notes

Breonna Taylor: Why?

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Sep 28, 2020 at 12:24 pm

Like many others in this country I have shed tears thinking of the tragic manner in which Breonna Taylor was killed in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment. A young, loving soul gunned down as she was just beginning to embark on what all who knew her believed would be a bright…

notes

Explosions: Malicious Design and Neglect Benign

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Aug 09, 2020 at 9:56 pm

This past Tuesday, a massive explosion sent a giant mushroom cloud billowing into the air over the port of Beirut, Lebanon. As the dust settled, a landscape where the handiwork of humans -buildings, machines, cars, trucks, electrical wires- was obliterated; reduced to a twisted, melted, garbled, wasteland, block after devastated…

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Fasting Six Days of Shawwal

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

May 28, 2020 at 8:26 pm

When one has enjoyed a delicious and nurturing meal, one does not jump up from the table and race off to another endeavor. One takes time to savor the lovely tastes and to reflect on the great blessing one has been privileged to enjoy. So too our worship. One…

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The Wider Significance of Malcolm X

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

May 19, 2020 at 12:38 pm

Today, MANA: Muslim Alliance in North America joins many other organizations and individuals in commemorating the life of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, more popularly known as Malcolm X. Malcolm was born May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. Ossie Davis famously said in his eulogy for Malcolm, “And if you knew him,…

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The Virus Questions America

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

May 15, 2020 at 9:47 pm

I came just like a thief inside the night. Confused you no longer know wrong from right. A plague, a pestilence, a scourge, or worse? I’ll let you know just who I am in verse. A tyrannical king I wear my crown. A novel threat yet…

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My Problem with Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

May 08, 2020 at 6:32 pm

There are a large number of books that discuss the coming of the Antichrist, known to Muslims as the Dajjal (The Great Deceiver). One can spend a lifetime studying this literature from its myriad angles. The Antichrist as an individual. The Antichrist as a demonic system. The Antichrist in secret…

news

Why do so many US prison inmates convert to Islam?

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Apr 09, 2020 at 7:40 pm

“The Honest Struggle” tells the story of an ex-offender’s mission to help Muslim converts as they leave jail. So, what is it about Islam that appeals to these inmates? In this episode, Sadiq Davis joins the show along with a Muslim prison chaplain and “The Honest Struggle”…

articles

Things in Their Proper Places

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Mar 19, 2020 at 9:04 pm

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 enemies? Does it revolve around issues of war and peace? Is…

articles

Trump: Hawk or Dove

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Mar 01, 2020 at 8:29 pm

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 presence in the world, some even going so far as to…

notes

Who Revived Malcolm X?

BY IMAM ZAID SHAKIR

Feb 26, 2020 at 10:25 pm

With the release of the Netflix series reexamining the assassination of Malcolm X there is a renewed interest in determining the identity of his killers. It is not my desire to delve into that contentious issue. Rather, during this time when Malcolm’s passing is commemorated by so many, I pray…

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