Mohamed Ghilan

The question is not whether God exists. The real question to ask is whether our worship will be directed towards God or towards idols of our own making.

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.

One must first be woke in terms of their own self. Imam ar-Raghib al-Isfahanī mentions in his text on Islamic ethics that the enemies of mankind are four: ego, whim, demonic, and worldly. Unless we understand how to battle the first three, we will continue to experience deterioration of our worldly status. Indeed, the world is the way it is as a result of how well we are doing in our battles against the first three enemies. It is an apparent manifestation of events that take place in the unseen world.

As an increasing number of Muslims engage in political activism it is essential that the Divine Call be answered first. Otherwise, instead of moving with the transcendent compass that will make one act in accordance with Islamic teachings and principles, incoherent materialistic ideologies will be adopted in its place.

In an age where being busy and constantly on the go is praised, we need to emphasize the importance of staying silently still.

Our culture of shame and stigmatization of those struggling with problems we consider taboo is immensely harmful. To acknowledge a problem and recognize the human face dealing with it does not equate to its acceptance or normalization. It is a recognition of the human condition and the consequences of having free will. America is experiencing an addiction epidemic, especially with prescription drug abuse. Muslims should be at the forefront of efforts to solve this crisis. But first, we must assess our attitude towards our own.

The reality is that radicalism is a political problem, not an Islamic one. It is well established now that the more observant a Muslim becomes, the less likely they are to become “radicalized” or be swayed into extremist ideology that leads to violence. From a theological perspective, the Muslim community is fully equipped with the teachings to birth contributing, productive, and peaceful citizens in any society, something we have already been doing without being asked or told to. It may serve us better to look at radicalization through the lens of gang research than to pathologize a whole religion and in turn further marginalize Muslim communities.

CVE is not just about deputizing Muslims for law enforcement. It is an outcome of the wholesale enlistment and manipulation of Islam to serve the goals of the American empire. It is about a greater effort to reshape Islam as a religion so it is rendered deaf, mute, and blind after it had previously been packaged for Afghanistan in a way that focused on its armed resistance aspect. It is about how we as Muslims think of our own agency, our religion, and our role in the world. Instead of being independent witnesses upon the people as we are called to be in the Quran [2:143], which means there will be times when we have to stand up and call people to doing good and declare when we believe they are committing evil, we are rationalizing how we can theologically castrate ourselves and pass through this part of our journey to God unnoticed. We have submitted our understanding of Islam to governments, and now believe we are being true to its teachings because we recognize the concepts and Islamic terms being used. This is the result of making Islam subservient to political goals.

It is high time that we recognize the urgency of our need and responsibility to re-examine our limiting conception of Islam as a “religion”, and adopt the mindset of our pre-modern scholars while acknowledging our own unique context.

Given the current status of the planet and practices in the animal agriculture industry, and the numerous relevant verses in the Quran and available Hadiths, the Sunnah would be to give up all animal products and go vegan. Otherwise, one would have to explain how the Beloved ﷺ would stand for the destruction of total ecological systems, deforestation, overfishing, animal abuse that is both physical and emotional, as well as atmospheric and water pollution.

We live in a time in which collapse of technology could spell the collapse of ritual acts of Islam for most Muslims.

Social media has pervaded not only our culture but our own personal and virtual identity. Its widespread influence has led to a social paradox: we are connected more than ever before, but we are lonelier and have less meaningful relationships. In this live recording from Al-Madina Institute, Mohamed Ghilan and Omar Suleiman discuss how to reach a balance in our use of social media.

While it is important to be aware of the political, social, and economic forces at play in the world, and take them into account when appropriate, the current trend led by so-called Muslim Reformers uses this as a platform to appear to address legitimate concerns when in reality it is an attempt to change the metaphysical foundation of Islam and the relationship Muslims have with Revelation.

Three Americans were awarded France’s highest honour, the Légion d’Honneur medal, for thwarting what appeared to be an attack on a train. Given the current Islamophobic climate in France, it may come as a surprise that France awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur to one of the most prominent Muslim figures in recent history, and a man who resisted French colonization using military force: Emir Abdelqadir El Djezairi, an Algerian Muslim scholar.

