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

I traveled to Riyadh to meet Shaykh Ibn Baz, carrying with me a copy of an invitation to a concert in our city Dammam in Saudi Arabia. To tell you the truth, I was not sure if my visit would make any difference; these types of concerts were supported by some powerful people in that region. I had only met Shaykh Ibn Baz a few times up until that point and I didn’t even think he knew me as I was only a freshman in college. So here I was, an unknown freshman, entering the office of the Mufti of Saudi Arabia. Read More »

We have failed to recognize Muslim women’s, especially the female youth’s, trials of their voluptuous desires. At the most we have made an effort to acknowledge your desires to interact with guys, to be around them, to talk to them, to laugh with them, to share with them the details of your day, to have a boy follow you around, if at all your trials are recognized. Read More »

Lecture by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi | Transcribed by Zara T. [The following is the video and transcript of Shaykh Yasir Qadhi's khutbah "Making Families Work."  The transcript includes slight modifications for the sake of readability and clarity.] The khutbah can be viewed here.   My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, in  today's ... Read More »

Follow Shaykh Waleed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhWaleedBasyouni Having breakfast with Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen is not something that can easily be forgotten. I knew it was a special honor that I was among those who attended such a gathering. A breakfast was arranged between the Shaykh and the students of Gulf high ... Read More »

The Qurʾān is not a storybook of wondrous tales and ancient fables, isolated from the realities and complexities of real life. Each verse, in fact, each letter is miraculously precise in meaning, succinct in message and pure in sound.   Those of you who follow me on Twitter  will already be familiar with my ... Read More »

Follow Shaykh Waleed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhWaleedBasyouni I read so many of his books before I met him.  I immersed myself in his words, written and spoken, assisted by tens of books and dozens of cassettes, for hundreds of hours.  I told my parents that I was traveling to see him ... Read More »

Follow Shaykh Waleed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhWaleedBasyouni We were walking back to my teacher's Riyadh home from the masjid after the Isha prayer when all of the sudden an old car stopped near us. A Pakistani worker got out to greet my teacher, Sh. Hamad Al-Shaetwy. The Shaykh was surprised to see him. ... Read More »

Follow Shaykh Waleed on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhWaleedBasyouni For many years of my youth, I used to spend the last ten days of Ramadan in Mecca. My favorite sitting spot was on the first floor in the Ottoman construction area between Al-Rukn Al-Yamani and the Hijr, and it was there that I would ... Read More »

Follow Shaykh Waleed on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhWaleedBasyouni As a young adult, one of the blessings that Allāh bestowed upon me was being able to grow up in the city of Riyadh at a time when it held some of the greatest scholars in the world. Being able to be in the ... Read More »

I still remember those blue eyes, clearly visible behind thick, plastic glasses. I still remember the big, smiling face, the face of Professor Nuruddeen Julapular, who was one of my earliest teachers during the college years. Under the shaykh, I studied the science of hadeeth. Sh. Nurualdeen was Turkish, and I found it very interesting that he was a hadeeth scholar while being from Turkey, a land better known for producing scholars of Fiqh. Curious about his choice to pursue the study of Hadeeth, and not one to shy away from asking the questions on my mind, I once asked him, "Teacher, what made you interested in this particular field of knowledge while most scholars from your region specialize in Hanafi Fiqh?" He first responded with a single unexpected word. "Zucchini." Read More »