On June 14, 2017, a Christian Minister, Robert Doggart, was sentenced to 20 years for a plot to burn down a mosque, a school, and a cafeteria in Islamberg, NY. Have you heard of Islamberg?
Read moreAround The World In Ramadan. Part 3: Ramadan in USA
At first, I stopped fasting. I had come to the US in 1971, a newly wed bride. In Pakistan I would fast regularly, but here in NY, the communal sense that goes with fasting was missing. No iftar gatherings, no one around you fasting, no Muslim community, no sounds of adhan
Read moreAround The World In Ramadan. Part 2: Saudi Arabia
No one celebrates Ramadan with as much festivity as do the Saudis. I lived there for six years. Ramadan is the highlight of the year. The entire focus of the nation shifts and you live it and breathe it. For one thing, day turns into night, and night into day.
Read moreShe Takes The Shahada
I don’t know her.
I had never met her.
I don’t even remember her name. But yesterday, I sat with her, as she uttered the words, and entered the fold of Islam.
If It Weren't For Moses...
… we’d be praying 50 times a day.
Tonight was the night, 1,400 years ago, when God ordained that Muslims pray five times a day. But it didn’t start out that way.
'Make A Muslim Friend' Start-Up
“What can we do to help Muslims?”
This is the one question I am asked every time I do a book reading or give a talk on Islam.
I was in a church talking to a group of, oh, maybe 70+ people.
TO-DO LIST: 2017
Never once in my life did I meet my New Year resolutions—until 2016. Either I set the bar too high, got discouraged at no instant gratification, or simply ran out of steam. What was the one resolution you made year after year, and never met? I will tell you mine: lose weight. Until 2016. No, it wasn’t losing weight—though I actually did—but that wasn’t my resolution. It was the summer of 2014, and I was reading books on how to write a book.
Read moreTwo Prophets; Two Birthdays
It’s the prophets birthdays! Prophet Jesus yes, (peace be upon him) but also the prophet who followed 600 years later. That’s right. Yesterday it was Prophet Muhammad’s 1,446th birthday (peace be upon him). It isn’t always like that i.e. Muslims and Christians are celebrating the prophets’ birthdays in December. You know why?
Read moreWhen You Go In Loaded, & Leave Empty Handed. Or Is It The Reverse?
I was engulfed by hugs. This is not what I had come prepared for. I had been invited to come to a Wellness Day celebration at a church, where I had taken a table in the exhibit hall, to display my wares—my book. I had lugged the bag-on-wheels, laden with heavy, hard cover books,
Read moreMy Muslim New Year Prayer
As Muslims begin their new year, I will reflect on what my father said to me when I was just fifteen. Before I go there, a word of caution on protocol and a bit of background. Protocol: I advise that you not greet your Muslim friends with a cheery ‘Happy New Year’. Muslims around the world will ring in the new year, not with bells and whistles, but with reflection and tears.
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