MuslimMatters.org Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life

Irritability, fatigue and lack of recreation is a wake-up call for a da’ee to realize that he or she is swerving away from the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad [صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم]. He had more roles to play on a communal and familial level than any of us, yet he knew how to strike the perfect balance in his life that enabled him to stay positive, cheerful, easygoing, focused on both work and worship and most of all, sporting a smiling countenance and a relaxed demeanor whenever anyone met him. Read More »

In the current scenario, when the economic crisis and global “credit crunch” has left many Muslims struggling financially, and like other people all over the world, striving to hold on to their jobs, save and scrimp any extra money they possibly can, look for alternative modes of earning and sources of income, and to spend very cautiously, generating enough liquidity to pay off one’s Zakaah becomes an added concern. Read More »

Whether a woman chooses to don the burka out of cultural factors or religious ones, - what difference does it make? She is making a conscious choice to clad herself in this garment. For the onlookers to assume that she was oppressed into wearing it just screams of naïveté and a purported façade of concern. Also, if the burka is restrictive and isolating, isn’t that the wearer’s prerogative? Read More »

Truly, if you have a roof over your head, food in your stomach, access to clean water, a stable job, air-conditioned rooms in your house, and a lack of fear of the future, indeed, you are better off than millions! Read More »

The simple reason for the Prophet Muhammad's success in every sphere of life was his dexterity at human relationships. Perhaps the most volatile and delicate human relationship is that between a husband and wife the only relationship between a man and woman based on sexual attraction, companionship and love, that is allowed and recommended in Islam. The reason why so many similar relationships between men and women outside marriage break up so often, is that primarily, it’s partakers do not understand it’s intricacies and requirements pertaining to human behavior. Read More »

"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak. "The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals." Read More »

Once Muslimmatters has established itself firmly within the writing and publishing professionals’ network on LinkedIn, finding a publisher or translator by getting the word out among a network of thousands of professionals would be even easier, insha’Allah. This would just add another dimension to the whole Muslimmatters phenomenon. Read More »

The young parent forgets what it was like as a child, to be caught red-handed, or worse, to be scolded or punished. It seems as if, now that a couple has become parents, they can get away with treating their children however they like. The moment the effect of their parenting mistakes manifests itself in their young children’s negative behavior, the latter are ceremoniously lectured or reprimanded. However, do the parents pause and reflect about which actions of theirs might have been the cause of that behavior? Read More »

The life of this world is fleeting; everything in it, whether it is a source of happiness or misery, will be gone one day. Only memories and stories will remain, remembered as ‘history’. So if you are the owner of something that makes you swell with pride, just remind yourself that it will be dead and gone one day. Just like you. Read More »

It is so much easier to nod our heads in unison when listening to warnings targeted at arrogant individuals, at a formal lecture explaining the Quran or Prophetic narrations, than to actually divorce ourselves from our self-absorbed lifestyles long enough to impartially identify traces of arrogance within our own behavior: in our social interactions; in our dealings with family members; in our very intimate thoughts and feelings. Read More »