‘Id Mubarak! Another Ramadan has passed. We pray that Allah accepts all of the righteous deeds undertaken by His servants during this month and that all of us have left the month with our sins forgiven and our prayers answered. For me this was an especially powerful Ramadan. There were…

Generosity We often focus on the fasting and Tarawih prayers during Ramadan. However, the blessed month is also a time when generosity is greatly emphasized. One should try to be exceedingly generous during this month. In this section (pp. 305-310) Ibn Rajab examines the generosity of the Prophet, peace upon…

This is the final installment of what we have translated from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali’s work, Lata’if al-Ma’arif. In this section, he mentions the liberation from Hell that is a gift countless people receive during Ramadan. He also mentions many teachings from the religion that create a deep longing and love…

In this section, Ibn Rajab mentions some of the sayings of the righteous forebears to illustrate the magnitude of the fear they had concerning the acceptability of their acts. (pp. 375-376) We should not take for granted that our fast will be accepted. Rather, we should search for those areas…

Ramadan Lessons Based on Lata’f al-Ma’arif, by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali Translated by Imam Zaid Shakir Lesson One: Hope Translator’s note: رمضان مبارك Ramadan Mubarak! May you all be blessed during this blessed month. The month of Ramadan combines fear and hope, hardship and relief. In the following section…

To spend a moment in your love, beyond this world of strife. To know the beauty of your face, beyond the realms of life. To pay the price you ask of us O Lord of life sublime! …

As we daily witness President Barack Obama making history as the first American president of African descent, it is critical for us not to forget the giants whose sacrifices have made his ascent possible. One of the those giants is Muhammad Ali. Here is a poetic reflection I penned regarding…

This poem is written by Hasna Abdul-Majid, the daughter of a longtime family friend, Saida Abdul-Majid. We first met them in Washington DC while I was a student at the American University. Hasna was born during those years. When we moved to New Jersey, I was pursuing a Masters Degree…

“I AM…” is a poem by Hamza Abdul Malik who is one of our young scholars. Hamza, has memorized the Qur’an in both Warsh and Hafs and has studied Arabic and Shari’ah in Syria, Yemen, and is currently studying in Egypt. He wrote this poem after his wife’s eighty-year old…

The following comment is by a sister who responded to one of the postings we made concerning our visit to Mali. What she mentions here is applicable to all of the Muslim parts of Africa, with the possible exception of Egypt and some other parts of North Africa. Generally speaking,…