How do you spend your time in front of the computer?
Years ago, we would have asked ourselves a different question, wouldn't we? How much time do you spend in front of the television? That "magic box" invaded our entire life, taking over the pleasant conversations of the family gathering, taking us on adventures, taking us to countries we had never been, introducing us to people we never met. With no shield to protect us, we learned n...

Quicunque Vult: or, My journey to Islam
PART I                         In a former church, my heart is a mihrâb,                         Urging me to repent, the erasure of old but remembered sins.                                                                                     (Sünbülzâde Vehbî) Wild talk of a new Islamic hermeneutic hatching in the Muslim communities of the West has been with us for some years, with sadly...

The First British Guest of Allah
At a time when  Britain had major political and economic interests in the Middle East, Hedley Churchward had only one concern in mind while going on a pilgrimage to Mecca; the pleasure of Allah. Hedley Churchward, later known as Mahmoud Mobarek, was the first recorded British Hajji in history. Abdulhakim Murad, a lecturer from Cambridge University Islamic Studies department, narrates for us the ...

The Sunna of Sacrificing
Eid al-Adha is called the Great Eid. It occurs at the culmination of the Hajj, and is the culmination of the first ten blessed days of Dhu al-Hijjah, days which have been described by our beloved Prophet (pbuh) as the best days of the year, exceeding even the days of Ramadan in their virtue. From the confirmed Sunnahs (practices of the Prophet) of Eid al-Adha is the sacrifice of a suitable animal...

The 'Black' Letters on the White Pages of Islam
The increased interest of African Americans in Islam has become one of the most confusing phenomena related to the spread of Islam in the United States. By and large, Islam is stereotyped by many students of religion and society as being a religion that has prejudiced black people. The voice of the advocates who negatively interpret the relationship between Islam and black people is becoming loud...

Wisdom as Wide as the Texas Sky
  "Everything's bigger in Texas."  That's what they say.  And when one gazes at the seemingly endless blue sky on a sunny spring day or when one hears the slow, deep rumbling of thunder in the distance and see the massive grey almost black clouds approaching just before a lightening-filled storm, it sure seems true enough.  And the churches, well some of them...

A Search for Christ's Essence
  As a child, December 25th came and went like every other day we were out of school.  It was nothing to us.  We didn't believe it was the day of Christ's birth much less a Holy Day because according to the verses in the Bible Jesus was born during the harvest season (not winter) and nothing in the Bible declared this day one that was to be kept as holy.  Furtherm...

A Simple Farewell
  Each day is about beginnings and endings.  With the soft light of the morning sun filtering through the curtains, we start our day.  Going about this and that here and there, we spend the light of the day until the setting of the sun.  If we take a moment through it all, we might inwardly appreciate the precious nature of a child or the delicacy of a colorful, fragrant ...

Aspiration for Truth
  How wonderful it is to observe the innocence of children.  Taking every word spoken as the truth, these little ones with bright eyes and immense hope are so full of trust.  Just as beautiful are the adults, their guiding examples, which honor that innocence and try to preserve it with the careful use of their tongues.  All too often, that innocence is not preserved.  Li...

Even Playing
It had been snowing for over a week already and only once did everything turn white for a little while. It was so lovely to see the flakes fall, sometimes in large fluffy clusters and other times as frozen beads, but we all longed to go out and play in it. And then, the fluff-filled wisps of wind started again. This time it was constant and cold enough to cover the cars, roof tops, and ground wi...

Miracles for the Information Age
  The era of information is racing ahead constantly striving to push back the boundaries of knowledge and forge the limits of the unknown.  With the coming of this day, those eager to learn have pursued understanding with a passion bringing great benefits.  Open-heart surgery, flight by planes, and exploration in spaceships are now commonplace.  The fantastic way that these th...

We Can Stop It
  I don't know what compelled me to look out the window at a neighboring apartment building this morning.  Maybe I just wanted to peer out at my flowers on the balcony highlighted in the sun.  But instead of having the pleasure of gazing at their colors, movement in the garden of that neighboring building caught my eye. At first I thought the people who own the property had com...