New Islamic Directions
Essays and longer reflections by Imam Zaid Shakir.
Imam Zaid Shakir · July 18, 2023
The Muslim social commentator, Wajahat Ali, recently (June 23, 2023) penned an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, We Muslims Used to Be the Culture War Scapegoats. Why Are Some of Us Joining the L.G.B.T.Q. Pile-On ? The essence of his essay, as…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · March 2, 2021
When Spike Lee’s film, Malcolm X , was released in 1992, I was teaching political science at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. To my knowledge I was the only Muslim and the only African American male professor on…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · October 6, 2020
Faith I believe that there is no God except Allah; the living, self-sustaining, pre-eternal creator of all that exists; the one whose existence is a necessary condition for all other existence. Allah has sent Prophets and Messengers (peace upon…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · March 20, 2020
Justice in the Islamic Tradition When Socrates famously asked, “What is justice?”, he was able to elicit many responses from his interlocutors and to direct the discussion in myriad directions. Is justice related to the treatment of friends and…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · March 2, 2020
During his recent State of the Union Address, President Trump boasted of his record levels of military spending. Despite that boast and its deadly implications, there are those who naively believe that Mr. Trump is rolling back America’s military…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · January 21, 2019
During these days many in this country are commemorating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929. While most remember Dr. King for his soaring oration, symbolized by his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · June 24, 2018
Madeline Albright, infamously and casually agreed that over 500,000 dead Iraqi children who died during the six years US sanctions had been in place in Iraq to that point, “was worth it”. As the crisis over children being torn from their mothers’…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · June 23, 2018
The human being began his journey as a physical creature with the direct, unmitigated creative act of God.” “Once the human has been animated by the spirit, he can undertake his primary purpose: namely, to worship and to know his Lord.” Today, we…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · June 4, 2018
It is time we started listening to Ali. It is God’s plan. The analytical methods which postmodernism has given birth to are qualified by many sad features. One is the rejection of the idea of greatness. These methods leave no space for great men or…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · December 30, 2016
This past weekend, the internet was set ablaze by a maelstrom of opinions originating from some statements made by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in an interview with the journalist, Mehdi Hasan. Although there were three distinct controversies arising from…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · November 2, 2016
Imam Zaid Shakir explains the way communities ought to behave and how we have opportunities for growth. We have to be realistic and consider our position in society in order to stop from falling into “old traps.” It’s a rare opportunity to catch…
Article
Imam Zaid Shakir · June 20, 2016
I was honored to attend the waning hours of Muhammad Ali’s life along with his immediate family. Taking a brief break from the stream of Qur’anic recitation, invocations, and devotional songs we were dedicating to Ali, one of the Champ’s daughters…
Article
