Today (October 5, 2009), I was in Scotland for the Launch of Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed’s Book, Living with Blindness: Lessons from the Life of Imran Sabir, who passed away this past March after struggling his entire life with the devastating effects of LOGIC Syndrome, a rare genetic disease. I was honored to write the foreword to that book. That foreword is reproduced below. I encourage everyone who reads these words to order a copy of Shaykh Abdul Aziz’s moving volume. Foreword Liv... Read Full Story

‘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 many great openings and subtle and manifest blessings. I will mention a few of these blessings. To begin, last March I severely injured my ankle playing basketball, an activity I should have abandoned yea... Read Full Story

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 him. This examination is an encouragement for the believers to be excessively generous during the blessed month of Ramadan. It is related in the two sound books (al-Bukhari and Muslim... Read Full Story

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 for the blessed month. May Allah bless us all to live to see the end of this month, to take much benefit from it, and to live to experience another Ramadan. [We read] in ... Read Full Story

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 where we can constantly improve our intention, our actions, and the depth of our devotion. “The early generations of Muslims would work assiduously to conclude, complete, and perfect their religi... Read Full Story

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 Ibn Rajab encourages hope by detailing the tremendous manifestations of forgiveness God has opened for the ... Read Full Story

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! To purge the darkness from our hearts within this brief lifetime. As babes we enter on the path not knowing where it leads, And then we fall into its snares… our wounded hearts do bleed. Perhaps the blood will purge our pain, our love anew to grow. Perhaps our wounds will heal our scars. Perhaps ... Read Full Story

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 his significance both inside, and more importantly, outside of the ring. Part One: Ali the Fighter He floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, the greatest fighter the world has yet to see. ... Read Full Story

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 at Rutgers University, Hasna’s family stayed briefly with us as they were making their way to settle in Jersey City. One of the memorable experiences from those days was when little Hasna picked up a pair o... Read Full Story

"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 grandmother took Shahada! I AM… I am who I am because.. Allah made me who I am I am that dirty vagabond who sleeps in the alley, but if it wasn’t for my prayers… God wou... Read Full Story