There is a metaphysical effect to observing the Sacred Law that is undermined by its abandonment. Prayer is not a set of stretching exercises, the Hijab is not about men, and fasting is not about losing weight.

The “Pearls of the Quran 2015” conference was a testament to what is possible. It was a realization of a yearning many Muslims have but are increasingly becoming hopeless to see. To be united, loving towards each other, respectful of one another, and accepting of our differences. In form, it looked like a conference. But in function, it was much more intimate than that.

In short, the only people who understand what Islam is really about as far as Wood is concerned are ISIS and academics who say what ISIS militants do is authentic Islam. As for the rest of over 1.6 billion Muslims and their theologians, they have what in the words of Haykel calls it, “a cotton-candy view of their own religion.”

A fatwa decreeing it permissible to congratulate non-Muslims on their religious holidays is not about giving Muslims permission to practice basic human decency or to be nice. It is an evaluation of an action against the core values of Islam. It may outwardly seem to be a “small issue”, but it is on these small issues that principles at play become evident.

Doubt has become a dirty word for many believers. However, it is in losing doubt, which in turn is a loss of faith, that one takes their first step towards dogmatism.

إذا لم يقل العلماء كلمة الحق للسلطة فمَن سيقول؟

{وَإِذْ قَالَتْ أُمَّةٌ مِنْهُمْ لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوْمًا اللَّهُ مُهْلِكُهُمْ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا قَالُوا مَعْذِرَةً إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ (164) فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ أَنْجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ السُّوءِ وَأَخَذْنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا بِعَذَابٍ بَئِيسٍ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ) [الأعراف: آية 164 – 165].

هذه الآيات مستخلصة من قصة بني إسرائيل في القرآن الكريم وبغيهم في الأرض، وذلك لفعلهم ما نُهوا عنه من اصطيادهم السمك يوم السبت. يقول الإمام القرطبي في تفسيره: انقسم بنو إسرائيل وَفق هذه الآيات إلى ثلاث فرق: فرقة أكملت اصطياد السمك يوم السبت، وهي العاصية. وفرقة نهتهم عن فعلتهم واعتزلتهم. وفرقة ثالثة صمتت، لم تعصِ، ولم تنهَ الأولى عن بغيها. ولعلمهم بالعذاب المتوقع سألت الفرقة الثالثةُ الفرقةَ الواعظة قائلة: {لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوْمًا اللهُ مُهْلِكُهُمْ}؟

The responsibility upon our scholars to speak Truth to power has never been greater. The silence of a scholar in response to great acts of oppression teaches Muslims to be silent when such events take place.

The phenomenon to share images of the dead in social media from conflict regions such as Gaza shows the sad state of affairs when Muslims lose perspective on the sanctity of the human being, and begin to blindly participate in turning an ennobled creation of God from an end into a means towards political goals.

How is it that prominent scholars referencing the same Qur'an and Sunnah can differ? They can, and this is not surprising. The problem is not in their differences. It is in how these differences are handled.

While Arabic has its unique qualities, its sacred status as the “language of the Qur’an” does not mean that it is necessarily the language of Islam. However, it seems that many of our fellow Muslims speak of the universality of Islam while at the same time emphasizing the particularity of Arabic in such a way that alienates Islam from non-Arabs, including non-Arab Muslims.

Mohamed Ghilan on the new atheism in our current age, a Qur'anic viewpoint on this phenomenon, and how to resist the pressure to disbelieve.

Every year Muslims need to go through the usual battle about celebrating the Prophet's birthday. Two sides that claim love of the Prophet explaining why the other group is wrong. Sometimes there’s civility, but too often one will not let go until the other taps out in submission. The problem with the Mawlid is...

Who is a "Sufi"? Who is a "Salafi"? And why are Muslims today wary of both? Spirituality in Islam is a tradition about moving past mere statements and labels and into the realm of meaningful states.