By Hasan Rabani Salaat is a basic pillar of islamIt is mentioned again and again in the QuranThe importance of prayer is in seven hundred placesBut in the mosque, do you see many young faces?Praying in the mosque gives 27 times the rewardPray with the intention that you’re pleasing your LordWhen you walk to the mosque, just remember withinYou gain a reward and you’re losing a sinFor every step towards your destination This is a blessing from Allah swt to his creationThe Quran has foretold, that before you are dead‘say your prayers before your prayers are said’our prophet saws said
Read Morehttp://www.americanmuslims.info Advertisement says national security depends on strength of families (WASHINGTON, DC, 3/14/03) – Family values in the American Muslim community will be the focus in the fifth installment of a national advertising campaign designed to foster greater understanding of Islam and to counter the rising tide of Islamophobic rhetoric in the United States. SEE: www.americanmuslims.info CAIR launched the year-long “Islam in America” campaign February 16 with an ad on the New York Times editorial page. The first four ads featured examples of ethnic diversity in the American Muslim community, a Muslim Girl Scout troop in California, a Muslim woman explaining why
Read Morehttp://usinfo.state.gov/usa/islam/fact2.htm Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the US By the year 2010, America’s Muslim population is expected to surpass the Jewish population, making Islam the country’s second-largest faith after Christianity.1 The American Muslim community is a mosaic of cultures, its members having come from all of the five major continents. In fact, a recent survey showed that most Muslims are immigrants – 77.6% versus 22.4% US born.2 This same survey indicated that the ethnic origins of the Muslim community are as follows: 26.2% Middle East (Arab)24.7% South Asia23.8% African American11.6% Other10.3% Middle East (Not Arab)6.4% East Asia While
Read Moreby Abu Iman ‘Abd ar-Rahman Robert Squires http://www.muslim-answers.org/allah.htm Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word “Allah”. For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false, since “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God” – and there is only One God. Let there be no doubt – Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus – peace be upon them all. However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty
Read MoreBy Yahya Suquillo IntroductionThe terrorist attack perpetrated at the World Trade Center in New York on the morning of September 11, 2001, cost the lives of thousands of innocent people. This barbaric terrorist act once again tarnished the peace and brotherhood of mankind. Terrorism in generalTerrorism is a crime against humanity. Its objective is to spread fear in society by killing people, and thus gain strength for its political ends. Even from the past, different ideologies have resorted to terrorism. The Jacobins, who carried out the French Revolution, first used the concept of terrorism during ‘The Period of Terror’, when thousands of people were
Read MoreBy Ah’med Birzali Rodriguez http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/franco/Morisco.html Assalaamu ‘alaikom, I shall attempt to explain the history of the Mudéjar, Morisco or in Arabic, Mudajjaan, Mawaarika! In the year of 711 AD, a herd of horses came brooding into Spain like a storm led by a Berber by the name of Tarik ibn Ziyad, governor of Tangier in Northern Morocco, who led an army of 12,000 Berbers and Arabs into Spain, out of the appeal of Akhila son of the late Witizia of the Northern Visigoths, who under the threat of Roderick, the heir of the Southern Visigoths, had been declared by the nobles
Read MoreBy Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah Wymann-Landgraf The Message International, 2000 In the 10th century CE, Hroswitha Saxon princess and earliest known German poetess wrote of Cordoba, the caliphal capital of al-Andalus, that it was: “the ornament of the world.” In the Age of Hroswitha, Islam and civilization were synonymous. The Abode of Islam had a brilliant beacon in the east: Sunni Persia, and another, more spectacular, in the west: al-Andalus. Christian historians in the Middle Ages spoke of “the two Spains,” one Christian and the other Muslim. They meant by Spain, “Hispania”: the Iberian peninsula Spain and Portugal not the political entity called
Read MoreBy Juan Galvan During high school, my strong belief in Christianity was shaken when a friend told me that the Holy Trinity did not exist and that Jesus was not God. “He’s wrong,” I told myself. Jesus has to be God because God and humanity were disconnected when Adam and Eve committed original sin. Reasoning later, I thought that God has sent the only son whom he has forgiven because of the great love he has for us. God is the only one who forgives and that is why Jesus has to be God. I had the Bible references with me so I could defend
