IIA – Teaching Islam

The Arab world and the Saudis in particular seem surprised by the recent bombings in Riyadh. How could this happen against fellow Arabs and Muslims? How could this happen during the month of Ramadan? Why were women and children targetted? The Saudis are waking up to the fact the the intolerance they have spread around the world through their funding of madrassas, Islamic centers, and publications, has not only come home, it perhaps never left. The bombing can not be blamed on a Zionist conspiracy or on American foreign policy. This was a deliberate attack on Muslims by Muslims. A…

Today is the Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, commemorating Hazrat Ibrahim’s and Hazrat Ismail’s willingness to sacrifice everything to God. Traditionally, some sort of animal is sacrificed to symbolize our willingness to do the same. While I appreciate the symbolic value, I’m also a firm believer in the adage about teaching someone to fish; right now the sacrificed meat is distributed to the needy. I remember the story as being Hazrat Ibrahim being asked to sacrifice what was most dear to him, and now that is money. With all of the above in mind I tried to get a…

“Muslims need to recognize that we live in the modern world whether we like it or not. But the modern age in which we find ourselves is not a homogeneous one. The four pillars of modernity are modern concepts, conceptions, means and ends. These in turn shape the pluralistic and heterodox worldview of modern life. The plurality of modernities means that there exist many different ways through which people understand themselves in the world today. The modern age has given us modern conceptions, such as the conception of God, of Prophethood, etc. The modern age also furnishes us with modern…