وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبيلِ اللّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاء وَلَكِن لاَّ تَشْعُرُونَ ‘And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah “dead.” Nay, they are living, only ye perceive not.’ – Surah Baqara, Verse 154 Eighteen months ago, on the 2nd of January 2016, the Saudi …
Read More »Hijab Emoji to appear on Apple Devices!
Rayouf Alhumedhi, a 16 year old has designed an emoji to represent those who wear the Hijab! She said that it was “baffling” that an adequate image did not exist already, and then wrote to The Unicode Consortium with her suggestion. On Monday 17th July 2017, which was ‘World Emoji …
Read More »Activism and Our Islamic Responsibilities
Over the last few weeks, I have felt lost and confused as an activist; lost because innocent individuals are being murdered in every corner of the world, and confused because there seems to be an undeniable silence. Hundreds of defenseless civilians were killed and wounded in Parachinar – but the …
Read More »Sayyid and Non-Sayyid Marriages from a Qur’anic Perspective
‘When they are told, ‘Come to what Allāh has sent down and [come] to the Apostle,’ they say, ‘Sufficient for us is what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers did not know anything and were not guided?’ (5:104) The era that predates the illumination of the …
Read More »Islam and Racial Superiority – Ayatollah Jafar Subhani
يٌا أَيُّهٌا النٌّاسُ إِنٌّا خَلَقْنٌاكُم مِّنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنـثَى وَجَعَلْنٌاكُمْ شُعُوباً وَقَبٌائِلَ لِتَعٌارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللٌّهِ أَتْقٌـكُمْ إِنَّ اللٌّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ “O’ Humanity! Without doubt We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into various nations and tribes, so that you may come to …
Read More »Has the world forgotten?
It seems as if the world has already forgotten the 17-year-old boy who was sentenced to crucifixion in 2015. Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr, a fearless, peaceful protester that courageously demanded basic human rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – and now faces death by execution. Let us not forget Ali …
Read More »Ayatollah Shaheed Mutahhari: Two Types of Responsibilities
In the speech that I had given in this same venue under the topic of “Amr bil Maʿruf wa Nahi ʿAnil Munkar” (commanding to that which is right and forbidding from that which is evil), I alluded to a point which I will repeat here and that is: our religious responsibilities are of …
Read More »Ayatollah Shaheed Mutahhari: The abandonment of the Qur’an
Today, we have a complaint that we must address to this new generation which is: Why are they not acquainted with the Qurʾan? Why are they not being taught the Qurʾan in their schools? Even if we go to the Universities, we see that the (Muslim) university students cannot even …
Read More »Lustful Challenges Against Youth, Part I
It’s time to point out the elephant in the room. Youth, especially boys, are now more than ever challenged with the task of taming their carnal desires. Courtesy of the hyper-sexualized world that we live in, carnal desires innate in every being becomes unearthed at an earlier age, and thus, …
Read More »Ayatollah Khamenei: ‘Islamic values would have perished, If Imam Hassan (as) had not made a peace treaty’
If Imam Hassan Al-Mujtaba (as) had not made a peace treaty, the Islamic movement of values would not have lasted too long, and it would have perished, because Muawiyah would finally take power. The situation was not one that Imam Hassan (as) could take control of. All factors worked against …
Read More »The Questioning of the Day of Judgement and it’s Revolutionary Impact
‘Most certainly then We will question those to whom (the apostles) were sent, and most certainly We will also question the apostles’ (Qur’ān 7:6) The questioning of the Day of Judgement is a matter to which the Qur’ān gives much attention. The numerous times that this has been repeated in …
Read More »Ramadhan – Celebration of the Qur’an
A month in which even the most instinctive physical reflexes are upgraded to the status of worship. Crowned above all other months, it is a month honoured by being mentioned by name in the Qur’ān. Yet do the guests of this tremendous banquet stop to question the occasion for it’s …
Read More »Lady Khadija – The Great Lady
“Muslims may forget it but Islam cannot forget that in its infancy, it were Abu Talib and Khadija who protected it. They made Islam invulnerable. Abu Talib protected the sapling of Islam from the tempests of misbelief and heathenism; and Khadija irrigated it with her wealth. She did not let …
Read More »Ayatollah Khamenei: Ramadan is an opportunity for everyone to seek forgiveness
All should seek forgiveness. Those who are well devoted to worship, those who are relatively good practitioners, even those who are idle in worshipping and only do the minimum of their duties, even those who sometimes miss some duties, everyone should know that this relation between them and God is …
Read More »The Spiritual Dimension of Fasting by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
Levels of Fasting: A Peek into the Spiritual Dimension Why do we stay thirsty and hungry for 30 days? Why do we go through this hardship? Well, yes there is a physical benefit in fasting. According to a June 2014 report published by the scientists at the University of Southern …
Read More »Simple Resolutions for Ramadhan – Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
As Muslims living in the West, we follow two calendars: hijri calendar for our religious activities, and the common calendar for business and vacation. But we do not always fix the first month of the year (January or Muharram) as the beginning of all our activities. We divide our lives …
Read More »