Amina Wadud Leads Mixed Gender Friday Prayer in Barcelona



One of the world’s leading experts on the Qur’an and its discourse on gender led a mixed-gender congregation in a Friday communal prayer in Barcelona, Spain yesterday.

Ramadan Gog and Magog



By Mohja Kahf Editor's note: Professor Mohja has a new Ramadan poem for us. She likes the lines of her poems to appear just so. Better click on the link bellow and read it on a wider page....

What's Wrong with Halloween?



Is Halloween haram, or is this just another negative knee jerk reaction to a harmless diversion?

Half-Day’s Delight



By Abd al-Hayy (Daniel) Moore My son at nine who fasts half-days says I should say how everything tastes special when we break the fast. “What a good idea!” I say. So here it is, on his young recommendation, first...

Why Syria Is a Target: The Deception of the 'Cedar Revolution'



Before this starts sounding like a left wing bashing of American power politics, it may serve the wider population to know of just who benefits from the growing rift between Beirut and Damascus.

The Path Towards Islamic Feminism



To anchor oneself in the past and consider that the way of life of women more than fourteen centuries ago is applicable in today’s world, would be like giving up not only the fundamentals of Islam, but also a complete historical legacy that converted Islam in a civilization in which its cultural, artistic and scientific splendour were a great school for the entire world during centuries.

Drive Thru Iftar



By Pamela Taylor Every Tuesday and Thursday On the way from soccer to dance It’s drive thru iftar Bean burritos in paper wrap Fishwiches in cardboard cartons Ceasar salads in plastic boxes Soda and shakes in throwaway cups Disposable...

Nourished by the Waters of Indigenous Islam



The Honorable Noble Drew Ali, Inheritor, Guide, and Transmitter of Indigenous Islam By Laury Slivers Simply said, American Indigenous Islam in all its forms should be properly honored and respected by the Muslim community as part of the history...

Jealous Lover



By Abd al-Hayy (Daniel) Moore The fast is also like being so racked with love you can’t eat. Tossed and wrenched and high and dry with single-minded devotion and expectation that no single bite or sip can pass our lips,...

Ready for Ramadan: A Mid-Shaaban Poem



By Mohja Kahf My palette is so overloaded, my tongue so freighted, forgetting its four basic tastes, corroded by plenty, lolling in fullness, letting the ease of receiving the blessing lull me in the sleep of the sated: I am...

Life in Tel Rumeida



Nearly every tactic used by Israel to create its merciless occupation is employed in Tel Rumeida

Die Before You Die - Hadith of the Prophet



By Abd al-Hayy (Daniel) Moore We’re never far from the appetites of our body. Our senses are ready to spring at the slightest touch. We stand on the battlefield and survey the possible booty, but once collected, it then becomes...

A Different Kind of Jihad in Kashmir



Let us hope that those radical imams who fuel Muslim anger learn to fuel Muslim charity.

War Democrats



By Joshua Frank These are tremulous times for the Republican establishment. A poll released this past weekend by Ipsos/Associated Press confirms that Bush’s agenda has slid right off the table and into the trash bin. The president’s popularity has...

Nature's Fury or Divine Wrath?



It is advisable not to attribute natural calamities to Divine wrath. Our efforts are best directed towards providing relief to the victims, be it through money or effort.

Chosen



Hunger Pains. Photograph by Susan Crawford By Pamela K. Taylor It’s a choice This decision to go hungry To let belly lie empty throat unwetted plates abandoned stove unheated bread unbroken A privilege Seldom recognized A luxury Of affluence...

Delight My Diet



By Abd al-Hayy (Daniel) Moore Each year a segment of my time on earth turns dry and takes me to the far edge of my life I turn from food and drink and lust of eye (and making love in...

Bitter Wells



Desert, by Maya Kulenovic By Tiel Aisha Ansari A traveller walked along a desert track Surrounded by bare earth and bitter wells. Her water gone, there was no turning back Mirages shimmered, deadly shining spells. Past rocky hills where...

The In Utero Fasting Academy



Pregnant Purple, Oil on Canvas, by Harvey Taylor By Mohja Kahf I’m a graduate of fasting in utero If it damaged my brain, honey do let me know Exhibit B: My daughter, womb of ’89. She fine. Acing her...

Great moments in Sunnism. Please don't love the Shia.



Question: I am a new Muslimah, and I am wondering what is the difference between a Sunni Muslim and a Shiite Muslim? Is it that one believes in the Hadith and other doesn't (respectively) or is it as my...

Ramadan Kareem



By Mohja Kahf Ramadan is an annoying guest who comes too often and stays too long (“Him again? Isn’t it too early?”) but you can’t say so because he’s an old friend of the family, goes back a long way...

Dear relatives who have contacted me, or are thinking of contacting me, to make sure I haven't perished because of Rita



By Randa Jarrar I have not. Please stop calling at what is on my end of the world a reasonable hour, on yours, not. I am alive and well. Worry not! Now enough about me. How are you? Mama, you...

Cindy Sheehan Rails at the Democrats



By Joshua Frank Cindy Sheehan is not just mad at President Bush, she’s also mad at the Party that has supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq. At a rally not far from Democrat Hillary Clinton’s office in New...