Archive for June, 2016
Pray for Turkey
What does terrorism achieve? It achieves nothing. It is not “radical Islam.” It is radical politics. How does terrorism forward any religion? It doesn’t. Who are the victims? Mostly Muslim. After spending a week in Turkey learning about the vast threat of terrorism from multiple political factions from the east to the west, this is […]
I’m a Pomak. (What’s That?)
My Muslim heritage goes back to the Ottoman empire when Islam spread into the Balkans. My paternal ancestry is Bulgarian Muslim or Pomak. It’s such a minority, it’s still not completely recognized. I’m a minority of a minority. When hanging around mosques my entire life, finding a Pomak was like finding a needle in a […]
Muslim Activist Banned from Facebook for Responding to Trump’s Islamophobia
Be careful what you wish for. Donald Drumpf seems to be projecting his fear of actually reaching his goals of moving into the white house which would put him in a precarious situation. He would actually have to stop pretending to know things and would actually have to know things and talk coherently. Not just […]
Digesting Orlando Narratives as a Muslim American
“Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32) Any human being murdered is a travesty and a grave tarnish on the human race. Since taking one life is equivalent to taking the lives of […]
Happy Ramadan 2016
Ramadan Kareem! May this blessed month provide you with spiritual revival and depth, success in your spiritual journey and the ability to receive Allah’s bountiful blessings. I already messed up and woke up an hour earlier than I needed to. Eating must stop at the beginning of dawn – which is prior to fajr. Don’t […]
Muhammad Ali – Legend
Allah has taken our brother, Muhammad Ali, back home to Him. inna lilahi wa inna ilahi raji un. To God we belong. To Him we return. Wow- notwithstanding his accomplishments in boxing – and the memories I have of my family watching his matches with such excitement – he leaves behind such an indelible mark […]