Black History Month should be of interest to every Muslim, especially in America. It is estimated that upwards to 20% of the Africans enslaved in the Americas were Muslim. [1] In some areas, such as the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and parts of Virginia, the percentages of Muslims in…

As we celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on a national holiday dedicated to his honor, many people point to the surging presidential candidacy of Barack Obama as evidence of how far this country has come in terms of race relations since the days of the Civil…

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue, An event that happened a bit too soon, ‘cause in sixty-nine they were on the moon. A happening not without precedent, The same place Galileo’s telescope went. Which isn’t to say we’ve become farsighted in…

For that reason, we ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul for other than murder or spreading corruption in the land, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity… Qur’an 5:35 One of the gravest charges levied against Islam, in terms of its…

The recent “Teddy-Bear” crisis in Sudan illustrates the failure of many Muslims to understand a stark reality; one that if left misunderstood will probably lead to a lot of unnecessary bloodshed in the Muslim world, and destroy the opportunity for many western, non-Muslim people to benefit, at a mass level,…

The world’s greatest humanitarian crisis, as quiet as it is kept, is not in Darfur. While the situation there deserves the attention it is getting it is far less grave than the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Somalia. The nature of that crisis demonstrates much about the nature of US foreign…

It is related that a devout worshipper by the name of Humam came to Imam ‘Ali, may God ennoble his countenance, and asked him to describe the God conscious people so vividly that he could almost see them. Imam ‘Ali responded: “Their speech is truthful; their clothing is moderate; and…

By Imam Zaid Shakir September 11, 2007 This year, the birth of the invisible new moon, an event that will be followed in a day or two by the beginning of the month of Ramadan, upon the sighting of the waxing crescent in the evening sky, will occur on…

The following is a transcript of a lecture delivered by Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi of Oxford University, on the role of women scholars in preserving and transmitting prophetic tradition (Hadith) in Islam. The original transcript has been edited by Imam Zaid Shakir to enhance readability. The Female Scholars of…

Sha’ban is a month of good that introduces the great month of Ramadan. The Prophet, peace upon him, used to fast voluntarily during this month more so than in any other month. One of the motivations for that, as we will mention below, is that Sha’ban is the month during…