Ssshhh. You hear a juicy tidbit from a neighbor, who heard it from a friend, who heard from her sister on a social chat group, who added some “spice” to …
The Concept of Shukr in Islam
As Muslims, it is our foremost duty to say shukr to Allah (SWT) for all of His blessings. It is helpful, therefore, to know in a deeper way what shukr …
Promoting Islamic Fiction: A Worthwhile Struggle
Back when I embraced Islam as a bright-eyed youth twenty-four years ago, there wasn’t much with an Islamic flavor available in the fiction and literature department. At the time, I …
Jafar ibn Abi Talib (r): Exemplary Interfaith Leader
Despite his noble standing among the Quraysh, Abu Talib, an uncle of the Prophet, was quite poor. He had a large family and did not have adequate means to support …
How to Be a Dignitary on the Day of Judgment
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah will cover seven people with His shade, on the Day when there will be no shade …
Reflections on Spritual and Self Development
Man, with no “mentionable” history before birth, has been given the faculties of hearing and seeing [ad-Dahr 76:2], two eyes and a tongue, and a pair of lips [al-Balad 90: …
Hayaa’ – A Virtue Forgotten in Our Times
Hayaa’ is shyness, bashfulness, humility, modesty (intellectual and otherwise) and no one English word conveys the full meaning of this Islamic virtue. For this reason, Muslim educators have suggested the …
Short-Lived or Enduring Happiness: Our Choice
Hayaa’ is shyness, bashfulness, humility, modesty (intellectual and otherwise) and no one English word conveys the full meaning of this Islamic virtue. For this reason, Muslim educators have suggested the …
Happiness: Contentment, Optimism and Joy
Life today is stressful and statistics clearly show that people are not coping well, with all the indices of unhappiness sky-high. As of 2010, 36 percent of Americans were obese, …
Al-Quran: Remedy for Sadness
Western civilization looks at the human being and human personality as essentially flawed. The idea then is that we should just try to patch up those flaws with pills or …