I promised the subscribers to the last web-cast that I would answer the questions I was unable to get to during the actual web-cast in written form on the website. Here are the answers to those questions. Hopefully, others can also benefit from the answers. 1. Q: Does the idea…

The following poem is by a friend of mine, Imran Sabir, of Glasgow, Scotland. He shared it with me during my recent visit there. I am sure you will be moved by it as I was. I will let him tell his own story. Biographical Information I am 31…

In response to a question concerning the validity of a female leading men in a congregational prayer we have decided to reprint an article we wrote on this issue in its entirety. Hopefully, this will shed light on the issue for those who did not read the original article.…

This cover article was featured in Emel Magazine’s May 2006 Issue http://www.emelmagazine.com Imam Zaid Shakir is, in many ways, the quintessential American: a youth with a two newspaper route, a high school football player, a member of the United States Air Force, a student activist…

Muslims have many scriptural imperatives that demand we work for the preservation and health of our environment. As we enter an era where the prospect of environmental catastrophe is perhaps greater than the prospect of disaster from any other source, it is especially important that we make environmental…

The January 6, 2008 edition of the New York Times Book Review was devoted to “Islam,” as the header for the edition boldly proclaims. The edition aims to highlight some of the most relevant historical, literary, political and theological issues informing contemporary discourse around the topic of Islam, as it…

Devotional Practice: Month Dhu al-Hijjah By Imam Zaid Shakir The first ten days of Dhul-Hijja are blessed days, which we frequently neglect. The Noble Prophet, Peace and Blessings of God be upon him, said, “There are no days in which righteous deeds done during…

Yesterday was sobering. After spending many hours trying to work through my inbox, catching up on my backlogged emails, my wife received a phone call from Atlanta, Georgia. Exhausted from seven straight weeks of coast to coast travel, culminating in a non-stop ten hour flight from London to San Francisco…

When George W. Bush began making poignant references to what he termed “Islamic Fascists,” he shed more light on the nature of the ideology driving the neoconservative movement than he did on the ideology driving militant Islamic groups in various parts of the world—for reasons we will soon examine. Although…

Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge Hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all together, and be not divided. (Qur’an, 3:103) Surely, those who have made divisions in their religion and turned into factions, you have nothing…