Read MoreBy Ghadah Ali Gutierrez As a relatively new Muslim and a revert at that, I constantly find myself falling short of my religious goals. Each and every day I rise with the intention to get all five salats in, to do some random act of kindness, to read a chapter of the Quran, and yet most days I fail. Life just somehow seems to get in the way and time is something I’m always too short of. Words cannot express the depth of meaning that the following haddith holds for me. Narrated Abu Huraira (RA): The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Religion is
Read MoreBy Siri Carrion A reporter’s name and email address was forwarded to me recently. The reporter wanted to do a story about Latino Muslims in Georgia and their views on the war. My first thought was no. However; my curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to know who else lived in Atlanta, Georgia that was Latino and Muslim besides me, my husband, my bestfriend, and my brother. I refuse to believe there are only four people in the state of Georgia who is Latino and Muslim! Consequently, I called the reporter and introduced myself to her. I also asked her about others she had
Read MoreBy D. Garcia I was in denial about my own identity although society, namely my peers, were a constant reminder of that reality. I walked through the long hallways looking for a friendly face, some sign of a kind life form. There was none. Crowds of people lined the hallways talking about things that most certainly were of no importance to me. Yet, I envied them, longed to be part of any of the cliques’ that wandered, chitchatting throughout the hall. I stopped at the end of the long row of gray lockers, in front of my own, glad that the day was over. The day
Read MoreBy Ghadah Ali Gutierrez Is it haram to ask for a better life than we ever thought possible? Is it uncool to actually talk about having your prayers answered? Call me superficial, but one of the things that I’ve noticed the most since my reversion is that circumstances in my life seem to be coming together in amazing harmony. In other words, Allah is answering my prayers, sometimes without me even asking! All of a sudden, everything is just falling into place. My husband’s green card was approved after two very long years and a LOT of paperwork. My bestfriend has found a potential husband. Most amazing,
Read More
By Yusef Maisonet I performed Hajj this year. It was the ultimate experience of my life. I am a merchant seaman by trade. I have been to London, Paris, Spain, Amsterdam, Italy, Albania, all of South America, Middle East, Far East, Africa, and all the Caribbean. One of my most memorable experiences was being a witness to the shahadah of an 80-year woman in Barcelona, Spain. I used to go to church but I could not fathom the 3 = 1 doctrine. I was exposed to Islam by a Muslim poet. When he read Sura Ikhlas, I knew that I had found the truth. About two weeks later,
Read MoreBy Juan Galvan Hi. It’s nice to see you got out of jail.Sorry, we don’t sell hard liquor. No, malt liquor either.Have a great night. I create alcoholics. Hi. Ok, here’s your Penthouse and Hustler.Sorry, we don’t carry videos. Don’t know of any strip clubs nearby.Have a great night. I create sex addicts. Hi. I see you’re coming here more and more each day.Sorry, we only have lottery tickets and slot machines here.Have a great night. I create gambling addicts. I’m no menace to society.We merely create them. Today.How can I help you?Nice morning.Eggs and orange juice.See you later.Thanks.No problem. Yesterday.Nice to see you today.Nice kid.Snickers and Dr.
Read MoreBy Samantha Sanchez RahimBismillah ir Rahman ir RahimIn the name of He who knows the contents of my wombThis womb is the birthplace of compassionthe birthplace of mercy God makes us UmMotherfull of mercyfull of His mercyMotherhood is compassion from GodMotherhood is compassion towards childrenUm is only a vehicle of God’s infinite mercyRahim is only a vehicle of His infinite compassion How blessed we are as women to be part ofthis trianglethis relationshipTo feel within us God’s mercyHow fortunate that God entruststo womenfor a brief period of time, to carryand for a lifetime, to nurtureA soul Notes:* Bismillah ir rahman
Read More“Have they not observed, bowing in humility before Allah that the shadows of everything which Allah has created shift from the right and from the left, and they are being humbled?” – Quran 16:49. “A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend.” – Qur’an 41:34. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Shall I tell you who are the best among you? … The best of you are those who when seen are a means
Read More