New Islamic Directions
Essays and longer reflections by Imam Zaid Shakir.
Imam Zaid Shakir · September 15, 2010
I recently attended two major Muslim conferences where Christian fundamentalists were “protesting” against a Muslim presence in “Christian” America. In each instance, the demonstrators were shabbily-clad, apparently from the poorer elements of…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · August 12, 2010
During Ramadan we celebrate the Qur’an. This is fitting owing to the close association between the month of fasting and the Qur’an. Allah mentions in the Qur’an, The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed (Q. 2: 185). Perhaps this…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · July 28, 2010
Increasingly in the western world, nothing symbolizes the “otherness” of Islam like the veiled Muslim woman. If she chooses to remain quietly home undertaking domestic duties with patient dignity she is rendered invisible and mysterious, veiled by…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · May 22, 2010
My Sustainer, Increase my knowledge . (Q. 20:114) This time of the year brings convocations for both high school and university students and I would like to extend my deepest congratulations and prayers for success to all new graduates. At this…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · May 17, 2010
Our hearts are calling out to us, into the dark and maddening night. Our hearts are calling out to us, to seize our hands and lead us right. Too blinded are we by the glare, of power, money, war and fame? Yet with perverse and blinded eyes, we…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · May 6, 2010
In the literature discussing Futuwwa , which has been translated as Muslim chivalry, there is the story of a young man who was engaged to marry a particularly beautiful woman. Before the wedding day, his fiancée was afflicted with a severe case of…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · February 12, 2010
Detroit, Michigan is an historic American city. From its humble roots as a French trading post in the early Eighteenth Century, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the United States. It was nearly burned to the ground by fire in 1805, and…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · December 19, 2009
Thomas Friedman, in his recent New York Times Op-ed entitled, “www.jihad.com,” states that Muslims lack the moral courage to condemn the murderous outrages of “Jihadi” extremists. Part of the reason for this moral failure, in his view, is because…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · November 12, 2009
This is my response to the Fort Hood tragedy and events both associated with it and ensuing from it. I begin by expressing my deepest condolences to the families of all of the dead and wounded. There is no legitimate reason for their deaths, just as…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · November 10, 2009
This brief essay is the first of several dealing with the Fort Hood tragedy. It is written by Shaykh J. Hashim Brown, an American Muslim convert to Islam. Shaykh Brown was blessed to have studied intimately with some of the greatest scholars of…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · October 27, 2009
You should know, may God have mercy on you, that truthfulness and sincerity are the foundations of every spiritual state. Patience, contentment, true asceticism, pleasure, and intimacy are branches of truthfulness. While sincerity branches out into…
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Imam Zaid Shakir · October 10, 2009
This is the fouth and final installment of our translations concerning issues associated with fasting voluntarily in Shawwal from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's book, Lata'if al-Ma'arif . This selection is from pages 397-400. We will continue with the…
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