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

The Rad Talks reviving the spirit of the qahwa house of yore Read More »

"A Life of Reinvention” was supposed to epitomise the amazing transformation Malcolm underwent from deep down in the gutter of humanity to one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Instead, this biography has ended up as a reinvention too far. Read More »

The Battle of Badr took place in 2 AH and happened over a few days. What about the rest of year? What about life in Madīnah? We focus so much on the key events that we forget to explore angles to history like the Prophet's (peace be upon him) life as a father, husband, teacher, businessman and neighbor! These aspects of the Sīrah are also very important and so I propose that we strive to study other angles of the Sīrah in addition to the major events to gain a more holistic understanding of the greatest of men and his lifestyle. Read More »

An AlJazeera documentary on the history of Muslims in France Read More »

From the woman quietly praying in a church, to the missionaries helping in a developing country, to the televangelist screaming about terrorists on television- a picture of modern Christianity is anything but uniform. Compare that to the muezzin performing the call to prayer, the children playing in the refugee camp, and the young extremist studying in a madrasa and an equally diverse group of people is seen among the followers of Islam. It is evident that over the many centuries since Ashama might have drawn that line in the sand, the gap between Muslims and Christians has grown quite a bit larger. Read More »

In conclusion, militarily, economically, politically and ideologically the Ottoman Empire declined from the reign of Sulayman the Magnificent. These factors were of course intertwined, which was why when reforms were made in one aspect the other factors stifled progress. Due to the influx of wealth from the New World they advanced both militarily and economically with the industrial revolution. Even if the Janissaries had not revolted and adopted their advance methods, the industrial revolution and the shift in global trade would have starved the empire from the financial means to survive. Read More »

I home school my daughter and this is her history lesson for today, as I doubt that this will ever be taught in her official history books. This Friday, we will be praying for the men, women and children who were massacred 29 years ago. History The June 6th 1982 ... Read More »

On the 27th of February 2011, an 86 year old Turkish man died in a hospital in Istanbul. However, he was no ordinary person. Necmettin Erbakan was one of the great Muslim leaders of the last century and a reviver of Islam in Turkey. Read More »

There are a great many similarities between the genocide perpetrated by the forces of Mussolini in his vain attempt to re-enact the Roman conquest of Libya and the actions of Qaddafi today. Read More »

A large chunk of the world's population celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday, May 08, 2011. The legality of celebration of such days is a issue on which scholars differ and as such I will refrain to comment on it. However, I came across an article on the history of Mother's Day in the US, and this fascinated me as I had never read up on this before. When Anna Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May in 1905, she was devastated. Mrs. Jarvis had devoted much of her adult life to educating other mothers about health and sanitation and in 1868 held the first Mother's Friendship Day to unite families broken apart by the Civil War. Anna vowed to honor her mother's memory by turning Mother's Day into a national holiday. Showing the same determination that marked her mother's service work, the well-educated Anna dispatched a flotilla of letters to ministers and politicians around the country, eventually buying the house next door just to hold her correspondence. And in 1914, the pertinacious Miss Jarvis saw President Woodrow Wilson decree the second Sunday of every May the United States' official Mother's Day. (Babble.com) The story of Anna Jarvis and her devotion to the memory of her mother is indeed heart-warming and touching. However a few years after President Wilson decreed the holiday, it became apparent to Anna that she had created a Frankenstein. Marketing people and retailers decided Mother's Day was just another way to sell their goods and the purpose that Anna had thought of got hijacked to become a Hallmark Holiday. Read More »