers and Broken Sons



My struggle to rediscover the past of Malaysia has as much to do with the desire to uncover the marginal aspects of our national imaginary as it has to do with piecing together the dispersed fragments of my own personal life. It has to be said that some of it was motivated by the need to re-discover the father I did not really have, much less know.

The Case for Dennis Kucinich



The candidate at the Islamic Center in Tampa Bay, Florida By Al-Muhajabah There's a lot of debate among Muslims over who to vote for in the 2004 presidential primaries. The two candidates with the most support among Muslims are...

Peace Offering



By Michael Muhammad Knight With CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper investigating his “legal recourses” in regard to my articles, I would like to propose an alternative means of settling our differences. Last night I went out to my backyard where I...