Global Intifada

As the global economy undergoes perhaps the greatest market correction in modern history, rising prices will only increase political instability. As American power recedes due its own economic woes and its inability to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, its grip on the international system will recede. It will increasingly be forced to pack up its […]

The 2008 elections is upon us and once again, the American Muslim is caught with its pants dropped between its ankles as our leaders run around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. The biggest problem seems to be that both of the presidential candidates seem to plan on “intervening” somewhere in […]

Unfortunately, the talk of a return to the Cold War has become quite frequent among political analysts these days due to American and Russian competition in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The term is misleading because, unlike the Cold War which was essentially characterized by the bipolar nature of international relations, the present conflict is […]

MSA National has recently announced the results of this year’s elections. The purpose of this article is to discuss several problems in the election process that have arisen year after year. For the record, I e-mailed the Election Committee with my concerns and a month has gone by and I have still not received a […]

They are the solution to sectarianism within the Muslim community.
Their positions are balanced - between the extremism of some of the Sufis and the Salafis. They don’t compromise on the deen and engage in apologetics or promote aberrant positions like some of the Islamists. (HT, Ikhwan, Jamat e Islami, Tanzeem). They are more flexible than […]

Firstly, it should be known what the differences are not about: it is not about fundamental differences in theology (such as between Sunnis and Shias) or law (such as between Muqallids and Ghair Muqallids). Deobandis and Barelwis share the same intellectual heritage in so far as they both (a) are Maturidi, (b) Hanafi, (c) […]

Introduction
Actions speak louder than words.
The blogosphere is abuzz with the excellent Unity Pledge (1, 2, 3, 4) that was initiated at ISNA by various ‘Ulema under the aegis of Shaykh Bin Bayyah (may Allah ’s mercy be upon him). However, already, some people have begun to question how effective such a pledge would be. The […]

Kufi tip to Amad and Mujahideen Ryder for contacting me regarding this excellent movement by our ‘Ulema and leaders to stop engaging in vicious polemics or, in the very least, telling their students to stop harassing the hell out of scholars and students who ascribe to different methodologies.
Well, it seems like the era of the […]

One thing that has become extremely apparent to me over the summer is that many of our Muslim youth and elders are extremely partisan. They deem that the only way to please Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is by sticking to a particular group or masjid as if it was the only group or masjid […]

This is an article that touches upon a subject that has, unfortunately, become way too common in the Muslim community.
You walk into the masjid for salah, and you see a group of about 15 people who you don’t normally see. They are influential people in the community, they live in the community, but why all […]