Articles

What does it mean to champion women’s rights and identify oneself as a feminist? Though it appears simple and easy to answer, this question is anything but that. This is especially so for a practicing believer.

We reside in a time in which meanings are losing value. There are terms within movements that can cause us confusion about our deen and even how we see ourselves.

Many Prophetic statements paint an undoubtedly unpleasant picture of the future. But is this something that should be revelled in? Or is it perhaps instead a twisted way of abdicating ourselves out of the responsibility and challenge of carving out a dignified existence even in the midst of hardship?

With the new year, my resolution is simple — be present. Whether at work, with my spouse and kids, or most importantly, with God and His Messenger ﷺ, I intend to focus on being present. Here are a few ideas for the new year to increase our presence.

Even as the celebrations of the Month of First Spring, Rabiul Awwal, inevitably pass, Allah has ensured that his ﷺ merciful-love will forever remain. For there is no end to the first spring. After Rabiul Awwal comes Rabiul Thani — the second spring. The first spring is his ﷺ birth into this world; the second is his birth into your heart.

We say the Salat Ibrahimiyya every day in prayer, but do we know what immense blessings and mercy it contains for us, the Ummah of the Best of Creation ﷺ?

Mercy is a guiding principle that Muslims should celebrate and seek to embody inside the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the month of the birth of our Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him and his family), as well as in the other months of the Islamic calendar.

The popular Arabic expression says, “Knowledge in childhood is like engraving on to stone” and if we want our children to remain strong and steadfast in faith amidst the currents and tides of life, we must engrave the best of teachings on their hearts.

The love of the Prophet ﷺ and his tradition should be enough for our community to at least break the taboo of interracial marriages among certain pockets of American Muslims.

Recent reports of sexual misconduct and assault have intensified an already profound ethical, legal and media crisis in US society, one in which Muslims now also find themselves. Like all great dilemmas, it is one in which we are faced with what seem to be two equally valid but seemingly irreconcilable concerns. On the one hand, we have the fundamental premise of the presumption of innocence and the essential guarantee of due process. On the other, we have the demonstrable failings of the very system that provides that due process.

This little known event gives us a glimpse into the leadership of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He reaches forward to us today with lessons of the power of shared experience, the import of women in community, and the power of a show of strength.

What can you do if you feel your teen’s faith is slipping? Bring the beauty of the deen to life for them.