This is a guest post by Ali Asghar Alibhai.
There is no question that the America my generation grew up in is much different than the America of now. I grew up in West Texas, a place that some might consider as among the most conservative in the country; yet, I don’t ever remember my parents having to shield my ears from anti-Muslim rhetoric...
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This is a guest post by Taher Suratwala.
I've read and learned some things and that have had me thinking about what I want to focus on this year. I'm having a hard time finding a single word to describe it. The closest I can think of is "steer". It does a good job of helping me frame my thoughts about another topic, control.
I recently learned about the importance of the perception of control and how that influences the brain. Specifically, the perception of...
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This is a guest post by Aamer H. Jamali.
You’d think I’d know better by now. I’m not new at this, after all, having observed Ramadan for the past thirty years. And yet every year I fall into the same trap. Shabaan comes around, and it seems every day, every meal, every workout taunts me. A silent (followed by a not so silent) countdown commences. In my mind, Ramadan becomes a big black box, a month erased from my life, a page ripped off of the...
The post It’s The End of the World as We Know It and I Feel… Fine? appeared first on City of Brass.
The day after the Orlando shooting, my friend Wajahat Ali addressed a crowd of mostly professional, fairly religious Muslim Americans in Houston. Here is a transcript of his remarks, a call to action for the Muslim community. Reprinted with his gracious permission.
So, yes, things are really bad for Muslims right now. But writer
The post Call to action for Muslim Americans after #OrlandoShooting: have faith. have hope. do good. appeared first on City of Brass.
This is a guest post by Taher Suratwala.
Ramadan is here and life is turned upside down. No breakfast, no coffee in the morning, strange and totally different sleep schedule, falling asleep at work, fasting breath, no working out and lots of sitting. It's as if someone picked up my routine and gave it a vigorous shake.
I love it.
All the changes are to accommodate the fasting and to ultimately get in touch with a more spiritual side.
Eleven months of...
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This is a guest post by Nabeel Azeez.
A well-known hadith of the Prophet SAW is, “"Whosoever fasts and prays Ramadan with Iman and Ihtisab, will have his past sins forgiven." This hadith is quoted every Ramadan as motivation, without fail. Many of us understand the meaning and implications of the condition of Iman while fasting and praying. However, many of us do not understand the condition of Ihtisab, myself included.
The word is usually translated as...
The post 5 Practical Ways to Achieve “Ihtisab” in Your Fasting and Prayer this Ramadan appeared first on City of Brass.
This is a guest post by Samar Kaukab.
"Her antiquity in preceding and surviving succeeding tellurian generations: her nocturnal predominance: her satellitic dependence: her luminary reflection: her constancy under all her phases, rising and setting by her appointed times, waxing and waning: the forced invariability of her aspect: her indeterminate response to inaffirmative interrogation: her potency over effluent and refluent waters: her power to enamour, to...
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This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja.
Post 53. Today I started my journey on Arbaeen, a 53 mile walk from the city of Najaf to Kerbala. An annual event that marks one of the largest human gatherings in the world. I am at the 1/3 mark and I have experienced the best of the human spirit. The selfless giving camaraderie and the connection to the human experience, as the rich and the poor, the young and the old march for this destination. Along the way...
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This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja. Second in a series; See Arbaeen Day 1 for the previous entry.
Post 580. It 5:30am and we resumed our walk to Kerbala. Breakfast on the road. Samoon (Iraqi fresh bread) with lentil soup a tradition for millennia of the Bedouins. Hit Iraqi black tea with a layer of sugar on a shot glass. Batteries recharged and ready to go for...
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This is a guest post by Taha M. Raja. Third in a series; See Arbaeen Day 2 for the previous entry.
Post 1278. close to the right turn to go to the city center of Kerbala. Resting with a Iranian Tea which is a light blend of black tea and water with lots of sugar. Very refreshing. People watching....couples holding hands walking, families with kids, young parents...
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